2003 Gio✨✨
Recently started watching 2003, but the website I was using only had up to season 3, and then the other seasons are wonky and missing episodes.. Let's say I know mostly up until Leo returns from training with the Ancient One and that whole fight with Karai. Besides all that I've adapted my Rise OC Caravaggio into 2003.
I don't mean simply drawing him in the 2003 style, no, I worked with my friend to adapt mostly his personality into 2003 (as the teetlez often have different personalities in each iteration).
It was a draw between "Paranoid Survivialist" and "Emo" and Emo won the draw, I'll explain more as I go along.
I did research and here's the "Emo" parts overall: Gio feels sectioned from society as a mutant turtle (obviously), and instead of allowing any personal connections and positive emotions he's decided it's better to expect the worst and try not to build too close a bond with anyone in his family. He loves his brothers and Splinter but he pushes away from them to remain in misery of the fact only bad things can happen (it gets weird to explain but I hope people get the jist), and the rest of his time when not fighting is spent lamenting pretty much everything. It's never that he's always moping, he's always ready to help fight the Shredder or whatever is threatening New York. And even if he thinks always expecting the worse prepares him for the worse, when really bad things happen to his brothers.. the emotions hit him harder than he thought they could.
2003 Gio is passionate about a few things, he loves coffee.. and waffles. He doesn't really do video-games or watch television since they are, "mere empty distractions for the miserable reality of existence" as he puts it. On the other hand, despite him trying to push away he has his relations with his brothers✨ Leo is the one who tries to reach out to him the most, he wants Gio to know somebody is there and everything's okay and all that. It does get rough when Leo gets all moody and angy. They begin to fight because Gio tells Leo, "You're being an idiot with your emotions." and Leo just.. that's an infodump for another time. Bottom line Gio doesn't like Leo trying so hard and is repelled by his positive persistence. Donnie likes to spend time with Gio and doesn't mind their three-word conversations. When Gio is bored he watches Donnie work and lets Donnie explain how everything works in whatever he makes. Gio is curious and likes to know information. Raph hangs around the most because Gio doesn't mind Raph's energy and I will say Raph is kinda the sweetest brother. Raph hangs around Gio mostly because he also doesn't mind Gio being more pessimistic but will still try to bring a silver lining. And with Mikey.. Mikey has no idea what to think of Gio based on Gio's attitude and interests. Gio feels indifferent about Mikey. While he would be repelled by Mikey's energy Gio almost feels pity that Mikey seems mostly oblivious to "the inevitable" and Gio maybe grows protective of that. Gio will always go on about never being accepted by anyone or anything and he can't relate to anyone or anything. His brothers have tried but in the end Gio's still right because he's the only one who feels this way about their situation.
Other things I guess: It's not uncommon for Gio to get lost somewhere new. He's curious and will wander off to look at stuff. The Gio constant has Gio also being able to somehow sense when someone is leaving their rooms at night so he wakes up and either finds them or waits until they return (it gets REAL bad when Leo leaves for 2 months. It's a way he's worried for his family, he stays until they return because he doesn't know if they're safe while they're gone and if they return then it's okay to sleep). Some Gio-in-an-episode details: In the first Shredder attack, that's how Gio got the scar on his face. The Shredder swiped and Gio moved but got that scar. And in "Tales of Leo" Gio tells a story about how when he was younger he was VERY reactive to emotions (insane tantrums, throwing stuff, etc.) and for the most part Splinter would just leave Gio until he was done, but Leo sat there and said he's wait and then Gio would actually talk through his emotions with Leo. Gio closes with, "I'll wait for you too Leo. Until you're ready." And ye✨ In the episodes where the brothers are all in different dimensions, I've planned that Gio ends up in the genderbent dimension (but a drawing will be shown of that only later). In the season 3 finale Shredder fight Gio gets both his wrists either fractured or broken, and (it's a Gio canon event) his shell is cracked. Fixed up with some Utrom Plaster. He just doesn't have sensation in his legs until his turtle power fix up the nerves (because turtles can regenerate nerve tissue apparently).
This is just to show 2003 Gio lamenting and the difference of Rise Donnie and Gio, and then 2003 Donnie and Gio✨
And this drawing shows Gio being "Emo" I guess. Some more expressions and twitchy fingers when unhappy stimulation.
A big 'ol infodump in between many doodles of 2003 Gio.
And yes I HAVE drawn all the 2003 boys. So ye
I like 2003✨
