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obsidiancreates · 1 year

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Out Of The Shadows and Into The Neon (Part 7)

"Alright, champ!" Leon hops around a bit, fists up in a defensive position. "Ready for your first real spar?"

Leo raises his own fists. "Dad? Um, aren't you a little... tall, for me to spar with?"

Leo look four feet down at his 10 year old son. "Good point... but Pop-Pop didn't want to, and I don't think your brothers can defend well enough yet."

"What about Uncle Casey? Or Auntie April?"

"They're taller than you too."

"But they aren't giants! You're taller than everyone!"

"So what do you suggest?" He puts his hands on his hips. "Don't say 'robot', I'm not letting Don make anything that can fight again."

"He made Shelldon!"

"He made Shelldon when we were fifteen, and he did try to kill us one time."

"I heard that was your fault."

"Noooo... Maybe a little. Who told you that?"

"Uncle Donald."

"Well, he's a big liar. Just go for my legs since you can't reach my face, okay?"

Leo shrugs, and begins trying to hit his dad's legs as Leon dodges the hits. "Dad? Will I ever be as tall as you?"

"Dunno! You might not want to be, it makes going through doors a terrible experience."

"I don't want to be short forever, though."

"Maybe you won't."

"I think I will. I had a dream that I never got any taller than five foot one."

"That's... really specific. Did you dream about your brothers?"

"Yeah. Raph was five feet forever, and Mikey was four-eleven, and Donnie was five-six. Forever and ever, until the day we all died."

"Whoa, pause, time out." Leon kneels down. "You dreamt you all died?"

Leo looks away and taps his fingers together. "It-it wasn't bad. I just... knew at the end we did. But I didn't see it so it wasn't a nightmare."

"Well, are you okay?"

"Yeah. ... I-I went and woke up Pop-Pop and he told me a story, and when I went back to bed it was okay."

"What story?"

"... The one about Gram-Gram."

"Oh." Leon swallows the lump in his throat that manifest every time he thinks of Karai. "That's kind of a heavy story."

"Yeah. But... she's not gone. Everyone's together again, even though they died. ... It makes it less scary to think about."

"That's... a really good way of thinking of it." He's never thought of it that way himself, actually. Karai waiting, spending time with her father, and he can say sorry to her still someday, to tell her all about her great-great-great way-more-greats grandkids and how awesome they are...

And the whole family will be together someday, without this aching, gaping hole in their hearts.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Pop-Pop will be with her when he dies, right?"

Leon can't help the way he flinches away at the very thought. "That won't be for a long time, kiddo."

"But when he does, he-he'll be waiting for us? And we'll see him again?" The way his son looks at him, so pleading, so... so young. God, he's so young, why is he thinking of this? Why is his 10 year old son being haunted by this?

"Yeah. Yeah, of course. We'll all end up in the same place, because we're family. I promise."

Leo nods, and then suddenly throws himself into Leon's arms. "I love you, Dad," he says, his little voice choked up with tears. "I love you a lot, and-and I want you to know that, and-"

"Hey, hey." Leon pats Leo's little shell as he hugs him tight. "... It wasn't just your brothers, was it?"

Leo shakes his head and buries his face into Leo's shoulder. "It was you and Pop-Pop."

"We're right here, buddy."

"Shredder got you."

Leon's blood runs cold. "Shredder is gone, Lee. He'll never, ever hurt you."

"I know. ... I won't let him hurt you either."

"You don't need to protect me, hijo."

"I do." Leo's little body shakes in Leon's hands, making him hug tighter. "I do, I-I need to keep you safe."

"Hey." Leon rubs the back of his son's head with his thumb. "You're just a kid, okay? You don't need to take that burden on yourself. Let me protect you. Let your uncles protect you. Let your grandpas and your aunties and all our friends protect you. These are adult things to worry about. I promise you don't have to."

"I don't know how to stop, Dad," Leo sobs.

"We'll work on it together, okay? You don't need to put all this pressure on yourself. You're just a kid."

"O-okay." Leo hugs as tight as he can with his little arms. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"... Can-can we watch Jupiter Jim instead of sparring?"

"Of course we can! Do you want to read me the story you wrote about him and your space hero too?"

"Y-yeah."

"Let's grab some ice cream on the way. Uncle Angelo made some fresh last night."

"But not on pizza like Mikey does, right?"

"Not on pizza like Mikey does. I don't know how that kid never throws up with how he eats."

Leo finally giggles, and Leon smiles as he gets up and carries his son to the kitchen.

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"Alright, now you draw the outline," Angelo says as he uses his powers to lift Mikey high into the air, "And I'll color it in with the spray paint!"

"Shouldn't Raph do this?" Mikey says even as he begins to doodle a big alligator man, one of his favorite imagined characters to draw. "He's better at it."

"This isn't about being good. It's about having fun!"

Mikey laughs, kicking his legs as he keeps drawing, adding a big crown to the alligator mutant's head. "Yeah! Raph can suck it!"

"Raph can... Mikey?"

"Yeah?" He sticks his tongue out as he focuses, a habit he shares with his genius brother.

"Has Raph been bullying you?"

"NO!" Mikey whips around in midair, eyes as wide as they can get. "No!"

"Whoa whoa! He's not in trouble if he's not, but why can he 'suck it' then?"

"Oh. Well, uh, yesterday he said I'm not serious enough to be a ninja."

"What?! Oh, I am having words with Raphie about this later, that is a whole pile of nonsense!"

"Yeah. Anyway, I told him he's too angry to be a ninja."

"That's not okay either, son." Angelo pulls Mikey closer with his powers. "You guys shouldn't be saying these hurtful things to each other."

"I know." Mikey sounds genuinely regretful, at least. "But then he said I'm gonna get everyone hurt someday, and I said I'm gonna save everyone all the time because they can't imagine stuff to do without me."

"How did this argument start?"

Mikey looks down. "... Leo had a nightmare."

Angelo puts Mikey down completely and sits criss-cross-applesauce. Mikey copies him, still looking down at the floor.

"I heard him sneaking to Pop-Pops room and I followed," Mikey admits. "And Raph and Donnie did too. And we all heard Leo say he had a nightmare where we died."

"Oh, Mikey." Angelo pulls his son into his lap. "Hey, we'd never let that happen, you know that right?"

"Yeah. But Leo said it was all his fault, and-and that he couldn't protect us." Mikey tears up. "And then when we woke up Raph said we should train without Leo and he was really upset. He hit me too hard and we started fighting and-"

Mikey sniffles, leaning into his dad's plastron and hugging him. "I think he wants us to be really good so Leo doesn't worry," Mikey says quietly. "But I don't think he knows how to say it."

"Yeah," Angelo sighs. "I've noticed that about him. ... Look, Mikey, nobody's perfect, and nobody's serious all the time. Being a ninja isn't about not having fun ever, and I think the fact that you do find it fun makes you a very good ninja."

"... It does?"

"Heck yeah it does! You think my razzmatazz comes from serious training? It comes from flash and flair, baby! You can have those without a little bit of fun!"

Mikey laughs. "Yeah. Yeah! And-and Raph said my dance-fight I made up was cool the other day."

"Exactly! He was just in a bad mood, and he didn't express it well. I'll tell Raphie to talk to him about it, okay?"

"Okay."

"And we need to remember that when a fight starts getting out of hand like that, it's time for everyone to back off and take a deep breath."

"But what if I come up with a really good comeback?"

"You can tell me later, or tell Raph later when he's calmed down and knows it's a joke."

"Awww."

"What?"

"... It's kinda funny when he gets mad."

"Mikey. Do you feel good when someone annoys you until you snap?"

"No."

"So do you think Raph does?"

"But he snaps way faster!"

"That doesn't mean he's not just as upset."

"... I guess..."

"Listen. I'm gonna go call Raphie and tell him about this. Do you want to draw something down here while I do that?"

"Okay. ... I'm gonna draw my pet!"

"You have a pet?" Where'd he hide it?

"In my head!" Mikey grins and points to his head. "Her name is Ice Cream Kitty! I'm gonna draw her and let her be real!"

"I bet she'll be great. Okay, be back in a few minutes."

"Okay Dad!"

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Raphie knocks on his son's door. "Hey, Little Man?"

"Come in."

He opens the door and eases it shut again behind him. Raph sits on his bed, flipping through a comic book about superhero vegetables. Raphie takes a deep breath and sits down on the end of his son's bed.

Raph looks up at him. "Dad? Are you okay?"

"Raphie's worried." He's not beating around the bush today. "Angelo told me Leo had a bad nightmare, and it really upset you."

Raph narrows his eyes. "Mikey told you, you mean."

"No, he told his dad, and his dad told me."

Raph crosses his arms, crinkling his comic. "Mikey's a snitch."

"Hey." Raphie reaches out and puts his arm around his son, but doesn't bring him into a hug yet in case he needs space still. "It's okay to be worried."

"Mikey was goofing off!" Raph throws his comic to the floor. "Leo was upset and Mikey was just goofing off about it!"

"Did you tell Mikey it was to make Leo feel better?"

"He should've known! Donnie knew!"

"Mikey likes to cheer Leo up by being silly. You and Donnie like to cheer him up by preparing more. That doesn't mean Mikey doesn't care."

"Leo thought he killed us!" Raph clenches his fits, gritting his teeth as tears form in his eyes. "And he cried to Pop-Pop about it and-and he said he couldn't protect us! Why does he think he has to do that?! I can protect us! I can make sure we can protect him! Leo needs to be okay too! I don't want Leo to die!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down!" Raphie pulls his son in for the hug, grounding him before he spirals too badly. "Where's this coming from, little buddy?"

Raph is quiet for a long time, and then he lets out a sob. "I had a dream Leo died too."

There it is. Raphie rubs his son's back and waits for him to go on.

"He did it over and over and he didn't even care! He just said he needed to protect us and he died and died and died! And-and when I woke up I heard him and he went and told Pop-Pop he dreamed we died and he can't let that happen and-and that means my dream will come true! And I don't want my big brother to die!"

"He won't," Raphie assures, giving Raph a squeeze. "Your Uncle Leon would never let him do that to himself, and your Uncle Donald would make sure he'd make it through anything that hurt him. Uncle Mikey would rip open a million portals through time to make sure you're all okay."

Raph sobs again, and screams into his dad's arm. "But Leo would try! because he's stupid, and-and pretends to be fearless, and that's stupid because he should be afraid to die and leave us!"

"He should," Raphie agrees. "And I'll talk to Leon about this, I promise. Leo shouldn't think it's up to him to keep all of your guys safe, that's our job."

"He thinks because he's the big brother he has to," Raph growls, still crying and gripping his dad in the tightest hug he can muster.

"When'd you guys decide he's the big brother?"

"He just is."

"Okay."

"But I'm a big brother too," Raph says firmly. "And Mikey and Donnie are little brothers. And I have to make sure we all stay exactly where we should be, but I'm the only one who cares! Leo doesn't care, he just wants everyone else to be okay, but we can't be okay if he isn't okay!"

"I know." Raphie begins rocking as he holds his son. "Boy, does Raphie know. Leon was the same way when he was younger."

"It's his fault?" Raph's voice hardens with anger.

"No!" Raphie shakes his head. "No, he's learned his lesson! That's why I know he'll talk with Leo about it, because he learned his lesson the hard way and doesn't want any of you to go through the same!"

"What if Leo doesn't listen?"

"All we can do is try. ... Maybe you should tell him that you worry about him. Let him know that he's not the only one worrying about everybody. Maybe if he knows you worry too, he'll feel less alone."

"... You think he feels alone?"

"Sometimes." The way Leo lingers after training to practice more, the way he sometimes goes quiet when the other three joke around, the way that ever since they wandered into Big Mama's hotel four years ago he's started telling them where they should and shouldn't go.

"... I don't want him to feel alone." Raph curls up, snuggling deeper into Raph's side. "I do sometimes. I hate it."

"What makes you feel alone?"

"Being angry. ... I'm too angry."

"... You know... there's other people out there who feel angry a lot and don't know why. I do, sometimes."

"You?"

"Yeah! Raph gets really angry and upset when he's alone too long, and it makes him weird. But you know what helps with that kind of thing?"

"What?"

"Talking to someone who knows a lot about it. And Uncle Angelo has some friends in the Hidden City who know about it." Therapy is something they've all done for years, but... he had really been hoping his son would never have to do the same.

Still, it's... not for the same reason. So it's not... he can handle it. He can handle taking his small son to that office, to that room, because he's not there for pain and suffering. Just to learn about himself. Just to learn.

"That sounds nice."

"We can go there soon, bud. But how about we talk to Leo first? I'll be there with you, and so will Uncle Leon."

"... Can we bring Mikey too? ... I yelled at him this morning."

"We can bring Mikey too. Should we bring Donnie when they get home?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Let's call your uncle, then."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Really? I thought he seemed distracted today. Okay, we'll be home soon." Donald turns off his communicator and looks over at his son, who's examining a bundle of wires. He activates his shell and flies over through the junkyard.

Donnie is looking between the wires and the drawing he and Shelldon made together last week. Shelldon, while only a program in a phone for now, had quickly bonded with his 'younger brother'. It's a bit of an intimidating thought, the two of them teamed up. They're both so much like Donald himself, in so many ways.

"So," Donald says, and Donnie groans and lowers his head. "What?

"That's your 'we need to talk' so," Donnie grumbles, putting the wires in his bag.

"Yes, it is. Raphie told me Leo had a nightmare, it upset Raph, and he and Mikey had a fight."

"Yeah." Donnie's little hand shakes as he digs through the pile. "And Leo won't have any more nightmares soon."

"What makes you so sure?"

Donnie hands over the drawing. "He can fight for us."

Donald looks at the drawing. It's a stout robot, angular and simple, not unlike the Shelldon blueprints that made Donnie have his first truly big tantrum a whole decade ago.

A whole decade. Suddenly Donald feels ancient.

"That's a good idea," Donald says, looking back up. "But I don't think Leo will accept it."

"He should." Donnie picks out a piece of an old motherboard. It looks like completely useless garbage to Donald, but Donnie pockets it. "I'm going to fix it for him, and... and then it'll be okay. That's what science does, right? It makes things okay. Makes them make sense."

Donald nods... and then Donnie sniffles. And wipes his eyes.

Oh dear.

"Son?" Donald hovers closer and picks Donald up, setting him down and then lowering to his knees so they're face-to-face. "Science is a wonderful, beautiful thing. She's a fascinating mistress who can consume your every thought for hours on end. But she can't make everything perfect."

Donnie sniffles and wipes his eyes again. "Why not?"

"Nothing can perfect, Donnie. Even I, genius of the ages, am always looking back on old projects and seeing ways to improve them, or things I could have done better."

"Metalhead will fight for us so Leo doesn't have to get hurt."

"That's a fantastic goal. But Leo will keep fighting anyway."

"Why?"

"Because he's his father's son, and his father is my twin, and I know him far too well. They don't see things the way we do most of the time."

"Sometimes they do," Donnie sniffles. "Sometimes he thinks more than I do, and sometimes I jump at things before he does, and he knows better. I-I don't want him to get hurt because I do something I shouldn't and he knew better and-"

"Donatello." Donald puts both of his hands on his son's shoulders. They're huge around him, but that just means Donnie feels safe and cocooned. "genius comes from learning, from everything. That includes mistakes. If you make a bad decision, and Leo stops you, what does that mean?"

"... Don't do that next time?"

"Exactly."

"But-but he'll still be hurt-"

"But that won't be your fault. We operate based on all of our best knowledge, and we operate based on chemical reactions in our brains. When you and Draxum work on your chemical projects together, and you accidentally add too much of one compound to another and it explodes, does Draxum blame you?"

"No." Donnie shakes his head. "We note it down, and we don't do that again."

"Right. And when it explodes when neither of you expected it, does he blame you if he gets hurt?"

"No. But-but if he does know and I do it anyway-"

"When he does know and you do it anyway, what happens?"

"I get in trouble."

"And?"

"And... and he doesn't let me sit by the chemicals without supervision."

"And?"

"... Um..."

"And," Donald says, "He treats his injury, and invites you to work with him again the next day. Donnie, listen to me. Never beat yourself up over not making the absolute perfect decision every single time you're faced with on. You know who used to do that?"

"... I-I don't know."

"Uncle Leon." Donald nods as Donnie's eyes go wide. "He thought because he wasn't perfect, he was a bad leader. He started being bad at it on purpose so he wouldn't have to be anymore. He made a lot of mistakes in that time. We got hurt, all of us. Badly. But you know what happened after?"

"... You got better?"

"We got better. And he learned. And he's been a very good leader ever since."

"... What if I don't know something... and... and we can't get better because I didn't know it?"

"Well..." Donald blows out a breath. "Well... you have to learn to accept it. And it will hurt for a very long time, and never fully go away. And you learn to live with it."

"How?"

"... I don't know." Donald takes his hands off of Donnie's shoulders and looks at the robot drawing again. And he sees Shelldon, and all of his old tech, and he sees The Shredder tearing it all apart, and he sees rubble, and he sees Karai buried and twitching but still trying her best to protect them, and he sees all of his tech and knowledge failing to make a difference-

"But you do." He nods to himself. "You learn to move on, because there's more to do. You accept, you learn from what happened, and you do everything you can so it never happens again."

"... What if it does?"

"... Then you keep trying. And you... might never get there. But that's not your fault." Donald looks into Donnie's eyes. "It's not. You can do everything right, and still fail. So all that matters in the end is that you did the best you could."

Donnie thinks for a long, long time. Long enough that Donald's phone buzzes, probably Raphie asking where they are.

"Is it still okay to be afraid of that?" Donnie asks quietly.

"Yes." Donald stands. "It's always okay to fear failure, as long as it doesn't stop you from trying. Science is all about trying."

Donnie is quiet again, and then reaches up to hold his dad's hand. "Can... can we go see Leo? ... I think... I think I need to talk to him. Before I make him a robot. I want to try that first."

"Now that is truly brave," Donald sighs heavily. "Emotional conversations. You're braver than I, my young son."

Donnie grins up at him with his little gap-toothed smile. "Does that mean I can build our go-karts?"

"Not until we find you helmets."

"Aww..."

"... Which... I can have Auntie April do tomorrow. As a reward for the conversation we're all about to have."

Donnie grins again.

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Leon worries about the burden his son is taking onto himself.

Angelo worries about how his son works with his brothers.

Raphie worries about the way his son is trying to be a Team without telling his team anything.

Donald worries about his son not being able to work through his anxieties of failure.

There's a good way to check how severe each of these issues are.

But it can wait.

First, group family therapy.

Then... the boys' first patrol.

#tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2k12 #tmnt 2018 #rottmnt #tmnt crossover #tmnt fic #tmnt fanfiction #fanfic #my attempts at fanfic #reincarnated au

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eveandtheturtles · 1 year

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This whole "Love" thing

Fuck it, here's incredibly personal-Headcanon Mikey (including some mentions of other brothers) one shot. I hope I won't make people mad xD

Summary: Mikey has thoughts about himself and is struggling with his identity.

Rating: T for a mention.

Tagging: @madammuffins @turtle-babe83 @thelaundrybitch @pheradream15 @dilucsflame33 (lemme know if anyone wanna be tagged/untagged in the future! Also plz do tag me in your stuff too!)

Mikey loved love. He loved the concept of it. The magical fairy tale sold by the TV and comic books.

He loved his family, pizza, New York. He loved being a hero, his skateboard and the ancient teddy bear he got from his dad when he was a kid.

But no matter how hard Mikey tried romantic love evaded him.

There were women, guys and nonbinary pals that he tried to have this love with. Sex was great, don't get him wrong. He enjoyed it and it made people he was with happy but he always could tell like something wasn't quite there. It led him to believe there was something wrong with him.

He had seen his brothers finding love. April eventually getting with Casey. He was happy for them all. He himself though was... confused.

"What is eating you my son?"

Mikey looked up startled from his own thoughts by Splinter's voice. "Me? Psh, nothing, all good, yeah," he replied a bit too quickly waving his arm dismissevely. "What makes you think that?"

"For starters, Michealangelo, you decided to join me for a game of go," the rat smiled at him. "You also have been considering your move for about 15 minutes now and didn't notice when I got up to bring myself some tea." Splinter gestured to the fresh cup next to him.

Mikey glanced there and sighed then looked at the board. He moved one piece, rather unmotivated.

"Sensei, is it possible for someone to... not feel love?" He finally asked.

Splinter stroked his chin before answering slowly. "The simple answer this this would be no, but that is a very complex question and cannot be answered with just one word." He hummed to himself. "In Ancient Greece they have named different kinds of love a person can experience - Storge the love of kinship and familiarity, Philia the platonic love, Eros the lustful love and pure, divine Agape. There are other of course. In the phylisophy of Confucianism there's love expressed by duty and action, focused more on the relationship rather than feelings. In oposition to it stood Mozi with his idea of universal love, equal among everyone."

Normally, with this lenght of lecture Mikey might have gotten distracted by his need to learn more about what he was feeling mixed with anxiety kept him listening. All this information was making him a little dizzy though.

"What does it mean?" He asked.

"It means my son that there is more to love than romance the shows on TV are trying to teach you," his father explained patiently. "You can feel one love without experiencing another. It doesn't make you any less worthy of love or incapable of it."

"What? Who said it was about me? I was, you know asking for a-" he stopped seeing the look on Splinter's face.

"I believe the Internet that Donatello and the rest of you enjoy so much, could have more modern outlook on this topic." He moved a piece on the board, giving Mikey an amused look.

"Right." Mikey nodded. "I better go then. Thanks, sensei."

He stood up and bowed before going further to the lair. What his dad said made him feel better. A little. He was still feeling a bit alone in his head with all that. He could check online like dad suggested but he wasn't sure just how much did Donnie monitor their phones.

He bit his lips. Fuck it. He'll deal with it later. He opened his phone and typed: "Is it normal to not feel love?" His thumb hesistated over the search icon, suddenly feeling a bit scared.

Deep breaths, Mikey, he told himself, then hit it.

Hours later he knew more. There was a name to it. Aromantic, that's how it was called. Leo was poly-bi, Raph was bi, Donnie was demi and he... he was Aromantic. Or aro for short. So this was okay. It really was okay.

Somehow the knowledge that there was name for it. That there were people like him out there, the scope of experiences varying of course but... He wasn't alone. It was such a relief he almost wanted to cry.

He was going to be okay.

#I'm struggling a little with my romantic identity so #time to dump it all on Mikey!#he he pfft #eve scribbles #mikey #michealangelo #tmnt fanfiction #tmnt mikey #tmnt 2016 #tmnt 2014 #bayverse turtles #bayverse mikey

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silversodas · 2 years

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We haven’t seen just how much of a Father figure Leo is to Casey yet, but consider this

This series has done a good job with Splinter actually being their adoptive Father. Not just their teacher who considered each other family. And I am not saying that other adaptations of splinter didn’t love them just as much. But from an audience perspective it seemed like Splinter saw the boys as the one good thing to come out of the shit storm that is his life. Which is good

In rottmnt however, it shows him being bitter about being turned into a rat, but gets over it when he realizes that if that hadn’t happened he would never have gotten to be the boys Father, and wouldn’t give that up for anything. You can really see that he has never loved anything as much as he loves them and that is just so much better

Which is why I think they are gonna do something similar with Leo and Casey

I am super curious to know how old Casey was when they got him, judging by the influence they had on his whole outfit I am guessing pretty young, but that’s just speculation. I like the theory that Cassandra Jones is his Mom and is either M.I.A or K.I.A and the turtles took over raising him

It might be reaching, but this is the point that really made me think that Casey maybe Leo’s son

At first I thought it was weird that he was throwing him into the portal behind him, wouldn’t you have better momentum facing the portal? Then had the heart breaking thought that he couldn’t watch Casey go because he didn’t want to let him go, but had to. It just felt vary heartbroken Dad to me

Also, Future Leo only has one Katana in the trailer

Casey has the other one

His buzz saw hockey stick may just be the Katana’s sheath that’s been tricked out, I can’t get a good picture of the the hockey sticks handle though, so can’t say for sure. But it would be a clever second weapon hidden in plain site

#rottmnt #rottmnt movie #rottmnt casey jones #rottmnt leo

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skeleton-in-a-hoodie · 1 year

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After dying in Ghost Splinter 2, Splinter did a lot of soul searching (hehehe) and looked at his parenting through a different perspective. He knows he’s messed up: he’s put too much responsibility on Leo’s shoulders, should have helped Raph with his temper, and hasn’t spent enough time with Donnie or Mikey.

So he decides to make a change.

He gets more involved in the fight with the Foot Clan - there are stratergy meetings between him and Leo. It takes some of the pressure of Leo, but Splinter is careful to treat it like a lesson, or a teacher imparting wisdom - he doesn’t want Leo to think Splinter’s lost any faith in him. And when the meetings are over, Leo is pushed towards the pit to play games with his brothers or watch another episode of Space Heroes - it’s important that Leo has the chance of being the child he actually is, rather than the warrior he’s been forced to become.

There are several long conversations with Raph. Since meeting Mona, his temper has got a lot better, but finding out why Raph is so angry wouldn’t be a bad idea. Some of it’s caused by the life he and his brothers are forced to lead, saving the world whilst beleiving humanity will never accept them. There’s an element of righteous fury - why shouldn’t Raph be angry - and a desire to protect those he cares about. But there’s also the gut feeling that Splinter prefers Leo, that Leo is the favourite son and student. Splinter hadn’t realised that, which is part of the problem. They figure out something they can do together, just them. Raph starts learning embroidery as well as how to knit. One day the rest of the family can hear them argueing and it turns out they both have widely different opinions on this one artist/their work.

For Donnie, Splinter starts sitting in the lab with him, watching his son work. Sometimes Donnie will look up to find Splinter gone, but he’ll return with food and drink for Donnie. Eventually, Splinter starts asking questions - he’d known that Donatello was brilliant, but it’s another entirely thing to be walked through Donnie’s thought process. There are nights where Donnie falls asleep in his lab and wakes up tucked in bed. It’s weird, at first, to spend so much more time with his father, but it’s nice too. And if Mikey starts trying to touch things he shouldn’t, a word from Sensei usually puts a stop to it.

It’s similiar with Mikey. If Mikey’s playing a video game, Splinter will sit next to him and watch. After roughly the third time, Mikey asks if he wants to join in. Splinter is not good at video games, at least not without practice, and has a knack for finding every last glitch in the game without trying. Mikey ends up wheezing more often than not when Splinter’s character gets stuck half in a wall, before being flung across the map. He is very good at puzzles though, so they end up playing games like Legend of Zelda - Mikey handles the combat elements, and Splinter figures out how to solve the puzzles. Mikey starts talking to him about the comics he draws and an online friend he’s been talking to for a while (it’s Woody).

Splinter also ends up talking to April and Casey outside of training.

Things are going well. Sure Shredder is still alive and Splinter doesn’t have much control over his ghost powers or form yet (and he still needs to tell them he’s dead), but over the course of a few months his relationship with his sons has become stronger. And he’s starting to come to terms with his own death, like yes he’s dead, but he’s still here and can be there for his children. So he begins thinking about how he can break the news - they’ve got to know eventually, and he wants it to come from him and not be something they find out by accident. He’s not sure how he’s going to tell them, but he will.

And then Leo asks him if he’s okay, he’s been acting a bit weird lately and Leo’s just worried. He says he’s fine (Splinter is not going to tell Leo first - he’s already decided he’s going to explain it to all of his children when they’re together). Oh, there’a party at the Mutanimal’s place? That sounds like fun!

#tmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt au #ghost splinter 2 electric boogalo #splinter was going to tell them #he didn't want to keep it a secret forever #partly as he knew he couldn't keep it from them indefinitely #shredder impalling him was the last way he wanted them to find out #this is also why Donnie is so angry #and mikey has such mixed feelings #or at least it's one reason

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juggernaut-sika · 3 years

Note

This might be odd but I'm in the mood to shed some tears so I'd like to request one where the turtles don't accept the new girl they meet because they get bad vibes from her when in reality she just moved to New York to start a new life away from the loneliness she felt at her old home and the only people who seem to accept her is April, Casey, Vern and Splinter.

Plot twist because I love your TMNT x turtle Reader stories on Wattpad: Reader is kidnapped and turned into a mutant turtle and some how escapes only to have to survive by stealing food and finding shelter.

It's a lot to ask but you're so good and I'd love to see how your creative mind comes up with something!

We're Sorry Pt. 1

Okay, I am invested in this. I will probably have to make this in different parts because there would be a bit much to the story. For now; however, I will start with how they act toward the reader. I might have part two out pretty soon since I'm so interested in this idea.

Warning(s): Sad vibes

Leo

Distant, and cold. He doesn't like you but he doesn't know why. Anytime you try to talk to him or ask him a question he just gives a glance before carrying on with his business. He doesn't want to talk to you and he won't unless he absolutely has to. Even then it's small talk and little to no eye contact. When you first met him he seemed like a cool guy and you even had a spark of feelings for him but now, you were unsure. You knew how friendly and easy going he could be based on the interactions he had with his family and his other human friends. And it hurt you knowing he treated you differently without a reason.

Raph

Cold shoulder and some glares. Has nothing and wants nothing to do with you. Ignores you or shoots you a hard glare if you try talking to him while he's working out or just doing his own thing. When you would talk to April, her being one of the only people to talk with you, and say something he thinks was stupid, you would sometimes here him mumble things under his breath like 'dumbass' or 'What a bimbo.' You would try not to react but at time when you would glance at him after saying something he'd look at you like 'Yeah, what about it?' April, on the other hand, would have none of it if she heard him. "You say something Raph?" She ask with a knowing look and a hint of attitude in her voice. Raph would sometimes scoff and go back to what he was doing leaving your heart aching on the inside. Even though he was so mean to you, you couldn't help have small feelings for him.

Donnie

Awkward and no eye contact. His entire goal when you would talk to him was to get out of the conversation as quickly as possibly so he could get back to his work or as least pretend like he was working so you wouldn't talk to him. He wouldn't be rude but definitely shy and uncomfortable. You usually always got the hint and cut the conversation off when you could tell he was just getting too awkward. You wanted to get to know him but you knew he didn't seem to like you so you didn't push. April said he's probably the sweetest out of his brothers and sure you could see that but when he interacts with April but it doesn't seem like he wants anything to do with you. You were disappointed when you caught on to this, hoping to get to know him more and maybe your small feelings for him would grow.

Mikey

Awkward but nice. It wasn't in him to treat someone poorly for no reason so he tried to be nice even though he felt completely awkward. Thankfully, you picked up on this and didn't talk to him all the time so he wouldn't be uncomfortable. You could tell he'd much rather ignore you and play his games. Sometimes you would go home early when you felt like you were going to start crying. You didn't want to cry in front of them, knowing you'd feel completely embarrassed for it. When he first met you, he was super excited about meeting a new girl but as time went on he gradually became more distant. This left you confused and your chest aching.

Splinter

Acceptance. He welcomed you and chatted with you happily while you two had tea together. Since your father was absent you were drawn to Splinter and you two clicked. He was the father you never had and you'd blush out sheepishly when you would occasionally, and accidently, refer to him as 'dad' but this would only make him smile kindly and he'd let out a soft chuckle. You were one of the sweetest people he's met and he loved your company. You wouldn't bring up how his sons' treated you, he would find out on his own through observing his sons' behaviors and frankly, he was disappointed. They knew better than to treat someone so distantly since that was their life with society. When you stopped coming over, he thought now would be the time to talk to his sons and find out why they treated you the way they did.

No one

Yes, in the end you did stop going over, unable to handle one more moment of not being accepted. Unfortunately, the thoughts wouldn't leave you alone. It affected your work life and your day to day life in general. You became a homebody and stopped hanging out with April, Casey and Vern. The only times you left your home were to go to work or to get groceries. April was concerned for you, going as far as to come and see you. Your were different to her. You weren't that talkative sweet girl she met. You kept to yourself and were soft spoken when you did speak. She could tell the smile you wore was fake. She could see the loneliness in your clouded e/c eyes. When it was time for her to go she would always give you a big hug before she left. Later, she would talk to Casey and Vern about it. Vern would pity you, knowing the feeling of not being liked very much by the guys, but it seemed they liked him more than you. Casey would feel bad and go out of his way to ask the guys why they didn't like you, April joining him when he did.

#tmnt x reader #bayverse turtles #fan fiction

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starlightshadowsworld · 2 years

Text

Casey's situation with his dad in my fic Behind the Hockey Mask is very much based of the IDW comics.

His dad was a former purple dragon, betrayed them or something he's at least seen as a traitor for leaving.

You don't just quit the purple dragons.

And since he did for his family, they went after his family, leading to the death of his wife who's Casey's mum.

He takes up alcohol to cope and takes his anger and frustrations for his wife's death, for his current situation all on Casey.

But he's never hurt or tried to hurt Angel, Casey's little sister.

Which just feeds into Casey's belief that this is his fault, he blames himself for not being able to save his mum even though he was a child. And causing his dad to become like this.

He's known his dad to be a good caring father longer than he's known him in this situation so he's always clinging to the past and hoping one day things will go back that way.

And you wouldn't even know from hearing him talk about his dad, that he beats his son because Casey talks about his family with the utt most fondness.

But alongside all of that, Casey is also afraid of his dad.

Easy to see why.

He's afraid of him and afraid that he's becoming him, that he's gonna hurt those around him more than he already has. But he argues that he isn't, he's fine he's just angry sometimes.

So what if he hit them hard, there bad guys.

When Splinter talks to Raph about his anger and the dangerous path being blinded by it can take you. That's the path Casey's on, it's what Raph notices and going forward he will keep an eye on him.

He knows how destructive anger can be and Casey's taking it out on himself. But he doesn't know why Casey's so angry.

Casey never got to grieve his mum, and in a way grieve his dad. He grew up the day she died, taking on so much responsibility and taking care of his little sister and his dad.

Kicking the shit outta purple dragons is the only way he's learned to unleash those frustrations.

This fic is more than just Casey Jones gets a backstory. It's Casey finding his family, finding himself and healing from the past.

Knowing he has people who are on his side and can help him.

Which is also why him befriending the turtles is not immediate, he will end up helping them against the foot bots that followed him in like in canon... but he doesnt trust them.

Their Aprils friends and he'll accept that because April is his friend. But that doesn't change the fact that their mutants, and all he's seen of mutants is that they cause destruction and work with the purple dragons.

But even saying that, him and Raph do end up bonding over kicking ass and Raph has already and will continue to be someone who's able to step in and can stop Casey from going to far.

(Something that helps Raph himself.)

And given that's what Casey's afraid of its comforting, even if he's not sure how to feel about all this. He's never had that.

I really want all the turtles abd Splinter to have a bond with him, whether it's Raph over their understanding of anger and just similiar personalities.

Leo and being the older brother and space heroes (even if its more Angel's thing than Casey's), Donnie and both of there love for making things (No April romance here), Mikey over similiar personalities and Mikey being at heart a healing person who sees more than people realise.

Splinter recognising his anger from his own in the past and just seeing Casey as family.

Just all that good stuff.

Casey wants to stay away but given that he is April's friend too, they have a common enemy and will end up working together... and he works at Mr Murakami's.

He's er not getting outta this very quickly.

#Behind the Hockey Mask #casey jones 2012 #teenage mutant ninja turtles 2012 #teenage mutant ninja turtles #My fic #tw child abuse #Abuse #tw alcoholism #alchol tw

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undercoverwizardfanfiction · 3 years

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Is there any past tmnt moments/episodes/movies you like to imagine rottmnt style?

ooooooooh yes yes yes yes yes a good ask a very good ask (taps fingers together excitedly)

First and foremost, the 2007 movie with some alterations. Where as I could see RISE Raph taking on a Nightwatcher Persona (Red Angel of Preventing Harm anyone?) and I could see RISE Leo living in South America to continue his training, there are some alterations I would have to make

2007 Movie Verse

1st of all, Leo isn't all angsty and sad. he's loosing his mind. He probably had a bunch of rock 'brothers' aroudn to talk to and argue with as he laughed manaically. Adn the reason *he* didn't return home when he was supposed to was because he didn't think his brothers wanted him back, he thougth he had failed and deserved to be all alone. The only reason he did return home was cause April (on a school trip) convinced him to come back atleasat for some super exclusive jupiter jim item he had preordered ahead of time. And when he sees how happy his brothers are to see him he stays purely out of guilt without acknowledging his own feelings and still feeling guilty about Splinter giving him the leadership role

2nd of all Raph isnt' angry and angsty the whole time. Raph still becaomes the Nightwatcher as I said, but he also feel so guilty about his decision to go agaisnt his fathers wishes that he tries to make up for it by being overly optimistic, which becomes worse when Leo gets home because Raph is upset he's not leader anymore but doesnt' want Leo to know he feel sthat way. SO instead of glaring at eachother and making snide comments They're being overly " OH HI BUDDY! BIG GUY! BIG RED!" with eachtoher. And of course there's still the fight which almsot plays out the same way, except instead of blaming eachother their blaming themselves

Mikey becomes a cooking youtuber. He started off making great good on it but foudn he only got more views when he messed up so he continuously puts up videos of him failing while cooking which affects his self esteem but becuase it helps makes money he keeps doing it :c he's sad

Splinter is wracked with guilt when he realizes he never shoudl fo send Leo away and though he puts on a brave optimistic face for his sons, he regularly retreats to his room to sleep and eat carrots to make himself feel better (why carrots? he doesn't deserve the sweet embrace of ice cream)

And ,of course, theres mah boy Donnie. His mental health is suffering, he's having meltdowns more and spends more time in his room. Seeing his family so different makes him feel alienated and he wants to blame Leo for the change but because he knows its not Leos' fautl and he's not sure how to deal with his emotions he spends more time playing video games by himself and only talking ot Shelldon (who often acts as a go between between him and his family cause he can't handle alot of social interaction at the moment)

In the end, everyone confronts thier guilt to themselves and eachother and help eachother heal :3

2003 Series (my personal favorite)

For this i love to imagine the "Shredders Strikes back" arc (which is the infamous "Leo goes through the window" scene for this series happens) Which is super interesting cause of the events leading up to it would be different. I'm not sure how yet. Maybe They're spying on the Foot Clan? Maybe The Foot Clan is spying on them as they have a sleep over at Aprils either way Leo ends up running to the store alone to pick up a itme which leads ot the Foot Ambush and Leo, being Leo underestimates the fight and makes a bunch of jokes. which slowly become more and more frantic as more foot show up. Then of course Shreddy shows up and does his thing adn bam window scene. And of course we keep the "Tales of Leo" episode which is more humorous and heart felt

I'd also want to use Good Genes arc which....wont go into details for reasons (dont look at me like that)

of course, I'd have to do a "Across the Universe" Arc (which includes SAINW cause haaha Donnie torment) which would basically play out the same except I can see Mikey's arc being alot more "OK I GET IT YOURE SUPER HEROES I WANNA GO HOME!!!" and Leo spending five minutes on his phone weeping casue " DIDN'G THEY HAVE THE INTERNET IN FEUDAL JAPAN!?" and Raph whose more anxious adn probably needing some comfort from Hawk (was that his name? HEEL BHNA FANS) not too sure about Splints, he'd probably be nuts going rabid

I woudl also try to incorporate as many Casey epsides as humanly enough, cause 2003 Casey and Rise Casey are differnt but similar enough I'd love to do that character study

OOoh then theres imagining the justice force as Yokai rather then just super heroes

triceratonnnnnssss

HUNNICUTTTT

RRRRRRRR

I would of cousre incorporate a Fast Forward episode, where instead of the Turtles "gotta go home!" it'd be more "these annoying ass holes have been in our timeline for four hours and you've ruined our advanced intelligence with our memes, our self esteem with your technology and our mental health' and kcik the turtles out of the future with a mighty YEET

oh and a dinosaur arc of course

so much potential

2012 (series)

haha no

never

can't make me

I guess that's it for now, might add to this later. I hope this answers your question! Thank you so much it was so interesting to think about!!!!!!

#asks #rottmnt #rottmnt fanfiction #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #donnie #leo #raph #mikey #tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2007

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downwiththemutantnjnjaturtles · 3 years

Text

Always Good Enough

[2012!Mikey x reader]

bit of a sad bean here but nothing serious :). Based off of an anon ask I got, though I changed it slightly in ways I felt didn't quite fit the message of the original request.

"Pay attention, Mikey!" Leo's stern voice had called.

"Mikey, what're you doing over there?!" had grunted Raph impatiently.

"Whoa! Mikey! You're in the way!" Donnie had shouted.

Mikey! Mikey! Mikey!

The things his brother's had said replayed in his mind, keeping him restless when he was meant to be sleeping. He couldn't sleep; he wasn't tired enough. He had too much energy, was distracted by the temptation to listen to music, distracted by the comic discarded on the floor, which he'd reached for but ultimately slapped his hand away. Distracted by the thought of ice cream kitty sitting in the freezer. Why couldn't he focus, ever? And why the constant berating from his own brothers?

When Mikey had gotten upset by being dismissed by his brothers—or worse, mocked and chastised for his unruly attention span—something Raph had commented had easily crawled under Mikey's skin: "Meh. Let him go and pout, we don't need him."

Of course, as the typical Raph fashion, he always said they didn't need whoever he was presently irritated at. Donnie, Leo, Casey...it didn't matter. But for sensitive Mikey, the comment stung and followed him, along with everything else he remembered being told about his performance throughout the years. One thing in particular that his own Master Splinter had said stuck out to him, though he only thought about it when he was already feeling blue.

After being put on a team with Donnie to go against their two older brothers in training, the younger pair had lost. It wasn't uncommon, but seemed as though Leo and Raph (and Donnie, but less so) were improving more consistently than Mikey.

"If you would only apply yourself, my son, you could surpass even Leonardo," Splinter had told him, walking alongside Mikey as he rested a hand on his shoulder. "You have a great deal of potential, Michelangelo."

A born athlete, agile and relatively strong for his stature. Creative, too. Mikey had heard many times of this supposed untapped potential he held, but he had a hard time believing it. He'd liked where he was at in his journey in ninjutsu. He enjoyed a natural progression, not the manicured approach their leader took that Splinter implied Mikey could take. It just wasn't him. But his pacing didn't seem to be good enough for them.

"Better than Leo…" mumbled Mikey as he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. And smarter than Donnie? The thought briefly crossed his mind, which he was quick to laugh off, even though he really didn't feel like having a chuckle. "What use is this body if I can't get my mind to...to…"

He let out a sound of frustration, planting his palms on his forehead. "Not strong like Raph. Not crazy smart like Donnie. Not whatever Leo is," he listed off, becoming more sour, "I'm just a big useless thing!"

Sighing heavily, he groaned and rolled over onto his side to face the wall. Then there was a light knock at his door. He pulled the blanket over him and didn't bother to face whoever was there. It was probably Splinter coming to check in upon hearing Mikey's outburst, judging by the polite knock. The door creaked open slowly.

"Mikey, you okay?" your voice asked quietly from the doorway.

He glanced over his shoulder at you before sitting up, having expected his father instead. You noticed he looked weirdly down; definitely not the usual Mikey.

Looking at nothing particular on his bed, he responded curtly, "Oh. Hey, [y/n]. Yeah, I'm okay."

Most of all, Mikey was a terrible liar. His shoulders were slumped, he wouldn't look at you, and he didn't speak with any kind of vivacity. You waited for a moment before stepping in, gently shutting the door. He only looked at you when you sat down on the edge of his bed.

"What's really the matter, Mikey?" you questioned.

"Nothing," he replied almost defensively, bringing his knees to his chest.

It took another minute of going back and forth with him to get him to finally open up about what was weighing so heavily on his mind. In truth, he wanted to talk—he just felt so bothersome. His emotions weren't always met with tenderness by his brothers, but they weren't exactly the pinnacles of emotional intelligence, either. There had been a lot of late night talks with Splinter and no one else throughout the years.

"I just feel like a slug," Mikey answered eventually, dejected, and he tucked his chin in his arms.

Quizzical, you tilted your head. "You're not slow, what makes you say that?"

His brow ridge furrowed, "I don't mean like that," he responded, "I mean like, slow as in I'm...behind all of them." His voice gradually went quieter and he ended with a despondent shrug. "Like I'm not as good as my brothers. When we were little, and Master Splinter was giving us our weapons for the first time, he couldn't even come up with any reasons for giving me 'chucks besides 'they suit you.'"

"Mikey—" you started, but he continued.

"I don't know if I'm even good enough to fight with them," he said, and barely, you could see his chin quiver. "I'm always messing something up, or I get in their way, or—"

It hurt to hear Mikey talking about himself the way he did, so it was your time to interject, saying "I think you're great at what you do, Mikey." He'd put his hand down on the bed and you placed yours atop it. "You have your own way of doing things. It might not be how the other three do it, but it's you, and I think it's awesome."

He slowly lifted his eyes to fall on yours, unfurling from himself. "And you'll always be good enough. Your brothers do care about you. They're just trying to figure everything out, too."

"They're just trying to figure everything out, too."

Maybe you were right.

A half-smile crept onto his face, the tears that had welled dissipating. "Thank you so much, [y/n]," he cooed. He scooted back to the wall and patted the spot next to him, and with you there, he felt free to let his mind wander. His hand also snuck its way to yours, wrapping his hand around it coming to rest it between the two of you. He didn't mention it nor act like anything was different, feeling that it was natural, and you were fine with that. He scooted closer in as you talked, even tually coming to let himself lean against you. Mikey fell asleep on your shoulder that night.

#tmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt mikey x reader #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt mikey #tmnt 2012 mikey #fluff #tmnt fluff

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remmushound · 3 years

Text

Bay/rise 41!! @errorfreak88 @brightlotusmoon @digitl-art-monstr @yarchurr @sententiously-sarcastic @dakotafinely @sprinklestheditty

Rise April = April

Bay April = O’neil

Rise Casey = Cassandra

Bay Casey = Casey

This wasn’t how it was meant to go, but it was where they were. The only solace they held in their hearts was the fact that, wherever Shredder was, he couldn’t get to them. Not without someone to make a rift for him. So they were safe. For now. The first thing they did was call O’neil and Casey to tell them what happened, and the two had found their way to the lair within the hour to mourn with everyone else.

Together they sat in the living room in absolute silence, lotus-style on the floor as they all simmered in the broken fractures of their own minds. Leonardo was gently tending to the injured Splinter, dabbing the blood from his pelt after resetting the rat's leg and binding it with bandages he found in Donnie’s lab. He did his work in silence, though his eyes often searched between the rat he was tending and to his own father. He hated to think of when Splinter would awake, and he would have to tell the rat what happened to his sons.

Draxum was more than aware of what he was feeling. That hopeless feeling of survivor's guilt was a feeling he knew from his lambhood, though it had been a while since he had felt it this strongly. He knew it wasn’t his fault— nothing was ever his fault because he was flawless and faultless and that was what he kept telling himself to keep his sanity. He remembered being a lamb in Japan during the time of Shredder—barely off of his mother's milk and still completely reliant on her. There had been such harsh treatment of yokai following Shredder’s defeat that many of his kind was forced from their homeland, and those who refused to leave were killed or forced to hide away. His horns had just barely started to come in when he was captured by the humans hellbent on destroying his kind, and the way they had mutilated him and taken his horns… Draxum shook his head. It was of no matter. He had done his very best in getting as much of the Hamato Clan out of danger as he possibly could. He had more than fulfilled his duty, and he held no shame to admit that.

Casey and O’neil were sitting close together. The only one they truly knew in the group surrounding them was unconscious, and so even if they were in the mood to talk, they wouldn’t know where to start. O’neil, of course, knew the turtles far more than Casey did, but that didn't negate just how close Casey had gotten to the mutant family in the months he knew them. Whether it be butting heads with Raph or arguing with Leo or bothering Donnie or playing with Mikey, he got along well with them all. Even on a few occasions he had gotten wisdom from the old rat and taken every word to heart. O’neil wanted to cry, but her body wouldn’t let her. She wanted to scream and cry and yell at these new turtles for putting her turtles in harm's way, and she wanted to ask, no demand, they go rescue her friends! But she knew no good would ever come of it, and that she would practically be sending them to their deaths! But still, she was mad.

Donatello didn't know how to feel. His head was low and so was his heart; so low in fact it felt as if it was in his stomach. He barely registered it as hunger pangs, though some small part of his mind told him that no one would fault him if he just got up and got a snack from the kitchen to hold him over. He didn't move though. He dismissed the thought and slumped just slightly more, sniffling and wiping his eyes. He wasn’t sure if he was upset about losing Raphael or if he was just incredibly hungry from almost three days with no food. Probably both. He always cried when he was hungry. He didn't care anymore; it was a different kind of not caring than he was used to. This time, he truly didn't care about life or death. All he cared about was getting through the seconds and not being lost to the darkness that tried to steal him away.

April sat close to Donatello, almost on top of him as she rested her head on his shoulder. She showed no shame as she openly cried, Donatello occasionally offering her fresh tissues to wipe the tears that just seemed to keep flow and leave her cheeks ashen and hot. The mystic bat returned to her by Casey Jones suddenly seemed not so important, though she still kept it and the mystic orb on her lap. It wasn’t fair! Raphael shouldn’t have been taken like that and, though she knew it dumb, she couldn’t help but think she could’ve helped somehow if she had been there. If there had been more people fighting, more chances of escaping! Even if she wouldn’t have been able to save Raphael, she might have been able to spare one of the other four captured! Donatello’s arm wrapped around her and gave her a comforting squeeze, and that somehow helped.

Michelangelo was heartbroken, his crying softer than April’s but still loud enough to break the silence. He was tucked into the comfort of his shell with just his muzzle hanging out, tears pooling on the inside of his plastron and spilling out. What he wanted more than anything was a hug from Raphael, and that was one of the only things he couldn’t have. Yoshi was curled beside him, his tail wrapped around the box turtle’s carapace trying to comfort him as best he could while Michelangelo cried and cried. Splinter cried too, though his tears were silent. He had always told his sons that crying was not a sign of weakness, but now that he was there crying in front of them— in front of all but one— he couldn’t help but feel ashamed in his own, overwhelming grief. His Raphael, his boy! He could still see the anguish in his eldests face ever time he closed his eyes. His baby turtle… the same hatchling he had warmed through the winter and cooled in the summer. The hatchling he had fed and dressed and loved. Kissing his bruises when he fell down and hugging him when he was upset. Singing to him and loving him and teaching him and guiding him! Fourteen years, gone in a day when it should have been him…

Cassandra was tense. She had a tight hold on her naginata, her eyes darting between everyone else in the room. Enemies, all of them! The mutants, the humans, the yokai— any one of them could attack her at any moment and she would be outnumbered so she needed to be ready for anything! She was sure she could take them, but what she wasn’t quite sure of was why Draxum just sat where he sat, doing nothing and saying nothing. Why? She understood the need to get away from the monster her Master Shredder had become. The image of the green mutant being ripped apart was still so fresh on her mind that she couldn’t possibly forget it if she tried, but she and Draxum didn't need to be here! Not when every passing moment was a passing threat! They needed to—

Draxum pulled Cassandra closer to him, holding her at his side and giving a comforting shush. That was all it took for Cassandra’s mind to start to simmer, and her to realize just how tired she was. Maybe a quick nap couldn’t hurt, as long as Draxum was looking out for her.

Leonardo couldn’t stand the silence anymore.

#Post-battle thoughts #also some Draxum backstory

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haziel-luz · 4 years

Text

Own it..then Redeem it (2007!Leonardo x reader)

Chapter 4: Just Words or Truth?

Winter gives smiles and dries his hair with the towel around his neck.

“Ms.Lane, thank you for showing (Y/n) to my office, you may leave.” Winter smiles and the assistant blushes with a nod. She gives you the most envious glare in history before she closes the door.

“Follow me (Y/n).” Winters disappeared back into his second floor and you went up the stairs and followed him to what seems like his home.

“So your work is your home?” You asked, staring at everything in awe. The whole thing felt like a secret base in the office. ‘Just how rich is he?’

“I say it’s better here than to just keep driving around all day. Far easier.” Winters explained and smiled at you while going to the kitchen and pouring me a glass of champagne. He brings the glass towards me and sets his towel on one shoulder.

“Have you decided on my offer, my dear?” Winters looks at you curiously.

“Oh yea, um, I decided to accept your offer on the job. When do you want me to start?” You sat on the couch with him.

“That’s marvelous my dear. You can start tomorrow if you want. I will send a driver to your home.”

“Oh you don’t have to do that.”

“No my dear, I want to. You are the special piece missing in this company and I would love to give you everything you deserved before your workload would commence. Shall we have dinner tonight as a celebration?” Winters gives you the most charming smile.

“Thank you but maybe another night. I made other plans with my friends.” You smiled apologetically. You couldn’t forget about telling your friends about this. Winters is a good friend to you but you couldn’t let it in the way.

“Very well my dear. Now if you excuse me, I’m gonna get ready for a meeting in 30 minutes.” Winters stands up and starts walking to his room until he stops at the door frame. “How about tomorrow night?”

You chuckled while shaking your head. “Sure, tomorrow night sounds good. Good day Mr.Winters.” You smiled and walked out of his ‘secret’ apartment.

Winters smiled and went back inside his room. Never in his immortal life, has he met a woman like you. If only he met you in his time period, maybe he wouldn’t have stumbled upon this curse. Winters puts his suit on and looks at the warrior suit he had displayed in another closet. He has lived all these years in regret, now knowing that he wants to lead a life full of family. He looks out the window and brings a small smile to his lips. The end of regret and suffering has to start somewhere, and you are that key. Which is why… ‘I want to tell you everything myself.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You walked out the building and a truck honked at you.

“Hey where do you think you're going?” A familiar male voice hollered at you and you turned around.

You see April and Casey leaning on the delivery truck. You walk towards them with a smile on your face.

“I didn’t think I would bump into you both here, but I guess now is better than later.” You hugged April and Casey.

“So you are gonna explain to us? That’s a shame, I wanted to press every single one of your buttons.” April playfully huffed.

“Looks like I saved myself the trouble. Should we go and talk to the guys now? I’ll explain my actions on the way.” You chuckled at her and she nodded.

“Sure, we’re off of work anyways, let’s go to my car.” April smiles and takes out her keys.

“Finally some time with the guys.” Casey smiles to himself and walks along.

“Yea.” You try not to think so much about your encounter with Leo. Raph was right, I have to talk to him one of these days. ‘And thats today.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You and the ‘perfect’ couple arrived at the lair and helped them carry some books from the car. Donnie requested some of these from April and he might as well have a library. Coming back to a warm atmosphere that you missed, there was also some tension in this familiar place.

“You guys came!” Mickey was the first to see you three and gave each of you a hug, but yours was the longest. When Mickey pulled away from you, he gave you a big happy smile and you gave one back.

“Of course we did.” You nudged his shoulder with yours, careful not to drop the books. You guys walked to the dinner table to place the books down.

“So where’s Donnie?” April asked, sitting down while Casey went to an arcade machine.

“He’s in his lab but he’ll be out shortly.” Leo suddenly came into view from the training area they had. He was working up a sweat, and just Winter’s he was wearing a towel around his neck like he just got out of the shower. ‘Why do these men have to show up like this?’

“I might as well say ‘hi’ to Splinter while I’m at it.” You swiftly moved to where Splinter would most likely be. In his meditating room. You needed some type of voice to tell that things will get better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leo just stared at you walking to Splinter’s meditating room and sighed. Mikey, Casey and April gave Leo a sympathetic look. Seeing you both torn apart like this made them feel bad.

“That bad huh?” Raph came out from his room and jumped down near the dining table.

“Dude, maybe you should make the first move and talk to her.” Mikey suggested.

“Yeah, (Y/n) may be able to listen to you, just as long as you give her the chance to vent on everything she’s held on.” April agreed and gave Leo a reassuring smile.

“That’s if she wants to give in to that chance. Ya know, girls like (Y/n) live by the motto ‘treat people the way you want to be treated’ and I think that’s exactly what she’s doing.” Raph scoffs and Leo only glares at him.

“Let me guess, you gave her that advice.” Leo pulls the towel down away from his neck. April and Mikey can only watch as the two opposite brothers try to square up.

“Oh please, you wrecked the stable relationship you two had. I told her to patch things up with you quickly so that it can just be you and me in the ring.” Raph stood tall with the toughest glare he could give his eldest brother. Sure, Raph was willing to fight his brother one-on-one but it was just downright low to hurt your relationship with Leo in the process. He’d never do that to you or Leo no matter how mad he was at him.

“Guys, cool it.” April stood up slightly and Mikey stood closer to April in case a fight broke out between his brothers. Casey stopped whatever he was playing and stared at the tense scene. He doesn’t want his friends fighting, but he could try to rip them apart from each other.

“The books are here, thanks guys, I appreciate it!” Donnie came into the tense room with a cup of coffee in his hand. Everyone was thankful that Donnie came on time to end the tension. Raph scoffed and left the room while Leo glared at his exit. Everyone let out a breath they were keeping in and Donnie was just confused.

“What did I miss?” Donnie asked the other three and Mikey leaned close enough for him to hear.

“One word, (Y/n).” Mikey said low and discreet enough to make sure he understood. Donnie quickly caught on to the drama.

“Anyways! How about we start with opening these books, shall we?” April insisted to change the subject and Donnie happily agreed. Mikey went to his skateboarding ramp and Casey went back to his game. Leo calmly brought his breathing and anger level down, making his way to his room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You cautiously entered Splinters calm area and the vibe in the room instantly took you over. Breathing out calmly, you walk towards Splinter and he slowly opens his eyes.

“My child, it’s been a while. How are you?” Splinter says gently and gestures you to sit down. He’s been nothing but a sweetheart to you, even if he hasn’t for days. Sometimes you feel guilty for not visiting him more often.

“I’ve been well, I missed you alot Splinter.” You responded and sat down in front of the table. He takes out two tea cups and pours tea on each of them calmly.

“I’ve missed you too my child. I know you’ve been a busy woman. Tell me, are you having any hardships. You know you're always welcome to stay here whenever you like.” Splinter gives you a soft smile, hiding how much he worries about your well being like a father would. Your heart melts for his worries. You wonder what you’ve done to earn a father figure like this, even your own father doesn’t really think about you when he should.

“I’m doing pretty well. My job is paying me well enough and rarely any hardships, but thank you for your offer and concern.” You smiled reassuringly at him. Splinter smiles and drinks his tea, satisfied that your well. You drink as well and your eyes land on a picture beside him. The first picture of everyone together.

“You still have it?” You smiled to yourself and stared at the picture. Splinter looks at the picture and smiles at it.

“Yes, the very first picture of a complete family. I became really happy with how much you’ve all grown since then.” Splinter smiles adoringly at the family photo.

“I was really a rookie back then, still learning right from wrong. Wow, I was so naive” You chuckled and Splinter joined.

“You may have been naive and a ‘rookie’, but to me you’ve given us more to learn.” Splinter smiles at you with appreciation. You tilt your head by the credit he gave you.

“I don’t think I’ve given you guys more to learn.” You were confused, you’ve actually learned more from them than they did from you.

“Well, my sons have learned very important things from you. Reminding them that together we can all be stronger. Helping them realize that finding love comes from within first.” Splinter drinks his tea, his description made you realize what this was about.

“Basically, I should be talking to Leo, shouldn’t I.” You traced the rim of the tea cup, in thought.

“I didn’t imply anything, my child. I know you have your reasons, and reasons should be heard.” He gently put his cup down and poured more tea. Splinter was right, even though he hasn’t explained his words specifically. You and Leo have been separated enough, if the last thing you could do was listen to why he did what he did, then maybe you can both at least go on from the heartbreak.

“Your right, it should. Thank you, Splinter.” You put the cup down and left with determination. Splinter drank his tea and smiled to himself. ‘Finally.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leo was just meditating in his dark room with candle lights around him. He breathes in and out, his mind clearing and feeling relaxed. Yet, everytime he tries to clear his mind, you always show up instead. The memories of the two of you, the history of how you met him and his brothers. He screwed up big time when he sent you that letter, he can only imagine how hurt you were.

These arguments with Raph made him realize that he hurt you more than intended. He tensed up a bit when his door was opened without knocking. Taking a deep breath in and out, he sighed and rubbed his temple. “Listen Raph. If you're gonna come in here to penalize with more yelling, then you should leave cause I’m not in the mood.”

“It’s not Raph.” Your voice interrupted his frustrated thoughts. Leo froze for a second and composed himself. He stood up and turned around, surprised that you even made the move to come into his room.

“(Y-Y/n), hey, I thought you were Raph. N-Not that you look like him, I mean- I assumed-You know what, I’m just surprised.” Leo quickly faltered again and you raised an eyebrow at him, amused by how nervous he was.

“I guess that makes two of us. Listen, I just wanted to talk, if you're not busy.” You took the first step and closed his door.

“Sure, I’m not really busy right now.” Leo sat on his bed and patted a spot next to him. You accepted the seat and crossed your legs on his bed. You really missed the comfortable feeling.

“I’m sorry.” Leo started before you can even ask. You faced him and were confused. He continued, “I never wanted you to be so hurt this way. I just thought it would be easier for you to make something better out of your life than just me.” He explained with a sigh. That explanation just spiked up your anger.

“What do you mean by that? You think you can just decide ‘what’s better’ for my life?” You snapped and frowned. Leo flinched but he knew he deserved it so he stayed composed.

“Your right, I had no right to decide that for you, and I know that it’s a low excuse for a break up. But just look at my point of view for a second, I’m a mutant, meaning that my life choices are so limited that it almost seems impossible to have a normal life.” Leo confessed his insecurities but you were still mad.

“Leo, I knew what I signed up for the moment you asked me out. I even imagined the whole relationship between us when I only had a crush on you, but now you're overthinking about that?” You fumed, standing up and facing him with crossed arms.

“Yes I am. You deserve more than me (Y/n).” Leo says sternly and stands up as well. You can’t believe he was saying this.

“What? You're just gonna give up on me when things get tough in your future plans?” You’re not gonna stand down, now he deserves to hear everything he put you through. “After all we’ve been through, you're willing to throw that all away just because our future won’t be normal for me? I call bullshit. I just can’t believe you set me up for the fall.” You started to raise your voice at him.

“If anything, I’m giving you higher options to have a better future.” Leo reasoned while raising his voice a bit, slightly losing his cool.

“Oh sure, yea, let me just thank you for thinking about my future. Real eye-opening of you to realize that you were and always will be a mutant. You know what, I should go ahead and show my appreciation to you by looking for a mutant girl to give you a promising future.” Your sarcasm hit him and now he frowns at the last part.

“I don’t have anyone else, if that’s what you're suggesting.” Leo gritted his teeth. This isn’t how he thought the conversation would go at all.

“Well, damn Leo! Why else would you break up with me through a letter while you’re in Central America?! It’s either that or I’m not good enough for you.‘Thinking about your future’ my ass!” You retorted with a glare.

“I don’t want you to regret being stuck with me after you realize all the options you had beforehand! I never want to be the reason why you can’t have a good career, a child, or a wedding. I know what I can offer...and it isn’t good enough for you.” Leo’s frustration faded into sadness. Your anger subsided into some guilt and sighed softly to yourself.

You analyzed the situation and blamed some of it on yourself for blowing the conversation into an argument. He had some fault in it too and he knows it. You weren’t a mutant, but you can understand the pressure he feels for trying to give you everything he obviously can’t. Then again, that doesn’t excuse him to let you go so easily, not without knowing how much it hurt you.

“Leo, I love you so much,” He instantly looked into your eyes surprised, “ and I’m sorry, for not giving you enough strength during our relationship.” Leo was about to oppose until you stopped him.

“(Y/-” “No, let me finish. I’ve always told you that ‘I’m so happy that I have you with me.’ This past year has been hell without you. You don’t even know how much I missed you. I mean, look at me! I haven’t slept well until I found out you came back home.” You pointed out the bag under your eyes. Leo started walking closer to you until you stopped him by putting a hand on his chest.

“If you never trusted those words to heart, then it’s pointless...to both of us.” You finished and turned around to leave with tears collecting in your eyes. Leo called out for you but you ignored him. You even ignored everyone else’s concerned expressions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You went out of the sewer and walked around the rooftop. Leo may have some insecurities but you’ve always given him reassurance that you will always be by his side. You went above and beyond for him, so why did he still doubt it? If he was gonna give up then so were you..no matter how much it hurts you.

“(Y/n)?” Raph appeared behind you so suddenly that you turned around without wiping your eyes. “What the hell happened??” Raph jumped down and took his Nightwatcher helmet off.

“J-just went to finally talk to Leo. It’s fine really, things didn’t go as well as I hoped.” You wiped your eyes and gave him a reassuring smile.

Raph frowns and huffs, “That's what you call fine? Stay here, I’m gonna go knock some sense into him.” Raph starts to walk away with his duffle bag and you hold onto his arm.

“Raph no. Just don’t..” You felt a lump in your throat. You couldn’t say another word, cause it would just break you down again. Raph looked at your fragile form and sighed in irritation. All he wanted was for you to be happy with Leo. Sure, he and Splinter Junior have a lot to fix, even if it turns into another physical fight. You don’t look like you can take it anymore, you can barely hold on at this point.

Raph pulled you in for a hug and rubbed your back. You immediately broke down and held on to him. He’s had to console you so many times, so he wasn’t as awkward as the first time. You feel bad that Raph has to be the one to help you through this mess, he didn’t need this.

“Listen, I gotta do some Night Watcher patrol. Mind being my sidekick for tonight?” Raph cleared his throat and asked awkwardly. You snorted at his change of subject. He was still awkward at times. You pulled away and wiped your tears.

“Sure, I’m doing camera duty tho.” You accepted with a chuckle. Raph gave a small smile and put his helmet back on.

“Whatever you say, kid.” Raph makes you follow him to his bike.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leo was in all sorts of emotion. Anger, regret, guilt, sadness. None of these are what he wants at all. Not the rival between him and Raph, and sure as hell not a fight between him and (Y/n). All he wanted was to come back to a complete home, but obviously it wasn’t gonna go that way. Splinter was right, we can’t be expected to continue with our lives as long as we’re fighting each other. Which is why he’s searching for Raph. He needs to talk to him and clear the air.

VROOOOM

‘Or maybe that could wait.’ Leo follows the direction of that well known disruptive motorcycle.

“I guess it’s time to introduce myself, Nightwatcher.”

////////////////////////////////////////

😆Aaaaaah!

😊Was it good? 😣Bad? 🤔Uh-ah-ummm. Please leave kudos or comments to know if I should update another one, or tell me how well I did. Cause honestly, I need determination. I'm gonna go lie down now.😴

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selfless1978 · 3 years

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What a fool he had been. Only now was he understanding what he was losing. And that understanding fueled his speed as he left from rooftop to rooftop, racing across the city. He just couldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t.....

Leo remembered with a sharp pain when he had rebuffed her. How he had pushed her away. She had hoped, dreamed, for a life with him and he in return shattered that hope the night she had confessed her feelings. Bitter was his heart now as he thought back on that day well over a year ago. Bitter with himself.

She had been crushed. Attempted to hide her watering eyes with a smile and he knew he had just broke her heart. But he had stood firmly by his reasoning. He couldn’t indulge her in those fantasies, because of what he was and the life he lived. It was too dangerous, he had firmly told her. She would be a distraction to him and that would jeopardize his entire family. She herself would be in danger if it was ever found out. He couldn’t commit to her fully. He wasn’t ready to risk five lives, seven if you added April and Casey, just for one to be happy. Then he clenched his jaw as he remembered the final blow he gave her in an attempt to dissuade her.

That he didn’t feel the same way about her that she did about him.

She had smiled. Said that she understood and apologized for bringing it up. She kept herself together well in front of him, smiling bravely. It wasn’t until she turned away that the first tear fell and her lip began to lightly tremble. She walked out of the dojo with the normal bounce in her step gone, shoulders slumped and his keen hearing had clearly picked up the first, quiet, sob. None of that made him change his mind. He watched her go, ignoring the pain in his own heart because that last line was a lie.

She still came to the lair after that but it was obvious that things had changed. She didn’t feel comfortable there anymore. Leo could clearly see it. Her posture was tense and the conversations with him were strained, though she still got along very well with the rest of his family. Then, little by little, she began to come less frequent. Almost every day turned into couple of days in the week, then to once a week. Then a couple times a month to....not at all. And he was the reason why.

It was through April that he found out she was seeing someone. How she seemed happy with this man. Even hearing this he held firm to his reasoning and told him she was better off. Then the news of the wedding came. And this was where he had to take a long hard look at himself. As long as she was single, he could keep up this facade. But the thought of her married, and more than likely moving away....

God damn he had been an idiot....

In front of him the church finally came into view and he doubled his efforts. He had to make it in time, he just had to.....

Vicky had closed her eyes while taking a deep breath in and slowly letting it out. Those brown orbs opened to the sight of the closed heavy wooden doors that led to the main hall. Waiting for the music that was her cue to enter. Surrounding her were servants since she had no one close to her to attend. They fussed over her dress, making sure that the train was perfect while the head of the body guards held out his arm to walk her down the aisle. Everything was set up to perfection from the dress to the flowers. Just the way he wanted it. She glanced down at her beautiful bouquet of red roses. Not the color she preferred, but she wasn’t paying for this lavish wedding so she really didn’t care.

For a moment, doubt filled her. She could still back out of this. She could tell him that she wasn’t ready. Honestly, she never really would be ready. But Daichi, with his question if she would be his wife, promised to dim the memories of a hoped for love. Ease the pain of rejection. Save her from the hurting loneliness that had almost ended her. Marrying Daichi would be the step she needed to take to finally get him out of her head and heart. Brooding over a love that never would be returned would do nothing but drive her mad. She had to move on.

Daichi had from the first day she met him treated her with respect, even if there was something cold about him she just couldn’t put her finger on. There was also still some mystery of what he exactly did with his time. Sure, she knew about his multimillion business, but he was sometimes, oddly evasive about his comings and goings on his free time. Vicky could put up with that she supposed. He offered her a good life where she wouldn’t want of anything. Or, almost anything.

His face came to her mind just as the music began and the doors opened, causing her to hesitate before she was pulled along by her escort. She stumbled a bit before she caught herself and matched steps with her entourage. Giving Daichi a smile that suddenly seemed less genuine. She could still say no.

And then what? Go back to her lonely apartment? Think about him? Daydream fantasies that would just cause her to break out in tears? Drown herself in wishful thinking?

Vicky let her eyes wander. Taking in the decor that seemed to be saturated in red. As before when she looking in here during the preparations, she felt a shiver run down her spine. There was just something...ominous about it all. His invited co-workers and employees seemed to be stern and grim faced as they watched her walk. Some even cold, calculating. Even Daichi seemed different as he stood there. Imperial. His eyes held no warmth for her.

She shook those observations away. She was nervous, she told herself, and it was interfering with what she was seeing.

Vicky finally stepped next to him. Painfully aware that there was no one here for her. Because there was no one to invite really. Daichi gave her his charming smile as she took her place next to him. She returned it with her perfected mask. Hiding the doubts and insecurities inside of her.

“Vicky!”

Her eyes grew wide. This was a voice she never expected to hear. “Don’t....”

She spun around, along with everyone else, to find the owner. It had come from up high somewhere. But he was hidden in the shadows of the ceiling. No matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t pick him out in the late evening darkness.

Vicky didn’t realize that her breath had caught in her throat and she forced herself to breath, even if she couldn’t find the words to speak. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Emotions she had thought she had been getting over surged through her and tears welled up in her eyes. She was so taken aback that she didn’t notice Daichi’s father, a large and imposing man, stand up in angered shock as he too looked towards where the voice came from.

Then, those dark eyes that had always intimidated her turned to glare at her. For a moment fear filled her at that menacing gaze as Oruku Saki spoke directly to her. “I know that voice.” He growled as he stepped closer. “You know him? Leonardo? One of the turtles!” He roared the last line. “You dare to use my son so you can be a filthy spy?!”

Vicky was now terrified. She had no idea what was going on. She didn’t know what this man was trying to say. And she definitely wasn’t prepared for Daichi to spin her around by the arm and slap her viscously. “You will pay for this!”

“Pay for what!” Vicky screamed back, hurt and confused by everything going on.

“Don’t play innocent with me!” Daichi roared back, his hand up to strike her again. Even as confused as she was, she was in no way going to let him turn her into a punching bag. Her fist clenched around the bouquet of flowers, and she was full on ready to punch him before he even got the chance.

She was too slow. Before she could even set her arm into motion, for offense or defense, the offending arm was roughly grabbed from the side. Daichi tried to pull his arm free, but the owner of that gripping hand was almost as unmovable as stone.

Leo glared at the man, then hauled the man up, over and sent him flying into his father even as he was roaring at the gathered individuals to stop them. They crashed together in a pile of flailing arms and legs even as Leo cooly pulled out his katana. “Get behind me.”

Still so confused, and watching her past and present collide in front of her, she was in no way able to argue with him. Words still failed her as she watched what unfolded in front of her. Leo was like a blue and green hurricane in this sea of black formalwear. His expression was calm, cool as he seemed to easily hold the press at bay while she stood there, frustration at everything causing tears to well up in her eyes. She watched as her would be husband finally regained his composure and footing. His eyes now gleaming dangerously as he and his father approached the distracted Leo. Her eyes growing wide when she noticed that, somehow, they were both armed. She had mere moments to decide what to do. Should she try and somehow mend things with Daichi? Even though he was showing his true colors to her? Or should she help Leo? The one who had harshly pushed her away when she had tried to follow her heart?

Vicky was torn with this agonizing decision. She was hurt and angry, at both of them. This was supposed to be the day she started a new life, not end up in the middle of a brawl.

Twin trails of moisture now slid down her cheeks. Regardless, she was going to lose one or the other. Maybe even both. She then did something she hadn’t trusted herself to do for a very long time.

Vicky let her heart decide.

Fist clenching once more around her flowers, she stepped forward. And she unleashed all of her frustration, anger, pain and torment through those red roses. The thorny bushel slammed into Daichi’s face. And then again. She set her arm on rapid fire and beat the man almost senseless as blood red petals began to fly all over the place. Soon it was only the hard stems that she had left, and she slapped him silly with those too. Daichi was taken aback by her sudden ferocity and didn’t react right away, and but he time he did Leo had already became aware of the danger.

The large turtle took on both father and son. Never faltering in his pace as he kept them both away from her. Vicky watched him in awe. Something she had always felt when she watched him and his brothers train. She could only dream to be able to move like that. So smooth, so fluid.

Her eyes grew wide as she looked around. Leo had single handedly wiped out almost the entire gathering. She turned those brown orbs to look at him. She was completely stunned. And even more so when Leo managed to knock back both father and son, took a quick look around to see many getting back up. What happened next took just a blink of an eye.

Leo swung his katana at her.

They sliced cleanly and swiftly through the heavy fabric of her dress, leaving her legs now bare from the upper thighs. She only had a brief moment to look down in shock at the white cloth puddle at her feet before she felt the sudden jerk of Leo pulling her to him and lifted her up into his arms. He then ran, ducking and dodging his way through the rapid thickening crowd before reaching a side door and kicking it open.

The cool night air washed over her bare skin as he scrambled up a neighboring building to put some distance between them and the chaos left behind. They didn’t speak, Leo was more focused on his footing than holding a conversation. especially one that was more than likely going to go south as soon as either one opened their mouth. High in the air between buildings wasn’t the right place really to get into a shouting match, and Vicky could shout very loud if she were angry enough.

“Put me down.” She finally managed, her voice trembling with the effort of trying to keep it calm. A deceptive calm, but calm nonetheless.

Leo, knowing they were now far enough away, obliged her request. He settled on a high building over looking the city not far from Central Park. The view could be described as romantic, if there wasn’t a storm brewing. A Vicky storm.

He was silent as he waited. Once he had put her down she had abruptly turned away from him to look out over the city. He had no clue how this emotional woman would react if he spoke when she wasn’t ready. Her entire body was shaking and he felt the sharp pain of guilt punch him in the gut. He couldn’t stay silent anymore, he had done so long enough already.

“Vicky-”

“How could you!” As feared, his voice burst the dam. She spun around to face him. Her dress in tatters, her carefully done hair now reduced to a frizzy mess, the tears in her eyes freely flowing causing her makeup to run. She looked like something out of a horror movie, and she was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on. Once again he was reminded how much of a fool he had been. “How could you! I was finally getting over you! About to start a new life! I could have been-”

“Happy?” That one interrupted word silenced her tirade. “Vicky, I think you and I both know that wasn’t going to happen.”

“Happier than being alone.” She wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“Also a lie.” his blue ones were still watching her.

“What the fuck do you want me to say, Leo? Huh?” Her tearful eyes flew over to meet his finally. “That I was going to sit and rot while I pined for you? You made it very clear that I made a complete fool out of myself that day. I wasn’t going to waste anymore time on someone who-”

“Was stupid.” He calmly broke in again, stepping closer. That admission had silenced her, brown eyes going wide as what he said registered. Another step and he was right in front of her. “I am so sorry, Vicky. I thought I could protect you if I didn’t let you get that close. I didn’t want to risk you getting pulled into everything and become a target.”

“If I had been worried about that, I never would have brought it up.” Was her broken voiced reply. “I know the risks, I’m not stupid. I wanted to try anyway. I wanted to....I....just.....” She looked away from him again, now unable to stop the crying when it hit. The hurt, the pain, the embarrassment, the sting from his rejection all pouring out after months of keeping it in. Her entire body shuddered from her sobs to the point she couldn’t stay on her feet and collapsed to the cold rooftop. “I just wanted to love you....”

Not even thinking about it, he knelt in front of her. Pulling her to him in a tight embrace. At first she resisted but she was too tired of everything to really fight her feelings anymore and she gave in, letting him pull her into his arms. He held her for as long as she needed to calm. She was blubbering all over his chest and gear, but he wasn’t too worried about it. Only when she let out that finally, shuddering, sob did he move. Gently cupping his hand under her chin so she looked at him directly. He leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on her lips while she just stared wide eyed at him. “I love you, Vicky. I always have. I’m here for you, if you still want me.”

Vicky didn’t know what to say. Couldn’t talk anyway even if she did since her lip began to tremble again. Then, with a shaky nod, she threw her arms around his neck. Leo closed his eyes in relief and wrapped his around her, burying his beak into her hair. “I know this isn’t an instant fix, Dear one. We have a lot to talk about and need to sort our feelings out, but I’m wanting to give it a go.”

She just held him tighter.

He kissed her hair and got to his feet, with her once more in his arms. “Let’s go home.”

@lady-maria-the-wolf225

You remember that wedding crashing turtle prompt from awhile back? here you go! ^_^

#sorry this took so long!#stupid life

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adarafaelbarba · 4 years

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Goodbye brother

pairing: Sonny Carisi x reader (Sonnyverse) fandom: Law and Order Special Victims Unit warning: mention of death. Angsty af.

To say she was embarrassed by the who ordeal that had been going down for he last couple of months, well, that would be an understatement. (Y/N) was mortified. First she had been accused by Sonny’s boss and colleagues about leaking the article she had been writing, early, and without getting the green light from them. Then they involved her boss who fired her. And when she thought she was safe in the comfort of her own home, well, she apparently wasn’t safe there either, as Sonny started yelling at her the second he came home. The icing on top of the whole shit cake that was currently her life, was the fact that she was completely innocent. Not that anyone seemed to care about that.

«I didn’t leak it Sonny! I’m telling the truth! Someone hacked my work laptop and sent it from there!» she had pleaded with her husband. But when he wouldn’t listen she shook her head, tears already running down her cheek. «When you decide to listen to me, I’ll be at my parents house, with the kids!» she spat, running to their shared room to pack her things. The kids already had a lot of clothes at her parent’s house, so she only needed to get things for her self.

«Doll!» he tried. «Save it Dominick! I don’t want to hear it», she said, glaring at him before storming out the house. (Y/N) thanked her lucky stars that the kids were already with her parents. The worst thing she and Sonny could do was to fight in front of the kids.

~~~

That was a couple of months ago. She still hadn’t been told she was right all along. And she was still ignoring Sonny. The truth was, she wanted to make up with him so bad, mostly for the kids who were crying most nights asking for him. But they were both hotheads, so unless Sonny came to his senses and started apologizing for how crappy he had treated her, she didn’t want to hear it.

(Y/N) was in the middle of writing a new chapter for her book when she got a call from her sister-in-law.

«Hello? Nina? Hey! Calm down, please, and tell me what happened.» Nina was talking about a mile a minute, and it was getting hard for (Y/N) to understand what she was saying. «Oh my God! When?! Just now? Hey, shh. Tell the others I’m on my way!» (Y/N)’s brother, Tony, was a fire fighter with firehouse 61 in Chicago. And according to his wife, Nina, he had been severely injured on the job.

She couldn’t really say she played favorites when it came to her brothers, she loved them all equally. Not to mention three of their brothers, Ed, Val and Leo, also worked in the emergency service industry in Chicago. Ed being in intelligence for the Chicago PD, Val worked as an EMT for firehouse 61 and Leo worked at Chicago Med as a trauma surgeon. Being a worried sister came with it. Especially with Ed, Val and Tony who were on the front line every day.

~~~

(Y/N) bolted through the doors of the Emergency room at Med as soon as she got there. «Casey! Where is he?!» she called out, locking eyes with Tony’s lieutenant, Matt Casey. «(Y/N)! Oh my God! Thank God you’re here!» he said, hugging her. «They took him into surgery a couple of hours ago. He’s in recovery now, but still under», Casey added, helping her sit down. «Where’s Nina?» she asked, looking for her sister-in-law. «With your brothers, they’re at Tony’s place», he explained. Nodding her head at that, she leant back in her seat, taking a deep breath.

«What the heck happened out there?» she asked no one in particular. «He tried to get a mother and son out of the building and a beam fell down and trapped him under it. We almost didn’t get to him in time», Otis said, biting his lip as he sat opposite her. «But you did get to him. Thank you.» She felt tears slip down her cheeks as she stood up and hugged Otis.

~~~

Hours went by until Dr. Halstead came out, looking at everyone. «Where’s his family?» he asked, before spotting (Y/N), Nina, Ed, Val and Leo. «Come with me please», he said. «Casey can you please call my parents for us?» (Y/N) said, expecting the worst by the way Will was standing.

She was right to think the worst. Dr. Halstead explained that the damage was too severe, he had been in there too long, and the beam had hit just right, meaning it was no saving him. Biting her lip, (Y/N) stood back as her bothers and her sister-in-law hugged and cried. She didn’t know what do do, all she really could do was pray that this was all a joke, a sick dream, and that she would wake up and Tony would be there, awake and smiling at her as he told her one of his weird jokes. But she knew that wasn’t the case, he was gone, and he wasn’t coming back. Tony was just laying there, machines beeping around him. If only he had taken the day off like he had said he was going to do, according to Nina. But there was never anyone who could tell Tony not to work, he was stubborn as a mule and loyal to a fault.

«I need someone to sign off on the papers if we should turn of the machines or not», Dr. Manning chimed in, standing next to Dr. Halstead. «Can we wait until our parents get here?» Leo asked his colleague. «Yeah sure», the brunette girl said, nodding before she and Halstead left.

~~~

The five of them sat there, just watching Tony for what felt like hours, until (Y/N) couldn’t take the silence anymore and got up, going out to the waiting room.

«(Y/N), how’s Tony?» Casey asked, approaching her as the other fire fighters looked up or got out of their seats. «He—he’s not gonna make it. We’re just waiting for our parents and our other brother to get here before we sign the papers», she explained, wiping some tears away. «I’m so sorry to hear that (Y/N). If there’s anything we can do, you just let us know okay?» she nodded at that, giving Casey a hug.

(Y/N) decided to stay in the waiting room with the firefighters, just so she could be the first person her parents and Sergio saw when then got there.

She had stood so motionless that she almost didn’t feel the arms wrapping around her waist until she heard a soft murmur, «Shhh doll, it’s okay.» Sonny was the first and the last person she wanted to see right now. But feeling a moment of weakness, she leant into her husbands chest.

The moment ended quickly though as soon as she saw her parents rush in. «Ma! Dad! Ser!» she called out, running over to them, embracing them all in hugs. «How is he?» her mother asked, looking at her. «He’s not gonna make it ma. I’m sorry», (Y/N) said, looking at the ground as if she was the culprit behind the accident. «Oh god!» Mrs. (Y/L/N) exclaimed, falling into her daughter’s embrace. «I’m so sorry ma», (Y/N) whispered, hugging her mother.

They walked together into the room, leaving Sonny behind, wishing he could take his wife in his arms again and kiss her, to tell her it would be okay in the end. But seeing she wasn’t wearing her wedding ring, he figured she was moving on. Gina had told him about this divorce lawyer friend she had who had gotten (Y/N) the papers. He knew it was coming, he just hoped she would change her mind and come back to him.

~~~

Leo had come out a while after the arrival of their parents and brother. Every firefighter in the room stood up and looked at him. He looked so tired, having been here since the start of his shift the evening before. «Doc?» Chief Boden asked, looking at Leo. «He’s at peace now», was all Leo said, before leaving.

«Leo! Hold up!» Sonny called out, running over to his brother-in-law. «What is it Detective Carisi?» he asked, looking back at Sonny. «How’s (Y/N)?» Sonny asked. «Do you mean after what happened with Tony? Or after you decided to call her a liar and get her fired from her dream job and almost arrested?» Leo knew all about how Sonny broke her heart, all her brothers knew. «I—I should have never done it. I made a huge mistake, and I beat myself up for hurting her, every day. I don’t know what to do. She’s my dream girl and I ruined that», Sonny tried so hard to not break down and cry, it was the last thing (Y/N) and her family needed. «You should have thought of that before then!» Leo stated, turning to leave Sonny behind.

~~~

Later that evening at Nina and Tony’s place, (Y/N) called her mother-in-law. She wanted to say goodnight to the kids. «(Y/N). How are you holding up dear?» Mrs. Carisi asked, looking at her daughter-in-law. «I could be better. Are the kids still awake?» she asked in return. «Yeah hold on. Dom can you get the kids in here please?» Mrs. Carisi asked her husband.

A minute later the kids were in the room in front of the phone. «Mommy! We miss you!» Giovanni and Matteo said in unison. «I miss you kiddos too! Are you being good to nonna and nonno?» at this the boys and Angelina nodded their heads.

«Is daddy there too?» Dominick asked, looking at his mother. «No. Sorry baby», (Y/N) said, giving the kids a sympathetic look. She knew the kids were missing their father, and she couldn’t lie, she missed Sonny too. Having seen him at the hospital earlier had really made her feel better.

After the kids said their goodnights and I love yous, Mrs. Carisi came back in frame. «I know you don’t want to hear it (Y/N), and I was so mad at him when I heard what happened. But have you thought about talking to him? He’s not himself anymore, keeps asking about you and the kids in case I had heard something. I heard something about his attitude towards his colleagues have gotten shorter and he snaps easily», she explained. It broke (Y/N)’s heart to hear how Sonny had changed after the separation. After talking to the divorce lawyer Gina had recommended, she often though about going to Sonny and taking him back, but she couldn’t give up. He had broken her trust, that couldn’t be forgiven that easily.

She missed him like crazy though, and she knew it wouldn’t go away. «Maybe I can talk to him tomorrow?» she murmured, looking from her mother-in-law to the table. «You love him still, don’t you sweetie?» (Y/N) nodded at this, tears slipping down her cheeks before she could stop them, «Yeah, like crazy. But he hurt me, how do I forgive him for that?» she asked, biting down on her lip. «You don’t. But it helps talking it out. That way you can both go from there and hopefully make your way back together. You and Sonny were made for each other sweetie, we saw it long before you both did. Don’t let something so good go to waste dear», Mrs. Carisi said, giving her daughter-in-law a warm smile.

(Y/N) finished her video chat quickly after that, saying she was exhausted, but really, she needed time to think about what her mother-in-law had said. On one hand she wanted to run to where Sonny was staying, hug him and tell him she loved him and she wanted it again. But then in the back of her head she would tell herself that he didn’t deserve to be taken back, and well, that voice was usually the loudest voice.

She finally set for a somewhat healthy medium when she picked up the phone and dialed his number. (Y/N) just about threw her phone at the wall when he picked up. «Doll?» he asked, his voice sounding raw, almost as if he had been crying. She wanted nothing more in that moment than to hug him, she always hated it when he cried, she just didn’t want him to be hurt. «Hey Sonny», she said, and it was the first time in a long time she had said his name, and been happy when she said it. «Are you okay?» he asked, not quite believing that she would call him. «Can we talk? Tomorrow? Over breakfast, my treat», she asked in return. «I’d love that. But please, let me pay.» he offered. «Okay. See you tomorrow», she said. There was a short moment of silence before she added «I love you Sonny.» It was so silent after that, that (Y/N) thought he had passed out, until he replied just as softly as she had with «I love you too doll. Always.»

Sonnyverse taglist:

@sweetcannolicarisi

#sonny carisi x reader #sonny carisi #detective sonny carisi #sonny x reader #carisi x reader #dominick carisi #dominick carisi jr.#ada carisi #ada sonny carisi #detective carisi #sonnyverse #sonny carisi imagine #sonny carisi one shot #sonny carisi family

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nightmarenoise · 4 years

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Some thoughts on TMNT 2012

I finished watching the entirety of the TMNT 2012 series a while ago and boy, do I have some thoughts™. First of all though, the following is going to be my opinions and you’re free to disagree with them. If you feel like attacking me for expressing these opinions though, I’m just going to have to ask you to take a minute and consider that you are about to be a bitch online over an eight year old children’s animated show, and that maybe you should find something else to base your entire identity around. Secondly, I don’t hate the show, not by any means. It was fine. It was fine. It was fine, you guys. I wouldn’t have watched it otherwise. I watched usually about half a season per day because I have too much time on my hands but if I do more than 13 episodes, my puny brain will implode. That being said, I understand that the binge watching might have affected my judgement, because having to wait for a new episode to air each week hits different, I know. Still, I came home after work each day, cozied up in bed and watched 13 episodes of turtle shenanigans before going to sleep and my sleep schedule has never been better. But I digress. Also, I will compare 2012 to Rise, because that’s the only other TMNT show I’ve seen and because this is my post and I want to and it’s only initially.

I feel like the main difference between Rise and 2012 is that Rise is a character-driven show, while 2012 is ultimately plot-driven.

Why do things in Rise happen? Because a character wants something (the boys want to buy their dad a nw robe, April wants to spend a normal day with her new friend, etc, those are just from the top of my head). The motivations are ultimately mundane, and then the story goes from there.

Why do things in 2012 happen? Because the plot said so. Sure, the characters grow and change, but they’re ultimately vehicles for the plot. We don’t really take a minute to let the characters breathe. Usually, things happen because the Turtles saw something on patrol and they’re on patrol because they know the plot is waiting out there to get them.

The show starts with April’s dad being kidnapped by the Krang (/Kraang? It’s unclear) and April herself being spared this presumably gruesome fate because Donnie saved her at the last second. She then goes on to live with an aunt we never see.

We also don’t see much of how this affects April at first. Sure, she is shown to be sad and wanting to get her father back, but the episode ends on the Turtles leaving her at her aunt’s place and then we’re done for the day. Hell, the next time we see April, she just casually drops by their place to show Mikey how to make online friends.

Maybe that’s just me being overly criticial, but I could have done with more time between those moments, showing her coming to terms with things, her normal day-to-day live, or heck, even just going to the lair for the first time.

But we don’t get that because plot has to happen.

April isn’t the only character who suffers from that, but I feel like it affects her the most.

The writers seem to have learned their lesson, because when April loses her dad for the second time, to mutation this time around, she blames the Turtles (which isn’t wrong) and then doesn’t talk to them for a month while presumably going back to her aunt, who I suppose never asks any questions. She only goes back to talking to them when Casey tells her a similar story and she realizes something something, hurting someone without meaning to. Which is fine, but it’s also not really, because it implies April being rightfully upset isn’t valid, because the Turtles didn’t mean to mutate her dad and it was an accident, but it feels like it tone polices someone for experiencing a loss and not letting her take some time for herself to come to terms with that.

But y'know we need her, in part because she’s The Special, but most importantly, so one of the most tedious love subplots can happen.

I know they explained April’s specialness as her being a human/Krang mutant and the Krang needing her unique brain to mutate the entire planet because …reasons. Except for when they later attack New Yok and then don’t need her for that anymore. On that note, I do not understand Krang’s plan at all. Time passes faster in their dimension and they’re kind of at war with the Triceratons and have trouble with the Utrom, so they want to leave (even though the Triceratons are clearly also in our universe, so why not pick a different dimension to take over entirely? There’s established to be ten) and mutate a planet to take over. This is all well and good, except they’ve been at it for about seven million years? Krang takes credit for creating the first humans with mutagen and it’s been mentioned that they steered human evolution to the point where they could create a human/Krang hybrid, such as April. But why did they only have one? They lost track of her when her dad and her fled to New York City, wouldn’t it have been more convenient to have more mutants to do their vague mutant stuff they require by the plot to take over the planet?

Even if we assume that this first mutation means that the first humans didn’t surface between seven and five million years ago, humans haven’t evolved that much in the last couple thousand years. Why wait so long? It must have been billions of years for the Krang.

I know it’s a cartoon and stuff, but they could have easily removed that problem by cutting the line about Krang taking credit for human evolution and for the Krang having been with us for thousands of years. It just creates problems.

Speaking of problematic, the romantic subplots. So, Leo wants to bang his sister, Donnie is creepily obsessed with the first human girl he’s ever met and Mikey is such a good boy, he gets two love interests, because one isn’t enough for all the love and goodness contained in orange boy. I still think it’s weird because all of these love interests are humans, but I gradually got over that. I managed to think about this without physically convulsing for ten whole minutes, for starts.

Okay, so Donnie/April is just bad. The writing and the execution are bad. The characters are fine, I love Donnie, even though he focuses way too much of his time and attention on obsessing over April, but I can let that go on account of him being a teen dealing with his very first ever crush. April though is frequently made to be a callous bitch who knows of his feelings and leads him on when she wants something, but pushes him away at all other times. I vividly remember the time New York was overrun by Krang and April helped Donnie bandage his injured arm and he was about to confess his feelings to her and she pulled too tight to get him to stop. Instead of being up front about it or just telling him that she either liked him or not or that now just wasn’t the time to focus on romance - all of which super valid in their own right. Rip the bandaid off, girl. None of them look especially good coming out of this.

It gets worse considering that after seasons of back and forth and even introducing Casey to give us a love triangle, everyone’s favorite thing in media and April redeeming herself by also being That Way to Casey and by redeeming I mean informing us that she just isn’t really fit for a relationship because she is very toxic in handling them, the whole thing is just kind of dropped forever. There’s no payoff. We spent so much time watching Donnie agonize over this, get worse, then get over his stalker-ish tendencies and get rewarded with a kiss and then nothing ever happens. They don’t even have a conversation about their feelings. The show tries to make it seem like there’s a special connection between April and Donnie because she kills him and then feels bad and brings him back, but, no. That’s not how any of that works. Ultimately this whole thing feels like a huge and infuriating waste of time. Fourth place. And that’s a kindness.

Leo and Karai get third place, mainly because of the incest. Neither of them is as toxic over this subplot and it also has the common decency of not taking up that much time, but it’s still weird. I don’t have much to say here. I guess it was dropped in the end, but maybe also not, but at least there weren’t 30 episodes about Leo agonizing over Karai while she was being weird and also she had her own thing going on and felt like a more fleshed out character than April despite getting less screen time. Third place.

Mikey gets silver because while he’s flirting with two human girls, they both seem to be exclusively into it and also he’s much more mature about dealing with it than his supposedly intelligent brother. Get this. Mikey, being mature at something. None of these ships are confirmed, but it’s a nice change of pace.

Raph takes gold because he fell in love with a girl after she beat the crap out of him and nothing is more valid than that.

Okay, the plot feels kind of rushed, in that they’re confessing undying love after kissing twice, but one, they’re teens and two, this is just the best we’re going to get out of this show.

Casey, well.

Casey exists. He doesn’t add all that much to the story. He has a delightful dynamic with Raph, coming in just after Slash confronted him with his worst traits and then reinforcing the “be a vigilante and do good”-angle and that’s nice. Outside of that though, he tries to hit on April, he hits things with his hockey sticks and I guess he has a family he cares about that we never see. Oops.

I’m very ambivalent about Splinter. I do get him and he’s a good sensei, but kind of a lousy father? Sure, his entire life went up in flames quite spectacularly, but as soon as he realizes his daughter is alive, he often seems to prioritize getting her back over the lives of the four sons he actually raised and spent the last fifteen years with? Also, he’s a dick to Mikey? He gets better later and then he dies. Hm.

Mikey wasn’t as annoying as I feared, going in. He was still stupid, but he had his moments. I also didn’t find him as funny as some of the writers probably hoped, but he was fine. He’s a good boy who deserved better every step of the way, but his brothers and Splinter are kind of not nice to him despite him being just as capable as his brothers. Neither is the show, often making him the butt of a joke or downplaying his achievements (producing super-retro mutagen, saving all his brothers from parasite wasps and the one time he saved the city from cannibal pizza it was treated like a “it was all a dream or was it” and nobody believed him). He doesn’t get a lot of development, but he’s the goodest boy.

Raph again surprised me. He arguably underwent the most development, dealing with his many demons and getting a grip on his temper. This was especially apparent in the Northampton arc when he did chores without complaint and helped Leo train.

Leo on the other hand, started as the leader of the team and ended the story as the de-facto leader of the family and also he was stronger now. I don’t know. Being a leader was his defining trait from start to finish and while he agonized over that, he wasn’t allowed much development outside of that. His first meeting with Karai introduced this subplot about him wanting to be irresponsible and do his own thing, but that was quickly dropped and never brought up again. I liked him best when he was being a dork over his favorite TV show or that time he went to space and on his first outing tried to hit on an alien lady. I would have liked to see more of that Leo, because that Leo was actually interesting.

Donnie, I don’t know. Most of his time was poured into the world’s worst romantic subplot and outside of that he had some traits, but he was mostly there so he could analyze things, develop antivenoms at the drop of a hat, finally create a retromutagen and build 152 vehicles. I like Donnie, but there isn’t much to talk about that isn’t directly tied to April. Except maybe how he promised to turn Timothy back into a human and then never did, even though we keep seeing his frozen remains in the back of the lab. For shame, Donnie. For shame.

To the show’s credit, a lot of the mutants looked horrifying and creepy. They had a tight grip on that horror vibe and it was great. They maintained a balance of comedy and horror and while it wasn’t great, it was a nice reprieve.

I hated Shredder and I know I was supposed to, but I will never get over what a petty bitch he was.

The thing that hit me the hardest was probably the destruction of Earth at the end of season 3. I was legitimately upset about that, so that’s probably a good thing. But when five minutes into the next episode Scrooge McDoctor Who did some timey whimey bullshit to reverse it, I was not any less upset. Make of that what you will. (No, I’ll explain, I felt cheated and it was cheap and annoying. Just when you think the show has some balls, it pulls a “sike” and then flips back to the status quo, usually). The space arc was simultaneously interesting and also not, with a lot of predictable plot threads, but at least we got more locations than the same two nocturnal New York streets all the time.

The ending though was super weird. The other turtles then went into space and probably died or some shit, because they never show up again and also the Fugitoid’s head is alive in orbit, but whatever, no time for that because we have to go back, for the 50th time, to the Foot!

The plot has no time to unfold because the plot needs to happen.

Do you ever think the writers squabbled a lot? It kind of feels like a lot of them wanted to do their own thing and then someone else meddled with that and then we got a patchwork of unconnected threads, left loose and dangling.

I was surprised when we got some buildup to April’s growing dependence on her alien crystal and even one episode dealing with its powers before we got to the episode dealing with the crystal’s effects on her. That sort of nuanced pacing was new. I was also initially very sure that this subplot would only find its payoff in the season finale or half season finale, like most other plot threads usually did, but no, it got its own separate episode.

Yes, they went all Dark Phoenix, but the ending was super anticlimactic, because April killed Donnie and then someone reminded her of it and she felt bad, so she stopped being possessed by evil. They fucked up on the home stretch, but they tried.

I never liked the time travel episodes with Renet much, they felt weirdly intrusive and adding nothing new to the plot. It felt like the first one only happened so we could meet Tang Shen before she died and that didn’t add a whole lot of anything. It confirmed things we already knew and introduced Mikey’s love interest and that was that.

The show tried to do a thing about anti-mutant racism once, but it sure is a good thing that the only people racist against mutants were the mafia, so we don’t have to worry about making a nuanced take here. They could have done something really interesting, but then went for simple black-and-white-morality instead.

My favorite episode was when the boys played Dungeons and Dragons with a sparrow mutant.

The worst part of the show though was its fifth season. First it seemed like it would just continue from where the fourth season had left off with Shredder being revived - because like a good villain, or herpes, Shredder always comes back - by the worst looking dragon I have ever seen in my entire life, but then that arc surprisingly ended after four episodes, shocking me to my core. Almost as shocking as Donnie almost killing a guy, but then deciding not do at the very last second. Again, feels like they could have done more here, but then they didn’t.

The fifth season started with two arcs that seemed to tie up loose plot threads, like Shredder’s revival and the bug alien guy I could have sworn died when he was yeeted out of an airlock coming back to enact his grim revenge, all so Raph’s girlfriend could live on the same planet as him and then never appear on the show ever again. Also Mikey died and his brothers were sad for five seconds before going about their business and then he came back with superpowers and then he conveniently lost them at the end of the episode, because the plot doesn’t have time for things that are emotional or interesting. Then there was that time the writers were like “What if we made Yojimbo, but with anthropromorphic animals and also the turtles are there” and it existed and the Turtles added very few things to the story and then went back to their dimension and never talked about it ever again. Or the time they said “what if we made Mad Max and also everything was terrible” and so they did and Leo became a hulked up war criminal but everyone forgave him because he wasn’t himself but immediately snapped out of it after seeing his brothers and Raphael was on steroids and Donnie became a robot in what I assume was a reference to the comics where he died and became a robot and also Donnie ended up being the only one whose body died, but considering what became of his brothers, he was probably the best off? And Raph had amnesia just so he could say he had amnesia and it didn’t actually factor into the plot once because he immediately recognized Mikey. I don’t know, I hated that special.

But at least it gave me emotions. The best part of the “that time travel demon is back and trying to monster mash” arc was when I remembered that I could browse tumblr on my phone while it was on and then I didn’t bore myself to death and also didn’t miss anything of value.

The series finale was fine. Nothing to write home about, but perfectly fine, even though the show threw an awful lot of shade at the 1987 version.

I feel like the most jarring thing about the fifth season was that the show spent four seasons going out of its way to present itself as something with a cohesive narrative and a plot that goes on and on and then we get these disjointed stories, some of which have absolutely nothing to do with the story at all. Just the writers throwing some idea at a wall to see what sticks because they either didn’t have any ideas anymore, or too many, but the end result wasn’t great and I’ll recommend newcomers to stop after the fourth season, because for real.

Tiger Claw existed and he was infuriatingly capable and powerful and then his sister chopped off his arm and then he got a robot arm and that was it forever. I don’t know, some episodes felt more pointless than others, but some managed to be fun or interesting and some just added something they thought was fun and it ended up never mattering again.

Some characters disappeared randomly, like the dove guy and I don’t care enough to ask what happened there.

Karai’s mutation being reversed off-screen was super bizarre. Sure, her being able to change at will as metal as heck, but it felt weird and incomplete and like I missed an episode. Maybe I did. It was also infuriating how her venom was a plot point in one episode and never brought up again after that.

Outside of that, I don’t have much insight to offer. Other people already exlained how the fight scenes, while nice, are not very accurate, especially the bo staff moves, or how the show is very dark, not in tone, but in actual absence of light and lots of greyscales or how most characters have singular traits rather than fleshed out personalities, especially the supporting cast. How there isn’t a lot of diversity in the human characters and how figure-hugging a lot of April’s and Karai’s clothing is (shoutout to April’s yellow shirt, it’s uncomfortable to look at, cheers) or how the female characters are frequently damselled.

I liked when the animation added personality to the characters because the writing sure didn’t think it had time for that.

All in all, it’s a mixed bag for me. It’s a fine show to watch if you have the time and it’s not all bad and I can see why people enjoy it, but it’s not for me. I liked some episodes enough to watch again, but I feel like in nine out of ten cases, I’ll opt to rewatch Rise instead because it has more of what I personally like, but I won’t think less of you if you enjoyed this version of the show. I’m not telling people that one version of the Turtles is superior to the other, just that I think it’s important to take off those rose-colored glasses and be critical of the things you consume every now and again.

But if you prefer plot-driven shows that can be surprisingly dark, you might enjoy this. Or you could watch Avatar, because it has that as well as three-dimensional characters and better worldbuilding.

Thank you for reading my way-too-long thoughts about an animated kid’s show.

#some of these are nitpicks some of these are not #i did not beta read this #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles 2012 #tmnt 2012 #Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles 87 #tmnt 87

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nights-legacy · 4 years

Text

Persevere through Imperil - Leo Pt. 1

Leo 2012

+ Raph, Donnie, and Y/N were captured on a nightly patrol and Leo & Mikey can’t save them. After returning to the lair, Leo, Mikey, Master Splinter, April, and Casey devise a plan to find and rescue the three. While waiting for night to fall, Leo breaks down from fear only to be consoled by Master Splinter. He tells Leo that he has come to a new lesson perseverance and love.

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Y/N’s POV

I struggled against the Foot ninjas that were holding me by the wrists. I couldn’t get out of their grip. Breathing heavy, I looked across the rooftop to see the guys fighting off more of these jerks. Well two of the four were fighting. Donnie was unconscious and Raph was hurt.

“You jerks. Let me go!” I screamed. “Leo!” I yelled out. I saw him freeze and look my way. I saw his eyes widen at the sight of me being dragged away.

“Y/N!” He called out. He tried to make it this way.

“Grab the two and let’s split. We’ll take them and the girl back to the boss.” One of the Foot commanded.

“No!” I screamed. I yanked one hand free and punched one of them. He groaned and turned to me angry. He returned with a punch in my stomach. I hit the ground with a thud and gasping for air.

“Y/N! Don’t touch her!” I barely heard Leo and Mikey yell before I was picked up and thrown over someone’s shoulder. The last thing I remembered was Leo and Mikey running toward us then a black cloud of smoke before passing out.

Leo’s POV

“Y/N! Raph! Donnie!” I coughed trying to clear the smoke from my lungs. I could hear Mikey doing the same thing. I looked over at him and made sure he was alright. “You okay, Mikey?”

“Yeah, I’m good. But Leo…” He looked from me to the open air in front of us. “They’re gone. Raph, Donnie…Y/N.” I looked at where they were standing before running to the edge.

“Come on. We need to search the area for any sign of them or where they went too.” Mikey nodded his head and jumped off the roof to the next. I took the opposite direction. After about an hour of looking, Mikey found me.

“Nothing.” He said. I sighed, looking down. I knelt down, clenching my fists against the ground.

“Dammit!” I screamed slamming my fists on the ground. I closed my eyes tight, trying not to cry. In felt Mikey’s hand on my shoulder.

“Come on, Leo. We need to go and tell Master.” I heard his voice shaking. I could tell he was trying to keep it together. I nodded and got up slowly. I turned to him. His eyes were watery and I pulled him into a hug. He returned immediately, shaking terribly. I pulled back and guided us towards the lair.

“Sensei.” I croaked. Master Splinter’s head shot up and looked at us. His eyes widen and looked around, probably searching for Raph and Donnie. “We failed tonight Master.” I fell to my knees.

“Raph, Donnie, and Y/N all got taken by the foot. We, we, we couldn’t stop them.” Mikey whimpered.

“My sons…this is not your fault.”

“But how!” I screamed. “We saw them start to take Y/N away and we were to slow to stop them from taking them all away!” I cried. Tears started down my face.

“Oh Leonardo, Michelangelo.” Master Splinter came over to us and pulled us to him. He hugged us tight. “We will find them.” I nodded and took a big breath, standing up.

“I will call April and Casey. They can help us search.” I bowed before exiting the dojo. Once out of earshot, I let a sob go. I leant against the wall. “I’m sorry Y/N. I should have never of let you go with us.”

*Time Skip*

April and Casey arrived shortly after I was able to call them. We were able to compile a list of known location the Foot has used in the past and present. April was able to use Donnie’s computer to start a trace on Raph’s and Donnie’s t-phones.

“Since I’m not completely sure how to do this, it should take a…” A sound and message popped up on the screen. “Oh no. Their phones are here in the lair. So that was no help.”

“Great.” I groaned and pinched my forehead. “So no way to track them. So next step is to check out the spots.”

“That will have to wait until tomorrow night I’m afraid. The sun will be up in less than an hour and you two need rest before then.” Master Splinter said.

“But Sensei.”

“NO Leonardo! I know you are worried about your brothers and your beloved but you know very well that your brothers, healthy or hurt, they would do anything to protect her. You just need to be patient.”

“Yes Sensei.” I replied reluctantly. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mikey looking at me worried. I ignored the look and made my way to my room.

“We’ll check out these places today and see if there is any indication they’re there.”

“Thank you April.” That was the last thing I heard before closing my door. I stood there for a second before the tears raced down my cheeks. I choked on a sob and stumbled toward the bed. I hit the ground on my knees next to the bed. I gripped the sheets as sobs ripped from my chest.

“No, no, no.” I chanted. I buried my head in the blankets trying to keep quiet. I don’t know how long I was crying but I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped and turned around seeing Master Splinter.

“My son.” He held his arms open. I sniffled and leapt into his arms. He held me tight as I cried into his chest.

“I’m sorry father. I know I should be keeping a level head like a leader should but I just can’t. It hurts too much. And I can’t stand the thought of losing her or my brothers. I know this is not the worst situation we’ve ever been in but, but…”

“This is the first time your beloved has been imperil.” Master finished my thought. I nodded. “I understand my son. You have every right to be scared. You have to remember that courage is not the absence of fear.” He leant back and looked at me. “You have come a new lesson my son. A new lesson in perseverance.”

“I have?”

“Yes. You have faced the threat of losing your brothers and you have faced the threat of losing me but you have never faced losing someone who holds your heart entirely. It’s a feeling I do not wish on you but I understand it. This love is different than between you and your brothers. It hurts different when something like this happens. You have to find the strength to persevere through this my son. I know you have it in you. You must find your strength with wherever or whomever it lies.” He squeezed my shoulder before departing from my room.

“Find the strength.” I whispered and wiped the leftover tears off my face. I sat down and took a big breath. I closed my eyes and thought over things to find strength. “Y/N. I find my strength in you,” After a few minutes of meditation, I felt a warmth wash over me and I felt my body relax. My eyes shot open. “We’re coming my love, my brothers. Just be patient.”

Y/N’s POV

I continuously kicked at the bars in front of me. I didn’t know what else to do since we were thrown in this cage and haven’t seen another soul since. I looked over at Donnie and Raph. Donnie had patched up Raph’s wound with my over-shirt.

“That will do for now. Hopefully Leo and Mikey come soon though. It don’t know what way it will turn.” Donnie said sitting back on his heels. Raph nodded and then looked over at me.

“You okay, Y/N?” He asked. I nodded silently.

“I just got punched in the stomach, that’s all.” I said before I flinched while shifting on my back.

“Let me see.” Donnie came over and gently lifted my shirt. I pushed up on my elbows and saw a bruise forming. “Ow.” He said while looking at me. He gently pressed against different parts of my stomach looking for anything wrong. “I don’t feel anything wrong.”

“Thanks Donnie.” HE nodded before standing. He walked over to the door and looked out on guard.

“Hello Freaks!” A guard threw open the door and walked in. I turned over in shock.

“Y/N, come here now!” Raph called. Without question, I scrambled over to him and pressed into his side. He wrapped his arm around me and sneered at the Foot.

“Are we comfortable?” the guard laughed. He leant against the bars and stared at me. “How about you sweetheart? Can I do anything to make you more…comfortable?” He winked. I whimpered and pressed harder into Raph just as he pulled me tighter. Donnie stepped in front of us.

“Stay away from her!” Donnie growled.

“Ohh. Someone is defensive.” He held up his hands in surrender. “Be careful there. You don’t have your weapons.”

“We don’t need them to beat your asses.” Raph exclaimed.

“Whatever. You two aren’t even who we wanted. You are just bonuses. She is who the boss wanted. Be prepared. You’ll meet him soon.” He smirked and walked back out, slamming the door.

“We won’t let anything happen to ya, darling.” Raph said while kissing my head.

“Not while we’re still breathing.” Donnie said from behind me and set his hand on my shoulder. I tried to stifle a sob but it snuck past. I felt them both wrap their arms around me.

“Come on Fearless. We could really you use you right about now.”

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