Turtles - Count them off!

I made prints 😎

2026 Reader's Choice Awards has arrived!

The form will remain open until August 1st, 2026!

(I also have a couple of jobs rn, so I certainly won't make it to every single category, but will be reading what I can up to the deadline)

If you haven't voted yet, there is still time. And, even better, there is still time to get some reading in! However, I also know that I will be consulting the nominations list for fic recs even after voting closes.

🧡❤️💙💜

I also have a few recommendations that, for reasons of maturity ratings or whatnot, are not currently on the list. I'll be posting those recs soon.

Tmnt 2003 2k3 Donatello and Sydney 💜💙

those are also all very accurate colour-matches to the canon colour palette, i love it

I did! I didn't like it personally as I felt it didn't really line up with the movie- which isn't great because the comic literally came first. I also felt like everyone (Leo and Raph mainly) were very out of character.

What I meant by he was being selfish, I just meant that he was mostly doing it for an outlet. He wasn't needed and the movie kinda expresses that plainly, plus the way he was dealing with criminals was so aggressive everyone, even the innocent thought he was a threat. Like they didn't see him as stopping criminals, they just saw the violence behind it, leading everyone to believe he himself was a 'bad guy.'

He was doing it in a harmful way, for others and for himself. THAT'S what Leo had issue with, as it makes absolutely no sense for him to be upset about there being a vigilante as A, Casey was one, and B they all were?? The four did nightly patrols and did the same thing?

Leo just saw a brute taking his anger and hurt out on others, (criminals yes, he didn't attack the innocent), and got by it by saying it was for the sake of others when it was already expressed it wasn't as it wasn't doing any good. However I do really think the movie should've handled a few things better and that's one of them. It feels a bit odd for Leo to return and immediately know who the Nightwatcher was. But at the same time, all Leo would have been told/seen was a vigilante going about it the wrong way, intentionally or not.

Leo calling the Nightwatcher out for being a vigilante never made sense to me. Especially because he was off being a vigilante himself as the Ghost of the Jungle.

"... He was doing it in a harmful way, for others and for himself. THAT'S what Leo had issue with... Leo just saw a brute taking his anger and hurt out on others... "

That makes a lot more sense.

"... the way he was dealing with criminals was so aggressive everyone, even the innocent thought he was a threat. Like they didn't see him as stopping criminals, they just saw the violence behind it, leading everyone to believe he himself was a 'bad guy.'... "

I think it's worth noting that, although Leo was also playing vigilante, we never see civilians scared of the Ghost. Only criminals. The villagers almost seem to revere him as their guardian.

Compare that to the chef immediately thinking Nightwatcher was out to rob him, and Raph's line:

"Why does everyone have such a hard time accepting I'm one of the good guys?!" [bold and italics added by me].

This heavily implies that it's not the first negative reaction the Nightwatcher has gotten from civilians he's trying to help.

I would suggest, though, that they're all being selfish to some degree in 07. And I think that's part of the movie's message.

Raph's selfishly choosing to cling onto the glory days instead of helping his family (though he tells himself it's for the good of the city).

Leo's selfishly choosing to hide away in Central America instead of face the music back home (because he believes himself a failure, and then takes that self-anger out on Raph.)

Donnie is selfishly immersing himself in his work instead of being there emotionally for his brothers - clashing with Raph and shooting down Mikey's enthusiasm - (because he's convinced himself that it's what his family 'needs').

Mikey is selfishly ignoring his family's problems and trying to cover everything with humour (instead of being the emotionally mature heart of the family that we know he can be).

And Splinter is selfishly secluding himself from his sons when they need his guidance and intervention the most, and then just selfishly dumps the burden back on Leo when he returns.

I'm not saying they're all the same severity. Just that no one really seems to be trying to fix their family. And they almost lose Leo for good, as a result.

Okay so, I wanted to expand a bit about what I meant in this post about Leo and Raph’s similarities. Pictured above are two scenes which highlight this very well: how they are two sides of the same coin, and can rather easily tap into that other side (coin metaphor be damned).

For Raph, here we have a scene where he is separated from the others, in “Across The Universe”. He doesn’t act his normal hot-headed self so much in this episode; instead he lectures his temporary companion about honour, before berating himself for sounding like Leo. This implies that he very much understands Leo’s personality as well as the necessity of it - so when Leo’s not there to fill that role, he steps up to do it.

For Leo, although season four isn’t the only time this happens, he gives in to his emotions, and is shown as much more aggressive in the scene above. Raph states that he doesn’t mind, that he enjoys Leo talking tough. This also suggests a kinship because they understand each other’s emotional sides very well. In “Lone Raph and Cub”, whilst Donnie and Mikey just tell him to calm down, Leo lets Raph take off to blow off some steam - understanding his emotios, as we also often see Leo take off to vent on his own.

Both sides are essential, which they clearly acknowledge. Raph prefers to be able to go head first into battle, but he understands the necessity of a leader and honour too: and trusts Leo in this role, to the point that he mimics Leo when he’s not there. Meanwhile Leo prefers the role of the leader, but he isn’t above giving into emotions and venting his frustrations on his opponents every once in a while: and understands Raph’s emotional needs because he shares them.