My friend is making me post this, but this is my tangent about Splinter and Draxum!
Splinter's a dad who knows his mistakes and is trying to make it better. He was grieving what he lost of humanity and became neglectful in his own depression. It took him so long to actually start to change the way he treated his sons, because he realized his faults and realized how much his sons meant to him. He was arguably closer to April than his sons because she reminded him of what he used to be. That was more comforting than being around his boys. He realized his trauma then decided to fix himself based off of that. He cares so much about his sons, just has a rough time showing it through his own immaturity and his own grief. He doesnt know how to handle Draxum in the beginning due to the fact that it's a major trauma for him. He had to grow a trust towards Draxum to be there for the boys, and even then I cant imagine they got along after.
While Draxum was literally a supervillain who got reformed. He had to sit with what hes done and decided to change through it after he fell from his position. He got shown kindness, something he wasnt used to due to his own brutality, and didnt know what to do with it. He grew depressed at the lack of his powers and let Mikey pick him up. He then grew attached to the boys and as we saw. Mikey's compassion and his faith in Draxum's ability made him softer towards humans. He could finally see the light of the world and decide he could have a family through it. His relationship with Splinter is strained due to their shared pasts. But its something neither of them regret due to their sons. Theyd both do anything to save them.
They aren't bad fathers, and I don't believe that after season two, one of them should be on a higher pedestal than the other. They both have their flaws and both had to learn how to overcome them. Basically they're a divorced couple who had to learn from their past mistakes and get past the previous toxicity they used to have in order to help their children. The dysfunctional parents that are trying to learn to be functional in their already kinda-functional family. (But the functional is just the siblings)
Side note, i fully believe April and Mikey are Draxum's favorite kids. Ok.
