Permissions Post/Personality Ramblings
Threadhopping with this character?: Yeah sure, knock yourself out.
Backtagging with this character?: Again, sure. Half of the time it's probably my fault anyway.
Hugging this character?: Go right ahead, though most of the time he'll be pretty stiff about it unless you're family.
Giving this character a kiss?: Uhhh if you want? He will probably treat it like any other mutant freak with no delusions about acquiring any kind of affection would, namely he'd freeze up and wonder if you're drunk.
(Something more intimate?): I would really rather not. >__>
(Relationships?): Possibly? Anything he'd be involved in would be awkward as HELL.
Punching this character (provided they can fight back): Sure, deck away. Depending on the situation and who you are he may or may not deck you right back, though.
(Injury?): Pft this is Leo. He wouldn't be Leo if he didn't get his skull cracked open and still insist that he's "fine." Injuries are totes okay.
(Death?): His precious head is not made of glass; this goes both ways. I don't mind him getting in over his head, but it'll be a rare occurrence. Leo is as tough as nails.
Is there anything you do not want mentioned near this character?: Not really? He's not a delicate flower anyway. He'll be touchy with certain subjects, but it's not like he can avoid them.
Is there anything you need us to know about interacting with this character?: TL;DR AHOY.
- Leo's usually very formal and sincere when speaking to people he's unfamiliar with. He'll occasionally be dry or sarcastic, but for the most part he's pretty srs business. If he doesn't trust you, he'll be even more formal, but perhaps less sincere. He might get mouthy because try as he may to humble himself, he's got something of an ego and can be kind of self-assured. However, once you slide easily into that "friend" status he'll become very casual; he can tease with a very dry, witty sense of humor, his speech will become much easier and relaxed and he'll drop the mysterious ninja pretenses (unless he wants to sneak up on you from the shadows as a "funny joke").
- Leo is obsessed with honor; while this does kind of conflict with the nature of being a ninja -AKA sneaking about and doing underhanded deeds for information's sake- he believes in honesty, pride in oneself and one's family, treating others with respect and care, protecting innocent life and most importantly, securing one's personal integrity. He, as a leader, will throw himself to the wolves to keep his brothers and those he holds dear safe, will sometimes -ANNOYINGLY- act the martyr to protect them, and believes that dutiful care will turn even the darkest of leaves over. He likes to believe in the inherent good of man (but isn't foolish enough to assume that every man IS good) and will usually reach out to someone or forgive their transgressions if they show true remorse.
- Leo is somewhat OCD and wants the world around him to Make Sense and be Reasonable. He tends to think things completely to death, beat a dead horse, and get very irritated when he doesn't understand something. He'll usually turn to Don for help organizing his thoughts unless he doesn't want to burden his little brother with them, or he'll write out all his ideas on separate sheets of paper and spread them out on the floor and try to organize them that way. He is only marginally successful.
- He's a mom to his brothers. He is. At any given moment, he is definitely thinking about one of his family members, wondering how he's doing, wondering if he's okay, praying for his safety, etc. etc. He's a worrier. He's also extremely defensive about them and protective of them. If someone were to insult one of them or threaten them, Leo's retaliation would be very swift, very sharp and very, very angry.
- Leonardo also believes in the power of meditation and the regulation of chi, and thinks of them as vital to a sound body and mind. He likes to sound wise and knowing -like Master Splinter- and will sometimes spout some mystic crap about chi and masters and learning and calmness and oceans and wtfever. Half the time he makes it up.
- Leo is a geeky weaboo at heart, so if he hears mention of anything involving Japan he might poke his nose in curiously. Especially if it involves bushido, samurai, battles and history; he's not one for the more modern Japan (that is, Jpop and anime and fashion and such).
- He is so. SO awkward about the topic of sex. He's very aware that he is a mutant freak and has taken a dry "I don't care because I know what I am and am happy with it" approach. He's pretty much resigned himself to never finding anyone who would love him that way, and thus throws himself headfirst into his studies of ninjutsu with reckless abandon. He's a young...man (in the psychological sense of the word) and as such probably likes the look of a pretty lady, but he's fairly controlled and usually doesn't venture into situations where he'd have to deal with that sort of conversation. Unless you're Herz in the kitchen with Kage, apparently.
Okay. Because Leonardo does a COMPLETE PERSONALITY OVERHAUL between the live action movies and the 2007 CG movie, I'm going to explain shit. More to help myself keep my facts straight than anything.
First, I'm going to list the things I think need to be expanded upon, since taking these incidents at face value will probably make Leo look stupidly OOC.
- Leonardo stays away a year longer than he's supposed to.
- Leonardo stops writing.
- "These people need me more than my brothers do."
Leonardo stays away a year longer than he's supposed to.
Leonardo is sent off for a year of training by Splinter, to explore the five-fold path of ninjutsu. The five-fold path is based on the following virtues: Courage, Compassion, Selflessness, Humility and Community. He told him that "the five-fold path will lead you to the one." Leo was all "bzuh" but accepted it like the teacher's pet he is and set out to explore this. Only, a year passed -the time Splinter gave to him to accomplish understanding- and Leonardo still didn't get it. So he stayed away from home longer, and stopped writing home. He told April that he didn't want to go back a failure.
There are several reasons he stayed out longer. Leonardo was always an excellent student; he wasn't brilliant like Don, he wasn't powerful like Raph, he wasn't naturally gifted like Mike, but he was a dedicated pupil and a hard worker. The effort his brothers put into their studies was nothing compared to Leonardo; he would meditate for hours, on his own time, practice before and after their designated sessions, put all his focus and concentration into bettering himself, becoming stronger and better. It was because of this focus and yearning to learn the ways of ninjutsu that Splinter began to favor him as a student. Not because he thought the other turtles were lost causes, but because the other turtles were enamored by things other than ninjutsu. Leonardo poured everything into Splinter's teachings because he genuinely liked it; how can you refuse to teach a pupil so eager? So Leonardo learned in leaps and bounds, beyond what his brothers did, because he actually wanted to. If any of the others had thrown themselves so deeply into their studies, they probably would have done just as well -better, even- than Leonardo. But they didn't, so he quickly rose as Splinter's star pupil.
Somewhere along the line, Splinter recognized this and started to subtly train Leonardo as a leader, to take over for him when he was gone. Leonardo was already the eldest brother -whether by age or some natural, unspoken agreement amongst the brothers that was more by instinct than discussion- and had the respect of his brothers as being the best (and resentment of Raphael), so it was only natural. Leonardo took on the mantle with a bit of pride, and takes his role as leader/older brother VERY seriously. In the first movie he actually corrects Raphael when he calls Leonardo his "great leader" all sarcastically, saying he never called himself that. But by the fourth movie he's doling out orders like they're his soldiers; obviously something changed between then that made Leonardo believe that he'd accepted his role as the leader of a unit of ninjas. He was Splinter's best student; of course he was.
Namely...he developed an ego.
The fights with Raphael probably got much worse before Splinter sent Leonardo out, but Leonardo most likely viewed this change as an advancement in his training. Splinter hadn't asked this of his brothers, so this meant that he was the best, and that he had to undertake this task and pass with flying colors, to prove to his master that he was ready. That he could be the best, to make him proud.
But he failed.
An entire year, and he still couldn't work out what Splinter had meant. So he stayed out longer; his mind was focused on his goal, and he WOULD NOT go back until he understood.
In addition to that, Leonardo was traveling across the world; Iceland, Japan, Central America, Portugal, Mongolia- he went ALL. OVER. He was seeing things he'd never seen before, maybe never see again once he went back home. He was discovering things about himself he'd never known; that he had values, beliefs, likes and dislikes outside of his studies and away from his brothers. He was exploring his own spirituality and his own freedom in ways he'd never believed possible; who would want to leave that behind? Sixteen years of seeing the same old town, the same five or six people, the bricks and smells of the sewers sat heavy in his mind, and Leonardo wanted to experience as much as he could before he had to return to it. It was selfish, but Leonardo couldn't bring himself to go back.
Not yet.
Leonardo stops writing.
Some time after his one year deadline, Leonardo stops writing home. It's never explained why he stops, and I imagine that it's because it's something he finds great, terrible shame in.
Most likely, he was afraid.
He was afraid that if he wrote home about his progress, his accomplishments, what was going on in his life that Master Splinter would disapprove, that his brothers would grow angry, that they'd demand he return home instead of wasting time out in the world and come back to them. He didn't want to go back, and didn't want them to know that he had no good excuse for not returning to them. He was also afraid that if they asked him to come back, he wouldn't be able to tell them no and would cave. Head back home, whether he was ready to or not.
In addition to that, Leonardo did many things on his journey that he didn't think he could share with anyone, even his brothers. He was captured by hunters in Mongolia; they spat on him, kicked him, ridiculed him and treated him like an animal. It was embarrassing and hurtful, and not only did he not want to see the looks of pity he knew he'd get from his family if he told them, he didn't want to hurt them with the knowledge. They were better off knowing. There was also the slaver ship in Portugal; children being picked off the streets and sold as sex slaves. Leonardo murdered every slaver on the boat, until he was soaked in blood. He didn't think he was wrong, but that moment of rage would surely make his brothers and his father look down on him; he was supposed to be more controlled than that. He could have just broken the children out, or just wounded the slavers, but he didn't. He murdered all of them. Then he was schooled by the Ancient One, the village that he kept saving and saving but couldn't stay saved, all his failures- no. These were things better kept to himself.
That left him with very little things to write about.
When he was knowingly ignoring his family in favor of his own freedom, writing back with, "hey, still alive, I love you guys bbs" seemed very flippant and very cruel.
So, instead, he opted not to write back at all.
It probably didn't occur to him that his family would think he was dead; he was Leonardo, and he could take care of himself. He probably also suffered from some kind of invincibility disease on some level; oh, he knew he was mortal and could -WOULD- die eventually, but it wouldn't be soon. He would succeed somehow. Plus, his brothers had their own lives; Mike had his games, his music, Don had his machines and Raph had Casey and whatever else he did to occupy themselves. They wouldn't worry.
But he know they would. And he hated himself for being so selfish...so he was too ashamed to write back. It's a very stupid but vicious cycle; ignore the problem until it goes away, even though you KNOW it won't do that.
"These people need me more than my brothers do."
This is where Leo is a big, filthy hypocrite.
He comes back, snarling and hissing about the Nightwatcher parading around like a "vigilante showboat," but what exactly was he doing when he was traveling the world, protecting innocent people? The same damn thing. He, of course, put the spin on it as being training, as he doing what others couldn't, protecting the weak, but he wasn't willing to acknowledge that someone was doing the same thing on his own home turf. He's possessive of his city -despite the fact that he abandoned it- and when Raphael and Michelangelo jumped to his defense it made him furious. Isn't he, Leonardo, better than this stranger assuming he could protect the city they'd spent years defending?
Leonardo knows he has very, very few skills besides his ability as a ninja, so he takes a lot of pride in it. When he runs across the scores of people that have need of him in that big wide world, he drinks up the hero-worship like a starved inmate. He and his brothers never got thanks in New York, save from a very few people, so having entire villages hold him in reverence is something of a Godsend for a starving ego. Probably too much; Leo got drunk on attention. Even if he was just a ghost, he was still more than he ever was in New York. People loved him just for being there, and if he had to keep them at arm's length, he could do it.
That detached love completely blinded him to what he was missing at home; it was a new feeling, a great feeling, and while he adored his brothers to the pit of his soul, it was eclipsed by the affection complete strangers felt for him, despite the fact that they'd never even seen his face. It took April coming to him and talking to him for him to remember what he'd left behind. He said, "These people need me more than my brothers do," and on one level? He's right. But he'd gotten so addicted to that appreciation that he forgot how essential his brothers were to him. He told her, "Something's missing," and she mentioned his brothers-
And then he was gone.
He took a moment to think, and then hitched back on the next plane he could find. He returned humbled, embarrassed and ashamed in front of Splinter, stating that he'd failed with his head down and a heavy heart. Splinter assured him that he hadn't, but Leonardo probably didn't believe him. He still doesn't.
The Five-Fold Path
What Leonardo doesn't understand is that the "one" the five-fold path is supposed to lead him to is himself. Once he can integrate all of those things into his person -Courage, Compassion, Selflessness, Humility and Community- then he'll be satisfied with himself, no matter where he is. He's still working on the humility part, and the community bit is as natural as breathing; he just doesn't realize it yet. He both values himself too much and too little.
Leonardo has the same problem I do; he humbles himself to the point of arrogance. He pushes his ego down and down and down, saying that he's not anything special, that the only reason he experiences any kind of success is by the good grace of fate, or because he has to work hours and hours. He has no notable skills outside those associated with ninjutsu -unlike his brothers- and so he tells himself that he is inferior to those around him.
Somewhere down the road, this turns into, "yes, if only others understood themselves as I do myself." And then that turns into, "now if only could humble themselves as I do," and then it inflates into a huge, huge ego that one isn't even aware of until they're called out on it. It's a very uncomfortable and humiliating thing to be called out on an inflated ego, especially when that's the exact opposite you were GOING for, and the time spent directly after is usually one beating oneself back down to nothing, some depression, etc etc. Until it starts over again. Especially for people who do have gifts, because they recognize that they need to acknowledge their own strengths and weaknesses, but don't acknowledge their strengths for fear of becoming arrogant again.
Which just sets the thing off again. Very messy. Very stupid.
As for the "community," this relates directly to the people Leonardo holds dear. I'll hit each one separately to keep things clean.
Raphael: Let's get this monster out of the way.
Leonardo loves Raphael, and perhaps understands him the best out of all his brothers (while, at the same time, not getting him at all). Raph and Leo are very much alike; a passion for justice, the desire to help the city above them, and a righteous anger against the scumbags of the world. They just deal with these aspects of their personality very, very differently. Raphael takes straight to anger, action and doing exactly what he thinks is right the second he wants to. He's very impulsive.
Leonardo, on the other hand, thrives on control. He checks himself, he applies logic to everything he can -sometimes thinking himself into a corner over the smallest of issues- and keeps a cool, calm head at all times. This can make him appear as cold, arrogant and uncaring to Raphael, who absolutely hates it. Leonardo views Raphael's outbursts and anger as attacks against him personally, takes them too seriously and they end up fighting with each other when they're both not really at odds with one another, but the situation itself. It's a giant clash of the egos.
However, Leo also recognizes Raphael's strength and the power of his passion. Out of all the brothers, Leonardo probably treats Raphael with the least care and shows him the most of himself, the uglier sides of his personality. Raphael is the one he loses his temper with the most, the one he ends up snapping at and the one he falls against when he's hurt or weak. Raph is also the one that worries Leo the most, and even while they're constantly challenging each other, Leonardo depends on Raphael to be the spirit and the fire of the team.
This is probably what made the separation so difficult; they both are terribly alike in some ways but horribly different in others, and possibly the two brothers with the strongest connection. They always butt heads and fight, but are very close and don't stray far from one another. Leonardo's extended leave must have seemed like a betrayal to Raphael, and Leonardo will -hopefully- recognize his anger as the product of hurt instead of genuine disgust. Someday.
Donatello:
Leo admires Don's brilliance and his ability to calculate like he does. Leo's strategic, but at the same time he doesn't have all the technical knowledge that Don does. Leo depends a lot on Donatello to help him come up with plans, to poke holes in his logic and to soundboard for him. When Leo needs a steady, calm voice of reason, he knows he can turn to Don and get it. In this way Don's almost his second in command, but...not quite. Raphael and Don switch off for that.
Leo also recognizes Don's personality as being that of a pacifist, one who would rather talk and work things out that fight. Don has no problem jumping in and smacking people if they need to, but Don is also largely against conflict among the brothers and will usually play peacekeeper. He's used to Don taking his orders and following them without question, so now that Don's been in the leadership position for a bit and might not fall back behind him right away they're having a bit of an issue figuring out who's in charge. Don seems pretty content to let Leo take the reigns most of the time, but isn't as prone to keeping quiet when he sees a lapse in Leonardo's judgment. He's also come to have that same worrying tone as Leonardo does, and is able to recognize when his brother is hiding something with greater ease than before. This make's Leo a bit nervous, since in the two years he's become more likely to hide things than before. It'll be interesting to see how these two smooth out the little bumps.
Michelangelo
Leonardo adores Michelangelo, and while he can be annoying and his lack of focus can frustrate him to no end, he also sees Mike's carefree attitude and innocence as something to be protected, even greater than his urge to protect all of his brothers. Leo's seen a lot of hardship in his travels; children forced to grow up before their time, innocent beings suffering at the hands of the wicked, and he draws parallels between those incidents and what could happen to Mike. As a result, he's grown even more protective of his brother than ever, which is no doubt going to irritate Mikey as he tries to grow on his own.
Leonardo is also less receptive to Mike's pranks and jokes. This makes for very awkward times as everything with Leonardo is now Very Serious Business, while Mike still treats the world around him like one big game. Mike will make a crack and really it's up to his mood whether or not he smiles, laughs or plays along. He's less prone to be silly -trading his childish sense of humor instead for the cynical sarcasm he has now- which seriously limits the ways he has to relate to his brother, who is in a near-constant state of play. While this isn't affecting how Mikey acts around him now, if Leonardo doesn't loosen up they might lose part of their connection.
Splinter
Leonardo knows that nobody is perfect. He knows it on an intellectual level, but may not have learned it on a spiritual level yet. As it is, Splinter represents what Leo thinks is the pinnacle of achievement, what perfection is without being perfection. Splinter knows everything, is always right, should not be questioned by his foolish pupils. His word is more than law, it's a fact of life. His love is encompassing and vast, and everything he does is correct. He's blameless; even if he's done something that Leonardo would disagree with, he'd argue adamantly to anyone that Splinter knew what he was doing and that he, Leonardo, only disagreed because of his own ignorance. His sensei is probably the closest to a god he'll ever have on his life.
This is horribly unhealthy. Leonardo loves and respects Splinter as his sensei and his father, but he holds him in a sort of reverence that mortals shouldn't be held. If Splinter were to do something wrong, or were to fall in any sort of way, it would probably crush Leo and make him question everything he values. His brothers don't have this problem, or don't seem to; Splinter is their sensei and Father, but not their god. Leonardo takes his teachings too seriously, and holds Splinter too highly. It also causes him to set ridiculous standards for himself, and he fears disappointing Splinter so much that he'd lose sleep over it, stop eating- Splinter's disapproval is far more devastating to Leonardo than it should be.
April O'Neil
April represents the kindness and acceptance the world has to offer them. Unfortunately for Leo, he's come to regard this human trait as a very, very rare one. He holds April in high esteem, and considers her something of a sister/surrogate mother to all of them. She found them when they were only sixteen, and was their first contact with a being other than themselves and Splinter. Sure, she freaked out at first, but within a few hours she actually accepted them as people, and even gave them her home to stay in when they had nowhere else to go.
They're too close in age for her to really be like a mother figure, but the fact of the matter is that she's the only female element in their lives, and while sometimes Mikey will flirt and all of them regard her occasionally as most teenage boys would a sexy older woman that gives them positive attention, for the most part Leonardo has come to view her as a mother. She's the soft, compassionate love that you just can't get from a Father or from brothers; the kind that will hold you just because she wants to, or won't be afraid to tell you that you're messing up because she'll make it all right the next sentence with a quiet, "I love you." In this aspect, Leonardo would probably obey April so long as he had no decent objections to what she was saying. He's also fiercely protective of her, for both his sake and the sake of his brothers. On an unconscious level, he recognizes that without her steady presence in their lives, they would probably grow very bitter and disenchanted with life.
Casey Jones
Casey is more Raph's bud than Leo's, but Leonardo is glad that Raph found someone to connect with. Case is that beer-drinking, football-watching, car-repairing guy who lives down the street and will cat-call that hot lady over there with you. But he'll also crack the head open of the guy trying to hurt you, and while Leonardo might still regard Casey with something of an arm's-length sense of trust, he still considers him the better part of humanity and appreciates everything he does for them.
The Seven Virtues of Bushido
-Because it has to be mentioned.-
- Rectitude (義, gi) - Or integrity. Leonardo keeps to his code of morals very strictly. He recognized that everyone has their own sense of right and wrong, but while he can acknowledge someone else's opinion, he doesn't let it change his own.
- Courage (勇, yuu) - Courage isn't to be without fear; Leonardo never admits his fear, but he doesn't deny it either. He swallows it down to be dealt with later. He doesn't like to show fear in front of his brothers, because he knows that once the leader panics, the troops will panic. He deals with his fears alone.
- Benevolence (仁, jin) - Leonardo is kind, even if he might come off as cold. He's reserved, so he doesn't delve into other people's lives, but he's quicker with sympathy and he doesn't believe in "tough love." If he sees someone in need or recognizes that someone is a kind person, he'll respond very warmly to that.
- Respect (礼, rei) - Leonardo is very respectful to those who show him respect. Even those who start off with disrespect, he'll usually remain polite on the surface simply to keep up appearances. He doesn't think there's a reason for someone to behave in a hostile manner toward someone else unless they're being threatened, and if he feels insulted he'll usually just remain detached and icy rather than outwardly rude. However, once someone has lost his respect he'll usually detach himself from them and avoid acknowledging them in any way, viewing their input and opinions as a waste of his time.
- Honesty (誠, makoto or 信 shin) - Leonardo is very, very honest. He almost never lies; not only because he doesn't see the point, but because he doesn't like to (and he really just can't). This might make him come off as blunt and haughty, but those who know him recognize that it's just how he is. If you get a half-truth or a half-story, it's probably because Leonardo doesn't want to tell you something but is unwilling to lie.
- Honour (誉, yo) - This is the cornerstone of everything Leonardo believes in. Respect,honesty, kindness and family ties are all related to honor. To say you honor someone is the highest respect, and Leonardo reveres and covets honor, and holds his own dear. He considers personal honor to be a part of one's soul, and it takes a lot for him to honor someone else.
- Loyalty (忠, chuu) - There is nothing greater in Leonardo's life than his family. If absolutely everything else is stripped away -his honor, his ego, all his wants and desires- he'll be left with his family at the core. He depends more on the acceptance of his friends, his brothers and his father than anybody, and if he were to be rejected or abandoned, it would strike a deep wound in his heart. There isn't a word to describe how much he loves his brothers, no matter how they should feel about him. They literally are his world.