#fleetingau

if asked who her favorite red and blue rivals were, she would say 'leo and raph' when in ear shot of them, but in truth: it's the blue jay and male cardinal at the bird feeder every winter. their snow-seed battles are of legend.

If Harley likes scented candles, she prefers ones that smell like nature especially when she's living in the city because they remind her of the farmhouse and the ones that smell like food just make her hungry

Harley is into Nickelback (unironically)

What's hilarious is you are correct. Not only because she's a 2003 country-living teenager, but also because I was into Nickelback unironically during the same time

(OMG THIS IS A GREAT QUESTION! YAY! thank you so muuuch. I love getting questions, It's just hard for me to answer them because i always wanna make art for them and I don't always have the time/motivation. ;v; BUT LUCKILY! I actually had artwork already for this sort of question so I cleaned em up! @arthur-dat-artist This will be a little long so sorry in advance~) We'll start with a general Harley thing! Harley is incredibly patient. I think it comes from the sense of having to look after herself a lot, being raised by an elderly person and then being left to her own devices a lot after Grandma Jones' passing. It's not that she'll sit around and wait for someone to come along and help her with something, often times that person just...wasn't available. But she has patience for the things people are dealing with. She understands Casey can't always muster the ability to be kind or gentle because he's angry he lost his dad. She gets that, she feels the same sense of loss about Grandma. She understands that Laura (Casey's mom) can't always be around to help because she's got an unruly son, a helpless young niece, her mother in law's estate, a house, and job to manage, all while balancing the grief of losing their main source of income and her husband, all in the span of about 4 years. Even when she's little.... Harley understands that it's not a problem that can just be fixed because she wishes it was. She also knows she can't afford to be reckless and potentially cause problems for the people who've taken her in. So she learns how to take a sort of.... 'ambush predator' style to life. Waiting for opportune moments, considering multiple factors, waiting to get more information before striking out in any given situation. It's gotten Harley OUT of a lot of trouble externally. (Even if she gets stuck in her own head a lot.)

This appears to Donatello as: Pragmatism Harley is considerate and thinks things through (usually). She takes in multiple perspectives and factors of any given situation, environment, or person to create an ideal. Whether that's giving somebody space, or support in a moment, anticipating their needs, or acting rationally in a high-stakes situation. He really appreciates that side of her, both in hairy situations but most notably in their every day. In the small moments that Harley is considerate of him and his brothers. She pays attention to the things they like, what they're doing, what they need. She's the first to offer something to drink or, distract from an all night project he's been looking way too long at. Or even just, letting him yap at her about things he knows she doesn't understand, but is an ear nonetheless to help him get his thoughts in order.

This leads us into that next part, that Raphael finds himself appreciating about Harley: Presence Raph doesn't just talk a big game, he prefers putting your money where your mouth is. And he not only expects the people in his circle to do the same but respects them for it. What use is gabbing if you don't deliver? Harley is someone who, at first, seemed to kept her distance and keep them all at arms length. It drove Raph up the wall because he thought she was putting herself apart from them as some form of condescension. When he learned what she was actually just... waiting for an invitation into the fold. Once she got it, Harely is right there in the thick of things with the guys whenever she can be. She doesn't shy away from a bad situation and wants to help however she can, even if that help comes in the form of stepping aside to let the brawlers handler things. That doesn't make her a pushover, and considering she was raised for much of her young teen-years by Casey and his mom, Raph knows just how well Harley can keep pace. She handles horses, chucks haybales, tills fields, all largely by herself when they meet her. She throws a mean right, and kicks like a mule and even though she's not a fighter in the same sense Raph and his brothers are, he's never once considered her weak.

Leading into our next point, which is what Michelangelo likes most about Harley! :Trust and Gentleness Mikey is one of the first people who really got to see the softer side of Harley that she keeps to herself. The part that loves quietly and diligently, the part that's gentle, observant, and kind. The person that loves her animals, and all living things dearly, even though she knows she has to eat them sometimes to live. The girl that admires flowers at the farmer's markets, and has a collection of hair ribbons because she thinks they're cute. The person that sewed him and his brothers customized pants and footwear because she didn't want them to get cold, even though she hardly knew them at the time. This Harley is both the one that Michelangelo gets to see almost exclusively, and is also, the part of her he cherishes most and wants to protect. Harley is their first friend that's their age, and she's so isolated and awkward to be around in the beginning, the first time Mikey gets her to SMILE? To laugh at one of his jokes? To actually join him in goofing off? He wants her to open up that part of her heart to more people, so they can see and appreciate it as much as he gets to. (But he's still her favorite. Right??? RIGHT?!)

This side of Harley is something that we see her open up with more and more as the story goes on and as she becomes more comfortable within the group and has her own spot in the dynamics. It also is related to the next part-- the thing that Leonardo loves most about Harley: Connection and Understanding

Leonardo loves his family more than anything. So much so that he is willing, almost instinctively to set aside his own wants and needs for their sake. He doesn't regret that-- but it's a hard thing for a kid to carry. And as much as his family tries to really understand what that feels like-- to put that pressure ON YOURSELF, nobody gets it like Harley does. To feel like there are lives, depending on you. Their happiness, their ability to be safe and to thrive-- you have the strength to influence that, and every decision you make could improve, or detriment those who are the most important to you. The pride of the people you admire most is something you're striving towards. Wanting to please them, and do right by them, and all they've done to fill your life with so much good. How can you, someone who is always falling short, ever hope to repay that? (For me, personally, that was the mindset I had growing up that had me relating to Leonardo so intensely, and as an adult it's very similar to my relationship to Christianity/God/Jesus. But that's a rant for another day.) Point is-- For Leo, doing right by his family, his Master-- and pushing himself to ensure they are okay is what he is constantly striving for. And when he falls short of that, he's devastated. Because he feels like he's failed. Harley is the exact same. Her grandmother's memory, the farm, her precious animals that are like her family-- striving to keep them fed, and well and safe, and keeping the precious memories of the Farm alive for the sake of her Grandmother's memory, for the sake of all that Grandma Jones gave, and sacrificed by taking Harley in and raising her. Writing her into her will, even though they were only together for a few short years. Even though Harley isn't related to the Jones' by blood. How can I protect the image of peace that these precious people fill inside my life? That thought is the core motivation that drives both Leo and Harley. And nobody knows it in one, better than the other. No one gets how heavy it is, how heavily it sits in their hearts. But they see it in eachother. When one is pushing themselves too hard to care for everyone else-- it's the other who follows back around and checks on that person. I know you can't set this burden down-- but I can help you carry it. I see you. I'm here. I get it. And we can't stop, but maybe... just for a minute, one of us can rest, and rest assured the other one can watch your back. Leo appreciates and loves that in Harley dearly, so much so that he shows up for her in the exact same way, as much as possible.

He doesn't have to be 'The Leader' around her all the time. She doesn't have to be 'The Steward' with him. When they're together they just get to be, 'Harley and Leonardo'.

Lastly! Since we covered all the Boys! Let's talk a little bit about Splinter! I don't have a lot of art of them-- their relationship is a good one! It's just hard to describe. Harley reminds Splinter a lot of Leonardo, but he can't approach her wanting to help in quite the same way he would his own son. So learning how to navigate Harley's more cautious 'barn cat' nature takes a little finessing at first. Honestly, what Harley is for each of the brothers is what Splinter loves the most about her. But also by her own merits. She's observant, independent, diligent, loyal, and cares deeply about all the living things around her. Even when she has to weigh lives against one another for the sake of survival. Which he understands is no easy thing for someone so young to have to deal with. Splinter begins to see her as someone he gently invites under his own wing, another child who's growing up alongside his own sons. Offering them that sense of peership, and teen normalcy they don't have many opportunities to engage with. And he loves her and is immensely grateful to her for it. Harley too, has sorely been lacking a parental figure in her life since Grandma Jones passed away, and Harley is herself, an orphan with no past. She has no recollection of either of her parents. And the only confident male guardian figure in her life was Casey and their other cousin Sid(who's an asshole). And Casey is more like an older brother than a father-figure. Splinter fills a role in Harley's life she already never knew and so it's unfamiliar territory. But it's really sweet to see how Harley, who is initially very cautious with parental figures at the start, slowly open up to and learn to depend on and confide in Splinter as if he was her parent. So much so that later in the story, when Harley has probably one of her worst experiences, the first person she calls, is Master Splinter.

I actually talk a bit more about their relationship in this post!