#I could never ship Donnie with Kendra

[abbeyofcyn]

Personally i really love Donnie x Jeremy. My thought is in the bad time line they became allies for the war effort and fell in love. Worked together to build a lot of the tech used to fight the krang. Jeremy continued their work after Donnie died and he survived until the final battle where the war was lost. He was the one piloting the rebellion Tech we saw in the opening scene. In the good timeline, the dragons are disbanded after the Krang invasion. At some point Donnie and Casey Jr run into Jeremy and Casey (never being told that Jeremy was a villain at some point) is ecstatic to see him. Donnie drags Casey away and asks what all that was about. Casey tells him about Jeremy in the other timeline and Donnie makes him swear to never tell anyone about that and the circumstances were way different and there’s no way he’d ever be with Jeremy in a normal situation. Then he starts running into Jeremy all over the place and because of what he knows, is extremely flustered every time which leads into the cute awkward teen romance. Then eventually a happy safe life they never got the chance to have together in the other time line. Btw Donnie does inform Jeremy of the other timeline before they ever start a romantic relationship. He wanted Jeremy have all the information he did.

Honestly, I barely remember the other purple dragons members besides Kendra, but it gives a lot of room to give the others stories and personalities.

I don't think I can see myself pair them up romantically, but your story is kinda sweet <3

[chaos-potat]

Random thought I've been thinking

[xmochaccinox]

Kendratello: An Analysis

What’s up?

I wanted to do an analysis on this ship, and now I'm doing it!

If you are in the Rise Fandom and somehow you have never heard of it, Kendratello is basically a ship between Donnie and Kendra that’s slowly gaining popularity

For as long as I have been in the Rise fandom, I’ve been seeing this ship popping up more and more. By now, it’s almost impossible to meet someone who hasn't heard of the ship, and even though there’s not much content of it, there’s definitely more people who ship it than you think

However, despite the growing popularity, there are still a good chunk of people that hate it for various reasons

But how did it come to be? Where did the ship come from? Why is it so loved by some and hated by others? Well, I’m gonna answer all those questions and even share my own opinions on the ship!

But first a disclaimer!

This analysis is ONLY meant to describe why people like Kendratello or why they don’t like it! Any canon info I bring up will be provided in full context alongside descriptions of how Kendratello shippers may interprete said canon info in order to gain a better understanding of their perspective

Everything I say about the ship is mainly from what I know from the Kendratello content on Tumblr as I don't really use any other social media

I'll also mostly be focused on Kendra because most of the arguments against Kendratello has to do with her

This is NOT meant to be something to persuade or dissuade you from shipping Kendratello!

So let’s get started!

In order to begin, let’s introduce the lovely characters involved in this ship with a brief description

Donatello, also known as Donnie, is a softshell turtle and one of the middle children alongside his twin, Leo

Much like his other versions, Donnie works with tech, but what makes him more unique is that he displays a more mad-scientist-like attitude and has a huge theater kid persona

Kendra is one of the antagonists introduced during the first season. She’s the leader of a computer tech group called The Purple Dragons and specializes in working with computer software, hacking, and modifying

She and her group are basically trouble makers causing various kinds of chaos, to describe them incredibly briefly

So how do they meet?

Donnie and Kendra meet in the episode The Purple Jacket when Donnie sneaks into April’s school to help her with a project. It was there he first noticed the tech club. Well, not really the club, but more the jacket. He then immediately tries to join the club just to get his hands on said jacket by showing off his tech.

Kendra, seemingly impressed, allows Donnie to join and gives him Jason’s jacket. However, it’s revealed that the only reason why she let Donnie join was so she and her group could steal his tech in order to use them to rob various tech stores in order to then steal a code from some very important computer company. Of course Donnie and April stop them and get them arrested. The end

So that’s basically the beginning, now let's go over why someone wouldn't ship it

First thing to get it out of the way, you were ask why someone didn't ship Kendratello, then most of the time, they would say that it’s because of Kendra, so let’s talk about that!

Kendra is a bully. She uses others for her own benefit and causes mischief for her own entertainment, which can range from annoying yet harmless pranks to her getting people hurt

After she stole Donnie’s stuff and he got her arrested, Kendra retaliated by making Donnie think he’s just playing a normal video game when in reality, he’s controlling a giant robot that almost smashed his brothers, and then tries to do so herself when that fails for the sake of seeing Donnie’s reaction

She also convinced Shelldon (Donnie’s robotic companion who was feeling low when they encountered due to an argument he and Donnie had) into participating a deadly race known for causing many drones to get dismantled just to win her the Shadow Transmitter and then yelled at him and ditched him when he failed

And these are only things she did to Donnie. She also yells at and gets physically violent with Jason, and while she does see Jeremy more as an equal, she still snaps at him and shoves him around

She's sadistic, she's cruel. There’s a 50-50 chance that either she’s aware of how bad she is and doesn't care or sees nothing wrong with anything that she does. And judging by how done April seems towards her, and the way Jeremy barely reacts to anything she does, I’m gonna assume that Kendra’s been like this for a while

And yeah, she’s an antagonist, so no shit she’s awful

However, if we wanna play the Canon game, then canonically, Donnie altered his brothers’ minds to make them smarter, he gave Leo a shock collar as a present to “correct” his behavior, he chained up Sheldon as punishment for giving him attitude, and he almost destroyed a town just to prove he’s right

The only difference between the two is that

Donnie did feel remorse for all of them and tried to fix it to the best of his ability. Kendra on the other hand doesn't really show all that much remorse for what she does and has full intentions of doing it again if she ever gets the opportunity (and she has, multiple times)

I am purposefully leaving what Donnie did out somewhat of context just to make him look as bad as Kendra (specifically their intentions behind their actions)

(And just to get it out of the way, Jeremy and Jason are both just as bad as Kendra. Even though Kendra, for the most part, treats them like trash as well, they still willingly go along with what she wants)

However, there are others who don’t ship it because Kendra reminds them of someone in real life and it makes them uncomfortable

Now, I just wanna say that if you feel uncomfortable with Kendratello due to this, I completely understand

I also want to say that even if you don’t know anyone that Kendra makes you think of, it’s still okay to be uncomfortable with the ship. You do not need a reason why to not like a ship, and if anyone has a problem with that, that’s on them

So with that in mind, it’s completely understandable why anyone would dislike the ship. Based on the evidence, they would be an extremely toxic relationship. You’d have to be absolutely INSANE to even think this is a good ship, right?

Well… Here’s the thing

Like most ships in existence, you gotta have the art of interpretation and shutting off the canon brain, especially when it comes to Kendra

Sure, there are still some things that makes Kendra, Kendra, like her working with tech, her being super smart, her going by a purple theme, and sometimes she’s still a menace (depending on the story)

And the other thing you need to know is that Kendra, just like all the other non-important villains in Rise, is pretty much a one-dimensional character. Her character is literally just a bully who’s the leader of a tech club that's constantly after devices that can hack any computer. Other than a few things, we barely know that much about Kendra, so there’s room for people to add their own personal headcanons and stuff

And it's not like Kendra is going to be evil 24/7, which gives people a change to give Kendra more traits to be more than just that as well exploring the potential reasons she is the way she is

Basically what happens 90% of the time is that most of Kendra’s negative traits are turned into positive ones. For example, take the fact that she's manipulative, arrogant, insensitive, bossy, and aloof, and turn them into charismatic, confident, honest, assertive, and reserved. These are all words that have different associations, but they basically mean the same thing

And Kendra is usually either

Given some kind of tragic backstory (usually revolving around her parents getting a divorce)

Given a redemption arc

Given more likable traits

Most of or all of the above

There’s also a good chance that the Kendratello story someone is sharing either takes place after the series or it takes place in an AU, so of course the characters are going to be a little/very different. Although sometimes you'll find stories that take place before or during the series. Many people have their own ideas on how Kendratello would go. Though usually what I talked about above is often the formula used. You just gotta find the right story, or make your own story of how you think Donnie and Kendra would fall in love and eventually get together!

And keeping with the themes Rise has of being lighthearted, it’s pretty fun and hilarious to imagine those two bickering one minute and then making out the next. It’s pretty easy to see a bit of a slow-burn enemies to lovers where Kendra and Donnie both slowly realize that oh no, they’re totally into each other, but won’t say anything because of their pride and all that. So there’s the drama, the tension, the idea of will they, won’t they?

Plus, come on, lots of us love a good Enemies To Lovers story with some Slow Burn on the side

And imagine those two going on a date by committing various crimes and half the city is destroyed because of them and then they watch the news talking about what they did while cuddling and holding their new pet cat that they randomly got at some point

Overall, most of the time the story is about two messed up individuals who end up finding peace with each other. They feel like they're the only ones that can understand each other, and they hate it, but at the same time, they don't mind

However, that’s just one side of the ship

I said it in another post I made, but if we look at the ship through another viewpoint, the side that leans more towards the toxic side of the ship, then Kendra is the embodiment of Donnie’s deepest fears and insecurities

The biggest thing people tend to overlook about Donnie is that he cares very much about being useful to the people he loves. It’s why he behaved the way he did in Witch Town, because he’s terrified that if magic can do what he does but better, then no one will need him anymore

Meanwhile Kendra is someone who will very much jump at a chance to take advantage of anything that will benefit her, especially if it has anything to do with Donnie

Donnie is the provider, and Kendra is the exploiter

Those two are perfect for each other in the worst way possible and horrible for each other in the best way possible

And I will mention too that are things that happen in canon that people interpret to be Kendratello moments, or they say could be used as evidence for Kendratello

Kendra blowing a kiss to Donnie (The Purple Jacket: She does this before attempting to leave Donnie to deal with his tech turning against him (which she hacked) to go rob the world bank)

Donnie saying that “Cute but mean” is his type (War and Pizza: He says this while getting stomped on by a tomato animatronic, saying, “Oh you’re so cute, but so mean! Why do I always go for your type?!” before proceeding to electrocute it)

Donnie and Kendra flirt whenever they interact (purely interpretation)

Donnie wanting to join the Purple Dragons because he has a crush on Kendra (also purely interpretation)

Now my thoughts on the actual ship? Eh, it’s complex

I see them as a Doomed to Fail type. They would most likely end up in some kind of a codependent relationship because of their biggest flaws, and I can see the official break up being extremely messy on both sides (since I 100% see them taking several “breaks”). Then after a couple years, things are back to normal, with Donnie and Kendra being rivals, only this time they have a respect for each other and they even help each other out if the other person needs it. And even though they still have some feelings for each other, they choose to remain as exes because they don’t want to risk falling back into old habits

On the other hand, I’m frankly tired of the whole, “Bad Person’s Not Actually Bad, They’re Just Misunderstood And Need Someone Who Understands Them” thing

And before anyone tries telling me about Kendra dealing with her parents having a divorce

We don’t know what exactly happened during the divorce between her parents. There’s no cookie cutter reaction to how a teenager would react to their parents having a divorce no matter how well or badly it's handled

The only time Kendra ever brought up the implications that her parents are divorced was when Jason failed to get the Shadow Transmitter. She told him that she wished her father never married his mother, which implies the only reason why Jason is part of the Purple Dragons is because he’s her step-brother. So basically she’s telling him that if she could kick him out then she would

Now, I’m not saying Kendra’s dad and stepmom are the perfect parents, because clearly they’re not with what I’ve mentioned so far, but still

And don't get me wrong, I'm on team Purple Dragons Get A Redemption Arc, I just see it happening more in a way where they become anti-heroes because they got bored of going after the same goal over and over again

Alright, those are all of my opinions

So, overall, do you have to ship Kendratello? No

Is it one of the more complex ships? Oh yeah

Did me rewatching every single scene Kendra is in over and over again in order to describe how she is in canon make it really hard to make this whole thing without being biased? Most definitely

But really, the reason why people ship Kendratello? It’s just for fun!

I know some people in every fandom tend to take shipping and their head canons way too seriously for some reason, but here? It’s genuinely just for fun

That’s all I have to say, but hopefully you now know more about it! Again, if you don’t ship it cause it makes you uncomfortable, that’s okay! But it doesn't give you an excuse to harass those that do. If it bothers you so bad, then the block button is right there. People have their own ideas of how the ship would go and their own reasons why they like it

If you got any questions or something to say, don’t hesitate to send them my way. I can’t guarantee that I’ll get to all of them, but I’ll do my best!

[turtleblogatlast]

Do you ship any of the turtles with anyone? or do you ship anything in rise at all?

(This ended up being a lot longer an answer than I intended hoo boy sorry about that)

Hmmm, I’m not too big a shipper tbh! Especially since I really enjoy canon interactions backing my ships, so it’s hard for me to actively like any that don’t really have that going for them. There’s plenty that I see around that I think are cute, but that’s usually the extent of my thought process for them.

For ships I more actively have, I guess I like AprilxSunita! They’re very very cute and I think they have some huge meet cute energy in their first episode together, and their chemistry is genuinely adorable (plus them being featured means more April screentime which is ALWAYS a good thing.)

I also think AprilxCasey (and when I say Casey I mean our OG girl) is really good, as I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers, and I think they have a lot in common and just bounce off each other very well (not to mention this ship in other iterations of TMNT has a loooooot going for it.)

Keeping the chain going, I think RaphxCasey (again, OG Casey) is also one with a tonnnnn of potential. They have a lot of common characteristics, and considering Raph’s whole thing with Franken-Foot, I really think there’s a lot of room there for a relationship to develop. Plus, like AprilxCasey, Raph and Casey tend to have a close relationship throughout the iterations of TMNT and it would be great to see that more with these two, even if not romantically.

Actually going back to enemies to lovers, I unironically think there’s a ton going for DonniexKendra. I know a lot of people hate this ship, but I don’t and I actually think it could very easily work whether in a love-hate way or a slow burn way. There’s a lot to like here and honestly they’re good together! Kendra is legit Donnie’s type too haha (cute, but mean.)

Lastly, SplinterxDraxum is good…when done right. I really like when people take it and don’t undermine the very real trauma that Splinter has gone through. As I’ve stated a lot, I love me some enemies to lovers, so I can see the potential here. Plus lbr Draxum was down BAD for Lou Jitsu when he first saw him haha.

I think that’s the extent to what I actively like? Everything else usually falls into “aw cute” or “ehhh not for me thanks”. And before you ask YES leosagi is cute and I’ll read fics with it if the premise is appealing, but I’m afraid I need some canon interactions to establish base character dynamics before I actively ship it alas.😔 Super cute though, no hate to it or any of the other CanonxCharacter-they’ve-never-met ships, I genuinely think people should just have fun! And for what it’s worth I really do wish we got a Usagi and Leo interaction in Rise like we have in other iterations.:(

So yeah. Overall, I have a few ships I enjoy, but I fall much more in the “prefer to keep everyone to themselves and make the focus family and friendship” category.

[annonniiiiieeeee]

Alright time for our last two polls!!

This time it’s Othello Von Ryan

Y’all have some feelings about our boy Donnie

First the pie

Let’s start with our write ins

One for Jason (I’m guessing from the purple dragons)

1 for alien oc

1 for leatherhead

1 for Platonic with someone new

1 for platonic with Kitsune

Then we have two crossover ships

1 for bubbles.

And you know what the powder puff have been sneaking their way into my life reciently and I could see it. There is some really fun art of teenage power puffs that I have seen recently.

1 for lagoons from monster high specifically the 3rd Gen.

Which as some one who knows monster high from the first Gen I’m lagoons was always in my top three and I never liked her boyfriend. I know nothing about Gen 3 but I’m loving the energy.

2 people said keno form legend of the ooze. He is a tmnt character.

I had no clue this person existed but I’m here for it.

5 people said Mona Lisa like the comics

8 people said Timothy (from 2012) 1 person asked for them to be platonic.

Someone also suggested that he be related to Sunita since he became mutagen man in 2012 and this would allow him to still be a slime man and I kinda love that.

9 people said someone from the Tenshu

Now the big numbers

At 29 votes we have

Kendra. She little and mean and Donnie always goes for her type. I kinda love the idea of them going from enemy’s to lovers

At 31 we have

Jermey from the purple dragons. He is nicer then Kendra but more competent then Jason.

54 of you said platonic with April

And 64 of you said

Single!!!!!

I’m gonna be honest Kendra was winning for a bit and I still kind of love her for him but we shall see. I also think I’ll add Tim in as a friend at the very least. As for right now we shall go with the crowd and say single

[fanfic-inator795]

What Your Favorite Rise of the TMNT Ship Says About You

(Sidenote: Doing all the ships I can think of EXCEPT the T//cest ones because nope, not touching those with a five-foot pole. Also check out Eldena Doubleca5t on Youtube)

Raph/April: Your ideal high school romance is Jock/Jock

Donnie/April: Your ideal high school romance is Jock/Theatre Kid OR you just want a healthier version of the 2012!Apriltello ship

Leo/April: These two are full of sass and you are HERE FOR IT. Also mlm/wlw solidarity.

Mikey/April: You had a crush on a kid who was a few years older than you at some point and you never quite got over it

Any of the turtles/Your OC: You like the idea of dating a superhero, but without all the angst and secret identities stuff and instead just want a guy who can take you rooftop jumping

April/Sunita: You’re just here for super cute lesbian girls, and really - who could blame you?

April/Foot Recruit: You’re just here for lesbians who are always ready to throw down, and really - who could blame you?

Leo/Usagi: You watched the 2003 TMNT series at some point

Donnie/Kendra: You really like the enemies-to-lovers trope, and you also took Donnie’s “You’re so cute but so mean, why do I always go for your type?” line super seriously

Donnie/Jace or Jeremy: You really like the enemies-to-lovers trope but gay

April/Kendra: Same joke as above pretty much

Leo/Foot Recruit: You shipped Leo/Karai at some point

Honeybadger/Groundhog/Prairie Dog: Just a bunch of gals bein’ pals

Lou Jitsu/Baron Draxum: You started shipping these two the moment you saw ‘Evil League of Mutants’ and you refuse to let canon stop you

Splinter/Baron Draxum: You like the enemies-to-lovers trope, but you also really like redemption arcs and soft old man romance. Why not combine all three?

Splinter/Big Mama: You are a firm believer in the inherit eroticism of giant monster spider-women

Splinter/Todd: You just want good things for Splinter - and really, who wouldn’t?

Splinter/Meatsweats: You really enjoyed their dynamic in ‘Fast and the Furriest’ and honestly, you just like a good Rom-Com

Splinter/Senor Hueso: You played Dream Daddy at some point

Splinter/Jupiter Jim: You liked the idea of them dating back when Splinter was still human and still a famous actor, and you don’t think Jim was THAT sketchy in his debut episode

Big Mama/Bulhop: You’re a furry who’s also into Dance Flirting

Big Mama/Tang Shen: You don’t care if Shen hasn’t technically been introduced yet, you just want some badass ladies

Repo/Hypno-potamus: You’re a sucker for the Opposites Attract trope and villains who have matching color scheme

Repo/Todd: You’re a sucker for the Opposites Attract trope and characters who love their pets

Hypno-potamus/Meatsweats: You’re a sucker for the Opposites Attract trope and muscle-bound characters with nice accents

Warren Stone/Hypno-potamus: You weren’t expecting this pairing to be a Thing. Like... at all. But it’s just so healthy and wholesome that you can’t help but support it

Warren Stone/Stinkbomb: You got a worm... You got a flower man... Why not?

Meatsweats/Ghostbear: You got a pig-chef... You got a bear-wrestler... Why not?

Foot Lt./Foot Brute: You’re here for evil villains, the ‘Leader and their Second-in-Command’ dynamic, and some domestic married life fluff

Your OC/any of the villains: You’re just here for Comic Book Villain Wackiness and you may or may not be a furry

Aaaaand I’m pretty sure that’s all of them. Hope you all enjoyed this silly post