#introducing Leo

[violivs]

NMTDaily: Introducing Leo AND Rebuttal AND tiny bonus video

These episodes are so intrinsically linked that I’m covering them together in one post. Starting with…

Introducing Leo

- Aww, Leo’s so uncomfy on camera. And Bea and Hero are so cute with Bea making the Nothing Much to Do joke and Hero pushing her over. I love these three.

- The sunshine framing them makes this video so pretty, too!

- I love the line “I’m not related to these two.” It’s meta, because in-world it’s a tongue-in-cheek ‘you’re embarrassing’, but out-of-world, it’s the truth. These are three actors who are not related to each other. I don’t know why that tickles me, but it does.

- “You know what I can’t stand about guys?” “Uh, everything?” Perfect.

- Interesting that this is Bea’s chosen topic for a random chatty video that’s supposed to be about introducing Leo to the viewers. For being so anti-boys, she sure has them on the brain.

- This is an incredible modernization of the beard/no beard line from the play, I love it. It does also handily rule out all boys across the board from dating Bea, which is a useful rhetorical strategy when you don’t actually want a boyfriend!

- “I understand me.” “You’re the only one.” This moment is gonna be paralleled later, and I’m already screaming about it. I think people are avoiding spoilers in their liveblogs, so I’ll just omit the context, but I cannot wait for “I’m glad that you understand me.”

- Ben is walking alone, a safe distance behind the group of other kids walking by. Socially anxious behavior. Just saying.

- “See you in Hell, Beatrice.” I adore that they already have inside jokes, that they already gravitate towards each other in class enough for that to happen.

- Leo wanting to defend Bea when nothing is actually wrong: foreshadowing for failing to defend someone else when something IS wrong?

- How is it a pop quiz if the kids know about it in advance? I thought a pop quiz always referred to a surprise quiz?

- I love that Ben is meddling in Claudio’s love life at the same time as Bea is offering to meddle in Hero’s love life. Parallels!

- Beatrice the awesome old cat lady! I love all the cat doodles onscreen.

- Leo is struggling here. What is he, 23? He didn’t sign up to raise teens and it shows, lol. Trying and failing to give Hero the be careful about boys talk.

- Eternally obsessed with Beatrice going on the internet and telling everyone her type is lanky dark-haired British guys, and then STILL spending months in denial about liking Ben after this. I love her.

- I did not know who JJ Field was when I first saw this episode. I still don’t think I’ve ever seen a single thing he’s been in.

- Hero calling Bea the heck out! “A thing for British guys? Hmm, who do we know who’s British?”

- “No one, we don’t know anyone!” *all fall over adorably*

- It’s been pointed out by Donalduke shippers before that these girls know two lanky dark-haired British guys: Ben Hobbes and John Donaldson. I still think that’s an interesting pickup. Some of the things that on Ben make him Beatrice’s ideal guy, become things that are different and weird about John.

- “please don’t call me Crotchety Old Emu” another all-timer when it comes to NMTD lines.

- It honestly feels like the whole Emu Time bit could have been completely improvised. They feel like real siblings/cousins making fun of each other, I love it.

- We also know from later context clues exactly how serious a threat “I’ll call my mum” is coming from Bea. You don’t mess with Hermione Duke!

REBUTTAL

- It’s a line from the trailer! “Beatrice is a stupid little so-and-so who doesn’t know anything about anything!” Classic.

- I love how he actually could have been way harsher but said “so-and-so” instead of a swear word. Because he already doesn’t hate her as much as he wants to?

- “There’s no one on Earth who’s ever gonna fill her grand criteria, no one!” And then her actual boyfriend criteria list is one item long: ‘must be Benedick Hobbes’.

- And of course, he’s only upset because he thinks he doesn’t fit her criteria, even though he doesn’t fully realize that yet.

- He’s relieved that he can talk about her without her watching the videos AND annoyed that she stopped watching at the same time. He’s obsessed with her, I’m sorry.

- Not to mention that he watches all HER videos the second they drop and frequently makes video responses to them. Babydoll, honestly. I am zero percent fooled. You love her.

- He also links to her Tweet about her latest video in the video description, so he probably follows her on Twitter (even though he didn’t have a transmedia twitter account shhh)

- PARRADAWKS, a classic moment (we love you Jake, we call out this little Scottish slip in only good fun!)

- Honestly I’m just obsessed that he was deadass like “did you just say I’m exactly your type but because I don’t have a beard I’m too young for you?! I am deeply offended and here’s a bulleted list as to why you’re wrong. Also I definitely don’t want to date you. Promise. No really. I don’t!”

- “I make jokes, I crack wise!” Don’t make me go off about Ben’s court jester complex where he thinks he’s only worth being around as long as he’s entertaining and no one actually likes him as a person beyond the performance. I’ll do it. I will!

- I love this bit so much. “You’re a mean-spirited old dragon!” *flaps hands like dragon wings*

- “I’ve seen deep into your heart and you feel nothing!” WHOA, big-time dip into the tragic backstory of how she stopped being his friend and broke his heart on this line!

- Oh good, his eyes look dark blue in this video. I’ve worried before that I described them as blue in fanfic but I’ve seen other people describe them as brown in fanfic so I might’ve been wrong. Pretty certain they’re blue though. Nothing wrong with any eye color, I just like to get my details right.

- BONUS secret lost video of Ben asking for Q&A questions! I forgot all about this, but it was definitely still on the channel when I first started watching the series.

- I would have kept this on the story playlist solely because every one of the limited moments I have of Benedick Hobbes on my screen is a treasure and I want them all thank you. Even if they are bad quality.

- Ben stole the idea of doing a Q&A from Bea and Hero.

- And the keysmash of letters that is this video’s title includes the letters GF, which is definitely a coincidence but also Ben is very soon to have a realization about the concept of GFs, so it makes me laugh.

- He mentions being on the way home from Claudio’s house. I am very sad that Ben is in a good place in his friendship with Claudio, goes over to his house and has him to his own house all the time, STILL feels constantly afraid of losing him as a friend to the point of being overbearing, and then… The Eventuality will happen. :(

- Ends it with every single NewWho catchphrase up to 12. I love him. What a nerd.

💖🦩🥭

[kovalitics]

[fabuloustrash05]

2012 Leo didn’t have friends

Truly think about it, did Leo actually have friends that he could call his own? Yes, he’s close with April, gets along with Casey, and respects Slash along with many other characters, but does he actually have a true friend(s)? Someone he can banter with and have a true connection and mutual bond with. And no, his dad does not count.

Compare Leo’s social life to his brothers:

Mikey has Ice Cream Kitty, Leatherhead, Mondo Gecko, Renet, Napoleon, and Sal Commander.

Donnie has April, Fugitoid, Metalhead, Dr Cluckingsworth, and Timothy.

Raph has Casey, Slash, Mona Lisa, Chompy and I’ll even count the rooftop pigeons.

Who does Leo got as friends? His sister and her witch girlfriend. That seems about it for him.

Leo when hanging out with Karai & Shinigami:

Joking aside, I feel Leo not really having his own friends really shows a lot regarding his character and how the roll of being leader and later on Sensai has effected his social life. Not to mention how the fandom can easily identify who each of the other Turtles best friends are, but for Leo we usually draw a blank.

Yes, Leo does have people close to him, I never will disregard his relationship with his brothers or April and Casey, but overall he never got that true special friendship connection that the others got in the series.

The closest we ever got to him having that genuine friendship was Chloe, the little girl he had a tea party with in season 2, and (maybe) Usagi later in season 5. But again, these were short lived dynamics we never get to see again.

[tangledinink]

the second attempt (it goes way better.)

(here's the silly, self-indulgent content i promised previously.)

[ gemini au ] [ prev ]

[thecandlewasters]

Celebrating 10 Years of NMTD 🦩🥭

Join the Much Ado About Nothing crew as they navigate high school in New Zealand at the height of superwholock. It's 2014 and you've got nothing much to do...

Meet Hero’s big brother, Leo!

[aroaceleovaldez]

we don't talk enough about the off-hand note in TLH where Jason says one of his titles is "Consul to demigods"

and it's like. never elaborated on. what does "consul to demigods" entail? what does that mean. Was his pontifex maximus title actually completely redundant because he was already supposed to be the proxy between Camp Jupiter and the gods? But also it's not consul of Camp Jupiter, it's consul to demigods in general. What does it mean?

[one-hit-boy-wonder]

Billy’s middle name is Joseph so I like to think that trans!Billy named himself after Billie Joe Armstrong

[jadetheblueartist]

New official Frida lore: she’s gonna hyperfixate on Hatsune Miku so hard it’s not even funny

[aurantiumred]

jason grabbing one of those shock bubblegum things that leo offers him and leo being so confused when it doesn't work

[ad-astra-per-aspera-1389]

okay, so since disney were COWARDS and didn't make the mcu mighty med/lab rats canon, I've decided to think marvel movies exist in that universe, but marvel movies/comics are "the fake ones" compared to the ones ambrose writes for mighty med. like, marvel is fun and all, but its not representative of real superheroes the way ambrose's comics and the movies based on them are.

that being said, circa 2012 (leo likes comics, and without being part of the superhero world like kaz, oliver, skylar, etc, most people don't know some are real and some are fake) the Avengers comes out.

all this to say, chase sees bruce banner struggling to control the hulk when he'd rather just be a human scientist, and it reminds him of himself and his commando app

[disastertwins9000]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 2012 💜💙❤️🧡

my boysssss

[allmightyscroll-swag]

Oop, I realized I never actually posted about this, but!

Anyone remember my separated Donnie au? Code name: Violet skies? Well I'm remaking it! Rewriting it, even !!

Here's Foot Recruit/aka Donnie!

Draxum, quite begrudgingly, ends up raising the four turtles with Splinter: whom saved him when a part of the lab's roof collapsed, while he was holding onto two of the turtles. Splinter brought the both of them to the sewers, and it all happened from there.

The turtles grew up not too different, safe for extra actual training and knowledge of both the hidden city and things mystic; until Leo and Donnie turned 14. Donnie went out one day with Raph, and didn't come back.

Two years after his disappearance, when the series events begin, they find him in the Foot Clan. Now called just Foot Recruit, with no memory of them — and a good 6 years worth of memories of living with the foot clan.

[sherbetstudios]

Honey, I’m home! [LFLS animation meme/PMV]

⚠️ blood cw

+ the yt thumbnail

this will also be premiering at the same time this is posted!

[rissfrizz]

TMNT 2012 but we make Karai even more of a secret big sister

[sarastellasari]

Hi!! I saw a post before abt Jason grace that he either doesn’t move and anything when he sleeeps or he growls and shit. I was thinking if u could make a fic related to that. Sorry if this doesn’t make sense

Jasons Sleep Issue

Jason’s humiliation started one night when the seven were having a sleepover on the ship. It had been a tradition that they had started to bond better. Coach Hedge had instructed them to, insisting they were worse than kids forced to work together in a group project. Originally, he had been met with some resistance, but now all of them had come to enjoy them.

Typically, at these “sleepovers”, Jason was the last to fall asleep. But on that particular day, he had been feeling quite exhausted. 

He had quickly drifted off, lying between Leo and Piper, lulled to sleep by the sound of his friends chatting. 

Jason was having a lovely dreamless sleep, until suddenly he was jolted awake by someone shaking him. He sat up with a start, to see Leo looking at him, stifling his laughter. 

“What?” he asked, a little bit disoriented. 

“Uh, are you ok?” the curly-haired boy asked. 

“Yeah?” Jason responded, frowning. “Why wouldn't I be?” He glanced around and realized that his friends were looking at him slightly concerned. 

“What happened?” He asked. 

“Dude,” Percy snorted. “You were like… Barking and growling, like a dog or something!” 

“What?” Jason asked, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment. “You guys are messing with me , right?”

“You were,” Leo confirmed, grinning at his friend.

“Jason, do you need a doctor?” Hazel asked worriedly, gnawing on her lip. Jason sighed, putting his glasses back on. There was no way in hell he was about to go back to sleep after this. 

“Guys, I don't think I was barking.”

“Was it a nightmare?” Piper asked sympathetically. 

“No?”

“Was it a dirty-” 

“NO!” Jason interrupted Leo, scowling. Leo laughed. 

“Anyways… anyone wanna play UNO?” Frank interjected quickly. Jason sent him a grateful look. Soon enough, his barking problem was forgotten.

—

The second time it happened (in front of people at least), It was only Jason, Piper, and Leo, hanging out in Leo's room, nearly a month after the first incident. Leo was working on some mechanical thing for the ship, and Jason and Piper were sprawled out across his bed talking about their pasts. Well, mainly Piper was talking about all of her friends who were only friends with her because of her dad, and Leo and Jason were listening. Eventually, they all fell into a comfortable silence. Jason couldn't believe that he had known these people for so little time, yet felt so comfortable with them. The last thing he saw before drifting off was Leo waving his wrench in the air. The last thing he heard was Piper laughing at Leo. 

The first thing Jason heard when he woke up was laughter. His eyes flew open, and he realized that Piper and Leo were both nearly in tears. 

“What happened?” He asked them, glancing back and forth. Leo was struggling to breathe, and Piper was clutching her midsection, rolling around next to Jason on the bed, and messing up Leo's (Very comfortable) gray comforter. 

“What happened?” He repeated. Piper managed to stop laughing long enough to shake her head, her brown hair flying back and forth.

“You fell asleep and then- and then-”

“It happened again,” Leo finished.

“You started barking in your sleep Again” Piper giggled. Jason groaned.

“Oh no.” 

“Seriously dude,” Leo said. 

“You sounded like-” and then he did what Jason assumed was supposed to be an imitation of his barking. Jason buried his head in his arms. 

“Neither of you mention this again. Seriously.” Leo simply barked again, sending Piper into another fit of hysterics. 

—

The third time it happened was probably the most embarrassing of all. It had been a while since the second incident– Jason had worked hard to hide his interesting… quirk. 

Jason had been sleeping peacefully in his room when suddenly he was woken up by a sudden burst of light. Groaning, he pulled his gray covers over his head, wincing at his lights. 

“Go away!” he grumbled under his breath. 

“Uh kid?” an adult male voice said. “Are you ok?” Jason sat up, frowning when he realized it was Coach Hedge

“What’s wrong?” he asked the satyr. 

“I was walking past your room, normal patrol stuff, you know, and I heard barking. Do you have an animal in here? Is it a monster? Are you getting attacked?” he asked, looking around suspiciously and entering the small room.  Jason shook his head, wanting to die on the spot.

“No, uh-”

“You sure?” 

“You see, it's um…” Jason grimaced, looking around for an excuse. Because the gods hadn’t humiliated him enough, Frank chose that exact moment to walk past his cabin. 

“Jason, you good?” He asked, casting an uncomfortable look at Coach Hedge. Jason nodded. 

“Just making sure he doesn't have any animals on board!” coach Hedge called, waving his hands to emphasize his point. 

“Any… oh!” Frank said, his eyes widening. 

“Ok guys, I don't have any animals in here. You can leave.” 

“Yeah, it's just your sleep thing, right?” Frank asked obviously, leaning on the door frame. Jason internally groaned when Coach Hedge turned to him, eyes alight with interest.

“Sleep thing?” 

“It's nothing, really.”

“If a kid on my ship has a sleep condition, I need to know, kid.”

“It's not a condition!” 

Jason buried his face in his hands, his cheeks flaming

Coach Hedge tilted his head, his eyes wide with curiosity. “I’m sorry... what?”

Frank, clearly thinking he was being helpful, offered, “He barks in his sleep.”

Jason shot him a desperate look. “Frank, stop.”

“Wait, wait.” Coach Hedge leaned closer as if Jason had just revealed a life-altering secret. “Kid, are you part dog?”

Jason groaned. “No! And everyone, get out of my room!” Sensing his annoyance, coach Hedge snorted, before exiting the room. Frank hesitated for a second. 

“Sorry. I was just trying to help” 

“It's okay, Frank.” Jason sighed, rolling out of his bed. Now everyone knew about his barking. Great.

— 

It took a while, but eventually, Jason got used to his friend’s constant teasing.

“Maybe it's from growing up with a wolf!” Piper suggested one night over dinner on the ship.

“Maybe you just snore weirdly,” Annabeth said, shrugging.

“Maybe,” Jason said, rolling his eyes.

“It’s ok buddy, we accept you, barking included!” Leo said, leaning across the table to pat Jason’s arm. Jason snorted and rolled his eyes, feeling oddly fond of his friends. In the beginning, he probably would’ve been mortified about the factthat they would discuss his odd sleeping quirk over dinner, but now he didn't care. As long as they accepted him, right?

[luckycharms1701]

💙 He wakes up slowly.

This is a surprise. Normally there is sleeping and then there is awakening, nothing in between. He lingers in the middle, confused but also… content.

It feels like meditating, he thinks, and without thought Leo’s breath slips into that familiar pattern. He allows his awareness to spread out.

Almost immediately he finds you. You are sprawled across his plastron, one arm flung across his waist and the other under your head over his heart. The softest snores are coming out of your mouth.

He has to remind himself to breathe, to slip back into his meditative state. It is harder than he thinks it should be.

At one point that had been a very sore subject for him, the way you disturbed his calm without even thinking about it. Now, though. Now he understands that some emotions are too strong to be fully curbed, that love is meant to disturb as often as it calms.

Now, he curves slightly into you even as he continues to meditate, breathing in your scent. There. That's the source of his contentment. You are the source of his contentment.

He meditates for some time, reflecting on you and on love. The highs and the lows, the agonies and the ecstasies. His quiet contemplation is interrupted by you, causing a smile to cross his face at the irony.

You nuzzle into his plastron slightly as you slowly start to wake. He opens his eyes and looks down to find that you've turned your head and opened your own eyes, a sleepy smile on your face.

He reaches out and brushes his thumb gently across your lips, cupping your cheek. You turn into his palm, giving it a small kiss as you stretch.

"Good morning princess," he whispers, and you mumble back as you curl farther into him.

His heart is full as the two of you prepare to begin your day together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

head bonks: @yorshie @avery73 @justalotoffanfiction @thejudiciousneurotic