#raphael splinterson

Raph is usually my secondary pick in terms of favorites with the turtles (ironic, I know). He tends to remind me a lot of my sister under me (who also has a lot of anger, attachment, and attention issues), so his usual dynamic with Leo really means a lot to me because I see so much of us in them. It’s really easy to do a deeper analysis on his character (most of the movies tend to focus on different parts of the same arc), but I feel like there’s still aspects of him that don’t normally get enough focus or remain kinda background?

Between him and Donnie, they’re usually the ones to fulfill the role of calling out Leo for his shortcomings, but Raph always feels more mouthpiece to me about it (not in a bad way, though). We can also usually use Raph to gauge a lot about the boys’ relationship with Splinter in most iterations based entirely around how a lot of his insecurities in relation to his brothers manifest when he lashes out.

I could write so much about his anger issues being an outward reflection of his fears. I almost made a whole post about 2012 really missing the opportunity to connect them even further, but decided to choose peace that day.

Okay so ribcages by themselves does not imply the plastron don't have bone in them, thus Raph's rib cracking could just imply they have double bone layered, as you said! :D

They also could just have no floating ribs as well; rather than two sets of ribcages it's just a more solid single one. So rather than one sternum for each cage, they just have two sternums with ribs bridge between. One sternum on their carapace for their natural turtle-self and another on their ribs likely from the mutation that made them anthropomorphic. Remember the Shell is the full body hard rap of the turtle. The back of the shell is the carapace, while the front is a plastron, with the side being a bridge. With the 2012 turtle's implications of course being they only have a Half Shell[Insert the 87 theme here]

But I do think for the '03 boys it makes sense if their plastron is still semi bone.

I'll explain under cut cause I got very long into my ramblings!

I mean we hear sharp cracking sounds in the last episode of season 4, episode 26 "Ninja Tribunal", when the Mokusai no Bushi step on Raph's chest. Which Ow??? He already had his chest area messed with in the past, why rebreak them? Dick move Tribunal!

Watsanion answer: Raph is an efficient fighter looking to save the most energy and fight the fastest

Doylist answer: The animators only kinda know what to do with Sai's and fancy Sai choreography so they kept things a bit more simple and less interactive with the environment

Like as shown by City at War, if 03 Raph ever heard about 07's Nightatcher gig, he'd be just brimming with rage. "You endangered your family's safety, For What." Just morally and emotionally speaking 07 Raph is so much like a twisted version of 03 Leo with the parts of 03 Raph he himself did his best to grow and remove, so there would be instant beef.

Meanwhile 07 Raph is defensive and duty driven, so 03's more clan centric thinking(for a lack of a better term) and default hostility would just fuel the flames so so so much. Thrown in how passive aggress 07 is vs 03's sheer heart on sleeve bluntness and it would not end well, but like in the funniest of ways.

Mrs. Morrison wanted to bake an old pie recipe, so Raphael helped her make it. It had been years since she made it, but it gave her comfort due it's history. Apparently it was one she only made with other people. Never alone. Listening to her explain the stories she has with the recipe. And okay, maybe it was a little fun. But it was just a one time thing becuase she hadn't eaten and was craving something that tasted like home.

It wasn't that he couldn't cook, but they took turns. It was chore that rotated alongside dishes, laundry, and sweeping.

So it wasn't a hobby of his.

Then Leo went away and Raph had more time on his hands and went out earlier. Just needed to clear his head. He ended up helping her clean up from what ever dinner she had before Raph visited her. He still can't figure out how this turned into making a sweet tart for later. And then she had him make some sweet rolls the next visit. Followed by some maritozzo after that.

So maybe he enjoyed it and had a little laugh as they did things, sue him. He got tasty treats afterwards! And she smiled a lot while they did that! Why wouldn't he enjoy it?!

Then the lair... There was no more lair left.

There was only rubble.

It was a risk even going to her that night. But he had to explain why he wouldn't be there for a bit. He wouldn't just, well, abandon her. She doesn't get too many visitor's, that's not fair to her. She'd be so worried! So he had to say an actual goodbye. Raph would miss her but it was for her safety. He went to her place and braced himself for what he was about to say. Only for him to fumble and she digged a little into why he would be "Busy". He couldn't say ninja's were after him, but he could say he was out of home and needed to spend more time away. He was... "looking for a new home". When she asked if he had a place to stay he lied through his teeth. Guilt racked through him, but she's safer like this.

She let him go with the demands to see her twice as often, and early enough for dinner. And he couldn't just let her cook for him, so he did that too. He should've stayed away. But he couldn't. Raphael had to leave his brothers, he didn't even know where they were!

So if he wasn't moving around Coney Island, he went to the old lady.

Mrs. Morrison loved stews, soups, and pastries. So he cooked and baked for her. Fresh food that wasn't taken from vendors with what little he could money he could find on the streets. Most of the time it was filling, hot, and made him feel good afterwards. For a little bit, he found comfort.

As quickly as he was there though, he left. No one should be able to connect them together. Least of all the Foot Clan.

She was safe.

He was sneaky and dead to the world.

When Leo found them, all of them, and they found a home he relaxed more. Quiet conversations and reconciliation was made. He wasn't the brother that left to Japan, the one full of anger, but he also wasn't exactly the dork who learned how to cut up newspapers into stars as a flashy trick. His brother was new, quiet, but peaceful. Still, being Leo though, he had Grade A "genius" moments. Like eating greasy take-out pizza after many months of only fresh vegetables, meat, and rice.

Idiot spent the night throwing up.

Their beloved fearless leader everyone, truly an intellectual.

So yeah, maybe the next night Raph made some homemade hot chowder for him. A bit heavier than his brother needed, but it worked. And he was only lightly nauseous from this.

Sensei then gave him one of those looks after the meal. Ya know, that smug look when you fell into his trap while playing shogi with him. Next thing he knows he somehow on cooking duty, again, but now Master Splinter is hovering over him. Tell him to cut this and steam that. Making him cook something with the food April and Casey brought them.

It takes him far too long to realize it's Ichijū-sansai.

Annoyingly Leo keeps this down easier than the pizza or the chowder. Seemingly loving every bite of it. Mentioning how it was nice to not have to be the one always cooking. The Ancient One did not believe in idle hands in the kitchen. Well, besides his one. But that's just tradition. And Leo was apparently tired of being the only cook.

Another change in him, willingly sharing burdens equally.

So maybe Raph asked Mrs. Morrison what pastry she'd recommend to make his brother, who came back from his "apprenticeship" from Japan to help them "get a new home". She course did not have any Japanese recipes on hand, but told him to wait a few weeks for Mr. Rossetti to come by, she thinks she can get his cheese gnocchi recipe from him.

It's the oddest pastry he's made, and it's certainly no maritozzo. Simple but apparently tasty since Mikey kept trying to steal the batch. Leo seems to appreciate the small bowl of warm goods. As he should.

Anyone who cooks when Mikey's in the kitchen deserves an award. Mike doesn't believe in keeping his hands to himself. He didn't laugh when said turtle got "extra training" later, but he did smile a little bit.

Over all it was a good night.

Sadly Raph forgot that his blue brother is obnoxiously competitive and comes back with a plate of Gyoza and an uncomfortably sincere thank you. No matter what Mikey said, He Did Not Tear Up. Donny hitting the orange masked ninja was very satisfying and completely unrelated to anything.

Either way he wasn't going to let Leo one up his gift to him.

He went strait to annoying Casey about this and somehow walks away with how to make sourdough for Leo. Raph gave Casey some freshly made Onigiri for that. They had gotten a lot of rice as their first major restock. Too much really. Surprisingly though, next time he saw Casey he learned that April eat most of it. So he ends up making a batch just for her. Casey complained about that all week.

But he doesn't just cook for anyone for no reason or anything.

Maybe, Don finds Mochi on his desk after a long day in the week following that. But he earned it. Feeling under the weather like that and yet still keep working, that means special food privileges. That's it. And Raph's definitely not saying those little donut's Mikey found were his apology gifts under threat, but they were annoying to make. He will admit to giving Master Splinter those Dango sticks though. Way harder to make than it should've been. What's hard and easy for him to cook seems so arbitrary. Sensei's expression was worth it.

He was now on a role and nothing's gonna stop him.

A few more dishes, a few of their close friends. Angel had too many opinions on chili for someone who can't cook, and Leatherhead eats barbecue in a way that terrifies him. He's still figuring out how to give Traximus an apple strudel though. Space was an annoying barrier.

Raph doesn't know at what point this stopped being a one time thing, but now this is a hobby he has. He cooks.

It's nice.

To make something, to feed people, to give and see them happy.

There's something fulfilling about it.

Cheers to that mate!

I am sure Peter Laird's Planet Racer is a decent comic with good conflict, but man did this make it seem so boring.

I think maybe if the characters were set up in world before hand it would work better. Like have Team Fitts help the gang race out of Triceraton or Federation hands during the Space arc(they were just practice racing and accidently got caught up in this, thus when Raph get's accidently caught up in their own plot it would've been a mirror).

Either that or have the arc focus less on the okish action and more on isolation and loneliness Raph must feel. He is after all one of, if not the most, social turtle out of the bunch.

You could also have him try to fill in, crash, and then have to work through the fear of messing it up again for another another emotional angle as well.

The whole episode just rings hollow becuase of it's lack of a good emotional through line. Because that whole thing about fairness kinda just doesn't hit here. And with every other episode in the arc having at least one big moment that works, it makes this one feel lacking. Mikey's episode almost runs into the same problem, but due to the crew being a mismatch of familiar faces via parallel realities and the way the episode ends being Like That, so it manages to work and keep your interest. Across the Universe just... doesn't do that. It does not help that this episode is right before SAINW making this flaw even more noticeable.

Crossovers and the hype behind them still have to be earned with in story it's taking place. You can't just say "Look at your guys, cheer and clap now". Even worse idk if that works here, like I am not sure if Planet Racer was big back then, but it's more on the niche side now so there's no wow effect here.

Like we've seen this crossover done in other instants of tmnt media, so idk what happened here. Heck this is done again in Fast Forward, though I can't remember how good that episode is in comparison besides having more character interactions and a funnier finale for Raph. Though there is some timeline nonsense dealing with the character Godman Falcon if you think about it too hard.

Despite being an action show, what made 03 great was it's emotional side to the story not the action itself. Not saying the action isn't good, but that's not why people kept going back again and again.