Various pieces of information from the Rise Q&A back in February
It was revealed that there are other Hidden Cities other than the one seen in Rise & there had been plans for the Turtles to visit the Hidden City beneath Tokyo.
2. Splinter was able to use Leo's mystic odachi so easily due to the fact that Splinter had spent a lot of time in the Hidden City & because of this Splinter has a great deal of mystic knowledge, with Splinter also having developed his mystic abilities but he has stopped using those abilities until the events of the series.
3. More information was given about the missing Turtle Siblings & it was stated the Frida, Big Mama's Assistant would have most likely joined her brothers during the future timeline, it was also stated that the other missing Turtle Sibling would have possibly been named Camille after Camille Claudel.
4. When asked on how a Dungeons & Dragons episode would go it was stated that April would be the DM, Raph would be a fighter class, Mikey would be an illusionist, Leo would be an assassin or thief & Donnie would insist on being a scientist since he's sure that there was 'at least one sensible person back then'.
5. The Rise version of Renet could have possibly been used to explore different timelines that might have happened if certain events in the movie had happened differently.
6. After the events of the movie Casey is traveling around the world fighting remnants of the Krang & the Foot Clan.
7. When asked about the Turtle's relationship with Draxum it was stated that in contrast to Mikey who accepted Draxum the most easily, Leo is the most skeptical however it was also stated that Leo would have eventually 'gotten over' his grudge towards Draxum as there were multiple scrapped episodes planned where Leo & Draxum would have been forced to work together.
8. There were plans for the Turtles to eventually go to the Krang's original dimension meaning that it would have been likely for the Turtles to encounter the traditional dimension X/Z stuff such as the Neutrinos.
9. When asked about Casey Junior's relationship with the past/ present version of Leo it was stated that despite it being slightly different due to them being around the same age now Casey Junior can't help but still view Leo as a father figure.
10. It was stated that Splinter has never celebrated the Turtle's Birthdays in the past due to it being to closely related to his negative feelings towards his own mutation however it was also stated that after Splinter's development in the series he would start celebrating the Turtle's Birthday with them.
11. The reason that the Future Version of Leonardo was the one who raised Casey Junior was stated that it was due to the fact that the Future Version of Leonardo had a special affinity for Casey Junior & also felt particularly responsible for Casey Junior after his mother was gone.
12. When asked what the Rise version of Miyamoto Usagi would have been like it was revealed that a possible plan for Usagi was that his home dimension would have been overrun by the Krang causing Usagi to travel to the Turtles dimension for help due to them being the only ones who have ever defeated the Krang.
13. When discussing crossovers between TMNT iterations it was stated that a crossover between Rise & the 1987 cartoon or the 2003 cartoon would have been a possibility due to them also being 2D animated series.
14. April & Sunita were planned to have more 'girls night' episodes together.
It was also stated that Casey would have possibly have developed a dynamic with both April & Sunita so there is also a possibility that Casey would have been included in the 'girls night' episodes with April & Sunita as well.
The leader of a gang consisting of both humans, mutants, and yokai. No one knows anything about her past, some parts even she chooses to ignore. She has a pet german shepherd named Kleo that she found abandoned and raised. When Leo came into her life, she thought he was an idiot and wanted nothing to do with him. The second time they ran into each other, Leo had unknowingly brought an oozesquito with him, which mutated Toga into a german shepherd (Kleo's never seen again cough cough). She purposefully avoids doing anything that would bring Leo to her, preferring to hide, process, and grieve. When she and Leo meet again, she's returned to the cold demeanor she had when they met for the first time. Then he ends up getting hurt while fighting a different villain on his own, but Toga finds and rescues him in time.
I see many people talking about how 'different' Raph is in Rise (2018) compared to his other portrayals in various shows. I am here to give my opinion as an older sibling parentrified and a person with C-PTSD to explain why it is NOT like that. (Or well, at least it's a theory, especially considering canonical details like the fact that Mikey was Raph's best friend until SOMETHING happened...)
Okay, so... I'd like to use MM Raph as an example, since he's the closest representation we have to a real 'Teenage', although, ironically, he's one of the Raphs with the most violent tendencies. This Raphael, as we see, may yearn for that emotional connection with his brothers; however, he shuts himself off. We can't judge him, because, as we saw in that episode where he goes to 'therapy' with a fighting instructor, his brothers just mock every detail he shares. They don't take him seriously. Overcome with shame, he explodes again. After all, he's the team's 'muscle,' right? His brothers will never see him as anything more than that.
On the other hand, we have Rise Raph, who during the course of the series is the same age as MM Raph. Clearly, they don't react the same way to circumstances. From the beginning, they make it clear that Rise Raph is a 'Noble Giant'. But what if he wasn't always like that? Taking into account that Raph DOES have violent tendencies, but only under dangerous situations (Triggers) under the name of 'Savage Raph', and the fact that his brothers recognize it means that his violent nature is not nonexistent, it is repressed.
The turtles in ROTTMNT live under the neglect of Splinter, a former star in every aspect (fighter, trainer, actor...) who was an icon. Clearly, his mutation affected him psychologically like shit. He was always there for the turtles physically, but emotionally he was lacking a lot. Raphael, being the older brother, feels the responsibility of being the wall that Splinter wasn't. However, he was also just a child. When such a young mind is forced to understand complex concepts like 'My father is sad', 'My brothers are sad', 'I feel lonely', you can do nothing but ATTACK. Basically, before becoming the protector, it's very likely that you were the danger in the first place. Basically, even though they share the same age, Rise Raph DID have his 'MM Raph stage', only when he was younger because, like the other version, it was difficult for him to understand his surroundings.
So, as Raphael grows up amidst the helplessness, he comes to understand: I am not like my brothers, I am bigger, I am stronger... He builds his self-perception based (unconsciously) on what he felt he lacked to feel protected. From being the most irritable of the brothers, he became the one who stopped the problems. From being the one who pushed his brothers away when they sought him out, he became the one who longed for company, but, unfortunately, wounds heal, but they don't disappear. I have no proof (but also no doubt) that, when they were little, Raphael may have hit his brothers on occasion out of a psychological impulse to defend himself, driving them away forever, in one way or another.
The fact that his violent version now comes out when the triggers are related to hurting his family or separating them (Words like: 'Alone') They only prove to us the internal shame and guilt that Raphael carries for having been the one who hurt his brothers, for not having been patient when they needed him. for having been a danger before becoming the shield, forgetting that, to begin with, he was the same: A scared child. Savage Raph isn't Raph being "mad"; it's his repressed, unintegrated survival instinct taking over because his conscious self is terrified of failing his brothers again.
The other Raphs have the 'luxury' of exploding outwards because strength was recognized as a virtue for them, plus Splinter or Leo were always there to help them clean up their mess or 'Transform/balance' His strength for good. Rise Raph learned through self-loathing that it was more worthwhile to care than to hurt.
TMNT 2012, post-canon
Donatello x April
kid fic, established couple, 3k words
part of the 'Married with kids AU' by me & @nerdy-turtle-enthusiast[TAG]
art by @nerdy-turtle-enthusiast
[READ ON AO3]
---
āOn Darwinās beard, this is the last time I'm moving this close to Christmas,ā Donnie says.
āYou do tend to move on big occasions,ā Leo remarks, taking a sip from his bowl.
Donnie couldn't remember where they put the mugs, which was kind of funny until it wasn't.
Theyāre sitting in what remains of his kitchen, swallowed by a sea of cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, and not much else. There are marks left on the walls by a supposedly 'temporary', five-year-old adhesive, and piles of dust in every corner of the floor that once sat covered, and miles of takeout boxes stashed into their trashcan, because those are the only warm meals theyāve been having in the last two days since theyāve brought their stove over to the new house.
There's a part of Donnie that feels a little bad about having his brothers over in this state, and a second, much larger part that can't bring himself to care if he lives or dies right now.
āI hate this,ā he says, with everything he has. āThis is the worst thing thatās ever happened to me.ā
He was a lot younger when he first moved out of The Lair ā freshly married and full of that stubborn determination to do everything the hard way you only really get in your twenties. They didnāt hire a moving company back then either, but that was also before they had to consider stuffing things like strollers, toddler beds, and cribs, and so, so much plastic junk into 15 x 15 cardboard boxes.
Life was a lot easier back then.
Donnie didn't remember owning this much stuff.
April said the same thing last week, and that was before they remembered the winter quilts they squeezed under their mattress last year, so at this point ā Donnie feels about ready to accept their apartment as a living, breathing, replicating organism.Ā
He was mostly joking when he said it to Lizzie, but his daughter looked up at him like he had never said anything that made more sense in his life.
āMaybe itās sad weāre leaving it,ā she said, which was equally funny, sad, and true.
Donnie and April spent over five years in this apartment, and to see it bare and gutted like this feels a little like looking at a skinned animal.
āI thought that one time I taped over your Bill Nye episodes was the worst thing thatās ever happened to you,ā Mikey says, pulling his legs up onto the kitchen counter. They ran out of books to use as replacement chairs ā not that his brother would ever sit on one like a normal person anyway.
Donnie thinks for a moment, reconsidering.Ā
āThe second worst thing,ā he relents.
āYouāre so dramatic,ā Raph huffs. āJust throw some things out. Half of this is likeā¦ā He glances at the juicer, wrapped up on top of the fridge. They used it exactly once and never again. āProper junk, dude.ā
Raph left their childhood home first, bringing along not much more than his weapons and a couple of family pictures.
Practical in hindsight, and Donnie had never taken his brother for a particularly materialistic man, but strange in the moment. Raphās room remained untouched for months, and it felt like Donnie could just walk in and still find him reading on his bed, or leaning over a drawing on his desk, or stabbing into his own punching bag. He never did.
āWe already threw what we could,ā Donnie says, absentmindedly.Ā
āShouldāve given it to me. I love holding onto junk,ā Mikey says, too honestly.
āI know, we live together,ā Leo says, sounding tired.
Raph huffs, giving them all a look thatās only halfway to amused.
āShouldāve given it to Judy,ā he states. He always speaks of his daughter like she deserves the world, and Donnie would lie if he said he didnāt understand the feeling, but his brother always seems just a little too literal in it for comfort. āYou know she loves smashing things!āĀ
Raph raises his voice a little at the end; all habit, because even at thirty they all fall into old, rowdy tendencies when left alone together. But he quickly quiets, glancing at the corner of the room with a sheepish look.
āShit, sorry.ā
Mikey glances up at the fridge, his eyes wide with the kind of look that usually means trouble and not much else.
āDude, thatās such a good idea.ā He points up to the juicer, a small grin pulling against his teeth. āCan I take it? Itāll make a great Christmas gift.ā
Donnie looks at him for a long, long moment.
Heās joking, probably. But nowadays it's a little hard to tell when he's being serious and when he's kidding, and Donnie always gets the feeling it's very much intentional.
ā... You know what? Sure,ā he decides, waving a hand dismissively. āTake it all, fuck if I care.ā
āSpeaking of Christmas.ā Raph finishes the last of his coffee, pointing at Mikey with the empty bowl. āYou bringing anyone home this year?ā
Mikey shrugs, already halfway up the fridge.Ā
āNah, not this time,ā he says. Then, after a moment: āWell, I suppose I could-ā
āYour evil ex is not invited,ā Raph quickly cuts in.
If Donnie were a worse brother, heād jump onto the table in celebration and dig into the kitchen boxes until he found where they put the good wine. As it is, he settles for a laugh.
āYou said it.ā Leo raises his hands in absolution, but probably only because getting on Mikeyās bad side is a lot less funny when youāre the one still living with him.
āYāall are mean,ā Mikey huffs, arms wrapping around the juicer in an almost protective manner, which makes Donnie laugh harder, and the kick he earns from Leo for it is almost worth it.
āFuck,ā Donnie finally coughs up. āThis year will be a mess. I donāt even remember where we put our gifts.ā
āThis is why we never let you two host,ā Leo chides, but not unkindly.Ā
He used to feel a little bad about leaving most of the holiday preparations in Leoās and Mikeyās (so mostly Leoās) hands, but heās a little older now, and itās hard to pretend he doesnāt notice that bittersweet sort of happiness that always seems to swallow his brothers whole every time they spend Christmas in The Lair.
Donnie loved their little apartment, and heās sure heāll love their new house, but The Lair is his Home ā capital āHā ā and he doesnāt think that will ever really change.
āMaybe April will know,ā Donnie says, a little more for himself than anyone else.
She and Lizzie have been gone for a good hour now, and if her poor excuse of a grocery store run was actually her attempt at giving him, his brothers, and the elephant in the room a little more space to breathe ā he supposes he canāt really be angry about that.
āNext time youāre moving, weāre helping you even less,ā Raph decides.
Heās probably joking, and Donnie wasnāt really expecting them to make the hour-long ride from New York (or the trip from outer space in Raphās case) more than once anyway, especially not in the week before Christmas, but he still canāt help the frown that pulls on his face.
āYou havenāt done shit, youāve been sitting on your asses and laughing at me for, like, three hours,ā Donnie huffs. āI hope this is the last time weāre moving, anyway.ā
āOf course,ā Leo says, then smiles, and itās a little bit like theyāre fifteen again, and Donnieās swallowing every bit of his brotherās attention like a thirsty man.
āYeah,ā he says. Then, a little more like himself: āThe new house is great. Quiet neighborhood, backyard. Close to Casey, too.ā
Mikey sits up a bit at that, giving him a strange look.
āClose to Casey? Is that a benefit now?ā
āYeah,ā he replies, looking back at Raph and Leo. His brothers seem rather fascinated with the plastic wrapping covering the table. āHeās been a great help with the kids and all.ā
āOh, yeah.ā Mikey shrugs, voice a little quiet and vague. āSure.ā
āRight. About Casey,ā Leo says, setting down his bowl. He clears his throat, then hesitates again, face twisted into a frown. He looks a lot like Sensei like this, and that is to say ā ten years older. āI mean, not Casey. Nothing to do with Casey at all.ā
āOf course,ā Raph nods, a little too eager. His brother is the boldest, most tactless person Donnie has ever met, and to see him trying to dance around a topic feels like watching a bull walk straight into a china shop. āWeāre just- How are you doing, besides all the moving stuff? With theā¦ā
He makes a weird gesture, vaguely pointing towards the corner of the room.
āWith the new baby,ā Leo says diplomatically.
Raph and Mikey nod, then quiet and turn to look at Donnie, and thatās the end of that, he supposes.
He knew that mustāve been the real reason why they even came today, and he knows heās been nothing but evasive for the last month, and he knows itās worry in their eyes, not pity or uneasiness, even if it doesnāt really look like it.
Donnie doesnāt really know how to answer.
He hadnāt expected it, thatās one thing. None of them did.
Donnie and April had some vague, glorified dreams of a big family ā back when April first convinced him to finally take that step.
April was an awfully lonely only child, and there's an indistinct sense of longing that sometimes still clings to her even now. Growing up with brothers wasn't exactly easy for Donnie, and there were times when he hated them almost as much as he hated himself, but they gave him something he's only really been able to find in April ever since.
He belongs to them as much as they belong to him.
They thought two, maybe three.
And then they wasted hours poring over needless paperwork, losing their minds to second thoughts and doubt, finally got to experience their first toddler meltdown ā and promptly settled on one.
Just one. That was more than enough.
Donnie fell in love with Elizabeth as easily as diving headfirst into deep water, and he hadnāt had a breath of air since.Ā
Meeting her for the first time felt sudden and harrowing and like the most stressful thing heās ever done, but it left him feeling so hopeful he almost got drunk on it. He and April had to switch seats in the car every twenty minutes because neither of them could keep their hands from shaking.
When it finally came to it, adopting felt as natural as taking one step after another, and for what mightāve been the first time in his life ā Donnie knew where it was leading him.
Lizzie reminded him of April ā stubborn and fiery, and then of himself ā too smart for her own good and only interested in things others told her she wouldn't understand. Then of Leo, and Raph, and Mikey, and Sensei ā a strange, wonderful reflection of everyone he's ever loved.
She clings to them like a lost puppy, and looks at the world with the sort of childish grace it didnāt grant her at the rough start of her life, and she calls him āDadā like it means everything to her. Itās more than he ever couldāve wished for.
And so it was ā the three of them.
Until the end of November, when their living room split open with a burst of light and energy, leaving a familiar face behind. Renet almost knocked their lamp over, complimented Aprilās choices in curtains, and promptly turned their whole lives upside down.
Donnieās not sure how much of: āThis is April and Caseyās son from an alternative dimension that kind of exploded just now, but Lord Simultaneous said your timeline needs him, he said why but I forgot, and since youāre already looking to adopt-ā he really understood the first time she said it, but then there was suddenly a boy in his wifeās arms, small and undeniably redheaded, and it was like the time had stopped, for just a second.
His name was Cody, and Renet never met his parents personally but said his mother (April, for what itās worth) left him a letter.
Donnie hadn't read it. He's not sure he'll ever want to.
The worst part, Donnie supposes, is that they couldnāt even really be mad at Renet over it. They still were, maybe for far longer than needed, but her heart stayed in the right place far more often than her head.
It didnāt feel right giving him to anyone else ā not when he looked so much like April, not when she held him like sheās always known his shape in her arms. Donnie is a foolish man at heart, and nothing comes to him easier than being afraid, but he saw the look in his wifeās eyes, and the idea of almost taking it away from her again made him break like a twig.
He didnāt really know what to do. He still doesnāt.
Codyās so small that holding him leaves Donnie stiff for hours with how hard heās tensing his muscles, and heās crying for reasons that seem obvious to everyone but him, and sometimes he wakes up so afraid, they started bringing the crib into the bedroom just so he could make sure the boyās still breathing.
But his brothers seemed hesitantly optimistic when they called them over that late November, and Lizzie accepted Cody faster than they prepared for, and there are a lot of emotions that always seem to linger on Aprilās face nowadays, and regret isnāt one of them. Casey looked at Cody for all of three seconds before promptly locking himself in the bathroom for over an hour, but heās come around since.
Donnieās lost and confused more days than not, but heās dealt with worse for a lesser cause, and thereās a small, hesitantly giddy part of him that grows larger every day.Ā
And the thing ā the thing that really, really gets into his head about this ā is that he knows how he should feel about this.
Codyās so much like April it hurts, but he has Caseyās eyes, and looking at the baby photos their friend brought over to show, the resemblance is almost uncanny.
There should be a part of him that's sizzling with unwarranted jealousy. He certainly had plenty of it when they were kids. At 33 years old, he's a little too self-aware to let it take hold most days, but heād lie if he said it never happens.
That alternative universe April and Casey certainly feels like something heād lose sleep over as a teenager. Maybe even now.Ā
If it were literally anyone else.
Casey is their friend (he might be Donnieās best friend actually, and isn't that a thought), and itās hard to feel any bitterness towards him. He moved out of New York around the same time they did, to the same new town, and it felt a little like the three of them versus the world ever since.Ā
As a younger sister veteran heās great with Lizzie, and there are not a lot of words that can calm Donnieās mind when he starts spiraling, but Casey always manages to find all of them, and he has the uncanny ability to punch out laughs out of April even at the roughest of moments.
Heās honest, with the sort of integrity thatās rare to come nowadays, and a real good heart between it all, and if Donnieās son grows up to be anything like him ā that may not be so bad after all.
Thinking like this felt dangerous in a way he couldnāt really name. But when he said it to April, she turned on their bed to look at him, and then kissed him with everything she had, so he supposes itās not really worth caring about.
Itās easy to think of Cody as Aprilās, and by an extension ā his. And itās easier to try and not think too much about Casey at all.
So, thatās that.
Donnie turns to look at his brothers again, shoulders raised in something like a shrug.Ā
āGood,ā he says, finally. āReally good.ā
Heās not lying, and his brothers must know it, because thereās some real relief washing over their faces.
āBaller, dude,ā Mikey says, rather gracelessly, which almost makes Donnie laugh again.Ā
He stands up to walk over to the crib, picking Cody up in a now-practiced but still rather clumsy manner. For a newborn he doesnāt sleep a lot, but when he does, thereās no real waking him anyway.
āAww,ā Mikey coos when he walks up closer to the table, leaning over to take a better look. āHeās so little.ā
āAnd ginger,ā Raph adds with a snicker, which earns him a kick from Leo.
āDonāt talk like that about someoneās baby,ā Leo whispers. He tends to go a little overboard when it comes to keeping the kids in the room calm and happy, which is usually more than appreciated.Ā
āIām just telling the truth.ā
āHow would you feel if someone said Judy was really green?ā
āWell, she is-ā
Mikeyās still looking at Cody, his head tilted a little to the side.
āYou wanna hold him?ā Donnie asks, and Mikeyās smile dims a little.
Itās that same look Donnie knows himself all too well. It felt different with Judy. She was bigger, tough like her mother with hard scales. Codyās soft all over.
āIāll hold him,ā Raph pipes up, already reaching out with grabby hands.
Cody knows him, so he doesnāt fuss for long before settling in Raphās arms, and thereās a part of Donnie that strongly considers risking Raph breaking his jaw to take a picture.
Thereās something a little lighter in the room now, some tension Donnie didnāt even really feel building up finally letting go. He canāt help feeling a little hurt at the idea of his brothers thinking he wouldnāt accept Cody, or hate him, or any other awful idea like that, but he supposes he canāt really blame them. He, April, and Casey put them through hell as teenagers.
āHe really is cute,ā Mikey says, now looking over their brotherās shoulder.
āMakes you wanna get your own?ā Leo teases.
āFuck no,ā Mikey answers, so fast it makes them all laugh.
āAnd thank God for that,ā Raph mutters, wrapping the blanket a little tighter around Cody, probably from years of habit with cold-blooded kids.
āLet's just hope Renet won't show up with a kid for you,ā Leo says. Then, with a bit of a smirk: āIn one way or another.ā
Mikey gives him an unamused look.
āHa-ha, funny.ā
Raph laughs at that, but then quiets, something a little more serious washing over his face.
āYou know,ā he says, a little quietly. āI feel like I should apologize for this. Itās like I somehow started it all. The kids thing.ā
It doesnāt really sound like heās joking, but itās a funny thought to consider regardless. Their familyās been through so much of what felt like years and years of bad luck and unwarranted karma, and if this is the shape that curse decided to take now, theyāre really in no position to complain.Ā
āYeah, man,ā Donnie says, looking down at his son. āBest thing youāve ever done.ā
I FINISHED HIM!!!!!!!!!, ignore the. Feather. Earrings. Urmrumrum I lowk didnāt even realize how inaccurate they weere until I LOOKED AT A PICTURE GRRGR4 I DONT KNOW WHY I WASNT LOOKING AT A REFERENCE UGHGHGhg
but itās whatever, Iāll fix them someday urmm im thinking about what his earrings turn into, and uemmm Iām thinking um they turn into kani(??.) they kinda remind me of it but iddkdk
Ummumumum I tried many outfits, for some reason I couldnāt imagine him with like arms, I donāt feel like he would put real effort into a complex outfit lowk, I put the other ideas below the finished sheets, they were uggo as hell, even the final one changed a littleā¦.idk what I was doing lowkš„¹
I like him a lot urmrm he looks so stupidāI like to think he communicates like Usagi from chiikawa, he can talk he just doesnāt feel like it (lazy fuckwad), every single one of my gachiakuta ocs have chiikawa references, NOBODY can stop me
ohmigosh i canāt believe it happened i think a third time, i remembered the annual competition and submissions were already closed š
It is entirely my bad and iām so sorry if this is already common info available on the blog somewhere, but when are submissions open so i can mark it for sure for sure on my calendar for next year? (and just out of curiosity, you guys arenāt gonna happen to accept any late submissions, right? I expect not and thatās 100% okay, just figured thereās no harm in asking)
Not to fear! Submission don't open until September 1st! You've got plenty of time and I've got work to do XD
