#empath raph

Raph is more than his temper.

I’m tired of his whole personality being reduced to “angry” and "rebellious". (Seriously those 2014 live actions making him want to leave his family behind make me so angry)

Besides Mikey, Raph is the most emotive turtle. He wears his heart on his sleeve! He is like never not showing people exactly how he’s feeling. (Mikey says it, he shows it) Raph is all about action, words are not his thing, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have anything valuable to say. (Heck even Raph can and has given great words of advise, so its just that he prefers action to words)

His default mode is defensive and protective. When they start to get overwhelmed in a fight, and Leo orders a retreat, he is always the last one to make a move. He stands his ground as a shield, his burning drive to keep his family safe always his first action. 

He is quick to recognize and sympathize with others with tempers (Casey and Leatherhead) and as the show goes on, he gets better handle on his temper, learns to slow down before acting, and is quick to apologize. He knows when's he’s wrong and owns it. 

In the early seasons, he is much quicker to anger but as the events they live through progress, he actually matures not gets worse. (Leo took care of that little arc lol). Seeing how he behaved during the "Good Genes" episodes, is just proof enough. 

They are hard to miss, but the subtle things he does throughout the show shows are caring and thoughtful person he is. He’s quick to have his brothers backs, however can get tunnel vision during fights to protect them. 

He has this whole “macho” mindset so he doesn't cry often but he doesn't try to play it off either. He knows when to be gentle, even if that gentleness can still come off kinda gruff.

Take "Lone Raph and Cub". He helps this kid out because again, he can sympathize and recognize himself in this kid. He's talking softer, treats the kid with respect while still treating him his age, and even forms a team with him to get his mom back. Dudes great with kids.

His dynamic with Mikey is also so special. They feed off each other during fights and missions and get along so well. Their love language is insults and teasing, yet they always put that to the back burner when its time to be serious and they are a strong duo. So no, he doesn't hate Mikey, they are actually best friends.

Heck even with Leo, there are very few times when he doesn't listen to him. He recognizes Leo's role and wisdom, often deferring to him.

It's when he gets to emotional and needs to act that they butt heads. It isn't that Leo isn't one to take action, he just does it differently than Raph likes to do it. Quick and passionately.

Again, his driving force is to protect his family, and the more time lost is not getting them back safe is stressful to Raph. (Again you see his growth in "Good Genes" in listening to Leo and remaining pretty calm)

He knows his stenghts and weaknesses, and especially knows when to ask for help. These boys have only ever had each other. They know at the end of the day, its them against the world. Yeah they have Splinter, April and Casey, but the bond they have is so drastically different and special.

He also constantly turns to Donnie for help, relying on and trusting his brothers expertise. He also constantly shows his appreciation for Donnies work. Their relationship is much calmer than with Mikey and Leo.

Point is Raph can be a hothead but his character is so much deeper than that. He's the turtle that shows his love for his family with protective action.

Leo may be the leader, Donnie the brains and Mikey the calming force of the family, but Raph is the heart.

He keeps them together, keeps them whole and most importantly keeps them safe. Raph is an empathy and you can't change my mind.

"Also around the same time, I read Very Grand Emotions by Terra Vance... and also came across the post you reblogged about not being able to watch the news without feeling dread etc. The above all kind of came together... because when mistruths are spread and people don’t listen to reason and logic I end up incredibly frustrated and I am worried I will get caught up in all the emotion of rage and end up in a meltdown.

And then all of the above came together beautifully when I reread your Mikey Rage vs Raph Rage reblog and also possibly joined it with your h/c of Mikey’s autism presenting as it does in girls/women and how familiar being afraid of how intense your capacity for rage and other emotions) is in the face of injustice and untruth, and then how you hide it from yourself and others is to make jokes and use sarcasm to throw the rage off and trick yourself so you don’t get trapped within it.

When 2003 TMNT happened, I was out of college and all my friends were sharing stories of being abused, and to my single child brain that had no idea it was autistic there was not a big difference between cute sibling shoving and real sibling abuse unless I was specifically told. And it's not just the Lead Pipe Incident, it's all those small scenes where Raph gets worked up enough and winds up being scary TO ME, who just wanted to see 2003 Mikey be portrayed as something more than a comic relief joke with occasional bouts of wisdom. I had rather twisted views.

But all this month I've been getting Anon messages from angry Raph fans and I don't think they're realizing that I've quit thinking that way thanks to some very sweet and kind fans here. But go off, I guess.

I'm doing a bunch of little Rise fics, including that first one based on that dream I had where 2018 Mikey gets amnesia and psionics from a skull fracture. And the fic based on that other dream I had where 2018 met 2003 and 2003 Leo tried to adopt 2018 Mikey and 2018 Raph freaked out at 2003 Raph for his attitude. I kind of want to wait for more episodes to air before I start publishing on AO3. But there are some folks waiting, including very very patient beta readers.

In the meantime.

Exploring meltdowns and hyperempathy via my autistic headcanons with TMNT Mikey, Day 16!

I don't blame you guys, it's not your fault you were curious about my headcanons. But now my mind is trying to churn out a brand new fic about the Mikey SAINW headcanon with Old Donnie crying in Young Mikey's arms, and I swear I might as well just pull an Albearto and rip out my heart and shove it through the screen.

I still have to gather the rest of the Imagines for the 2016 Depressed Mikey Angst Fic. Still need to write the next chapter of the 2018 Mikey Amnesia fic. Not to mention Chapter Five of the 2003 Psionic Mikey fic, the 2012 Psychic Mikey fic series finale, and the other 2012 short story fic book. Plus the request fics.

Also the Original futuristic urban fantasy novel with autistic telepaths that still needs a solid ending.

Remember Marvel's What If series? In the 1990s I called all my fanfic AU stories "What If..." and when 2003 rolled around and ended, a glut of fanfiction happened. A lot focused on Michelangelo being deeper, wiser, and much more insecure than canon showed. There was a lot of Angry Raph from a fear perspective. It was really interesting.