Analysis - Blog Posts

when you slow down this scene, there's a little detail that–while not really noticable–arin's reactions are a little later than the rest, and his facial expressions shift alot moreso than the others, showing how he's probably pretty unfocused

and with that detail, kai seems to be the one who's the most focused, as even nya and lloyd's expressions occasionally shift (lloyd being the most out of the three of them), while he stayed unchanged the entire time

My favorite thing about the dance sequences in this episode are all the subtle variations. It would have probably been easier for the animators to sync the character models to a uniform set movement but even in the final performance there are all these little details given to each ninja that really brings the whole episode to life

For instance here you can actually see Zane has his foot raised off the ground

I also noticed that occasionally he and Kai get ahead of Jay and Cole (with Zane being slightly faster at moving towards the next pose)

The start has Cole's stance as the widest, which makes sense because he needs to stand out for his own true potential episode!

I don't know what any of these moves are called, but I think it's interesting how Kai is more dramatic with the way he raises his shoulder- compared to Jay, whose performs the same move at a much softer angle

Me fr

Who wants to overthink legos with me? No? Too bad, here goes

Okay so do you ever think about how the circle is (accidentally) a recurring motif in Ninjago? A running list of examples:

Ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail, which is commonly represented in a circular shape and represents infinity with endless return. Thats how they defeat the Great Devourer, actually, by getting it to bite its own tail

The original shape of Ninjago before the FSM pangea'd it

Spinjitzu is essentially the process of weaponizing circular motion. Airjitzu is similar, and even creates a sphere of air/light around the user

In the earlier seasons, Lloyd's main attack involved creating balls of energy

The light from portals - time vortex, Traveler's Tea, the Blind Man's Eye, the Realm Crystal - tend to resemble vortexes

Dragons often have to spin in order to traverse realms

All the circle imagery in the Temple of Light

Jay and Nya's yin-yang badges

Yang's whole "close the circle" shtick

The dust circle that swirled around the ninja at the end of Skybound when Jay said his final wish and all of time was undone

Zane's old house is circular/cylindrical, and the camera spiral-zoomed on him when his memories returned

The architecture on Chen's island

The Celestial Clock

Flower petals circling around Lloyd when he met the FSM

In that flashback when Mystake was telling the story of the Oni and the Dragon, with the FSM creating a circular yin-yang symbol to represent the combining of both light and dark

This is a bit of a stretch, but Zane's notably circular power core

Kryptarium is a panopticon style, which is circular in design. On that note, the s8 Lloyd v Garmadon fight happening at Kryptarium. Lloyd was familiar with the usual procedure of saving Garm, only for that typical cycle of saving and losing his father as Garmadon throws him through the wall and out of the prison

Lots of fights actually have the camera pan in circles around the fighters

That little hand paint collage they all made at the end of season 10

The spiraling bioluminescence surrounding the FSM's corpse

Actually, lets take it a step further. Cycles of violence. Sins of the father. History repeating itself. Harumi and Loyd's backstories causing, opposing, and reflecting one another, with her ending where Lloyd began and vice versa. The inheritance of elemental power, something endlessly recursive. Generational trauma.

Not to mention theres a heavy emphasis on either breaking cycles or perpetuating them. Lloyd saying "I wont let it do to me what it did to you." Harumi saying "i want you to feel the emptiness i feel." Morro saying "I make my own destiny." The Overlord possessing the Great Devourer so it would bite Garmadon. Lloyd wanting to be like his father but then being a hero instead. Nya quoting her mother in her final moments. Again i repeat. Generational trauma.

Theres just. This overwhelming sense of recursion and cycles throughout the entire series, and im mad bc im like 90% sure the writers didnt do that intentionally. Im not smart enough to put it into words but if i think about this for too long im gonna start biting things

I’m so sleepy that I started rambling to one of my not-Ninjago friends about jay and bird symbolism. Do you know how much bird symbolism surrounds this man. There’s so much. So much bird stuff. Why is his animal a kraken and not a bird? Forever a mystery.

I'm never going to be ok about arin's porch swing

bEFORE WE HIT THE LAUNDROMAT

I FINISHED DECODING THE NINJIGMA MAZE AND I'M WAY TOO PROUD OF MYSELF BUT I DON'T CARE

(each colored section corresponds to one of the ninja: kai, jay, cole, zane, or nya. or the freaking walls. i'm on mobile so i don't have many colors to use rip me)

The original text reads as follows:

you h1ve uncovered the prophecy of the green n9nj1J the prophecy h1s been bur9ed deep w9|th9n zanes

3o459 as 9t ha | b55n bur95d | deep wit8in th5 3o4e o6 1ll t|8in7sJ for th5 proph5c|y o6 th5 gre5n

nin|j1 is th5 p|roph5cy o6 | lif5J it exp5n4s farth5r than th5 gre5n |ninja9 farth5r

than 1ll th5 re1lms o6 th5 known univ5rs5J t8is is but th5

st5p o6 an in6inite |sta9rway your| journ5|y

you re1l9ze | b57ins on3|e

Or, if you're not up for parsing All Of That Nonsense:

You have uncovered the prophecy of the green ninja. The prophecy has been buried deep within Zane's code, as it ha[s] been buried deep within the code of all things, for the prophecy of the green ninja is the prophecy of life. It exp[a]nds farther than the green ninja, farther than all the realms of the known universe. This is but the step of an infinite stairway your journey you realize begins once.

(brackets used where a letter was missing or typo-ed, even after deciphering)

@ the hagemans: WHAT DOES IT MEAN

I think a lot of the people who criticize SU for not showing us every character apologize out loud for something they did wrong and every bit of trauma recovery a character could have and every possible long, complicated, painful discussion characters could hold about their issues forget that... most of that shit would be boring as hell to watch in a cartoon. SU presents you the broad strokes, the moments that matter and can be made into an interesting 11 minute plotline, and expects you're smart enough to imagine that sometimes offscreen Steven has an hour long zoom call where he regurgitates show events to his therapist.

Can we. Can we talk about. Ok consider. We all know about kids developing trust issues because of their parents. But I almost feel sometimes like Zane is the reverse? Like his dad raised him completely isolated in the middle of the woods and then erased his memory and left him completely vulnerable and alone. And we know from his behavior, especially in the first seasons, that Zane has a hard time adapting to people and grasping social boundaries, which already sucks for him but I feel like the implications of his upbringing go a lot deeper than that? I know I already made a post that was really similar to this but I'm on a slightly different track rn so hear me out

Like I feel like, intentionally or not, he made Zane COMPLETELY dependant on him in every conceivable aspect and then (by giving him straight up amnesia) he abandoned him without what little preparation he might have had to set him up for the outside world. And in doing that he simultaneously made it practically impossible for him to develop normal, constructive relationships with other people and also failed to give him to ability to discern when to trust people and when to be wary of their intentions.

So basically he put him in a position where he would be completely defenseless and wouldn't have the emotional or social maturity to protect himself from exploitation or abuse. It's super heavily implied (if not outright stated) that Zane was essentially homeless for however long he was wandering around before Wu found him, and it's like??? Can you imagine how traumatic that probably was all on its own? And if anything serious happened to him during this period there's a strong likelihood that he doesn't even realize it was wrong.

It'd be super interesting to have a clearer look into how he functioned pre-season one and the types of experiences he must have had. Plus I think it could serve to give some background to some of his behaviors and thought processes. Also I want to project my trauma on him as is my god-given right as an american

Works Cited:

My feelings which are always correct every time

How do you imagine a kind of Skybound but in a timeline where the Jay main ship is Plasma?

i can’t imagine that it’s that different !

i probably need to rewatch skybound, but i think it’s pretty easy to separate the romance from the season if you just tweak some stuff . obviously it doesn’t erase the fact that it IS about romance, but you know

ramble under cut : )

instead of jay’s arc revolving around his feelings for nya, i think it would just be about him feeling insecure and doubtful in himself . his internal troubles are very easy to note if you pay even the smallest bit of attention to him and i doubt nadakhan would have any difficulty exploiting them . his first wish could easily still result in him being led to the truth about his birth parents because he could still wish that he wasn’t poor. he could still wish that he wasn’t born in a junkyard, because that is essentially one of jay’s biggest insecurities

i like to imagine that his “i wish that I wasn’t alone with you!” wish would summon kai instead of nya , for the romantic drama of course <3 but it wouldn’t make much of a difference, and i think it would still lead to kai being captured first , especially since nadakhan can tell jay is in love with kai . kick him to his knees from the start, and then he won’t put up as much of a fight

nadakhan would still be after nya because she looks like delara, but instead of jay being in love with nya and constantly talking about how she “isn’t into either of them”, he would just be defending nya . sticking up for her like he did with dareth, attempting to help her . this would probably drop the misogynistic subplot with jay taking his father’s advice, but he’d still be a lying punk because that’s just who jay is .

the ending, i think, would still be the same too . nya being desperate for her independence is not something exclusive to her romance with jay, so if jay had tried to be overbearing and help her at the start, i still think she wouldn’t have taken his hand. jay likely wouldn’t have said “it’s okay, we’re just having our first fight”. rather, something more platonic but nonetheless triggering to nya , albeit unintentionally.

i can’t reaaaally figure out what it is, but you know…

thus, when she dies, jay feels guilty because it is all his fault . he’s the one who caused it, and he would be distraught over that fact. he would likely wish for nya to take his hand not out of any romantic implications, but because he wants things to go back to the way they were, before he ruined everything

i would sprinkle in a few plasma moments here and there though <3 jay getting flustered and panicky whenever kai finds his father’s estate, kai being worried about jay when they all finally get out of the djinn blade and pulling him aside to ask what happened to him, yada yada

i’m sorry if this wasn’t the response you were expecting ! these are just my thoughts : ) this is a really cool ask and i had a lot of fun thinking about it though so tysm anon! sending you lots of fruit ! ❤️💙

c!Wilbur analysis/rant :))

It’s easy to write c!wilbur off as power-hungry and manipulative, but it’s all a matter of perspective.

(For simplicity’s sake, when I say “Wilbur” just assume I’m talking abt the character unless I say otherwise) (also, this is my perception of the character and may not be entirely accurate) (also this is really long I’m sorry)

So honestly I’m fairly sure the paranoia started at the very first war of L’manburg. Even prior to that, Wilbur was clearly stressed about conflict (mostly due to Tommy’s recklessness) and even just presidency in general. But especially when the conflicts built into a war, Wilbur had a large fear of appearing vulnerable (to his people and to Dream). He was afraid of being perceived as weak and being taken advantage of as a result. (keep in mind they also experienced a brutal betrayal amidst all of this, so naturally he’s afraid that his control is slipping). But basically his goal was to provide L’manburg with a respectable leader to make sure Dream doesn’t see their weakness as an opening.

So when it came to the election, I’d say he rigged it out of desperation more than anything. The desperation to maintain control over the decisions L’manburg makes because he’s afraid of leaving it up to anyone else (naturally). This meant that when Schlatt was suddenly the one in control, he was immediately terrified that he could no longer influence anything important such as the tides of war. And literally not even ten minutes later, it got worse. Suddenly, he had no power at all, as he was now driven out of the only place he had ever felt safe.

During exile, one of his biggest nightmares came true. He was vulnerable. Exposed. Physically and mentally. And at this point, it was obvious that his paranoia spiked. At this point, the pressure of trying to be a hero had weighed on him so much that he was practically forced into the role of the villain.

This fear continues through the entire Pogtopia era, as he’s still got himself convinced that he has no power over anything (hence his lack of action during the execution at the Manburg festival). Getting the tnt from Dream was, once again, a desperate action. By allowing Dream to use/treat him as a vassal, he really just wants a reason to be important again. To be useful, like he no longer can in (L’)Manburg. Keep in mind there was also the additional pressure of leading a rebellion, and balancing that with trying to provide for Dream.

When he destroyed L’manburg, it was more out of frustration and exhaustion rather than hatred. He said “if I can’t have this no one can, Phil”, implying that he’s tired of everything being taken from him. He also says that “there was a special place”, which probably means that he’s afraid of L’manburg affecting people the way it affected him.

He also could have done it out of the overwhelming need to feel important. By making such an impact on the server, he can maintain what little remnants of power he has left. Due to exhaustion, he wanted to die, but at the very least he wanted his story to live on, and at this point he’d do anything to make it happen (once again, desperation). His death wasn’t one of escape, it was one of release. He didn’t do it to run away from consequences, though he was obviously oblivious to what he’d have to go through in limbo. You can also tell because as he’s stood at the button, when Phil arrives, there’s clear stress in his voice, not at being caught, but at the fact that for the 8/9th time, he can’t help himself like he so desperately wants to do. However, when that stress dies down and he realises that he can still do it, there’s nothing but pure relief and resolution in his voice. He’s glad that, for the first time in his life, he finally has a symphony that he can finish.

Then limbo happens, and bam, Revivebur. Now he hasn’t been around nearly as long, so there’s not much to say, but anyway. About the manipulation thing, again, it’s all about control. His fear of not having and power over anything obviously carried over into the afterlife. It’s really just the whole concept (which could be considered as a sentence mechanism) of gaining control over others before they can control you. Of course this doesn’t entirely justify outright manipulating people, but it gives you a better idea of why he might be doing it rather than “he’s evil and wants nothing but power over everyone”. You can also tell by how much he enjoys his conflict with Quackity that he’s just excited to finally feel in control of conflict again for the first time in (most likely) years.

Or cc!Wilbur really just want to be a cool villain, who knows.

That concludes my rant that I’ve recited to myself more times than I can count. My fingers hurt. Thank you :)

hey since you’ve posted two pieces in a row about my boy Scout I was wondering if maybe you could write more your thoughts/your hcs about him? I think he’s really interesting and I don’t often see people realize that he’s more complex that what he seems, like this man just seems very sad inside. i really like your analyses and your takes are some of my favorites

hope you have a good day!

Appreciate it! Although I probably won't say anything particularly new... Okay, let's talk about Scout!

Though he no doubt wears the persona of a confident cool guy, protecting his ego from vulnerability, I wouldn't say there's sadness inside him. More accurate would be fear.

People with sadness baggage are pretty passive and quiet. And Scout's reaction is to hit, run, scare away, cling anxiously to the object of security. That's fear. He's fearful.

He doesn't think about it much, he's a pretty happy guy in the environment he's in. But if something makes him go off the rails and he starts, God forbid, thinking.....

His core fear is not living up to his place in the world. He knows there's a place for him, but for some reason he feels like people think he's not good enough to take it. Anyone better and stronger could take his place at any time. He's on bird's rights here.

Growing up with older brothers, being not good at school, being the smallest and youngest mercenary of the team, this feeling doesn't leave him ever. It's a tiresome inner struggle: "How do I make my stay secure?", "How do I become worthy?"

Falling into this cognitive trap of searching for self validation in the outside world instead of inside of himself, he was doomed to be stuck in ambivalence:

To continue to pretend, risking being exposed as an imposter, or to be sincere and inevitably endure the unbearable pain of rejection and loneliness?

He laughs and taunts and overexplains himself so much. He clings to the only thing he's better than everyone at. He overcompensates; he demands attention and tries to make himself bigger. He hates being alone as it basically feels like being actually pushed off his place in the world. He clings to people but immediately pushes them away for being too dangerously close to finding out his fears. He needs to be with everyone to know and to control what they think about him.

And it never makes him calm down anyway, since all those efforts take a lot of energy. Tiresome to be, tiresome to pretend. And the prize is nowhere near the sight.

This loop of pain will never end, unless he breaks the very core mindset of his. The answer is stepping into this fear, but he can't even think about it! It feels like death! His ego will die and it's going to feel like he's dying as a whole.

A full existential, primal fear of an child to be rejected by his parent. "Not worthy of living".

(Based on the Lise Bourbeau's model of 5 soul wounds: Abandonment)

One thing I love

Is how Sam has this just bonkers, bananas, insane attachment to Dean, that's also just entirely unexamined by him.

Like, it's a bit different on Dean's end. Dean is absolutely ludicrously attached to Sam as well, but Dean *knows* this. He talks about how "watching out for Sam" is his job and identity. He talks about how he knows he goes too far for him. He even acknowledges sometimes that he knows it isn't a normal or healthy way to be.

But then Sam. Intellectual, rational, introspective, analytical Sam. Sam the "more independent" brother. Sam the "selfish" brother. Sam who left, Sam who ran, Sam who maybe could have lived a normal life.

That guy started combing through John's journal halfway through Season 1, looking for a way to magick Dean out of dying. *He never even attempted this for Jess*. Jess died, he grieved. Dean was going to die, Sam's brain just did one big "NOPE!" And he never asked himself why that was.

And so it's gone throughout the series. Dean's in danger, Dean's gone, Sam loses his mind. Dean rejects him - or Sam just thinks Dean's rejecting him - Sam loses his mind some more. But... for a guy who seems really self-aware in other ways, prior to Season 11 the most he'd ever say would be a shrug and "He's my brother." It's almost like it doesn't even occur to Sam that this is something he maybe *should* examine. Like to him, if course anyone would react to their sibling's death that way (but not a spouse's death? Jess didn't raise that level of insanity in him). Of course the proper response to your brother being disappointed in you is to want to kill yourself. There's nothing to think about.

Dean knows it isn't normal. But to Sam, it doesn't even register.

Even later, when he had examined this enough to tell Dean they had to chill out a bit on the whole ending-the-world-to-save-each-other thing. He still told his mother that he and Dean only hug when it's "literally the end of the world." The fact that he didn't catch the inaccuracy of that comment, the fact that that's really what Sam thinks, is fascinating. This guy is usually a relatively reliable narrator. He's usually pretty good at seeing things as they are and not distorting. But he processed "Dean and I hug when death is on the line" as "We hug when the world is ending", and he didn't even catch that he did that. He didn't realize he had conflated "Dean dying" with "world ending." And that is so completely *not normal* for Sam in any other way.

Like, Dean is aware that he's bonkers where Sam is concerned, and he's aware of the pros and cons of being that way. Sam's out there straight-up stabbing people and drinking demon blood and releasing Darkness, saying "Well yeah, he's my brother." And that disconnect, in a guy who spends his life trying to know everything, is just... Agh.

Man I love Galaxy Quest so much, it has got to be my favorite parody movie ever because it’s more than a parody. The best example is “by Grabthar’s hammer, by Suns of Warvan, you shall be Avenged”. When we think of parody, we think of taking something that takes itself seriously, and turning it into a joke, but with “Grabthar’s hammer” it’s the exact opposite. When it is first introduced, it is a corny, cheesy nonsense line that Alexander Dane despises because it’s stupid, humiliating, and wastes his talent. Yet when it comes time to comfort his greatest admirer in his final moments, he turns it into the beautiful line in the whole movie.

So a lot of people are saying “Vi called Caitlyn ‘Cupcake’ and she folded”

But I think the real thing she said that made Caitlyn change sides is “I’m trying to save my dad”

Vi has gotten a miracle, someone she loves has come back from the dead. Caitlyn knows how much someone would want that, how badly it would hurt if it was taken away. And she just can’t bring herself to do that to a person who, despite her efforts to push them away, she is still in love with.

Life Is Strange 1, 2(kinda) and Double Exposure Reveal Livestream Spoilers Ahead!!!

Max is genuinely so traumatized no matter what ending you choose. Girl watched Chloe die, saved her, was attacked by Nathan, stalked by Nathan, investigated a murder, saw her best friend’s, best friend’s dead body, was kidnapped and drugged, possibly watched her friend commit suicide/talker her friend out of it, went through the nightmare sequence which was a whole thing into itself, and so much more, not to mention the end choice.

With the upcoming game, Double Exposure, I’m really interested to see how Max’s trauma carries over into the game. Obviously im hoping she’s healed, but considering the blackout that happened after taking a picture of the owl in the extended gameplay, I’m seeing traces of possible PTSD with the flashback.

While that could be interpreted as an event from the future, it could also be seen as a flashback, as the dialogue seems familiar to the end when Max reflects on the tornado.

“Max!” -Possibly Chloe calling for her or someone else?

“I cause this! I caused all of this!” -I could be wrong, but that sounds more like young Max then the more matured voice we see in Double Exposure.

Anyways, that’s all on that part.

I’ve seen a lot of people worried about Chloe not making an appearance, possibly having an offscreen break up.

“Is this about the blue haired girl whose picture you keep in your wallet?” -Safi in reference to a picture of Chloe

“We were just friends —— We were high school sweethearts” -Choices in response to this question.

I’d like to start off by saying, both options are in past tense. Chloe and Max’s connection, while romantic, is also rooted in a deep platonic love as well that blossomed into something more. If nothing else, they would’ve stayed in touch as friends.

I’d also like to point out that Safi says BLUE HAIRED GIRL.

In LIS 2, there is a photo of Max and Chloe (depending on players choice at the end LIS 1) where Chloe is alive, with Max, and with green hair. So if this is considered canon, which is likely, then Chloe doesn’t have blue hair anymore. In the livestream the photo Safi possibly references is also seen, and it’s Chloe with her old hairstyle in a Polaroid format, and not one that Max took. If they had just broken up, it would be more logical for Max to have a newer one, in digital format, considering that’s what she uses now. Not to mention that I believe in another scene there IS a digital photo that Max holds, paralleling the scene of her holding the Polaroid one.

Anywho, I think it’s safe to assume that this scene with Safi is taken from the Bay ending, where Chloe is no longer with us.

It’s worth mentioning that Max may just not want to open up to Safi about such a traumatic and personal part of her life just yet, considering she’s only known her 6 months.

In conclusion, Chloe is going to be in the game, at least objectively for sure, as the creators directly stated they honor the players decision. If no ending is canon, then they obviously wanna appeal to the player, which would include honoring the bond between Max and Chloe that the players love and cherish.

I may be looking too far into this, trying to hold out hope, but I’m going off of what I’ve got. So excited for this game!!!

I’m gonna read this every day

Growing up, like most of us, I only saw neurotypical cishet people on TV, most of them white. I rarely saw gay characters who weren't stereotyped side characters used for the "gay best friend" or the "butch lesbian" to poke fun at or the "bisexual who only likes the same sex for attention". I never saw genderqueer people who weren't used for some kind of humor or sad backstory and they were rarely respected when they even existed. Neurodivergent folks were always for humor such as the "ADHD kid bouncing off the walls and OOH SQUIRREL" or for angst such as the "autistic person who exists solely for angst and to be bullied by others." I never got to see someone like me in the media.

And now we're in a point in history where we get to watch this show.

The main character is bisexual, neurodivergent, and afro latina.

The love interest is a lesbian with a rough past and abusive parents.

The best friends are a burnt out gifted kid raised by a single dad and a girl with two dads and self esteem issues. Both of which are people of color.

The love interest has a brother who's dating someone who uses they/them pronouns.

The mother figure is bisexual with a chronic illness.

The mother figure's love interest is a nonbinary performer with stage fright and a person of color.

The mother figure's mom used to be an anti-vaxxer before she learned to understand and respect her daughter and her chronic illness.

The principal has a disability and genuinely cares for his students.

Several of the 'mean' characters have gotten realistic character growth in which they acknowledge that they did wrong, address it, and grow.

Several side characters are seen with same-sex partners, various skin colors, and disabilities.

They/them pronouns are used regularly used both for folks who use them and folks whose pronouns are unknown.

And none of these facts cloud any of the characters or are used for humor or anything like that. In this world, homophobia, racism, transphobia, and ableism flat out don't exist.

I have cried happy tears several times to my mom and my friends about how amazing it is that such an inclusive show exists. Not only is the plot incredible and the animation beautiful but it raises a more inclusive generation.

Young children are turning on Disney Channel and seeing that it's okay and normal to be disabled, neurodivergent, queer, transgender, a person of color, chronically ill, or from a "different" family dynamic. That it's never to late to grow and change as a person.

I would give anything to have had a show like this growing up. To turn on my favorite tv station to see that it was okay to be myself. That there's not just one way to be myself. To be able to see myself in the characters on my screen.

Dana Terrace and the team have made such massive contributions to the history of progress and inclusivity and I cannot express my appreciation enough.

EDIT: 1. True, Boscha has made no changes as of yet, I used that picture because I personally thought that scene seemed to hint that she has the possibility of change and I couldn't find a screencap of Matt that effectively showed his change. 2. True, there is some ableism as far as the magic abilities go (I.E. Eda's curse) but I meant as far as ableism that related to disabilities in reality, sorry for the confusion. 3. Thank you for everyone giving me suggestions and reminders as to things to add! I put what I could remember when I wrote it and didn't expect this post to blow up so much so thank you to everyone giving me suggestions to show how amazing this show is!

Also this show is called The Owl House and you can watch season 1 and the first few episodes of season 2 on Disney+! ♡

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.'

is anyone else seeing this

I haven’t seen many people talk about how Aaravos had isolated Claudia from Terry (her really good and healthy boyfriend who was her emotional support system) to lowkey make her dependent on him

Like Aaravos not only was the one who convinced Claudia not to tell Terry the truth about the Garden of Innocence which led to their breakup even though Claudia had clearly wanted to tell him and would’ve had Aaravos not interfered but he also told Terry about her not telling him (leaving out the fact that he TOLD HER not to) so he WOULD leave because he knew Terry wouldn’t have wanted that situation for him or Claudia even though Aaravos did not need to tell him for any other reason other then getting him to leave

I wish more people would acknowledge Argenti’s asceticism outside of how it would impact a potential romantic relationship because it is a LIFESTYLE of abstaining from all indulgences/worldly pleasures not just acts of carnal desire.

Like what about the fact that it’s why he chooses to live in poverty, what about the fact that it’s most likely the reason why he doesn’t really enjoy the IPC’s grand feasts, what about the fact that he had lived through so much war through his childhood that the poverty and stuff probably isn’t anything new?? Like I love Genti ships very dearly but his asceticism adds a whole lot more to his character than just his romantic relationships (same with Sunday’s asceticism because I see so few talk about it for some reason??)

Medrano was trying so hard writing a family she wrote perfect Stockholm syndrome victim

So, first things first, let’s clarify what Stockholm syndrome is.

«Sometimes, people who are held prisoner or are subject to abuse can have feelings of sympathy or other positive feelings toward the abuser. This seems to happen over days, weeks, months, or years of captivity and close contact to the abuser.

Someone who has Stockholm syndrome might have confusing feelings toward the abuser, including: Love, Sympathy, Empathy, Desire to protect them.»

As we already found out, Loona spent her whole life in fear of losing basic necessities like a roof over her head, personal connections with others, sleep, and safety. This, without any exaggeration, creates psychological pressure and a relationship dynamic that cannot be considered healthy. I delve deeper into this in my other analysis of Loona and Blitz's relationship.

So, what do we see here? Loona was threatened with losing her abuser, and she developed empathy for him in the blink of an eye.

Suddenly, she forgets all the terrible things Blitz put her through, and just like that, she loves her "daddy." Not only that, but Vivzie, a supposed genius character writer, has the audacity to clarify, “Loona really has fun spending time with her family, she hates to admit it though.”

Did she even had a choice?

My girl was abused so heavily that she’s gone mad… truly mad.

source

hey since you’ve posted two pieces in a row about my boy Scout I was wondering if maybe you could write more your thoughts/your hcs about him? I think he’s really interesting and I don’t often see people realize that he’s more complex that what he seems, like this man just seems very sad inside. i really like your analyses and your takes are some of my favorites

hope you have a good day!

Appreciate it! Although I probably won't say anything particularly new... Okay, let's talk about Scout!

Though he no doubt wears the persona of a confident cool guy, protecting his ego from vulnerability, I wouldn't say there's sadness inside him. More accurate would be fear.

People with sadness baggage are pretty passive and quiet. And Scout's reaction is to hit, run, scare away, cling anxiously to the object of security. That's fear. He's fearful.

He doesn't think about it much, he's a pretty happy guy in the environment he's in. But if something makes him go off the rails and he starts, God forbid, thinking.....

His core fear is not living up to his place in the world. He knows there's a place for him, but for some reason he feels like people think he's not good enough to take it. Anyone better and stronger could take his place at any time. He's on bird's rights here.

Growing up with older brothers, being not good at school, being the smallest and youngest mercenary of the team, this feeling doesn't leave him ever. It's a tiresome inner struggle: "How do I make my stay secure?", "How do I become worthy?"

Falling into this cognitive trap of searching for self validation in the outside world instead of inside of himself, he was doomed to be stuck in ambivalence:

To continue to pretend, risking being exposed as an imposter, or to be sincere and inevitably endure the unbearable pain of rejection and loneliness?

He laughs and taunts and overexplains himself so much. He clings to the only thing he's better than everyone at. He overcompensates; he demands attention and tries to make himself bigger. He hates being alone as it basically feels like being actually pushed off his place in the world. He clings to people but immediately pushes them away for being too dangerously close to finding out his fears. He needs to be with everyone to know and to control what they think about him.

And it never makes him calm down anyway, since all those efforts take a lot of energy. Tiresome to be, tiresome to pretend. And the prize is nowhere near the sight.

This loop of pain will never end, unless he breaks the very core mindset of his. The answer is stepping into this fear, but he can't even think about it! It feels like death! His ego will die and it's going to feel like he's dying as a whole.

A full existential, primal fear of an child to be rejected by his parent. "Not worthy of living".

(Based on the Lise Bourbeau's model of 5 soul wounds: Abandonment)