#rise april o’neil

[starry-eyed-adam]

so saberspark’s video just came out

they know about us y’all

the writers looked at the turtles and went ‘yep. this is gonna attract the queers isn’t it’

[seagull-scribbles]

💥Loud and Proud💥

[spicy-apple-pie]

Would anyone care for some camping doodles

Do not judge the colours I only have zebra highlighters.

[gamerboy76]

I am not the type to get angry over ship discourse most of the time, but there are very specific “close friendships” that are very special to me and if anyone tries to ship them I will throw them in the microwave with a fork in my brain

cough cough

Rise Donnie and April

Cough cough

Mei and MK

Do very much quote me I am so passionate about this

[very aggressive rant under the cut]

people can enjoy what they enjoy and I am not going to stop them or tell them they cannot enjoy that, but sometimes it makes me angry

[you do not have to care about my opinion, and I’m not going to stop you from enjoying something that makes you happy]

but like sometimes with especially main character m/f “duos” that very much, at least to me, have a sibling like bond, people assume they’re dating and perceive every single friendly and intimate interaction they have as romantic

and it makes me slightly frustrated because while I know that just because someone ships two opposite gender characters I perceive as sibling like, that doesn’t mean that they can’t perceive m/f friendships as anything but inherently romantic, it happens EVERY TIME.

and I just don’t really enjoy the implication that I get from this being so common that we cannot have m/f friendships that don’t have romantic subtexts. They can’t just be buds. Good old pals.

Like, I personally am a girl, and have a very close guy friend. Neither of us are at all interested in a romantic relationship, but we are just buds. Good old pals. Just because our relationship is not awkward and strained and we are COMFORTABLE with each other like NORMAL FRIENDS ARE, does not make our relationship romantic.

And I love seeing people. That are “just buds” in media. To the point where they’re like. “Just buds” coded. Like. The writers are telepathically communicating “these guys are just buds. Pals. Chums even. stray cats in the same cardboard box. No romance.” To me and nobody else can hear it

and I really don’t like it. When people take my little “just buds” characters. And make them kiss.

[I cannot stress enough how much I am not trying to boss around people or say “ >:(( you can’t ship these m/f characters because I SAID SO!!!!!” I’m just saying it makes me personally frustrated and you do not have to let my frustration and personal opinions ruin your fun or enjoyment of a media or ship]

[starry-eyed-adam]

THEYRE SO COOOOL!!!

just your friendly neighborhood teetlez...and April and Mayhem

[moonchildlix]

Random felt like writing Rise Donnie being the neurodivergent kid he is, but I don’t have the motivation to actually write rn so have a few stimming scenario’s instead

Donnie:

Donnie: *Hand flaps* Oh my god! Oh my god!

April: Those happy hand flaps or anxious hand flaps?

Donnie: They’re I-just-had-the-best-idea-in-the-history-of-my-existence hand flaps

April: And what might that idea be?

**

Donnie: *Using a calculator*

Raph: *Leans over to see* Donnie the calculator isn’t even on

Donnie: I know I’m just pressing the buttons cos it’s fun

**

Donnie: *Applying hand sanitiser*

Leo: Donnie stop wasting my sanitiser just cos you like the smell, sniff it from the bottle

**

Donnie: *Chewing on a pen*

Donnie: *Starts gagging*

Mikey: Did you bite the pen so it exploded in your mouth again?

Donnie: Y-yeah!

**

Donnie: *Fidgeting with keychain*

Splinter: Do you like that sound, my son?

Donnie: Very much

**

Donnie: *Moving back and forth while looking at Mikey’s mask*

Mikey: What are you doing?

Donnie: When I do this the shine of your mask moves and it’s fun to look at

**

Donnie: *Vocal stim*

Leo: Really?

Donnie: *Vocal stims*

Leo: You don’t say

Donnie: *Vocal stim*

Leo: Okay let’s not get too controversial

**

Donnie: Raph!

Raph: You okay, bro?

Donnie: Can you like… lay on top of me so I can feel your weight on me?

Raph:

Raph: I don’t think that’s a good idea

[mhyinart]

Hello I am back with some Villian Leo AU April O’Neil!!

[paintedkinzy-88]

April's mum and the rotmnt drafon bois?

I wasn’t sure if her parents would even know about them, but let’s be honest. All six of them would NEVER be able to keep that a secret forever. Not only would April have literal dragons in and out of her room every other day, but these are April’s Parents. They ain’t stupid. XD

It takes a couple years, but eventually the excuse of imaginary friends just doesn’t work anymore (and Raph gets to a size that’s way too hard to hide). Her parents are aware of her… Unusual found family situation. And to be honest? They take it pretty well, all things considering.

Kirby is around, I just don’t feel like trying to draw him right now lmao. But! Carol do be a dragon whisperer.

[that-gay-gal]

HAPPY LESBIAN DAY

I think. Unless the stranger son the internet are lying to me. Idk I don’t feel like googling it

EVEN SO! Here are my favorite gay ppl (it’s canon guys trust 🙏) (it’s not)

I love girlkissers frfr (I’m not one tho I would never kiss girls 😡😡😡😡) (yes I have a girlfriend why that doesn’t mean anything) (I hope it’s obvious this is a joke LOL)

Anyway enjoy some Rise Capril bc I love them <3

[cokoweee]

Omg I haven’t doodled since last yearAHSHAHAHHAHAVHFBHAHVAHhaAHAHAHSHAH

[sketchnskribbles]

@rise-august-art-challenge’s Rise August art challenge

25. Snow Day

TMNT🐢

[starry-eyed-adam]

bonus

saw @littlemissartemisia reblog this and I just. fjdjfhjshfjs

[rallentando1011]

pose for the camera ✨

actually based on how I was sitting wi my friend on my lap the other day, good times

[spicy-apple-pie]

MORE CASSANDRA HEADCANONS

These are some that I came up while writing Lab Partners lol

Cassandra's earrings and makeup were an act of rebellion. In the Foot, you are expected to fall in line and never stand out from your fellow soliders. Casey took that to heart in the beginning. But as the years went on, she realised that some of her peers had makeup, hairdos, and most notable, used their names. Casey was really salty about this so she started to do her makeup. Really subtley at first, mascara and some lip gloss. She didn't want to get in too much trouble after all. But no one notice. So she kept adding more. Eye liner, foundation (which she decided she hated, it feels like her face can't breathe), and bold red lip stick. She had a faze where her eye liner was way too much, like half way across her face. Until she settled on her current look. Throughout that, nobody noticed. Somebody finally noticed when she got her ear peirced. Mostly because she sucked at taking care of her peircings and it almost got infected. She got in trouble with that and she was punished with dish washer duty. And she was upset with herself that she questioned her place in the Foot. But she kept doing her makeup, because she'll never admit that she loves it. Loves being different.

Mayhem loves her. Like doesn't leave her side if she's hanging out with her. Casey is one of those people (at first) to say that she doesn't care about Mayhem and will kinda ignore him. Until they're alone and she immediatly start coddling him and doing kissy faces. It's kinda why April trusted her, because she trusts Mayhem's judge of character. As she gets more comfortable with showing the softer parts of her self, she gets those chest baby carriers and carries him everywhere.

I was talking to @turtledork about this, but I think that Casey uses sharpie as eyeliner. Like, she's used actual eyeliner, but none of them stay as well. She and Donnie spot each other when they lose their own sharpie. This drives April up the fucking wall. Because it is sharpie and is probably effecting her eyesight. Like doesn't it burn?? She gifts Casey some eyeliner that stays really well. And Casey actually loves it. Because it doesn't burn her eyes. But sometimes, she'll intentionally use Sharpie in front of April so that April will wipe it off and use actual eyeliner. She loves it when April gently holds her face and does her makeup. April knows that Casey does this on purpose, but doesn't say anything, because she loves doing it.

[turtleblogatlast]

Absolutely love the idea that it was April who got the boys super into snow days.

Like, pre-April, they probably would view the days as miserable, since as turtles they’re likely more susceptible to the cold and back then they probably had much less to keep warm with.

The cold altogether was just never good to them - and then April comes around and teaches them how to make a snowman. And when it’s done, she pelts them with snowballs. And suddenly, the cold is now fun, and they might still be shivering, but now they’re smiling too.

[37googolplex]

Alright, Rise April and Donnie mean SO much to me and it’s not even FUNNY. They’ve always been my top two favorites since watching, and my resolve on liking them really only got stronger after watching Donnie v. Witch town. (Objectively the best episode, by the way, but I digress—) this is the perfect segue to discuss how Donnie v. Witch Town was probably the BEST April/donnie centric episode in all of rise.

And although this is incredibly opinionated and biased, as this specific episode just so happens to be my FAVORITE episode, I still will put my cognitive bias aside and give you, the audience, solid evidence as to why this episode: Donnie V. Witch Town—is objectively the best episode in 1) explaining how and why Donnie acts the way he does, 2) demonstrating the strength of Donnie and Aprils friendship and Sibling-hood.

1) EXPLAINING WHY DONNIE IS THE WAY HE IS:

Okokok. So. Without a doubt, this is tumblr, and therefore, technically, I DONT need to explain Donnie’s autistic coding. But I still will because I for one am autistic and seeing such good rep makes me so happy that I just NEED to talk about it 24/7. If this is getting repetitive you can skip ahead. But if you don’t, this is some important foresight that changes the theme of Donnie V. Witch Town substantially, even though it may not seem like it. But I will make it quick so I can get to my main point: Donnie is Autistic. His coding is very prevalent and obvious, and saying he ISNT is autistic erasure. Donnie infodumps when he gets the chance to about his inventions, interests, or otherwise, and often gets hyperfixations very easily. (FAB spray, his dubbed “speech mode” from Leo, basically the entirety of Donnie’s gifts episode (which plays a lot heavily into Donnie v witch town just you wait), atomic lass, purple game). Donnie also has a so-called “monotonous” voice and has a limited tonal range. He isn’t very good with displaying or understanding emotions, especially when it comes to other peoples emotions, (like when Mikey was crying over Mike Tony’s pizzeria closing down, and Donnie saying “now that we’ve all moved on-“ mere seconds after explaining why he never liked Mike Tony’s. And then later saying “I WAS ONLY PRETENDING TO BE SAD WHEN IT HAPPENED TO MIKEY BUT NOW THAT IT HAPPENED TO ME, I HURT” when his favorite closes down too) despite this despite this (one off gag) however, Donnie isn't an emotional brick wall and understands negative emotions and feelings. But because of his low empathy coding Donnie simply just can’t FEEL that. Donnie also has a multitude of sensory issues that are sprinkled in across the whole series (such as, flavorless juice, prioritizing comfort, the battle shell and the whole deal with his soft shell, AND THE RISE MOVIE. Iykyk.)

Now that all of us have either had a good refresher of what happened OR, contrarily, educated on the matter, let’s all go back to the episode of Donnie’s gifts. This episode is an extremely important one in context with Donnie V. Witch town, and totally changes the perspective of that episode (in my not so humble opinion) when watching it from that lens. If you recall properly, Donnie’s gifts was basically about Donnie, well, making his brother, gifts. That end up being more harmful than good.

However, A lot of people miss the intention of that episode. Donnie wasn’t being a pretentious a-hole just because he could be a pretentious a-hole. He didn’t make these devices that basically hamper his brothers more and call out their every mistake JUST to pick on them and make them feel bad. Absolutely NOT. His INTENTION with MAKING those devices—(albeit concerning)—was in good faith. He made those devices because he GENUINELY thought, wholeheartedly, that they would help. And of course this isn’t really an EXCUSE for making your brother a shock collar that sends a 4000 watt jolt through his body every time he says a one off pun, but rather an explanation for Donnie’s behavior. Donnie made those devices, because he loves his brothers, and he wants to help them. And yeaaah it didn’t really, BUT HE GENUINELY THOUGHT IT WOULD. He says, before presenting the gifts: “(these gifts) are a whole lot more personal and if you don’t like them I will just be crushed!”

But why, you ask, why on earth would Donnie think that making THOSE THINGS even help his brothers, and why on earth would they like them? (Or maybe you’re not even asking that. Hell if I know, I’m just a ND teen ranting on the internet. Let me obsess over mutant turtles in peace!) I’m glad you asked. This is because I FIRMLY believe that Donnie uses his tech in the sense that he created that tech for his brothers, which is, helping or aiding him and his weaknesses when it comes to situations. We know that out of the bunch, Donnie is objectively the weakest (not very sports oriented, has a traditionally defensive weapon than offensive, ((but do not misconstrue my words this does not mean he is WEAK just in comparison to his brothers he’s on the lower end of the strength spectrum.))) and his tech highly heightens his skills. It helps him be more agile, attack with more vantage points—hell, his (soft)shell alone is a negative variable, and you know what fixed that!? HIS TECH THATS WHAT! Because of this reliance on his tech he assumed that his brothers would need or want that same reliance or help, even though they cope with their own issues in very different ways. And of course Donnie’s tech to help his own issues isn’t literally physically harmful, but I genuinely just think that Donnie’s Gifts was just made this way for the slapstick humor. (Sometimes there isn’t a deeper meaning to things and it’s just what it is. Guys I know we’re all big over-analyzers but this is still a Nickelodeon cartoon sometimes it’s just goofy for the goofs. :P) however Donnie’s gifts was such an important episode to me because it showed me the biggest way Donnie shows his love: Acts of service and Gift Giving.

Donnie LOVES doing stuff for people. He goes the goddamn EXTRA MILE to show off what he did for others, what he made for them; what he’ll DO for them, he’s not good with words or physical touch but my boy will LITERALLY fly you to the moon and back while reciting what happened on the Apollo missions and the space race with 100% accuracy. And there is so much proof of this SO MUCH. (When he made the hazmat suits, when he tried to fix albearto by making him “dazzle”, donniepods, etc…) his love for others and how he shows it is totally entirely transactional. This is how HE does it. And better yet,(?) he likes this. He LIKES being the tech guy, the fixer upper, he likes being called on for help and his prodigious skill because it makes him seem useful and more than that LOVED, and this is what he wants and desires sooo badly. To be USEFUL.

See where this is going? :)

Segue to Donnie V. Witch town. April, his best friend, is not seeking out HIS HELP for a school project, despite the fact that she almost always does. Instead, April is seeking out the HELP OF WITCHES, and Donnie simply has to tag along and help her get help. Donnie literally questions this and April states that it’s because when he helps school projects can uh, go a bit overboard.

See the parallels between Donnie’s gifts and Donnie v. Witch town?

Donnie tries to help, ends up not going so well, and he ends up not even helping at all in the first place. Double whammy.

And assuming we’ve all WATCHED Donnie V. Witch town, this same cycle repeats again. ESPECIALLY with the worms, and just when his pretentiousness and need to be right and PROVEN better gets in the way. His self righteousness is also his biggest fault. And everything goes wrong and he just wanted to help. And yeah, Donnie V. Which town is different because his broken ego is at play but WHY is he taking this so personally? BECAUSE APRIL DIDNT ASK HIM FOR HELP. It further strengthens his negative self talk of being useful and usefulness. Since, objectively speaking, he shows his love quantitively, when April has no desire for him to help her; what good is he even for anymore?! HOW WILL APRIL EVER LIKE HIM AGAIN IF HE ISNT HELPFUL!!!! HOW!?? He set this standards and he can’t even hit them? What is he if not useful? And with the context of Donnie’s gifts and how he really, truly, just wishes to help others, Donnie v. Which town is honestly saddening. I was honestly on Donnie’s side the whole time. Fuck those witches dude. And yes, what he did was bad. He should have been more open minded, and he shouldn’t have kinda messed up the entire witch tradition, and NO I am not making excuses here. But you must also remember that this is a teenager. He’s literally just a kid, and nevertheless from his perspective it’s honestly a betrayal. Again not an excuse but rather an explanation. Yes he fucked up but WHY? And the whole conversation with April really pushes it. “Because I’m the science guy—If mystic powers can do everything I can but better, then why would you guys even need me?”

Why would they *NEED* him.

Why, if mystic powers, can do it better—why would they NEED him.

It’s always a NEED for Donnie. He doesn’t quite seem to understand that mystic powers are a tool. And he is HE. He isn’t replaceable, but he thinks he is because there’s something more efficient than he is. He, essentially, sees himself like a tool, which is a mantra many autistic people have, including me. And although I joke about that line a lot it’s actually a really heartbreaking line. And if you guys see the scrapped storyboard..well.. why don’t I just show you…

“Solving problems with my tech is ALL IM GOOD FOR.”

“When you chose magic instead of me, I got scared, …”

Ouch.

This storyboard is infinitely more raw and personal and honestly I’m upset they didn’t go with it. If this doesn’t show you how deeply this matters to Donnie—how personal it is to him that people ask him to help them I DONT KNOW WHAT WILL.

Donnie is the way he is because it all builds up to his deepest insecurities, that people love him because he’s useful to them, and he goes and searches for validation and appreciation like a vulture looking for a carcass. He is so fucking desperate for a hint of being useful that he will throw everything he has to prove it. ((I’ll also do an analysis of relating this to the purple dragons episode because, albeit less angsty or obvious, these themes are very prevalent there too.))

Thus, this concludes my first point on how Donnie Vs. Witch town is the BEST episode to point out how Donnie’s insecurities truly affect him in every way shape and form, and how it really makes him who he is and why he acts the way he acts. It’s all out of the desire, the need to be needed. Next up: April’s response and how it shows their deep connection and how it’s just. So amazing. This half is more opinionated but I digress .

2) demonstrating the strength of Donnie and Aprils friendship and Sibling-hood!!!

Aprils response to this is equally as important. Aprils response is actually BEAUTIFUL.

“Donnie, how could you say that!? You’re not important to me because of your tech or science, you’re important to me because of YOU.”

That. Is by far. The best response you could POSSIBLY EVER GIVE. And her sentence is really self explanatory. Donnie doesn’t see her as a tool, or measures the extent of their friendship by what she brings to the table so why should she? Or, rather, why should Donnie measure that for himself?

She loves him because he’s HIM. Because he’s a nerdy loveable dork that’s passionate about what he loves. Because he loves HER. This is also the most vulnerable Donnie has ever been with somebody, and it’s with April.

“We do things better as a team,” AND APRILS RIGHT!!!! She’s his older sister. She’s his pal, Buddy, ride or die, and it’s—just—this whole Situation, their whole friendship, and this whole arc in Donnie v witch town means SO much to me. I really just realized how opinionated this second part is but let me be. And unfortunately I’ve reached the god forsaken image limit but Aprils further discussion in the storyboard of Donnie v. witch town also just further pushes how close and comfortable they are with each other. Basically, April says:

“Magic and science are just tools, it’s how you choose to use them that matters. And you choose to help people.”

MY FUCKING HEART DUDE. Agh. Shattered. “You chose to help people.”

I feel like it’s that line that really just pushes it for me. YOU CHOOSE TO HELP PEOPLE DONNIE DONT YOU SEE? ITS YOUR INTENT THAT MATTERS. And I’ll say this over and over and over again but intent means so much when it comes to things. April, using this line, doesn’t entirely dismiss what Donnie feels and says and does. But rather, puts a healthier perspective on his behaviors and needs to be “useful.” Shes basically saying: “you try to do what’s right, and that’s what matters.”

I love April. SO MUCH. She is such a good friend and sister and supporter, and honestly I wish I had someone like her growing up. Again I really wish they went with the storyboards because it’s so much more personal and touching than what happened. #aprilsweep.

Aprils support for Donnie (as well as his brothers) is unconditional. This is also observed in other Donnie and April centric episodes, especially the purple satin jackets episode, where April does call Donnie to check on her code which he does so with much valiance, before he gets roped into the purple dragons and stuff—and then at the end, when Donnie defeatedly talks about how he just couldn’t be a part of them , April replies with: “it’s okay, you’ll always be part of the April O’Neil dorky pals for life club.” I wish we got more of rise because I would KILL for more Donnie n April centric episodes.

Anywho, have a happy thanksgiving guys. Make sure to tell your autistic friend that it doesn’t matter if mystic powers are better than them or not. Watch tmnt and listen to stomu yamashta. Thank you and goodnight.