we've had one yes

i was charmed by the leo hat inspector screengrabs @halogalopaghost snagged from that one episode so here's leo inspecting other things ie random pictures i had saved on my phone. featuring greatest hits such as: my cat, eraserhead baby, minecraft, and kurt russell from john carpenter's 1982 the thing.

been thinking about this transition and how it how much it shows the boys’ personalities while they go undercover to find info on their missing friends in such a tiny time

like leo is very focused on getting as much information as he can (taking his job seriously) and mikey is being talkative and very comfortable talking to humans. (my good guy is chatty of course he loves being involved in the human world)

meanwhile raph emerges from the shadows looking very serious/ threatening (using intimidation to get what he wants) and don just hides as much of himself as he can and goes away very quickly (mysterious and reserved).

Okay so, I wanted to expand a bit about what I meant in this post about Leo and Raph’s similarities. Pictured above are two scenes which highlight this very well: how they are two sides of the same coin, and can rather easily tap into that other side (coin metaphor be damned).

For Raph, here we have a scene where he is separated from the others, in “Across The Universe”. He doesn’t act his normal hot-headed self so much in this episode; instead he lectures his temporary companion about honour, before berating himself for sounding like Leo. This implies that he very much understands Leo’s personality as well as the necessity of it - so when Leo’s not there to fill that role, he steps up to do it.

For Leo, although season four isn’t the only time this happens, he gives in to his emotions, and is shown as much more aggressive in the scene above. Raph states that he doesn’t mind, that he enjoys Leo talking tough. This also suggests a kinship because they understand each other’s emotional sides very well. In “Lone Raph and Cub”, whilst Donnie and Mikey just tell him to calm down, Leo lets Raph take off to blow off some steam - understanding his emotios, as we also often see Leo take off to vent on his own.

Both sides are essential, which they clearly acknowledge. Raph prefers to be able to go head first into battle, but he understands the necessity of a leader and honour too: and trusts Leo in this role, to the point that he mimics Leo when he’s not there. Meanwhile Leo prefers the role of the leader, but he isn’t above giving into emotions and venting his frustrations on his opponents every once in a while: and understands Raph’s emotional needs because he shares them.

as you can tell, I was totally normal about one specific 03 turtle as a kid. Bunch of screencap redraws from the show.

Just.