Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1255374-20150613052057/@comment-995426-20150803144152

Well, the panic attack that started yesterday (my worst in months), seems to have peaked. They can be really unpredictable; if I knew a foolproof way how not to have them, I've never have them. XD Anyway.

Jadepalacetrainee:

Thank you at least for recognizing that I wasn't just seeing things.

Recently, the author of a webcomic I've been reading, Wuffle, revealed the sexual orientation of the main character: "panromantic asexual". In that he romantically loves everyone, but doesn't want to bed any of them. It seems that Mikey indeed has a thing for Renet. But are you suggesting that maybe Mikey is panromantic, like Wuffle? (Though not asexual.)

One of my friends suggested yesterday that Mikey probably was in love with Leatherhead, but may not have fully understood the implications of what he was feeling because of his youthful inexperience. He seems to understand the heart pretty well, but he may not yet fully understand what it means to be in love. Whatever went down, the animators showed us more than enough character body language we needed to give us the impression we've had.

The same friend also suggested that TV shows tend to gain a bigger risk of character derailment with the more new characters they keep introducing. Looking back at some other long-running shows, I see how they and their characters were retooled again and again. And if you watched it as a rapid succession of TV reruns, it looked like they just couldn't make up their minds.

Still, while I thought I was prepared for Mikey falling in love with Renet, I was floored by the sheer speed by which the episode had this happening. Donnie had an infatuation with April, but April hasn't appeared to have made up her mind. Leo had an inafuation with Karai, but that came with its own set of complications. Raph and Slash started out already loving each other, but Slash and Destroy created a lot of baggage for them, which dragged out for some time. And back in the day, Mikey and Leatherhead made us blush with their unsubtle affections, but its show-don't-tell approach made it seem more special. But here comes Renet, and it's "I like you", "I like you too", "is this our first date?", "let's meet again", all in under 30 minutes. It felt not only rushed, but cheaply manufactured. Talk about "poorly-written fanfiction"&mdash;that's what this felt like. It seemed like what the tropes wikis would call a "shallow love interest."

I can see how Renet's introduction and pairing with Mikey was a nod to fans of other Greg Cipes-Ashley Johnson character pairings. But I was never a fan of any of those other shows to begin with, so I cared little about that. This felt more like some kind of awkward fan service than actual character development. Maybe I keep expecting too much in the way of character development from this show, but some of my favorite episodes in the past had very good character development. I keep wanting more of that.