#honestly cc f!donnie would be fun to see as like a downtrodden tortured poet... ideas ideas

[qoldenskies]

Just read CC and am now thinking of The Movie. Two Years on and Donnie's getting better and Casey comes in, this kid who has only known Donnie from after the curse and has no comparisons and probably doesn't even know about the curse at all-learning slowly that Tello wasn't always like this (something something kid learning one of their parental figures/role models was abused and realizing how that shaped their personality)

i imagine f!donnie in cc would be very different from how most people interpret his canon self for suuuureee. like once he's doing better he's still a very timid people-pleaser, and that even extends to his behavior with strangers/acquaintances. he's got a lot of the general donnie-ness back but he's not brash and unabashed anymore, and he's quick to second guess himself. i'm sure this would carry to adulthood, so i could imagine CJ would see him as a very kind parental figure, not realizing that behavior is linked to trauma (especially because i dont think donnie would leave the base much before his death, not unless he really has to, because of combat trauma and because his role is imperative in the rebellion. still think he'd die first though... just 'cause it'd hurt)

^^ and speaking of that idea, ohhhh my god the way his death would tear the family apart. it might be fun to posit the idea of him dying when CJ is particularly young (as opposed to canon where both him and raph were confirmed to have died in their late 30s, this is an au we can go wild), so he remembers donnie MORE by the impact he left on his family, the way that they cracked and splintered apart and fucking lost it. oh my god they lost it. whoever was responsible for his death was nothing more than a crater in the earth when they were done with them LMFAO

seeing the way they all interact with him would both make it make sense and also be... disconcerting as fuck, because donnie is still actively struggling at that point, so he's a lot different. CJ's an adult now and he can TELL that isn't politeness, that's the behavior of someone that's genuinely terrified. i think he'd look at him like he was staring at a ghost, and it'd be uncomfortable for donnie who doesn't like being stared at. maybe they'd bond after everything is said and done though