#transfem raph

I think that Raph has a *lot* of internalized transphobia. As much as she's aware that her family wouldn't mind - hell, she know's they're all a whole fruitbasket and a half themselves - she has a hard time allowing herself to be who she is.

The idea that Raph holds onto being "the strong older brother" and feels like she'd be "letting them down" to transition (which it isn't, but she feels like it would be) is everything to me. Raph. Please allow yourself to be who you are, I promise your siblings don't mind.

I think that, even before Raph is out, Leo and Donnie both knew about it. Leo because he's transgender himself, and Donnie because he accidentally found Raph questioning her gender in her search history. Don't ask why he looked. He's just nosy and a tech guy - or maybe he was concerned with the way Raph was acting and decided to look to see if he could find any clues in her history. In any case, both of them know and are waiting for her to be ready.

I also think Raph would have a lot of denial based on her interests - "I can't be trans! I like sports and boxing and wrestling!"; She'd use that to try to push herself deeper into the closet while also having a hard time with dysphoria.