#every time someone bashes 2012 raph

[tending-the-hearth]

"he's a bad brother"

oh yeah

he's the worst

a terrible brother

he treats his brothers horribly

the

absolute

worst

[debb987]

2012 Splinter - Character Analysis for fic

This note is my interpretation on 2012 Splinter and his generational trauma~

This is part of the AN note for Ch 14th, but since it makes no reference to the chapter/fic itself I guess it can be read without risk of spoilers.

Rewatching S1E8 Splinter hits Raph with his cane in the arm. Once. Firmly, just enough for the teen to rub at the spot, but not hard enough to bruise it. It’s just a tap to get his point across, a “corrective” gesture, because 12!Splinter is sensei and father, and often ends up mixing up the two. This means his “lessons” can get physical even when he’s not sensei and not training them at that moment, and Raph's overall attitude could be interpreted as defiance/disrespect sometimes, so  he tends to use it more against the red-clan teen.

For someone that grew up in a traditional Japanese household, under someone that was also more sensei than father because the Hamato was an old ninja clan, I have no doubt that Splinter’s father used physical “corrective” gestures with him and “his brother” Oroku Saki (Shredder) , so that is something the ratdad sees as normal. He’s just repeating the pattern without realizing, generational trauma at its finest <3

 As a father, he can get physical too. This is also the reason the 12!Brothers are often smacking each other up. They’ve been training since tots, they’re familiar with hitting each other for training, playing, and scolding, so they end up “scolding” each other this way whenever someone crosses a line, because no one ever told them they “shouldn’t hit others” and that using words is also a thing, lmao.

There’s also S1E10 where Splinter is afraid Shredder will kill them and gets too paranoid, to the point of overreacting and making his sons train to the point of exhaustion every day without any rest? (Dumb, but I fault the 12!Writers, not the character). Point is, Raph is the one to say “we’ll be ready next time” so he’s the one Splinter focuses on and puts into an arm lock. Probably his way of saying “no, you’re not ready,” and, again, no long-lasting harm done, but… Splinter does get physical when he snaps, especially against what he considers “talk back” because Raph expresses his opinions like the temperamental, snarky teen he is, so… yeah. 

I think another reason Splinter has a shorter fuse with Raph is due to PTSD too, because the Leo-Raph sibling relationship has a lot of common points with what used to be Splinter’s sibling relationship with Shredder, his once-considered-a-brother. Leo is Splinter Jr. and sometimes, I think he projects on Raph and sees him as a potential Shredder Jr.  and thus tends to be harsher with him.

It’s ironic, because these similarities are also his fault. He admitted in S1E11 that “competition is a great incentive to become better, but not when it makes you fight among each other” or something along those lines, which means he encouraged the competitiveness among his sons, for the sake of training, probably in the same way his father did to him and Shredder back in the day, not realizing that said competitiveness, the need to up one another, would NOT stay in the dojo, that it would inevitably leak out into other aspects of their personal life.

So yeah, no bashing, just some analysis on the 12!verse. 12!Splinter is sadly guilty of passing his generational trauma, but he has yet to realize this, and thus has not tried to be better in this aspect yet. Just wanted to clear that up! <3

[boy-with-the-demon-blood]

AND ANOTHER THING

people who bash on 2012 raph need to get some fucking perspective. like. okay so in the middle-end of s2 there’s an interaction that kind of boils down all of raph’s issues into a few sentences.

also this whole analysis is coming from someone who just finished season 2. so if anything changes by the end of the series rip

raph just yelled at casey until he left because he was worried he would get hurt and he doesn’t know how to express his feelings, and then this happened:

mikey: you can’t do that dude! people have feelings! real, squishy feelings!

raph: well i’m not “people”

raph shut down all emotional responses to anything except anger because he was raised in an environment where showing any weakness was basically giving a neon sign inviting ppl to attack. and bc he did this, he’s fallen into the fallacy that everyone else should too, bc it protected him. “why should i have to deal with other people’s feelings? no one ever cares about mine!” is his mindset and it’s. really really damaging. to himself and everyone around him.

at first when i realized this i was like “aw he needs a hug” but no he needs someone to respond to his emotions decently. he needs to be given the benefit of the doubt and that’s really fucking hard when he reacts to vulnerability with anger. if someone tried to approach him with these problems bluntly he’d react by telling them to eat shit and die. like every time leo or splinter brings up raph’s anger issues, he storms out and doesn’t come home for hours. and he still doesn’t apologize or realize that if he wants to resolve his issues, it’s gotta be on him at least a little bit. sure, the others using every bit of vulnerability he shows to pick on him doesn’t help, but that’s just bc they give as good as they get.

he needs a kirishima to his bakugou, or an iroh to his zuko, and he just. doesn’t have one. he’s not as lucky as them and it sucks. and that’s what’s heartbreaking about his character. he’s realistic about his reaction to complex trauma, but he never gets the chance to heal from it. venting to spike was his one healthy coping mechanism and now spike is slash and slash tried to kill him and his brothers.

also splinter doesn’t help anything with his style of “parenting.” he’s like “why is my second son so rebellious and angry? surely not bc i regularly ‘make an example out of him’ and refuse to give actual real advice on how to manage feelings of fear and inferiority. it’s just that something is inherently wrong with him.” he raised the turtles to be ninja. he didn’t raise them like children. his only point of reference for children up until he had the turtles was his experience training other ninja. he raised them like any other ninjutsu master would teach his students. the difference is that those students had parents they went home to. having the person you train with and inevitably get hurt because of be the same person you call “father” is gonna mess up anyone’s head.

anyway all that to say: i project onto 2012 raph like a goddamn movie screen.

[mysticchessecake]

Concept of a ROTTMNT X TMNT 2012 fanfic: Mikey switches body with...Mikey???

AN- I am still getting familiar with writing rise and the 2012 bros

It was a cold and stormy night. The turtles are patrolling the ghost town known as new york. Raph is complaining that they shouldn't be patrolling in this type of weather.

Leo is arguing that they need to check just in case the foot or someone is doing something shady. And Donnie is tired.

While Mikey...is just admiring the weird lightning. It's glowy and orange. And beautiful, every time the lightning strikes it forms beautiful artistic shapes. That looks like it was manually drawn. It also has a weirdly comforting aura.

Donnie realizes that Mikey hasn't been talking about that much and used the remaining energy he has to look at what Mikey is looking at.

Donnie sees the weird lightning and as much as he wants to nerd out about this abnormal lightning. He knows it might not be safe for his brothers or himself since he never saw this abnormal discovery.

Donnie breaks the petty argument with Raph and Leo and told them that they should go home because no sane person would go out in this type of weather.

Also, Donnie mentioned that there was strange lightning and that they should probably stay in the lair where it's safe.

Leo agrees and the trio leaves to go back home. Until they realize that Mikey is not there, they are already near a manhole entrance and the storm is getting worse. Not to mention the weird lightning is getting more and more aggressive!

Leo tells Donnie and Raph to go back to the lair. Then Leo rushed to get Mikey. Not realizing that the lightning is getting more and more aggressive and loud.

Leo spots Mikey still admiring the terrifying lightning, tuning everything out. Mikey didn't even realize Leo was shouting his name. Leo was gonna grab Mikey until.

Mikey gets struck by lightning. He was screaming and the weird lightning looked to be electrical? Mikey's body was glowing, and cracks forming around his arms. Leo was screaming Mikey's name.

Then it stopped. Mikey's body fell to the ground. Leo rushed to check on his younger brother's injuries. Leo felt a slight electrical shock when he touched Mikey's arms.

Leo didn't care. He checked for the heartbeat to be relieved. Mikey is still alive. Leo picked up his brother and went to the lair. He rushed to Donnie's lab ignoring Raph's questions.

Leo told Donnie everything, Donnie checks Mikey's injuries. To his surprise, Mikey's injuries aren't too major. He notices scars of cracks on his skin but that's it. Mikey did smell as if he got electrocuted but he didn't show signs of any major injuries.

Raph is just there watching this thing unfold. Leo is not convinced and is sitting in the lab worried. Raph just went back to reading comics while Donnie fell asleep on his desk.

Mikey suddenly starts to wake up, Leo notices and watches Mikey slowly opens his eyes. Except for his eyes are different. Electric yellow eyes instead of his baby blue eyes.

It was clear that Mikey didn't have that much energy to do anything. He was after all struck by lightning. He did have enough energy to stay awake.

Leo rushed to wake Donnie up. When Donnie woke up, Leo told Donnie about Mikey's weird new eye color.

Donnie checks to see if Leo is right. And to his surprise, Mikey did have that electric yellow eyes.

But Donnie didn't know that. This is just the beginning

Some things to know:

1. Mostly 2012 and Rise! Mikey centric

2. No bashing

3. Will have my personal headcanons

4. Takes place after the movie

5. Mikey has the body of 2012 but with yellow eyes and some faded cracks that somehow followed him in this body.

6. Mikey keeps his mystic powers

7. Mikey somehow has his mystic weapon

8. No 2012 ships. Aside from 1 sided love that won't go anywhere.

(Rise ships are only mentioned- April X Sunita, Warren X Hypno)

9. Might take place around S3

10. Mikey will throw stuff at the enemy.

11. Mikey Dr. Feelings has a therapy session with 2012

12. Mikey will paint the lair somehow

[chekovscaramelcurls]

listen. i love 2012!Raph with all my heart and soul. (and surprisingly enough, no, it’s not because of the two Yelchin Dreams (TM) that i had like two years ago.)

(also it has been nearly three years of me typing “Yelchin” and my phone still tries to get me to change it to Yeltsin every single time. no, phone, i do not mean the former leader of russia. i mean the actor. and also sometimes his author uncle.)

he jus a lil guy. but he still did wrong by mikey…er, all of ‘em, tbh.

so why am i so passionate about this? well, i can relate to raphael a lot. i was an autistic kid who went undiagnosed until SIX MONTHS AGO, and i’m eighteen if that puts it into perspective. and everyone around me thought i had “anger issues” and that i was “a crybaby.” no. no, those were meltdowns, go fuckin’ figure. no wonder i couldn’t control ‘em.

(oh, and yes, i do get upset when ppl accuse rise!donatello of being an asshole or a psychopath because he’s autistic or because of the ONE TIME he really messed up. y’know, the whole “gifts” thing. and once he was TOLD why it was bad, he felt like absolute shit afterwards! like, i just—oh, i do shit like that too, and it makes sense to me because it followed the fuckin’ social norms three minutes ago but now it suddenly just doesn’t anymore, OOPS! well, guess i’m a goddamn blue-marble motherfuckin’ psychopath, then!)

but like, raph is proven to be more than capable of controlling himself. several times. (and yeah, sometimes he couldn’t. i ain’t faulting him for those, i’d be a giant hypocrite if i did.)

am i saying raphael was evil or a jerk or anything like that? no! for god’s sakes, even though i love all of them, he’s my favorite of the turtles!

yeah, yeah, laugh it up, chuckles, he’s my favorite because my sleepy-time-RNG-brain decided “fuck it. raphael the ninja turtle has anton yelchin’s voice now.” and then did it again a few months later, after i’d forgotten about the first one…man, this will never not be funny to me. on a side note, there’s this website called mycast.io, and you can vote any actor for any character. and i do mean ANY. and apparently two different ppl think my mans would’ve made a good donatello? like i don’t disagree but i’m too attached to the concept of ay!raph now.

but yeah, anyway. i usually can’t stand villain characters because of the whole black-&-white Autism Morality (TM) or whatever. (/hj) so me saying that raph’s my favorite just goes to show that i don’t think of him as a villain by any means.

what i am saying is that his actions were wrong. his intent wasn’t. unless a giant plot point flew over my head and no one ever bothered to mention anything about it ever again…yeah, no. then again nobody ever talks about the fact that donnie fucking died in the 2012 series at least twice?? probably more?? so idfk. but that doesn’t make it okay. mikey didn’t deserve to be treated the way he was. he didn’t do anything to anybody.

i just. it hurts seeing him get demonized for no real reason. he’s babey. it’s just that he’s…also babey with mental health issues.

so, TL;DR—

stop justifying raph’s actions and bullying as him “jUsT bEiNg A sIbLiNg”—like wtf u guys—WITHOUT DEMONIZING HIM AS A RESULT (i swear ppl can only do one extreme or the other). like, think of it this way. raphael clearly loves his family. but he needs therapy someone to tell him that, while occasional lighthearted teasing is okay as long as it doesn’t cross any boundaries, bullying his brothers 24/7 is not a healthy way to show it!

also this whole thing may or may not exist because i want 2012/rise crossover content that doesn’t bash 2012!raphael at every fuckin’ turn…

[ladylofspades]

TMNT: How Turtles Saved Me in Real Life

Before going further, I would like to advise that this is going to be one lengthy (safe-for-work) written piece. What I can assure that this is nothing angsty about it. Rather, it is of thanking both the series for helping me getting through the pain I had through the years. To those who read this, thanks so much for being very understanding. 

I had been in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise long enough to appreciate my favorite banded turtle brothers in their respective incarnations.

I grew up with its 2012 incarnation with a fair share of episodes of 2003, became -- and still -- a HUGE fan of Rise, and am now appreciating their Bayverse incarnations. Since this post is dedicated to the 2012 and 2018 incarnations, the focus will be on them. 

Let us begin with the 2012 series.

TMNT 2012 

As mentioned above, I grew up with the franchise’s 2012 incarnation. And I can clearly remember that right off the bat, brave leader Leonardo became my favorite turtle, with sweet Donatello falling in close second. Regardless on who I liked better though, both turtles were my favorites and both helped me overcome 2012.  

How the 2012 series helped me was something close to heart. The year of 2012 was when my grandfather passed away; his death took a great toll on everyone in the family -- including me. He was my second father and best friend. Losing someone as dearest as him hit me right in the gut. That time, I was never into the Turtles franchise -- even more so with other fandoms that time due to the loss -- until the franchise’s 2012 successors aired in Nickelodeon. Upon seeing the series, not only was it a road to eventual recovery but also the beginning of my Turtles journey. The characters were lovable, beyond relatable (for the kids that time) and truly unforgettable.   

To me, TMNT 2012 helped me cope with the loss by its share of funny moments as well as its gritty ones. All the turtles -- through their charms and flaws -- helped me come out of my shell little by little. In more ways than one, my gratitude I have for the show goes beyond words. Special mention to my favorite voice actors -- Rob Paulsen, Seth Green, Sean Austin and Greg Cipes -- who brought these wonderful turtles to life, and are my inspiration to keep looking at the bright side.

TMNT 2018 (Rise)

My first encounter with Rise was admittedly unexpected. That said unexpected encounter was an edited clip of them wearing different outfits on YouTube, with Lady Gaga’s song Fashion. And I knew then and there: I was hooked.

I was hesitant at first because -- like most fans -- I was scared that they may ruin the turtles for me. I cringed at the first episodes; but as the episodes progressed, the series stole my heart BIG TIME. Unlike their 2012 predecessor, Rise had me fall in love with their Donatello, followed by Leonardo. In the end, it was Leo who took a slightly higher pedestal. As to why and how Leo stole my heart can be seen here in my post entitled Loving Blue. From time to time, I admittedly miss the 2012 series; but what had me stuck with Rise was how it pays homage to its predecessors, with one of my favorite instances being the episode where it featured the Mud Dogz -- the members voiced by Seth Green, Rob Paulsen and Greg Cipes! But what took the cake with Rise overall was, I believe, its core message: anata wa hitori ja nai --  “You are not alone”. That message -- much more than words can say -- had me in tears. And I may be overthinking it, but it also felt like even the 2012 cast helped me in the transition to Rise as well --  like both series assured me that just because I loved something new doesn’t mean I love the other one less.

To me, Rise helped me get through the pandemic. The series helped me so much in the pain and stress I experienced in real life through their incredibly strong chemistry with one another (something that made it stand out among the reincarnations of the franchise), and the wholesome lightheartedness in every episode it brings. Most importantly, Rise helped me not only appreciate the time I have with my family, but also helped me realize that I will never be alone. Special mention to Ben Schwartz (Leo), Josh Brener (Donnie), Kat Graham (April), Brandon Mychal Smith (Mikey), Omar Benson Miller (Raph), Eric Bauza (Splinter), Zelda Williams (Casey Jones) and Gwendoline Yeo (Karai) for the laughter and hope that helped me get through these trying times. And second special mention to Rob Paulsen, Seth Green and Greg Cipes, whose appearances were through the Mud Dogz (and Rob as the Foot Lieutenant AND Rise’s Voice Director), assured me a smooth transition to the series.

Conclusion

2012 was, by far, one of the most challenging years of my life. Even more so recently (as with everyone globally) due to the pandemic. And the last thing I would want to see is another one of the daily attacks on one of my favorite franchises caused by its fandom. (if not daily, then frequent)

As a currently huge fan of Rise -- and a loyal fan of their 2012 predecessors -- it is truly heartbreaking to see fans bashing the former to the point of comparing it to the Teen Titans Go! series. Sadly that is -- and at the very least -- the fandom from another social media platform that I steered clear away from. I encountered healthy fans who eventually became my friends, as well as toxic ones who do nothing but compare and shout that one series is “better” than the other. 

Even amidst the ongoing fights over in the other social media platform, I am forever grateful to have transferred to Tumblr NOT to spread more hatred and disparity that the franchise had so much undeservingly suffered from, but to spread more love and respect that the franchise so longingly needs. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, no matter the incarnation, did so much before (and after) my turning twenty, and they hold a very special place in my heart.

P.S. Sadly this is the only GIF with all the TMNT 2012 brothers together. :( and who knew that Mikey shrinks back to his shell back then too, like his counterpart in Rise!

[kunoichi-kame]

You're wrong babe. That Space Cow Episode is the one of Archie Comic's episodes, not a Mirage. And Peter Laird who is the one of the turtles creators already backed out of a nick turtles stuff. It's the fact that 03 IS the most accurate to the original comics, not a nick era gang. That's alright. Why u want to fight someone? Don't spread hate or false rumors this Fandom, for Rise gang

1. I have yet to read the Archie comics, but I do know that there is something about a cow in there. I read Mirage though, and I'm certain it was Mirage because it was black and white and y'know...didn't have the Archie logo on the front. Anyhows, there was an arc about a cow in space, Nasa being full of hookers, and the turtles' wet dreams. I shit you not. Look it up. It can't be found in modern reprints, but a trip to the wiki or a comic site should find it for you. Edit: https://turtlepedia.fandom.com/wiki/Spaced_Out!,_part_1

2. I'm not trying to start a fight? When I said fight me, it was rhetorical. I meant it to show that I stood by my opinion, not that I wanted to start a fandom war.

3. I know that 2003 is the most accurate when directly adapting storylines. But that's not what I said. I said that Rise is (and note how I said arguably, not definitely) the most accurate in a way. Yes, 2003 did directly adapt a lot of arcs. But I repeat, those arcs that are adapted time and time again stand out for a reason. For every City at War, we had say, the discovery that April was a living drawing. For every turtles in space, we have Raph getting bitten by some paranormal entity. No, Rise certainly hasn't directly adapted anything- and I pointed this out in my original post. What makes Rise accurate is the underlying tone and plot structure. Wacky things happen every day. The turtles are trying get to live their lives. They're not trying get to be heroes. That's what people tend to not notice about Mirage. The turtles were considered vigilantes, but after Shredder, they never really actively sought out crime, including the Foot, but rather, trouble landed in their laps and they fought when it became their beef. And I feel Rise captured this well. Rise captured the spirit of those original comics. I specifically said that it was NOT in recreating Mirage's story arcs. That, I won't deny, goes to 2003. I'm only speaking of the spirit of the series. Not specific story arcs. That was literally the entire point of the post. How Rise pays it's homages differently. Instead of recreating iconic scenes like 2003 and 2012, Rise captures the spirit. Because yes, Mirage was violent, but you also can't look me dead in the eye and say that Mirage was 100% serious all the time and the turtles had set goals to be vigilantes their whole lives. No, they just fought what was in their way of a peaceful life. Which Rise depicts similarly. Rise has no City at War, Escape from NY, or turtles in space. Rise is vastly different. But that core message of the original comics is in tact. THAT'S what I'm talking about. Not specific arcs or frame by frame recreations of scenes.

4. I know Laird sold off his rights? Look, I've been in this fandom since 2014. Trust me. I know my shit. I may not know everything, but I know things that basic. I'm only talking about Mirage though. The original comics. 2003 having Laird's involvement doesn't really matter for my argument. If he was uninvolved, yet the same arcs were adapted, I'd be sitting here saying the same thing still. Laird being involved doesn't automatically make it the most accurate version. Nor does it make 2003 one in the same with Mirage. They are separate entities. 2003 is the most direct adaption, yes. No argument there. But Rise captures the underlying theme/vibe pretty well IMO.

5. This is my opinion. In a way, I was making a case to stop bashing Rise, but ultimately, it's up to you. I used words like "arguably" and "debatably" for a reason.

6. Not to be rude, but please don't call me babe. It makes me uncomfortable, for I have a boyfriend. :)