For one thing, if mutants are supposed to be similar or the same as Yokai, they must have similar life spans. Big Mama and Draxum are both hundreds of years old and they both aged very well. Now, we don't have any examples for how mutants should age besides Splinter, but I decided it makes more sense for him to age like a Yokai than to age like a human. Therefore, I kept him younger. Also, no amount of aging will make a person lose 2-3 feet of height, but that's just a personal pet peeve of mine.
That's mostly it, but some other things. The one on the right is purposely trying to cover up his belly with his arm and his clothing choices to seem like he hasn't lost himself. His hair is greasy and worn down because he's depressed and hasn't been taking care of himself. In general, I tried to draw him awkward and ashamed of himself.
As for the one on the left ... it's surprisingly hard to draw a pompadour on a rat, and that's all I'll say. The design is supposed to resemble Lou Jitsu and display a lot of the confidence that he's lost in his time as Splinter.
Edit: since it was asked about, yes, he does have fat on him, he's just hiding it with his clothing and arms. This is intentional. You can still see it in the belly/arms.
Yes, I know John Bishop is canonically White in Rise. Not anymore. Now he's Indonesian.
Angel is the one who picked out John's sunglasses, and John purchased the tie to match. Angel's stars and night sky themed paint, and star shirt, are also done in an attempt to match with his dad.
Also, he's hiding it, but Angel is, in fact, wielding a stolen gun.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
A new thing I wrote! Sewer Roulette! I am seriously so excited about this. It's a separated au, and Splinter-centric and I love it. I'm addressing things in canon I want to address. I'm being mean to a rat /aff. I'm including dynamics never before seen. I'm having fun.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
New chapter of Sewer Roulette! If you like the styling man in black, John Bishop himself, well, he's here. Consistent with Rise, he's not really a bad guy.
Well, I could ramble about how 03!John Bishop is an interesting villain with good motivations (protecting Earth), and bad methods (willing to do anything for his goals, besides get therapy), and how this means he's working for the same goal as the turtles, just against the turtles.
But that aside, this John Bishop tries to do the right thing, and I have a very interesting thing planned for him I think people will enjoy.