Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1255374-20160227225840/@comment-995426-20160413170601

I'd consider Spike being "Raph's baby" a stronger argument if not for the specific way Spike was introduced. Raph's words were tender, passionate, romantic, and then...reveal Spike eating a lettuce leaf. And considering their circumstances&mdash;Raph living a socially isolated existence with only his immediate family&mdash;it just helped solidify my impression that Raph wanted a boyfriend but just couldn't have one, and Spike substituted emotionally for that. Of course, when Spike did mutate, Raph couldn't seem to wait for the two of them to devote their everyday lives to each other, and indeed needed very little convincing on the matter. If Raph had any problem at all at the time, it was that it was all still new, and he wasn't sure how to balance his commitments and responsibilities to his father and brothers, and Slash had no patience for not immediately being the first and only priority in Raph's life. Fortunately, when Slash gained some sanity, his motives proved no longer so conflicting anymore&mdash;he really wanted things to be better with both Splinter and with Raph's brothers. And honestly, I think Slash looked up to Splinter in a special way, not just as a sensei, but maybe also kind of as a surrogate father, and I'd like think Splinter would like to consider him another son, sort of like how Splinter treats April like a daughter. Amazing Adventures shows that it wasn't just Raphael that Slash was watching all that time&mdash;he was also listening to Splinter's teachings, and would apply those directly into his leadership of the Mutanimals. I mean, I know AA is technically a separate continuity now, but it still has much better writing than the TV series has had over the past year. So while it's not canon, I would consider it "better than canon," if that makes sense.