Although Not Overly Thrilled At Don And Raphs Demands Requests For Him To Cut His Mask Tails Shorter,

Although not overly thrilled at Don and Raphs demands requests for him to cut his mask tails shorter, so they wont get grabbed. Leo still thinks he can rock a 'rugged', ' Daryl Dixon' zombie apocalypse look, the others just kinda let him have this.

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-Leonardo- Medic & Scavenger

Health: 70%

Hunger: 60%

Thirst: 75%

Sanity: 45%

Infection: ???

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i really like making stuff for this au so far! im getting a bit of a short plot written down and will probs make a few small connected comics/ short stories in this au :D

Things might be a bit slow throughout the week as I'm getting back to uni now, but it should still be pretty regular for weekends (and maybe 1 or 2 throughout the week if I can)

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Donatello

May I have romantic relations with your goblin?

(Not sexual)

Been rewatching tmnt 2k3 recently n you gotta love these two :DD

They're twins your honor

(more dc stuff comin soon btw ;) )

I’ve been obsessing over the recent mlp infection au and I’m feeling a longing to,,, rottmnt-ify it

Family values

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Current \ Next

(non Gif vers of art under the cut)

One thing I think is interesting in the 03 show is the different ways each of them are protective. I feel like Mikey is more subtly protective. He's the most protective of Don and he's always quietly jumping in and blocking a hit for him or helping him out when he's down. And I think it's interesting how these quick, jump in moments are always with Donatello like he's always watching his back specifically. Raph is very obvious. He's constantly jumping in and pushing his brothers out of the way or pushing attackers away from them. He's the most vocal when someone's in danger and the most visibly distressed. Like if one of them is in trouble Raph notices first which makes me think he's always got his eye on everyone at all times when they're in a fight. Donnie is pretty obvious too but his saves are less protecting from attackers and more catching someone when they're falling if that makes sense. Like when the invisible ninjas drop Casey, Don is the one who rushes and grabs him. Also interesting is when they are with a different person, like Fugitoid or Renet, Don seems to be the one who takes on the job of protecting them. (And if not him then Leo). As for Leo he's super protective of all of them and is sort of a mix of both Don and Raph, like he's protecting them from attackers and also catching them and whatnot. But he also seems to protect them in almost like a mentoring way if that makes sense? Like okay so when Mikey starts sliding down the hill in the garbage man leo steadies him.

Anyway I would love to hear your take you have such a fantastic way of describing and analyzing these characters

This is interesting to think about, and I’m realizing impossible to answer in a brief way - honestly, all four brothers are protective of all their other brothers, but each individual relationship is a bit distinct in this way, then there's how they're protective of other people, and it’s easy to just write and write and write about it. Then there are some contrasts with 2k12 that I found interesting too.

So - fair warning, 2200-word meta, almost half of which is about Raph, under the cut!

To start with your point about how Mikey is actually pretty protective of Donnie - he is, and it’s so sweet. He and Raph both are, for different but overlapping reasons. Partially, it’s because Donnie is the sweetest cinnamon roll to ever exist and they love him. Partially, it’s because Donnie is the weakest fighter and tends to need the protection. But in Mikey’s case, there’s also a B-Team element there, even if it goes unspoken in 03. They never “officially” have those teams, but it’s something they seem to revert to so often in fights and on missions that I headcanon that Splinter did train them that way (in contrast to 2k12, where Splinter didn’t train them in teamwork at all, and A-Team and B-Team were Leo’s thing). Donnie and Mikey also have a very collaborative fighting style, which also suggests to me that it’s a training thing. That is, I feel like Mikey considers it his job to watch out for Donnie specifically, even moreso than Leo and Raph do. He tends to be watching Donnie even when the other two aren’t.

I’ve talked about it before, but whenever Donnie gets into serious trouble, Mikey changes. It’s a bit understated, and I think people can miss it because Raph is often loudly upset when Donnie’s in trouble, but Mikey gets very, very focused and very, very serious when things happen to Donnie. He doesn’t joke, he doesn’t smile, nothing else  happens until they get Donnie back. It’s something that jumps out at me, because even at other times in the series when Leo or even Splinter are in serious danger, Mikey still keeps his sense of humour. If Mikey considers “protect Donnie” to be part of his role on the team, it’s a job he takes extremely seriously.

(I also feel like I need to shout-out to Klunk here! Mikey, who generally has three brothers and a father constantly watching out for him, needs someone to love and protect too, and apart from Donnie, he has Klunk. I feel like this is part of why so many versions of Mikey end up with cats.)

Donnie, as you mention, tends to be the most alert and situationally aware of his brothers, which is why he tends to be the first to notice if someone else with their group is in trouble, and is better able to keep an eye on those people. I’ll talk a bit more about him later, but I did want to mention here that he’s also very protective of Mikey in return - I’d actually consider his approach a combination of Leo’s and Raph’s! He’s very similar to Leo, in that he’s the strategist between himself and Mikey, he’s the one thinking five moves ahead - but there are a ton of instances of him pushing Mikey out of the way/pulling him to safety/physically steering him, plus almost drowning in a whirlpool trying to save him, plus that whole little killing spree he went on in SAINW after that version of Mikey died. Like, I worry sometimes that I overemphasize Donnie’s “weakness” with fighting - the guy’s still a very capable fighter, he has all of Leo’s and Raph’s big-brother firepower and one brother to focus it on, and while it doesn’t happen often, there are a few times when things happen to Mikey and Donnie just unleashes hell.

And then there’s Raph, and there is so much to say about Raph! “Protective Raph” is a whole thing in 2k3, and 2k3 was the first version to really develop that side of him. He’s so protective of all his brothers, including Leo. And I think that’s a combination of nature and nurture - Raph is genuinely Like That, but there again, I think Splinter might have also trained him a bit in that direction, to take that role on the team. Leo’s the leader, the big-picture guy, he’s protecting everyone by trying to stay five steps ahead of their enemies at all times and usually putting himself in harm’s way first. Raph is much more immediate in his approach, he’s actively watching everyone in fights, prepared to jump in for whoever needs help. In another ask I commented that Raph tends to make friends pretty easily when he’s on his own, but tends to be reticent or even prickly around strangers when he’s with his brothers - this is why. When he’s with his brothers, he’s pretty well constantly risk-assessing, like Leo is, and prepared to jump in if things go sideways. On his own, he can afford to relax a little.

An interesting note about Raph with Donnie and Mikey, is someone observed in one of my previous asks that 2k3 and 2k12 sort of “switches” which brother he’s closest to/most protective of. In 2k3 we see more of his sweet and protective side around Donnie, and he tends to be snarkier with Mikey, whereas in 2k12 it’s the opposite and he’s openly protective of Mikey and snarkier with Donnie. I think in both cases, Raph is most protective of the brother he perceives as most vulnerable. Which tends to be Mikey in 2k12 due to his naivete and impulsivity, and Donnie in 2k3 due to his relative weakness with fighting. 

Also of note in 2k3, is that Raph is the most openly protective of Leo. He’s basically the only brother who can be, the only brother potentially strong enough to take on whatever Leo’s taking on, and generally the only brother Leo’s really willing to accept help from. He jumps in during fights when Leo’s in trouble, like he does for the others, and he gets upset when things happen to Leo. He straight-up cries when Leo is badly injured by the Foot Elite. Apart from being worried for Leo, I suspect Raph gets a bit freaked out when Leo’s out of commission because all the leadership and responsibility then lands on him, and he feels like he has to keep everyone safe on his own, when the team is automatically more vulnerable because Leo isn’t there.

Moreover, Raph is the brother who usually looks out for Leo emotionally too. Leo’s a tricky guy, he doesn’t like to lean on his brothers for things, but he’s a bit more emotionally open with Raph than he is with the others, and I think a lot of that is because of how physically capable Raph is. Leo can turn it off a bit with Raph, he can afford to relax a bit, he doesn’t worry about Raph the same way he worries about Donnie and Mikey. So Raph’s the one most likely to make sure Leo kicks back and has fun every now and then, and he’s the one who tries to reassure Leo when he’s upset about something. 

Leo, of course, is extremely protective of everyone all the time, to the point that it’s detrimental to his actual relationships with his brothers. It’s hard for him to relax with them or just bond with them, because he’s always in protection-mode, especially around Donnie and Mikey (notably, on the few occasions we see Leo relaxing and playing with Donnie and Mikey, Raph is always around - Leo’s never playful with them on his own). And while he’s emotionally looser with Raph, he and Raph hold each other to high expectations in 2k3, and that’s the source of many of their arguments. They’re both far harder on each other for flaws, mistakes, and bad decisions than they are on Donnie or Mikey. 

And in writing this, I’m realizing that Leo relies on Raph a lot in this regard. Leo will do the “jump in and help” thing when needed, but tends to rely far more on Raph to keep an eye on Donnie and Mikey during an actual fight. It’s rare to see Leo get really distressed when one of his brothers is hurt or in trouble, because he seems to try hard not to get upset - the most important thing he can do in those situations is keep a cool head and come up with a plan. This becomes particularly apparent when Donnie’s the one in trouble, because generally in those situations, both Raph and Mikey are two steps away from flipping out and Leo needs to be able to direct them. Leo seems to get most visibly anxious when things happen to Raph - partially due to his own emotional bond with Raph, but also for similar reasons that Raph freaks out when Leo’s hurt: when Raph’s down, everything is suddenly way more dangerous.

Back to the A-Team and B-Team thing, it’s interesting how often Leo doesn’t split them up that way, especially earlier on. Often, if he has to split them up at all, he pairs Raph with Donnie and himself with Mikey. As you point out, Raph tends to focus more of his protectiveness on Donnie, Leo tends to focus more on Mikey, and since Mikey is basically a Teenage Mutant Ninja Cannonball who doesn’t need a ton of physical protection, Leo tends to do this in a more mentoring way. He knows Mikey is capable, but Mikey needs direction and guidance, which Leo tries to provide. And he knows Raph will look after Donnie.

Another random contrast with 2k12, that I only realized while writing this, is that while 2k3 Leo sometimes has a lot of tension with Raph around holding Raph to high expectations, for 2k12 Leo, a lot of that tension transfers over to Donnie. 2k12 Leo and Raph obviously do argue, but a lot of their arguing tends to be competitiveness or general bickering. 2k12 Leo and Donnie don’t argue that often, but it tends to be pretty serious when they do, and it’s usually down to them having unreasonable expectations or demanding unreasonable things from each other. Leo also doesn’t seem to lean on Raph quite as much as a “co-protector”, at least early on, but pretty overtly dumps Mikey onto Donnie and seems to expect the two of them to take care of each other. So, that’s an interesting thing.

This is nearly as long as my first draft! But finally, I wanted to talk a little more about the B-team, and how they’re both protective of their big brothers, but have to be a bit more subtle about it, since Leo and Raph really put a lot of effort into protecting them and not needing their help.

Donnie and Mikey are the brain and heart in 03 as well, and those are the approaches they use with their older brothers. Donnie’s thing tends to be providing information and pointing out risks and hazards and potential solutions. Donnie is the one constantly taking in information, even if Leo is fighting and distracted. A big example of protective!Donnie is when he recognized that nuclear bomb when he was with Raph, because Raph had no way of knowing what he was looking at. He also tends to step up in a big way when Raph is the one in charge, quick to point out if they’re overwhelmed or in danger, because he knows Raph always wants to keep fighting as long as he can, and that it won’t work out if Leo isn’t there and they’re outmatched.

Mikey, as the heart of the team, is pretty in tune with both Leo’s and Raph’s emotions, and it’s actually pretty interesting how he looks out for them both in that way! 2k3 puts a lot of emphasis on how Mikey distracts and flusters Raph with teasing when they fight, it happens repeatedly. Almost like the audience is supposed to see that this is an issue Raph needs to work on… almost like Mikey knows this issue can be far more dangerous if Raph is fighting with an actual enemy and not sparring with his brother. I think Mikey was genuinely thrilled to beat Raph and advance in the Battle Nexus episode, but I think a lot of his bragging thereafter was also a subtle message to Raph: “Hey, we both know you should have kicked my ass, and fully would have if you hadn’t let me get into your head like that.” Raph does work at this issue, and improves over time, but would he have done so, or worked as hard as he did at it, if Mikey hadn’t forced the issue with him multiple times?

Mikey also does this for Leo, especially during Leo’s PTSD arc. In fact, he’s the only brother who doesn’t argue with Leo at all during that time, and the only brother Leo still manages to be at least somewhat affectionate towards. Rather than judging Leo or getting upset with him as Donnie and Raph were doing, Mikey pretty consistently seems to understand where Leo’s coming from, and manages to walk a line between joking and sincerity which, combined with Leo’s general indulgence for the baby in the family, ends up being a pretty effective way of dealing with him!

And… I think that’s everything! Honestly, I could go on for longer on this topic, because I feel like each of the brother-relationships is slightly different in this regard, for a variety of reasons. In fact, if there is any specific brother or specific pairing you want me to dive deeper into, feel free to send another ask!