kraangdroidz

[kraangdroidz]

TMNT 2012 RAMBLE

I will never ever tolerate people saying 2012 Raph is abusive, I'm convinced these people are watching an entirely different show because, what?

Raphael is such a good brother, especially emotions-wise. Yes, he can be rough. But when his brothers are upset, he talks to them so calmly. Maybe he's not good at controlling his emotions, but he's damn good at regulating others.

I love the Space-arc, despite what most people think of it... I will not tolerate Space-arc slander, but I specifically want to talk about a few scenes from the episode Revenge of the Triceratons, (I'm re-watching the 2012 series for the third time now, and I'm currently on Season 4) and it really highlights just how well Raphael knows his brothers and knows what they need.

Fugitoid's head has just been cut clean off... Yikes! Poor Fugitoid ☹️ Donnie is naturally stressing, and so are all the others, as the Triceratons are hot on their trail. They use the ship's cloak and hide in the clouds of a gas nebula. However, the ship is low on power, and the cloak will disable in a few minutes, leaving them visible to the Triceratons once more.

Leo turns to Donnie and says, 'We got to have power, or else those Raptors are going to find us and take us out!'

Notice how Leo's priority is a bit selfish here. He's focused more on the ship and not the currently beheaded captain. Leo turns to his younger brother in this situation, a child, just like him. However, this is a job only Fugitoid can handle, and the priority needs to be getting him back online and not bossing around someone who isn't sure what to do.

It was more likely that they would've been injured or sustained more damage to the ship if they made Donnie handle it, this was a situation that was never meant for Donnie, the Fugitoid is the focus here but Leo, in this moment, doesn't see that.

He commands his younger brother to do something with a look of anger on his face.

This is when Donnie lashes out, gets upset, and insults his own intelligence. Leo has put too high of an expectation upon Donnie, expecting him to be able to handle a complex spaceship, which makes Donnie feel like an idiot because he's just not ready to handle the ship. But his brother expects him to. Leo wants him to.

At this point in the Space-arc Donnie has latched onto Fugitoid as some form of a father figure, Donnie finds comfort in Fugitoid. While Donnie is obviously excited to learn about the ship and transdimensional physics, he still relies heavily on Fugitoid to be able to fill in where he isn't able to.

In that moment of handling the ship, Donnie is probably thinking, 'I want Fugitoid. I need Fugitoid.' Like I said, massive source of comfort for Donnie. Donnie most likely does not want to and is not ready to handle this situation.

And Raph sees this. He holds Fugitoid's head in his arms, redirecting Donnie's focus and grounding him. Fugitoid isn't completely obliterated. He's still here, Raph shows Donnie that. He just needs to be put back together. After Donnie had insulted his intelligence the scene prior - Raph says this.

'You're smart enough to build a robot like Metalhead, right? Maybe you could fix the Fugitoid!'

Raph compliments Donnie in a calm voice and a smile on his face, contrary to Leo's look of anger when he spoke.

Leo expected Donnie to do something way out of his league, but Raph compliments Donnie on something that he's already great at. Maybe Donnie doesn't have a hang of the ship just yet, but he's still smart, still useful, and could help out another way.

Also, clock the word 'maybe', and after that sentence, Raph gives Donnie Fugitoid's head. Leo's sentence was more of a command, 'We got to' whereas Raph's is a suggestion, a nudge in the right direction by handing Donnie the Fugitoid's head. Donnie was getting distracted by Leo's order, stammering and starting to think about handling that instead, Donnie inside wants to focus on Fugitoid, and from the beginning, that was always supposed to be the true focus.

From that moment, Donnie gains a bit more of a level head and manages to repair Fugitoid.

I love Anger Management duo so much.

[kraangdroidz]

#repost

been starting to understand the 2012 aprilrai vision

[kraangdroidz]

TMNT AU thought of by me, WONDERFUL artwork done by @haylysgay !! For FREE, can you guys believe that?? ٩>ᴗ<)و

!! NOTE: they do not do commissions for money. They did this because they wanted to, and they're my friend. Thank you !!

Lys is a very good online friend of mine who had to listen to way too many of my rambles over Discord about my TMNT AU. If I had to create a TMNT show, what would they look like, and what would their story be?

They very, very generously drew these for me, and I could not be thankful enough. So please keep in mind that while the AU was thought of by me, it was my friend who drew these, and I wouldn't be posting about this AU without her.

Also, please remember that they are doing this out of their own kindness, I ask you not to expect lots of posts about this AU or for it to be widely expanded upon - art takes time, and I in no way expect my friend to make lots and lots of drawings just for me to post. I'm already so thankful for these two goobs, and Raph and Donnie may come later, but again, please do not expect these drawings to immediately come soon after these ones, or even at all, if my friend is busy or simply chooses not to draw them, which would be absolutely fine by me.

- Some details about their designs and my AU -

If you notice in the image, they aren't wearing their masks around their face like they normally do. I like to think that, as teens, they start to explore self-expression more. Teenagers in particular often start to find their sense of style in regards to clothing, and with the lack of clothes, my versions of the turtles started to style pieces of coloured fabric differently as opposed to masks. A little bit of diversity to the one piece of material they consistently wear.

If you look, you see Leo has a piece of fabric tied around his waist, and in Mikey's drawing, he has pieces of orange cloth tied around both of his wrists with fairly long mask tails. I really wanted to choose this for Mikey as I imagine the pieces of long cloth flowing and moving really beautifully in battle (and when he does a bit of break-dancing) alike.

Donnie would have his mask rested around his neck almost like a scarf, I chose this as I really liked how in the IDW continuity, the Turtles would often have their masks rested around their necks when in more relaxed settings - and I wish the shows would utilise this idea more!

Raph wears his mask normally, and while I know that sounds boring compared to his brothers, wearing it on his face is now considered unique to him because his other brother's aren't wearing their masks normally.

You can also thank Lys for backing this idea up AHAHA

I was torn at the time between giving them their normal masks, but the length of the mask tails indicated how powerful/far they were into their Ninja skills, or doing this idea, I asked Lys about it and they very excitedly responded that I should do the latter.

- Details about my Leo's personality and his design -

When Lys was asking me for references as she wanted to draw them, I pulled up images of the species I imagined them to be, told them the Turtle's personalities and age orders, some events that would have happened to them in the hypothetical timeline of this show, and probably some other stuff.

Leo is the youngest in my AU because my God, I love youngest Leo AU's. A really smart visual idea that Lys came up with is that Leo's shell looks a bit larger than his body does. It looks like he has more to grow into, like when your mum buys you a big sweater/jumper because 'you'll grow into it'. I thought it was a super cute detail.

Lys also said they were feeling a bit worried that the youngest boy Leo was looking a bit too mature and rough, considering in my AU he's meant to be 13. I said I thought it was OK, I liked it even, young people can look rough too - and I love when designs in shows go against what you would expect them to look like (like a younger character not being all cute and free of scars, bruises, etc.)

My Leo is a False Map Turtle, which is explanation for all his stripes (it really reminds me of Rise Leo concept art when he looked like a watermelon ❤️ /aff) his almost heart-shaped patterns on his plastron, and slightly spiky shell.

You also may notice our favourite blue boy is missing an eye :(( Yes, not just blinded. That eye is GONE out of that socket, boi!!

In the hypothetical show timeline, my Leo ends up meeting a stunning girl named Lotus Blossom of a similar age to him, graceful, polite, but also insanely skilled at martial arts. The kiddo is head over heels in young love, guys, and they start to secretly date. Unbeknownst to Leo, his first girlfriend is in the Foot Clan, and at some point in their relationship, ambushes him while backed up by Bebop and Rocksteady - Leo gets badly beaten and loses an eye in the fight.

Betrayed and filled with anger at himself and how naive he was, Leo now struggles to form close connections to people and even spiralled into thinking his family might betray him after the incident, only for a short time though.

Karai is not a part of my iteration, sorry Karai-fans, but Karai has had her place in several TMNT media now. Lotus Blossom was a character who appeared in the episode 'Beware the Lotus' of the original 1987 series and has not had a major role or even reference appearance in other shows. She was introduced in the episode as a potential love interest for Leo, hence why I brought these two back together in my AU. Even if that love wasn't really true.

Considering Lotus was a one time-appearance, she wasn't a well-established character and therefore left a lot of freedom for what I might be able to do with her. I know I want her to be I affiliated with The Foot, but as far as things go right now, I'm not that in-depth with what I want to do with her.

Despite being the youngest, Leo is insanely skilled at ninjutsu, while his other brothers are a half and half mix of actually being interested in ninjutsu while also feeling like it's just an obligation and chore - Leo fully loves ninjutsu and finds its history to be extremely fascinating. (His brothers can't even watch a martial arts movie with this guy. He will whine about inaccuracies the whole time.)

His Master also knows he is well beyond his years in the arts of stealth and several fighting styles, as well as showing promise in tactical skills.

Despite Leo thinking he has potential, he takes the back-seat, accepting from essentially day one that he will never be the leader because he is the youngest, why would his older brothers want his tiny self barking orders at them? So he rarely tries to prove his true potential. He's scared of his brothers becoming competitive, angry, or thinking he is a suck-up to Dad.

Leo thinks his brothers would be embarrassed or give up on ninjutsu altogether if their 13 year old brother was noticeably better than them, so Leo will even downplay his fighting skills when in training to seem a bit weaker than he truly is.

Also, the little doodle of Leo with his middle fingers up came from my own crappy scribbles AAHAH

Also, bonus crappy doodle from me

so do you want it back or nah? (holding out of socket eyeball)

fuck no Lotus just fak off will ye

(Also that's blood in the doodle he is not crying without an eyeball.)

Leo's favourite pizza? Plain cheese.

Leo's second favourite food aside from that? Seafood boil.

- Mikey and his personality -

Mikey is a pignosed turtle, which explains his little snoot on the drawing. I also talked to Lys about how I imagined Mikey with his snoot stuffed into a bag of Cheetos or something similar, and she very graciously drew a doodle of this bigback stuffing his face into a jar of Cheeseballs.

Mikey also has a Walkman, popular in the 80's-90's, as this is the time in which my Turtle's are living!

Mikey is the very loud one of the team. He's brazen and dramatic and ... wait for it... LOVES POLKA!!

(sorry 2012 mikey, who hates polka :c I thought it'd be a funny nod to that fact)

But just because Mikey can be a bit much at times, it doesn't mean he doesn't know when to be serious. He absolutely does, and if he can see one of his brothers aren't having a good day, he'll scarily be able to guess what they need at that moment (a hug, advice, time alone, etc)

I actually wanted Mikey to share a similar tech interest with Donnie, I hated the 'dumb luck' thing in 2012, where Mikey would suddenly be able to figure things out, but at all other times, MAJORITY of the time, was made out to be an idiot by both the show writers and his brothers. Considering PB&J duo is a well established and considered 'best' duo in the TMNT franchise, I thought it'd be cool for Mikey to have some aspect of Donnie's smarts that's still true to his personality.

Mikey loves video games, I feel like he'd really enjoy the Mortal Kombat arcade machine. Many young kids that like video games grow up wanting to make one some day or be involved with games as a career without realising the full extent of what it takes to get to that point. It doesn't deter mikey, though, and he becomes aspired to build an arcade machine one day and produce a game himself with coding and technological skills. So Mikey enjoys those things, but in regards to making video games, whereas Donnie enjoys tech and science as a whole, but they still manage to bond over what they know with each other.

My Mikey adopted a stray black kitty off of the streets of NYC, much to Raph's horror (who's allergic to cats) and named him Mr. Miyagi.

Mikey's biggest fear is growing up. He wants to live each day to its fullest and be young forever without the fear of dying. He doesn't want to grow old and have to slow down when he loves adrenaline, skateboarding, and a bunch of other stuff he can't do if he's some old person! For that reason, Mikey never seems all too happy during birthdays, much to the bewilderment of his brothers.

It's only when the brothers meet Renet (an elderly timestress, WHO MIKEY WILL HAVE NO ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH!!! who keeps time travelling just a few years back, as she is afraid to die, time travelling back so she's still elderly - but at her actual age, she says she can feel herself dying and slowing down and hates that feeling, and keeps going back. Just a tiny bit.)

Mikey feels God awful and struggles and slowly realises that more often than not, old age is the best way to go, though bitter-sweet. He'd have people to say bye to him, he'd have lived a full life and, as I said, he wants to live every day to the fullest, he should want to do that for as long as possible, right?

Mikey comes to terms with the fact that old age isn't inherently associated with death. He could die tomorrow, any day, still young without having done anything.

He thinks now growing old is something to hopefully look forward to. He helps Renet to show that death and being old isn't scary and that it's time to let go. In the end, with Mikey by her side, he says goodbye to her because he has the time to. He has time because her death is natural. Her death isn't sudden. Renet is able to find peace and move on to the afterlife.

Mikey's favourite pizza? Cheeseburger pizza.

Second favourite food? Spaghetti and meatballs.

[kraangdroidz]

My experience writing rottmnt fanfic in a nutshell

[kraangdroidz]

amazing art!! I have a headcanon that donnie's 2nd favourite food is instant noodles because they're quick to make, and he can just shovel them down while he's working.

I draw too

He's so cute

[kraangdroidz]

Welcome back to a re-written 2012 Donatello analysis!

I have posted a 2012 Donnie analysis here previously discussing his obsessional behaviour, and it was quite well received. However, it is not as put together as I would've liked it to be. Vague ideas were mashed into a post after I ranted about aspects of his character to an online friend.

But, I've had some more time to think - this will be a bit longer, and cover some different scenes and ideas, as well as repeating some of the things in my previous analysis - in general, hopefully a more concise and enjoyable analysis of his character.

: IMPORTANT NOTE : To make it clear, I do not support stalking/obsessive behaviour - whatever the reason behind it may be - and I do not want to make it seem like I am infantilizing Donnie in this analysis.

The whole point of this analysis is that I like to be aware of characters' less-than-ideal traits and discuss what the root cause of them might be. The possible/suggested causes does not excuse this behaviour, rather explains it. And people should still be held accountable if they have made another person upset/uncomfortable.

Without further ado, onto the analysis.

I think Donnie's biggest issue is how he looks.

In the 2012 iteration, we never really see any of the turtles have a strong desire to be human, to change how they already are. Mikey sometimes doesn't understand that humans will be scared of him, (Like when he tries to return a cat to its owner, dismissing his brothers when they warn him the owner would be scared of him) but Mikey never has a big moment and lashes out like, ‘I want to be a human so I can make more friends!’

We also see Mikey wonder what he'd look like as a human in an episode after Donnie creates retro-mutagen, in which Mikey assumes he'd turn into a human instead of a regular turtle if he were to use retro-mutagen on himself. It is played as a joke though, as he is seen smiling in the scene following and doesn't seem to show any true disappointment/distress etc towards being how he already is - a mutant.

Raph openly declares himself as ‘handsome’ in Season 1, Episode 2 - so that rules out Raphael, and I don't remember any scenes with Leo being upset or having a negative view attached to being a mutant but please correct me if I'm wrong.

Interestingly enough, Donatello seems to have the most trouble coming-to-terms with the fact that he's a mutant and can't change that out of his brothers.

Outside of being a mutant, it is implied that Donnie already has a fragile self-image anyway.

Remember the episode Turtle Temper? I think it's the third episode of the first season. But at one point, the other turtles are instructed to shoot arrows at Raphael while he has to try and avoid them - Splinter makes it clear, however - that the others are allowed to insult Raphael.

I've seen a content creator say that the insults they throw at Raphael could be more internalised opinions they have on themselves rather than genuinely thinking these crude things about their own brother - think of it like bullying, in the sense that you're often told ‘bullies like to make fun of others because they're insecure themselves’.

People often take out their anger about their insecurities and place them onto other people if given the chance.

Leo says, ‘And you're always whining, poor me, nobody understands me.’ While this is easily applicable to Raph as an insult from Leo, Leo has also had his own fair share of moments where he has gone to Splinter complaining that the others aren't respecting or listening to him, that they don't understand the burden he holds as leader.

Mikey tells Raph he moves like a bloated buffalo. In other words, you're slow. You can't keep up.

And Donnie says, ‘Oh! You can't keep your back straight during Omote Kote Gyaku! And you're ugly!’ I think the first part of this insult is what really hints this is more so them projecting views of themselves than genuinely insulting Raphael. Donnie, out of all of them, is most likely to feel insecure about his height, a lot of teenagers can feel awkward or uncomfortable as a result of their growth spurts, tall individuals are also more prone to slouching.

Donnie also probably spends quite a lot of time hunched at his lab desk, which could also contribute to his posture. I'm pretty sure he is also called ‘scrawny’ in an episode by Karai, but if not Karai, some other character, and Donnie responds, ‘And I'm not scrawny! I'm svelte!’

Raph has also insulted Donnie's looks before, and, although it is unclear if it's a common occurrence, knowing Raph's character it has most likely happened on more than one occasion.

Donnie : And why do you keep grabbing me by the face? What is wrong with my face?!

Raph : Do you want me to list the reasons alphabetically or in descending order of grossness?

So regardless of being mutated or not, it seems like Donnie just has a generalised lack of confidence and some issues surrounding how tall he is.

But onto his issues regarding being mutated.

Donnie might’ve previously not had any issues with being a mutant. Before, it might’ve been just a general lack of confidence, as I have already said. Before April, his brothers would've been the only thing to compare himself to. He lived in a home with only mutants for fifteen years of his life - so had normal teenage issues of going through puberty and insecurities. Tons of people dislike their growth spurts, which is why Donnie's issues at first might seem like normal things for a teenager to worry about. Donnies biggest issue was how scrawny and lanky he saw himself.

But when they meet April, there is a glaring difference.

Suddenly, there is somebody in his life who isn't a mutant like him. It becomes abundantly clear to Donnie that from somebody else's viewpoint, their biggest issue with him wouldn't be his tooth gap or his height, but the plain fact that he's so different. Inhuman. Out of the ordinary. A mutant.

In ‘Mutagen Man Unleashed!’ Donnie says, ‘I'm worse than a nerd - I'm a freak! We're all total and complete freaks-’ This shows that Donnie went from having individual and relatable insecurities to believing that simply being a mutant inherently means you are ugly.

Especially when you consider the fact that, individual-traits-wise, Donnie and Casey both share the same traits, they both have issues with their teeth, and they’re both scrawny and fairly tall - realistically Donnie should believe they're on somewhat equal grounds of ‘unattractive’ qualities, but Donnie seems to believe Casey is naturally at an unfair advantage because he’s human.

As I said, Donnie has begun to associate his very being with ugliness, and so sees Casey as a threat thinking April will lean more towards Casey for the sole fact he's human. Donnie doesn't think that perhaps Casey's behaviour or the way he treats April is what might potentially win her over - when Donnie is ranting to Mutagen Man about why April might be hanging out with some punk kid (Casey) the conclusion he comes to is ‘because he's human, that's why.’

With a smile on his face and a look of anger in his eyes, the way he phrases it and his expression almost comes across as, ‘I knew it.’ It's like he's self-validating his presumptions at this moment.

Donnie tends to get scarily territorial over April, even going as far to try and forcibly push the two apart when April and Casey hug at the beginning of ‘A China-Town Ghost Story’, seemingly oblivious to the fact he could also possibly harm April in his shoving.

If he genuinely loved and cared about April as a person, he'd be more concerned about the fact he could hurt her - instead his eyes are on Casey this whole scene - his competition, the threat, the thing that might make his fears a reality.

Looks are a very important part of gaining a partner in society, Donnie might not love April as a person. Rather, he sees her as a piece of evidence that could potentially soothe his insecurities. If he wins her like some prize, it'd be like saying, ‘Look! I'm not ugly after all because someone wanted to be my girlfriend!’

If he loses April to Casey, it’d be confirming his idea that mutants, as a whole, are ugly.

This whole root cause of his obsessive and almost protective nature over April and wanting to keep her away from Casey really comes to light in the Season 2 episode, ‘Fungus Humungous’ where mutated fungi spreading across the sewers make our heroes hallucinate their worst fears.

Donnie has two scenes displaying his fears. The first is one of April, with sharp teeth and white eyes, and is a lot bigger than him. Which creates a feeling of inferiority, ‘Levels’ is a technique used in theatre. It refers to the use of different heights and positions to convey certain messages. It's often used to indicate status or communicate character relationships.

Here, it's a perceived relationship that Donnie has between himself and April. Donnie doesn't think mutants and humans are equal, Donnie truly believes that mutants are smaller or not as important as humans and his fear represents that visually by the way his vision of April quite literally looms over him.

Donnie doesn't think mutants are good enough. It's like the nerd not being good enough to hook up with the pretty, popular girl - reflecting back on what Donnie said earlier - ‘I'm worse than a nerd, I'm a freak.’ If we think of it on a ladder of ‘not being good enough’ he thinks being nerdy puts him below on that ladder, but right at the bottom, worse than being a nerd, is being a mutant. And that's why his vision of April is so ginormous. She's right at the top of that perceived hierarchy that Donnie has built up.

This vision of April calls Donnie an ‘ugly mutant freak’ it's unlikely April actually thinks this, but it's what Donnie thinks she does.

The next scene we see is a vision of a bunch of tiny April's kissing Casey.

I think it's noteworthy that the ‘ugly mutant freak’ part comes before the kissing Casey part. The two scenes are quite literally split into ‘Words’ and ‘Actions’. In the first scene, April has a sharp tongue that is used like a whip, going through Donnie's heart and subsequently breaking it.

‘To have a sharp tongue’ means being critical of someone, speaking in a way that is unkind though often clever. I think this shows that, over anything, it is April's words that break his heart more than her actions like kissing Casey. Mutants being seen as freaks is his actual biggest fear. He just doesn't want those fears to be confirmed - which is why that scene of April kissing Casey comes after.

This fear of humanities' dislike and rejection towards mutants existed before Casey came into the picture, he just became a threat and therefore added to Donnie's worries which is why Casey makes an appearance, but he isn't the main problem.

The first scene is what truly makes Donnie crack, he starts screaming, runs away, and shouts that he ‘doesn't want to hear anymore.’

-

In Season 3, an episode titled, ‘A Foot Too Big’ when Donnie starts to apologise for his behaviour, he says ‘I'm just… a mutant.’ The word ‘just’ implies that being a mutant is all Donnie has boiled himself down to, he doesn't think his other traits are worthwhile, like him being loyal, inventive, and funny because at the end of the day he thinks nobody will be able to see him outside of being a freak and therefore doesn’t care about other aspects of himself.

When April kisses Donnie at the end of this episode, he doesn't even seem to enjoy it like he usually does. Which is odd for Donnie, as he normally gets excited or gloats about being kissed by April to Casey. I know people say he's confused because April has a habit of leading both Donnie and Casey on, but I think the words she says right before she kisses him is what confuses him.

‘You're not just a mutant, Donnie, you're my mutant.’

The whole point of the episode is that Donnie is supposed to get a taste of his own medicine, where Bigfoot is following Donnie around. But Bigfoot is a monster. Donnie’s behaviour is being parallelled in a monster.

When Donnie is told, ‘now you know how April feels’ by Raph, he partly comes to the realisation that April feels like he is clingy and love bombs her with gifts, (Like how Bigfoot follows Donnie around and consistently makes Donnie soup) but Donnie also acknowledges that April is being followed around by something inhuman and that might play a part in making her uncomfortable.

If we, as the audience, are meant to look at Bigfoot as a parallel to Donnie, that should also include Bigfoot's other traits and the way other characters act toward her that prove Donnie feels ugly.

Bigfoot wants to look better and feels ugly. When she believes she is not good enough for Donnie, she asks April to help her give herself a ‘makeover’ before trying to show Donnie affection again.

Other characters, such as Leo and Casey, also make fun of how Bigfoot looks, with Casey asking, ‘You think she's his type?’ As a crude joke. Donnie has had his looks made fun of before, and his brothers seem to share similar sentiments that Donnie doesn't have a shot with April and thinks of his crush to be a waste of time - the other characters react the same way to Bigfoot's crush on Donnie.

And so when Donnie apologises to April, he not only feels the need to acknowledge his overbearing nature, but also to apologise for simply being the way he is, knowing she might feel embarrassed or uncomfortable that a ‘creature’ that has no shot with her is drooling over her and following her around.

After all, Donnie felt embarrassed when Bigfoot kissed him, and all of his peers laughed at him.

When Donnie was kissed in Target: April O’ Neil, it was directly after Donnie was thanked for his actions in saving April, and it made him feel good about himself in general, shouting ‘I looooove being a turtle!’ which is a rare instance of Donnie showing a positive attitude towards being how he is. Being loved in itself and being thanked for something understandable made him feel confident.

Donnie believes April likes Casey for being human, so when April says she likes him because he's mutant - for what he is, not who he is, it confuses him. Donnie thinks April doesn't care about who Casey is either, but Donnie thought he'd never be on equal grounds with Casey in terms of what he is, again, because he thinks mutants are lesser than.

He believes and everyone else around him believes that because he is a mutant he had no chance, at the beginning of the episode Raph said, ‘She's a girl, you're a giant talking turtle.’

Donnie believed who he was didn't matter because he thought what he was would make people dislike him.

And in April's words, who he is still doesn't matter, but she's showing a positive attitude towards him being a mutant. That's what confuses him so much.

April doesn't forgive Donnie’s apology for his obsessive behaviour, she forgives his apology for being different. April doesn’t say something like, ‘But you’re smart, loyal, determined,’ before kissing him, she says, ‘You’re my mutant’ before kissing him.

Donnie has never received positive comments from April about good aspects of his personality, or even comments about enjoying spending time with him - times Donnie has been kissed, hugged, and/or received comments of praise from April has been directly after acts of service where Donnie puts himself in danger for her wants/needs;

(Operation: Breakout, Season 1, in which Donnie goes on a solo mission to rescue April's father) When Donnie works tirelessly to resolve her wants/needs, (Donnie's several attempts to make retro-mutagen for her father) or when Donnie has literally almost died, (waking up after Donnie came close to dying in Dream Beavers, and after coming back post being molecularly scattered in ‘The Power Inside Her’)

This creates an extremely negative correlation in which receiving affection comes after self-sacrificing behaviour, putting her needs over his, or near death experiences, especially when you consider how Donnie's more tame and realistic attempts at affection are met with abandonment, dismissal, or odd looks.

When Donnie tries to offer hugs to April, she looks at him oddly, and Donnie quickly switches to ruffling her hair, and he seems to go stiff and looks anxious/awkward after. When Donnie calls her a nickname she agrees to ignore what was just said. When Donnie makes her a music box at the beginning of ‘A Foot Too Big’ she makes the excuse of needing to train and leaves Donnie by himself instead of addressing the issue if she didn't like the gift.

Hugs, nicknames, and gift-giving are met with negative responses that create negative feelings in himself as well.

Self sacrificing behaviour is met with positive reactions from April, as well as positive reactions from those around him as the action usually resolves some sort of problem (like Donnie rescuing April's father, the creation of Retro-mutagen) and even Splinter telling Donnie to ‘never give up hope’ in regards to pursuing April.

So Donnie now has two things to associate kisses/hugs with:

Self sacrificing behaviour.

Being a mutant.

And he doesn't understand.

-

I honestly think Don Vizioso is a physical manifestation of how Donnie feels. I always thought it to be a bit weird that a villain and a main character shared similar names, as Donnie has also been called ‘Don’ in the series as a nickname before.

Don Vizioso believed that mutants are freaks of nature that don't belong, a scientific mystery to be studied, which is scarily the same ideas that Donnie has about mutants.

Don Vizioso’s restaurant is the only building we see in the whole series with a ‘No Mutants’ sign. Donnie has a preconceived notion that the whole world is against mutants, in truth, barely anybody knows about them to say that’s true. All that hatred for what mutants are and the belief that mutants shouldn’t be accepted anywhere is all contained within Don Vizioso’s restaurant. Contained in Donnie’s mind.

I find it no coincidence that Donnie is the one to be put into a dehumanising situation and almost be dissected by Don Vizioso.

‘Vizioso’ translated into English, means things like depraved, vicious, immoral, and the next time Donnie has a run in with Vizioso, how is his actions perceived? Immoral. Vicious. He's quite literally going on a killing spree to face his own ideas, to confront Don Vizioso, his own anger and violence.

When Donnie is about to kill off Vizioso, Leo tells him to not lose sight of who he is, which makes Donnie pause.

Donnie believes mutants aren't ever going to be accepted by humans, that they're freaks. And nobody wants to believe that, he wants to erase those violent thoughts toward himself and other mutants by killing Don Vizioso, a manifestation of his own opinions - but if he kills, he is just going to prove what he thinks humans assume mutants are. Vicious monsters.

And that isn't who Donnie is, Leo reminds him of that. Maybe those negative thoughts of him being a freak won't go away, and maybe humans would actually think they're monsters if they ever got exposed - but if Donnie feeds into violent behaviours he's making those thoughts into true statements.

Donnie knows a killer isn't who he is, and in that moment Leo reminds him of that, he comes to terms with his mindset and realises he has the power to change how he thinks in a more healthy way, deciding not to kill Don Vizioso.

If you're part of a minority/marginalised group, you may struggle with things like internalised homophobia, racism, and ableism because of the way the society around you has built negative stereotypes around those groups. You may hate your own thoughts and hate the world for making you think that way.

It can be hard. If you act out in violence, unlike white, or straight, or able-bodied people, you are more likely to have your differences blamed for your violent behaviours. You feed into people’s stereotypes and negative ideas of certain groups unintentionally. If you struggle with internalised ableism, racism, homophobia/transphobia, the first step is coming to terms with your mindset, and finding a healthy way to accept who you are, and know that stereotypes and preconceived notions don't change you.

Never lose sight of who you are.

-

END SUMMARY:

2012 Donatello is a character with a complex and negative perception of who he is, with many things contributing to that fact.

At the end of the day, Donnie doesn’t seem to actively be after love or April as a person, rather simply a feeling of equality and confidence in general.

He wants to prove his thoughts that mutants are ugly wrong by gaining April as a girlfriend, aware that in society looks heavily contribute to having a romantic partner. Donnie seems to be afraid of humans rejecting mutants in general, but because April is the first human he has a personal relationship with, it’s shown through her.

As for equality, in relationships it's expected that you are treated equally and that no one is superior or inferior to the other, you both have equal say. Donnie is shown to feel that mutants are inferior and not good enough for humans, as shown by how much larger April is than him in his hallucination, and may also crave some sort of feeling of equality by getting into a relationship with someone he deems to be superior than him.

Donnie has also claimed April as some sort of thing to own, in the episode, ‘The Gauntlet’ by saying ‘There's a creature out there trying to hurt my April’ but apologetically changes it to just ‘April’ after he notices April's raised eyebrow at the choice of words. However, when April calls him ‘my mutant’ in ‘A Foot Too Big’ she doesn't stick around to see if he even likes it, or still wants to be in a potential relationship with her after the apology, quickly walking away.

And Donnie definitely doesn't seem to like it, being left confused and upset.

LEAVING NOTE : Thank you for reading, and I hope it was a bit more in - depth and well explained than the last analysis! I just want to say this isn't an attack on April’s character either - the writing isn't great in 2012, each character has noteworthy flaws and I don't think one character's behaviour is ultimately worse than another, including April's. Both her and Donnie are flawed, just like other characters, and I love them both.

Donnie while saying 'Because he's human, that's why.'

Donnie, at the end of 'A Foot Too Big.'

[kraangdroidz]

RISE CASS REDRAW!! >0<

app used : Infinite Painter

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cant have shit at eastman😭

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Okay, so this is the first time I've properly sat down and drawn TMNT art in a while - the last time I drew Rise characters was probably 2 years ago? I was interested in TMNT, mainly Rise, for a solid 2 years, it fizzled out for a year, and this year it came crawling back so I obviously had to draw my favourite boy, Donnie!

This is part of my AU where Donnie got lost in the Todd Scouts ep, Donnie is forced to navigate this new environment and learn how to survive in it - he's initially frustrated, but soon begins to find more of an interest in biology and slowly becomes more and more accepting of nature.

He doesn't think he misses his phone as much anymore.

So, here's Wild Don! This is a photo I took earlier, so forgive me for a few missing details, I've added his mask tails and added tears in his actual mask to make him look a bit more scruffy since.

That's like, leaves (?) Foliage, around his shoulders, think of a fur boa... but leaves.

[kraangdroidz]

he is in severe mental pain

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I’ll say right away that I’m not an animator, so I don’t really know how to make storyboards yet

BUT I REALLY WANTED TO DO THIS.

[kraangdroidz]

can we talk about how the 2k12 brothers like rarely appreciate Don?

i know its a cartoon, so things will be played as gags. and ill admit the scene made me laugh but. THE OTHER TURTLES LAUGHING AT DONNIE AFTER BEING INJURED BY ROCKWELL? (this was before Rockwell became intelligent, this is when Rockwell was feral)

like

guys.

APRIL IS YOUR FRIEND TOO

DONNIE GOT HURT TRYING TO PROTECT YOUR FRIEND

AND CHIMPS ARE VIOLENT MF'S TOO CHIMPS GO FOR THE FACE AND GENITALS WHEN ATTACKING?? AND HE STILL TRIED TO PROTECT HER WHILE HE PROBABLY HAD THIS KNOWLEDGE (since he's super smart n stuff)

WHY WERE THEY CLOWNING ON HIM SO HARD

'you got hurt while trying to protect our friend ahahah how embarrassing ahhh 😂😂🫵🫵'

[kraangdroidz]

April, discovering an entire Hidden City beneath NYC and going up against a fish-man making, warring warrior scientist:

[kraangdroidz]

I really enjoy looking at Donatello's characterisation - especially the 2012 version of Donnie.

I don't know why, but something specifically about the 2012 iteration of our favourite brothers draws me to them. Maybe it's because I think they have the most interesting and unhealthy brother dynamic to explore out of any version of the Turtles. But just to say right off the bat, I don't agree with the statement that Raphael is abusive toward Mikey in this version. I don't think this to be true at all.

But in the 2012 version of Donnie, I think it's the obsessional aspect of his character that I find interesting. People flame him hard for it - which is very valid - the way he treated April was very creepy, and some of the things he did April had no knowledge of, (Like Donnie taking a photo of her and having it as his laptop wallpaper). But I like doing a little more when it comes to characters' less-than-ideal traits. Yeah, what they're doing is bad, creepy, etc. But why exactly might they be acting that way?

For Donnie, I think his problem is how he looks.

In the 2012 iteration, we never really see the turtles have a strong desire to be human. Mikey sometimes doesn't understand that humans will be scared of him, but he never lashes out and has a big moment like, 'I want to be a human so I can make more friends!' We see Mikey wonder what he'd look like as a human in an episode after Donnie creates retromutagen - with Mikey assuming if he used retromutagen on himself he'd turn human and not back into a regular turtle.

It is played as a joke, though, and he doesn't seem genuinely upset by the fact he's stuck as a turtle, as he is seen smiling after saying he wondered what he'd look like.

Interestingly enough, Donnie is the one to be portrayed as having a negative view attached to being a mutant more than any of his brothers.

Outside of being a mutant, it is implied that Donnie already has a fragile self-image anyway.

Remember the episode Turtle Temper? I think it's the third episode of the first season. But at one point, the other turtles are instructed to shoot arrows at Raph, while Raph has to try and avoid the arrows. Splinter makes it clear, however, that Mikey, Leo, and Donnie are allowed to insult Raphael during the exercise.

I've seen another content creator say that the insults they throw at Raphael could be more them self-projecting views they have on themselves rather than them actually thinking these things about their brother. Leo says, 'And you're always whining, poor me, nobody understands me.'

While this is easily applicable to Raph as an insult from Leo - Leo does have his own fair share of moments where he has gone to Splinter complaining that the others aren't listening to him or respecting him, that they don't understand the burden he has to hold as leader.

Mikey tells Raph he moves like a bloated buffalo - which, although never hinted at in the show, could imply that maybe Mikey is insecure about how much he eats. Maybe his brothers have made comments about his greediness.

Donnie says, 'Oh! You can't keep your back straight during Omote kote Gyaku! And you're ugly!'

I think the first part is interesting as Donnie is the tallest out of his brothers - gangly limbs could mean Donnie has more difficulty knowing how to stand, how to sit, so on so forth. A lot of tall people can feel really awkward as a result of their height.

Donnie most likely is sat over a desk all day, and again, being tall, Donnie has more of a slouched posture out of his brothers. I think it was Karai that also insults Donnie in an episode by calling him scrawny, in which he responds, 'And I'm not scrawny! I'm svelte!' Svelte meaning slender and elegant.

Raph has also insulted Donnie's looks before in an episode, and again, it is unclear if this is a common occurrence, but knowing 2012 Raph's character, it's probably happened on more than one occasion.

Donnie : And why do you keep grabbing me by the face? What is wrong with my face?!

Raph: Do you want me to list the reasons alphabetically or in descending order of grossness?

So regardless of being mutated or not, it seems Donnie just has a generalised lack of confidence and some issues surrounding how tall he is.

But to his issues regarding being mutated.

Donnie might've previously not had any issues with being a mutant. Before, it might've been just a general lack of confidence, as I have already said. But in society, looks are always seen as a good trait to possess if you want to have any shot at a love life. You need to fit into the beauty standards and be attractive if you want a partner.

Before April, his brothers would've been the only thing to compare himself to. He lived in a home with only mutants for fifteen years of his life - so had normal teenager issues of going through puberty and insecurities. A lot of people can feel odd/uncomfortable and dislike their growth spurts, which is why Donnie's issues at first might seem like normal things for a teenager to worry about. Donnie's biggest issue would've been how scrawny and lanky he saw himself.

But when they meet April, there is a glaring difference.

Suddenly, there is somebody in his life who isn't a mutant like him. It becomes abundantly clear to Donnie that from somebody else's standpoint, their biggest issue with him wouldn't be his tooth gap or his height, but just the plain fact that he's so different. Inhuman. Out of the ordinary. A mutant.

When he's rambling to Timothy (Mutagen Man at this point) about why April might be on a date with some punk kid (Casey) the conclusion he resorts to is, 'Because he's human, that's why.'

At the end of the episode A Foot Too Big, when Donnie apologises to April, he says, 'I'm just... a mutant.' Again, this shows Donnie jumps to the conclusion that this is why April doesn't want to be with him, not his overbearing nature or the fact that she just genuinely might not be interested. The problem in Donnie's mind is that he's mutated.

The fact that Donnie used the word 'just' implies that being a mutant is all that Donnie has boiled himself down to. He thinks that his other traits aren't worthwhile or good - like him being funny, smart, inventive - because he thinks that nobody would pay attention to those aspects of his personality. At the end of the day, he thinks nobody will be able to see him outside of being a monster.

In Fungus Humungous, the hallucination of April that Donnie experiences calls him an 'ugly mutant freak'. It is unlikely April actually thinks this of Donnie, but it's what Donnie thinks she does because it's his biggest fear. I'd like to split Donnie's hallucination into two parts. April insulting Donnie about being a mutant, and Donnie's hallucination of April kissing Casey.

We see April kissing Casey. I think the fact that this part of the hallucination comes second is meant to represent this fear of rejection and insecurity surrounding being a mutant are two sides of the same coin. His fear of April choosing Casey is a by-product of his main insecurity. We are shown April calling Donnie an 'ugly mutant freak' first. Donnie isn't afraid to lose April as a person to Casey. He's afraid of losing his only hope at feeling confident to Casey.

In the first half of the hallucination, it shows that April uses a sharp tongue like a whip.

This tongue is shown to go through Donnie's heart and subsequently breaks it.

"To have a sharp tongue" means to be quick to criticize, speak harshly, or make cutting remarks; essentially, someone who is often unkind or sarcastic with their words.

I think this represents that, over anything, it is April's words that break his heart more than her actions. It is her disgust at him being a mutant that shatters him. It's what makes him crack in the episode. He starts screaming, runs away, and shouts that he, 'doesn't want to hear anymore.' This is Donnie's breaking point. Her sharp tongue and words, over her actions like kissing Casey, that is Donnie's true biggest fear.

Donnie doesn't want to be with April purely because he loves her. To Donnie, it would be more than April simply making a choice on who to partner up with. It would be confirmation for Donnie that the issue all along was because he's a mutant.

The point I'm trying to make is that Donnie is more obsessed with trying to improve his own self-image than he is obsessed with April as a person.

He wants to use April as a means to prove someone could love him despite appearances because, as I said earlier, looks are important to a lot of people. Gaining a romantic partner would most likely grant Donnie the confidence, the consolidation that he 'isn't ugly after all' because someone managed to fall in love with him. That is why he so desperately chases after April.

He chases after the feeling of confidence.

His character kills me.