I'm bored, let's talk about April O'Neil

[Coola Yagami]

So what do you think her safe word would be?

[Last Ronin]

Last Ronin.

Close the thread it's done.

[Coola Yagami]

Alright, alright. Seriously though.

What other kind of job would a modern day April have? Is the next version gonna be a (Twitch-Parody) streamer? A pizzeria owner? Maybe an antique owner, expect the store is actually open so she's actually running it and selling stuff?

[Leo656]

If she's serious about making money in a post-COVID economy, she'll be a webcam girl.

I'm dead serious, it's pretty much down to that or "waitress", now. Those are the only two things any chick *I* know is doin' for money right now. And I can't see April slingin' hash, call me crazy.

[Last Ronin]

Hhmmm.... modern day April. Well, she'd for sure have a YouTube channel of turtle news maybe, maybe an only fans where she shows the turtles in real close up shots, and making damn Tik Tok videos.

Or a street artist wondering the streets and that's why she knows the underground and relays information to the Turtles.

If someone says hooking I swear to Turtle Jesus.

[Coola Yagami]

If someone says hooking I swear to Turtle Jesus.

Pretty sure a cartoon won't be able to get away with that.

Yeah, imagine a new TMNT cartoon but during this era, and you still see people walking around with masks and 6-foot rule and all that jazz.

[Last Ronin]

Oh that's a good one. Would cartoons actually depict the masks and social distancing or not.

[Coola Yagami]

I do wonder why they try to not make April a reporter in newer versions. I guess it's just to make it as different to the 80's version as possible. But I mean, it always made sense to me cause it's the perfect way for her to gather info for the Turtles.

I wonder how long it would take for them to add another adult April to the series and not another teen/kid.

[Leo656]

Yeah, I always prefer her being a reporter just because it gives her more of a reason to be there. When she's a lab assistant there's really not much reason to involve her after the Stockman arc, especially since Donnie's already the Science Nerd and you don't need two. I think it's telling in those versions how after she breaks away from Stockman she usually kinda meanders in and out of the plot without much direction and the writers struggle to give her anything to do.

Like, just let her be a reporter. That's what everybody generally assumes she is anyway and it gives a built-in excuse to keep her around. I know that's not what she was originally but there's really no reason to keep her around otherwise. It's just easier that way.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

I'd think being a reporter is one of the better Fred Wolf contributions. It makes sense, and it ties her to the plot as well as allows an organic way to introduce new plots AND include her in the action.

Like you say, if she's a techie and survives the Mousers, well, what then? Open an antique store, fix up a farmhouse, have an existential crisis, fly to LA and try on new clothes with her sister?

[Coola Yagami]

Exactly, April becomes kinda redundant after the initial 'meeting the Turtles' and her first story arc. OK, she loses her job due to her boss being jailed, but they could have given her another job somehow relevant to the story. I kinda think they got her with Casey just so that.... well both of them could be somewhat relevant since Casey doesn't usually last too long as a vigilantee past his first arc either.

April's reporter job kept her in the story without magically making her a ninja or having powers.

[Leo656]

Like you say, if she's a techie and survives the Mousers, well, what then? Open an antique store, fix up a farmhouse, have an existential crisis, fly to LA and try on new clothes with her sister?


Aaaaand you can still do all that stuff just as well if she's a reporter. Might have to juggle a few things but you can more or less do all that.

Some things just evolve. Like "everybody knows" that Jimmy Olsen is a photographer, but Did You Know that's a very recent development in the grand scheme of things? S'truth! From the 1940s through the late-1980s, he was in fact a "cub reporter", and even occasionally a broadcast journalist. He occasionally worked a camera but it was never his main function. It wasn't until an arc in 1991-1993 when he was fired from the Daily Planet due to cutbacks and got a job at Newstime Magazine as a photo-journalist that it became his main function, and even then, didn't become solidified as his "main job" until he took the photo of Superman and Doomsday punching each other to death outside the front door of the Daily Planet. "Everybody knows" he's a photographer and most assume that's always been the case, but very much not so. That's just where the concept of his character organically evolved to over time.

Point being, "So-and-so should always be ________ because that's what they did first" shouldn't always apply as a hard rule. It depends on what makes more sense to the story and you can let things bend a little bit.

[Sumac]

I like April being a reporter for the aforementioned reasons - being more involved with a story and more of an actual protagonist. It also would justify her acquiring some fighting skills along the way.

I think, writers often toss April being a reporter away, since they are "trying" to be closer to the source material or at least not to repeat FW series, which stuck in a weird limbo, where it has a stigma for being too childish, while at the same time being the most popular TMNT incarnation.

Teenage modern April would've been a blogger. Adult - a freelance reporter, I think.

[neatoman]

What's Karai's safeword?

[Last Ronin]

What's Karai's safeword?

Not my father

[garsh]

April as a news reporter is way too much of a comic book cliche for my liking. I don't see why she has to have a certain career as a cheap device to get her in on the action. Just knowing the turtles puts her in a unique position. She's part of their lives. Whatever is going on with them involves her by association. She's supposed to be their sort-of liaison to human society. I think if such a situation really happened -- trying to look after the daily needs of five homeless people who must remain invisible -- that alone would be more than enough to keep a person very busy.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

April as a news reporter is way too much of a comic book cliche for my liking. I don't see why she has to have a certain career as a cheap device to get her in on the action. Just knowing the turtles puts her in a unique position. She's part of their lives. Whatever is going on with them involves her by association. She's supposed to be their sort-of liaison to human society. I think if such a situation really happened -- trying to look after the daily needs of five homeless people who must remain invisible -- that alone would be more than enough to keep a person very busy.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[PizzaPower1985]

I'm a techie... I know computers, techie-jargon, basic programming and coding... I'd like to see her be a cpu tech/programmer ala the original books!

Here's the thing tho... in our time, they could do so many cool things with that. They could literally make her an Oracle/Babs Gordon for the TMNT! She would be outstanding in that capacity... However, it might piss off some of you reactionary fans who don't believe in strong women or still want April to be put in her place as a woman and be a damsel in distress. You also cant really be a master techie and be a teenager (unless you're some weird Asian stereotype who has amassed a $100 mill. fortune at 16 years old).

She being a reporter works well in the 1990 film because Hoag was and is a strong woman. The cartoon version was little more than a nice rack in a yellow jumpsuit... until Red Sky maybe, she couldnt be taken seriously.

[Coola Yagami]

What's Karai's safeword?

Leonardo?

10 characters

[Shark_Blade]

I’d say scientist is still a cool job for her. News reporter is still relevant too.

What’s Casey Jones’ safeword?

Shredder’s safeword? His favourite positions?

Leatherhead’s safeword?

Let that sink in.

[PizzaPower1985]

April as a news reporter is way too much of a comic book cliche for my liking. I don't see why she has to have a certain career as a cheap device to get her in on the action. Just knowing the turtles puts her in a unique position. She's part of their lives. Whatever is going on with them involves her by association. She's supposed to be their sort-of liaison to human society. I think if such a situation really happened -- trying to look after the daily needs of five homeless people who must remain invisible -- that alone would be more than enough to keep a person very busy.

I CAN agree with that... Still, she needs some sort of career that might give her an edge, a talent or skill that can somehow assist the TMNT in their lives.

[Sumac]

April as a news reporter is way too much of a comic book cliche for my liking. I don't see why she has to have a certain career as a cheap device to get her in on the action. Just knowing the turtles puts her in a unique position. She's part of their lives. Whatever is going on with them involves her by association. She's supposed to be their sort-of liaison to human society. I think if such a situation really happened -- trying to look after the daily needs of five homeless people who must remain invisible -- that alone would be more than enough to keep a person very busy.
Being reporter makes her more involved in a life beside TMNT, IMO.
Like having her own supporting cast and relationships, without relying on Turtles being everything she knows.

[Coola Yagami]

Being reporter makes her more involved in a life beside TMNT, IMO.
Like having her own supporting cast and relationships, without relying on Turtles being everything she knows.

That's true. Any other April has been a loner and has nothing really going on other the Turtles. While I blame the budget restraints, even 2012 April had no real friends at school other than Casey and Irma.

At least the 80's cartoon gave April a boss, a friend, and a fellow reporter to compete against. She had other priorities besides the Turtles, like keeping her job.

[garsh]

Being reporter makes her more involved in a life beside TMNT, IMO.
Like having her own supporting cast and relationships, without relying on Turtles being everything she knows.

Of course, but is there something in particular about the news reporter role that you think is more compelling than others?

I'm not suggesting she shouldn't have a career at all, only that it doesn't need to be one predicated on putting her "in the action". She's already involved by virtue of her acquaintance with the turtles.

In fact, it might be better if she had a job that specifically gave her plenty to be involved with other than the turtles. That way she'd be a more layered, believable character. April would automatically be more engaging if she faced a realistic struggle of trying to balance her "real life" against her motivation to want to help her strange, secret friends.

For my taste, I would prefer her occupation to be something fairly mundane, but most definitely low profile. I find fiction a lot less interesting when the characters are public figures, like world leaders or even civic servants, like police and doctors.

[oldmanwinters]

I just feel like posting this here because I'm proud to have played a role in bringing it to life:
KaoTqsiO1uU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaoTqsiO1uU

[Sumac]

Of course, but is there something in particular about the news reporter role that you think is more compelling than others?
It gives access to the information, which might help Turtles.

It can be OK, if she is some sort of "walking encyclopedia on world matters" or if this role is taken by another character, though.

I feel, like it makes not only her own character with her ow life, but also useful to Turtles as more than just "guide to normal life", so to speak.