TMNT:Era of Rebellion

My version of the TMNT's/a TMNT AU. Find me also: @merkerlerspeaks, @merkerler, & @merkerlers-fairytails for other stuff + my art Insta @mer.ker.ler

[tmnt-eraofrebellion]

What is TMNT: Era of Rebellion?

Beloved I am so glad you asked!

Era of Rebellion- Originally named "Age of the Turtles", is a fan project of mine. It is essentially a rewrite of TMNT aiming to mash up all the different versions of TMNT into one universe that were written before Mutant Mayhem/Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (<- Not that I am necessarily excluding Mutant Mayhem/ToTTMNT, I loved the movie and plan to watch the show!)

I have been a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles since I was twelve years old. I had a massive crush on the 2012 version of Donatello when I was a teenager. I was known for being the TMNT girl in middle school/highschool. And Im currently reading the original Mirage Comics, making my way through the 2003 series, I've watched all of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the only reason I haven't seen all of the 2012 show was because I thought maybe if I boycotted it they wouldn't kill of Master Splinter. All this is simply to preface by saying this is absolutely written from a place of love and I have spent over a decade absolutely in love with the characters, the lore, the story- all of it.

I will be pulling from the following pieces of TMNT media for this AU for sure:

The Original Mirage Comics (currently reading)

The 1987 Series (seen bits and pieces, need to watch)

The 1990 Movies (need to rewatch)

The 2003 Series (currently watching through)

The 2012 Series (seen most of it, just need refreshers)

The 2018 Series (RoTTMNT) + Movie (Ive seen all of it!)

The IDW Comics (bits and pieces)

The 2019 Batman VS The TMNT's movie (my favourite TMNT movie alongside the RoTTMNT movie)

There is also the possibility of my pulling bits and pieces from the 2007 movie & there will be a Venus de Milo as pulled from The Next Mutation. Here is my disclaimer about her- There will be no romance story regarding her, shes a 20+ year old college student that plays the role of a big sister to turtles in a similar manner to April in the 2003 series, she was originally a human being AND she only lives as a turtle for a little while because circumstances allow for her to go back to her normal human life. I feel this disclaimer is necessary regarding the fandom's, and in particular, Peter Laird's opinion of the Venus de Milo character. She was a poorly executed token female inserted for no other reason than the sake of romance, which is incredibly weird given that she should have just been considered their sister IF she was going to exist at all. If I had a nickle for every time Leo was given a romantic interest that for all intents and purposes should have been considered his sister, I would have 2 nickles. Which isn't a lot but its weird that it happened twice! Anyway, continuing on my original topic, I will also obviously be including aspects of my own imagination in the mix. I will have my own arcs for the turtles as well as fan-made mutants.

I want to address certain things in this series that I feel should be addressed in TMNT more prominently. This is something that Mutant Mayhem did very well, I think, in one aspect, because I have desperately wanted them to exist in the public eye in canon and be known for their feats for a while. So! Here is what I primarily want to tackle!

The TMNT's being able to exist above ground & alongside humans + the legal conflicts this would cause.

Anti-mutant prejudice/propaganda

The Apriltello Controversy (I ship it, personally! But only in 2012, which wasn't handled fantastic. So I want to rewrite it.)

Exploring mutant biology to an extent

How Does Mutagen Work?

The inherent and inarguable humanity of those mutated with human DNA in any way

A Mutant March - humans can barely accept each other with different skintones. I have no doubts people would try to kidnap, enslave, dehumanize, and oppress mutants. Only a few hundred of them even exist as well, so they're an extreme minority.

How theology would mix in with this universe (specifically regarding the issue in Christianity where some people believe animals go to Heaven, and make the argument of "if God didn't like animals he wouldn't have made them and said it was good" vs where others argue that they dont have eternal souls, or that the Bible never says they do, and the issues this could cause regarding mutant rights + how this would effect mutants that, like the turtles, were originally normal animals and mutated into humanoids)

Giving the TMNT's a strong sense of personal culture. Theyre the only four of their kind. They live a vastly different life even when it comes to other mutants. Mutant Culture in general would be extremely interesting to explore and each different faction of mutants, each individual mutant would have a unique sense of culture.

Overtly Y2K turtles. The 2012 TMNTs were 90s/2000's babies, being mutated in 1996, but I want to lean heavier into the 2000's feel. They were all mutated in the same year, but Mikey is a 2001/02 baby. Donnie and Raph are 2000/01 babies and Leo is a 1999/2000's baby (I haven't decided if I want Leo to technically fall in the 90's catagory or not so their birth years will be decided when I decide on that). So this story takes place around 2015 and onward.

Potentially themes around mercy, forgivness, second chances, the consequences of revenge, etc.

And more!

Nontoxic masculinity

If I decide to make Karai/Miwa Splinters daughter again.... rewriting the Leo/Karai dynamic to not be a Leo X Karai dynamic and let them actually view and treat each other as siblings! (Also if I do this Karai will eventually ditch the name Karai because Miwa was the name she was supposed to have given to her in love by her father, as opposed to Karai being given to her as a name out of hatred to raise her to actively hate her father)

Now if some of these are addressed anywhere in TMNT already- I am not a complete turtlepedia. I'd love to know so I can look at it! But at the same time, I still want to see it be done *my* way, and no one can do my way better than me!

But anyway! That is what Era of Rebellion is. If anyone has any questions, please do ask!

My personal blog is @merkerlerspeaks and my art blog is @merkerler and that is where I post all of my EOR artwork! Of course I will reblog it onto here but sometimes I forget, plus I have other pieces of fanart and original works I post drawings of over there too and I think theyre worth also checking out.

You can also check out my TMNTEOR playlists here!

[syistoppedgivingafuck]

i had a vision.

[which-ocs]

Which OC fell down the stairs and which 3 OCs are the ones texting?

[tmnt-eraofrebellion]

I think my Donnie and Mikey have just as much a chance at beating my Leo and Raph as vice versa. Leo is the best/most well trained fighter and Raphael is the strongest but Donnie is the fastest of the four + a fantastic strategist and Mikey has such a natural affinity for it that it can go either way. Leo has discipline, Raph has strength, Donnie has wit and Mikey has talent and all of those are worthwhile aspects of combat meaning they have different advantages and how they use them helps determine who comes out on top.

[tmnt-eraofrebellion]

No one let me forget, Casey needs to be left handed

[tmnt-eraofrebellion]

Taking notes on clip studio paint while reading/watching TMNT so I can jot down little bits and pieces I wanna use in EOR as if its a nice cute aesthetic little notebook like

[tmnt-eraofrebellion]

Does anyone know of any good J-pop bands/songs? I need some for my Leo playlist that aren't just anime intro/outros. Preferably ones that were around in about 2010 give or take a few years but any work

[tmnt-eraofrebellion]

Which of my TMNT redesigns so far is the best?

Leonardo

Donatello

Michelangelo

Raphael

Casey Jones

April O'Neil

Master Splinter

Cassandra Jones

Voting ended onMar 19

I dont have April, Splinter, or Irmas character sheets out yet but for reference

Some of the design choices arent 100% static, they change clothes and the skin patterns on Leo are sometimes swirls instead of what's in the picture. Mikey and Raph may end up having 2 toes instead of 3. I have character sheets for the turtles here.

Edit: I meant to include irma as an option so if you like hers best perhaps comment it or just choose second best 🤣 oops

[merkerlers-fairytales]

I got my TMNT fellas playlists up! Its some mixture/combo of what they WOULD listen to + some that I just feel like describe them.

easy links here, here, here, here, here and here. (Leo, Donnie, Mikey, Raph, April, Casey, in that order) (links are also in my pinned)

A little warning, not all of these songs are things that I personally like to listen to all the time. Mikey in particular is a fan of stuff that would essentially be 2000's dance music. So it's nostalgic for me in terms of what I used to hear on the radio, but not all of it is the most polite music- he'd love Gangam Style but I am not putting that on there lol. At least not right now. Party Rock Anthem is good enough. Raphael has one song labelled explicit, it is Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N Roses. Donnie as well, it's My Shot from Hamilton. And Leo just likes White Girl 2000s Pop anthems which has a similar issue as Mikey, lol.

This content warning brought to you by: I just like to give proper content warnings because I appriciate it when others go out of their way to do so. I do my best to keep stuff clean (aka no suggestive themes, minimal cursing, violence & dark themes are a different story) but it's harder to control when Im not the one who wrote the music.

Im still refining these playlists too so songs may come and go but I think this is a good enough vibe and certain ones are 100% keepers so it should give a pretty solid vibe of what my guys are like so far

[merkerlers-fairytales]

Im not sure how to incorporate the raph/leo conflict in Era. Like the one with Raphael wanting to lead and hating being led. It feels like it'd be a little out of character for my Raphael, which is an inherent problem to the form of characterization because one of the big dynamics between the two of them through the iterations is Raph wanting to lead.

Though typing it out makes me think more. Perhaps instead of an outright and open jealousy its something that festers and he conceals it because he knows its an unhealthy jealousy. Because he sees the stress it puts on his big brother. But being told what to do makes him feel like a child. Because he sees what to do often times too. He's still hotheaded, brawny, loses his temper, and prone to charging in headfirst and he knows thats a problem and he thinks if he can just control that rage that he COULD be a good leader. And wants that opportunity to prove himself. Maybe a piece of him wants to bear the load for Leo too- hes protective, he loves his brothers and seeing the weight on Leos shoulders without being able to do anything about it kills him. He shouldn't have to bear that responsibility all the time.

But no. Hes the 2nd youngest. Leo is leader, Donnie is second in command so he doesnt even have that to fall back on. If Leo can't go out, its Donnie that takes up his role so even then. He can't prove himself. Hes told what to do, feels like he's being treated like a child incapable of making his own decisions or incapable of keeping them alive. Hes their strongest fighter, he DESERVES a chance.

Some combination of being overly aware of himself, an internal jealousy and feeling patronized, and a compulsion to save his family from the things that hurt them resulting in the kind of feeling that explode out of him in the most inopportune moments. I think he's definitly the most emotional of the EOR turtles.

And it being Donnie thats 2nd in command I think probably adds an extra slap in the face because it tells him "youre too stupid" indirectly. Donnie's the smart one. Donnie's smart and keeps his cool better, he's got a mind for strategy so HE'S the 2nd in command and it just makes Raph all the more insecure. Maybe thats stupid in and of itself because he ISNT stupid...he knows that. Donnie is just crazy smart and it isnt fair to compare himself (oof am I projecting onto Raph with this? Yes ma'am yes I am. Been there Raph it sucks). But he does and it hurts and that makes him angry too.

[merkerlers-fairytales]

Talking about EOR on here now because uh. This is my writing blog lol. Anyway. My Donnie I have decided, since I recently discovered putting walnuts in chocolate chip cookies....thats his favourite cookie now, I dont make the rules. Might be my favourite too now actually. Forget Apriltello its Walnutchocochipcookietello now.

[merkerlerspeaks]

BTW I know my progression with story stuff is frustratingly slow and it'll be like a hot minute before any of my stuff is ready for consumption as a story. However for anyone who holds any amount of interest in my TMNT:EOR AU needs to know that growing up I was a massive Apriltello shipper (specifically in 2012, in the others she's either obviously to old for him or like in ROTTMNT it just isn't their dynamic) & the way that 2012 handled it frustrated me sooo much so my version is going to be taking a friends-to-lovers approach with April being the one to initiate it & just being very direct with her feelings once she's actually aware of what they are because I will not put myself or anyone else through any of that classic Nickelodeon bullcrap of "waiting until the very last episode to canonize a relationship" and make it a massive multi-series long will they/won't they because nothing makes me more crazy and insane and wanting to throttle a writer than that kind of writing. But I have to honour the obsession I had as a 12/13/14 year old.

So yeah if you follow along with that while not liking Apriltello you'll either have to become a fan of it, endure it, or avoid it cuz you're not gonna like it lolol. But you know hopefully I'll handle it in a way that will be acceptable even if you're not a particular ~fan~ of that particular duo.

April is also planning on being a scientist & works temporarily for channel 5 (She is a junior/senior in highschool so I still have to work out the logistics there) which her grandmother (Who is ALSO April O'Neil btw. She was named after her news reporter grandma) helped her get a job at. So I will be bringing back scientist April because I love and miss scientist April (I have not consumed any media with scientist April however I want to. I have full plans to watch through the 1987 & 2003 cartoons and then find the old comics)

Sorry I just wanna talk about Era of Rebellion but I have nothing specific to actually talk about so Apriltello & April herself it is.

[merkerlerspeaks]

My version of Donatello has my touch/affection aversion. 10/10 will dodge out of hugs and move away from you if hes not in the Proper Mood or youre not the Right Person to be touching him (me fr)

My version of Leonardo has my tendency for "Ah, little sibling of mine, hello.... be burdened with a smooch to the cheek/forehead." (Also me fr)

Now imagine how well these character traits mix.

Yes Im aware of my hypocrisy.

[merkerlerspeaks]

The TMNTs are human actually btw I decided. Human genetics are required for human-esque mutations = being comprised of unique human DNA due to the mutation = Having human genetics in their body = humanity. By that logic they are, also, still turtles too, obviously. They are both.

[merkerlerspeaks]

Ive decided my version of Donatello is incapable of keeping a phone or laptop charger for long. For some reason he just goes through them.

Also I think that I wanna put a lid on the "Donnie stays up late and won't sleep for days working on his stuff" tropes. My Donatello is very aware of the effects sleep deprivation has on the brain and will NOT let sleepiness interfere with the integrity of his work. If its a personal project maybe, but if its important- his ability to rest is far to essential to the success of what he is working on. He won't let the potential of a sleepless brainfart or falling asleep on his desk interefere with his progress.

[merkerler]

My Leonardo drawing is done!

Bloodier version and timelapse under the cut! Im so excited it looks sooo good!

Heres the song that inspired it & the song Id actually pair it with

Inspiration:

Paired with:

(Both songs are violent with mature themes)

I am genuinely so freaking proud of this. Its bloodier and more violent than my usual posts but still Im just so impressed with myself. It looks amazing Im so happy with it, Im obsessed.

I dont have the full timelapse because for the first half, I accidentally exited out of Clip without exporting the beginning sketches, and at the very end when I was done recording I went back in to add in a couple more minor details like leos claws and fix some shading. But I think you get the general gist from this.

The story idea I have behind this, should this drawing become canon, is that this is actually from the darker timeline where Leo allowed his heart to progressively become harder and harder, and caused the apocalypse as a result. Light Timeline Leo would get a glimpse of this alternate reality during a time in later seasons when he was severely questioning all his choices as a leader- especially if he chose not to kill The Shredder- worrying that his softness and mercy was the direct result of all the messed up out of hand craziness happening all around him. That maybe he needs to be harder. And seeing into this timeline, the only difference between him and this other Leonardo is that he fought tooth and nail to remain soft despite the trials, to continue to choose love, compassion, mercy, and second chances (and third chances....and fourth chances even). Basically telling him "If kindness and mercy are options, they are the only options" because his world isnt apocalyptic as a direct result of his soft heart.

[merkerler]

had an idea while working on the other piece.... I think it fits him