#he is the best of boys

[risestarkiss]

Being Big Red

Rise Ramblings #312

In “What Was Meant To Be” and “What They Became,” I discuss how the turtles were created by Draxum to be weapons and then how the boys were embraced by Splinter to be a part of the Hamato clan.

I also discussed how Splinter viewed television as a window into his former life. He used television as a means to drown himself in a never-ending cycle of reminiscing the past and mourning his former self.

Splinter’s crushing depression, though never voiced, impacted the turtles’ emotional growth and development. As a result, all four brothers had to cope with their father’s lack of attention and his expectations for their lives in their own way…

However, I believe that no one had more pressure placed on them than Raphael Hamato.

Raphael is naturally easy-going, sweet, fun-loving, and supportive. But, as the oldest/biggest turtle, he became the impromptu leader of their little team by default. Consequently, he takes on several different roles for the sake and well-being of his family.

Their day-to-day training regimen is directed completely by him.

He is the boys' moral compass and who they go to for guidance.

He's the team’s backbone, support, and backup, which often cumulates in him acting as a physical shield when things get rough.

And, most significantly, Raph is the leader even when he himself wants nothing more than to crumble to pieces.

Raph is so physically imposing, strong-willed, and devastatingly kind-hearted that it’s easy to expect these roles from him.

But, Raph is also just a child.

In reality, these roles should never have been Raph’s to bear…

Parentification is a process in which a child or adolescent is forced to act as a parent to their siblings (or to their actual parent) through providing emotional support (Emotional Parentification) or physical support (Instrumental Parentification) in order to maintain the household.

I believe that Raphael was subjected to both, but was especially subjected to the former.

All of the roles described above are the roles of a supportive parent to their children (or Sensei to their students.) To verify this claim, you needn’t look further than the roles that Splinter encompassed in any other iteration.

With Raph, none of this responsibility comes naturally. He has to work hard to live up to the pressures and expectations placed onto him, resulting in a dissonance between his responsibilities and his true nature.

I believe that you can see the evidence of this dissonance in his chosen form of dress.

Have you noticed that when Raph casually dresses himself, he mostly wears white?

Even Donnie picked up on this trend when he chose outfits for his brother in "The Clothes Don't Make The Turtle." (See "The Fashionista" for a full breakdown on Donnie's impeccable fashion sense.✨)

Yet, when Raphael is filling a role, or dressing to impress others, Red is his automatic go-to.

It’s almost as if the title of “The Red One” was not one that he chose, but one that was merely placed onto him.

But I digress...

Raph is able to be a pseudo-parent to his brothers and serves to fill in the gaps that their actual father could not fill. However, with no outlet for his own insecurities, all of that pressure had no relief.

And, if you understand chemistry, pressure, with no release, creates an explosion.

“Acting out” is an unhealthy defense mechanism in which one expresses their unacceptable feelings through physical actions.

In this case, the "unacceptable feeling" is disappointment, not at his brothers, or with his father, or with any external force, but with himself. And with no outlet and with no one to turn to for support, that disappointment turns into red hot anger.

He’s so disappointed with himself, in fact, that he reaches his breaking point.

Then finally, finally, he opens up.

And at long last, he gets the support he so desperately needed.

Thus, he is able to ultimately let it all go...

It's so lovely to see that his family does not disappoint.

○○○○

Next | Being Baby Blue • Being Purple ○ Part One • Being Purple ○ Part Two • Orange, Baby!

Finale | Being Hamato Yoshi

#he is the best of boys #he tries so hard #and I love him for that #research resources provided upon request #starkiss ramblings #rise analysis #rottmnt analysis #character analysis #Raphael Ramblings #rise raph #rise raphael #raphael #rottmnt raphael #raphael hamato #rottmnt #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #tmnt2018 #tmnt 2k18 #tmnt 2018 #save rottmnt #unpause rottmnt #unpause rise of the tmnt #save rise of the tmnt #save rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles

[cupophrogs]

Deedee looks like one big ol happy pupper (as happy as he can be-)

He’s better than he was before!

#phrart #art #poppy playtime #dogday #dogday poppy playtime #he is the best of boys

[pocket-dragon]

POV you ate shit during the family drama hour and your adopted peepaw needed your dogs help finding the Temple

#baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #dnd #bg3 spoilers #durge #the dark urge #durge spoilers #bg3 scratch #dusk #bg3 withers #comic #scratch and my durge share a warriors bond #he is the best boy #doing his best OH NO your one the floor and I AM CONCERNED #big doggo moment

[lunarcrystal]

Oh I love the little egg boi's so much

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel spoilers #alastor #radio demon #i'd imagined he just treated them as he would annoying children lmao #frank is best egg boi

[mydairpercabeth]

season 4 is gonna hurt me i fear

#WHY WOULD THEY SAY THIS??? #if i had to see this so do you #percy really is his favorite child ever #thats his baby boy #pride is not the word im looking for #he would have hades build him the best place in elysium #anyways back to sobbing #percy jackson #poseidon #the great prophecy #pjo #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson the lightning thief #pjo tv #percy series #pjo tv show #battle of the labyrinth #percy jackson and the battle of the labyrinth #the last olympian #percy jackson the last olympian

[lilislegacy]

zeus: ok, you broke the pact. what’s done is done. just tell me which abilities you gave him, so at least i know what we’re dealing with

poseidon: ...all of them

zeus: ok but from which of your roles? sea god, stormbringer, or earthshaker?

poseidon: ...all of them

zeus:

zeus: you’re not serisouly telling me he has domain over air and land and the sea?

poseidon: er, actually, it’s not just the sea. any water, really. lakes, rivers, ice, plumbing,...potentially bodily fluids...

zeus: you- WHY DID- WHAT WERE YOU-

zeus: *takes a deep breath*

zeus: anything else?

poseidon: *looks at list*

poseidon: er, yes. he immediately heals when he touches water.

zeus: what?

poseidon: well, you know, i figured with all the danger he’ll face, potential child of the prophecy and all, he should be able to automatically regenerate

zeus: that- that’s not even a thing!

poseidon: well...it is now!

zeus:

poseidon:

zeus:

poseidon: he can also speak to horses

zeus: *throws lightning bolt at the wall*

#LOL #suck it zeus #poseidon gave his boy everything he had #he just wanted to give him his best chance 🥺 #i just know zeus was pissed over this #overpowered percy #percy jackson #poseidon #zeus #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo #heroes of olympus

[chloesimaginationthings]

Michael shows FNAF movie Mike his son,,

#myart #chloesimagination #comic #mike schmidt #michael afton #fnaf helpy #helpy #fnaf #fnaf movie #fnaf pizzeria simulator #sister location #fnaf fanart #five nights at freddy's #THE BABY boy the sweetest lil guy helpy is here 💜 #I adore Helpy and been meaning to draw him for awhile! #finally Michael shows his son #Michael has no fear of lawsuits cause he has the best lawyer (Helpy) #Mike isn’t ready for that though #he’s gonna have to be cause Freddy’s get lawsuits often #BUT why does that matter look at helpy 💜💜💜 he’s all that matters

[contactlessdrivethru]

there is something unique and deeply special about monkey d luffy as a protagonist. he’s overwhelmingly ADORED by the fandom. he’s consistently the most or at least top 3 most popular characters in the whole series. peoples takes about him are gushingly positive. and that’s… really uncommon.

a LOT of fandoms i’ve witnessed or been in have a tendency to favor characters other than the main character. especially in anime. the main characters are often written as a blank slate for readers/watchers to project onto, but that makes them not as interesting and so they don’t get the fan attention.

but luffy is so far from that. and he’s ALWAYS been this way. we love him so much. he’s the heart of the story and the heart of the fandom in every single way. and i think that speaks to how well-written he is as a character. he’s fun and charming and complex and interesting and he makes us laugh and cry and cheer and hope and love. he’s able to inspire so much joy in people, both in his world but also in this one. and i think that’s really special. i feel so grateful to have found this story that means so much to me, and i’m so grateful that luffy exists.

#i’m in a very emotional mood tonight and i was just. musing #about how wonderful our best boy is #and how much true and genuine joy and hope and wisdom he has given me #i feel like i’ve learned so much from him about how to love people #and that’s. freely. enthusiastically. easily and without abandon. #love you monkey d. luffy. you saved my life #one piece #monkey d luffy #one piece meta #personal

[charlietheepicwriter7]

Hey, does anyone remember that one episode of the OG teen titans where it was that contest of champions or whatever? Becuase...

"Welcome, champions all! I am the Master of Games, and you are hereby invited to compete in the Tournament of the Strongest! Each of you have been specially chosen as the smartest and strongest each species has to offer."

"Hey, isn't that a fourteen-year-old?"

#dc x dp #dpxdc #dcxdp #dp x dc #c: danny fenton #teen titans #i'm just imagining this as the best of the best #batman's there aquaman's there wonder woman's there #along with a ton of villains too #and then there's danny who looks like a wet sock of a human boy #is danny there representing ghosts or halfas #bc if he represents halfas then who is representing ghosts #the strongest of ghosts... pariah dark??? #but if he's representing ghosts then vlad must be representing halfas #“The Champion of Ghosts Pariah Dark... was not invited because screw that guy!”

[jay-wasstuff]

Nobody, absolutely nobody:

This motherfucker:

#i remember when everyone was like “what is the point of him?” then realised it was to be an absolute pain in our asses #even in the movie he was only there to be a menace. 10/10 best written character in fnaf. #fnaf movie spoilers #fnaf #fnaf movie #five nights at freddy's #coryxkenshin #balloon boy #halloween #mike schmidt #josh hutcherson #spooky season

[arsillanola]

They were best friends your honor

#having feels about these two #he grew up and saved his best friend #I just #couldn’t stop imagining halsin as a boy #looking for frogs and bugs with Thaniel #bg3 fanart #halsin #bg3 halsin #thaniel #my art #I also feel like I have better ideas than I can execute #but this will do #artists on tumblr #digital artist

[egophiliac]

innocently logging in to look at the Twst schedule for May like

#art #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland spoilers #twisted wonderland episode 7 spoilers #twisted wonderland book 7 spoilers #twisted wonderland episode 7 part 8 spoilers #twisted wonderland book 7 part 8 spoilers #tsumsted wonderland #i-is that enough spoiler tags #anyway twst just absolutely obliterating me with the schedule again #i saw the story completion campaign ended in june and was like 'oh okay that'll be when we get the next part' NOPE HA HA #oh my god rook. oh my god savana rook is real. #w...why is this a story card. hey twst wHY IS THIS A STORY CARD -- #is rook dreaming of still being a rowdy boy or #and why is he...(squints) why is he in a pomefiore bedroom #never mind i'm actually terrified of this card now #god. the STETSON. i'm crying. #he really is just applejack huh #also vil i don't know what your problem was this man's mane is LUSCIOUS #and what's this? it's twst following up that first punch with the right hook of EVEN MORE of the best and silliest event #malleus is going to be in the middle of an angsty flashback while dangling us over a pit of spikes or something #and then we're going to cut directly to him having a charming little tea party with a small plush version of himself #oh twst your sense of pacing remains exquisitely incomprehensible #(no i love this though)

[suntails]

toot toot!

#breaking my streak of dramatic af captions bc look at this. look at it. wtf was i supposed to call it. he's tootin whaddya want from me #he go TOOT TOOT on his lil trumpet i fuckgjn LOVE HIM im maxing this card im serious #lvl 60 10/10 no expense is too much for my precious boy #i found a new brush that has this rly soft charcoal vibe and i used it on this whole thing and it was SEXY it was HEAVEN #it was fun for coloring too!!! and the outfit colors are fun to color OUGHH everything made just for me <3 feeling SILLY #twst #twisted wonderland #twst silver #his bunny outfit sweeps like im sorry but its the best card of the event and its not even fucking close #suntails #i did one 10-pull bc i wanted the paint bonus from epel's card even tho i HATE that card #and i instead got SUPER lucky and got deuce and NO epel!!! i couldnt be fucking happier #then my job interview today never called and i was miserable again but it was an internal issue and im now rescheduled for next week #so please dear god pls guys pray i get this job. i want it sooooo bad

[venator-signum]

I always see the "sunshine" character reduced to someone who is simply happy and bubbly all the time and I was thinking about how I wanted a sunshine character who is sunshine but because they choose to be - because they wake up every day and choose kindness

and then I remembered aang exists and that want has been filled

#rosi shitposts #atla #avatar the last airbender #aang #atla aang #hes the best boy #hes been through so much #so much trauma and guilt and anger that he could have taken out on the world and on zuko in particular #but he didnt #he offered and chose friendship love and kindness every time #he defeated ozai as an air nomad and according to what HE thought was right not anybody else #aang supremacy

[shalpilot]

a lil self-indulgence tonite

#one piece #eustass kid #killer one piece #kidkiller #geese art #when he’s older he’s like I’ll fuckjng kill anyone who makes fun of my Boy Best Friend #who is GAY…. #BUT IM NOT GAY. #no one believes this.

[aquilaofarkham]

Resident Evil 4 Remake official concept art

#resident evil #resident evil 4 #resident evil 4 remake #leon kennedy #ashley graham #ada wong #luis sera #capcom #!stuff and things #and the merchant bc hes my best friend my good time boy my sweet cheese