#07 Leo

[bulbabutt]

i did the colour wheel challenge with tmnt characters

[snackugaki]

part 1 

did I have to cut it there? yes. why? because I’m p-e-t-t-y, I’m petty all the time  ♪ ♫ 

but also, the image cap boo

the tags cannot contain my full power some of my really good tags got eaten by the tag limit and they’re grudges I keep in a little pile in my heart

did this silly little fan comic get away from me? ...YES

was I gonna originally stop it there? also yes but you know... I love being snide and petty but after catching covid like a week ago I’m not gonna bring any bad juju with me into next year if I can help it

I forgot how fucking neon the coloring got for awhile in the archie comics

im cryin g this was supposed to be a short’n sentimental’n sweet comic and now look at me, i played myself

look, Venus has waited a quarter of a century, she earned this

i think... what tickles me most about Venus after coming back to TMNT fandom via Rise, is that from what I can see (on tumblr), the kids love her. they love her and make versions of her in the series that came after the 90s. i look at their bios, some weren’t even born when Next Mutation was airing. (and as far as I can tell, Next Mutation didn’t really get much syndicated airtime if any) ...and they still love her. hurt me in my old little heartguts. it’s mostly my generation of tmnt fans who express distaste for her... but the new fans, they love her, they include her in their aus, they make a place for her in their childhood series. hoo h oo giv give me a moment..

if I could pop back into 1998 and tell little 13 year old snackugaki that Venus would be back, I would. all I had were Trini Kwan and Venus de Milo (not ONLY them, just for the purpose of this post) as a fighty, angry little girl. 

all my childhood idols who could fight were calm, level-headed characters who could just happen to throw a villain through a wall if they really needed to. if it wasn’t for them who knows where baby snacku fite meh! gaki would be today. going up against Rhonda Rousey for the championship belt idk, who can accurately estimate the magnitude of childhood influences, not this bitch

if you’re also in PST and wondering why I typed up this post at goddamn 3am then we’re both insomniacs, you didn’t see me, stop snitching

EDIT: I KNEW IT, SOME OF THE TAGS GOT EATEN! HATEFUL! HATEFUL TUMBLR LIMITATIONS! ahhhhh it’s whatevs

[letsgetitblog]

This idea came out of nowhere- maybe I'll do the same with the others as well or mix it up if this one makes it out the hood lol 🤷🏾‍♀️

[sabrondabrainrot]

Fun sketches below!

I've been drawing so much TMNT. I want to share some of the stuff I've been working on. I'm almost done watching 87 and 03 and just wow!!! I love these turtle boys so much. I noticed in 03 now that I've finished fast-forward and I'm starting on back to the sewers that Raphael got so unfairly tall compared to his big bro I just HAD to draw Leo realizing it.

I also am writing a fun idea that involves turtles and tots. There will be much found family goodness to come. You'll see. ;)

[tmntleoirl]

hi !! intro or something :P

- leo / finn

- he / him + transmasc queer

- 16

- leo fk…

- audhd

- special interests: tmnt, adventure time, nitw, yttd

- likes: alex g, video games, music, cartoons, my brothers + my friends, the color green, nature, photography

- DNI: basic stuff (racist, homophobic, ableist, etc.), TCEST EWEWEW, fans of problematic content that dickride the creator, proshippers, weird turtle simps…

[gutter-sun-fun]

Y'all don't understand.

I LOVE THEM WITH MY WHOLE HEART.

[excali8ur]

This fucking guy.

[isitdonproof]

TMNT 2007

[bontwisty]

Odd Leo Out 💙🐢

A little practice on drawing each Leo for the next comic X) don’t let the seriousness fool you they’re all sillies and will geek out about sci fi shows

Based on a meme I found on pintrest by IG user fabulous_trash05

[turtlecleric]

@thejudiciousneurotic I am not awake. I am asleep. You do not perceive me.

...but if I WAS awake, I'd certainly not be thinking about 07!Leo and 07!Raph sharing you in bed.

(The amount of buildup to get to this point would be INSANE but hear me out.)

Raph likes taking you. He likes feeling you beneath him, on top of him, around him. He likes the sounds he pulls out of you. He likes the little hitches in your breath and the way you writhe and the way you feel. God you feel amazing. You're so perfect, like you were made for his cock.

Leo likes owning you. Controlling you. Having you submit, having you focused on him and nothing else. He loves the way you look when you're trying so hard to follow his instructions, to keep your eyes on his and hold on just a little longer, despite the full-body tremors going through you, despite the way tears are starting to gather in your eyes. You're so good, so so good for him.

Now. Put those together. Raph beneath you, pounding up into you as hard as he can go, while Leo has his cock down your throat and his hands in your hair. Leo telling you to keep your eyes on his, to keep that mouth open for him, good girl. Take it. Don't you dare come. You don't come until I say you can come. Meanwhile, Raph is doing everything he can to pull more noises out of you. He wants to fuck you so good that you disobey Leo, that you come on his cock without permission. And the sight and sound of you struggling to obey is such a turn on for both of them. For Raph it's the fact that he's making you feel so good, that he's making you struggle with how good he's fucking you. And for Leo it's the fact that even with how hard it is for you to obey you're still trying so, so hard to be good for him.

God. What a pair.

[bulbabutt]

ok i wanna talk about tmnt 2007 and the way i think this is the best version of a leo and raph conflict, and also leo as a character

for context i've been talking about tmnt things kinda chronologically, so i'm gonna mention an unconditional understanding in 03 i bring that up in a previous post about that show and the family dynamics in it here if u want context for what i mean

i think this movie can really be appreciated for the place it has between adaptations, and the way character-wise everyone is more or less the same as they've always been but with a more interpersonal relationship as the focus. the main villain of this movie doesn't really matter, the conflict, the fights, that's not where the strength is (although, it is reflected in the conflict and ill get into that)

so tmnt 07 is one movie that kind of combines the 90s movies, 03, and mirage all in one place, and tonally is is similar to the show that will come after it, 12. if the 90s movies give us conflict between leo and raph, and 03 gives us the unconditional understanding between the two, 07 takes these two aspects and creates a story out of it. (debate in your own mind if this movie is a literal sequel to the 90s ones or not, its not that important)

the set up of this movie is we are in a post killing the shredder world. leo has been told by splinter to go get training elsewhere, there isn't much context for what happened to cause this, but i would bet its a similar cause to 03, where he had ptsd and lashed out at his father to which splinter sends him to his grandfather to get better advice than he thinks he can give him. the difference here is there is no grandfather hes sent to, he's sent on a journey of self discovery around the world to learn about it and himself.

the thing about leo as a character, and this goes for all leos, he's has a very black and white way of thinking. leo thinks he's been sent away because he's failing his family, that he's not a good enough leader. so he stays away for longer because he doesn't feel good enough. he finds a place where he can help and he does that. leo always needs a bad guy to fight, or else he's fighting his own demons. so he stays there for a long time. finding a place he can help quietly, never letting anyone see him, and becoming a legend to the locals because no one knows what's really going down.

april manages to track him down and tell him about whats going on with his brothers, how they're holding up without him and without being a team, and i think thats a good reminder for him that they miss him. he doesn't tell april but he finds a way home only after hearing about this. when he arrives and speaks to splinter, he says "i was so caught up in my own world i forgot about everyone else, i'm sorry i failed" he still doesn't feel like he's done anything of worth.

i'm gonna jump in here and say, you know how we all love rise raph? cuz hes the big brother and some traits that come from that are like being overprotective and taking on everyone else's problems and trying to handle emotions alone? well that's a trait thats usually leo's. but the difference with leo is sometimes that concept doesn't make you as likeable. sometimes it means you come off like a nagging mother hen who thinks they know best but in an arrogant way. sometimes it makes you mirror being a parent when no one asked you to be. leo's less of a passionate character than raph, hes more analytical and full of himself. he takes splinters lessons more seriously, and hes always trying to do whats best for everyone so they don't have to worry. this is something evident with 03 and 12, but its so specifically noticeable here because these traits make up the main conflict. i just want to bring that up so we start seeing leo as no different than some of our other favourite iterations.

splinter responds to his apology by saying "you owe me no apology, but perhaps you should talk to raphael, your absence has been particularly difficult for him, though he'll never admit it" but when leo greets him raph is brushing him off.

on raph's end, this is him being angry that leo left, and angry that hes back and everyone wants to pretend that he wasn't gone at all. as if the time he was gone didn't happen. hes lashing out because he too cant handle talking about these emotions. and hes lashing out by becoming a vigilante in his own right.

i see a lot of people misunderstand what raph is doing here, that "this is what the turtles always do" or "this is the same as what leo was doing how could he be mad" when that is not true. that's what casey does. its true that both leo and raph have been fighting bad guys on their own (as a way of dealing with their issues) but raphael has made himself a costume to disguise himself which means hes prepared to be seen. hes riding a motorcycle around, which is loud. this isn't stealthy, this is aggressive. his vigilante name is in the news. the turtles are ninjas, they silently help where they can and fade into the night and, very specifically, they work as a team. these turtles live in a dangerous world, what if something happened to him while no one else was around? they would never know because he never told anyone.

so raph is lashing out, and leo doesn't have a good way of dealing with it. he tries to slide back into being leader, doing what splinter says but he forgets how his brothers are, and with raph egging them on they get into fights they shouldn't. which leo specifically gets in trouble for, as the oldest brother, and as their leader. leo tries to be this better leader hes supposed to have learned to be, but it doesn't work and raph ends up back out there in his vigilante get up. leo tracks down said vigilante, and in his peak "leo knows best" moment, lectures him, not knowing its his brother. there's a scuffle, and the mask comes off. let me point out that casey knew this vigilante was raph but his own brother didn't, because leo has been gone that long.

so lets get into what this fight is really about. on the surface, its "wow you've been going out at night alone putting yourself in dangerous situations with no backup" and "so what you're just mad that i can do it without you" which leo would be right about. and this is the analytical leo, he really thinks that's all that's going on here. what hes missing is that raphael has missed him as a brother, and hes hurt that leonardo left and just came back no big deal. that he wants everything to be normal. raphael is always a character with big emotions and the only outlet he knows to express them is violence.

leo, who as we've established, went away to learn to be better for his family is angry that raph doesn't see that. he's mad raph doesn't appreciate the effort he went to, and he thinks he's just angry because he's not in charge. each brother sees the other as being arrogant.

this leads them to the big fight. no one can disagree that this is the best part of the movie (seriously watch the movie for this scene if you haven't seen it before) , but the real best part of it is that raphael wins. raph proves hes just as capable of a fighter as his brother, if not more-so. he uses those sais as they're supposed to be used, catching leo's swords and in a fit of rage he fucking breaks them, leaving leo defenceless and completely vulnerable to attack. you'd think he'd be smug that leo lost but he pauses, going through a lot of emotions in a moment, questioning what he's doing, why hes doing it. and leo finally looks his brother in the eye and sees raph going through something he didn't before, realizing raph hasn't been angry that he's back, but that he's angry that he ever left. they don't have a conversation, because raph cant handle all these emotions and he runs away, crying as he does. leo just watches him, taking it all in and realizing the error of his ways.

hearing leo scream turns raph around, but he's too late to help him, and this is where raph regrets his own actions because right then, leo is also proven right in his argument. because he gets kidnapped. if leo hadn't chased raph down, there is a very good chance that would have been raph being kidnapped. with no backup, with no one knowing what happened to him. that's why its important that the turtles are a team.

raph goes home full of guilt, and there's a good moment of showing how he cannot open up emotionally here, because he grunts, punches the wall, knocks over some weights and forces splinter to ask him what happened, because that's how raphael is. he laments to his father that he finally understands why leo is the better son, proving that to raph none of this was about their team, but about their family. conflating the two ideas in his head. splinter gives him a talk that mirrors what he said to leo when he returned earlier in the movie, encouraging him that he is a good son and brother. this shows that these brothers have very similar insecurities about their value to their family.

the rest of the movie plays out as you expect, they go save leo, they stop the bad guy, they reconcile and behave as the team they're supposed to be. but i just want to point out that the villains plot is mirrored in leo and raph's conflict. the 'villain' here is a brother who has been cursed to be immortal without his own siblings. for 3000 years he lived to regret his actions and decided to undo his curse, but he used the cursed stone versions of his siblings to do so. no communication, just thinking he knew better (which maybe he did) and lying about it. that caused them to lie to him right back, and try to overthrow him and destroy the world. this is just one family whose inner turmoil could have destroyed the world. you might say, oh that's not a very interesting turtles villain, but its not supposed to be. its not the focus.

this movie is all about the complicated relationship between a family, and i see so many people talk about it by trying to ask who's right and who's wrong. that's not how it works. life is more complicated than that, people are more complicated than that. its boring to look at this movie and just say "leo is wrong and raph is right" because that's not even how the characters see it. this movie is about leo and raph being mirrors of each other in their arrogance, in their insecurities, and in their stubborn pig-headed refusal to let the other know how they feel. splinter says as much at the start of the movie. this whole movie shows that without each other, they need to be fighting something so they don't get swept up by their own emotions, which they are both bad at processing. they are SUCH brothers. they are so similar emotionally, yet they have such a hard time understanding each other.

personally 07 leo is my favourite leo for his complexity, his flaws his strength, his growth. its sad we never got those sequel movies to get into the other brothers heads as much as we got into leo and raphs heads.

also nolan north and james arnold taylor gave the best vocal performances in this movie and they deserve all the credit for it.

[donnieluvsthings]

also okay i havent seen EVERY version of tmnt but theres usually a theme for the leo-raph arguments, so i think its safe to say that once again rise does a classic tmnt thing but completely in its own way. like ah yes leo and raph arguing while donnie and mikey eavesdrop! except donnie and mikey actually try to interfere when leo and raph start fighting.

and theyre not arguing over who would be the better leader, its not “angsty lone wolf nightwatcher” raph vs “overbearing and arrogant but with repressed insecurities” leo. its “older brother whos scared bc hes under lots of pressure to protect his family and takes it very seriously” raph vs “too-chill-too-cocky doesnt really listen to his team” leo. just. its the same thing TECHNICALLY but rise does it all so that its basically new and i love it so much

[letsgetitblog]

Saw this while I was scrolling through YouTube. And we all know how I fell about that fight- Leo definitely held back.

[turtlesntrenchcoats]

Thank you MM Leo for breaking the curse that '07 started of Leo being an ass for the theatrical movies

[fabuloustrash05]

My Favorite Ship in Each Version of TMNT (so far):

TMNT 1987: Raphael x Mona Lisa

TMNT 2003: Leonardo x Usagi

TMNT 2012: Raphael x Mona Lisa

ROTTMNT: Donatello x Kendra

Mutant Mayhem: Leonardo x April

[gutter-sun-fun]

07Leo & 07Donnie are twins and i will D I E on this damn hill.