You're completely right !

It did feel like they were setting her up to be an actual character (Crazy concept, I know- Lmao) and then the execution of that character fell flat,,

But to me, the blame should be directed at the leadership changes that took place behind the scenes from Season 2 onward- It truly felt like someone with a different vision was working on / directing Season 1, and then that person got demoted or maybe got put on a different project that wasn't 2012-?? And then the people that did take over basically ruined everything- 💀

April had a lot of potential to be a really fun character in this version and a part of me does feel saddened that that wasn't the case. 😔

Also, giving 2012 April a background in ballet would've made things far more believable as far as her having the same type of endurance training and athleticism / flexibility as the rest of the Turtles + Karai early on !

I ABSOLUTELY SEE THE VISION-

It's similar to how I view those two as Branch and Poppy from the Trolls films ! I love seeing them in that kind of dynamic honestly ! Not only because it proves how cute April and Raph could've been, but it helps me enjoy 2012 April's character more ! At least, the type of character she had the potential to be- 😭✨

I got inspired by this post and wanted to make my own version of it ! 😌✨ Lmao

I also made an addition to it cause I thought it would be funny- 💜🖤

First art post of 2026 and it's pony posting- ✌️

They've been on my brain, so I'm indulging once again ! I did a name generator thing and these were the names I settled on ! I might change my mind and pick new ones in the future? Who knows- But I think April and Casey would be super embarrassed by their pony names, so they go by April and Casey to each other and their friends- LMAO

I want to say they're all negative ones, but I don't think that's entirely truthful-? Lmao

It isn't that I disliked this concept of her being a fighter alongside the Turtles + Casey + Karai etc. (Since it can be done incredibly well, like with Rise! April for instance-), it's more about the execution which basically ties in with everything about her character in 2012. Not only was it poorly portrayed during the show's runtime in my opinion, but it also felt like the writers could never just pick a lane with her character-

They want her to be psychic and have some form of omniscience in order to move the plot along- / They want her to be a trained kunoichi under master Splinter and be as equally skilled as her teammates despite not having nearly as much experience under her belt as they do- / They want her to be the dismal in distress for Donnie specifically to convince the audience in the slightest that those two have an ounce of chemistry and that they "need to be together" because "boy sees girl" essentially- / They want her to be a constant victim of aliens and the Shredder without properly addressing any of that whatsoever.

This is why, personally, the kunoichi arc for April falls flat. It's hard for me to decide whether I felt like the writers were denying her the screentime she needed to make that Arc more rewarding or if they gave her too much screentime on the wrong things to make that storyline worthwhile. My biggest complaint is always the fact that it's like we barely see her train at all. We barely see her in fights at all- So it feels spontaneous and last minute when the writers / directors DO decide show her being an actual competent fighter. I'm not saying it couldn't be believable, but based off the screentime that she does get it throughout the series, it feels a little out of the blue and lackluster to me to say the least. And yes, people can bring up that we technically do see her train (Like in, "Vision Quest" for example-), but my argument to that is what I mentioned earlier about them treating her as if she has the same amount of lived experience as her peers- When she clearly does not. I don't think her being 16 / starting her martial arts journey at 16 benefits her in any way or gives her any kind of advantage? She's still going to have to start from the bottom and work her way up to that point, and I wish that the writers would've allowed her to actually have that time instead of rushing her progress for the sake of the plot.

Which it's up in the air as to whether or not that was what they were doing. Because I will always have this stance about 2012 April canonically- She was practically spoon fed every advantage or redeeming quality or useful attribute she had. Which is because she had little to no character, something that seems obvious given how these writers handled her. The progression of her psychic powers wasn't given the time it deserved and were written egregiously inconsistently (Meaning that, for plot related reasons, April's psychic abilities or the extent of those abilities varied on the episode. Certain episodes / scenarios she's incredibly useful, but then in another ones, suddenly she "can't do" any of the things that she did in a different episode that was incredibly useful?? Take for example the S4 episodes, "Tale of Tigerclaw" and "Requiem". April was capable of suspending Alopex in mid air via her weapons with no issues, but in the following episode ("Requiem") you're telling me she couldn't have saved Casey from plummeting like 50 stories after he protected Raph-? Like, okay-). The progression of her kunoichi status was occasional and also felt very inconsistent, especially considering she was awarded her official status after their Space expedition- Where April literally utilized no forms of ninjitsu whatsoever?? Okay. Her relationships with other characters felt entitled and obligated to her just for her being April- All the brothers love her even though she's only ever shown "interacting" with Donnie the most since Season 1. Splinter treats her better than his own sons even though he legitimately has no reason to. Allies automatically trust her & respect her despite having no relationship with her at all (For example, Timothy or even the Mighty Mutanimals- Or even Bigfoot- 💀). And if a character didn't like her or rightfully had issues with her? Villain (*Cough" Karai and Shinigami *Cough*). But once they apologize to her and "show her some respect"? Oh, they're totally allies now. Which literally makes no sense because Leo is allowed to shit talk Slash to hell and back, and nobody questions whether a Slash is an ally?? The same goes for Donnie with Dr. Rockwell or Raph with Pigeon Pete-

I'm getting incredibly sidetracked now, as you all know I do,, Lmao || My ultimate point is that I don't think it would have been terrible if April's kunoichi arc had been incorporated into her character better and given that time to breathe and grow. Not just something that felt handed to her for doing the bare minimum and being the "loveable" "respectable" "flawless" white girl in the room. Because yes, it did come off that way many times to me. 👍

Okay, here's a part 2 ! I'm not super in love with Splinter's design here, so I'm going to try and revisit it at some point-! I was finding it challenging to combine Kinger's design and 2012 Splinter's design in a way that felt like both of them at the same time,, 😭

@deeyanuhh (Here's another tag !)

Updated ! Now these doodles feel more complete to me ! Second batch coming soon ! ✨

@deeyanuhh

Got super inspired by @motheline 's post about Gothic 2012 Jonatello- 🖤💜✨

Don't be fooled, Mikey's seething with pure and unadulterated rage right now-

Also Casey would be all in- He would not care if Donnie identified himself as an alpha, okay- /hj LMAO

Some MM / TOTTMNT Brains and Brawn because I think they'd watch horror movies and laugh at them + MM / TOTTMNT Irma ! I really loved her character, I hope we see more of her- 🫶✨

Please don't feel bad !! I'm so sorry I take so long to respond-! 😭

Canonically, I did not enjoy Timothy very much, no-! He was incredibly overzealous and eager in very immature ways- Which were capable of being charming traits, but 2012's writing didn't cause them to land that way,, At least to me. It's a tragedy that the writers chose to leave him trapped in ice for the remainder of the series- Like?? They could've fixed him, they could've done something,, When you think about his fate, it's honestly horrifying and yet it gets ignored entirely,,

I think Timothy being a part of April and Casey's friend group at Roosevelt High would've been super fun ! I think exploring his dynamics with pretty much all of the main cast would've been interesting !

I think they're cool platonically speaking ! 2012 Aprilnardo isn't my cup of tea (Although I'm a huge Mutant Mayhem / TOTTMNT Aprilnardo enjoyer-), but I can understand why other's enjoy it ! I bet you'd love @kunoichis-stuff's work if you like cute art ! 😌✨

Yes, but also personally no- LMAO

I know it's a strange way to put that, but basically what I mean is that: Yes I think their dynamic would've worked a lot better if it had been completely different / rewritten, but I also say (personally) No because I feel like even if they did have a healthier better dynamic within canon, I'm not sure how interested I would have been in their relationship-? I think the most that would do for me is just not elicit an eye roll from me whenever the pair is on screen, but otherwise I don't know how much I would have rooted for them / been invested in any capacity about those two-! 😭👍✨

But as far as how I would have depicted 2012 Donnie and April if I were asked to do that, I really like the idea of Donnie persisting with his immaturity around the crush (i.e. The whole, "She's not my girlfriend!!" thing-) and maybe even constantly feigning indifference around her (But not in the sense that he's ignoring her or anything, more that he's genuinely acting like it's not a big deal to have her in his lab or in the lair in general-) ! Very much "fake idgaf-er" vibes ! As far as April, I guess I could see her having more of a slow burn with the whole thing ! I think it would've been interesting to have April not really talk to Donnie that much (In the context of actually getting to know him or joke with him, etc.-) for the first two Seasons and then have Season 3 be where their relationship is sort of developing more / April is starting to build an actual rapport with him ! Which works out given that a lot of Kraang related issues got put into the spotlight in the S2 finale + S3, something that would cause April to spend a lot more time with Donnie specifically !

I think having this kind of development for their relationship could actually be really sweet ! Because from April's perspective, she's just now starting to see him differently and learn things about him that she actually really likes (i.e. His reliability could be charming to April while simultaneously putting a spotlight on the fact that Donnie is heavily burned with so many aspects of this team's success- Something April could start to notice by Season 3-), where Donnie has secretly liked April for quite some time (Maybe late Season 1?) and already found so many aspects of April to be lovable (i.e. How brave she can be / has already been despite being visibly afraid, how resourceful she can be, her moments of wittiness, etc.). So by the time April finds out how Donnie feels, she's also speechless because she genuinely had no idea Donnie had seen so much beauty in her ! I think that would've been a much better way to tackle that dynamic ! 👍✨

As far as Casey goes, my go to response is to always say that him and April should have just been platonic besties from the get go- I know Capril is an iconic relationship within the franchise, but in 2012 I genuinely couldn't see it as romantic,, ! If Apritello had to be the end game, I think it would have been very sweet for Casey to acknowledge Donnie's crush on April and want to help him instead of compete with him ! To recognize a boy who's struggling with his feelings over a girl and be that ear to listen or someone to go to for advice (i.e. Helping Donnie soothe his anxieties when April's just having a rough day and reassuring him that it wasn't him / he didn't do something to cause that reaction from her- Or helping Donnie learn more about April's interests !), you know?

But that's just my take I guess ! ✌️

A mutual of mine sent me this image and I couldn't help but think of the dumbass "love triangle" when looking at it- LMAO

I know I don't like either of the pairings, but you cannot convince me that April and Casey didn't date / test the waters of a relationship at some point canonically- Like?? Their moments in Season 2 said a lot to me-

Thank you ! I try to be as accurate to her look in the show as I can (Aside from personal preferences, like her bangs and the amount of freckles on her face, for example-) ! 😭👍✨

Chapter 6 is out !! 🗣️🎉

Sorry this took so long- It especially didn't help that I had to rewrite the chapter entirely,, But it's here now ! :D 👍✨

A bit of a canon complaint sort of post- 🌳🌲🍂

This is basically me revisiting something that I wish would have been more prominent with Raph's character in 2012, which is him having a complicated relationship with Humans (Or in April's case, human presenting people-). I think he should have kept this valid prejudice towards them and therefore had his relationships with April and Casey be a bit more complicated than everybody else,, I think it would have made a lot of sense for this to be a big character growth thing for him (And I also just wanted a way to explain why him and Casey had the worst depiction of their friendship in this version- Having Raph growing through these issues makes it make more sense to me- 💀👍) !

This is also technically fan art for the fanfiction, "Turtle Soup" by Blep_Pep on AO3 ! If you're seeing this Blep_Pep, It's beyond me why reading your fanfiction inspired this commentary thing for me but I'm happy it did ! Also I really like your work ! 😌✨

Also Happy Indigenous People's Day !! <3