#2012 master splinter

I love the concept of a character sharing something with the things they fear, hate, etc. So I like to imagine that Casey Jones absolutely LOVES cheese. Cheese strings are his favourite since they’re an easy snack on the go. He fears rats but shares their favourite food.

yayyyy

credits to @hearts4irma for the template

based on how Splinter and Shredders relationship with Tangshen mirrors The whole Donnie/April/Casey corner the show has going on

I think one of my favorites is all the varied dynamics we see with each iteration of the turtles and their Master Splinter. There’s such an interesting push and pull that comes from him being both their father and their teacher.

For instance, even though the 03 turtles only ever call him ‘sensei,’ or ‘Master Splinter,’ or very rarely ‘father,’ all titles which sound very removed and impersonal, I feel like they actually have the closest and maybe the most loving relationship with their Splinter.

I feel like the MM boys also have a very loving relationship with their dad. And for them there’s almost no line between dad and sensei, I think. They definitely have some stuff to work through since he was definitely a much more controlling father when they were younger, but unlike other Splinter’s I think (even if it takes a decent amount of convincing) he’s the most open to change if he thinks it will make his children happy.

Then the Rise boys have a really complicated relationship with their dad. They’re all in one way or another dissatisfied in their relationships with him, both as their father and their teacher, in the beginning he’s not enough of either and as he gets more involved in their adventures he starts to overcompensate in both extremes, either being too much their sensei and forgetting to be their father, or being too much their father and forgetting to be their sensei. It’s a struggle for them to find the right balance. And while they do all love each other, there’s no doubt about that (from an audience perspective at least), there’s definitely been a huge breakdown in communication along the way that leaves the boys a bit desperate for attention and validation.

For 2012 Splinter there’s a lot more of that push and pull. (Also keep in mind I’ve still only seen season 1 so some of this might be conjecture on my part or not that accurate to characterization in later seasons) Even though he does call the turtles his sons- and I do think he’s being genuine- I think there is always a degree of separation between him and them and I think it comes from him and the turtles pick up on it and that’s why they only ever call him sensei. Splinter is deeply traumatized by the loss of his wife and daughter and I feel like he’s afraid to close the gap with his sons because he’s afraid of feeling that pain that deeply ever again. He is very much their father but I think it’s easier for him to think of himself more as a teacher than a father (even if he calls them his sons).

Interestingly this dynamic isn’t necessarily one that I seek out in fan works but more like something that I happen upon. I can think of a couple of fics in the rise fandom that fit this thematically but the names are escaping me at the moment so I might add links to those in an edit or a reblog later.

When he talks to Raph about his temper, he says Raph’s anger reminds him of himself. Splinter sees an echo of the rivalry he had with Saki and projects it onto Leo and Raph, but with Leo as Saki and Raph as himself. When Splinter sees Raph he sees his own anger, frustration, and failures, and he thinks “If only I had controlled my anger, Saki would not have killed Tang Shen” when we the audience know that’s utter bullshit.

It’s very interesting to have Splinter think this way, and it logically follows through that someone with survivor’s guilt would find some way to blame himself for someone else’s horrible actions. And we can see how it’s negatively affected his sons.

Splinter likely started to praise not showing emotion and punishing emotional outbursts. That can look like good parenting; it can look like he’s teaching his sons to control themselves, but it produced one son terrified of expressing himself and another who feels he can only express emotions in aggressive outbursts. Leo gets rewarded for suppressing himself by being given more attention from Splinter, while Raph gets punished for having emotional outbursts by his feelings and opinions being ignored. Splinter tells him to ignore his feelings, to not let them affect him, but that ignores what causes those feelings.

Yes, it’s Raph’s responsibility to control his behavior and not let his anger put his family in danger, but Leo ignores Raph’s input on missions and Splinter puts the blame for most, if not all, of their disagreements on Raph. Raph is the one who’s uncooperative, he’s the one disobeying orders, he’s the one starting the fights with Leo, even when Leo’s wrong. It’s not surprising that if no one listens to Raph until he’s in their face or yelling at them, that he’ll start with yelling at them.

There’s also something to be said of Raph being held responsible for when his anger throws off a mission, but Mikey gets away with his ADHD ruining missions (ADHD can’t be an excuse when it puts his family in danger, he needs better coping skills).

oh boy, i miss him so much.