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angelmichelangelo · 8 months

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so i just want to talk about the whole donnie and april thing from the 2012 series since i have a lot of thoughts on them both and need somewhere to just. get it out my system.

so off the bat im gonna say i’m pretty neutral about the april/donnie ship. i.. don’t really care for it but if it’s there it’s not gonna overly bother me. i’m pretty much on the fence for most things tmnt ship related (though, big exception for woodyangelo just cus. lol) that being said i do have some thoughts about how it was handled in the 2012 show.

as most people might agree, the writing for these two wasn’t great. i think, just in my humble opinion, that the writers kinda ping ponged back and forth depending on fandom criticism of the ship. one minute the relationship seemed to be slowly developing, a nice easy slow burn and then it’d take a sharp turn and it was back to a lot of uncomfortable pining and uncertainty as to where they would both end up. i think the writers wanted to appease both ends of the fandom here by making it somewhat ambiguous but it kinda blew up in their faces. big time.

so then you have the people who put all the blame on april for this. “she’s leading donnie on!” “she’s playing with both donnie and casey!” “she just wants the attention!” and, yeah. maybe. but here’s my defence: (bad writing aside for a moment, let’s pretend that all of this was done on purpose) april doesn’t know what she wants. when we meet april in the show it’s evident that she’s a little dorky and uncool and she doesn’t have ANY friends. she has irma but it seems to be one of those friendships built out of pure convenience. “oh you don’t have friends, i don’t have friends. cool. let’s hang out.” in every scene they have together it’s awkward and weird because they don’t really seem to click. april has like, as little social skills as the turtles. she doesn’t have friends let alone have TWO guys show her any appreciation and affection. how is she supposed to know how to deal with all that? she’s a teenage girl, feelings are complicated.

and some people might blame donnie. “he kept persisting even when she gave clear hints” “he was being a weirdo about it” “he made her uncomfortable” donnie is a teenage boy who happens to be a mutant. a mutant that lives underground and had never even MET a girl until they saved april. donnie’s only point of reference for romance is what he’s most likely seen on tv or in books. it’s that really cheesy affectionate stuff that might work in movies, but in real life is just strange. donnie has even less social skills that april. he’s only ever had his brothers and dad to talk to. he doesn’t know how to communicate his feelings properly because up until he met april, he probably never even knew what it was to have a crush on somebody

my headcanon for these two is that donnie is clearly autistic. he’s very overly empathetic towards april but can’t understand why his efforts aren’t paying off like he thinks they will. i think april being a young teenage girl with a lot on her plate, might not recognise why donnie is acting this way. ive seen a lot of people also headcanon that april is aromantic which i totally 100% love and agree with. i don’t think she recognises this in the way donnie recognises his own autism. it causes them to clash, and neither of them really understand why that is, and can’t quite communicate it to the other until they’ve figured themselves out.

a lot of people say that 2012 ruined the donnie and april friendship that was pretty strong throughout the franchise but honestly, even the 2003 show had pepperings of donnie’s slight crush on april, even back then. it’s not as obvious but it was definitely there. obviously it never got brought up, which imo is a little heartbreaking to think of poor don harbouring these secret feelings for his friend and then having to just. get over it when she marries casey but i think their friendship is still pretty special to them both that it eventually stops becoming an issue for him.

2012 donnie was a social wreck. he had no clue what he was doing and i think the writers could have done waaaay better in making that less of a fault and more of just. idk. just something that made people hate him a little less. it’s in the same vein as mikey’s adhd. i think the writing was a product of its time and that’s why mutant mayhem tackles those issues way way better than 2012 ever did.

it could also be said that donnie and april don’t even really have a lot in common, like some iterations. she’s smart but she’s not a scientist, and donnie’s crush is first of all born out of just physical looks, meaning that maybe donnie just happened to latch onto her because he felt a teeny glimpse of normality (“i could love a girl and she could love me back”) and kinda just held onto that. any of the other girls in the show, donnie doesn’t really draw himself towards but that’s because the other girls are mostly his brothers love interests and donnie is a firm believing in sticking to the bro code lmao (although maybe just from mikey’s perspective, but donnie does seem quite friendly with renet but that might have just been a 2003 callback perhaps, but they have more in common than her and mikey do)

all in all, the donnie/april thing could have been handled way better, especially with casey thrown into the mix. but is there one person solely responsible for the way their relationship played out? absolutely not. they both crossed some boundaries and both made some mistakes that backfired but like i said, they are far from perfect and looking back on their arc together, it’s a little heartbreaking to see how.. unsure they both are, of themselves and of each other. but that’s just my two cent on the whole thing.

i don’t think female characters were the 2012 writers strong point sadly and april suffered as a result but i genuinely think in her good moments, she shines. and donnie isn’t a creep, he’s just a good kid that wants to find his own happiness, even if he looks in the wrong places, both their intentions are good, i believe.

okay rant over sound off in the tags/replies what you think of the donnie/april dynamic in 2012 😎

#tmnt 2012 #tmnt apriltello #tmnt donnie #tmnt april #tmnt 2k12 #tmnt #tmnt meta #tmnt 2012 meta

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inspiredwriter · 7 months

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𓆉~PURPLE BODYGUARD~𓆉

I recently watched a movie with Whitney Houston and decided to draw something starring Donnie and April♡(ㅅ´³`)♡

💜🤎💜🤎

💜🤎💜🤎

- I swear to protect your magnificent body at all costs💕

💜🤎💜🤎

@swagtreecrown @kawaiibunga @sivy-chan-blog @narwals14 @angelcatlowyn @dai-su-kiss @janet-the-dark-queen @turtle-babe83 @foxflamewarrior @cowabunga-doll @turtlesmakemehappy @zowise2912 @wolfroks @sharpwindow @androidships007

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fabuloustrash05 · 10 months

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I keep going back and forth on which version I should use when I tag Donnie x April stuff so I'm curious to know how others spell it.

#tmnt polls #tumblr polls #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2018 #rottmnt #apriltello #apritello #donnie x april #tmnt donatello #tmnt donnie #april o'neil #tmnt april #tmnt apriltello #rottmnt apritello

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super-un-stable · 7 months

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Two cents. 1 failed evil experiment to another

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mintyyyshake9000 · 3 months

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2012 Donnie angst :3

Some aftermath exploration for the Race with the Demon episode

Also looking up how to fix turtle shells was a bit-

Painful....

#plz do not tag this with AprilTello #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2012 leo #tmnt 2012 donnie #tmnt 2012 April #tmnt 2012 fanart

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abbeyofcyn · 1 year

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Poses practice

Single drawings below

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #art #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt leo #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt raph #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt april #rottmnt casey junior #future leo #was fun to draw dancing poses #note to self learn to draw kids lol #future leo is a bonus you're welcome #i will learn how to colour someday #not meant as apriltello they're just having fun #but you do you

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mushtoons · 9 months

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apriltello but dork edition

#rotates them in our mind #idk what else to say here other than them ✨ 💜#take a guess on who's fronting on this alone /lh #tmnt 2012 #apriltello #mycel doodles

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pumpkinpie59 · 2 months

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screenshot redraw:

#pumpkin stuff #tmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt donatello #april o'neil #apritello #apriltello #my art #tmnt fanart

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bowandbrush · 1 month

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youtube

#I don’t really ship them but I thought it was funny in a hypothetical enemies to lovers situation #IM SORRY TO MY APRILTELLO MOOTS #save rottmnt #rise of tmnt #Rottmnt Donnie #Rottmnt #rottmnt animation #rottmnt animatic #Kendratello #Bowdoodles #Youtube

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watermelonsverything · 11 months

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Bunch of Turtle studies

Try to draw Bayverse then tell me how much you love life. They are underrated but also ugly af bois. Plus I'm a GEEK for Rottmnt Apritello so I wanted to share fluff

#tmnt #tmnt 2014 #tmnt 2016 #bayverse tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #apriltello #leonardo #raphael #tmnt michelangelo #Michelangelo #Donatello #my art

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inspiredwriter · 11 months

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Donnie's reaction to Megan Fox

Donnie 2018:

I'M IN LOVE!!!😍😍💘😍

Donnie 2014/2016:

I really want to kiss her now~😘💕

Donnie 2012:

Wow, I think she's a really hot princess~😏💞💗

Donnie 2007:

I feel weird...😬

Here's what's going on inside Donnie 2007:

P.S. I don't like TMNT 2018, but when I accidentally came across this GIF, I felt inspired🤔🤗

@kawaiibunga @sivy-chan-blog @hedgehog-dreamer @swagtreecrown @narwals14 @angelcatlowyn @dai-su-kiss @janet-the-dark-queen @turtle-babe83 @foxflamewarrior @cowabunga-doll @turtlesmakemehappy @zowise2912 @wolfroks @sharpwindow @androidships007

#love in the air #tmnt apriltello #tmnt bayverse #tmnt 2014 #tmnt 2016 #donapril #tmnt 2018 #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2007 #tmnt romantic

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fabuloustrash05 · 2 years

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I’m pretty sure if April wasn’t shipped with Donnie (or any of the turtles) in the 2012 series the fans would’ve liked her more.