[Refractive Reflections]

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

I feel like Mikey was evolving more and more as the old show was winding down, I suppose it's easy to say relationships like the one he has with April just change you into a more settled, prioritised force of nature, but if you want me to explain it better I'm up for that.

I guess in that scene, I was looking a little bit more of Michelangelo explaining it than Kala, but I'm not critical about it or anything. And OT Michelangelo evolving as the series ended? I don't know if I considered that, I mean one moment that really stuck with me was how Michelangelo was defending Splinter's advice in "Turtle Trek", but personally I thought Michelangelo's "evolution" was forced because of the Red Sky tone rather than something more organic for his character. Though I'm not saying Michelangelo wouldn't, I just feel the heavy hovering Red Sky tone clearly wanted to eliminate the more jovial aspects of the show (i.e. enthusiasm for pizza) and therefore Michelangelo's charming quirks were tossed aside. This position of mine is going on a tangent about my dislikes for the Red Sky seasons, but that's a whole other thing.

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

Mikey's what I like to call the emotional crux of the whole story, our journeyman through the oddysey. He's the one with the most relaxed notions regarding life and settles into every situation, he's also in touch with his feelings a great deal (as shown when he's hurt by perceived neglegence of his birthday, and crying over the mother turtle in "Turtles Turtles Everywhere", which April definitely picked up on and knew exactly what to give him to cheer him up, showing she always had insight into his specific needs and provided an even more sufficient excuse for me to pair them up back when I endevored to tell a beleviable human/turtle love story)

Oh okay... You see I didn't think about such subtext Zarius with that "Turtles, Turtles Everywhere" scene.
It's interesting you should consider Mikey the "emotional crux" of the stories since typically most people like to make Raphael the "emotional crux" with his extreme emotions or at least those with adolescence (teens and 20-somethings). Of course, OT Raphael wasn't as much of a hot-headed as the other Raphaels in the Turtle multiverses, but there were moments (especially in the "Red Sky" seasons) which could take a writer into that trajectory.

Plus for me personally, it's a bit too easy to make Raphael the "emotional crux" of a TMNT story (and which unfortunately seems to be heavily implied in this 2014 movie) since his choleric personality has so much to work through and it's displayed so obviously. But I'm always intrigued when writers decide to use the other three Turtles as the focus because it displays a deeper level of perception since their struggles and hardships are not always obvious as Raphael's. I enjoy reading the stories from this (Michelangelo focused) different light Zarius.

I'm not saying I don't enjoy Raphael-centric stories, but it short-changes Raphael's personality tremendously when his extreme anger is primarily over trifling issues, which makes me question if Splinter really did strictly discipline Raphael well, if the smallest infractions make Raphael so explosively angry like the tantrum of 6 year old kid who doesn't get his way.

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

Donatello will be the reader's avatar in that sense in the next story, trying to figure out everything, it will obsess him and people WILL notice...and maybe take exception to it. Also, there's a scene in "Flies...", when the A.P.E board reveal they found the nerual patch with Sagan's brain waves on it. Remember in the final chapter they were working on finding a way to access it? If someone hadnt suceeded, Sagan wouldnt have remained brain-dead in the hospital and not prone to the EDX prism's effects. Donatello and Irma will be out to find who threw the pebble across the pond and created those ripples.

He's talking about Donatello's recent connections with A.P.E. His sucess with them, even if it's through Irma as a contact/represenitive, makes him feel very important. Sagan is aware Donatello doesnt have too big of an ego though, so he's basicly just playing swiss cheese mind games.

That's right. I should think back to "Flies...". I think my own reading problem was that I was used to the more compartmentalized version of the stories of the first five (even though you clearly indicated to me that these last five stories had strong continuity), and with the sixth and seventh stories being almost just as independent (since the plot points didn't carry over or cross into as much as this eighth story), I wasn't as sensitive to the details with the sixth and seventh stories. That's where I think my confusion is coming from.

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

I accept your challenge. I had a lot of fun with Leo and Raph and I will do my best to further fuel them with strong character motivations in the next book, especially since they will be tested on an endurance level as well as riding the wave of consequential actions in this most recent adventure.

Okay then... I'll keep a look out for that. I'm enthusiastic to see how you will depict these two and what's churning beneath the surface for these two Turtles after all that they have encountered in the next story.

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

I'm as touched as ever you enjoyed it. I really have you to thank, your continuous and thought provoking annalysis of my stories has informed and entertained me over the last year or so and really pushed me to be as limitless in my storytelling as possible.

Thanks Zarius. It's not only you writing good stories and characters, but observing the effort and careful forethought put into your stories is what makes it very appealing and indicates how you are perceiving these stories on many different levels, which is clearly visible in the details and extent of your writing. It's a pleasure to read because the stories are engaging on many different levels (the characters, the relationships, the plots, the social commentary, etc.; which I try to do in my own writing too ), and I'm glad that I was able to help your writing.