Smart Leonardo - Tumblr Posts

Tired: Leo doesn't know how to play chess, while Donnie does.

Wired: Leo does know how to play, and he and Donnie sometimes play it together to bond (only when Leo is insanely bored and doesn't have anything else to do otherwise).

Inspired: Leo knows how to play chess insanely well, to the point of winning almost every match, but just acts like he doesn't because 1.) it's fun to let Donnie think he's won sometimes, and 2.) he knows playing dumb pisses Donnie off beyond belief and it's hilarious to watch him fume.

In 'The Clothes Don't Make The Turtle':

Leo's just casually vibing with Don while Raph was stressing out.

when Raph asks Donnie (who's still vibing) after another transformation scene if he's got any ideas on what could be going on, you can see how confused Leo is too till Donnie says "less talky talk more groovie groove", and you see it hit him,

He swiftly turns to the speaker, the dots connecting,

Where they're all looking at the box confused, worried, or a mix of both, and then you have Leo there looking at it suspiciously before realization hits him,

This also told me a lot about his character the first time I watched it, because even though they were all catching on (and did at the end) Leo was the one who felt it first, and all because he noticed how the music kept distracting his genius of a brother, because that's all Donnie talked about the whole time they were under the musical spell, how the music was basically "taking control".

It just showed me then how, even though he does good a lot, smart Leon actually is, because he does the joking (his coping mechanism), and the one liners and such, anything to make his brothers laugh

How much attention he's actually paying to everything around them.

RISE HEADCANON

Science bros

Science bros

Since Draxum has a Lab He gave the Lab to the Twins. For me Leo likes Biology and is A chemist why because I said so I hc leo to read science stuff as a Kid so Donnie wouldn't get lonely when reading. He was really Good about it don't really show it. Leo is Dumb at math and Tech though.

Since Leo and Donnie are twins they must do twins thing they are both smart-ass in their own way.

Also Leo would Call the periodic table Different names like (Ca,Calcium Leo would Pronounced it as Caw-Caw) Ne,Neon Nae-Nae.) For legal reasons this is a joke-

On my like 5th watch through of ROTTMNT here’s some things I noticed

Granny CJ… 👀

The teapot shows up a LOT more than I thought it did

The reoccurring theme of Donnie actually truthfully being the Funny One and delivering actually funny and entertaining one liners

Donnie supposedly being the “smart one” while also messing up the most and being wrong almost all the time (like when he staked everything in the Raph Alone episode and lost several times in a row)

Donnie’s supposed “bad boy” image

Leo pointing out things and being right surprisingly a lot and knowing what people are going to do before they do it?? Despite his cockiness he’s very observant and has good gut instincts and it always surprises people (Probably a good reason for why they made him leader later)

Raph saying he’s bad at making plans then proceeds to solve the issue anyway with his plan of not having a plan

Mikey being the one who’s the least predictable and literally a wild card but also surprisingly the one who drops the jokes when things get serious, also the theme of his brothers supporting and loving him instead of making fun of him (like in previous iterations)

I also like that Mikey, of all people, is the one that lays down the hard truths while maintaining being the sweet and empathetic one

Mikey and Donnie hanging out all the time like they did in the 1990s live action movie

Mikey not being “clueless” (like they made him in past iterations) and working with Donnie to make plans that actually work because they’re both putting their heads together

Donnie going out of his way to protect people and putting himself in danger on purpose despite his vulnerabilities as a soft shelled turtle

Raph and Leo bickering but ultimately getting along really well and being understanding of each other like the 1990s live action movie

Donnie and Leo not getting along and picking on each other all the time

Splinter being more than a background character and being strong, funny, and a father instead of just a “teacher”

The reoccurring theme of Splinter acknowledging April as one of his kids

Despite being the “Thoughtless Jock” stereotype, Raph is very over protective and cares about his siblings well being and also seems to be actually the most level headed one out of all of them

Donnie having very extremely complex emotions that feel realistic compared to everyone else in the show

April always being the stronger, smarter older sister

Foot Recruit (CJ) listening to advice and getting help from both Draxum and Splinter, also making her a part of their family

The turtles longing desperately and deeply for the approval and validation of others so much they’ll do pretty much anything for it (it’s splinters fault mostly but he develops as a character and becomes a more loving and supportive father as the show goes on)

Splinter having Childhood Trauma and no parents from a young age which is why he’s been a not so great dad and has a lot of deep seeded issues he has to face through the series

Everyone acknowledging and respecting peoples comfort zones and boundaries and apologizing when they accidentally fuck up

All of the characters seeming like cliches but being very complicated and interesting despite it being a cartoon. They wrote all the characters to be a bit silly, sure, but when you watch and observe everyone they always subvert your expectations for how they’re going to be and I fucking LOVE IT

I haven’t finished rewatching the 2nd season or movie yet but when I do I’ll probably make another follow up post

Leo's character in rise is just really interesting to me, so I'ma ramble about it.

------(I'm on mobile so I can't add a keep reading but know there's spoilers below)-----

First off his skill/role, each turtle has a role right? Donnie's the brain Mikey's the heart raphs the protector and useally Leo's the leader, but he wasn't in this one he's the face guy.

Now let's think about how Shakey that role is right? We see Leo talk his way into and out of situations with relative ease, sometimes it doesn't work but more often then not he can get info locations etc out of people with minimal effort, he convinces his brothers that going after paper thieves is going to be glorious and epic with just a quick speech, he's got senior hueso going for a solid "no" to "fine" with a sentence, some things he needs more effort for, the lair games room switch comes to mind, every outcome in that one he would have won, the big momma trick of course where he fools even his dad into thinking he's incompetent.

He's very aware of how he's seen (over confident, cocky, impulsive) and uses that to make people vastly underestimate him. He's able to figure out how people act and their reactions to what he does after meeting them a couple times.

He's not just charismatic, he's a grade A manipulator (I say that as a good thing), he's not just clever, he's sneaky too.

That's one of the reasons I like the disaster twins idea, Donnie who's a book smart genius and Leo who's a street/people smart genius.

Basically he's good at his role yes, but rarely is it exsplisit that his role is needed/helpful enough to balance out his screw ups, because of how sneaky he has to be for his role to work. Raph showing his role is as easy as a hug, Mikey just needs to start showing off, Donnie can present his newest tech, and their roles are confirmed and locked in. Leo? He can't show how he's a social manipulator on the regular, his role is unsteady, easy to forget.

It's kind of hard to get a solid read on his actual feelings seeing as he almost always has some sort of persona thrown up, but his feelings of inadequatecy are the most prominent, he's never good enough to make up for his mess ups, sure he hides it all behind a grin but it's there. We hear it our selves.

"I'm nothing without them"

He needs them, but he thinks they don't need him.

Which brings me to the movie.

First of, the scene with Raph in the train car. He listens fully to what his brother is saying but he doesn't want to deal with it so he

First:makes a joke he definitely knew would piss off his older brother, causing him to lash out

Two: dodge the attack he knew was coming and taunt raph, causing the other to become distracted from the topic and leave it.

Three: I would bet money on the fact he knew it would make their dad annoyed enough to tell them to knock it off, forcing raph to drop the issue or upset their father even further.

Again just a quick show of how he's very good at predicting and manipulating social situations to his advantage, but then Casey says the line.

"your the greatest ninja in the whole world"

Suddenly he's important, suddenly his family needs him, he doesn't just need them now they need him too. Suddenly his worth is clear. I'm not surprised it went to his head, he heard they needed him and clung to the first outside confirmation that he was important.

When raph gets taken it probably makes it even worse, he needs his brothers and he thought it was clear he was important, that he had something to give, but then he messed up again, his worth and his need to be wanted is threatened.

It makes me wonder if that self sacrifice wasn't just his desperate attempt at being needed again at being important. Maybe it wasn't a conscious thing, but maybe he knew on some level a self sacrifice would ensure his place in the family well also makeing sure he never messed up again.

I don't know, but it makes you think dosent it?