#did i design leo and donnies similarly because they are twins?

[artralic]

I thought id give my hand at designing Rise Hoodies. I catered these to my style, more on the DL that they are ninja turtle designs. But still enough that if ya know, ya know.

Each has an accessory, because i do too

Leo: had the fanny pack across the chest, it resembles his waist pouches and sword strap.

Donnie: had a backpack that looks like his battle shell, it even has a strap to hold headphones

Raph: I couldnt decide which one to go with so he gets three options lol. Either those built in thumb hole sleeves, leather fingerless gloves, or fabric fingerless gloves.

Mikey: Mikey gets a built in face mask/covering. Gotta protect your identity when graffitiing and running from the cops- I mean to protect against illness….

[tblsomedoodles]

Some Seer Leo au stuff (particularly in regards to the possible Soothe Sayer Donnie i briefly mentioned would be cool)

Ok ok, let me explain my thought process a little better as far as this goes (now that I’ve had time to think on it and put some words together other they "hey wouldn't that be neat.)

First let me explain the “American Dragon: Jake Long” reference b/c it’s pretty crucial to why I immediately thought Donnie for the sooth sayer.

Ok, so in “American Dragon:Jake Long” There’s a pair of oracle twins named Sara and Kara.

(they look different in season 2 but i like these designs better)

Sara (left) only sees the bad things while Kara (right) only sees the good. Because of this, Sara’s personality is very happy and chipper while Kara’s is very doom and gloom. To quote the Wiki “Because [Sara] can only see bad things, Sara has learned to overcome the negative aspects of life and to seize every good moment she can get. The smallest amount of good news makes her extremely happy.” “Because Kara can only see good things, she feels like there's nothing more she can get out of life. There are no pleasant surprises anymore and everything becomes dull to her.”

I haven’t watched this show in a very long time, but these characters have always stuck out to me because of this. Not because they acted opposite of their powers, but because of the reasoning behind them acting different. Particularly the fact that seeing the good things can be just as much of a curse as seeing the bad things.

Now, let’s put that in comparison to our Disaster twins.

Leo tends to be happy and excitable throughout the series (even if part of the time he’s actively faking it.) Pair that with him being a doom prophet and, hey, that kinda sounds like Sara.

Donnie can be very pessimistic in the series and (maybe this is just my interpretation of him) actively obsesses over negative stuff to the point of inventing things simply on the off chance they may need it (donnie pods. Donnie’s gifts. Etc). Add the possibility of him being a sooth sayer to the mix, and that adds a different context to those actions, especially before he starts remembering his dreams. And definitely sounds a bit like Kara.

b/c if you remember how Leo’s dreams work, before his nimpo is unlocked, they are very indistinct and he almost immediately forgets them upon waking up. All that’s left behind is the vague Deja vous feeling whenever an event he dreamed actually happens (coupled with a ��not surprised’ feeling.) Therefore, Donnie’s would work similarly, the only difference is that his visions wouldn’t be nightmarish and wouldn’t actually wake him up (therefore, not nearly as disruptive, or memorable, as even Leo’s indistinct dreams.)

 So! If the one thing that consistently takes Donnie by surprise is the bad stuff, of course he’s going to obsess over every possible thing that could go wrong b/c it’s the bad stuff he doesn’t want to be surprised by.

And that’s just before their Nimpo is unlocked.

Afterwards, both of their prophetic dreams would increase in clarity and, more importantly, they would remember them. But, by then, Don has the dreamcatcher up and he’s seeing all of Leo’s doom ridden, apocalypse timeline dreams as much as Leo (who is seeing them every night at that point.) So, Don can easily pass off his own few positive apocalypse timeline dreams (little things like CJ being brought into the family or a small victory they accomplished) as just, his subconscious trying to put a nice spin on the horrible stuff he’s seeing from Leo.

As far as Donnie realizing those visions are prophetic, at that point he wouldn’t even believe Leo’s are prophetic until he meets CJ “Time-travel is possible and I did it” Jones. A kid he’s seen grow up in both Leo’s and his dreams, and who’s existence just proved Leo’s dreams are real. It’s probably not until after the attempted invasion is over and Donnie’s own visions pick up speed (now having nothing to do with Leo’s and can’t be passed off as such) does Donnie grudging realize his dreams might be prophetic too. (he might even have a short talk with CJ, asking indirectly about one of his own visions, and finding it really did happened.)

(also just, Do you know how much more of a Disaster these twins would be if they could work together to see the whole image? Just the two of them using their joint knowledge to make their enemies lives a living hell would be amazing)

Ok, my exceptionally long explanation to my thoughts are over. TL;Dr, Donnie should be a sooth sayer b/c it would, in a very ironic way, fit his personality. And it would piss him off.

Thank you for listening to my rant.

[gladiatorofthevoid]

Moments Chapter 2: Disaster Twins

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Ao3 Link: Here

Donnie and Leo loved to get each other gifts. It started with small things when they were younger. Leo brings home a bundle of wires from dumpster diving, or Donnie finds sparkly plastic jewelry for Leo to wear around the lair. There was something about seeing an item and instantly thinking that the other person would like it.

-  

On their 8th birthday, Leo pulled Donnie aside from the celebration and towards their room. Donnie grumbled at Leo's excited giggling and yanked his hand back to sit down as soon as they were through the door and alone. Leo didn't seem to mind, still smiling like a madman.  

"I got you a gift!" Leo said, and Donnie just rolled his eyes.  

"I know you did. You're not very good at keeping secrets. The only thing I don't know is where you're keeping it." The slider glared at his twin and with a huff reached under Donnie's bed. He then pulled out a small cardboard box with a bow on it. Donnie raised his eyebrows.  

"You hid it under my bed?" He asked.  

"Uh, yeah! Why would you look under your bed?" That was a fair point, Donnie conceded, then reached under his extra pillow, and pulled out a similarly sized box. Leo grinned and shoved his box into Donnie's hand before snatching the other one.  

Leo stuck the bow to his head before ripping through the paper and rifling through the tissue paper inside. Donnie on the other hand was very careful in peeling up the pieces of tape, setting the bow to the side before unfolding the tissue paper and pulling out a white coffee mug. It was covered in designs of constellations and atoms that Leo clearly drew himself in varying shades of purple.  

Donnie blinked down at the gift in surprise and looked up at Leo, who was pulling his own white mug covered in Donnie's hand-drawn designs, these of unicorns and rainbows. Leo broke out into a huge smile and began to laugh.  

"We really are twins!" He shouted.  

"Shut up," Donnie mumbled, annoyed.  

-  

7 years later, Donnie was sitting in his lab finishing up the wrapping on his gift for his twin. He smoothed out the wrapping paper across the heavy box with steady hands, trying to dispel the nervousness that always came with getting a gift for his brothers.  

Over the years both Donnie and Leo had given a lot of gifts to each other and to the rest of their family. Sometimes it was for special occasions, sometimes they saw something that the other person would like or need and just did it, sometimes it was just because. But giving gifts to Leo always felt different.  

The thing was that, at least for Donnie, the gift exchanges were reminders of how well the twins knew each other. Donnie had a hard time understanding any of his brothers, but with Leo, it was a bit easier. He believed it had something to do with them both being people of thought, rather than action, like Raph and Mikey. Leo may have acted stupid, but Donnie knew that his true strength lay in his strategy, in his understanding and manipulation of the enemy. He tended to show it casually most of the time, but it was always still impressive.  

But the point was that Donnie understood Leo on a level that he didn't quite with the rest of his family, and each time they gave each other gifts it helped reinforce that understanding. Plus, it was an easy way to show that they loved each other, without all the complexities of emotion.  

Donnie reached out and grabbed a scrap of paper and a pen out of an old coffee mug, with purple hand-drawn constellations and atoms, scribbled a quiet "happy birthday" on the paper and stuck it under the bow. He then walked out and knocked on Leo's door.  

He heard scrambling from inside and was greeted with a bright overwhelming smile on his twin's face.  

"Finally! Why do you always say wrapping till the last minute?" Leo yelped as he pulled Donnie inside his room. Donnie didn't dignify the question with an answer and shoved the present into Leo's hands. Leo in turn put the box on the ground and shoved his own huge brightly wrapped box into Donnie's.  

It had been a tradition ever since that first 8th birthday that they would give each other their presents separate from the rest of their family just so they could have a moment with each other alone on their birthday. And Donnie always had the strangest sense of Deja Vu whenever they did it. It was always a reminder of how little he and his twin had changed as they grew older. Because Leo still ripped and tore through the paper after sticking the bow on his head, and Donnie always peeled away the tape, to the point that Leo only used one or two pieces on the whole box to make the process faster.  

Once it was open Donnie picked up a new soldering tool, remembering how he mentioned his old one was fizzing out uncontrollably, and in another box a Jupiter Jim comic book wrapped in cellophane. With a card on top that read "Mint condition ;)." Donnie felt himself start to wiggle and put down the box to flap his arms up and down, he wished he was in his wheelchair so we could spin around. He looked up to thank Leo and hug him, only to find Leo already leaning across the gap with an excited squeal, talking so fast that Donnie couldn't keep up.  

In Leo's lap was a new custom wooden chess set, with each of the pieces a different sea creature. (Except for the nights which were unicorns, because his brother never grew out of that phase.)  

Donnie hugged Leo back with a smile and patted him on the back before they drew apart.  

"This is great, Don! I love it so much! You've got to play with me later today!"  

Donnie just sighed and rolled his eyes, accepting the fact that he was going to get his butt whooped in chess because he never could be Leo at that game.  

"Later," he said. "Let's just enjoy the party." Leo smiled and bolted for the door, dragging his twin behind.  

Just like always.

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Thank you to @rise-august-art-challenge for hosting the Rise August Challenge, which this is inspired by.

Please let me know if I should improve or fix something.

[aaronymous999]

Overly long analysis of the outfit choices:

Leo: Something nice and almost school uniform looking in terms of the pants and undershirt. Although despite this he seems quite uninterested and although it’s clear he dressed himself. But it seems it’s not exactly what he WANTS to wear, as if this was a standard he chose because he believes it portrays the image of what is expected of him. He’s wearing his colors, he’s dressed pretty uptight and traditionally for human clothing standards and I image he’s quite cross with his brothers for not dressing similarly, although that’s headcanon, much as is this whole analysis but I am a character design nerd at heart!

Raph: As stated in the post by Rai, Raph seems mildly embarrassed and clearly did not dress himself, being dressed by Mikey. His clothes fit the image that Mikey has of Raph in his head and this one is a little harder for me because I have multiple interpretations of Raph here. Either he’s embarassed because yknow what? Twin actually dressed him pretty well but he’d never admit that. Or on the other hand, he could be straight up uncomfortable, he seems like the type of guy to prefer just going around without any clothes and not conforming to human clothing standards. Either of these work in the brain but I do prefer the second option, as much as I enjoy seeing my little guy in cute clothes. I feel though if he got to dress himself I imagine he’d wear something a lot more good for combat but that’s just my little headcanon.

Mikey: OOOOH I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS… I am a betareader for Reticent and semi co-creator although the characters are completely Rai’s and I’ve just helped with plot summaries but. Most of my thoughts on Mikey’s outfit are complete spoilers for his character arc and future stuff so I won’t dwell on it too much. Just gonna say that I think Mikey has a strong fashion sense. I think his outfit choices are the most in depth along with Leo as they follow along with his insecurities and his character arc really well >:) Rai did amazing with these dudes!!

Donnie: HE DEFINITELY DRESSED HIMSELF AND HES A HAPPY LITTLE GUY definitely got very excited when told he could wear whatever he wanted and although he and Mikey don’t get as much bonding time as Mikey would want, Donnie probably got very excited hearing Mikey compliment his fashion choices as I headcanon Mikey would do. Also Donnie definitely prefers skirts because of how comfortable and flowy they are, abusing my co-creator status for the only time ever because this is just canon actually ( not ACTUALLY but I mean that in the way that like it is so real to me ) LOOK AT HIS LITTLE SMILE HE IS SO HAPPY WITH HIMSELF!!

Oh also bonus headcanons for what I think Casey and April would dress like to be fancy:

April: She’s not the most feminine or masculine and can kinda go in between like the girlboss she is, probably would wear a dress based on her date with Irma in Chapter 2. But she’s definitely the type of girl to wear a dress with a slit so she can easily access the ten knives she’s hidden ( although in this case it would more be like she will proudly display a baseball bat on her back? What do you mean that’s not lady-like? Fuck you! ) also I feel like she’s either really good at running in heels or straight up doesn’t wear them because they’re a pain in the ass.

Casey: WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CANT DRESS IN THE INBODIMENT OF TRASH PANDA FASHION?? Fine LEO I’ll wear something else. Probably shows up in just a flannel and cargo pants and dirty boots and refuses to explain. Leo is still mad at him because he didn’t even wear a nice dress shirt under it like Raph did but at this point Casey doesn’t care and Mikey is defending his fashion choices like “This is his style!! Don’t force his artistic expression to change!!”

Anyways. Analysis turned pile of headcanons over. Might post more Reticent stuff as more lore is revealed and chapters release. But you’ll seee, would post a lot more if I knew how to draw the motherfuckers but I can’t rn but am trying to work on it!!

Mikey dressed them all up and they’re ready for the fashion show‼️💪💪💪

I’ve recently really liked the pastel pink and blue aesthetic for Mikey following creating a certain set of designs that I may or may not post if u vote for Reticent (this is totally not propaganda wdym) like idk it just looks so cute gvbgvbhhv

ALSO I accidently drew Raph really gremlin on the ref sheet for those designs and I love it but because earlier on in Reticent, Mikey is shorter than Raph, that means I have to make Mikey REALLY tiny in season 1 which is so freaking funny to me ctbhvghjnj LOOK AT HIM HE’S SO SMALL‼️‼️‼️

One of my friends told me they all look like candy and that brings me joy 😌😌✨✨💅💅💅 (May or may not have added a waffle cone pattern to Mikey’s shorts cause of it…)

She also asked if Raph had fallen into a fountain at a fancy restaurant TFHHVGHJVG (he didn’t, Mikey just dressed him up nice to be a git cause “well since you’re the older twin u gotta set an example right :))” and then Raph just loosened it all up CRGHVGBH-)

ANYWAY YEAH PLEASE VOTE RETICENT IN THE @tmntausummit ‼️‼️‼️💖💖🫶🫶