Piles Of Doodles

The Apritello Kiss

I didn’t make my own Tumblr account until mid-November and my posts weren’t searchable until over a month later, so I’m a little late with posting my thoughts on different episodes. Naturally, I’ve been dying to talk about the kiss in “A Foot too Big.”

I saw another post shortly after the episode aired that perfectly illustrated my thoughts and feelings on the kiss, but once I got my account and tried to find the post so I could like or reblog it, I couldn’t find it. Basically I know I’m not the first one to post these views on Tumblr, and I’m not trying to be unoriginal. I just am unoriginal.  I don’t think April was trying to lead Donnie on. She just didn’t know how she felt about him until she realized she may lose him.  Earlier in the episode, we see her feeling totally awkward about getting the music box, and while we pretty much all agree the music box was adorably sweet, it really is the kind of present you give to someone if you’re going steady. They weren’t in a relationship. Maybe if it didn’t have a heart on top, or a picture of him inside, or if he didn’t stand there awkwardly smiling and not saying anything after he gave it to her, she might have been more receptive.  Also, as she told Casey in “Within the Woods,” their families are gone and/or mutated. She’s not in a very relationshippy place, and that’s ok.  When Donnie said, “I won’t be bothering you with music boxes anymore. I get it now. Donnie is to April as Bigfoot was to Donnie,” her face didn’t look happy or relieved. She looked kind of sad.

I don’t think it was pity, though. If she gave him a pity kiss, it’d probably be on the cheek, not the lips. If it were pity, she would not have called him “my mutant.” April just wouldn’t do things like that if she didn’t mean anything romantic by them. I think this is the moment when she discovered her true feelings.  In “The Invasion,” she shut Donnie down when he tried to tell her how he felt. I can think of two reasons why she reacted the way she did. 1. She probably didn’t want Donnie to say anything that he wouldn’t say if they weren’t about to be killed. 2.She may have still been hoping for a normal life (as she did in “Mutagen Man Unleashed), and maybe she was trying to convince herself that Casey would be more likely to give her a normal life. At least he’s human.   She was more touchy-feely with Casey in “The Invasion,” but in all previous episodes that’s not the case. She always brought Irma along on their would-be dates (“Of Rats and Men,” “The Wrath of Tiger Claw,”) and she’s disturbed by his physical advances (“Plan 10,” “A Chinatown Ghost Story,” etc.)  I think April has slowly come to realize that her life will never be “normal,” and at any rate, Donnie seems to have a lot more moral fiber than Casey.  I think the kiss demonstrated that she did not want to loose the chance of being with him. It was a, “Look, I’m not ready to be your girlfriend, but please don’t give up on me,” kiss. 

So why did she walk away? She’s probably still kind of shy and insecure about liking a mutant (even if she’s one herself). Besides, she’s only 16; she’s not going to handle these things perfectly.  Why did she ignore Donnie in “Buried Secrets,” when he told her to check him out? She’s always had the attitude of “Not now, we have stuff to do.” She’s just task-oriented. She may have also felt a little embarrassed about the kiss. Plus, it may have been one of those “Give ‘em an inch an they’ll take a mile,” situations… and she knows how she feels about him now, but maybe she thinks the kiss was a bit too much and in that moment she was trying to over-correct.  Some people think the kiss was a mistake on the writers’ part and that now it’s like it never happened. I don’t think so. April’s behavior in every episode since the kiss has shown an increased warmth and affection for Donnie, aside from that “Check me out, April,” incident. She even kissed him on the cheek again in “In Dreams,” and gave him a neck rub in “Race with the Demon.“  Poor Donnie’s never been good at figuring out people’s intentions on his own, so hopefully after the last four episodes, he’s begun to understand something. We may not have seen them dtr afterwords, but we can see that the kiss scene was clearly a turning point in their relationship, and not just April leading him on with some pity kiss that’s been swept under the rug.

A little Donnie in you feed

Emo Marinette and Toxinelle fanart, from Miraculous Paris Special episode. Find me on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aulyasela.bsky.social

Does 2012 April have flaws? Yes.

Does 2012 April actively show Donnie affection? Yes.

Does 2012 April have feelings for Donnie to some degree? Yes.

Is she 100% sure on those feelings? No.

Does she have more important problems in her life to deal with than whether or not a boy is into her? Fuck yes.

Does April sometimes go too far and overreact? Yes.

So does every single other character in the show.

Her father was kidnapped episode one, and he’s the only family member she is ever shown to have a close relationship with (her aunt literally never appears in the show she doesn’t count.)

Then her life is put in danger CONSTANTLY, her father is mutated by the people who promised to save him (their fault or not), she is forced to live underground IN A SEWER, she tries to train to pull her own weight and contribute because she’s sick of sitting on the sidelines only to be treated like she’s helpless constantly, on top of that she’s got two guys constantly flirting with her and playing tug of war with her.

April has flaws. April makes mistakes. April can be loud and abrasive and takes her frustration out on people who probably don’t deserve it.

But for peoples biggest gripe of her character to be that she’s a “tease?”

Y’all are just as guilty of reducing her character to just a love interest as some of the writers.

(Also for the “you’re my mutant” thing? She said that in response to Donnie putting himself down. He apologized and then proceeded to imply that she doesn’t want to be with him solely cause he’s a mutant.) (She also never said she didn’t like him or that she didn’t have feelings for him, she literally just felt uncomfortable with getting a gift with HIS FACE ON IT. Idc how much I like someone that’s an awkward thing to get) (let’s also not forget that Donnie never confessed to her either? She didn’t reject him cause he never asked her out.)

OMG GIRL I LOVE YOUR ARTs SO MUCHHHH~

I'm your big fan since 2020 or 2019 I DON'T REMEMBER!!! help😭💀

HI !!! Thank you 😭💜 I know I'm not posting as much nowadays, but I'm still glad people like my stuff!!

Here's to the people who can't get the words on the page. The people who are too tired after all life throws at them to write. The people who are blocked. The people who are burnt out. The people who can't write because of physical or mental illnesses. The people who don't know why they can't write. And the people struggling with all those other things that get in the way of writing and make it seem or be impossible.

You're still a writer, you're still an artist. And you matter. This world is better since you're in it. Thank you for wanting to write, even if you can't right now. I hope you and your words find each other soon.

Dear TMNT

That little itty bitty teeny tiny piece of Apriltello we got in the season finale made me smile. I can’t be the only one who misses this… 

I don’t post much stuff like this because it’s a hater magnet, but… I’m not even gonna be shy about it anymore.

The show started off with it being a pretty major thing - it’s because April called Donnie’s attention that the whole story started really - and it was such a sweet relationship to see develop from a stupid crush to this great friendship, so cosy and full of trust, even if Donnie was still learning not to be stupid about it. And then we had a KISS - which in itself isn’t clear what it meant. And it just kinda… went a little silent there. I really really miss it.

And I really hope it wasn’t dropped because of some negative feedback from some people. Shipping aside, if none of it is really explored anymore -and it’s not even about Donnie ending up with April anymore, although I wish - that would be one major story arc just flushed down the drain, to be honest. 

I just wanted this out there. There’s a lot of people who actually enjoy the fluff -I think all the fanart speaks for itself haha- and we’re starving for some. *snif*

Hope you don’t mind that I tag you, peterdicicco XD

And if you guys agree, reblog, signal boost it by Darwin’s beard!

I couldn't sleep cuz...

I just read the whole "fixing 2012 apritello headcanon" thingie about protective Raph caring about Donnie's silly crush on April, and Raph been thinking that April has led Donnie on all the time and that made him mad, he followed her and threatened to KILL that poor teenage girl with his sais to make her make up her mind about Donnie's feelings towards her and people in the notes who liked....supported THIS BEHAVIOUR?????!!! 💀💀💀 WTF??? 💢💢💢

I can't believe this fandom 💀💀💀 Okay, first of all, 2012 April slanders are just a different breed of stupid honestly (or they are just a misogynists) and two, STOP MISCHARACTERIZE MY 2012 RAPHAEL!!! 🚫🚫🚫🚫 My 2012 Raphael is a kind-hearted turt who won't ever harm any soul, he's a sweetest turt to his brothers, to April, and to Master Splinter. I love Raph so much as I love Donnie!🥲 Writing a hedcanon justifying a threat to kill a 16-year-old teenage girl just because she doesn't return his brother's feelings ain't gonna solve it, dumbass! 😠😠😠 Doesn't make it ANY BETTER!!!! I love 2012 April so much it hurts🥲💕💕💖💗, you guys are the ONE who needs to BACK OFF from her!! Homegirl has enough on her plate! She lost a mother, lost her father (twice!), lost her only best girl friend, Irma, and lost her only home! GODDAMNIT!!!😠😠💢💢💢 You guys JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND HER AT ALL!!! You just DON'T EVEN CARE ABOUT HER!!!! LEAVE 2012 APRIL ALONE!

The day we get an adaptation of Beauty and the Beast with Belle kissing the Beast when she's in Beast form instead of prince form ?! The 2014 version almost gave it to us !!!