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theyhavetakenovermylife · 5 months

Note

Can you write about the Last Ronin where we were his girlfriend before everything went to shit and we meet him again but he also get to meet his child as well? Btw I frickin' love your fanfiction, I hope you keep expanding you work.🥹

16 Years: part 1 (Angst)

TLR!Michelangelo x reader

Part 2 (18+) Part 3 (18+)

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A/N: Thank you so much🖤 I feel like writing for TLR has opened whole new world of writing for me, and I will love to do more, even if I cry every time😭🖤 I had “Tout L'univers” by Gjon’s Tears playing on repeat as I was writing this, so when I tell you I was bawling my eyes out, I was BAWLING. For some reason I just had to make everything worse for poor Mikey😭

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Warnings: Spelling, The Last Ronin and The Lost Years spoilers, loss of loved ones, loss of child, mentioning of suicide, trauma, self hatred, crying (not just in writing, omg), and probably a lot more.

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For 16 years, Mikey had tried to live with the spirits of those he had lost. Trying to find peace with them, and let them be. But he just couldn’t. Mikey just couldn’t rest with all these faces he used to love surrounding him, knowing that he could not help them. Raphael, Leonardo, Casey, April, the Fugetoid, Master Splinter, Donatello, Gerel, Shaka. All of them haunted him, speaking to him, telling him what to do. His brothers even went so far as to belittle him for his actions and failures. Every. Single. Day.

But if there was one face that Mikey couldn’t handle around him, it was yours. He dared not to look at you, nor the child you carried on your hip. The pain from seeing the two of you, in complete silence, not speaking a single word, being the only ones that actually did as he asked - staying quiet and letting him think. He looked at you once, the pain of seeing you and the young child in your arms, was almost enough for him to end it all before he even made it to Korea.

But though Mikey never looked at you, he felt your presence with him everywhere he went. You always followed closely behind, carrying your little bundle of love, just like you did the day he lost you…

Mikey hated how clearly he remembered it. It had been absolute chaos. They never had a chance. Leo had told him to bring April and the Fugetoid, all making sure nothing happened to you. You, Mikey’s girlfriend, who had been in the second stage of your first pregnancy. You, the only woman that Mikey had ever loved. You, the only person who was willing to let him think of something, other than his horrible war of a family feud, and his so-called destiny. You, the love of his life, and the only reason Mikey has seen a reason to fight in the first place…

Mikey had lingered for too long. That’s at least what he told himself. He should just have done as Leo had said, and gotten you out of the building. He should never had hesitated. If he hadn’t, then maybe you wouldn’t have been caught in the explosion. Then maybe you, April… and the kid would still have been alive.

Mikey still remembered how strangely numb he had been when he woke up from the explosion. His body ached all over, but it was as if he felt nothing. You were all gone. There was no way any of you could have survived that explosion. Leo, the Fugetoid, Casey, April, you… and them. That was what Mikey referred to the long lost life as - them. Giving them a name would just slowly kill him over time, making everything harder than it needed to be. Almost as hard as it was so leave the ruins of your grave, without trying to look for your body. But as much as Mikey wanted to stay and look for you, he had to leave for the last family he had left, before they too were gone.

But like always, he was too late for that too. Donnie and Master Splinter was already far gone when he made it to Japan. That was Mikey’s breaking point, and the first time he wished to end his suffering. Everyone was gone. His friends, his brothers, his father, the love of his life and his unborn child. Mikey was angry. Not just at the world around him, but himself. He could just have stayed with the two of you. He could have found you and laid you to rest. Giving you, his brother, his friends and his child a proper burial. But he didn’t, and he hated himself for it.

Mikey hated himself everyday. He hated himself for not being able to protect you, and he hated himself for not taking care of you. And taking care of his own damn child. As he forced himself through the snow of the Japanese mountains, as he trained under Master Yip, when he momentarily went blind in Mongolia, and when he had to fight for his life in Ukraine, before finally defeating Death Worm in Italy, all Mikey could do was think about you and how hate himself. But soon he learned that there was only one way to make up for his mistakes. Revenge. Revenge for all that had been done to his family. Oroku Hiroto would have to feel the pain that Mikey had been feeling for the past 16 years. And that was what Mikey came to New York for. Revenging all of his family, especially the one that didn’t even have a name.

But as it has happened so many times, Mikey’s plans did not go as he intended. His first assault on Oroku Hiroto was a failure to put it frankly, leaving him wounded as he had to retreat to the sewers he once called his home. Here he intended to do what any honorable ninja would do - take his own life before the enemy could get him. But then, for the first time in 16 years, life had better plans for him, the universe deciding to keep him alive once more. Mikey’s wounds were so great, that he passed out of blood loss before any harm could be done to him. That was when Casey Marie found him, calling out for her mother, telling her to help.

Mikey woke up in a warm bed a few hours later. Confused, he scanned his surroundings, wondering if he was dead. It looked like the lair - his old home. But then he saw April, and for the first time the world shone a light upon him. April, his dearest friend, was alive. In all these years, she had been alive. He learned that she was not alone. Her daughter was there too.

“Is it just you and your daughter down here?”, Mikey asked as he slowly swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

“No”, April answered calmly, a smile spreading over her face. “We do live with two others. I really think you should meet them, Michelangelo. Right now they’re out in the sewers, looking for stuff to bargain with on the Black Market, but I think they could be home any time soon”.

And as if April’s words were magical, distant clatter of metal could be heard, alerting them to people entering the lair.

“Aunt April!”, the voice of a young man yelled, the volume of his voice getting stronger as he approached the room. Then he barged in, proudly holding up something in his hand. It looked like a little metal lump with wires sticking out all over the place. “See what I found! Can you believe it?! Someone just dropped this into the sewer! Don’t they know how much this is worth?! Idiots! Imagine the comic books I can get out of Tinker with this! I can finish father’s old collection!”

Mikey froze at the sight of the boy. It was not his impressive height he had for a teenager, nor the muscles on his arms that shocked Michelangelo, but it was the color of the boy's skin. It was green. Light green to be specific. Mikey’s eyes wandered over him, taking him in, ignoring the growing smile on April’s lips, or how the boy suddenly seemed to notice the large turtle’s presence in the room. Mikey’s mouth was dry as he saw the three slender fingers on his hands, his lack of hair, the outline of what looked like a plastron on his front, and the unmistakable shell-like shape on his back. And his eyes, strangely recognizable.

The boy’s hand fell to his side, the metallic object suddenly not seeming interesting anymore. His eyes wide as he took the stranger sitting on the bed. Mikey in turn just stared. The two of them looking with their mouths agasp.

“Yoshi”, a voice sounded out in the hallway, breaking the silence. Mikey’s heart almost stopped. He knew that voice. It was the voice he had longed for so long. The voice he had blamed himself for silencing. Yet there it was. Just outside the door. “Be nice to your aunt. She might be working…”

You froze in the doorway. Mikey almost broke down. It was the face he had forced himself to look away from for 16 years. The face of the silent woman that used to carry a baby around wherever he traveled. You looked older, but still as beautiful as the day he first met you. Your eyes sparkling with the same light he fell in love with, all those years ago.

“Mikey?” you whispered, holding back a sop as your eyes began to water. The mentioning of his name caused the boy’s eyes to flicker.

Mikey could only nod, feeling his heart pump his blood so fast that he was starting to get dizzy. You ran to him, hugging him tighter than you ever had before. His hands tightened around you, his throat knotting up, making him fight for air. He buried his face against the crock of your neck, feeling all of your muscles move as you sobbed against him. You cradled his head against you, holding him against you, tracing his head, shell, shoulders and arms.

“I’ve missed you so much, Mikey”, you sobbed, bringing his head up to look at you, before placing a quick kiss on his lips. That was what broke him. He returned your quick kiss with urgency before he broke down in tears, hiding his face against you once more. 16 years of fear and pain finally boiled over, Mikey could finally let it go. At least for a short while. He almost clawed at your clothes in order to get you closer to him. It was as if no physical connection was enough.

“I’ve missed you too, (Y/N)”, he choked out, letting the tears fall as your comforting hands made shapes on his skin.

“Mom?”

Still holding on to Mikey, you turned to look at the boy. The poor guy looked so confused, but Mikey had a feeling. The boy most likely also had. Both of them just waiting for her to confirm what they had already guessed.

“Yoshi, sweetheart”, you said, wiping a tear away, before reaching out a hand to him. “Come and say hello to your father”.

Neither Yoshi or Mikey said a word, staring at each other as he made his way over to you. April wiped one of her own tears away, before she left the room with a smile, closing the door behind her. It was time for the three of you to catch up.

You slowly moved out of the way, letting Yoshi stand in front of Mikey. None of them knew what to say. All they could do was look at each other, trying to calm their erratic breathing. Then suddenly, Yoshi launched forward, wrapping his arms around his father in a tight embrace, the tears rolling down his face. Mikey hugged back immediately, finally getting a chance to hug the kid he thought he had lost.

“I’m sorry, Yoshi”, Mikey choked out, trying his best to keep calm. “I’m sorry I couldn't take care of you and your mother”.

“It’s okay, dad”, Yoshi said, smiling even though his eyes were overflowing and his body was shaking. “I took care of her while you were gone”.

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faetaiity · 1 year

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my brain somehow decided that I need to use the rest of my active braincells to do this, Hyperfixations are wild when you write, man. I also feel like I need to explain this because I overthink

Basically, what's about to go down in this post: Adult! Platonic/Familial Yandere! 1987, 2003, 2012, Bayverse and Last ronin! TMNT x Male! ROTTMNT! Reader (With slight Familial Yandere! from them for the Rise! Turtles)

the ages are mostly bullshit/made up in this ig except for Ronin! Michelangelo because he's canonically 31 or older

Reader is the same age as ROTTMNT! Michelangelo (Birthyear: 2005)

This is set during 2020, a few months after the Kraang Invasion. (The ROTTMNT ages are color-coded: 17, 16, 16, 15 and 15. every other iteration of the TMNT are implied to be 20-26, with an exception for Ronin! Michelangelo)

Why did I explain the premise? Because I want to make sure you guys understand. THIS. IS. NOT. ROMANTIC. and If I see anyone who adds more to this story or makes jokes about the OLDER turtles being attracted to the reader (Illegal due to Reader being a Minor.) or the ROTTMNT turtles (Illegal due to the Rise! Turtles being minors and being related to them.), you're getting blocked. no questions.

Minor Notes: While this is platonic, I understand if someone misinterprets some of the HC's due to the fact that each family is different with affection, some (like mine) make me feel guilty if I don't cuddle/hug them, some of this is inspired by my own family, Familial yandere writers (or at least me lol) tend to make stories relate to their own experiences with their family, If you read this and complain that it has 'romantic' aspects (which, affection isn't even exclusively romantic what??), I'm going to get a little mad since this is my experience with family, lol.

TW/CW: minor(?) Spoilers for The Last Ronin, Kidnapping, Abuse (Physically and mentally from 'Punishments'), manipulation, guilt tripping, possible gaslighting(?), Implied Murder, Infantilization, Stalking, Mentions of Panic attacks, stress tics (scratching/clawing at the skin), Yandere Behavior, Obsessive/Possessive Behavior, Extreme Overprotective behavior, OOC Older TMNT Iterations (Specifically 1987! and Bayverse!), Forced Affection, Surprise Adoption from the older versions of your best friends, mentions of Scars, missing limbs and Trauma from Rise! Shredder and Rise! Kraang (reader is mentioned to have scars and a missing eye) (Yeah that's long as shit because this post is probably gonna be long as shit)

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On a scale from 1 to 10 my friends, you're FUCKED /ref

Now I'm gonna start off with you meeting them a specific way and branch out to more options down the line.

Donnie ended up making a machine that COULD send someone or an object across to a separate universe if he was correct.

Unfortunately, you ended up getting sucked up into the Machine-Made portal due to being close to it

To make this easier on my brain, let's say the other iterations of the turtles are already together, through a similar device that was used by the Kraang/Utroms

And your dumbass landed right in the middle of a huge argument between Ronin! Michelangelo and 2003! Raphael

Everyone freezes, including you, they LOOK like your best friends but are clearly not, there's differences between them and your friends, height is a big noticeable difference that tips you off.

Weapons are drawn almost instantaneously, multiple different sets of Katanas, Nun chucks, and Sai's are pointed at you

And oddly, just as quickly as they raised their weapons, they put them back down

In their minds, they quickly draw together than you're unarmed and a lot younger than they are

You get up on your legs, unsure of how to respond to them, you remember the photos of you and your turtles on your phone

You slowly pull out your phone, knowing they could mistake it for a weapon, you scroll through your phone until you find the photo of you, Donnie and Leo in Run of the Mill Pizza, they calm down at the sight of it

They sheathed their weapons, studying your body warily, you feel weirded out at the fact that they haven't said anything; you could understand that behavior from Donnie or Raph, but not the other two

You swallow your nervousness and shakily say "I'm [Y/N]"

You notice one of the Michelangelo's runs right up to you, clearly excited at the Idea of someone from another universe that isn't in theirs

He noticed your eyepatch as soon as he gets up to your face and winces "Jeez, what happened to your eye?" he blurts out, Surprisingly, Leo smacks upside the head, Mikey mutters out a small apology, you laugh softly, not taking offense to it

They all introduce themselves with the year they're from and their age, you immediately notice all of them are adults

They're already wincing at your scars from life-threatening injuries and clearly injured or missing eye, but they just kind of.... freeze when you say "Wow! You guys are a lot older than My versions of y'all!"

They stay quiet for a second before you embarrassedly mumble out: "Oh... I'm sorry, that was rude of me" you avert your eyes

2012! Leo is the first one to speak "No... Offense taken; we were just caught off guard.... how old are you and your versions of us?" "Oh! Well Raph's 17, Leo and Donnie are 16, Me and Mikey are 15"

Silence, before Bayverse! Raphael bursts out laughing "I'M THE OLDEST?!" clearly, he's happy at that, and so are the other Raphs, apparently, since you can see their smirks at their respective Leos, who frown

You nod nervously, his volume scaring you slightly, He noticed you flinching and quiets down

Your age kind of takes a minute for them to process, considering your scars made them assume you're a little older, they end up asking you when you got the scars

"Oh! The giant scar is from the Shredder, the missing eye and the other smaller scars are from the kraang!" you breathed out for a few seconds, calming yourself down from remembering those unhappy situations "I got the big one when I was 13, everything else happened a few months ago."

They all.... look at you in a weird manner, it was a mix of pure anger, pity, and.... self-loathing, oddly enough? "Ah, I'm sorry if I reminded you guys of any..... unhappy situations..." you shyly said, they stayed quiet, feeling uncomfortable with the stares, you changed the subject "I need to be able to get back home! Donnie's probably freaking the absolute fuck out by now"

Ronin! Michelangelo takes initiative to tell you that you are welcome here as long as it takes, the others nod, you thank them all profusely

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It scares all of them over the next few weeks when you'd tell them stories about your adventures, they've come to understand that, well, in a blunt way, you and their younger counterparts clearly aren't able to take care of yourselves

And they've actually come to loathe Rise! Splinter, they've come to understand that their dad wasn't the best, but it makes their blood boil at how badly it can be for you and the Rise! Turtles.

Even they didn't fight the Shredder at that age!

However, they do feel a little better knowing you five defeated him, but not by much considering how close you all were to dying

especially you.

I'm gonna be honest, there is three ways it can go when your friends come to bring you back to your Universe

1: The other iterations come back with you guys, being delusional in the fact that you guys can't take care of yourselves

2: They don't let you go back with them, and they tell the Rise! Turtles to leave (This would be most likely if you share unfavorable stories of the Turtles, while forgetting to add where you guys talk it out or the reason why it happened, they become very attached to you specifically in the few weeks they've known you!)

3: (This is the one we will be explaining in this Post) They keep all of you in the Universe that you fell into. (This is the one most likely to occur due to ROTTMNT! Reader and Turtles are injured severely from the Kraang Invasion)

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It is not a good time for the first few weeks, You and your best friends fight tooth and nail at every point through them keeping you guys

They're beyond delusional, chalking it up to teenage rebellion and the nature of the Rise! Turtles

You five end up being locked up in a room, a few hidden cameras being placed in there

y'all aren't allowed out usually (and NEVER out of the lair) since to the Older! Turtles, you five are ungrateful brats who can't think for themselves

You and Mikey are babied, you two are the youngest and have been through so much!

It's suffocating

They always want to be near you, because in their words "You're the one who needs protection the most"

Donnie is allowed keep his battle shell due to the nature of his species (Also because they don't know about all the weaponry in it)

There isn't much room for escape, almost none, actually

17 Adult Mutant Ninja Turtles guarding the lair, at least 2 home at all times?

yeah, good luck, even Rise! Donnie is stumped.

In order of Importance (Most to Least) It's You and Mikey, Leo, Donnie and then Raph

Donnie and Raph are mostly ignored because they suffered the least number of injuries, and they're the oldest.

Previous Leos don't approve of yours, saying he's not Mature or Serious enough, often taking him for training/sparring

Don't let that fool you, your Leo has come back in worse shape than he was to begin with, often coming back trying to hide his tears, you guys stopped letting him go with them once it was found that his shell was starting to crack more. I wonder why

Donnie comes up with a plan to escape with Raph to regroup and find out how to get back home

and, to their credit, they manage to leave the lair, about 15 minutes later, Ronin! Mikey comes in, once he sees they're gone, he starts breaking objects in the room and yells at You, Mikey and Leo.

The others quickly come in and try to pull Ronin! Mikey away, which he resists until he sees you having a panic attack, Rise! Mikey trying to console you and Rise! Leo in a defensive position, around you

He leaves the room and announces that he's going to find them, some of the other turtles try to get near you to comfort you but Leo isn't letting it happen, he actually tries to attack one of them, making them back off

Oh, Raph and Donnie are fucked, by the way.

Now, Lemme tell you WHY you never want a Yandere! Ronin! Mikey hunting you down

He's the oldest, the most skilled and canonically in the books, the mutagen that is still in his system makes him stronger, bigger and more durable, plus the trauma of losing his brothers has made this situation strike a nerve with him.

he could probably break Rise! Raph's leg

Which he does.

About an hour or two later, he comes back with them, they're both knocked out, Raph's leg is bent unnaturally, and Donnie's Battle shell is ripped to shreds and he has bruises all over him.

Ronin! Mikey comes in and throws them back into the room, Donnie's battle shell in his hands "Found out the main reason why he wanted that damn thing to stay on his back." he stated bluntly, pointing at the drone wings and the spider-like claws, giving it to 2003! Donnie, who marvels at it

You're picked up by one of them, Rise! Leo starts freaking out and trying to get you away from them, until someone else enters the room and keeps him away until you're out

You're placed in a separate room, fearing that they're going to hurt you, you try to cover your head, curling into a fetal position, separation anxiety already kicking in due to the circumstances.

You feel someone rub your back reassuringly, making you cry and hyperventilate more.

"Hey, hey, you're okay, nobody's going to do anything to you" you whimper as you hear 1987! Raph attempt to calm you down

he tells you that you being taken away is the Rise! Turtles' punishment, and that nothing is going to happen to you

"What about My friends?" you sob out, he doesn't respond, he just pulls you close to him and hugs you; you try to pull away only to hear him say "I'm trying to make you feel BETTER, stop resisting! don't you know how much effort we're putting in to help you five out?! To take care of you guys?!" his yelling makes you stiffen, allowing him to pull you back closer to him.

I'm gonna be honest, you get the least severe punishments compared to your turtle friends, you're weak, regardless of if you're human or mutated (Mostly because the mutagen hasn't improved your strength as much as it did theirs yet.), you're WEAK.

They could, especially Ronin! Mikey, end up KILLING you if they gave you the same punishments.

Very few mutations would even get the harsher punishments anyways, all of them being Reptilian or large Mammalians.

Humans, Insect mutants, Bird Mutants and other mutants that could get hurt easier due to their physiology get special treatment.

At worst your punishments leave you with shallow claw marks, maybe a fractured bone or two (This one was unintentional, though, just a testament to how much stronger they are compared to you.), bruises and panic attacks from separation.

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Awfully enough, they try to separate you from your friends on a regular basis

Saying your Raph might get a rage fit and hurt you, or your Mikey accidentally getting too excited and hurting you

Any excuse they can pull out of their ass to keep you away from them

They don't tell them where they keep you, of course

It's mostly in Donnie's lab though, where you spend time with them

Rise! Donnie isn't allowed in there because that's where they keep the Rise! Turtles' mystic weapons (Mainly studying them)

The only reason why you're never permanently kept from the Rise! Turtles is because you have panic attacks from being away from them, the Turtles also get hyper confrontational, even more so than usual when you're gone.

You always get returned by the end of the day.

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Now, let's go onto say that you guys ACTUALLY managed to escape back to your universe through a sheer stroke of luck.

Staying that way is gonna be hard.

Donnie immediately destroys the portal, but that doesn't mean the others can't build their own

Depending on if you move to another part of the sewer again, is how likely you are to stay uncaptured

If you guys stay at the same spot, they'll find y'all in another few months

if y'all move maybe they won't find you guys.

Staying? They're going to find you guys in as little as a few weeks, but they won't immediately grab you guys

They stalk you five, they're delusional and try to rationalize why you five left.

Staying might be the initial response, you five come back down, hoping to see Splinter, but you just see those 17 figures, some covered in blood

"What did you do, WHAT DID YOU DO?!" your Leo would sob out, assuming the worst

All you five get back are cold stares

Instead of taking you back to the other universe, they stay here and keep you locked in your own home.

But they make sure that y'all can't leave for a while.

The turtles get broken bones, and you get a shock collar

If you think they were bad before, you haven't seen shit

They're always around you five now, never letting any of you out of their sight.

It's hell.

It's pure torture.

and they're never letting you guys go.

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I didn't go into as much detail as I would've liked, maybe this will be like a series idk??

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gaslightgatekeepgirlbosscombat · 7 months

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Group C, Round 3, Poll 4:

Propaganda under the cut

P.I.X.A.L. Borg aka Samurai X

She gaslit Nya into thinking Ronin or Skylor we’re Samurai X, gatekeeped by protecting the monastery from several threats (including a literal Kaiju), and girlbossed constantly (See: the entirety of Ninjago Confidential)

Ty Betteridge

he just, oh boy. so he’s top of the “compound”, a group that does experiments involving killing and torturing people, and (spoiler for end of last season) he recently made a “deal” where the protagonist’s group was forced to agree to do whatever he says without question or resistance (girlboss). as the leader of the compound, he has access to time-travel and related technologies, and he uses the promise of access to these to get people to do what he wants (gatekeep). and throughout all of this, he acts like he’s really their friend and is being so kind and generous by doing all these things (gaslight). also not exactly gaslighting but at least gaslight-adjacent imo, if someone isn’t acting the way he wants he can and will replace them with a duplicate who’s more to his liking, and the other characters may or may not be able to tell the difference.

#round 3 #group c #ninjago #lego ninjago #pixal ninjago #pixal borg #Ty Betteridge #Woe.Begone #Woe Begone

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love-killed-the-superstar · 3 months

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The Last Ronin 2: Re-Evolution Issue #1 LIVEBLOG

SPOILERS ABOUND. I'M NOT GOING TO BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS IT'LL PROBABLY GET SUPER LONG

Okay so Casey Marie's muscles are something I'm never going to get over. SHE LOOKS GOOD!!!!! Her getup is feeling a little too reminiscent of a cape-wielding superhero for my tastes to be honest - I really loved the more practical outfits she wore in TLR Lost Years, especially in issue 4 when she was running the training mission for the kids. But ah well, I'm sure this will grow on me. It may not be practical (edna's law of no capes is coming to mind, also PLEASE TIE YOUR HAIR UP WHEN YOU'RE FIGHTING GIRL!!!) but it's very cunty anyway which I appreciate

Straight up thought she killed this guy - what was that sound effect if he's still able to walk??? I fr thought she snapped his neck

IDK if we needed a whole 8 pages of punching and kicking to exposition dump what we kinda already knew from what's been shown in the lost years (esp the lost day special) but IT'S FINE IG... NOW ONTO THE BABIES

SORRY, SORRY. TEENAGERS NOW.

GIGGLING KICKING MY FEET. We're ALREADY getting the leo-v-raph adjacent dynamic with these two and I'm living for it. if one of them drops a stone cold 'fearless leader' jab i will lose my shit

HI? HELLO, EXCUSE ME, MIND-TALKING? PICTURES IN HEAD? ARE WE A FAMILY THAT LUCID DREAMS OR SOMETHING?!?? I DON'T REMEMBER THIS BEING SOMETHING THEY COULD DO?? every new speech bubble here is like a punch to the gut, wdym telepathy wdym secret lair wdym honouring everything master splinter taught you???? (although i'm proud that when this panel dropped on news sites i was immediately like THAT ISN'T THE KITCHEN FROM LOST YEARS. turns out it was a Secret Lair TM)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Seance -- TURTLES COUNT IT OFF!!

not gonna screenshot the whole backstory but they're basically doing a telepathic puppet show explaining the backstory and it's pretty much the mirage origins with a bit of extra tlr flair. as always it HURTS ME seeing the turtles dying so thanks for that tlr2 :'')) icb these kids watch a mind movie of their uncles dying every fucking night. yall are messy

SOBBING AND CRYING,, I WISH YOU'D ALL HAD THE CHANCE TO KNOW HIM TOO!!!!!! I WISH YOU'D GOTTEN TO KNOW ALL OF THEM!!!!! (tlr splinter doesnt count tho because hes a dick)

there was a cool sequence of them rooftop hopping n stuff but i wont cover it bc we already saw it in a bunch of news articles weeks ago

i just did the SHARPEST INHALE. casey marie you and your beautiful muscular arms have aged like the finest wine

YI NO!!!!!

lmaooo moja is JUDGING your taste in women u two

lots of text... blah blah blah jobs, crimerates, blah blah... jiro in pig uniform jumpscare.. casey marie i thought u were going to fix him :(((

YESSSSS KIDS ARE GOING ON A MISSION WITH THEIR MOM, LETS FUCKING GOOOOO

MY BABIES ARE KICKING ASS!!!!!

....,.HUH

WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY BABY BOY ODIE!!!!!!!!!!! WHO DID THIS TO HIM!!!!!!???? WHAT??!???? HUH/1?!!? EXCUSE ME????

I'M . LIKE WHAT DO I EVEN SAY TO THIS. IT CAME OUT OF NOWHERE??? WHAT IS GOING ON!!!

FINAL THOUGHTS:

dude that first issue was wordy but the kids were ON POINT. they were so fun!! their dialogue is fun and they kick ass.

i loved yi announcing the punishment for casey while the others were like NOO SHE DIDNT MEAN THAT DONT LISTEN TO HER. we're getting more of their personalities and it's great!! it was a nice throwback to issue 2 of lost years when they were cleaning - yi refused to help because of how strictly she was following instructions. im picking up that she might be neurodivergent but i did get that from the lost years too - only doing things within strict instructions, getting frustrated at teaching odyn chess, not because of him playing horseys with the knights but that it was Against The Rules Of Chess - and now not picking up on some social cues. It's nice to see!! I love her very much, but it feels like besides rehashing the origin story she took a bit of a backseat to the other three.

i want to know more about why uno said being a rebel was moja's 'thing', since she didn't seem to be any more rebellious than the other three in this issue. we didn't get any unique interactions between her and casey marie which is what i felt was lacking from lost years but i wonder if this is hinting towards a more turbulent mother-daughter dynamic with them... I REALLY HOPE SO!! her and uno butting heads in a leo-raph way is very fun - i don't mind one or two prior group dynamics leaking into the new turtle siblings because they're all so different from the original 4.

uno seems to be taking on slightly more of a leader role than moja so i think he won the title of fearless leader. which is fine, i think it'll be fun to see and he's definitely less of an asshole now than when he was growing up in lost years. still picking on odyn a bit but seems to snipe at moja just as much. even when he was commenting on yi's storytelling he didn't make fun of her, though - i think she may have inherited the 2k3 don ability of being Completely Unbullyable.

i was really pleased that odyn felt more involved!! i feel like he took the backseat a few times in lost years - it was fun seeing more of his personality shine through! he and yi seem to get on the best, and i giggled at them rolling their eyes at moja and uno's raph-leo schtick. i didn't expect him to TURN TO FUCKING STONE THOUGH, so i'm nervous about that. WHAT DOES IT MEAN? WHO DID THIS TO MY BOY? IS HE GOING TO TURN BACK NEXT CHAPTER OR IS HE OUT OF COMMISSION UNTIL THE END OF THE RUN??? (if it's the latter i'll be a bit annoyed - don't take odyn away from the equation please!!)

I do wonder if by introducing casually that they can PSYCHICALLY CONNECT, the turtles will use that as a technique to reach odyn's mind to make sure he's still in there and piece together what's happened to him. i mean, their casual telepathy has gotta be some sort of chekhov's gun right?

and shit.... april was so fucking mad casey took the babies out so she's going to EXPLODE when she finds out what happened to her baby boy, her beloved favourite, her baby odyn :''(( im giggling rubbing my hands together waiting for the fallout but also if she cries i might cry too. speaking of april, she seems to be working on a new project and i saw nano particles mentioned - are we going to have a roninverse version of nano in this run???? I NEED MY ROBOT SON

as always, casey marie... u have aged like fine wine. u are stunning. disappointed that ur still believing that jiro can do good as a cop when their entire police force and government is corrupt as fuck. just feels very naive of her. i'm excited to see her break down at the concept of losing odyn - in fact i need everyone to mourn this beautiful kid. they tell us so much that shes a super clingy helicopter mom and i am picking up on the strict part, but it would be nice to see more of her just... hugging her kids. holding them. i get why she didnt in this issue but id love more mama casey squishing their cheeks and kissing their foreheads.

i have zero fucking clue what's going on with odyn. im wondering if it's somehow related to nano, or to whatever project April is working on - she says it's to do with clearing the tunnels, but I''m not convinced. who knows, there might be some ulterior motive happening.

Anyway, that's the end of my liveblog!! thanks for reading all the way to the end... go read it wherever you read ur comics!!!

#the last ronin #the last ronin 2 #the last ronin 2 spoilers #tlr #tlr2 spoilers

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whyamiheretumbled · 5 months

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TMNT Smarts(Spoilers for IDW!)

@smudged-kaleidoscopeThis part will be about TMNT and how the fandom and creators view their smarts! And how it can be extremely weird..

Everyone assumes that Raph is genuinely too rash and reckless to make good decisions.now,Raph is reckless and easily stressed(even in 1987 or Rise), but that doesent mean he's stupid compared to Leo, which a lot of ppl *seem* to think

Raph is protective of his brothers, and is constantly shown that they shouldn't follow his behaviour(Seen when Leo allows Karai to enter the Turtle's car in 2012,the Pizza Puffs ep of 2018,or even in 2003,City at War!)

While he IS reckless, it seems he really wants his brothers to just stay on the damn task and get the job done. Not to mention, he tries to keep them safe. While he can be irrational, that doesent mean he wants to watch them follow his behaviour(2003 Raph says, "I hate when Leo starts reminding me of myself",not a direct quote)

Raph's smarts are less analytical focused and way more SURVIVAL focused, which actually brings us to Mikey <3

First of all, Mikey has never been a baby. In mirage, his anger and violence actually rivaled Raph's,Dr.Feelings and Delicate Touch both exist, in 2012 Mikey straight up punched someone hard enough to break their nose, hell, he threw a couch out of a window.

Mikey is constantly underestimated due to his baby face, gullible tendecies, empathy, etc, bcuz adding on to being genuinely the youngest, he is ALSO the most optimistic out of his brothers, and the one who understands emotions the best

Mikey is typically street smarts, or emotional smarts, seen in Mutant Mayhem with his Improv Club, or seen in 2003 where he instantly gets along with kids, or 2012 and the whole Acne episode

Mikey isn't stupid by any means. Sure, he may not pay attention or have a difficult time understanding stuff, but even in Bayverse he's shown to have smart moments. Unfortunately,due to his silly persona,he is constantly downplayed(Though The Last Ronin shows what happens when Mikey needs to focus because he's lost everything)

If Mikey had more motivation, say for example, being tricked into sex and having babies(mirage),he would probably try to be way smarter. But either way, it's constantly shown he picks things up easily and can think quickly! 2012 and Rise are both great examples <3,as well as moments in 2003

Now, we all know Donnie is smart. That's his big thing, his smarts. But he's his own special kind. He uses his own pros to his advantage, and while this can also slow him down due to not wanting to change his ways, this can also help him!

Seen in IDW, Donnie uses his flaw of ignoring Leo's orders and his pros of his tech to trick the Shredder, I won't go in full detail, but it comes at a price.

Anyways, Donnie is shown to havequick thinking at least, when he can anyalze a situation. He is actually VERY reckless, seen in 2003 building missiles into his car, or 2012 going on a killing rampage.

When he can't anyalze something, he jumps into it.Unlike Mikey, he lacks the ability to quickly access a situation, but he gains the abilities unlike his brothers to quickly map out a plan using logic,common sense, and his brain

Now Donnie had his dumb moments, because he DOESENT WANT TO ACCEPT THAT OTHER PEOPLE CAN BE RIGHT. you may think no, he wants to listen to others, but being so smart he sometimes thinks he's better than other people and superior,shown in multiple iterations, highlighting Rise, 2012,1987,and IDW.

Donnie's smarts run way deeper than knowing mathematics and engineering and etc, they stem into being able to study a problem and find out an efficent way to solve if, unfortunately,he doesent always want to realise he's allowed to need or want second opinions...

Leo's will be very short. He is a analytical and strategic thinker. He maps out plans, focuses on the battlefield, uses people like chess peices, highlighting in 2012 and Rise. I'll go deeper another day(that's what she said)

AHEM. Now, people constantly assume because Leo's brothers aren't the same type of thinker he is,that they're not smart. They're easily stubborn, can be tricked, not fully access a situation, doubt themselves, etc...

But Leo struggles with many of these things, the narrative is just pushed to make it seem like he's always in the right, however, he does almost always go through character development(at the cost of his childhood)

Leo is can be emotionally stunted, act manipulative(seen in 2003),jist be plain rude(2012),because he's leader/strategic,and wonders why no one would listen to him.

If he allowed his brothers to have input,it would be beneficial for the four of them, as they all contain qualities needed to make good plans.,and are all smart,and while I hate this saying, they're smart in their own way.

Mikey can answer philosophical questions, he doesent have the general care for others or his own regard like Raph generally does, Raph has survival skills but doesent know when to be calm, etc etc

#tmnt #Anyalzying characters #All iterations #Rottmnt #TMNT 2012 #Bayverse #TMNT 2003 #Mirage #IDW #I got tired of tagging

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toitlechaos · 9 months

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Now that I have FINALLY SEEN Mutant Mayhem, thoroughly enjoyed it, and stopped vibrating at lightspeed in excitement.

I would like to share the turt gear I made for mineself to watch the movie in, during the month long wait, for anyone whomst may find it interesting.

Also, may I say thankyou to the turtle fandom at large for being so conscientious about spoilers, as an Aussie fan, I really appreciated it.

Details for fellow weirdos under the cut ;)

So first item up on the roster, this ULTRA SOFT sideless tank

I went with the 2012 Hamato clan symbol (cause it's perty) in super soft-autism friendly-stretch applique.

The loose cowl neck is meant to evoke the last-surviours-club look (Casey Jr, Future!Leo, Ronin, ect.)

And I went with the sideless muscle tank, not only because it's comfy and i like the look, but because to me, it calls to mind the fact that the '03 boy's carapaces' and plastrons aren't connected, if their sides are squishy and vulnerable, then so should be mine.

NEXT my beloved sling bag

(which i actually made last year, but it was part of my movie-going ensemble so tckpbtblpfg)

You may note, the straps thickness, and the placement of the buckles, mimick 2012 Leo's sheath straps.

And I whipped up a quick and messy hanger charm of the '18 boys to replace its standard eye dango for the day.

And the masskkss

Stretchy material offcuts, bought from my fav fabric store (which happens to be within walking distance of flying bark studio headquarters NO IM STILL NOT OVER IT)

I couldn't figure out a good way to SEW sew these, so they're a no-sew sandwiched design, using mistyfuse and a see-through white mesh. I could've stood to make the eyes more dramatically shaped, but the mesh holds their shape and looks way less weird than actually being able to see your eyes.

They're all pretty soft and not horrendously uncomfortable pressed against one's eye sockets (Leo's is the softest by far tho) so you can wear 'em for long enough to jump around like a maniac without triggering too many sensory issues, Yay!

Long tail Mikey Mask and 'classic' Donnie mask where worn by the friends who accompanied me, other Mikey mask for a friend who had work that day.

The '18 Donnie mask went in all its eyebrow glory upon my wrist, in memorial of my friend who's overseas rn and I couldn't drag along.

Leo's was mine, and we didn't have a Raph, but I brought it with me anyway, cause im allergic to not having all four.

I'm somewhat frustrated I couldn't come up with an '87 inspired piece, but I'll work one out at some point.

My full 'fit for movie viewing was sick as, though you'll have to take my word for it, but needless to say it was Casey Sr inspired in sillouette and attitude.

If you've read this far, Why?

also Thank you, hope this was entertaining.

#mutant mayhem #tmnt 2012 #rottmnt #sewing #save rottmnt #i dont wanna tag spam this too hard #but i hope it reaches #all of the two people or so who might find it interesting #tmnt

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dangerous-advantage · 11 months

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why is usagi yoimbo so fucking good? (an analysis.)

usagi yojimbo is one of the most interesting, well-told, intelligent, heartfelt stories i have ever read. it's stories are nuanced and likable, supported by characters and relationships you root for.

it's simple, balanced, and when things get serious, you feel it.

and if anyone had recommended it to me, i probably wouldn't have read it.

(spoilers for usagi yojimbo: volume two; jizo. fair warning: this will probably go long.)

i picked up uyv2 on a whim. i wasn't really planning on reading it, and if i did, i didn't think i would particularly like it.

but it was related to my current hyperfixation (they didn't have 'the last ronin' in stock, which was what i was looking for), and it was a special day, so i thought, "fuck it, i'll buy this."

a couple days later, i finished it and immediately needed more. yada yada, tale as old as time.

but what exactly made it so good? a lot of people will get into media and be hooked by the very first installment. usagi yojimbo, for me, required a little bit of faith.

i started with uyv2: issue one, aka 'shades of green.' if you're a tmnt fan, this is a great jumping off point, because it lures you in with tmnt lore all while putting intrigue in your mind about what these other guys are doing, i guess.

there are callbacks to past comics that might interest you by creating a greater sense of lore and history. you'll find yourself eventually wandering back and maybe reading the next installment, just because.

this is very good, because the next installment following the shades of green arc (at least, in the usagi yojimbo saga: book one') are the "side stories," which will stick in your mind until your thoughts are overtaken by the funny rabbit guy, and you give in.

i love shades of green as much as the next guy, but damn, those side stories fuck. even if you didn't give a shit about the turtles and only read the stories (and maybe the origin tale), it is my belief that you would know basically everything you need to know.

jizo is what originally "hooked" me. in the og comics, it was a side story for the first part of the shades of green arc, which was ingenious, seeing as it's fucking amazing.

in my humble opinion, jizo is an example of sakai at his best. it's eight pages long with three panels per page, each following the same composition. its so simple, and yet, throughout my read-through of volume two, i found myself returning to it again and again.

it starts off with an image of a road, with a series of travelers passing by. a woman toting a small stone statue brings it to the edge of the road and starts on an iconic sakai infodump, with might disinterest some, but fully delighted my autistic mind!

(here she is, by the way.)

she explains (by talking to the statute) that said statue is a representation of 'jizo-sama,' "guardian of the souls of lost children. her son was murdered five days ago on this very road, and the ones responsible, a party of bandits, have not yet been caught.

her hope is that by praying to the statue, nobody else will suffer the same fate.

she also explains some lore-- that the souls of lost children are "doomed to pile stones in the dry river bed of souls." by offering pebbles at the statue's base, she hopes to ease her sons' burden.

she then leaves, noting a chill in the air, and promises to bring back a coat for the statue the following day, in order to keep it warm.

now, by all accounts, this is an example of bad storytelling. just info-dumping is uninteresting to the audience, and clunky. well, here we are reminded that actually, if your story is worth telling, nobody gives a shit if you commit "writing sins" (see 'lord of the rings' for more examples of this. yes, uy is good enough to be compared to lotr.)

but anyway, the day progresses. there are lots of fun details in these scenes --

--like this guy ^, who we meet/meet another person akin to later on in volume two (music from heaven). we also see a couple of people make offerings on their way past, which is nice (:

night falls, and with it comes-- holy shit-- its the funny rabbit guy again!

he's alone, just passing by. he doesn't even seem to notice the statue on the side of the road.

we then get some of my all-time favorite uy panels, and a perfectly-executed scene showcasing some of usagi's core beliefs and character.

so the bandits (yes, those bandits) attack. and usagi five-v-one's them. the guards come, clean things up, etc etc. more usagi characterization shines through. and usagi leaves.

all the while, jizo-sama observes.

but wait. if you're anything like me, you might notice a small detail between in two frames.

that's right-- the statue of jizo smiles. which could be creepy in any other context, but its only for a single panel, so you might assume it was just a quirk of the artwork on that one page.

but, no.

in the morning, the woman comes back.while wrapping the statute in a coat, she says, "huh? your expression has changed-- you look more at peace-- but that's impossible! isn't it?"

she ultimately decides not to worry about it, but does mention that it'll probably cause more people to be willing to give offerings as well. which leaves us with our final panel.

so. what exactly does jizo accomplish?

well, a lot of things. it sets up worldbuilding for the more 'mystical' side of uy, introduces us to sakai's ability to make you feel like you've been punched in the gut in a good way, and characterizes usagi using only eight of the twenty-four panels that make up this story. in which, he doesn't say a word.

but beyond that. why does this work so well?

for me, a part of it is the inversion of the idea of "fate." let me explain-- in a lot of stories like this, there's this underlying trope of the "chosen one" or that things will end up a certain way. while these stories aren't bad, i generally find myself uninterested in the idea of beings beyond our comprehension pulling the strings for characters that are "special."

these characters are chosen ones. they're supposed to know everything that will go down, because they're important. whether or not fate actually plays a part, you get this idea that they were always supposed to be 'chosen,' in some way or another.

uy doesn't do that. while there is some "meddling" implied, it's not because usagi is the specialest boy ever. he's just some guy making his way through japan while trying not to starve. just... figuring himself out.

in thise story, the only people who know the full extent of the narrative are ourselves and the statue of jizo. the woman shows no indication that she's heard of the bandits' capture, and for usagi, this is just another night.

it's meaningful because we get to see all these parts of the story come together, while knowing we are the only ones this is meant for. this isn't a grand story or some epic of old. it's just a small, intimate moment of retribution.

the gods-- or, in this case, jizo-sama-- doesn't care about heroism outside of this moment. it's left vague whether or not the statue or any being it represents put this moment into fruition. if anything, it could just be a coincidence, and the statue is smiling at in gratitude.

regardless, it feels so much more meaningful than if it had been done any other way. usagi is just a character traversing these lands, weaving in and out of stories, many he will never know the full extent of. and that feels real. genuine.

i do think that this changes a bit, later on in the comics, but this beginning sense-- that usagi is just travelling through a greater world, pulled this way and that for no particular reason (unless otherwise noted) is very refreshing for a series like this.

jizo does a lot of other stuff, too-- like that core characterization i mentioned above-- but this post is long enough. i wanted to get more into other aspects of why uy is so good, but there's just so much, and honestly, you should read it yourself if you haven't already to find out what. (at the very least, read jizo-- it's short, but very, very good.)

i might do more of these for the rest of uyv2 and how it hooked me, but for now, i this this works well enough to begin answering the question of why this series is so good.

(okay, i caved-- the core characterization is his unwillingness to fight unless it's necessary. now, go read jizo!)

#tw blood #blood #yes btw that is leonardo #another win for the leosagi community /lh #long post #tw long post #analysis #my writing #my analysis #usagi yojimbo #uy #undescribed #i was gonna do an entire thing but like.... maybe some other time.#i have stuff i should be doing instead lmao (though this was fun)#less picture this time guys i'm sorry #i just didn't want to bog it down with stuff i felt it didnt need #unedited #sorry about that but i really should be writing my fic lmao

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undercoverwizardninjaturtle · 1 year

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As i lay with a very very hurt neck, my mind drifts to Casey as I usually do. I love Cassandra “Casey” and feel she is the Casey of the show. It was always her role and it’s who she is. Not to say I don’t love Future Casey. He’s a treasure and I adore him. And I realized something when trying to figure out the Dichotomy of Casey’s

SPOILERS FOR LAST RONIN, MIRAGE COMICS, IDW and ROTTMNT

Casey isn’t Casey Jones in the sense that we think.

Cause Casey Jones from the comics has a kid.

Actually he had two kids in two separate timelines

Shadow Jones who was his adopted daughter and appeared in the Orignal Mirage

Casey Marie Jones his daughter for the Ronin Series

So it not only becomes a question of which Casey Future Casey is (My vote is on Shadow since I HC future Casey is adopted anyway] but also the new canon that both Cassandra and Casey are trans

#ronin spoilers #rottmnt spoilers #rottmnt #cassandra jones #casey jones #spoilers #last ronin #lgbt #we super gay #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtle headcanons #teenage mutant ninja turtles #seriously my neck is killing me someone come and end me #lgbt+

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fabuloustrash05 · 1 year

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Me coming to the realization that all of the turtle iterations basically have a body count and honestly- 2003 and or 2012 have the biggest body count and also finding out that in the original mirage comics they were literal cold blooded killers with the intention to kill Shredder and right before he died the turtles offered him to commit seppuku which is apparently the honorable samurai method of suicide and they were trained by Master Splinter exactly to kill him and they showed no mercy and they were completely ruthless, even including Mikey and Donnie who people consider the goofballs and literal angels in every TMNT iteration, which makes TMNT so much more darker and the fact that the turtles were actual killers before being some kind of heroes disturbs me be like:

I'm not kidding btw you can watch Court of source's video on it... My life is broken now...

Longtime fans of TMNT like myself already know this fact.

In the original Mirage comics, the turtles were intended to be very dark and gritty, hell, they kill Shredder in the first issue. Not to mention the IDW comics where Donnie is brutally beaten to death by Bebop and Rocksteady and dies. Eastman and Laird’s intention with TMNT was to take the most ridiculous concept ever and make it as dark and serious as possible.

Or recently with the entire Last Ronin comic series where all but one turtle is still alive (I’m not gonna say which turtle because that’s a spoiler), and he is on a journey to stop the Foot and avenge his brothers, Casey’s and his father’s death. At one point he even tries to commit suicide because he’s so depressed that he failed and his family is gone. That shit is dark and depressing.

So anyway, all of this is old news to me XD

#my-name-is-bunnyfoxy #asks #answered #tw sucide #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt mirage #tmnt IDW #tmnt the last ronin #the last ronin

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fa-dubu · 25 days

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hsr 2.2 braindump (spoilers included)

hope is a thing with wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

where did acheron fuck off to after she cut embryo aeon-emanator sunday down? i get that she accomplished what she set out to penacony for, but (and i can't even say 'leave without saying goodbye' bc she did lol) she couldn't even hang around for the post-boss battle celebrations?

love acheron. i get that on one hand she's hoyo milking raiden mei nostalgia and fondness but there's just something about an avatar of nihility that actually believes in trying. even if it's meaningless, even if everything leads to the same murky place, it's the attempt, it's the walking forward, it's the 'i was here, i dreamed, i loved, and i lived' that counts, however short-lived that momentary burst of life is.

'i was here and i fucking mattered'

fucking love this space ronin

especially in combination with the 2.0-2.2 theme of 'shining like a short-lived shooting star (or firefly)' vs 'following the tracks someone laid for you with your eyes closed'.

sure our lives might be tied to one track or another but the freedom lies in having the ability to choose - choose to leave the track, move to another, choose to come back

goddamn, misha was a non-entity for me for 2.0-2.1 though i knew something was up with him. didn't even notice the trailblaze tag on his tie until we see him for the first time in 2.2.

cycles and circles != it's meaningless.

firefly.... something something undertale screenshot 'in the end it's still you' something something 'you are filled with DETERMINATION'

i know her banner is coming up so i'm not TOO stressed about her status but.... *glances at misha and gallagher*

also gallagher. admittedly i dismissed him as manbait, but damn... the loyal hound character. unlike misha, i'm 30% the history fictionologist behind this lie is still alive; just that 'gallagher's' story ended

i love harmony!trailblazer's style so fucking much. not looking forward to building it though since i still want to save that energy for robin (pls come home)

black swan: "To use such a method to document the past is interesting. It reminds me of a Memokeeper who also loves to record their memories on the camera..." - hint that march was a memokeeper???

did march do something that crossed her path/fuli and had her memories removed as punishment? or did she do it to herself for some reason?

2.2 ended on the ultimate boss showdown but now penacony is suffering from a power vacuum: the ipc is coming to make moves while the ruling parties are still trying to sort out what the hell happened/who was responsible/who they can throw under the bus/who can consolidate power/who's taking over now.

without the Order keeping things forcibly smooth, the structure of the dreamscape is now insecure. like robin mentioned, dreamers are now at risk of dying in the dream.

and we don't know what the deal is with sparkle's doomsday buttons. i've seen people theorizing her whole deal is a red herring which is in line with elation M.O.

but she knew from 2.0 what was going on. her interactions with aventurine in 2.0 hinted that she knew something was up and that the people who knew the truth couldn't share it for whatever reason while she wouldn't share it bc aha(hahaha).

unless she was biding her time, waiting for the penacony power vacuum? with everything up in the air, elation has the opportunity to mess with multiple parties.

hope this isn't the last we see of acheron because i enjoyed the conversation she had with sam. i'd like to see her interact with firefly in the same capacity.

also i want to see acheron and black swan dance again. we womenlikers deserve such eyecandy.

"heads up!!!! the wheels are spinning across the plains in valleys deep to dawn! the wheels that sing an unending dream/ heads up!!! the tracks are running across the plains where shadows hide/ we run, we stride"

#honkai star rail #hsr spoilers #honkai star rail spoilers #still kinda hype about this patch after 2 days

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void-ink-studios · 1 year

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As mentioned in a previous post I reblogged, Meta Knight is most likely a ronin, or a warrior without a master. In the Incarnations AU, this is mostly true, as he technically isn’t sworn to King Dedede as a master, but does support and assists the king in most of his endeavors.

Relatedly, the crew of the Halberd, especially the Commanders, are not really his employees or subordinates, but more like followers. The ones who take care of the ship are paid well, and treated more as employees, but all showed some combat aptitude and are at least invested in Meta Knight’s causes.

However, his Meta-Knights? The ones in charge? They’re his found family. They’ve sworn loyalty to Meta Knight, both willing to kill and die for him, although he’d never ask that of them. They’ve trained together, fought together, and protect Popstar together as a unit. Meta has lived a very lonely life until he found love with Dedede and Popstar, but his Knights are his closest friends, aside from the King himself.

Likewise, it’s only fitting that I draw them properly! And give them a bit of backstory, but that’ll be its own post (spoiler alert, Meta has managed to surround himself with some of the most profoundly traumatized folks on Popstar, and by Void, they’re gonna bond together over it. Who needs therapy?)

Remember, if you like the art, be sure to reblog so others can see it too!

LORE UNDER THE CUT!!!!

A few more notes about them as a group:

There is a betting pool between the six of them as to the real nature of Meta Knight and King Dedede��s relationship. Are the blood brothers? Friends? Lovers? Rivals? They all have their own theories and are keeping an eye out for definitive proof one way or the other.

They all take turns with the group braincell, although Lance Knight, Trident Knight, and Sailor Dee have it most often. But each of them has moments of brilliance and clownery.

Now then, let’s get into some specifics, in order of when they joined the Meta-Knights!

Captain Vul: Besides Meta Knight himself, Captain Vul is the oldest of the Meta-Knights, and is the Halberd’s primary piolet and navigations officer. He was a former fighter piolet, a highly skilled one at that, before he was discharged from his group for reasons he doesn’t wish to discuss. He’s grumpy most of the time, and a coward on occasion, but he holds a great amount of respect, appreciation, and enthusiasm for the group, often taking a bit of a mentor or fatherly role to the others. He usually stays out of the fights but is capable of defending himself with whatever weapons are available, although he has a proficiency with firearms. He has the most experience out of all of the Meta-Knights in actual military style combat and is the best at managing all of the conflicting personalities and talents into one cohesive unit.

Trident Knight: The last member of a clan of monster hunters, Trident Knight is a beaten and wounded warrior. He is, to this day, the one citizen of Popstar to have ever disarmed Meta Knight in a duel. Trident Knight is the most serious of the Meta-Knights, his training making him perceptive and outwardly unexpressive. He is extremely intelligent in terms of environment and survival, as well extremely organized and able to compartmentalize information quickly under pressure. He doesn’t speak often and is much less bombastic than Mace or Axe Knight. He still feels phantom pains on his face around his scars, but he doesn’t like talking about it to anyone. He’s private, reserved, and doesn’t like touch all that much. He’s quick to call the others foolish, but also quick to rush to the defense of his new clan, especially Lance Knight. He maintains a quiet, but tender relationship with the robotic knight.

Mace Knight: A former unwilling gladiator, Mace Knight is both the largest and kindest of the Meta-Knights. He is a gentle giant at heart, with a love of music and flowers, and an openly expressive love for his comrades. Yet, despite this, he remains the only man on Popstar to have ever knocked Meta Knight down. His simple language and open nature might have him appear dim or unintelligent, but do not let that fool you. He is a surprisingly excellent tactician and has a knack for coming up with tricks and winning strategies on his feet. He’s incredibly strong, able to lift up any of the other knights, including the clunky metal Lance Knight and the hefty and brick wall Axe Knight. He’s often the one who tries to nurse the other’s injuries after a fight and is most quick to forgive. He is very openly affectionate to his love, Axe Knight, often following him in whatever shenanigans the smaller knight insists on.

Axe Knight: Once just a petty criminal, Axe Knight is considered to be the heart of the Meta-Knights. He’s the smallest, besides Sailor Dee, but he’s built like a brick wall, and remains the only person on Popstar Meta Knight can’t knock down. He’s the most chaotic of the group, with a love of tricks and pranks, all in good fun, of course. As the most emotionally intelligent of the group, he’s quick to pick up on when one of the group needs loosening up, and exactly how to achieve that. On the other side of that, he’s the first to notice when one of them is in desperate need of comfort or reassurance. They all have their demons, with different needs to handle them, and Axe Knight knows all of their routines forwards and backwards. He’s quite sensitive himself, quick to cry, and doesn’t deal with being yelled at very well. He loves the family he’s found himself, as that’s all he’s really wanted for his life, to be surrounded by friends he could call his family. He also managed to get a gentle giant of a boyfriend out of the arrangement, and he often likes to shower Mace Knight in affection and gifts.

Lance Knight: What was once a promising development in the field of robotics, Lance Knight was a prototype of an autonomous defensive droid meant to take down dangerous criminals without risking lives of living beings. He remains the only one on Popstar who has managed to get the drop on and surprise Meta Knight. He lived for several years in a junk yard after being harvested for scrap, but managed to repair himself with what he could find. He can’t walk more than a few feet on his legs, so he’s attached hover jets to himself, giving him a great amount of agility in the air. He cannot speak, only able to produce small beeps and clicks to communicate, but the other knights have been around him long enough to understand his unique language. He tries his best to be a moderate voice of reason amongst them all, and very rarely engages in the shenanigans the others might get up to. He is the ship’s inventor and engineer, as he is extremely tech-savvy and emphasizes precision above all. While he doesn’t grasp organic emotions very well, he knows his new prime directive is to protect his unit, and he understands that enough to know what love is, the love he feels for his comrades and for Trident Knight.

Sailor Dee: The youngest of the Meta-Knights, Sailor Dee, or just Saddie, is a hopeful young Waddle Dee who greatly admired the knights while growing up. He managed to impress both the crew and Meta Knight himself with his extensive knowledge of logistics, operations, and ability to spot flaws and gaps in the rest of the group’s knowledge. He was brought on as an apprentice to Captain Vul, who has taken an almost fatherly role to him. He’s very kind, if a bit nerdy and naïve. He’s determined to live up to his mentors, often nervously delivering his reports, but he’s opening up gradually. He often plays along with Kirby’s games, and is often the one who can get Kirby to do the responsible things while they lived abord the Halberd.

#kirby #kirby fanart #Kirby gijinka #kirby meta-knights #kirby captain vul #kirby trident knight #kirby mace knight #kirby ax knight #kirby lance knight #kirby sailor waddle dee #incarnations au #digital art #my art

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tblsomedoodles · 2 years

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If it isn’t much to ask. Could you give us more information about Casey and Aprils kids, more specifically there personality’s and maybe interest?(I tried to look online for Marie’s but found nothing)

And give me an excuse to break out my comic books? I'd love to!

Alright, I'm going to rant a bit about comic book cannon Casey Marie first since that's who Adopted au CM is based off of (that and she's great lol)

Casey Marie is April and Casey's daughter from a tmnt comic series called "The Last Ronin" (if she's in anything else, i do not know. This is where i know her from.)

(it's a fantastic, five volume series with gorgeous art and a great, yet tragic, story. Basic summary without spoilers is that 20+ years into the future, the foot clan has taken over and walled off NYC controling everyone inside. One of the turtle's mission is to break in to NYC and take down the head of the Foot clan, Shredder's grandson, even if it kills him. I don't want to say more than that but if you like to read comics please read it!)

anyways! This is Casey Marie Jones as she's first properly introduced.

In "The Last Ronin". Her age is a little unclear but if i had to guess she's somewhere in her late teens. She was born after her father died thus ended up named after him. She runs a small resistance against the Foot and grew up idolizing a group of ninja turtles she never had a chance to meet. She even tried teaching herself ninjutsu but ends up gaining the remaining turtle (name redacted for spoiler reasons) as a sensei upon him seeing said attempt and not being able to ignore the mistakes that could get her hurt.

(i wish i had some comic panels from this part but, alas, they are in the 1 ISSUE i do not own of his series. so instead have a picture of her being cool on the cover of the 5th issue, post haircut of course.)

Personality wise, she's pretty cool. she cares very deeply for her family and rebel group (Which may as well be her family as well.) Shes stubborn, doing what she thinks is right regarless of what she's been told, but also can have a bit of a temper.

She's also a bit of a jokester, often seen teasing Redacted (that's just what i'm calling him now) (which he has no idea how to handle. Teenagers confuse him lol)

(he looks so shocked/offended lol)

She and Redacted end up being pretty close, and he's very protective of her. She's their friends' only daughter, of course he would be. By the end they're practically family.

OK!

Now that i'm done ranting about Cannon Casey Marie (b/c she's great) i'll move on to what Adopted AU Casey Marie (and Jackie) are like!

Casey would definitely be fascinated by ninjutsu growing up, to the point of getting Angie to teach her the stuff he got taught and eventually getting to learn straight from Leo (which i stated before but eh. I can say it again.)

She'd be stubborn, confident, and ready to fight over anything she deems worthy of it (nothing gets her to start a fight faster than someone picking on her little sister.) She's tech smart like her mom but would rather fight than do tech stuff on the sidelines.

Jackie (i'm making this one up as i go so it might end up changing some) is a little more reserved than Casey, but not by much. Looking at the two together, you'd think she was the calm/shy one, but she's not. especially whenever she's playing a competitive sport. She inherited her dad's love of Hockey and turns into an absolute feral gremlin as soon as her skates hit the ice. (she plays other sports too, but Hockey is her main.) (she also looks the most like April. so she's just this little Red head running around with a hockey stick, which i find absolutely adorable.)She likes ninjutsu as well, but as more of a hobby while Casey thinks of it as a career goal.

I think both girls would like art as well, but mostly just see it as something to do with Angie.

thank you!

#asks #tmnt #rottmnt #adopted au #all images are from The Last Ronin comic series #i was going to put a break #but nah

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deadpool1763492 · 1 year

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin: The Lost Years #1 spoilers below the cut. Read at your own risk.

Edit: Just bought my physical copy yay me

Okay, I may or may not have ended up reading that issue in 10 minutes because I was so goddamn excited, so here are some of my initial notes from it following my first read through. I will be keeping images out of this post just because the issue was released less than half an hour after I'm writing this. Buy yourself a copy because this story is amazing!

1. "Get up, foolish child!"

So, this line came up a few times in this issue, namely from Splinter, who is saying it to Michelangelo in the midst of battle. It's interesting to see that he's calling Mikey foolish for not wanting to fight anymore.

I can't tell what I think about Master Splinter in this series. Yes, he reminds Mikey that he's not alone in this war and that he will always have his family by his side, but he also says things like, "This is what I have trained you for all your life" and "I will not leave you here to meet a coward's death". It's bittersweet, in a way. Mikey just wants to stop fighting; it was a theme throughout the initial Last Ronin storyline, as well. There's a reason why it ends with "know peace".

And then we cut to Casey, April and Casey's daughter, training the four new turtles we were teased at the end of Last Ronin #5, also yelling "get up" at them during training. I guess this line is going to be a sort of motif throughout the series, this idea of getting up no matter how many times you're knocked down. It's a good lesson, of course, but, as shown through Splinter and the entirety of the first series, it's clear that it has its consequences.

2. The New Turtles

It seems that this series is taking a page from Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in having these four new characters be different species of turtles, which is really interesting. Like I said before, I'll be keeping images out of this post for now just for the sake of having other people read the story themselves (and copyright, of course), but I'll list the names of these turtles and what I can gather of their personalities just from the few panels we have of them.

Odyn — He's the biggest of the four at the moment, and all we really know about him is that he's apparently always hungry and he's not a big fan of tai chi because it's "too hard". So, not a big fan of training in general and possibly even fighting altogether, which could prove interesting in the future.

Uno — He's the showoff out of the four of them. He seems physically gifted and enjoys training, whether that be with the others or on his own. He also seems to believe he's better than the others from what I can gather, and doesn't seem to get along well with Moja, who I will get to next.

Moja — She's looks like the short-tempered defender of the group, seeming really similar to Raphael in some ways. She is quick to defend Odyn when Uno makes fun of him, and picks a fight with Uno when he doesn't seize the teasing. Unlike Uno, however, she seems to show a lot of respect towards April and owns up to her mistakes quickly.

Yi — From what I can go off of (which isn't exactly much, considering how little we got of these four), she's the Donatello of the group. She seems pretty calm and collected for the most part, and apparently loves spending time with April in the garage "fixing" things. I just hope she isn't some carbon copy of Donnie and has her own personality, albeit similar to his.

Speaking of similarities, that brings me to my third and final thought when reading this issue.

3. Change is Constant

Did I steal that from the first IDW arc? Who's to say.

So, this theme has been in the franchise for as long as it has existed. I mean, the first episode of 2003 is literally titled "Things Change". It's the idea that life always comes with its twists and turns and that there's no predicting exactly what will happen next. We can't control the universe, we simply exist within it. Empires rise and they fall. That's just life. You can't hold on to something forever because that's how you let that thing consume you. "Know peace," as Michelangelo stated.

Then we get to these four new turtles. Casey never really knew the original four outside of stories told by her mother, which caused these ideas of heroic martyrs to be put into the kid's head all her life. Because of this, her goal with these new turtles is to probably forge them into their predecessors' images. The problem with that is, of course, that's not really how life works.

These kids have big shoes to fill. That much is obvious. I mean, look at the original turtles. They trained their entire life to fight in a war against the Foot Clan. As teenagers, they went to space, they traveled to different universes, they fought other mutants and the US government and so much more. I can bet you that this legacy will come into play in this story, and not exactly in a good way.

Odyn, Uno, Moja, and Yi are not Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. They know this. Casey and April know this. We as an audience know this. What that means, however, is that we should not be putting them into boxes to fit the former turtles. Casey is trying to mold them into her heroes, and April no doubt is probably unconsciously doing the same just because she misses them just as much, but that could be pretty awful for these new guys. Think of it as growing up with an amazing older sibling or family member in general. All your life, you end up just trying to be like that one person, so much so you end up neglecting who you might be. I'm guessing individuality is going to be a big focus of this story, as well.

Well, that's my initial thoughts on this issue. I've been waiting a while for this, and, as a long-time fan of this franchise, I'm so excited to see what comes next in the story. I love how we're finally branching off to new characters and possibly new storylines altogether, all inspired by the original story. Now to wait a month for the next issue. I'll see you all then!

#teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #tmnt idw #tmnt the last ronin #tmnt the lost years #tmnt leonardo #tmnt raphael #tmnt donatello #tmnt michelangelo

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sea-of-dandelions · 7 months

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Hiiii hello I saw your tags I'm climbing in here to ask about daisuke and okame ^^

i hold you. my most reliable mewtual. oblig spoilers for the entire series

Daisuke and Okame are two of the five main characters of the book trilogy Shadow of the Fox (written by Julie Kagawa, published 2019-2020)

Okay a little backstory on the plot itself. It's set in a fantasy version of Japan, Iwagoto, and heavily influenced by Japanese mythology. It follows a half-kitsune, Yumeko, and a demonslayer, Kage Tatsumi (and their group of friends that they pick up along the way. Mentioning Reika here. She's the head miko at this one really important shrine I can't remember the name of).

Essentially, there's this scroll that can summon a dragon and make a wish to alter reality every 1000 years or so. And after last time, it's been split up into three(?) pieces, to avoid. like. the possibility of someone being able to make said wish in 1000 years. Tatsumi has been sent by clan (the Kage/Shadow Clan, samurai iirc) to retrieve the pieces, and allies himself with Yumeko, who also wants to protect the pieces.

this is literally the best photo I can find of the map online. i cannot find a good photo of the english map. have fun.

Now. Taiyo Daisuke is a noble of the Sun Clan. Related to the Emperor of Iwagoto. An excellent swordsman. Refined, courteous, cultivated, etc etc etc, but disagrees with nobility's prejudices and way of life. And like. Tartaglia levels of bloodthirst here. iirc he went around Iwagoto as Oni no Mikoto and challenging people to duels for shits and giggles. One of the reasons he joins the group is specifically to fight Tatsumi. Has kinda a "neither of us can die until I get to duel you" relationship w him.

Hino Okame is a ronin. Snarky, sarcastic, annoying, loyal to a fault. Archer, gambler, alcoholic. I think some of his backstory was revealed in book 3 but that was the first book i read and it's been about two years since i've read it. I remember he has an older brother he feels very guilty towards. VERY important though, mentioning he refers to himself as an 'honourless ronin dog' several times throughout the series.

Initially, there's a lot of tension going on between the two. I mean. Nobility and ronin. See the above two paragraphs, their personalities conflict in several ways. It's mentioned several times that Wow nobles are dicks to everyone else. so like. what do you expect. Initially, Okame calls Daisuke by his last name (Taiyo). Eventually we see that Daisuke is Not Like Other Girls Nobles, and treats commoners as equals, even Okame.

HOWEVER there's a scene (in book 2, iirc) where the group is travelling to the Steel Feather temple (somewhere in the mountain range). The Confession Scene. Middle of the night. Daisuke and Okame are talking underneath a tree.

It's pretty blatantly stated that they're star-crossed. With like. The whole social status difference and everything. Okame (and likely several other people) would get killed if someone were to find out the Taiyo nobleman was kissing a ronin. being considered less than human and all. yk how it goes.

But they still kiss. Under the moonlight. Tada.

Unfortunately, since this is third person limited with a POV swap between Yumeko and Tatsumi (and Suki in the third book, who is, for all intents and purposes of this post, irrelevant) and you're just Aware that this private scene is being watched by Yumeko (foxed, thank god, but still).

BUT from this point on, Okame calls Daisuke by his first name. And idk when exactly this starts, but Okame starts referring to Daisuke as a peacock, and to himself as a dog. I think it might've came up in the confession scene

As I mentioned earlier, Daisuke is, well, Daisuke. In addition to wanting to fight Tatsumi, his preferred manner of death is to "die a glorious death in battle". Noting here that while Okame being as brash as he is, gets scared shitless and is very vocal about it.

etc etc their relationship progresses over the course of the series, beta couple to Yumeko and Tatsumi.

Nearing towards the climax of the story, they're going up a mountain (pointing to the map. territorio clan de la luna. moon clan territory.) and they're trying to stop the bbeg from summoning the dragon. They get ambushed halfway, Okame is incapacitated, Daisuke stays behind to fight the oni while Yumeko and Tatsumi continue forward.

Briefly. before i recount this entire chapter. Okame gets fatally wounded, Daisuke ends up having to stab himself to defeat the oni. They bleed out in each other's arms. Fully 1000% cuddling soaked in (mostly) their own blood. And depart to Meido together. And later say their goodbyes to Yumeko together. Daisuke gets his wish to die a glorious death and Okame keeps his promise to stay loyal to Daisuke.

And most importantly, by the end of book 3, Okame's petname for Daisuke was 'peacock'.

#i'm so sorry i'm terrible at describing things #but them. they. you understand.#they are literally. holy fucking shit some of the things they say to each other.#the series does read like a published fanfic in the sense that it felt less. professional? which Was a bit off-putting #but it was a good series and I got over it like halfway into the first book #oh. and their implied to have slept together.#either literal sleeping together or fucking it's up to you idk #being abruptly woken by Events (youkai). disheveled and coming out of the same room together #also they're so fucking pretty #like #canonically #Daisuke is one if not The Prettiest character.#unfortunately NONE OF THEM HAVE OFFICIAL ART !!!!!1!!!!1!11!!!#but we do get descriptions :thumbs_up:#Daisuke is mentioned to have feminine features and long white hair that he often keeps down.#Okame's hair is (i believe) brown‚ and he keeps it tied up. sometimes to pass himself off as a samurai.#hang on

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hamsterandturtlesoup · 2 years

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Fowo convinced me to Write Up My Thoughts on why I felt The Last Ronin ended up being less satisfying than I’d hoped (I did not take much convincing haha). Beware the cut, beyond thar be spoilers! And lots and lots of words. I got opinions!

To start with, let’s talk about the big mysteries that made TLR so compelling, at least to begin with. There were primarily three:

Who is the Last Ronin? - answered by the end of #1

What happened to the other turtles? More specifically, how did they die? - answered by the end of #4, with each of the 3 turtles getting roughly an issue each dedicated to their glorious (or not-so-glorious) end

What is going to happen in the present?

I’m happy enough with 1, and honestly loved how that played out. So let’s move onto 2, where it started so well and then dissipated into . . . dull clan politics.

2. What happened to the other turtles?

Narratively, TLR emphasised action over emotion. This is actually pretty typical of Eastman’s writing, and you can love it or hate it. Here, I think the comic would have benefited massively from just taking some occasional time to breathe. To stop and reflect on the losses. We get small glimpses of this in the ‘present’, through April more so than anyone else, and Mikey’s hallucinations of his brothers, but what about the past we seem to be fast forwarding through at breakneck speed from #2 onwards?

One moment we’re watching an intimate family dinner between the turtles and their adopted humans get utterly devastated by Splinter’s almost death, and then Raph’s actual death. #2 is where the series peaks for me. It gets absolutely everything right. By the end of #2 I was emotional, I was hurt, and I was desperate to find out the fallout of ‘the first to fall’.

But we don’t find out - not in any way that matters. In the next flashback, suddenly the Hamato clan is a huge, cold, impersonal military operation. Raph is never mentioned, his absence only hinted at by a little red on his brothers’ gear. They don’t talk about how they feel. They’re just planning a military operation.

That’s . . . hard to care about. It’s so far and distant from the tiny found family unit that forms the heart of TMNT. It’s where the series stopped exciting me.

But more than that, the biggest let-down for me was the progressive character deaths. Here’s how they compare:

Raph dies in the only way Raph should ever die - in a fit of self-destructive emotional rage, tearing through an army of enemies by himself, no thoughts head empty full berserker gusto. His death is in-character, it is epic, it suits him, and it carries so much emotional meaning! After all, in #3 we learn that Splinter actually survived. That retrospective irony is so painful, so cruel! If he had just tempered his patience for a little longer . . . but he didn’t, and he’s dead, and that must be terrible for his family to realise, and everything about it just works.

In #3. we move onto Leo, and Casey because it’s a 2-for-1 on main character deaths apparently. Now, I’ve already mentioned my dislike of the Hamato Clan suddenly being this big sprawling military operation, but it’s important to understand what a cold, contextual bed this makes for what happens to Leo and Casey. Now, I know they stand their ground together, defending, uh, a big cold military organisation that we don’t care about. But the together time is kinda nice. However, the simple fact is, in the end they get wiped out by a totally impersonal explosion. That’s it. Standing their ground didn’t even make any kind of difference to anybody. If they’d run like cowards, the outcome would have been the same. Personally I would have preferred a more strident self-sacrifice for Leo. It’s cliche for him at this point, I know, but it suits him. Getting cut down while his actual family members, not the Hamato military, make it away with the time he wins them would have been horrible and also everything I wanted. Imagine if he’d died last, and did it to protect his sole remaining brother. Imagine how poignant that could have been. As for Casey? He should have been fighting alongside his goddamn wife. He should have died biting off way more than his human ass could chew and fighting the odds with a grin on his face anyway. Tag-teaming with Leo was cute, but it also muted and depersonalised their individual deaths. Coupled with the quick, cold explosion method, it felt like a quick kill for page space. But at least it wasn’t completely out of character for them.

Donnie’s death in #4 is the absolute worst on my ranking scale. In fact, the more I dwell on it the more I hate it! Why? It’s incredibly out of character. He blindly and obediently follows his idiot father into an obvious trap, without coming up with any other inventive suggestions or ideas, without objecting strongly to how fucking stupid the plan is. And then he just becomes a sad casualty of his father’s arrogance when he refuses to retreat. Donnie doesn’t do anything to die. The death just happens to him. He doesn’t make any choice that Splinter didn’t make for him. He’s a Clan Hamato sheep! We’re supposed to be saddened by this scene, but honestly, this one just made me mad. I felt like it did poor Don such a huge disservice, and it did not improve my attitude towards TLR!Splinter in the slightest. It’s another impersonal death, another unnecessary casualty of Splinter’s escalating honour war with the Foot. Something that I thought we should be starting to interpret as a core theme, but I’ll come back to how that doesn’t really work out later. I had a thought last night, staring at the ceiling thinking about how I would have written #3-#5 differently for 2 hours. Picture this - during some macguffin Hamato operation, Donnie is given an absolutely critical, life-saving task to stealth into a Foot facility to do something with some tech that only he can do. En route, we see him get attacked, but the scene cuts back to the others and they only hear him talk on the radio about how he’s fine. Later, when the operation is nearing completion, his brothers contact him to find out where he is. Finally we cut visually back to Don, and see that he’s mortally wounded but struggling on with the tech to get his job done, and he has to tell his family he’s not gonna make it out . . . They could have had a conversation, no matter how brief. They could have talked about Raph’s death in parallel. Man, my gut is punching itself just thinking about what they would say to each other in a situation like that. Everything could have just been so much more personal and family-focused, you know?

3. What is going to happen in the present?

Let’s move on. The flashbacks to the past are interwoven with the goings-on of the present, which by #4 are also delivered in a wibbly wobbly timey wimey narrative that sometimes gets pretty chaotic.

Time slows down when we get to see April and Mikey interact in the lair, or April and Casey, and it’s these parts that I love the most. But in spite of that there are a few things that just didn’t work for me across the ‘present’ arc:

Mikey himself felt out of character to me at times. I'm not talking about him being jaded and embittered by his experiences, or even him being a bit grumpy, all of which are perfectly understandable. In particular, though, the way he belittles and mocks and torments Casey when he’s testing her skills is super unlike Mikey. He doesn't treat family like shit, no matter what he's been through. It felt way too mean.

Speaking of Casey, the whole ‘Casey is a mutant’ sideplot fell totally flat for me. What was the point? What did it add, to anything? Even in the final issue, she didn’t really do anything with those vague ‘powers’. Holding your breath underwater for a long time wasn’t really something that HAD to make the cut. The only purpose I can think of is this: during the final fight between Mikey and Hiroto, there is this little exchange that rubbed me up the wrong way: H: The mutant monstrosity playing at family honor, all for a pretend family with no true bloodline to speak of. M: You’re wrong. Our bloodline is the shared mutagen that runs through our veins. Were the writers trying to bridge the familial gap between Casey (who was too young to actually know the turtles) and Mikey by making her a mutant, giving them some biological commonality? If so, well . . . that stinks xP The fact is, found family is a core TMNT concept. The turtles are mutants who accidentally have a mutant rat for a father and love their adopted humans April and Casey and none of them are related biologically, and it doesn’t matter. So for Mikey to phrase it like this to begin with is pretty weird to me. Maybe I’m reaching, but the alternative is that ‘Casey is a mutant’ is just a dud sideplot with no real impact. It could have been removed with zero impact to the story.

An ending where Mikey dies in mortal combat with Hiroto and April and Casey are left holding the baton felt both predictable and completely at odds with some of the themes of the narrative. The flashbacks of each turtle’s and Splinter’s deaths lead us on a road that shows the pointless violence and unnecessary loss involved in perpetuating the Hamato vs Foot feud across the generations. On top of this we have conversations like this really poignant one of Mikey’s with his (dead) brothers about Casey: M: I mean . . . yeah. Right. She’s just a child. L: Good call. She can’t be more than seventeen years old. M: Sixteen. And already tangling with the Foot clan. Sound familiar? D: Apples to oranges, Mikey. We trained our entire lives. R: And she ain’t a mutant, bro. She’s just a kid. Casey and April’s kid! M: And we were Splinter’s kids. And Karai was Shredder’s. And Hiroto’s hers. And here we all are . . . back to square one. Hrghhh I LOVE this exchange so much, because Mikey is making such a good point, but then it makes me mad at the ending because . . . what does this spell out? That the whole ‘going after my family’s enemies for revenge and honour’ cycle will keep on dragging in the next generations and will NEVER STOP until someone CHOOSES to not do it anymore! Mikey was so close to figuring this out, but rather than apply it to himself, he only seems concerned with keeping Casey out of the mix. He knows the lesson, because he writes it in Splinter’s stupid book, but then he takes off solo to fight Hiroto and predictably dies in the process. And what does he say about it? M: It was . . . my duty. M: My . . . destiny. For my family. C: But . . . I’m your family now. YES CASEY PLEASE TELL THIS IDIOT WHAT A FUCKING IDIOT HE IS. Let me speak plainly: Michelangelo did not need to die. A better ending that fit the theme and the narrative would have been this: Mikey beats Hiroto, and I don’t care how cut up he gets doing it (I enjoy the bloodshed >:3), but here’s the important part: He stays his goddamn hand. He chooses to end the cycle of Hamato vs Foot violence. He casts off the Hamato ‘duty and honour’ yoke. And then he throws a humiliated and broken Hiroto to the pissed off population of post-apocalyptic NYC to deal with however they please. And then he retires to the Lair with April and Casey and he becomes her sensei and they live HAPPILY EVER FUCKING AFTER.

But there’s still a lot to love!

The above essay makes me feel a bit bad because I know the team behind this series were so passionate about it, and I’ve even talked to some of them on twitter, and I promise that I wish them ALL THE LOVE. I don’t mean to denigrate any of their efforts, which I appreciate very much, but I, too, am passionate about turtles xD and sometimes it’s just so much more frustrating when something that came SO CLOSE to greatness just . . . clipped the edge.

However, there is still plenty I DO like about TLR, so I want to end on a positive :3

Stuff I really did love:

All the post apocalypse vibes, all of them! The main artist for the present scenes didn’t always float my boat but his work definitely suited the tone and style of the work and I dig it for that reason. Loved how April looked in particular. WRINKLY OLD POWER WOMAN WITH PROSHTETICS, YES.

Everything about #2. EVERYTHING! Raphael, my stupid stupid son . . .

Ben Bishop’s art. Delicious <3

Future April, queen of the resistance and of my heart

Casey Marie, the sassy spry Shadow Jones of my heart

All the positive time Mikey got to spend with Casey and April in the lair, reminiscing. He got hugs and I’m happy for him.

Just, all the sad moments and the emotions and angst. Hhhhh. Like I’ve said before, in many ways, this comic felt like a love letter to me specifically. I will treasure it always, even if I don’t fully jive with the end-to-end execution.

#tmnt #tmnt idw #the last ronin #the last ronin spoilers #tl;dr idw!splinter and tlr!splinter are not welcome for christmas dinner

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