(CW: Ranting/Venting; the fic I am talking about will not be named, nor will I give the authorās name away. Please send me a message if you want to know)
Did we even watch the same show? Heās not a caring, big brother? Heās a stick in the mud?
The only thing Iāll give you is that heās full of himself⦠because heās an idiot teenager with badass fighting skills and weapons. Of course heās gonna be a cocky little shit. Most people with Leoās skill would be.
Iām going to assume that you mean part of the time heās full of himself. But if you mean all the time, then Iāll correct you there. More often than not, he is actually very insecureā a very common trait among the Leonardoās.
āMaybe I shouldnāt be leading the team?ā
āItās all my fault. I let the guys down!ā
āI donāt think Iāll ever be the same againā
āIād just hold you back. You guys train, Iāll watch. Itās all Iām good for anywayā¦ā
āIām a liability to the whole teamā
āI wonāt be much help out there anywayā
Leo is a perfectionist and this shows in the way he leadsā coming across as bossy or arrogantā and how he treats himself. The guy just got out of a three-month coma after he had the shit kicked out of him and what does he say when heās by himself after everyone else went to look for Raph in the woods?
He holds himself to impossibly high standardsā both placed by himself and some of the misguided lessons he was taught.
Alright, now for the stick in the mud part. Leo is a fucking dork (I mean this in the most affectionate sense). He loves Space Heroes to the point where he quotes it during missions. He likes puns, is fascinated by Japan culture, martial arts, meditation, etc. He trains very hard to excel at ninjutsu/martial artsā both so he can help his brothers in combat and because itās a passion of his. That doesnāt make him boring in the slightest. He has some of the most ridiculous dialogue throughout the series:
āAlright guys. Letās put Old Mother Hubbard back in her cupboard!ā
āHello!? Space Heroes!? Captain Ryan! Didnāt you see the episode where they fought the Cortexecons?!ā
āAwesome! Oh, this is so rad! I feel like Van Helsing, but way cooler than him, actually. Way more rad than Van Helsingā
āAlright guys, prepare to dish out the mighty wrath of justice!ā
āWe donāt know heās gonna do anything bad. He could be on his way⦠to⦠church!ā
āI⦠donāt really have a pinky?ā
He canāt lie for shit which leads to him saying silly things:
āBe cool. Be cool.ā *answers phone* āuh.. hey man! Whatās⦠whatās going down? *Raph says they better have not watched the Crognard finale without him and Leo laughs nervously* W-who, us?! Of course not! But I bet if we did watch it, we would have found it anti-climate⦠climactic!ā
*gets asked by Chloe if thereās other turtles like him* āNope! Uh-uh! Just me! Mr. Imaginary Talking Turtle!ā
āHeās just kidding, Mrs. OāNeil. Kirbyāsā¦uh.. on a.. safari! In Puerto Rico! And he wonāt be back for a while.ā
And heās not the goody-two shoes and suck up people think of him as. He has gone behind Splinterās back on several occasions, snuck out both willingly and unwillingly. The guy dressed in black and caused petty crime with his sister and her girlfriend Shinigami because he was pissed off at Shredder.
As for not being a caring brother. You mean this guy?! This Leo?! ā¬ļø
Couldnāt be this Leo, right? Thereās no way heās a mother henā being both doting and getting after his brothers.
āDonāt talk with your mouth full!ā
āMikey, you never cease to amaze meā
āLeo never left your sideā ā April when Raph was reduced to a mere plant by The Creep
āIām sorry about Spike, Raphael.ā
āDonnie, donāt lose sight of who you are!ā
āDonnie, the go karts worked great. Nice job!ā
āMikey, come on! Itās not that bad! And Raph promises not to make fun of you anymore.ā
Not the Leo that uses all his strength and stays behind in the Technodrome holding Kraang Prime so his brothers and April can escape. Not that Leo who while just barely awake after a coma goes after a mutated monster in the woods to get his family back. Not that Leo who forced himself to stay calm so the others can be calm while they go through the most insane shit, or cannot grieve in the moment because he has to ensure the rest of their safety, so his focus during missions and battle is scattered in different places. Because he couldnāt possibly help bandage their wounds, worry when theyāre hurt and not give up on a family member. Not Leo preventing Donnie from straight up unaliving Don Vizioso because Leo doesnāt want his younger brother to do what he did and change him like it changed him. He doesnāt sacrifice himself over and over because he loves his brothers, right? Right??