#Mikey is an honest boy who is upfront about his feelings

[turtleblogatlast]

Something I like about Leo is that he’s honestly really chill? It’s easy to remember the moments where he’s being obnoxious or excitable but I feel like most of the time he’s incredibly “go with the flow” and has an overall affable demeanor.

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt leo #rise leo #Genuinely speaking I feel like said demeanor is incredibly useful for when he has to charm and/or persuade people into listening to him #I have a whole post talking about Leo’s charm and how he consistently gets people to hear him out even if he’s annoyed or upset them #like they’ll still listen to what he has to say in full #his charisma stat is real and utilized quite often in this series I swear he’s not just a loser cringeboy all the time 😭 #if he wants to persuade and/or charm then he honestly sooo often does #me listing the 400th reason why Leo grows up to be the worlds best ninja and a good 365 of those reasons are Leo’s various subterfuge skill #Like most episodes where he’s not the main focus (and even many where he is) #he’s a voice of reason who notices things quickly and is often the one taking point to talk down situations #something interesting I found between Leo and Mikey is that #Mikey tells people what they need to hear #Leo tells people what they want to hear #not only out of his own agenda either #when bullhop was wrecking their home leo was the one that negotiated to make the situation go smoother #even if he would have rather bullhop left #meanwhile Mikey is the one who bluntly tells things as it is #small character moment that means a lot to me #Mikey is an honest boy who is upfront about his feelings #Leo prefers to let people make their own decisions he wants them to through steering the convo in that direction #but he is easily cowed by guilt #regardless leo is a people person - he knows how to talk to them and how to manipulate/persuade #and I like that his bros know this and often push him forward to do the talking if they wanna charm someone into doing what they want #I think Leo’s hope speeches are also an example of this - he’s saying what people really want to hear (and often it’s ALSO what they NEED) #the further the series goes on the higher Leo’s inner stress rises and he just keeps that chill aura anyway #there’s a reason!!! he wanted to go to a SPA so badly!! #literally the first thing he does when he gets in is rest #no joke meditation would do him good? like- it’s a Leo thing and I genuinely think rise leo would be no different here

[virtue-and-beneviolence]

I also get vibes that Shuji came from a single mom household. But I headcanon that she was probably very neglectful and maybe a possible narcissist? As a little boy she left him alone in their dingy apartment to fend for himself for days and he had to feed himself and raise himself on the streets. And part of his goofy upbeat behavior along with being violent is a coping mechanism (besides that some of it might be his natural personality. I believe he is an ESTP of Myers-Briggs) He seems kinda comfortable with Kisaki's coldness and narcissistic behavior and I think maybe there is something to that? His own mom mightve been that cold. I also think that he seeks adrenaline and risky behavior as a way to get a strong dopamine hit and to feel something. Like he's repressing a lot of negative emotions but just handles them different than compared to Mikey (who is a different kind of mess) I think Shuji's apathy in his timeskip is fascinating because you can tell he isn't a teenage boy anymore, his eyes don't shine with mischief as they did and I'm thinking there could be some depression? He uses his vices as a distraction as well. Because I seriously don't think he is a sociopath which might be a controversial thing to say. And apathetic behavior could be result of burying things so deep you don't even know where you buried them if you ever wanted to bring them to the surface. One more thing I remembered, when hes visiting Kisaki's grave, he looks like he's been depressed and his eyes also lost that same shine as well. I might be looking too much into it and making a mountain out of a mole hill but I love his character and I love deep diving into everything about him

Dark head cannons for days. I don't think you're making anything too big dude life is hard and it's satisfying to think about how ppl get to where they are.

Fren, it hurts so bad. I hate how an overtly neglectful mom fits his relationship with kisaki so well but I hate even more that shuji seems to value that relationship so much. Destroys me a Lil to see baby shuji with a whole ass disorganized attachment to his mother, but it fits like a fuckin glove. I think most of us agree he just wouldn't believe he can be loved as is. And thats almost an expectation based on that background.

(I prob selfishly wanted her to not expressly intend to be neglectful bc I imagined more as like an extremely anxious/depressed-maybe even bipolar- overworked lady who wasn't planning on a kid dabbling in self medication (that he adopts wittingly or not) kinda leading to a wildly insecure relationship from a real young age.)

ESTP is perfect and I'm with you-if anyone is a sociopath it's kisaki, full stop. I mean. I think our boy struggles w shit but I don't think he lacks the intuition or understanding of emotions. Also I think he's rather honest and upfront about his intentions.

Love your note on adult shujis eyes (I'm not broken up after reading it not at all I'm an a d u l t) yeah its like we're finally seeing that depression that I think has been there since damn near childhood. He's team "don't wanna kms but if I die I die."

Tldr I'm all over the place but you're really fukin onto him. Wakui pls take notes from this lovely person.

(also real quick what happened to his dad in your mind? )

#anon ur my hero #pls hurt me more #im always here for sad shuji things #and happy shuji things #literaly anything this has been so fun #lets talk about the childhood trauma redemption arc ive been dreaming of #that my near illiterate ass may one day write #lovely chats lovely chats #talk to virtue