Alright, it's happening because it's rattling in my brain like a cat pawing at a mirror for minutes on end. I've already listened to the first several episodes again, but I will go one by one. I'll start with the way the episodes are put together, sound effects, soundtrack, voice actors, etc. then the story itself, which will have content warnings and spoilers. These are all my personal thoughts and opinions, I am by no means a professional critic of anything.

The Grey Rooms : as a general info blurb. Each episode has a beginning portion story that carries on through the season with the same characters and a one-shot section that is different for every episode. There are always one (more often multiple) character deaths in every episode. The one-shots rarely have happy endings, there may be satisfying resolutions but it's definitely not fluffy.

Season 1 Episode 1 : The Great War

Production - Really solid out-the-gate. Some podcasts I've listened to have issues with sound quality or awkwardness in the acting in the pilot episode. I think it helps that they released 2 pre-episodes and 2 trailers(maybe I'll talk on those later), as well as have a good network.

Sound effects are chosen well, and the ambiance is nearly perfect. You are immersed in the scene and can follow along well. Of note, season one has a flourescent bulb blinking sound in every episode. I appreciate it not being overbearing. This episode has a lot of wet squishy sounds and rat squeaking, as well. If you're sensitive to those sounds, it may be too much, but the volume doesn't overtake the narrorator or dialogue.

I do think some of the one-shot section drags on a little bit. But that's my personal preference, nothing wrong with the story itself.

Content warnings for the episode (I am not going into detail, just my thoughts and reactions) : captivity, isolation, prisoner, memory loss, war, gunshots, shell shock, rats, character deaths.

This intro, like it's awesome, it's sets the mood, the tone, the whole feel of episode 1. First person "you wake up on a cold floor, so cold it burns." It really does just jump right into it, you're a prisoner in terrible conditions, no idea why you're there, vague sense that maybe you did something to wind up there. The whole "you belong to the Grey Rooms." I love that it's starts that way.

Raymond. Goodness Raymond. A pathetic little man who had no idea what's going on, not even realizing he's being called a prisoner. Just forced to go through a door, being belittled by a disembodied voice. The tiniest bit of hope that he will make the right choice and go free.

The Great War. Interesting choice for a first one-shot I think. The sounds really add to the feel of you being in the trenches with these men. Just constant rain, mud, terrible food, waiting for everyone to die just for a few inches of land that doesn't mean much. The casual sense of having a clean riffle matters more than your buddy just having been shot next to you.

The end of it though, I think impacts more. (I personally get a bit bored in the middle, all these men are shell shocked to some extent. Just getting through each moment. Though if you follow along take note of the guy muttering "God is good, Good is Great".)

The disorientation of having Germans desperately trying to get away from their side, not armed, willing to risk their life against enemy men rather than rats. The lone survivor realizing in the end that the war against each other was truly meaningless.

Overall - not my most favorite episode. But absolutely solid, it captured me, it made me want more. And it truly only gets better the further you go. I'll have better thoughts for episode 2. That one is one of my top faves of the whole series.

Hello :D

You're so cool

Anyway have you thought that in your rat sons au Splinter might outlive the boys?

You're very cool :D love your stuff dude

(tw for some blood, light gore, implied overdose (kinda??))

hi copper!!! this is a fantastic question!

so obviously typical irl rats have far shorter lifespans than the average irl tortoise. according to google (yes, be awed by my spectacularly in-depth wealth of research) the average pet rat lives between 2-4 years ish, and the oldest on record lived to be about 7. meanwhile, an African spurred tortoise (Splinter's species) averages more around a 50ish year lifespan in captivity, tho is suspected to possibly exceed 75 or more in the wild.

Now, the mutation does give us a lot of wiggle room for playing with these numbers. For the rat sons boys, id say their natural lifespan probably clocks in at about 45-55 years old? definitely not old by human standards, but not young young either. (though, its also important to note that the boys were exposed to the mutagen just days after being born.)

For Splinter, meanwhile, aging is slightly more complicated. He lived the vast majority of his life as a regular normal African spurred tortoise (well, non-mutated at least. there were perhaps some shenanigans of a more mystical variety going on before he was mutated, but thats a separate matter) He was about 70ish i think? when the boys were born and they were all exposed to the mutagen. so he is already distinctly an old man turtle papa. id guess he'd probably still have another eh lets say 25-30 years after his mutation. he could probably push it a little farther even with some mystic nonsense, but when push comes to shove id say his 'natural' post-mutation lifespan would put his death like a solid decade or two before his sons.

of course, the tricky part of the matter is that theres no way for Splinter to know any of this. theres no way for him to know how the mutation affected them all, or if it even affected them all in the same way. especially since the boys dont show many physical signs of mutation for the first few years, and just kinda look like normal rats, (albeit with a more human sort of intelligence) — what sort of health standard do you hold them to? what if they simply dont show external signs of sickness or old age anymore? how do you actually know if something is wrong?

for a while there Splinter is very worried that one of his babies will just essentially reach the end of their normal rat lifespan, fall and not get up again.

so mostly, he just tries to live in the moment, enjoying whatever time he does have with his little ones, taking each day as a gift <3

still,

that fear

never

really

goes

away.....

Mama hen just passed away. She’s been struggling with something for a while so it’s not s total surprise but still a shock. Damnit. Squishy loves her too, she’s going to be a solo chicken for a bit I guess.

thoughts on broppy?

Something something the one person who never gives up on you no matter how hard you try to make yourself untouchable, unlovable. A person who defends you even when you don't deserve it for no other reason than the fact they care.

They care like its a contagious thing, they care so much you think there must be something wrong with them and no matter how many times you reject that care it's relentless. You think they must be stupid to care so much until you realize they're not. You end up seeing deeper than what is at the surface, the sarcasm that matches yours, the bite along with the everlasting positivity. You see it andyou can't help but love it from a distance and be overwhelmed by it up close. Something about falling in love with the qualities you thought needed a reality check. Something about being vulnerable and showing a part of yourself because that's how you love someone. Something about supporting and caring back and being hurt and being different but wanting it to work anyway. Something about staying by them no matter what, no matter how much closeness hurts sometimes because they're worth it and quickly they become the most important person in the world to you. You know them inside and out and somewhere along the way you realize they know you like that too, even when you don't understand what you're feeling, they seem to know. Something about learning to listen and learning to care and supporting each others happiness no matter how different you are. Being with the person you're most comfortable with in the world, feeling most calm in a storm when you're holding their hand. Loving each other for your differences and complimenting those qualities with your own

yeah i think they're alright

Indie TMNT Comic Dub 8 - Every Kind of Nope

Latest Indie TMNT comic dub is up!! :)

Y’ALL HAVE NO IDEA....  HOW MANY SLIME NOISES I HAVE FORCED MYSELF TO LISTEN TO DURING EDITING THIS VIDEO.. Speaking of which, CONTENT WARNING : If you’re squeamish to squishy and slimy sounds, I wouldn’t proceed to the video. :) Hope you enjoy!

Thanks to @indieyuugure for not only creating the art and comic itself, but also giving me permission to dub over her fantastic art. :) 

To God be the glory!

~ Melissa

Omg I totally forgot that I gave Dick a starfish alien son that he carries around in a backpack. I need name suggestions for his son other than like Jarro Jr. Can't be Starro either.

Ayo don't think I'm gonna finish this one but it was a bit too much fun to not share. This was a value/shading experiment as well as an exploration of some combat poses for Kiran. If anyone has some fun suggestions for how I could clean it up, I'm super down to hear it.

i was just thinking "what if I actually posted something lol could you imagine"

then I remembered. I made a VALENTINE'S DAY SKETCH DUMP TO POST. SO.

here are the fully rendered ones. It's a simpler style and my first time trying it, I plan to use it to draw Rie some canon panels. "w" face trio

silly little sketches. also the little girl/baby is Elena and she is barely even an AU child because RieLiet is not a happy ending or traditional relationship thing.

aaand bonus otters.

　★━━─・‥…━━━☆

OKAY NOW

NOW

I just knooow Blitzø had/has some feelings towards Fizzarolli

Bacause yeah, the letter, the "yo would it be weird if we made out"

The fact that these scenes are about to come

Sound up for squishy dice asmr

Next drop is Aug 25 at 7pm

It's the middle of the night and I'm going to work tomorrow again. Low mood and problems and stuff, so I'm gonna post a little pic of Fizzarolli's little beautiful, enamored face to comfort myself cause he's my comfort character and I love him so much, look at him. He's so pretty.

🤲 *Slides Hex in here* Feel free to draw him to help with your art block 👉👈🥹🥹

I was so hoping to find an excuse to draw this handsome fellow at some point so thank you for giving me one!! c:<

I can’t express to you the fact that I actually re-enacted the breakfast club scene where the dude fist pumps in the air at the end when I saw this request-

SERIOUSLY I absolutely adore him and all of your content of him makes me so happy UGH HE’S SO CUTE SCREAMS AND CRIES AND KICKS /pos

Thank you so much again for your request, it was so so nice to be able draw him!! and be able to self insert

I hope you like it and please take care of yourself!! Thank you so much again and have a great day!! 💖🥺

xtale (cross) belongs to jakei

hex belongs to @mini-berries

BHC belongs to @/bonelyheartsclub

lo and behold, the easiest character to draw and the hardest character to draw having a nice ol conversation

What is this weirdly feelyweely status exclusive to yakumo

post in a Facebook group I’m not a member of but Facebook is putting it on my feed anyway: any advice for organizing this closet better? [photo of a closet with neatly tidied board games on the top shelf, and a cube shelf on the floor surrounded by the entire family’s shoes haphazardly tossed in]

some rando professional organizer: decanting your board games would make a huge difference! [photo of two dozen of identical plastic mesh pouches sitting upright on a floor shelf, presumably containing the pieces and boards for multiple games, except you can no longer tell what games they are at a glance, they no longer have even the meager protection against breakage offered by cardboard and molded plastic inserts, and extra hardware on the shelf is required to keep them standing up. there is no room for shoes in the example storage space.]

I have no idea what creature this guy is all I know is that he is so very squishy and so very carbonated

Finished Version