#violet flames

(Yard Sale by Alex Warren plays)

My brain: RAPH LORE IN VIOLET FLAMES DROPPED, SONG HAS PERFECTLY DESCRIBED RAPH’S VIEW ON DONNIE

“USED TO LOVE BUT NOW I HATE”

“ALL THE LOVE IS GONE”

I also thought about Donnie joining the Resistance because GUESS WHAT I HEARD A SONG AND THE ANGST FLOWED

(You Found Me by the Fray in case you’re curious)

So I’mma yap about the Bad Future Timeline in Violet Flames bc there’s no real spoilers in that

But book 1, Donnie doesn’t go live with the fam he’s just kinda. Out there. In his own. Everything is too messed up with their family for him to just be accepted back with open arms. When the invasion happens, Leo, Raph, Mikey, April and her parents, Splinter, and Casey are staying in the Lair. Then the lair is discovered by Kraang and Splinter dies, and the rest of the group join a nearby colony. Few years later colony is destroyed and the Resistance is built with the Hamatos leading it. Casey has/finds CJ (still deciding if CJ is Casey’s biological son or adopted either one is peak honestly), CJ grows to be about five, their base is found again and Casey dies.

Splinter’s death was heartbreaking for Leo, but it’s been several years since then and they got some level of closure. Casey’s death was devastating, though, because she’s been there with him in his most difficult moments. He loved her. And her death left him with a child that he doesn’t know how to care for. Plus, she was single-handedly keeping the Kraang away from their base just with her Energy and Existence.

It was Leo mourning Casey’s death that Donnie returns. Leo is, of course, not happy. It has been several years since they’ve last seen each other. Leo would’ve thought he was dead if it weren’t for the twin connection and the wreckage of his tech on the battlefield. Donnie’s been fighting all alone all this time, and he finally chose to join them.

Leo is Livid. So are Raph and Mikey and April. But they let him in, of course, because what are they gonna do? Turn a Non-Kraang away in the middle of the apocalypse?? No!! That’s just stupid!

It takes a long time for any semblance of trust to be rebuilt between Donnie and his family. He’s basically confined to his lab, working on tech and keeping their base away from Kraang radars and the usual stuff Donnie does in the bad future. Only without going to meetings and Being in the Know and being Leo’s main confidant.

It’s actually CJ who begins to heal them. CJ’s a curious child, and he’s heard so much about his Uncle Donnie that he was not expecting him to be so scary. He starts sneaking into the lab and bugging Donnie and essentially refusing to leave him alone. Donnie eventually gives in to the inevitable and soon he has a small child on his head watching him work on tech and coding. Donnie really likes CJ. And of course with Their Child being with Donnie all the time, Leo Raph and Mikey start spending more time with Donnie too. It takes a year or two but things are fairly healed with them. Being stuck in an apocalypse helps you get over stuff really quickly (though Leo refuses to let Donnie off the hook for his arm. Conversations go as follows:

L: Hm… looks like you could really use a hand with that…

D: Leonardo Hamato-Splinterson Da Vinci I swear on our fresh water supply—

L: Too bad I can’t give you one! And you know whose fault that is?

D: I PULLED YOU AWAY FROM THE BLAST AND PERFORMED SURGERY ON YOU YOU SON OF A—)

Yes, CJ grows up with an Actually Evil Uncle. Uncle Tello has given him 50 plausible plans to take over the world. Add in his mother’s training and CJ could be such a dangerous villain no one would stand a chance. Donnie constantly jokes about CJ being his apprentice in villainy (doesn’t always go over well, it will never not be too soon but that lowkey makes the jokes funnier).

(D: Oh come on, I’m a fully redeemed villain!

M: So then why are you giving CJ a chainsaw and blowtorch built into his hockey stick?

CJ: FOR WORLD DOMINATION >:D

D: Junior! You were supposed to keep that quiet!)

CJ is also fully aware of the Backup Plan for basically his whole life. Donnie brings it up and everyone pretty much agrees. If there is nothing else left, if there’s no possible way to win and survive, CJ will be sent to the past to save at least one timeline. So he’s been trained in how to fight Villain Donnie and convince them quickly that he’s from the future.

Basically, at the end of Book 1 Donnie gave Leo an emergency code. If something truly horrible happens and they need backup, Leo would use that code and Donnie would come running. (He didn’t, in the Bad Timeline.) CJ is given that code and it will sync up to Donnie in the past as well. Donnie will get the Emergency Alarm coming from Leo’s location, but originating in a completely random device (like a wrong number) and Donnie knows that Leo would never give that code out so obviously Leo’s in extreme danger. He’d react immediately, fly to where the alert came from, see CJ “tied up” and “helpless” in a chair with everyone watching in extreme confusion. CJ would then smile and say “Oh, good, now that everyone’s here…” then reveal that he untied himself a long time ago by tapping his mask and sending a ping out to all of Donnie’s tech. This includes his trackers, which causes a slight sting for everyone.

Donnie, however, is forced to take off his goggles and throw them on the floor where Future Donnie’s protocol can begin. It’s basically a recording explaining the whole situation and Lore Dropping all of his data into Past Donnie’s stores so that the advancements would not be lost to eternity.

CJ had to get Donnie there because while the recording could theoretically play out of Shelldon, Leo had a theory that they probably would have won had Donnie been with them from the beginning. They were losing, then Donnie came and suddenly they were winning. Then Donnie died, and They Lost. If they had the whole family together, the Kraang wouldn’t stand a chance. So CJ would have to get Donnie, if he was sent to the past.

Donnie died pretty soon after Raph did. Raph died the way we would expect, out with a bang protecting Donnie. It’s a big, dramatic thing because ever since Donnie turned Villain, Raph has been unable to forgive him. Raph has been angry, and mean, and while Leo and Mikey reached a new, happy normal, Raph was never able to achieve it. So the fact that he died shielding Donnie specifically really messed him up. Donnie was so guilty about his and Raph’s relationship, because he was the one who messed it up. He turned villain. He threatened the family, forced Raph to choose who to protect. And he did it again, and Raph chose, and he died because of it.

So there was the whole Robot thing, and then that needed to be scrapped for parts anyway because all of Leo’s prosthetics have been wrecked and the only thing left is Raph Bot’s arm, and Donnie just spiraled and spiraled until he got too sloppy and was killed.

A month after that, Movie happened.

So yeah, CJ’s compartmentalizing, but he is Not Doing Well because he lost his Sensei(dad), Master Michelangelo (Uncle Mike), Master Donatello (Uncle Tello), Master Raphael (Uncle Phil), and Commander O’Neil (Auntie April) all within three months of each other. AND THEN he is forced to watched Raph get Kraangified AND THEN watch Donnie and Leo trap themselves in the Prison Dimension for DAYS WEEKS M O N T H S ON END BEFORE MIKEY IS STRONG ENOUGH TO CONNECT TO LEO AND DONNIE ON THE OTHER END TO GET THEM OUT A N D T H E N WATCH MIKEY ALMOST FALL APART THE SAME WAY HIS UNCLE MIKE DID GUYS HES NOT DOING OK—

…

How’d my Villain Donnie rant turn into a Casey Junior Trauma Rant.

I don’t.

I don’t know how that happened.

Well.

Anyway.

Yes book 2 will probably have correlations with Firefight but it’s not intentional it just makes sense to have Leo and Donnie get trapped because 1:

Leo has His Guilt and he has the teleporting and planning. And 2:

Donnie had HIS guilt now too! Because if Donnie hadn’t left? Then Leo wouldn’t have been so used to solo missions. He wouldn’t have struggled to lead. He wouldn’t have fumbled the key. So in the end, the invasion was really HIS fault.

Of course, we know this isn’t true. But they don’t.

Look the Kraang Invasion has so much potential for Violet Flames ok it’s the only Pre-Movie fic that I’ve actually given much thought into, the closest is Off on the Wrong Foot but even then it’s just a Vague Idea Violet Flames is FLESHED OUT ENTIRELY

And yet my muse refuses to write for it.

(All Casey’s are Cassandra btw)

Blue: (Connected Souls)

Casey

Snapdragon: (When Will the Lies End)

Casey (implied)

Dicentra: (Violet Flames)

Casey & Usagi

Hope: (Teen Leo)(His Final Embers)

Casey

Ghost: (Peepaw)(His Final Embers)

Casey

Sensei: (Peepaw)(Mission Success)

Casey

Champ: (Teen Leo)(Mission Success)

Casey

Sunset: (Citrus Ruins)

Casey

Trainee: (Off on the Wrong Foot)

Usagi

Tribute: (Raised in Blood)

Casey & Usagi

Echo: (What’s in a Year)

Casey

Crest: (Ruby Hearts)

Incorrect quotes!!

Echo: You know you can die from that, right? Snapdragon: smoking a cigarette That’s the point. Tribute: drinking alcohol We’re trying to speed this up. Trainee: Eating raw cookie dough and nodding

Snapdragon: double checking supplies in the boat Compass. CB radio. Sunscreen. Blue: Hot dog costumes! Snapdragon: I’m sorry, what? Blue: You know, in case we get lost at sea, and one of us, probably Trainee, goes mad with hunger, we’ll put these on. Trainee hates hot dogs, so they probably won’t eat us. Snapdragon: Are you saying that Trainee would rather eat us than hot dogs? Trainee: I do hate hot dogs.

Tribute: makes Champ a cup of tea but puts salt in it Champ: sips tea Tribute: Champ: finishes tea Tribute: Didn't it taste bad? Champ: Yeah, but I didn't want to hurt your feelings so I drank it all. Tribute, tearing up: Oh, okay.

Dicentra: I scare people a lot because I walk very softly and they don't hear me enter rooms. So when they turn around, I'm just kind of there and their fear fuels me.

Echo: What do you three have to say for yourself? Dicentra: Trainee: Snapdragon: Oops?

Dicentra: Like they say, "If you can't beat them, curl up in a ball and protect your organs."

Trainee: Sometimes I'll start a sentence and I don't even know where it's going. I just hope I find it along the way.

Hope: I'm very disappointed in you, Tribute. Echo: C'mon, don't get mad at Tribute! Hope: Echo, stop telling Tribute it's okay for them to punch you! They need to learn not to punch people! Echo: But I'm not a person! Tribute: Which is why I punched them!

Echo: Hello Tribute, made anyone cry today? Tribute: Sadly, no. But it’s only 4:30.

Ghost: Hello, I'm Ghost. I work at a shop now. Here to help. Look, they gave me a badge with my name on it in case I forget it. Very helpful, as that does happen.

Tribute, singing: He's making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who's on thin fucking ice Snapdragon, also singing: Santa Claus is calling you out!

Dicentra: Well you see, the explanation is perfectly simple and scientific. It was because shut up. Shut up is why.

Ghost: What can therapy do for me that screaming in my car for 30 minutes can’t?

Echo: Comparing Ghost and Sensei is like comparing apples and oranges. Ghost: We’re both unique in our own ways? Echo: Apples are superior in every way and all oranges should be eliminated. Sensei: Which one of us is the orange?

Tribute is laying on the floor with their eyes closed Snapdragon: Hey, are they sleeping or dead? Trainee: Bluefully dead, I hated them. Snapdragon: Yeah, me too. Tribute, sitting up: First of all, fuck you guys.

Tribute: Prepare to feel really bad about yourself. Ghost: I’ve been prepared for that my entire life. Tribute: Ghost: Or something mean about you.

Echo: What’s the status up here? Dicentra: Fucked up, about to die, Blue’s a nerd. The usual.

Snapdragon: If I punch myself and it hurts, am I weak or strong? Sensei: Strong. Ghost: Weak. Dicentra: An idiot, is what your are.

Blue: When I get Doordash I order 20 Cheeseburgers at a time and heat them up throughout the week so that I don’t have to pay the delivery fee multiple times. Echo: I hope you understand how food poisoning works. Blue: I hope food poisoning understands how I work. I never met a burger i couldn’t eat.

Blue: ‘Technically legal’, the two best words in the the English language, right before ‘cowboy spectacular.'

Hope: Are you free tomorrow? Snapdragon: No, I’m fucking expensive every day.

Violet Flames by PS Nail, narrated by Blanca Frappier

If you have followed me for a bit, you know i love Peggy’s writing! You can find my review for this book on my TikTok account. But I’m here to talk about the audiobook!

Blanca did an amazing job! There were so many voices she had to do and she did a great job differentiating each voice. I had no trouble telling each character apart. The emotions behind each character really brought them to life.