#rise mikey could solo the bayverse turtles

[mistressoftherant-blog]

Separating TMNT Verses and Characters

This is just a quick one, because I've been seeing this happen a lot recently and need to vent, but I really just want to say that it is so annoying when fans won't stop mentioning a TMNT series or character when a post, video, fic, pictures, etc, has absolutely nothing to do with them (this is annoying in other fandoms as well tbh).

If someone makes a post about, say, the relationship between Donnie and Raph in the 03 series, why do people immediately feel the need to start comparing it to other series, or start dragging other characters in? Or, as another example, if someone makes a post about how physically strong the Bayverse boys are, why is there always at least one person who has to jump in and be like, 'well, actually, thanks to his mystic powers, Rise Mikey is actually the strongest turtle in the TMNT franchise, and he can solo anyone'. Like, who asked? If the post is clearly discussing physical strength, and doesn't even mention other iterations, why do you think they'd care about you trying to prove that Mikey is the strongest due to his mystic abilities?

Or if you're reading a post/fanfic, or watching a video that is clearly about one character, and half of the comments are going on about someone else, or just annoying copy pasted phrases (this is worse on TikTok than tumblr though honestly, why does every TMNT post, even ones that aren't about certain characters, need several iterations of comments like 'transfem Leo solos', 'Mikey solos 'I am Rise Leos girlfriend' etc)? I probably am coming across as a bit of an ass here, or I am misunderstanding something, but I just can't see what value these comments bring to a video. Sure, people are free to say whatever they want, but if you are commenting on a video about one character, and the comment is solely a phrase like the ones mentioned above which have no relation to the topic of the video, I just don't understand the point.

When you're in a fandom with many different iterations of the source material, you need to learn that not all of the content is going to be geared towards your particular favourite, or your particular favourite character, and trying to interject them into everything is just going to engender bitterness towards parts of the franchise, certain characters, and even amongst the fandom. I think we've all seen posts that are annoyed at Rise fans constantly trying to take over posts, fics, polls, etc that have nothing to do with Rise, or trying to tell people that their characterisation is off because they are writing/talking about a different version, and some Rise fans don't always seem to realise that the dynamics are very different in other versions. Though I do tend to see this happening more with people who are primarily Rise fans, other parts of the fandom do the same thing, which can get pretty tiring.

I honestly think the fandom would all get along a lot better if everyone could take a step back and remember that not everyone is coming into the fandom for the same things. My favourite character across every iteration I've checked out, (and I have watched/read and enjoyed quite a few iterations at this point so I have experiences across most of the fandom), is Donatello, which is probably obvious from my previous posts, and if I was paid every time I've seen someone jump in on a post about, say 12 Donnie with a comment like 'Rise Donnie would be laughing right now, Rise Donnie would be cringing, Rise Donnie would never', I'd be rich enough to buy the rights of the TMNT myself. Obviously all of the Donnies wouldn't do the exact same things or react in the same ways to everything. They all have the same core, but they are also different characters in different universes with different experiences. Of my post is specifically about one version of Donnie, I don't want a bunch of people comparing him to other iterations or characters, or just generally shitting all over him.

Or a post about something traumatic that Donnie went through, and then someone leaps in with a 'yeah but the Leos obviously have it worse, they've gone through this, and this, and this.' Alright, but this is about Donnie so again, why should I care? If I wanted to discuss Leo's trauma, I'd have mentioned this in the post, or made another post about it.

I think that one of the most egregious repeating examples of this that I have seen is usually attached to the phrase, 'what about x character'. If someone creates something about one character, and you immediately hop in with a 'what about x' it kinda makes me want to scream. Say I made a post talking about how 12 Donnie actually makes a pretty good leader in some episodes, someone jumping in to say'well what about Raph or Mikey in these particular eps' would infuruate me. Or if I say, '03 Donnie really suffered in SAINW, someone jumping in to say, 'well what about Mikey, he suffered too' is more annoying than anything.

We all have to curate our own online fandom experiences, but part of this should also involve the realisation that other people are also trying to curate their experience, one that might be fundamentally differeny from what you want, and that, by trying to interject things about other characters and iterations where they arent wanted, you are probabky just going to make people annoyed.

Some people (maybe not all, but definitely some) will not want you to hop on their post and make it all about a character or series that isn't relevant to what they are talking about, and if you do so, you may face some kind of backlash. I have seen countless people grow bitter towards certain parts of the franchise/fandom and characters because of things like this (I know that I can grow irritable when half of the content that I consume ends up being buried in comments about things that are completely irrelevant). And this isn't just fans of one particular iteration or series, even though some fans have more of a reputation for doing this than others.

I guess my main point is to just have some consideration for others, and reflect on whether or not you'd be annoyed if someone commented on something that you'd worked on talking about a character you don't particularly like, and making everything about them. It can really suck, and I've seen people become discouraged when an excellent fic, character study, post, vid, etc of their favourite character gets flooded by comments of, 'this is more like x character, imagine x character in this scenario, but what about x'. Obviously this isn't the same for everyone, and some people actually do invite people to discuss other versions and characters on their posts, but I still think people need to consider whether or not the comment that they are posting is just going to end in an argument where no one comes away happy.

[tadpoledancer]

I think it's really funny how the bayverse turtles look the most strong and menacing but would get their shit royally wiped by the rise turtles