#is asks

We are led to believe from the very first episode that his brothers don't trust his tales in the scene where he tells them about the Kraang. He's been making things up all his life. Only now, their lives have become crazy enough that some of these things are becoming possible.

But they're a bunch of teenage boys. That's something they aren't just going to instinctively know. It's something that they're going to have to learn. And that's exactly what ends up happening.

I think that there are too many fanfics depicting Mikey's statements as "but what if it did happen!" that it's confusing people. If these things are not proven to have happened, then the audience should not assume that they did. And they should not expect the brothers to either.

I haven't seen a lot of fanfics acknowledge the change that his brothers go through from 'entertaining it' or 'not believing him at all' in the early seasons, to giving him the benefit of the doubt in season five, even though they vocalize a list of reasons to be skeptical.

In Wanted: Bebop and Rocksteady, we see a scenario that was common in early seasons. Mikey is freaking out and his brothers are listening to him, not at all convinced due to the reasons behind their doubt. (They always seem to have many reasons, different each time)

BUT, this time, after listing them, they still seem to have their reservations, but they give it consideration. And they check it out.

They don't immediately trust him because (as I have said before) Mikey is an insanely unreliable source. I'd say that he's incorrect 8 out of 10 times when it comes to his fanciful tales. In their early days, it was reasonable to assume he might be wrong. In season five, after all the crazy that they've gone through, they now know it's better to assume there's a chance that he might be right rather than assuming he's dead wrong. It's worth checking out at the very least.

I just can't sit here and blame them for their reactions in the early seasons. There's a popular kids book about a 'kid crying wolf' out there because one human can train other humans to look at them in a certain way. If you have a reputation for 'crying wolf,' then people are going to be less likely to believe you when the wolf arrives.

I really do wish that they had listened to him for their own sakes, but when your brother is insisting that his 'bad vibes' are EXACTLY as real as the time that 'tiny elves stole his nunchucks and replaced them with mozzarella sticks'... Well? I wouldn't believe him either.

I can see Mikey hissing or angrily chittering under his breath in that scene, but I don't see the possibility of him chirping until he ends up with Icecream Kitty later on. (Also, I have a hard time believing that they'd simply ignore him if he was. They probably still wouldn't believe him, but if he was miserable enough to revert to animal instincts, they'd at least be softer towards him about the subject.)

I wouldn't read a fic where they listen to him (because it would feel OOC or like someone is ignoring the source material to make the brothers act in ways that benefit Mikey but aren't realistic to sibling dynamics) since the canon proves that they wouldn't so early on-

BUT I could see an ending where Mikey (being the first one to be ingested) is sicker than the rest of them and is mad at them ("I wouldn't be like this if you'd listened to me!"), which makes them feel guilty, because he's right. Things would have gone differently if they'd listened.

So they make it up to him with a turtle pile/shows/comfort fest where they take care of him to make up for it. And you get your fluff!!

One of the things that we should all love about Leo is that he'll get really annoyed with his brothers for rushing in thoughtlessly to save him (Follow the Leader), but he ALWAYS forgets to take the safe road when a little brother is in reach (Fourfold Trap, Mutant Gangland). He is a moth to a flame. Dangerous? Stupid? Unbelievably risky?

Who cares! His brothers are in there!

Which also disproves this weird idea that the fandom has that he somehow cares more for Karai than his brothers, considering he spent weeks/months crafting the perfected plan to get her out of the Foot base, but when Raph gets taken, he storms the halls IMMEDIATELY.

Even Donnie is like "Shouldn't we make a plan???" and Leo straight goes "forget the plan. Leatherhead, get ready to make a door." YOU GUYS CANNOT UNDERESTIMATE THE AMOUNT OF DESTRUCTION HE WOULD CAUSE IF IT WAS FOR HIS BROTHERS. He has absolutely no impulse control if they are threatened, and that should scare the villains way more than it unreasonably doesn't.

It's hilarious that his solution throughout the episode is just "stab things" though. His brothers are kidnapped? Stab Razhar. Raph is in a hot room? Stab the wall. Mikey is under mutagen? Stab his restraints. Donnie's surrounded by wires? Time for stabby stab!

Obviously that last one was prevented, but the point was that his solution to "my family is in danger" is just: stab things. A lot.

(Wait now I need an analysis of what this means for Owari-)

Also, to your point, now I'm thinking about Leo throwing his entire self under the blades in order for it to push him down to Raph. Like he could have been insanely crushed. Was that really strategic, or was that impulse to get to his brothers? Worth a debate, I think.

Big brother Leo is SUCH a treat to watch, and I wish there was an episode where his brothers are taken, and he tracks them down and beats the remorse into the captor(s) because I think he deserves to show off his mama bear. Indulge in his protective fury.