... just lovely. The process of them rebuilding their home, weaving the mats, making the punching bag, the CLEANING! This all the slice of life stuff that we don't get to see much of but is perfect in fanfic form. Your style and voice hit just the right cord for me. You interpretations and headcannons blend well with cannon and the interwoven references! I will be making my way through the rest of your archive... losing more sleep but being perfectly happy. 3 3 3

Okay. I have been binging on your stories for a few days now. I have lost sleep. I have been enthralled. And I still have so many more to read! This story was some beautifully executed! ALL the small interactions, both akward and tender, were

So this review will encompass everything I have read from all the previous chapters to the final one.

I understand a little of what Leo feels. Being the eldest sibling myself, it gets kinda hard to separate my younger brother from the chubby, dimpled kid I used to protect. I feel like I have to protect him from everything, which is impossible. So my heart broke a little, not just for Leo, but also for me. However, he is learning to let go little by little which is awesome. Small miracles, small victories.

The ghosts; what can I say? Except maybe don't wait until it's too late to do some things... There are no such second chances. Once you die that's it. But what the brothers did for them was noble.

Raph, Don and Mike are pretty forgiving. I thought there'd be a lot more animosity coming from them seeing that their brother abandoned them. But that's great. I also like that you involved Splinter in this family story.
That said you had all their characters down pat! The conversations are real and do not seem fake/forced. Your description of their journey from the icy beginning to the warm ending was perfect.

Thanks for sharing this lovely, lovely, piece of art. Keep writing.

So far I really am enjoying myself. The style, plot, characterisation... they're all pretty good.

Great story and very well written. Not gonna lie, the part with ghost Gary sitting on Mikey's bed really creeped me out, especially because I was in my own bed, and it was quite dark, lol. Glad they were able to resolve the issues in their family and home :)

My, what a nice ghost! I find this less depressing and more funny, personally.

Wow. Read this all in one breathless sitting. So much depth is packed in here. At times, scared the shit out of me, at others made me laugh, and mostly made me feel for them...I think you've really gotten to the crux of Leo's issues here in a way that the actual canon didn't...his fear of losing them, fear of failure, but also the complete subsuming of his own identity - he really doesn't know who he IS if it's not "leader" and "protector" and "big brother." His sad idea that the only way he can show love to his family is by what he DOES for them, not just by being himself and loving them...and vice versa, that he fears they only love him for what he can DO, doesn't fully trust/accept that they love him just for being him, because without his responsibilities, he doesn't really KNOW who he is.

This is some deep shit, yo. LOL. And it's very well executed. Bravo!

A cleverly written and poignant story, I certainly enjoyed reading this! I love the way you wrote the turtles settling into their new home, unhappy but doing their best to make it feel like home. Leo trying to reconnect with his brothers anew was also really sweet, and I just love the style this was written in!

Looking forward to reading more from you,
MJA

this was beautiful. I love the character building here, and the slow process of learning to heal and rebuilding the bridges with your family. Home is more than something physical. It's too true.

This is such a beautiful story. I started loving it when the ghosts started to become more apparent. I love your ghosts. Somehow, this story seems to have all the best parts of the TMNT characters that I've been reading in all kinds of stories on all put together. I particularly admire your characterization of Raph: I recently read a story that absolutely mangled his dialogue attempting for accent. You made him a very real and intelligent player in the tale. I loved Donnie's battles with the generator and his power over the lights. Made me smile. That one scene with Mikey paralyzed stiff in bed because someone was telling him innocuous bedtime stories? Somehow Mikey always seems to be the best to make the ghosts come out to. Your Leo was perfect (finally putting words behind the usually overstereotyped angst) and Splinter wasn't an absentee father! Yay!
There's more to say, but... it's 4.30 am and I've not put this story down since I've started it... I'll mark ya down as 'Favorite', shall I?

Gosh, I just love your writing. I wasn't sure which story I wanted to leave this review under, then decided to post it with my favourite: Paper Wall. But really, all of your stories are wonderful. I love your clean, simple prose, so careful with its wording and so blessedly free of lavish purple description. I love how honestly you write the characters. They feel very true to their origins, their individual traits never over-embellished. You write humour that is genuinely funny and never OOC, and serious scenes with grace and poignancy.

In short, I love reading your stories. They make me love the TMNT all over again whenever I sit down with one. Thank you for writing them.

That was a wonderful story! Although it has side plots, the main plot was simply character development, yet it still just pulled me in. I couldn't stop reading it! Your portrayal of the turtles is excellent, and your writing is fantastic!

Loved this, which seems to be the standard reaction to most of your stuff that I've read. This was a great look at Leo's homecoming, and I really enjoy fics like this that play with the spaces that are left in the show, all the potential that they don't do anything with (or, to be fair, don't have time to explore). You did a great job with all the guys, and poor Leo...his sense of loss and aimlessness was really tangible and hard to read.

I especially like the way you wrote this like one long, blended series of vignettes; it's a great style, and you pull it off really well. It's something I'd like to try myself, but since I tend more towards rambling (as you can probably tell from this review), I doubt I'd pull it off as well. ;b

I was just about to write that I really, really want a sequel, and see how things move forward from here, and then I checked your page and saw that there already IS a sequel! And my night was made. _ So now I'm off to read that.

Thank you again for a lovely read; the tone is such that it all ended perfectly, and it gives the satisfaction of a story well-ended. Great job.

*sobs* its over! i'm so disappointed and yet i too have to let go... beautiful doesn't even cover it... thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you a thousand times over! a million! a billion! a google! an infinite amount of times over! i know now another way to write and hopefully am able to learn from you! i really really really really (you get it) loved this fic! this window to life! this... this... awesomeness! really i'm not one for words and since you seem to be, well use your imagination! it's evident that you have one! the plot all flowed together and merged and was flowing and... its late and i've never been more awake! i won't stalk you or anything i'll just go and read everything you have ever written... really i can't thank you enough for honoring me with this gift of the Hamato family! ... so awesome i don't know how to end so i wont! joking! i will on this screen but in my mind i'll still be thanking you and praising you... psycho neh? well i may be and i'm proud of it! mua ha ha!

wow... its so hard not to cry... seriously the end... wow... you still amaze me oh my god this is so great! seriously you ever write a book i'll by it, shell i'll even sponsor you! they way the Hamato's and the ghosts interact is just... well beautiful isn't enough... awe-inspiring? no. amazing? no. powerfully awesome? closer. really it's just hard to say how awesomely awesome this chapter was! once again i just love how you portray all of the turtles, especially Mikey too many people make him to be nothing but a baby but we know that he is so much more :D