#also 2003 splinter is just fantastic

[bambiraptorx]

watching tmnt 2003 is so wild honestly. a guy shows up from another dimension to fight leo and not only does everyone more or less roll with it, splinter knows exactly what's going on somehow

[nerves-nebula]

The comments you got did say quite a lot already, so it was a little difficult, but I do know just a couple little details.

(This will be the shortest paragraph) 1987 Krang is a singular entity who is on Earth and partners with the Shredder. ('Partners' is more way than one, because their dynamic is reminiscent of an old married couple and they have multiple very gay moments too). Krang makes weird frog-esc croaking sounds while speaking, and controls a suit that looks like Captain Underpants, aka a bald dad bod baby. This version has the ability to enlarge both himself and his suit. The ship that he and the Shredder use is the Technodrome, which is on wheels and shoots lasers that destroy land. They hang out underground. They also have Bebop and Rocksteady as their sort of henchmen. The 1987 Krang constantly talks about how he has legions and armies of superior warriors in Dimension X where he came from, but I'm pretty sure we never really see them.

The Utrom (aka the 2003 Krang) focused on intelligence. They were an interstellar species from galaxies away that can live for eons and arrived on Earth in feudal Japan with their ship, proceeding to get stuck there for the next few centuries as they were too advanced for Earth's tech. They were fairly amicable to the humans there, but they find them disgusting. After being in physical contact with a human, even when in their metal suits (they wear metal suits that look like humans, much like the Krang Shredder's Oroku Saki suit) they go and get decontaminated in their HQ. It can be assumed they are like this to all life, or at least all life deemed below them in intellect, as we were shown their decontamination chambers and such in the modern day. Without their suits, they wear these metal disks that let them however, like the 2012 Krang, and when leaving their ship or metal suits, they tend to wear a glass dome, probably for protection against the Earth's environment. Unlike 2012, every Krang is their own person. The krang do however still have a leader, known as Mortu (they have their own names, but Mortu and The Shredder (Ch'rell) are the only ones we learn). They do not have a Dimension X or any equivalent, and are the only ones to be from this world as well as good guys (though they are assumed to be villains at first, and are misunderstood. They actually worked with Splinter's owner before he died, as this Splinter was the rat of a ninja).

The 2012 Krang are a hivemind, as is well known. However, they still have their own personalities, which usually minorly shines through in certain dialogues. They tend to speak very oddly and literally ('The Krang is the one who will be doing the kicking of the butt to the ones known as the turtles' is something they would say). However, they can still learn to speak normally, as proven by Krang Subprime, Krang Prime and the Utrom. The Utrom in 2012 is the original in that universe, who were taken over by the og Krang (Krang Prime) to become a hivemind which they weren't before. They are now a rebel group, who can all speak English properly and all tend to wear metal suits that look like humans. Bishop in the sort of leader of the Utrom here, unlike 2003 (2k3 Bishop was a villain who hated aliens). His suit is the one that the Krang copied and mass-produced, aka the men with slicked back hair and all black suits throughout 2012. The difference is that he usually wears shades. The krang tried to take over Earth since the dinosaurs were on it, and kept failing everytime. In this universe, they are the cause of humans, having mutated apes into them with prior ooze while trying to turn them into Krang to overtake the planet. This Krang also has a rivalry of sorts with the triceratons, who are triceratop based aliens who love violence. They've had many wars in the past.

I feel like I've went on too much so off I go noww enjoy

no no this is all fantastic, thank you for taking the time to write this up :)

[prince-toffee]

Spoilers for Mutant Mayhem:

So, yesterday I watched TMNT Mutant Mayhem.

And yeah, it was good, it was fun. But I wouldn't say it's the best version of the TMNT or anything. The only reason why it's so popular and why the larger world is saying that 'the turtles are finally back' is because it's a theatrical movie and associated with Rogen. Also, that little tidbit kinda pisses me off, 'the turtles are finally back' wha- fu- where did they go? What the fuck are you talking about? Seth Rogan didn't revive a dead franchise or anything. TMNT has been thriving for years! The comics is excellent. The shows are phenomenal. Fuckin' we've been here! We didn't go anywhere. I imagine it's people who aren't turtle fans that are saying this. People who watched 87 as kids and then grew up and didn't stay with the franchise and saw it evolve through the years. Geewankers as we Transformers fans call them. And I think this movie is fun, it's good, but it's not God's gift to humanity or whatever. If I'd have to rank it it'd be directly in the middle of turtle media, far from the worse, far from the best.

So here's some positives:

It's gorgeous. It's beautiful. It takes the creativity of Spider-Verse and makes it it's own, with the graffiti, school desk doodles aesthetic. It's. GORGEOUS. The artistic story telling of this movie is amazing, having the humans be just as 'ugly' and isometrical and dirty and lumpy as the mutants, showcasing a sense of realness and the fact that they're just as monstrous as the mutants they fear. Not that it looks anything like that, but it reminds me of the art of Gary Frank, artist of Superman Secret Origin (highly recommend) who manages to capture the beauty in the imperfection and sometimes uglyness of humanity. All the while the turtles are portrayed as these claymation-esk cute little potatoes, and that makes you immediately endeared to them.

Some of my favourite effects have to be using scribbles as lens flares for car headlights, and for dust kicked up by car tyres. I also love the use of inbetween frames on the weapons when they're in motion, that is one of my favourite visual tropes in animation, chef's kiss, that's why the bo staff was always my favourite weapon from the 2003 series (which introduced me to the TMNT), it's always so satisfying to watch.

The pacing of this movie is fantastic. Not a boring scene in the movie.

The action is out of this world. I think we all know the scene I taking about. The 'No Diggity' scene is by far the best scene in the movie. Nothing for me can beat the Shredder fight from Rise, but this, this is second place no doubt.

All of the characters are likable and cute. I don't know if I have a stand out favourite in this film, I just like all of the boys equally. And that's another really awesome thing about this movie. It's not the Raph and Leo show, each turtle is given an equal amount of screen time. It helps that all the turtles have the same unified character arc so it all follows nicely, especially tied with April's own arc, which feeds into Splinter's arc. Nicely done.

Soundtrack is a banger.

Darker than I thought. But not too much. A nice balance. That opening scene is immaculate. The tone, Trent Rezenor's ost, the vibes are off the chart.

Now, the negatives (for me) :

None of the characters are really my favourite incarnations of the turtles. (In my opinion) It doesn't have the best Leo (2003) or the best Raph (2007) or the best Donnie (Rise) or Mikey (Rise) or April (Rise). Splinter is like the RiseSplinter but with way less going on, and way less interesting.

That romance is death. It didn't work with Donnie in 2012, it doesn't work her, it's weird and gross, and I don't want to think about it. At least it's not his step-sister.

The comedy isn't for everyone. There's so many pop-culture references it gets ridiculous. When they mentioned Mark Ruffalo I was so done with it. Also, literally every scene that the turtles are together in they will mumble over each other. Every. Scene. It was cute and fun the first two times, but it happens over and over again, drop it, get a new joke.

Splinter and the turtles have no connection to Hamato Yoshi or Oroku Saki, and they learn ninjitsu from Bruce Lee films... sure, whatever. I'm interested to see how the Shredder fits in in the sequel. By the way, great tease, it sounds like this Shredder is like a bounty hunter/mercanery, cool, sounds interesting, I'm in.

The puke girl... thing, is so Rogen it hurts. I'm not the biggest fan of his writing, I think he suffers from the dudebro disease that's been an epidemic at Hollywood for too long. But I was surprised to see that it was quite subdued in this film. 'Quite' not totally.

So, yeah, those are my thoughts on Mutant Mayhem organised in a semi-coherent 'review' If you could call it that, I suppose. So... Bye.

[tmnt-tychou]

Hi again!!! 😄 congrats on reaching your milestone!! That’s so cool!

This has been a question I’ve been wanting to ask, mostly cuz I’m curious! If you had to rank your personal favorite iterations of the TMNT based on characters and story, which would rank higher in your opinion? Bayverse turtles can also count!! 😁

Thanks again, and congrats!!! 🎉

I had to marinate on this. It's very hard to pick favorites when there's so many good versions to choose from. And these are just personal favorites, not a hard line on which show/movie is the best ever. No need to tell me what's what if anyone sees this list and disagrees. This is just my personal list.

I think my absolute top tier is still the 2003 version. This is largely due to the fact that this series was allowed to cover all the story lines that it wanted. Granted, not every episode is gold, but it really took advantage of all the things you can do in a TMNT universe and very much set a precedent of other versions to follow. (I do not count Fast Forward and Back to the Sewers in this.)

Rise of the TMNT is second. I think it had the capacity to surpass 2003, but it wasn't afforded the opportunity. With how much world-building and new ground it covered with only a season and a half, I can't even imagine what we would have had with a full five seasons or so if it had been allowed to continue.

Bayverse is my third favorite. Not necessarily because I think it's the "best", but because it's a lot of fun to play in. Some fans take Bayverse very seriously. I just can't. It's my anything-goes universe. I reserve a bit of respect for the other universes, but with Bayverse, I can do whatever dumb shit I want. I can make the dialog as crass as I want, I can explore more mature themes that I otherwise wouldn't put in a TMNT universe. I dunno, it's just stupid and fun. Also, very big turtles. I can't get enough.

Next is the 90's movies trilogy. The 2nd and 3rd are just stupid fun and very enjoyable. The first one, I think is still the best movie script to date and it too set a precedent for future TMNT iterations, including 2003.

I'll sneak in some comics here. "The Last Ronin" is a great read, if sad. Though not as rough of a read as I anticipated. And I really adored the TMNT/Power Rangers second crossover. (I have not read the first.) Of course, the art is AMAZING, but the script was great, too. I don't know a lot about PRs, but I could mostly follow along. And the Raphael/Casey bromance in this was SO GOOD.

Next, I would put the first 5 episodes of the 80's cartoon here. Yes, the show got dumb. They were on for like 10 seasons. But the first five episodes are pretty solid and a really good story. If you haven't seen the 80's cartoon and are overwhelmed with the sheer amount of episodes there are, just watch the first five. That's all you need.

I guess 2012 will go here. It's not my favorite series, though I know it's some fans' absolute true love TMNT iteration. I thought the first season was (mostly) pretty solid and I was really into it when it first came out, but by the end it was just the hottest of messes. Are there some fantastic episodes? Yes. Is this one of the best Splinters we've ever had? Also yes. Are the turtles' designs absolutely freaking adorable? Of course. Is that enough to carry this series for me? Unfortunately, no. This show is one big garbage fire and I didn't even watch most of the last season. Though I did catch that incredibly off-putting last episode.

Turtles Forever goes here. It was a great idea for a movie and I would have put it higher up, but I just watched it recently. It's actually kind of mean-spirited to other iterations, specifically the 80's version. So it goes lower on the scale for me.

The 2007 movie is next. Terrible script. So-so character designs. Some fantastic scenes. Probably one of the best Raphaels we've had.

Bottom tier stuff: Fast Forward, Back to the Sewers, a lot of the 80's show. The Next Mutation.

[blazichu]

I wasn’t sure if you were asked this. Since Donnie is your favorite turtle and this for 03 what’s your opinion on raph?

Okay, I'm sorry that it took me quite a while to get around to this, anon; things came up, and I hope you understand.

I think 2003 Raph is great! He has a lot of depth to him, and you can see his personality come out in really interesting ways when you might not expect it on the surface. While I'm no big fan of Leo-Raph conflicts, I do think there are times it's put to really good use in general, and that the writers do both of them justice. City at War is a really great example of this, where you can see both sides of the argument. Raph's stance on the gang war is a really fascinating contrast to some of his counterparts-- I'm thinking specifically about 2007 Raph/Nightwatcher-- and says a lot about him as an individual. The episodes dealing with Leo's PTSD in s4 may not be my favorites, but I also think having Raph empathize with Leo's behavior during that span of time was a really excellent decision, and it plays a really nice contrast to the fact that they were clashing earlier in that same character arc. (It also meshes with their dynamic in both Tales of Leo and the Green Man, which is nice to see seasons after the fact.)

Obviously I love seeing him interact with Don, but we don't get a ton of that on screen. I do think their personalities mesh in a really great way, and it would have been nice to see more, but at least we have H.A.T.E. Even though it's never spelled out, it really does come across that Raph's protective streak is in full swing where Donnie in particular is concerned; Bad Day might be the most interesting example of this, where Don feels like what's happened is his fault, and Raph is trying to tell him it's not. (I'm also the person who said that Don probably sided with Raph in City at War, since it looked like he was getting up to leave with him just before Karai entered the picture.)

In spite of theirs being a fairly early conflict, I don't really have a lot to say about Raph and Mikey. I'm glad that the series didn't belabor that side of things between them, but it was definitely an important character moment for Raph, allowing him to grow from there on out. Their interactions in The Big Brawl paint an interesting picture of their relationship after the fact-- that some of the frustration is still there, and can be exploited-- and given Mikey's behavior where the tournament is concerned, I can understand why the writers chose to play Grudge Match off the way they did. That episode wasn't my favorite characterization choice on anyone's parts, but the idea that Raph, Don and Splinter are just hanging out together off screen is really funny to me.

2k3 just did fantastic character work with all of the leads, and Raph is no exception.

[void-inked-pen]

Sainon strikes again!!

I grew up with tmnt 2003 so I’m biased too but I did like 2012 when it came out, but I didn’t follow it as much as I did 03

I completely agree with you on Donnie and Mikey’s characterization! I really loathed what they did to Donnie with the whole love triangle thing they wanted to do. I absolutely loved Donnie in 03 but 12 Donnie omfg. I blame a lot of my dislikes of the show on the writing itself bc I don’t think they wrote April very well either it’s odd idk.

I thought Donnie’s crush on April was cute, silly, and funny at first but they kept beating the dead horse with this and then Casey showed up, added to it, and I wanted to scream.

They ALL deserved better but how the writers treated mikey and his canonical adhd was TRASH.

This is just me very personally as well but when I was just a wee child I empathized with 03 raph a lot bc, even tho I never acted on it, I was just constantly filled with rage that’s a lie I swung a computer at my bully’s face when I’d finally had enough. I didn’t like how they treated Raph’s anger in 2012 especially during the episode where they specifically addressed it. Splinter basically just said “bottle it” and like kind of belittled him for letting things get to him. When they were insulting him for the sake for the exercise I think I realized that 12 raph has trouble seeing when people are being serious with their insults (like me lol). Those were his brothers, contextually he should’ve known they didn’t actually mean any of those things but that’s not how he takes it. And if slash SPIKE is anything to go by he actually thinks his brothers think a lot of bad things about him. He doesn’t open up to his brothers because he does not trust them with his emotions that he himself has trouble dealing with/interpreting

On a more positive note: I do love Raph and Mona’s relationship ship, it’s absolutely fantastic

12 Raph likes a woman that can kick his ass and I have to respect that

Writing characters with anger is a difficult slope and is often written badly. As someone who has anger issues but learned how to deal with them over time, when I see a character like 2012 raph, who has trouble handling and understanding his emotions, it both points out the issues and also makes it hard for me as someone who deals with the same thing, relate because it’s often demonized.

Literally half the stuff they wrote in 2012 acted like they wanted to talk about heavy issues but it was written in a way that was almost mocking and demonizing with most of not all the characters. Literally it brought out the worse in everyone of these characters and it drives me nuts

April is the “strong girl who don’t need no man/turtle” but written insufferably, Donnie is the swooning brother who basically is an incel but also a genius who seriously deserves recognition for all he’s done (rest PLS), raph and his anger issues and lack of understanding his own emotions and the perpetuated “I’m tough, don’t feel emotion” manly bullshit, the terrible depiction of Mikey and his ADHD, and I’m not sure they did a very good job or not on PTSD with Leo and his whole focus on being the leader isnt… that great from what I know. And Casey… idk tbh??? He also had some “let me fight for the girl” dumb dumb stuff so he was meh. The love triangle with him and Donnie and April was also dumb because if those three just stopped that shenanigans, can you imagine how great they’d be as a dynamic???

Anyway, ye. There is definitely a lot they could have done better with all of them but I know that is more of a time thing~

Thanks for coming back Sai-Non!!

-pen

[hamatoclan76]

Lets talk about ¨Fast Forward¨ and ¨Back To The Sewers¨

So, yeah. I was finally able to finish watching the TMNT 2003 series. I know i could write an entire review about the series but i decided to focus on the two last seasons ¨Fast Forward¨ and ¨Back To The Sewers¨ since they are quite controversial seasons in the fandom due to their writing.

I’m going to explain what i think these seasons did right and then what went wrong with the writing that made them not get so well-received in comparison to previous seasons. I´m going to start with Fast Forward and then move to Back to the Sewers.

Time Travel to the future

(Fast Forward Intro)

(Fast Forward) Season 6 starts with the turtles accidentally time traveling to the future, year 2105 to be precise. That’s 100 years from the current timeline. It´s a risky idea but not bad, right?

But here is the problem: There were already unexplored main plotlines that needed to be developed: Karai´s possibe redemption, the foot clan, Hun, etc. Instead of finishing those arcs that were already established in the series the writers/producers decided to jump to a completely new setting that had almost nothing to do with things that were previously explored.

So that´s one of the biggest problems with this season. If this was a spin off, this wouldn´t be an issue at all. That´s because the audience would know that the spin off exists as its own thing and it isn´t part of the main series. Watching ¨Fast Forward¨ was weird to me. It was like i was watching other series but with the same characters.

Before talking more about the problems i have with this season. Let´s talk about what i enjoyed:

I really liked the arc about Cody learning to be his own person and realizing how his uncle was manipulating him (if not abusing him). His relationship with the turtles and Splinter is really sweet. It was nice to see how they took care of him and he let them live with them while he was reparing the time machine.

Bishop episodes are really good. I wished we could seen more of him. The idea of him getting redeemed and forming an alien alliance is very interesting.I always saw Bishop as well intentioned extremist, In the sense he believed he was helping people with his horrible methods. I like how he recognizes he did terrible things in the past and he is trying to make up for his crimes.

I enjoyed some  of the slice of life moments.It helped developing the characters in a way that allowed me to see what they do when they are fighting aliens or the foot clan. For example: One of my favourite episodes is Raph and Leo going to wrestling match and chaos ensues. That episode explores Raph´s passion for wrestling, something i think the series didn´t before.

I like the concept of the ¨Dark Turtles¨. Yeah, i know it is a bit ridiculous but i would have been great had the series given them a proper redemption arc since it was implied they weren´t really that bad. ( DNA is thicker than water in one of my favourite episodes of Fast Foward).

Now that i have talked about the things i liked i´m going to move to my problems with season 6.

I think that one of the reasons i feel conflicted about Fast Foward is due to the lack of actual plot or stakes. It feels like things are happening but at the same time they aren´t. Many episodes have more mundane premises. The villains are less intimidanting and they don´t add too much to the story. There are some good episodes like ¨The Journal¨ and the one about Mikey training but overall it is like the writing itself is dull and boring.

It would have been better had the writers focus on developing the characters better (like Raph having problems with adjusting to the future). There are concepts that are great. The thing is that they later get dropped or forgotten (Dark turtles subplot). There could have been an entire arc about Bishop helping the turtles with getting back to their time as a way to make up for his actions.

Speaking of the time portal, that thing is brought up in only the first episodes and then its barely mentioned again in the season. Like.. wasn´t the main plot about them getting back to their respective timeline? It´s like the main characters were so comfortable living in the future that they forgot about their main goal. There episodes that are just about them hanging out instead of finding a solution. It´s okay to have slice of life moments while they are waiting for the machine to get repaired but it could have been at least hinted that is Cody is working on it.

Fast Forward would have worked better had the crew of show put more effort into writing the story, thinking what they wanted to do with the characters and explored concepts that were interesting. And before you ask: No, i don´t think this season being more lighthearted is an issue, the real problems is that writing itself is sloppy and isn´t as good as previous seasons.

Back To The Sewers

(Back to the Sewers Intro)

Season 7´s main plot is about the turtles trying to find all the ¨bytes¨ that made Splinter after he was disintegrated in Cyberspace. Many episodes are about them enterting in Cyberspace and looking for these bytes to make Splinter whole again. The team also has to deal with a new type of Shredder that is a fusion of viral and Ultrom Shredder´s memories. (More of that later)

Things i like from ¨Back To The Sewers¨

Donatello´s character arc: It was very refreshing to see another side of Donnie. At the started of the season he blamed himself for losing Splinter (something he had not control of). His arc is kinda similar to Leo´s arc in Season 4 except he was able to let go his guilt more easily than Leonardo. Unlike Leo, Donnie wasn´t so afraid of failure as he was obsessed with fixing the problem to the point he isolated himself.

I really like how the Cyberspace and the real world are connected with one another in this season. Some episodes have premises that are downright terrifying such as getting stuck in a false parallel reality or people hacking and rewriting your memories. I think this season had very interesting concepts that much like Fast Foward they didn´t reach its fullest potential.

Casey and April´s relationship was fantastic. It was sweet to watch Casey proposing marriage to April. Their wedding was great conclusion for their relationship too. I like how Casey struggles with asking April and how Raph helps him. It´s definitely one of the highlights of Back to the Sewers.

What went wrong with Season 7?

First of all, i think that one of the biggest issues was how short the season was. It has only 13 episodes to develop the main plot and characters. For that reason good concept don´t get enough time to be explored. They are introduced and dropped in one episode. I would have love to watch a three part story arc of the turtles getting brainwashed to make them believe that they work for the Foot Clan. I mean, that was creepy when i watched it.

If season 7 had 20 episodes-for example- then there would have been more time for the main plot to be better paced. What happened in reality is that with 13 episodes it made arcs feel rushed. Some things were left unanswered, dropped or forgotten.

Another issue i have is the lack of Karai content in this season. Season 5 ended with her falling in love and she was never seen again. I know she gets redeemed in the film but it is really weird how she goes to April and Casey´s wedding in the finale and she is never mentioned by the Foot Clan in Back to the Sewers. They could written an episode about how she left the Foot Clan and how she wants to settle down.. just something to learn what happened to her.

Speaking of the Foot Clan... Why they had to bring up Shredder again for this Season? Why just not make Viral the main antagonist? She was fine as a villain, Why in the world they needed to bring him back? There are so many other characters that could have antagonists for this story. 

Virtual Shredder brings up tons of questions as well. When did Ch´rell deciced to upload his memory on the Cyberspace. Why not on a spaceship or computer? Why on the web? It´s so weird.

My last point would that Back to the Sewers had potential to be a darker season because of its themes and story yet is very lighthearted despite how twisted some concepts were. I wished they could been taken more seriously with having actual consequences for jumping into Cyberspace, how risky it is and what would happen if someone got trapped in there.

So there you have it. Note that i don´t think the last two seasons are horrible, in fact i have fun watching them. I just don´t understand what went wrong with the production that made the show suffer such a downgrade in quality. Maybe the producers thought the series was getting ¨too dark¨ and decided to write a more lighthearted show. Maybe there were new writers in last seasons, that may explain why the writing became more dull. I wished the Tmnt 2003 would have gotten better treatment that the one it got.

[we-rate-tmnt]

Give us the Donatellos!

Donnie is my favorite so Imma be super biased on this one. Maybe I like smart guys or maybe purple is my favorite color, you’ll never know!

Up first, the og ‘hehe turgle’

Donatello (1987)

Yeah I’m sorry for making this 

First of all, not the biggest fan of his voice. It has a bit of a whiny quality to it, and I’m not about all that jazz. His gismo’s look pretty lame a lot of the times, either it’s a grey box with some buttons, dials and flashing lights or looks like it was pulled directly from Lost in Space. Still a cute design but he felt pretty bland and seemed to be used for plot convenience most of the time. To put it simply, he was cute and essential but kinda bland. I’m always really harsh on this version because it’s so painfully dated and cheesy, which ain’t my cup of tea, but what can I say be hehe turgle.

5/10

I had a crush on this Donnie so you know that this is not remotely close to a fair rating but eh, I love him and yall do too

Don (2003)

His voice, such a huge improvement. I’m really sound-oriented and I often like to play a game of ‘I’ve heard the VA before, but which role?’ when I watch cartoons and I don’t mean to brag, but I’m pretty good at it. So when I heard that soft, caring voice, ten year old me was head over heels. Which is one quality I love about him. His heart is so huge, like I can think back to a bunch of side characters and most of them were introduced through Don helping or knowing them. The Atlantians and the homeless in the show owe so much to Don, but he goes out of his way to make sure that they are alright. In the last season (which everyone hated but I actually really liked so fuck me I guess), Splinter is lost into tiny pieces across the web and Don blames himself and goes without sleep and food for days to bring him back. It broke my heart, and I’m pretty sure a lot of others, to see him like that.

On a lighter note, I vaguely remember this one scene where the triceration dude is like ‘you did this!’ and Don’s like ‘I did? Good for me then.’ and had a very pleased grin on his face right after. I don’t know why, but that killed me. Bless Don and his rare, but excellent, comebacks.

He really does so much and there were quite a few episodes focused on him. He also had quite a bit of character development, not as much as Leo, but whoever gets any more development whatsoever besides Leo?

I love him he’s amazing protect him/10

Next up is the Donnie that helped me love my old gap tooth.

Donnie (2012)

Voiced by the very talented Rob Paulson, this Donnie goes back and forth from really great character to eh. The whole April thing was just kinda strange to me and I don’t really think it added anything other than some interesting Casey and Donnie banter. His crush was really strong the first two seasons and came off as stalkerish almost. Although I’m guilty of having a picture of a crush as my lock screen once as well, so I can’t judge that much. I really liked that they actually addressed this when Bigfoot had a crush on Donnie and he realized how April felt. Yeah, that episode was weird and just didn’t make any sense, but it really helped Donnie gain a new perspective and made him go from super crush to (mostly) hidden pining. He has a nice design as well, especially with the gap tooth. I used to have one and was really embarrassed of it but whenever I saw that Donnie had one, I thought it looked neat and I started to see myself in a more positive light. It’s closed up now, but I can still spray water between the little bit that’s left as a parlor trick. But seriously, what the FUCK was up with Don visiososoos whatever tf his name I I don’t understnad my tiny brain don’t understand why my purple boy tried to kill this dude who looked like he should’ve been wearing a red jumpsuit in the background of a pixar robot love story. Anyway, my tall gap tooth son, ily.

7/10

Then, the barely changed but fantastic

Donnie (Heroes in a Half Shell: Blast to the Past)

Baby but Bastard at the same time purely because of the ‘Anyone who bothers me, ejector seat button’s right there’ line. 

10/10

Now this version has one of my favorite designs out of all the Donatello’s!

Donatello (2014/2016)

They put a lot of thought into his design psychically, the long body, the near-constant look of surprise and curiosity in his features, the gadgets made of common objects, the wraps on his arms, I would love to be able to think of and make those kinds of details! It was all really well thought out and he stood out since he wasn’t as bulky as the rest of the turtles. I really like the little lines and the actor did a fantastic job on the delivery and really made the character come to life. Some favorites: ‘Ohmygod, they have guns’, the little awed, snorty chuckle when he flips a car over with his bo staff, ‘doitdoitoitdoit im not gonna stop til you do it doditdoit’ and when he straight up yeets himself out of a plane. He has a genuine curiosity in everything he does and I think he might be my favorite version. It’s hard to choose when it comes to Donnie because he varies so wildly. But for detail, voice and writing alone, definitely the 2014 Donnie.

8.5/10

Next up is God himself

Donnie (2018)

Chaotic as all hell, like I can’t think of a more chaotic character from ANY of the versions other than this Donnie. I have a lot of thoughts about his character in general, from design, to psychology and complexes. First and foremost, Donnie is a softshell turtle, meaning he has a DOPE battle shell and overall looks pretty damn neat. Although, I think that just the fact he’s biologically weaker has caused him to put up a lot of boundaries between him and his family and friends. He can’t be incredibly strong like Raph, agile like Leo or fast like Mikey and even though he brags about being smart, he feels almost beneath his brothers and strives to outdo them in any way he can. He wants to show them that he’s just as, if not more so, talented and feels overlooked because his inventions become ‘too smart’ or ‘too over the top’ and even the ones that work out incredibly well are written off for flashier projects. 

He depends on technology and feels like that's all he has, and (ironically enough) he’s built up a shield around him. He acts confident and narcissistic and has an almost nihilistic outlook, but he’s frustrated and feels inferior and wants validation more than anything. I came up with this theory when I saw the episode Turtle Dega Nights. I know that the scene was meant for Donnie to express how he feels about Splinter lying about the event and believe that he didn’t genuinely want to hang out with his sons, but that kind of thing feels like it’s been built up over time, like he’s been lied to before about the true meaning behind something. Something like, oh idk, how great his inventions are? Or how helpful he really is? Or how talented he is? Just sayin. Also ngl I might be self projecting a bit, but mmm. Also he has so much purple on him and it’s wayyy more accurate compared to just a purple bandanna bc people who like purple GO ALL OUT. A friend told me this and I thought ‘nah thats not true I like purple’ but then I looked down to find my dyed purple jeans, purple vans and my favorite hoodie, also purple. A really chaotic version but he seriously needs a hug.

9/10

Storytime: One time my friend dressed up as Donnie the same year I was dressing as April O’ Neal and we didn’t even plan it. It was fantastic.

Thank you so much for sending this in! Sorry it’s taking me so long to get around to these! I’m so glad you guys are liking my blog and my opinions!

[theromanticscrooge]

Thoughts on Apriltello Across the Animated TMNT Series

After watching the Rise of the TMNT episode “Donnie Vs Witch Town,” I’ve been wanting to chime in on this topic.

My big introduction to TMNT in general was the 2012 series, so I’ve kept a few tabs on Donnie and April in the 2003, 2012, and 2018 series. From what I can tell, there’s been more of a highlight on these two as each new animated series comes out. It just depends on how Donnie or April are set up and written in each one as to what kind of dynamic they share.

2003

In the 2003 series, April seems to be a few years older than the turtles. Over the course of the series, she becomes the older sister figure of the group. She and Splinter are the guardian/parental figures of the group in certain situations. The turtles are ready to deliver nosy sibling banter and jokes when she goes out with Casey. And she’s lived in the sewers with the turtles as often as they’ve taken temporary residence above her antique shop.

In combat situations or missions, April usually acts as back-up, filling the role of ongoing research assistant to the turtles when they’re out in the field. Or, for a better description, she serves a role similar to what the Oracle does with Batman.

In regards to her dynamic with Donnie in specific, I’d say that they’re best friends and lab partners. They share strong mutual interests in science and technology. They even collaborate often enough to where Donnie has commented on how valuable her feedback is to him.

There’s one scene in particular where Donnie gets excited after April makes the comment “I could kiss you!” after he steps in and tries to rescue her. This is a one-off scene, though. April’s romantic interest is focused on Casey. And Donnie never expresses interest in trying to make any moves or pursuing any kind of romantic relationship. I think Donnie would go for it if April showed genuine interest. Otherwise, he’s satisfied being just friends.

2012

In the 2012 series, April is fifteen; the same age as all four turtles. She’s a friend, confidant, fellow kunoichi, and an adoptive member of their family.

Donnie is smitten with April from the moment he sees her and his infatuation grows deeper over the course of the series. His feelings are painfully obvious, he can get overbearing with his attempts to flirt with or impress April, and he can come across as clingy and creepy. He places April on a pedestal to the point that he can’t relax around her enough to get to know her as a three dimensional person rather than an idealized love interest.

One episode shows Donnie developing enough self awareness to approach April and tell her he’ll be better about giving her space. But it doesn’t really stick. Or, more specifically, there aren’t any other significant scenes or moments that show a deliberate shift in Donnie’s behavior or his dynamic with April.

On April’s part, she likes Donnie well enough. He’s her favorite turtle and she’s been openly affectionate in expressing her gratitude or fondness towards him. She appreciates him going out of his way to help her and her dad. The largest problem is the lack of communication. Donnie and April don’t really share their feelings well: Donnie is too forceful and can’t read the room where April seems reluctant to outright address Donnie’s feelings for fear of hurting him or otherwise.

It’s dubious how much Donnie and April have in common, too. Science and technology are the center of Donnie’s life. Sometimes, April calls one of his inventions “cool,” but there’s also been a scene where she looked bored to tears as he was describing one of his latest inventions. Donnie and April watch TV together in a big group, but there’s little to no hints at mutual interests they share or activities they’d exclusively do together.

Compare Donnie and April with Casey and April. Casey and April share chemistry from their first scene onward. He has just the right amount of self-confidence and awareness that his flirting is cool and casual. They’re comfortable around each other. April openly flirts back, banters, and has fun with Casey. She even uses “date with Casey” as a plausible cover for her outings with the group at large. If April did start up a committed romantic relationship with any character, Casey would be the most likely choice. It’d just take a couple of scenes where they had a more meaningful stare, kiss, whatever. In short, the groundwork was there. Casey and April have exactly what Donnie and April lack in more casual settings and situations.

There’s hints that Donnie and April are together in the last season. Because of how big a part Donnie’s crush on April is to his character, I’m not keen on hand-waving that all of that development happened off-screen. When romantic relationships contribute to a character’s growth or writing in a significant way, I want to see what leads up to that and how it impacts that character.

As a concept, I think Donnie’s intense crush is an interesting setup and painfully relatable. The way he acts is believable and accurate to what a lovesick socially awkward nerd can be like. But I wanted to see Donnie back off and actively work on how he acts around April. As in, he catches himself before he makes yet another awkward gift or unwanted over-the-top gesture. For me, the ideal end result would be an organic, gradual shift towards Donnie developing a healthy friendship with April.

2018

In the 2018 series, April is sixteen. According to the ages listed in the fan wiki, she’s a year older than Donnie. She’s considered part of the family to the point Splinter coaches her as much as his own kids and makes a point of wanting to meet her parents. She’s good friends with all of the turtles and it’s implied she hung out exclusively with them until she met Sunida.

But Donnie is definitely her best friend. He’s the first one she calls for help with tech related issues. They have the same taste in Jupiter Jim movies and video games. And Donnie designed part of his metal shell to accommodate April if they travel by air. There’s also a handful of episodes that specifically follow Donnie and April; and these two are the most likely dynamic duo to star in a one-off episode out of the main cast.

Unlike the 2003 and 2012 series, there’s plenty of scenes and dialogue to articulate what kind of dynamic these two share. They’re visibly comfortable around each other, share fantastic chemistry, and have complementary personalities. Donnie is snarky, arrogant, and puts on a front to mask his insecurities or doubts. He doubles down unless someone pulls him aside and talks things out. More often than not, April’s willingness to be blunt and no-nonsense helps reign him in. Where Donnie helps April troubleshoot tech, she keeps him grounded.

These two have a solid enough dynamic that a friends to lovers setup could play out in a satisfying, well done way; as long as they still had the same open communication anyway. That said, though, I prefer them as just friends in canon. They’re one of the better guy and girl friendships I’ve seen in a more comedy-centric episodic cartoon in awhile (after Rad and Enid in O.K. K.O.). 

Conclusion

Rise of the TMNT has the best Donnie and April dynamic in my opinion.

It pretty much boils down to Rise giving characters individual attention and writing as well as Rise knowing exactly how this take on Donnie and April works, how they fit, and why they fit. The 2003 series was more focused on telling a grand, ongoing adventure than much emphasis on the characters themselves. There just wasn’t as much of Donnie and April highlighted in the ’03 series as there is in Rise. The 2012 series was bogged down with enough exec mandates and other writing issues that Donnie and April probably got sidelined in favor of other plot points and character writing. It needed more time and focus to feel more fleshed out and cohesive than it turned out.

I used to write long, rambly takes called The Shipping Corner on why I thought Character A was a good fit for Character B. When I’d sit down to cobble something together, I felt like I had my best results if I could unpack why a character acted a certain way and articulate how the other character fit into or impacted their life. If given a week or so, I think I could write up a Shipping Corner for Donnie and April in Rise. I don’t think I could write one for them in the 2012 TMNT.

It’s been a few years, but The Shipping Corner still determines some parts and pieces of my shipping interests or even how I analyze some characters.

[yourfriendlyneighbourmikey]

For today's scheddule, I want to be a little more active in the rise community and share my experience of when I started watching the series.

I got to know of it thanks to tumblr. Now, I had never been a huge tmnt fan tbh, the 2003 series didn't appeal to me much when I was little and the 2012 turts arrived during my I'm-too-grown-up-for-cartoons phase. I did watch the bayverse movie, though, and that's why I think I got recommended some posts here about rise during fall 2018. The design was so different from what my mental image of what a ninja turtle looked like that it intrigued me a lot.

And was I up to a great surprise when I started watching Rise. The first thing that called my attention was the character designs. They were so interesting and unique, they deviated a lot from the cartoons I was used to watch back then, but in a good way, more detailed and refreshing and expresive. And it wasn't only the characters, the backgrounds, ambiance, the action... You see, I had been lately obsessed with the spiderverse movie (still am), and I saw so many of the same influences in Rise that I was ecstatic. The comic-esque designs and framings, the INSANE action sequencies that were just SO well choreographed and so well filmed (it trully looks like a movie sometimes with intrincate camera movements), the beautiful scenes and photography-like moments...

I have to admit, the speed of the action was sometimes so fast I felt like I was on drugs and ended up with a high adrenaline sensation. But mostly bc the animation was so detailed that many things were happening at the same time and I wanted to get ALL of it. It STILL IS fantastic.

The second thing that called my attention was the humour. God, was this a funny series. And in the best way. They are teenage turtles, they are absurd and awkward and sarcastic and funny, as it is mandatory for their age. And the humour was so on point with the times, very different from the timeless somewhat very repetitive sense of humour other cartoons have. I am still completely unable to go through most of he episodes without cry-laughing - and this thanks to the fantastic writers and also the fantastic voice actors. The interactions between the characters and specially the turtles just feel so organic, realistic and funny. Their interactions also felt so wholesome, I trully loved the good message they were conveying with their sibling relationships.

And finally, as the zoology nerd that I am, I was in LOVE with the idea of choosing different turtle species and including some semi-subtle physical characteristics to display. I am a slut for accurate and diverse species representation, animals that actually look like the animals they are supposed to be. I work in conservation, and I am well aware of the power that media has in order to educate the population of all ages. Many turtle species, like the softshells, are gravely endangered, so featuring them in media for children like rise can help a ton with visibilty of these species and the struggles of conservation efforts. Also, I think this decision can also influence some kids to be interested in turtles and reptiles and biology, just by peaking their curiosity, and that is always a good thing. We all start with something as little as a turtle on tv.

After binge watching Rise I decided to watch the other tmnt series and movies (haven't watched it all yet, unfortunately), and I got deep into the turtle hole obsession and fandom. I appreciated even more the changes they introduced for Rise, like the leadership position, Splinter's and April's characters, and so on, bc it is really obvious to me and many more fans that they are the same characters at their core. It showed that the writers understood fully the material they were working with and the personalities of the characters, and therefore were able to expose them to variations that spiced things up without breaking the show in the slightests.

I was devastated to hear about its cancellation, mainly bc it TRULLY is a magnificent show, for objective and subjective reasons, and I cannot process that some people do not see it's potential and already gained greatness.

[mister-lady]

ooh the drawings are great!! I don't know much about rottmnt! or well, any of the tmnt eras actually. are these two your favorite characters too or just f/os? what are they like? what's the show about?? i'm curious!

mgfnhmghm,,,!!! also!! haii!!! ilyilyy!!!! an i hope ur doing well!!!! an also tytytytyvvmm this was super fun answerrinnngggg!!!! also wow im sorry not sorry for the paragraphs i wrote, gushing about things (especially tmnt) is normally uh.. not often-ish so you broke the dam dfsksngkfj. /lh/nm am veri verie happie over this especialy after my dentist appointment so thank u lots, u always cheer me up even when u don mean too<<33 /nm/gen

im glad u think the drawings are goooddd >//,!!! kfgndfhkj i uh.. seem to have a repeated occurrence of getting into tmnt fdnskjdgnkj (i got into 2012 erra several times, almost got into 2003, and this is my second.. maybe third bouncing back to rottmnt? i think second dfkjdngkdfj).

uhm!!! yes sdkndfndfkjfd .///. why turtles? i dont know. why several times? not a clue. Brain likes turtles ig fsnkfdfg. Not crazy big f/os but 10/10 would do gay stuff fnkdnjkfdg. lowkey crush on raph too fngndjh

at first i jus liked donnie but you know me and only having one f/o from media isn’t legal sdsgdfgfh /lh/j oh gosh where to i begin- Leo is verie punny and cocky and almost smug in a sense an he has the whole “im the greatest guy ever but i won’t admit im actually insecure” thing going on. idk the right words for it but he’s like the clowning kid in class? many jokes and such and isn’t really serious in serious situations so u know when he does get serious it’s well.. verie serious fjndfjh. is also verie smooth gndkngdfjh

uhh Donnie is uhmm.. donnie djsdfnsjnjhg. he’s a hermit and normally is in his lab building or upgrading stuff. Oh!! also he is a soft shell turtle an that’s why he has the shell cover thingy that goes over his shoulders!! to protect his shell!!! He’s super blunt and forward and almost has a flat/robotic voice when he talks? Except there will sometimes be a moment where he gets passionate and gets all emotional fkjsg. verie deeply wants parental acceptance and probably the same from others and is also very “i dont give a crap what you think but lowkey i do” kinda guy ngkdfnj err... turtle-.he would probably shoot someone if he could. also Leo and Donnie are twins-

oh i lov the sshow- verie good character developement i lov the villians and everything, though im super sad that nickelodeon crushed the show for some reason so a lot of the episodes were rushed and it got rushed in general so it didn’t have the proper build up it deserved to the finally episode but they still pulled it off wonderfully and i still love it. it also has a lot of episodes of the characters goofing off and thats honestly the content i came for- tbh i wasn’t too big on Splinters design at first but i got used to it!! THE MUSICALLSS. theres no full-on musicals but the moments they do sing is great an i espeically lov Baren Draxum’s musical tid-bit- (he’s the main villain an he’s a new one to be introduced but all around fantastic)

[turtlesntrenchcoats]

I've never watched any TMNT before the Rise one (which I really like!!). Is there any other TMNT version that you'd recommend to watch?

Hello! Apologies for this late reply. It’s that time of the year where things get crazy. And I’ve just been busy for the last few weeks

Anyway! I’d recommend the 2003 TMNT cartoon!

I don’t know if you can tell but it’s my favorite and almost tied with Rise. I feel like I’m gonna struggle to put into words as to why I love this version so much. (Specifically seasons 1-4)

One thing I’ll say is that I think the characters are really done well in this series. It has my favorite version of Donatello,Karai, Bishop,and Shredder. Characters have arcs and growth too. One that is always talked about is Leo’s arc in the 4th season is one I definitely praise. No spoilers,but he goes though some ptsd and it affects the group as a whole, so Leo has to go through some self reflecting. Oh! And the bond the brothers have a fantastic, they all love each other but still mess with eachother. Little goobers. Also Splinter is such a good dad in this series too. He really loves his sons and we get turtle tots episodes to show more of that and it just so cute!

Another cool thing about it too is that a lot the story arcs are taken right from the original material; the Mirage comics. And also had Peter Laird as a creative lead on the show. So you know right there you are getting some quality in this cartoon. A lot of the show is very continuity driven, but also slipping in one off episodes. But most of the show I think is very binge worthy. Just a lot of the show has great and lovable characters, the story lines are tight and you will get resolutions for stories and characters. 

 A lot of the elements of this show are the complete opposite of Rise, so characters, for example my boy Donatello. 2k3 has him as a quiet introverted inventor to Rise with him being a cocky mad scientist. And of course the turtles origin is different too with Shredder heavily involved in that and the main plot right off at the beginning in S1. Rise really liked to take it’s time in S1 to let you get to know the world and it’s characters. But 2k3 lays down it’s ongoing plot right at the start and lets you get to know the characters from there. This may be your cup of tea or might not, I’d say give it a try.

Anyway I think I’ve rambled enough to try to put to words why I think this is a great series and why I’ve tied it with Rise. 

Watching it is not the easiest tho. It’s not on any streaming but S1-3 are available to buy on most platforms. Nick has not released S4-7 anywhere. So I’d say check out YouTube or other websites for watching it. 

Anyway I hope you enjoy it

~🐢❤

[hecallsmehischild]

Recent Media Consumed

Books

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Wow. Chilling fairy tale. Beautiful. Immersive. Otherworldly. You don’t get to fully understand everything, and that’s exactly how it should be, in this story’s case.

Out of the Fog: Moving from Confusion to Clarity after Narcissistic Abuse by Dana Morningstar. I continue to read through some books about personality disorders and the relationship fallout from being connected with these people. This book, after “Healing from Hidden Abuse” by Shannon Thomas, has been the second most helpful to me so far. At first, it wasn’t giving me much new information. But as the chapters went on, it offered me two really valuable things. First, it offered me many stories from people who had been through these situations, including a few who had been through it in friendships (it’s hard to find literature covering abusive friendships). Second, it offered a lot of explanation of terms. For example, it defined what a healthy friendship is and is not. It contrasts a lot of terms it explains, too, like, “Boundaries versus fortressing,” or “Partner versus target,” etc. It explained the concept of “fleas” (problematic behaviors that abuse victims may have picked up from abusers that can be gotten rid of with careful attention, as opposed to “catching narcissism” or thinking you’ve become the same as the abuser) and introduced many other concepts I found helpful. Frankly, this is a good book to read whether you’ve been through an abusive relationship or not, because it’s also an educational tool for people looking for good friends or trying to enter the dating pool. I strongly recommend this book as a good read for emotional and social education.

The Tragedy of Islam by Imam Mohammad Tawhidi. Not sure all of what to say, here. It’s interesting, but also difficult for someone who isn’t very familiar with Islam to track along with. I had to do a lot of context mining to understand who various people were in relation to each other, and a lot of the moments where the author tried to make a serious point, I didn’t understand the weight behind it because I had no familiarity with the players. At the same time, my husband and I pushed through reading it and understood it for the most part. It sends me back to issues in my own beliefs, where the original documents are in a language I can’t read and don’t want to learn, so whose words do I trust on it? Many people CAN read those documents, but who is and isn’t lying? I will say, there is some weight to the fact that this book has over 20 pages of citations (that’s over 500 citations for references listed in this book). For now, not basing all my opinions/learning on this book, but holding it as a piece to consider as I move forward in general-knowledge reading.

On Deck: The Medium-SIzed Book of Zim Scripts vol 1 by Eric Trueheart, The Art of Invader Zim, Intellectuals and Society by Thomas Sowell.

Movies

Hoaxed. This is bleak. And hard. And makes me just want to disconnect and live in the woods.

A Whisker Away. I’m a little conflicted. On the one hand, I’m disturbed by the stalkerish behavior of the main character. On the other hand, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character quite this level of expressive in anime before, and I really enjoy the 250% capacity she emotes at. I also enjoy the magical story quite a bit. I… dislike most of the people. However I can’t say these character types don’t exist in real life, so this is in no way a bad story, or bad characterization, I just have trouble rooting for them. I still enjoyed it overall, though.

Silence of the Lambs. Was obsessed with seeing it as a child for some reason. Wised up about my visual limits by teenagehood. Watched it recently for the first time. Not as gory as I thought, definitely disturbing. Interesting movie. The characters, man. The characters. What do you even say? Frightening and fantastic.

Hamilton. So I was not very invested in the first third. The narrative was a lot more scattershot than I’m used to, but it started really coming together after that, and it straight up murdered me during “It’s Quiet Uptown.” I know this is fictionalized history but tell me human history isn’t exactly this tragic, splintered by millions of large and small bad decisions. I hurt all over by the end of it, and I did not expect that at all.

Where The Red Fern Grows (2003). I had no idea there was a remake. The old version was an utterly traumatic part of my childhood that I rewatched many times because, apparently, I liked the heartbreak it brought me. This new version was pretty good. It didn’t especially move me, but I thought the hunt in the storm was a bit more intense and certainly the camera was more adept at catching close-ups of frantic, scurrying raccoons. Now I’m wondering how the old one holds up…

Games

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I did it. A complete non-gamer beat Ganon. I’m so psyched. I want to play it all over again in a few months. It’s beautiful. It’s fun. It taught me my way around a controller. I want to play more…

On deck: Yes, Ant, Psychonauts. ;)

[felicianacariocapistoles]

Jay’s favorite cartoons of the decade

I’m bored, so I’m gonna join that bandwagon. Here are my favorites in no particular order and reasons why they’re my favorites and even favorite characters.

1. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

The animation is bright and colorful. This is also the first cartoon I watched with my first born niece so it has a special place in my heart because of it. Also this may sound corny-- but it showed me how to be a better friend (and also how to spot the phony friends that I had left) Fav characters- Pinkie Pie and Discord

2. Young Justice 

I was born a bat fan. My dad’s fav is Batman. The first thing I learned to read? Batman comics. So you better believe I’ve seen/read all things DC Comic related (this blog used to be all about DC Comics) and when this was announced? I was super excited. I was even constantly binge watching it just in hopes of having a 3rd season (which I’m disappointed in, but not wanna get into that) Fav characters- Nighting, Superboy, Wally West, Batman, Bart Allen, Artemis, Brion, Halo, and Forager 

3. Gravity Falls

It’s Disney, how can I resist? It has wonderful animation and a town full of fun characters, lore, and mystery. What’s not to love about it? Fav characters- Stanley Pines, Bill Cipher, and Soos

4. Dreamworks Dragons

I’m a fan of the HTTD movies, so hearing they got a show? Fantastic! They kept most of the same voice cast and introduced us to more awesome dragons and characters! Fav characters- Hiccup, Daggur, Gobber

5. TMNT (2012)

I grew up on re-runs of  the corny 80s series and later the fantastic 2003 series (which is STILL the best TMNT series ever) so when this came out? I was both excited and hesitant because...CGI animation and I have an iffy relationship. I watched this version with my nieces, we all loved it. This version has my favorite Splinter origin story (but not my fav Splinter-- that’s 2003) Fav characters- Raph, Mickey, Donnie, Casey, Karai

6. Rick and Morty

The first adult cartoon I ever liked tbh. Interdimensional travel and family drama? Love that shit, lol Fav characters- Morty, Summer, Beth, Rick, Bird Person

7. Star vs The Forces of Evil

It’s a little weird and a little wild. Also I’m a slut for anything to do with magic so of course this is gonna grab my attention! (until season 3, but again, I digress) Fav characters- Star, Marco, Eclipsa, Globgor, Janna, Tom

8. Ducktales (2017)

Funny...At first I didn’t want to give the show a chance. A reboot of a classic childhood cartoon? No thanks. Wasn’t a fan of the animation either or some of the characters redesigns at first. (some I’m still not fond of tbh) Then it premiered the day after my birthday for a full 24 hours, replaying the same 1 hour episode...I must’ve watched it at least ten times that day. Never go by your first impression and always give something a shot is what this show taught me! Fav characters- Donald Duck, Louie Duck, Huey Duck, Violet Saberwing, Launchpad McQuack

9. Tangled the Series/Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure

BEST PRINCESS/MOST RELATE-ABLE PRINCESS IS GETTING A SHOW? SIGN ME THE FUCK UP!!! Much like TMNT 2012, I was excited and hesitant about this. The promos said she had her hair back? I was so confused and was hoping they’d give a logical explanation and not like “lol its back, deal with it” and I’m so glad they didn’t do that. The cast is the same as the movies and some new fun characters added along with backstories of them and lore of the kingdom.  Fav characters- Rapunzel, Eugene, Lance, Varian

10. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

When I was a little kid I didn’t have much for television, but my older sister had a bunch of She-Ra and He-Man episodes on VHS so I would watch those...I forgot they existed until memes of them popped up. Then the show was announced. Gonna give it a shot aaaaaaand. Oh no. I fell in love. Fantastic animation. Written by a woman? Strong female characters galore? Yaaaaaas. Fav characters- Catra, Bow, Adora, Double Trouble, Scorpia, Entrapta

[brightlotusmoon]

Happy fanfic plot chats with fandom friends!

Regarding my 2003 TMNT SAINW AU WIP where Michelangelo vanishes for twenty years:

"I am not sure if it has already been suggested, but what if another factor for Raph’s falling out with his brothers in 'Ever the Same' is the death of Mrs Morrison? Maybe her cat is one of the earliest ones he takes in?"

Like... we've already established that Mikey's disappearance causes Raph to go wild with emotion and frustration, and Klunk's strange death shortly after Mikey's disappearance spurs Raph into action that involves finding an abandoned school, turning it into a cat hospital, and spending the next two decades raising Klunk's descendants - as well as the descendants of other cats.

My heart. @diploglottis might as well be writing this fic (and "Shattered Light") along with me. I heart you, Diplo.

Also, I was just in the TMNT tags reading a fantastic character analysis of 2003 Raphael, one that further boosts my desire to turn into him into his lost brother's Cat Lady Keeper.

Anyway!

Remember a few years ago when I admitted that I spent the entire run of the 2003 series worried that Raph actually hurt Mikey and that those head slaps were harmful? I never grew up with siblings, and most of the friends I had with siblings either fully adored their siblings or genuinely went through real abuse - physical scars and emotional trauma. I still actually have issues because of a guy who was a lot like Raph except he actually regularly beat the shit out of his kid brother on purpose.

So for over a decade I had very little world experience with sibling rivalry that was "healthy wrassling" rather than outright terror that made the younger sibling leave the family. Even in the tags here, with 2012, there's extraordinary discourse. Personally? Yes, I think 2012 Raph absolutely hurt Mikey when he didn't have to, which doesn't negate the love and care, just like 2012 Splinter being weirdly negligent of Mikey didn't negate the good things he did. Family can be two ways with each other, and it's so weird to see 2012 fans defending Splinter using his willingness to die as ultimate proof of his love while ignoring the fact that he often wasn't that great with his individual kids. He stumbled as a parent. The family dynamics wasn't great. Raph hit Mikey. Splinter let Mikey slip under his radar. The writing wasn't great. We as fans sigh heavily, grumble, rant on our blogs, write massive essays, and ultimately accept it and make a bunch of AU stories to project our headcanons onto one way or another.

The fandom isn't really toxic the way other fandoms are, it's just made up of mostly people under age forty with A Lot Of Feelings who lash out at each other when they feel defensive over canon. I mean, obviously. Some older person with a psychoanalysis hat telling you that your beloved characters reflected behavior that was easily read as manipulative or sshh abusive is painful.

Thirty years in this fandom means seeing patterns and cycles of discourse. It means having to literally say "It's okay, you can write your own version of the canon story, that's literally why fanfiction exists." Took me until the late 2000s to figure out that there were categories like Canon Divergent and Fix-It. I didn't know "What If" was called Alternate Universe and I used to call ficlets "Scenes From [Alternate Universe or Canon Divergent Story That Will Never Actually Be Written Because I Just Wanted To Write The Good Parts]." I'm still learning. I may be an Old Fan from Old Times but I still have a bunch to learn. However, I'm very good at finding patterns. And the TMNT fandom follows very familiar cyclical patterns. It's comforting.

Point is, the 2003 4Kids series had a really really good portrayal of brotherhood, and for me it's like a whole new study of psychoanalysis now that I see more nuances than my younger self. And it appears that my own fic writing reflects that subconsciously.

[rin-the-shadow]

30 Day TMNT Challenge: Day 8

Day 8: Your favorite episode of your favorite series.

Well, this is going to be a tough one, in part because I don’t really have just one favorite episode. If you were to say to me, “You can only have one episode of this series to watch for the rest of your life,” honestly, I don’t know if I’d be able to answer that question. So we’ll go with some of the biggest ones I’ve liked.

Reflections: This one actually used to be my favorite episode as a kid, because it compiled most of my favorite battles from season 1 into one place. I grew up as that one kid out of probably everyone else who actually liked clip shows, particularly if they collected my favorite things. Since this one contained Splinter’s fight with Shredder, events of “The Shredder Strikes Back,” bits of the battle from “Return to New York,” and “Secret Origins.” Since I was that kid who would happily watch the same episode five or more times in a row, I was more than happy to have the Secret Origins battle not even a full episode after I first saw it. And of course, everything culminating in a dog pile (er, turtle pile) because Raph and Mikey’s fighting crushed the graham crackers.

Secret Origins: If I had to pick just one, it would be part 2 because of the fight against the Shredder (when they still think the one in the simulation is his ancestor) and the mechanics around controlling the illusion, as well as the fantastic cliffhanger at the end of the episode when they escape the machine only to be confronted by the real Shredder. The dialogue in that moment is some of my favorite in the entire series.

Mortu: “Still, I can’t understand how the Oracle Pods malfunctioned.”

Shredder /off: “Oh, but I do.”

Leonardo: “No! It...it can’t be...I finished you off myself...You...can’t...be alive...”

Shredder: “You merely separated my head from my body, a courtesy I will gladly extend to you all, for none of you are leaving here alive!” 

The Monster Hunter: Don, Mikey, and Casy Jones dress up as bigfoot to scare a conspiracy theorist. That is all. But actually, there’s also the subplot with Raph helping Leo get back up to peak condition. I think it’s one of the first episodes where I saw Raph actually getting along with Leo, and one of the first which helped me conceptualize Raph as expressing through actions moreso than words.

Tales of Leo: Because again, I am that person who will sit there and watch a clip show on repeat for I don’t even know how long as long as it’s collected clips I like. This is probably also the birth of my appreciation for stories that focus on the recovery part of characters getting injured and whatnot. As I’ve gotten older, I’m also finding that each of the stories often says a lot more about the respective storyteller than it necessarily does about Leo himself, particularly in how they frame the story.

Same as It Never Was: Because, as I’ve said before, I am stereotypical as all heck, so as a stereotypical 2003 fan, I’m almost contractually obligated to list this one. I think this one is just notable because, as a kid, it was so completely shocking to me, and as an adult, it’s given my brain quite a bit to mess around with and think about. Like, for example, is it a variation of the same timeline in which the turtles exist within their own universe? If so, could it be Ultimate Draco sending Donnie through time that caused this timeline to exist in the first place? Or is this merely a parallel universe where he disappeared for unrelated reason? While events within the Image Comics run and the Turtles Forever movie may offer some clues, the movie didn’t exist at the time I watched, so the possibilities were almost endless.

Exodus: This episode is actually the first one that spawned my “Critical Danger Threshold Theory,” which is basically that, in a given series, a villain has a critical danger threshold which they cannot cross. However, if it is crossed, the villain in question is now too dangerous to be allowed to remain as things are. Typically, this triggers an endgame in which either the villain or the hero is killed. Traditionally happens at the end of a series, but may also happen at the end of seasons or individual story arcs, depending on the villain’s function in relation to the plot and character arcs. This is not the same as a moral event horizon, as a villain can become functionally irredeemable long before they become too dangerous, and a crossing of the MEH is not necessary to cross the CDT. Shredder was one of the first villains I witnessed crossing the CDT, so it certainly left an impact.

However, this was also the episode in which I finally put together that, rather than an ensemble cast which was entirely interdependent and could not carry a show with even one of them gone, focus episodes notwithstanding, what I had were four fully-formed protagonists who were all equally capable of carrying the show by themselves if need be, just as long as one was still alive. The moment I realized this? The exact moment that Leonardo was stabbed through the shell.

An honorable mention goes to Insane in the Membrane: Not for being one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen in a cartoon, but because these writers somehow managed to make me feel sympathy for Baxter Fricking Stockman of all characters. Considering how arrogant and condescending he could be, that takes some serious skill.

I have a lot of other episodes I like besides these, so if one you would want me to ramble about didn’t make the list, definitely drop a comment or inbox ask on it, and I’ll probably have something to say about it. There are quite a few that definitely should have made the list, and one that I moved to a later prompt because I won’t be able to fill that one, so I’m opting to use the space for that episode instead.