"They've been a really big help to me, because, you know, my mind wanders, I wander, it's just really difficult for me to . . . exist, in general." -random guy speaking at a school orientation

*.*.*.*ACCOUNT IN HIBERNATION*.*.*.*

Due to life events, I've had to back off from FFN and focus on grungy real-world stuff for a bit. I may check notifications now and then, but by and large writing/messaging/replying to reviews are suspended until further notice. And if I surface occasionally to write gory post-apocalypse fics . . . well, that's a thing.

Thank you to everyone for the conversations and support! It's been a beautiful eight years.

Quick info: The Sonic the Hedgehog fics on here draw from almost every non-Boom Sonic format (games, shows, comics), but are mostly consistent with the "universe" of YouTuber SonicSong182. A few are built directly off the channel's canon, most are just compatible with it. "When You're Gone" and "My Precious," the dark ones, are independent.

The Ninjago fics tend to center more closely on canon events (although a few are joke theory fics and "Fantastic Mr. Walker" is entirely its own animal by now). "Saturniidae" is dark, while the others are pretty lightweight. "The Fantastic Mr. Walker" gets pretty heavy in places.

Oh, and credit where credit's due: To the best of my knowledge, the expression "Oh, sweet Mobius" and its variants were originally coined by PlatinumSpeed, voice-acting for SonicSong182 on YouTube. Can't say I'm using it with permission, but it is his all the same.

Just about all you need to know about me, in five stages:

Me: Is well past the age where I'm allowed to watch R-rated movies

Also me: Is still kinda freaked checking out my second-ever R-rated movie from the library

Also-also me: Lowkey glancing over my shoulder because this is a violent R-rated movie, and the library said they reserve the right to track what you're checking out, do they put you on a watchlist or something for watching violent movies? I mean, sure, millions of people watched this movie, let alone all R-rated movies, but still--

Unfortunately still me: Is also only checking out this movie because it sounded suspiciously similar to one of my favorite Ninjago seasons and I wanted to see if it really was all a ripoff

Lastly, me: Procrastinates till I end up not watching the movie anyway.

Currently active fics:

The Fantastic Mr. Walker: Updates very infrequently, but I will finish it, if it kills me. At the very least, if I see that finishing it properly will be impossible, I'll post a summary of the remaining plot. I know it hasn't updated in what, like two, three years? But it's not dead yet!

Backstage With Jay: Runs alongside FMW, may update 20 more times or never again depending on how much "bonus content" I have.

One Foot In Front of the Other: I have super extensive plot ideas but the idea that I'd be able to finish them is laughable. At best I hope to at least resolve the single most pressing issue in the story currently.

Children of the Sand: Thirty Dragon Hunters one-shots which are actually almost finished! Fingers crossed!

I, uh . . . stumbled on a quiz-making website . . . and then this happened:

/which_ninjago_ninja_are_you

Care to find out which Ninjago ninja you're most like? :3

Companion links for The Fantastic Mr. Walker: (You'll have to remove the spaces after pasting, sorry, that's just how FFN is)

(The list was taking up too much room on my profile, so I shifted it to a document in my DeviantArt Stash. Just take out the spaces to make the link work):

sta. sh/ 023znllhvjia

o.o.o.o.o

Fanart!

Hot jumping spanikopita, this story has fanart! I'm just blown away. X3

Sharing the lovely artistic creations, with permission from the original artists; a big thank-you to everyone again!

Skylark Starflower:

Follow this link for the list in my DA Stash!

sta. sh/ 0r2l2ijio7j

StoneByrd:

Same here!

sta. sh/ 025dlbs62uq1

PastelGreys:

blysk. deviantart. com/art/Aftermath-fantastic-Mr-Walker-667730827

blysk. deviantart. com/art/Samurai-vs-Tec-Boss-FMW-667736086

blysk. deviantart. com/art/Natanka-FMW-667763935

blysk. deviantart. com/art/Booty-Dragon-670282497

HailsStorm:

hailsstorm. deviantart. com/art/Happy-Birthday-Blysk-606482765 (Doubles as a lovely birthday gift!)

Destiny Willowleaf:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI8EJmgaoP8 (Concept art of the Northern Lloydfish from Chapter 23, and an in-joke we had about how Skylor looks in the mornings)

GraubenDawb (she was taking OC drawing requests, and I requested Nash):

www. deviantart. com/art/Nash-Practice-615759366

aidypie80pi:

aidypie80pi. deviantart. com/art/Lloydfish-641332222

AquaIllusions:

aquaillusions. deviantart. com/art/Mindy-643576748

Elveron294 wrote a documentary about Lloydfish! (Be warned though, a little violent. Nature is savage.)

www. quotev. com/story/8716153/The-Lloydfish-is-SavageA-Lloydfish-Documentary-for-ShinyShiny9

Razena:

razena. deviantart. com/art/Nash-674474403?ga_submit_new=10&ga_type=edit&ga_changes=1&ga_recent=1

Behaviors of the adult:
(determined experimentally by yours truly)

Having a pre-set email signature
Eating cold peas out of a gallon saucepan while contacting tech support
Setting on the laundry while worrying about taxes
Yelling "FINE, be that way!" at a clothes hanger
Fine-tuning your coffee intake so you stay awake but also don't die
Mastering the art of deceiving small children so they don't fall on their heads and die
Fantasizing about furniture
Becoming earnestly excited over affordable groceries
Realizing that you have learned the ways of consistent moisturizing, and it is working

Desiderata, by Max Ehrmann.

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be critical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.

Ninjago quotes that built the First Realm:

The Baron has ways of controlling us. It is his way, or you are cast out.

Do not let fear guide you; your first instinct is usually correct.

You allowed her to be your Number Two? Why not me?!

"The Dragon Armor is that way!"
"I was afraid you would say that . . . "

"We cross the line!"
"I hoped he would say that . . . "

Your heart is pure, but this realm is cruel. I'm just sorry you ever had to find this place.

Quit that jibber-jabbering! Stop looking at me like that, Arkade! You can fly by yourself in that getup, Jet Jack! Chew Toy! Is that what you're wearing?!

Aww, he's always in a mood right before a hunt. Worried that today might be the day he comes across the Firstbourne.

"Heavy Metal! You're . . . like me?!"
"Not like you. Better!"

May The Pit swallow you whole!

Yes, I know he knows that, Muzzle. I was simply paying him a compliment.

They don't listen to me. Never do, do they?!

Ah, it's sad, really. She has a lot of pent-up issues to resolve. That's what can happen when you're born in a cruel world.

What is funny is you feeding them this food, to cover the taste of your lies!

I can put aside our differences, if you think you five could make a difference . . .

I would rather stay and fight for change in my home than run.

"Now I wonder. Could I have fought harder? Could I have done something?"
"If you had stayed, you would have fallen into darkness, just like the others."
"But what if I led them here?!"

Couples stuff (just so you know what you might bump into in my stories or faves list):

Sonic:

Ones I like and may incorporate: Sonamy, Silvaze, Knuxouge, possibly Vecilla, Knuxade (Knuckles X Shade), maybe some more unusual pairings. Charmy X Marine or Knuxamy, anyone?

Ones I like, but wouldn't know how to write very well: Taismo, Shadaria, Jetave, Taiream, a lot of creative pairings.

Ones I don't like and will generally avoid reading: Sonally (sorry, Sally's just kinda boring), Knuxikal or Shadikal (same; Tikal's a one-trick echidna), Shadamy (doesn't make much sense, and they're always OOC), Sonaze, Shadaze, Sonouge, and Silvamy (can't get into the chemistry). And heaven preserve us from "canon character X OC."

Absolute favorite couple EVER: Shadouge. When properly done, it's beautifully subtle, a very non-conventional type of pairing. It shows in the little glances and gestures and hints of caring, not in overt displays of affection. It can also be the darkest, most messed-up relationship imaginable, and that's part of what makes it so fascinating.

And one completely random non-Mobian couple I love: Topaz x Tanaka from "Sonic X"! Talk about adorable.

Ninjago:

Ones I would . . .

Read and write: Pixane, Kailor, Jaya, Garsako, Lloyrumi

Read but not write: Coliel, Conya, AshXChamille, LloydXNya, Arsha (BanshaXSoul Archer), Ultra VioletXCole, LloydXAkita

Write but not read: MisakoXWu (Wusako?), NinjaXOC (with one or two spectacular exceptions)

Not read and not write: FaithXWu

Broship: Greenflame and Bruise. Plus somehow I feel like Cole and Lloyd would be extra-close too.

TURTLE CORNER!
Because "Rise of the TMNT" is adorable, chaotic, and has some of the best one-liners around. (But do make allowances for how much gets lost without the VAs' glorious delivery.)

Donnie: Dear brother, did you really think I'd let you make paper out of salami without implanting a tracking device in it? [Raph commences beeping] It's okay, I made two.

Leo: With my last breath, "I TOLD YOU SOOOOooooooooo!"

Raph: MIKEY! We do not "shelloooooooo~?" the enemy!

Leo: I'm nothing without them! I need my brainy guy, and my smashy guy, and my eats-peanut-butter-with-his-fingers guy!

Raph: Relax. I'm not a scientist, but this is 100% just your guilt glands secreting guilt-zymes into your central guiltin system.
Donnie: Raph is right . . . he is not a scientist.

Mikey: We have to go back for our brothers! Or are you gonna replace them too? . . . WHEN WILL THE LIES END?!

Leo: I know I say this a lot about Donnie, but . . . DEMON POSSESSION.

Mikey: Yes! We can have a heart-to-heart with him about how his gaming obsession is hurting us!
Raph: NO. I'm gonna use his obsession against him!
Leo: I think we're bad people . . .

Donnie: Ohh, sure! Let me just open up my "tap into any security camera in the entire city" app! . . . I'm sorry if that sounded like sarcasm, it wasn't, I am in.

Leo: So, my beloved brother Donatello and I had a bit of a . . . spat, so what kind of pizza says "I'm so sorry I called you a selfish eggheaded weirdo"?
Senor Hueso: Ughh, I don't know . . . Hawaiian?
Leo: Ooh, Donnie thinks ham and pineapples are 'incompatible' . . . Like I said: a weirdo.

Leo: Do you think April can really have a totally normal day?
Donnie: Short answer: No. Long answer: Nnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooo.

Donnie: "Dr. Feelings"? What happened to "Dr. Delicate Touch"?
Mikey: Dr. Delicate Touch feels nothing.

Leo: I may be bald, but call me "The Hair," because I smoke tortoises!

Donnie: The world is ending, yet the barbs continue . . .

Donnie: I'll take him out with the Boom Cannon!
Leo: Donnie, Dad is in that thing!
Donnie: Can I at least go semi-lethal?
Everyone else: }[
Donnie: You never let me shine!

Mikey: Why do we have to play "Cowabunga"? Couldn't we just play "Cow"?
Leo: Well, we could have. Except Donnie is a sore . . . loser!

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Random Rise of the TMNT things that make me happy, in no particular order:

1. Nobody ever bullies Mikey. Ever. He is the baby of the family, he is to be protected. Even in the brief "bumper" sequences that used to play on Nickelodeon, which mostly consist of the turtles pranking and laughing at each other, Mikey is the only one who doesn't get picked on.

2. In the movie, when Kraang Prime is beating up Leo, he gets thrown back against a pile of rocks that are roughly the shape of Raph's shell, with a red light shining through a hole where Kraang Prime pierced it. They're implying that Leo is now sacrificing the way Raph sacrificed for him. They even had Leo say "hero moves are totally your thing" just a minute before, to make sure it was fresh in the audience's mind.

3. Raph can do no wrong. Literally. While many of the others' "dedicated" episodes center around them making some mistake and having to learn a lesson, in all of the Raph-centric episodes the conflict comes from him being scared, too overprotective, or surrounded by jerks who take advantage of him.

4. "The Gumbus." While it could have been your run-of-the-mill "skeptic and believer have many hijinks and uncover a ghost hoax" episode, what makes it stand out is the fact that even when they're all scared out of their minds, Leo's first impulse is to actively protect Mikey. Even as he's being his usual cocky self and claiming "this is my first time being wrong," he's throwing Mikey to safety first before hiding himself.

5. Donnie kept the Jupiter Jim action figure that the others brought home for him while he was obsessed with The Purple Game. You can see him sleeping with it in "Breaking Purple."

6. Speaking of "Breaking Purple," that one blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene where Mikey extracts a better attitude from Donnie by threatening that he'll turn into Splinter. I love that a goofy turtle cartoon is taking on the topic of breaking cycles of abuse, without having to make it angsty.

7. Little animation details that work hard to build the family's dynamic, part A: in "Man vs. Sewer" when Leo pushes Donnie into the water to stop him lecturing, Donnie comes up scowling, Leo purposely bumps his inner tube against his, and when Mikey grabs the tube and pulls it along you can see Donnie start to smile grudgingly. In all of three seconds they establish that Leo's the bratty sibling who lives to annoy his twin, while Mikey is the beloved baby and can make his brothers forget they were even mad.

8. Despite how hard the show works to paint Donnie as emotionally blunted and kind of self-absorbed, the movie dashes all of that. He may not be the center of attention very much, but he spends his time in the background quietly being devoted to his family. Despite his insistence that he dislikes emotion and physical contact, or his usual efforts to look cool and detached, he tries to physically restrain Raph from violence not once but twice. (And he would have to realize that the physical feasibility of this is laughable; he knows it doesn't make sense, but he still feels compelled to try). He puts himself between Mikey and danger not once but twice, and in between those heroics he spends his entire time trying to protect and comfort Mikey, because he knows the two oldest are either caught up in their own drama, lowkey out of their minds, or frankly out of commission. Seriously. Almost any scene where something scary is happening, he's got a comforting hand on Mikey's shoulder or is holding him like a ragdoll cat. He's just accepted that his role now is to ride out the oldest siblings' storm while protecting their youngest.

9. Speaking of, that scene in Season 2 where the Shredder returns and starts destroying the skyscraper. Raph shielding Donnie, Leo shielding Mikey. Have I mentioned these kids are just constantly protecting each other?

10. Little animation details that work hard to build the family's dynamic, part B: in "The Clothes Don't Make the Turtle," when Raph is cheating at video games by jostling/tickling Donnie, there's the briefest second before Leo barging in where you can see Donnie starting to laugh and push him off. As hard as he works to look like a bored intellectual, he's not above being silly with his brothers sometimes.

11. The opening to "The Hidden City Job," where Leo, in the process of buying pizza to apologize for calling Donnie a weirdo, again calls him a weirdo. In no way does he want to imply that he doesn't find it true, he just feels bad for saying it out loud. Now that's acceptance.

12. Also just, the implication that the twins do have real fights where feelings get hurt, and subsequently the implication that all their usual squabbling and backbiting isn't real fighting and is meant to be harmless.

13. Despite the frequent forays into "cartoon violence," how frequently there's a surprising underlying gentleness. So much of cartoon slapstick is built around someone getting hurt and nobody else paying much attention, but Rise keeps breaking that mold. When Mikey catches fire in the Minotaur Maze, sure Raph and Leo are too busy arguing to notice, but Donnie (the detached heartless one!) freaks out and douses him immediately. When Raph falls off a balcony trying to photograph a pigeon, Donnie (again, the detached heartless one!) drops everything and asks if he's okay. When Leo flips Mikey's inner tube upside-down and turns away to argue with Donnie, for the longest time it's played as your standard "somebody's dying in the background and nobody notices" gag, then they flip that on its head by revealing that Mikey was floating upside-down on purpose all along. Most shows would just go with the gag of the turtles taking advantage of Splinter's "Must Say Yes" phase when he's sick, but in Rise they at least express some sympathy and worry that they're being cruel. Props for caring, even if it's just lip service. Even when Mikey falls out of the sky in "Snow Day," Leo is concerned until he turns up okay. Even in the comics, they throw out the old trope of people promising not to laugh at someone's humiliating past experience and then breaking that promise when they hear it; when April shares a painful memory the turtles are just sweetly sympathetic. As somebody who tends to cringe or even physically ache when somebody's pain is ignored and that's implied to be funny, this show's alteration of that does my heart good. Even in a cartoon world where injuries aren't "real," you can still be sure that somebody will care if you're really hurting, and that's the most comforting thing.

14. Along a similar tack, how much the show tends to be gentle even when it's trying to be mean. Even Leo, who has the most tendency to laugh at others' misfortune, tends not to laugh unless he knows the other guy is overall okay. (Usually. This is Leo.) The 2012 turtles laughed at Mikey for failing a skateboard stunt and taking a painful fall; meanwhile in Rise Mikey and Raph laugh at Leo for the same thing, but the show takes care to show that he's landed unhurt and already grumpy about his failure. They're not amused by his pain, they're amused because he was being cocky and now he's unharmed but deservedly embarrassed. Even when poor Raph gets bullied through most of "Mrs. Cuddles," they make sure he gets his own back. Even when Splinter scares his sons out of their minds in "Flushed but Never Forgotten," he softens the cruelty of the prank by reassuring them that he loves them and meant this for their own good. Again; even in a cartoon world, nobody has to worry about the people close to them turning around and being heartless.

15. Little animation details that work hard to build the family's dynamic, Part C: When the others' reprogramming of SHELLDON goes bad in "Smart Lair," Raph and Leo dive to fend off the Roombas attacking Donnie, but Mikey instead dives to hug him. He understands that it's just as important to reassure Donnie that they still love him and didn't mean for the joke to go this far.

16. In "Bullhop," right after Donnie admits he told Bullhop a white lie about ear radios so he could "get some work done," Mikey gives away that he believes the same thing. Just, this mental image of Donnie massively fed up with Mikey hanging around his lab, but not having the heart to throw him out, so instead he feeds him some fanciful nonsense to distract him like an exhausted parent.

17. For all that they have goofy cartoon personalities, the turtles also show some heartbreakingly accurate traits of childhood neglect. Raph is parentified. Leo and Donnie both crave attention and approval to fill the void of a supportive parent figure. Mikey feels like he has to be the "fixer," the one smoothing his family over and solving every problem. Even the fact that they're all so close and protective and clingy with each other; they had nobody else to show them affection, they had no outside friends to fill their needs for interaction and validation. All they have is each other.

18. In "Man vs. Sewers," when one of the crab villains goes on a rant about what a hassle it is eating turtles, he's actually listing out the process of eating crab.

19. As with most shows, you can start to pick up trends with some of the writers. Jesse Gordon tends to write some of the most creative/cartoony/outlandish ones, is responsible both for some of the meanest and some of the sweetest moments in the show, and does some of the heaviest lifting for both Donnie and the Disaster Twins dynamic. ("Lair Games." "The Clothes Don't Make the Turtle." "Mind Meld." "Stuck on You." "The Purple Game.") Dale Malinowski likes Ghost Bear, the villain he introduced, and tends to work in suspiciously realistic sibling dynamics. (Squabbling over sports heroes and younger siblings getting on your last nerve in "Shell in a Cell." Getting petty over costume props and favorite movies in "Snow Day." Pressuring the youngest to keep your disasters a secret from parents in "Flushed but Never Forgotten." Heck, even in "Battle Nexus New York" Mikey cheerfully acknowledges that he and Raph will fight to the death for the last piece of pizza.)

20. Little animation details that work hard to build the family's dynamic, Part D: when Mikey first learns his future self had mystic hands and starts struggling to copy that, you can see Leo smiling affectionately in the background.

21. Sorry, 2012 fans, but the sibling dynamics in this show are SO much healthier. It's so much nicer watching a show where being frightened of your own family isn't portrayed as normal or funny. Where threats, bullying, and unrestrained violence aren't equated with "love with rough edges." Where the characters don't get constantly put down and made to feel bad and then just left that way, without any resolution. And it doesn't mean they have to be nothing but sweet and sappy. Raph still deals out plenty of smacks and even whaps Mikey down playfully at one point, but they make it clear that nobody is badly hurt or even particularly notices. He doesn't deal in pain, he doesn't abuse his superior strength to coerce or humiliate his brothers, nobody would ever be afraid of him the way the 2012 turtles are clearly afraid of Raph. Donnie gets teased for being a nerd sometimes, but it's not the "you're weak and worthless" tenor of 2012, and he certainly isn't hurt by it the way 2012 Donnie is. Even aside from the way his brothers treat him, his entire portrayal in the show is more charitable; he doesn't get written as a cringy loser just because he's smart. Mikey is still portrayed as the "annoying little brother" sometimes, but the others humor him, de-escalate gently, or squabble on equal footing, rather than beating him up or putting him down. And overall there's just less need for him to be a pain, because he doesn't need to get on his brothers' nerves to get any kind of attention, the way 2012 Mikey does. And while Leo does tease and bait his brothers relentlessly, it's made abundantly clear that he never aims to actually hurt them. Make them mad, yes; but that's his way of confirming they love each other. He knows his brothers will fight back, and that's what he wants. That's what makes lines like "Great job fam . . . and Donnie, I guess" seem harmless in the end. He knows Donnie will never for a second start to wonder whether he belongs in this family; Donnie's going to roll his eyes and shove him into a snowdrift. The 2012 show portrayed family as a group of people you can trust to save you from death but who otherwise only want to see you hurt and sad; Rise portrays family as trust and affection so deep-rooted that no amount of bickering could make a dent in it. 2012 was like a picture of the worst way a neglected family can turn out - dysfunctional, cruel, full of power struggles and displaced anger - while Rise shows how adversity can build a family that's not perfect, that's not free of bumps and scratches, but that's unshakably supportive, trustworthy, and safe. I'm here for it.

22. Rise April is awesome. I didn't have any strong feelings about 2012 April either way, although she did seem to be a bit of jerk now and then (big surprise, in this show where pretty much everyone is a jerk). But Rise April manages to be SUPER sassy, competent, bluntly spoken, and hungry for action, without ever coming across as mean or "too much." She has that crazy "I'm gonna fight 'em all!" edge to her, but it never graduates into her seeming crazy. She still wants to do good at all the jobs she tries, she's still socially awkward and wants to fit in, she can still be sensitive and morally supportive if the moment calls for it. She stands up for herself and keeps the more egotistical turtles in line without crossing over into being a bully. She's balanced beautifully.

23. "Foot Recruit"/Cassandra Jones is also awesome! She definitely graduates into being crazy, but it's also handled extremely well. I would never have guessed that a "loud, over-the-top, maniacally aggressive" type of character could be legitimately funny rather than irritating or off-putting, but here we are!

24. Little animation details that work hard to build this family's dynamic, part E: "Stuck on You" has a LOT of those, mostly with Donnie implicated. They bothered to animate him rolling his eyes while Leo complains about having a "dad bod," but he also breaks into an atypically vulnerable smile when Leo compliments his motorcycle design. Annnnd then there's the others' faces lighting up in the background when he coughs up his password. (The little muffled giggles are adorable too. They might love seeing him embarrassed, but the vibe is so much "you're silly and we love you for it," not "you're lame and we're going to use this to make you feel dumb.")

25. The poster above Leo's bed in the movie is for "Jupiter Jim Sails the Seven Seas," the movie he was supporting in "Snow Day."

26. While the portrayal of Splinter shocked and bewildered me at first (especially after 2012's steely authoritarian Splinter), once you get used to him he's surprisingly compelling. He's portrayed as a gross lazy slob and a blatantly neglectful parent, yes, but the show's creators weren't lying when they said his development would make him more likeable. His backstory is pretty cool and his willingness to step up and work on himself really does his character good. I'd even take it over the nondescript "solemn super-wise sensei" figure he's always had in earlier iterations.

27. "Come back, come back, your family needs you." Not sure which is sweeter, the fact that Raph would lowkey drag himself back from death to help his family, or the fact that Leo viscerally knows this and realizes this is the best incentive he can offer.

28. The AU's for this fandom are often surprisingly good! I usually don't enjoy AU's, or dystopian fiction, but even many of the "bad future AU" fics are really good. One of my favorite aspects is how most people who create "Kraang future" AU's seem to have subconsciously agreed that in the bad future Donnie becomes more playful and affectionate. It's like he realizes Leo is weighed down by the guilt of causing this apocalypse and the stress of leading the resistance, so he takes it upon himself to be the one starting the teasing and initiating hugs. He know they both need it, it's important to him too, and if Leo won't manage it he will.

29. Little animation details that work hard to build this family's dynamic, part F: Donnie smirking and shaking his head knowingly when Leo tries to insist "I don't care that you just stole my moment!" in "The Clothes Don't Make the Turtle." He 100% enjoys annoying Leo just as much as Leo enjoys annoying him.

30. My favorite episode is a toss-up between "Sparring Partner" and "The Purple Game." (And of course, what kind of Rise fan would I be if "The Clothes Don't Make the Turtle" wasn't up there in the running, it's a very very close second.) "Sparring Partner" because it's just so much of Raph being a sweetheart and his family being more loving than he gives them credit for, and the ending is freaking adorable; "The Purple Game" for so soooooo many reasons. A, the references to stuff like Roblox and Pokemon. B, the sheer amount of plot, snark, feels, and jokes they can fit into a standard-length episode. C, the stark parallel to facing a loved one with addiction. As always, the show doesn't hesitate to flirt with heavy topics but never makes it angsty or heavy-handed. D, some of the coolest animation moments in the show, like Donnie frantically gaming, the turtles' "oh CRUD" faces when the mech catches up with them (especially Raph), and the swoop out of the portal to attack from behind. They even bothered to make extra little animations of the red Raph-bear shaking his head over the mech footage he's showing Donnie. E, the line "I know I say this about Donnie a lot, but . . . DEMON POSSESSION." F, this is the only episode where we get a glimpse of April's parents, she really does have those! We see her mom in the background! G, the unabashed mushy-gushiness and affection all throughout. The others make no bones out of the fact that they love Donnie (in fact this is the only episode where one of the Disaster Twins says "I love you" to the other, and they didn't have to play that line sincerely at all but they DID), they make it clear they want to spend time with him and think about him when he's missing, and meanwhile Donnie is atypically open with how much he cares about them too. If your heart doesn't melt at how intensely he freaks out at the thought of his brothers getting hurt, well, all I have to say is DEMON POSSESSION.

Quotes:

Rabbit: I have too many things to do to stand around here wasting time!

Tigger: Yeah! And we've got too much time to waste to stand around here doing things.

o.o.o.o

Frosty: Well, what do your friends say?

Holly: I don't have any friends, except for Charles . . .

Frosty: One friend is a lot better'n no friends at all, kid. One friend is plenty.

o.o.o.o.o

There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up. -Booker T. Washington

o.o.o.o.o

Garmadon: I swore I'd never return . . .

Jay: You know, you should never swear. It's a sign of weak verbal skills.

o.o.o.o.o

We must resist such snow amusements, lest it weaken our emotional defenses. -some random rhino from "Legends of Chima." I can't . . . I can't even . . . XD

o.o.o.o.o

My own mother . . . thought I was a monster.
. . . She was right of course, but it still hurt! -Azula in "Avatar: the Last Airbender."

o.o.o.o.o

Iroh: I know how you must feel about my nephew. But let me assure you that there is good inside him!

Sokka: Good inside him isn't enough! Why don't you come back when it's outside of him too?!

o.o.o.o.o

Keep apart, keep apart and preserve one’s soul alive — that is the teaching for the day. It is ill to have been born in these times, but one can make a world within a world. - George Gissing

o.o.o.o.o

How d'ya like that. Even among misfits we're misfits! -Yukon Cornelius in "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

o.o.o.o.o

“God help us!” said Holmes after a long silence. “Why does fate play such tricks with poor, helpless worms?" -Arthur Conan Doyle

o.o.o.o.o

On any given day in a hospital, you can find people having the best day of their life, the worst day of their life, the first day of their life, and the last day of their life all under one roof.

As a kid, I thought people used “grow up” to mean “be tough enough and brave enough to stand up to the world’s BS"; as an adult I realize people actually used the phrase to mean “be jaded enough to resign yourself to the world’s BS without complaining”.

I am a ghost, driving a meat-coated skeleton, made from stardust, riding a rock, flying through space.

-All from "Shower Thoughts" on Tumblr

o.o.o.o.o

Everything is held together with stories. That is all that is holding us together, stories and compassion. -Barry Lopez

o.o.o.o.o

Stix: It's not like I'm paranoid . . . *sees own shadow* STOP FOLLOWING ME!

o.o.o.o.o

To be a monster is to confine one’s rationality to a very narrow degree and then follow that line to its conclusion.

o.o.o.o.o

I was spitting out formulas while you were still spitting up formula! -Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik

o.o.o.o.o

The Starfleet manual offers no regulatory guidelines for interactions between humans with Klingons grafted to their bones, and a ship's doctor returned from the dead. -Saru, "Star Trek: Discovery"

o.o.o.o.o

Protect your heart and listen to the problems you face and scream. -Ed Walker, once sufficiently under the influence of Google Translate

o.o.o.o.o

Darkwing: You are no-cog bots without the ability to transform. You have limited options.

Orion-Pax: Yeah? Well guess what, my hand can transform! Guess which finger. I'll give you limited options.

o.o.o.o.o

Is anything as strange as a normal person?
Is anything as cruel as a normal person?
I think I'm cool enough
But am I cruel enough
Am I cruel enough
For you?
--Arcade Fire, "Normal Person"

Well, that's my two cents. If you've got some feedback on this little flight of fancy, I'd love to hear it! Peace out, folks, and happy FanFiction-ing!