I see a lot of different fandoms in Tmnt- and a lot of them either hate April or want to ship her- Apritello, Capril, Capritello, Raphril, and in some very rare cases April/Mikey or April/Leo.
Did you know that April was never meant to be shipped with anyone?
Eastman and Laird had always envisioned April as a big sister character or a motherly figure- they have stated that they are uncomfortable with the idea of human/turtle sexual relationships and I highly suspect that part of the decision to make Casey Jones an ally was to end all the fan speculation of which teenage turtle the adult woman would pick- not that it helped.
Sure she’s not an adult in the current series but it still irks me that just because there is a female character she HAS to be paired with a male character. I see a lot of tcest out there, some Jonatello, some Raph/Casey and Raph/Slash and Mikey/Leatherhead- but what about April?
Why isn’t there more fans supporting the idea that April could be a lesbian?
Its just as possible as Casey or any of the turtles being gay. What if the reason April hasn't outright picked or rejected either Casey or Donatello is because she likes girls but is in the closet? The Irish are typically catholic or protestant- not a lot of lgbt tolerance, so she may have grown up being taught it was wrong.
Plus Splinter comes from a traditional background and since homosexuality isn’t a subject that pops up every day over lunch (apparently) she has no idea what the turtle's views on it are.
Maybe Irma wasn’t just a 3rd wheel- maybe she was secretly April's girlfriend and the reason she accompanied Casey and April on what Casey called "dates" was because April didn’t know how to tell Casey without losing his friendship.
Maybe the reason April was so quick to warm up to "Harmony" is because she thought she was cute?
Instead of Leorai, how about Aprai? Kapril? Miril (Miwa/April)? Why can’t Karai/April be a thing? I think they'd look cute, plus those two are so sassy- the pillow talk and flirting would be epic- the stuff of legends- even the straightest, most southern state, bible thumping, republican prude would be turned on!
Anyone know any artists out there who have April/Karai fanart?
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with those other ships- it’s just for once I would like there to be more love for female characters WITHOUT having them be the damsel that falls for the hero in the cliché “no one has ever understood him but her” or “he saved me and I feel we have a deep connection” scenario. I feel the same way about Karai, Aloplex, Mona Lisa, Renet and Ninjara- I would like these characters a lot better if they were treated as more than just plot devices for a possible romance in order to gain more female readers.
I would like to see more female characters who AREN’T interested in the turtles in anyway other than just friends or enemies. Not every person with an XX Chromosome HAS to be a possible love interest for one of the main characters.
And I would like to remind all the yaoi fans out there who want to see more tolerance for the possibility of tmnt characters being GAY, that they should also be equally determined to see more tolerance for the possibility of female tmnt characters being lesbians.
You don’t have to like yuri, but it is unfair to say that it doesn’t deserve as much of a chance as yaoi or bara does (for those of you unfamiliar with Bara, it is also guy/guy shipping, except both men are depicted as being masculine and are more likely to switch positions rather than just a bold and pervy Seme who ALWAYS tops a smaller, shy and delicate Uke who looks suspiciously effeminate to the point that anyone who is not familiar with Japanese art styles would bet money that he is really a girl. Bara characters are both manly men who like manly men in the bedroom).
All I’m saying is that while Slash and Tcest is awesome, there are so many other interesting possibilities to explore- Lesbians, bisexuals, pansexuals, asexuals, demisexuals, transsexuals, gender neutral, gender fluid… If you are wanting to write or draw something new for the fandom but are hard up for ideas and think everything has been done to death, why not consider a possibility that is outside the norm? If for no other reason than to shake things up a bit or see if you CAN.
For example, I’ve seen some stories with Transgender turtles- turtles are born female but identify as male- catch is so far it’s always a GAY male that identify as… but why not a straight male?
Enjoy the drama/angst of the improbably love of Apritello? Try THIS plot bunny-
Donatello is a transsexual- he was born a female but prefers to identify as male and is attracted to females (even though biologically he is a girl, he wouldn’t be considered a lesbian because he sees himself as male just in the wrong body). Extra twist, April IS a lesbian- she is only attracted to females- long hair, breasts, vjays, total girl-on-girl ONLY lesbian. Hold the frank and beans please, she only eats hot-pockets (yeah, I went there). You would think this works out for Donatello(a) but it doesn’t, it is only MORE frustrating because he refuses to identify as a female, he HATES his female parts and doesn’t want anyone to see him as anything other than masculine- so even though being born in the wrong body means he’d have a better shot with the girl of his dreams (ok, the only girl he’s ever met) it doesn’t help him because he refuses to be feminine because it wouldn’t be true to himself. (also, yeah, he’s a turtle- April would prefer a human girl with nice squishy boobs).
Extra bonus, there is plenty of filler drama material you can add with his family, such as Leo trying to be a patient, good, supportive big bro, but not understanding why his “brother” can’t just accept what she is especially if she- er, “he” has romantic feelings towards a lesbian, why make things more difficult than they already are? (Instead of April feeling awkward about receiving unwanted attention from a guy, the only thing that would bother her would be the turtle thing).
Raph being frustrated because he knows that human/turtle relationships are impossible and damn all his luck that the only female of their species wants to be a guy and not even a GAY guy, why is the universe so unfair? So him going out of his way to make fun of Donatello during sparring is really just his way of venting his frustration that THAT is the only way he can gain Donnie’s attention, like a boy who is embarrassed that he REALLY likes a girl and the only way he can think of to get her attention is to pull her hair.
Mikey wanting to totally support his brainy “bro” while at the same time always making sure it’s what Donatello REALLY wants ‘cuz while he gets why D would want to be a boy- boys are awesome and get to do a lot of cool things that girls can’t do according to his reliable sources of tv and comic books, but he also thinks it would be fun to have his “bro” be his sister again cuz girls are pretty and he thinks it would also be fun to do girl things like dress up and stuff,( plus April is cool so how bad can being a girl really be? )But if D says he's a boy then the Mikester won’t judge.
And Splinter… well, I think he’d be stressed about it- He wouldn’t want to create drama in his home and he knows that arguing with his child over their gender will accomplish nothing other than making them both frustrated with each other and possibly leading to resentment (plus, it’s not like they go to public school and anyone will know) but at the same time, while he addresses all his children as his “sons” and chooses to ignore the subject, it DOES bother him because he grew up very traditionally and cannot comprehen why Donatella is so adamant that she is a “he” when CLEARLY her body is female- (lighter skin color than her brothers, taller-female aquatic turtles are bigger than males to accommodate eggs in their bodies, this is not the case for non-aquatic turtles and tortoises-, more slender like a human female would be, voice gets really high when emotional, even more so than Mikey) he might even feel saddened that Donnie insists on being a male because Splinter misses Miwa and while Donatella would not be a replacement, Splinter would very much enjoy having a daughter again- thus finding solace in training April.
-Possibly another source for frustration is Donatello’s weapon- maybe it’s not just that it’s a “stupid stick” that bothers him, but the fact that the Naginata, while it was originally used by both genders-( it was prominent in samurai households for the wife to use to protect herself while her husband was away because it kept her attackers as far away from her as possible), is now widely considered to be a FEMALE weapon, and is still taught to girls in Japan while boys learn to use more many weapons and sports like kendo.
Donnie’s dislike of his weapon could come from the fact that it is his Father’s subtle way of showing that while he may address Donatello as his “son” for the sake of keeping the peace in their home, he still regards him as his “daughter”.
Maybe even throw in some drama with none-main characters- Spike could probably smell that Donatello is a female, and as Slash he would know that ”he” is really a “she” and his animal instinct would tell him that it is pointless to pretend to be a gender that you are not, and so during that ep where Slash goes nuts and tries to off Raph’s bros you could have him be degrading to Donatello, making remarks about how it’s as plain as day how she is so obviously female and that pretending to be a male is just her pitiful way of trying to cover up how WEAK she is- later, when Slash is a good guy, you can make things hilariously awkward by Slash developing a crush on Donnie (the only female turtle around) which of course horrifies Donatello and confuses everyone who doesn’t know that “he” is really a “she”, making them think that big bad Slash is gay, which he’s not but he doesn’t care what they think, he’ll play along if it means he can get Donnie’s attention.
Also a great opportunity to throw in some family fluff of 3 overprotective brothers who don’t think Slash is good enough for their sister- er, I mean “brother”! And Donatello, though grateful that his bros are willing to run interference or try to barricade themselves in front of him to keep Slash from getting too close in case the larger turtle gets handsy, is also irritated because it makes him feel like a girl who has to run and ask her big strong brothers to protect her from some creepy guy that won’t stop hitting on her, but can’t really complain because as satisfying as it would be to just tell Slash off and sock him one in the jaw- he knows it would end BADLY for him because just like Leatherhead, Slash could shake him around like a ragdoll if he wanted to (pick your battles dude, pick your battles).
April probably wouldn’t know at first but always had a feeling that Donnie-boy wasn’t quite what he seemed, and by the time her psychic abilities really start to come under way she figures out the truth but is supportive and promises not to treat Donatello as anything other than male and promises not to tell Casey or anyone else.
AND, if you are a Apritello fan who also has the tendency to swing towards Jonatello from time to time, you can throw in Donnie’s rivalry with Casey (who definitely comes from a traditional family with a macho dad who is probably homophobic) Casey disliking Donnie because he see’s him as a rival for April’s affections (because he’s a bonehead who hasn’t figured out April is into chicks and April isn’t going to bother to tell him because she doesn’t want their friendship to become strained or awkward because she knows Casey was raised by a very intolerant dad, and even though Casey isn’t a jackass, she’s not ready to test how accepting and open-minded he can be just yet) but at the same time is very confused because something about Donnie feels “off” to him, like as much as he’d like to punch him in his stupid gap-toothed face, something makes him hesitate, which is odd ‘cuz he has nothing stopping him from beating on Raph when they roughhouse, but something about the purple banded turtle just makes the Hockey player feel it would be wrong to hit him, like, dishonorable even and it drives him crazy that he doesn’t know WHY (Casey was raised that boys don’t hit girls, and even though he doesn’t know Don is a girl, there is something about Don that just FEELS effeminate, like gaydar, sometimes you have transdar- where you can just TELL that a person wasn’t born the gender they identify as) and worst of all, sometimes, possibly after he’s had a few blows to the head, he actually thinks it’s almost kinda… cute when Donnie sticks his tongue between that stupid gap tooth of his when he’s concentrating- also driving Casey nuts cuz he’s TOTALLY not gay and guys are TOTALLY NOT cute!!
And for those of you who are 2003 fans and are bothered by the fact that 2012 Donnie doesn’t seem as calm and even tempered as his predecessor, this is a perfect excuse to blame 2012 Donatello’s lack of emotional control on hormones-
Turtles don’t menstruate so PMS isn’t quite the term I would use, but they DO have cycles twice a year, in the early spring and in the late summer where their hormones are high and they have to lay eggs, fertilized or not (sort of like how human girls shed their uterine lining if not impregnated once a month because the uterus prepares for a baby no matter what, female turtles create eggs in their body, and even if they don’t mate, those eggs have to come out) If you think life is hard for a male to female trans (and it is) imagine how frustrating it is for a female to male trans that has to deal with having a period.
Apply that to Donatello, a female to male trans who not only can do very little to disguise his female scent (which his brothers try their best to ignore but Slash does not), twice a year has to go through the humiliation and pain of laying eggs, AND still has to try to convince his father that he is a “son”. And as luck would have it, “he” has a major crush on…. A Lesbian. Yeah, that would make ANYONE a bit moody, don’t you think?
You see how much there is to work with?
This is just one example of thousands of possibilities to explore and discuss outside of your regular run of the mill hetero or homo ships.
I would love to see more discussion about branching out the fandom more to include these types of possibilities. It doesn’t have to be as big and dramatic as the example above- it can be small, baby steps.
And I think some sweet April and Karai love would be a nice place to start.
That is all…. FOR NOW.
