Do you believe the TMNT exist?

[Aignatius]

Yes, it's a strange question, but given some of the conversations I've seen, I'm wondering if people are really truly believing the Turtles exist, or if it's just a fantasy and they are immersed in role-playing.

I'm not asking this to make fun of anyone, it's out of sincere curiosity.

You don't have to reply to this thread, you can answer the poll anonymously if you want.

[Leonardo the 2nd]

I am the one saying that they are only fictional. I don't believe that they really exist. Otherwise I think people would laugh at me...

What do you think yourself, Aig?

[LenniluvsBrian]

I clicked the second option - though, I almost picked the first.


I still hold onto the childhood belief that they DO exist, as it makes me feel just a little bit safer when I'm out walking or whatever. And every time I see a sewer, I can't help but grin & walk over it, if possible. We've a manhole in our ditch, but it's only to cover some stupid hole - lol. But, I remember in North Bay when looking down a sewer lid, I saw Raphael's three-fingered hand reaching up for me! I s wear it! Sure, it was probably my imagination playing tricks on me, but what an Awesome trick!!!!!! This is all despite the fact TMNT lives in New York City & I live up in Ontario, Canada - haha.


~Lenni~

[Aignatius]

What do I think? I see them as fictional, based on many aspects of "realness". It's a big universe out there. No telling what is in it. We know next to nothing in comparison with what could be, so who am I to say if something really exists or not? To say something doesn't exist because we haven't seen it is to limit oneself of the possibilities of something like it existing somewhere.
As somebody who creates fictional creatures, I'd say they have to exist in another plane, something you can only tap into, in an internal, implicit sense.
I don't believe that we can make something out of nothing, so there has to be some kind of connection to something else that causes one to come up with what they come up with.
And what is it about them that makes people like them so much? They hit home in a way I can't really describe.

That's the best I can do with putting that into words.  

[Aignatius]

I clicked the second option - though, I almost picked the first.


I still hold onto the childhood belief that they DO exist, as it makes me feel just a little bit safer when I'm out walking or whatever. And every time I see a sewer, I can't help but grin & walk over it, if possible. We've a manhole in our ditch, but it's only to cover some stupid hole - lol. But, I remember in North Bay when looking down a sewer lid, I saw Raphael's three-fingered hand reaching up for me! I s wear it! Sure, it was probably my imagination playing tricks on me, but what an Awesome trick!!!!!! This is all despite the fact TMNT lives in New York City & I live up in Ontario, Canada - haha.


~Lenni~

In my childhood, I had a very vivid imagination. I've never really lost that. I know of people who can still think that way, and some have become quite successful at putting their imagination to work.
I had a mind's eye that has seen many things. I thought nothing of "seeing"-- not hallucinating mind you, but seeing in my imagination's eye-- dragons of all kinds. Usually small ones. They'd be everywhere. It made me feel happy to know they were flitting about, and nobody else could see them. I never pointed them out to anyone, because they existed in my inner world. A bit like taking a photograph, (the real world) and putting an animated overlay over it, which was my imaginary world. I knew what was overlay, and what wasn't.

I can see if people who grew up with the TMNT from early childhood were doing that, as well.

Was what you described kind of like that? It's very interesting to hear about this.

[Starlilica]

I chose to vote that they are only fictional characters.

However, as a writer, I understand that characters do have a life of their own -- not that they have a conciousness -- but they have meaning, and certainly have personality. More often than not, I find myself writing characters in ways that I didn't expect, as if they directed me towards it. Other times, when I wish a character to do or think or feel a certain way, I am overrided by their basic personality, as if they mentally reachover and slapped me silly. My friends and I have a joke that our characters live in our heads and take on their own life, but this is purely fun and games. Authors put a piece of themselves in each and every character they create and write, and in that sense, they are alive. Of course, this is a stretch of the imagination. Deffinately metaphorical and symbolical.

[Leonardo_Mystic]

There's the multiple universe theory, as Aig sort of mentioned. They could exist on some other plane we don't know about.

I'd first say they're only fictional, but then I stop to think that are many things out there that exist we don't know about. Or apply it to one's faith and belief in a religious sense. I won't go too deeply into that, but I'm sure you get the gist of it. It's a "believing is seeing" kind of thing. It's like Santa Claus.

I don't know... It's late, I'm tired and I should be in bed now, so I'm probably not making very coherent sense. I'll say this, however... I think they do exist somewhere; even it's just only in your mind.

[lexy3643]

ok, i would trully love for them to be real i really would, but i know they aint. but there's no harm in hopng is there?

[Mindy]

I believe they really do exist in our collective consciousness through our art, stories, and interactions. We all see a bit (or a lot) of ourselves in the characters.

Some people say they wouldn't freak out if they met a giant walking-talking turtle in the middle of a Manhattan sewer, but it poses another question (good for another topic, maybe?) - what if you had never HEARD of a teenage mutant ninja turtle? Heck, people run away from mutations in humans, much less animals.  

Anyways, good topic, Aig

[Aignatius]

If I met giant mutant turtles in real life and didn't know what they were, I'd probably forget to breathe, and run wildly in the other direction. Poor fellows... but really, how else can one react when they see something that big and unfamiliar? If I met a bear unexpectedly in the woods, I'd be terrified, as well. So, it wouldn't be just because they were mutants or anything...
If I had the chance to observe them for a while without being seen, and heard them talking and joking and such, then I'd lose my fear of them. Just like if I observed a bear in the distance eating berries and it wasn't planning on chasing me, then I wouldn't be afraid either. It's just I don't do well with surprises...

What I really enjoy, and it seems a lot of others around here do as well, is taking something fantastical, like an elf, or a dragon, and putting it in as realistic a setting as possible. Hyper-realism fantasy.
 
 

[LenniluvsBrian]

In my childhood, I had a very vivid imagination. I've never really lost that. I know of people who can still think that way, and some have become quite successful at putting their imagination to work.
I had a mind's eye that has seen many things. I thought nothing of "seeing"-- not hallucinating mind you, but seeing in my imagination's eye-- dragons of all kinds. Usually small ones. They'd be everywhere. It made me feel happy to know they were flitting about, and nobody else could see them. I never pointed them out to anyone, because they existed in my inner world. A bit like taking a photograph, (the real world) and putting an animated overlay over it, which was my imaginary world. I knew what was overlay, and what wasn't.

I can see if people who grew up with the TMNT from early childhood were doing that, as well.

Was what you described kind of like that? It's very interesting to hear about this.

I'm not sure. All I know is that I swear Raph's hand was reaching up for me - my friend said she saw Donnie [her fave], but I'm not sure. But I know I what I saw & what I saw was a green 3-fingered hand! There was even one night, where I swear I saw their outline on my blind - like they were peeking in to check on me. I assumed they knew where I lived, because I was always dropping scrap pieces of paper with my phone number & stuff on it, down the manhole out back behind my friend's house.

Another time [not TMNT related] I was sitting at the kitchen table [I was about 6 or so & yes, it was in North Bay again] & I was staring out the window when suddenly I saw this huge T-Rex running towards our house! No lie! There was a T-Rex! I ran upstairs and hid in my room, between the wall & the bed - though, later [possibly years later] I realized, if he'd bitten down on our house, he would've eaten me, as I was hiding where he would've bit! Eep!

~Lenni~

P.S. And once, my friend & I found a turtle [TMNT] footprint outside in the snow - there was on ly one, so we figured they'd used the Turtle Blimp & had only landed long enough to leave us a footprint as a souvenir. Lol.

[lexy3643]

ok, so you say you might have seen the turtles?

well, when i was little i used to watch the old cartoon, the movie and the next mutation. when i walked down the streets i would also look at a man hole cover and hope that one day a turtle would climb. Or i would look down a dark alley way (god knows why) and hope. but once i swear i saw a figure just appear then vanish. and you know what happened when i told my sister? she laughted at me.

if i saw a big giant turtle, i would probably stare for a little while then probably faint. Or i would stare then run for life and when i get home i would tell everyone what i saw then drag my sister along with me and prove that i'd seen them. that's probably what i'll do.

[Nanette]

ok,if I see a TMNT in real life,I would go 'whoa!'.But imagine seeing a rat as big as Splinter I would be shocked. but,seriously,it would be fun if they truly exist. I could be their April.

[lexy3643]

yeah then you could go on all their missions with them.

[Nanette]

Oh yeah!  I'll stick pretty close to Donnie.