#but why acant??? little siblings also provide support and care? for big siblings sometimes

[tangledinink]

bad news: i think i am sleep deprived enough to have opinions on the internet.

one 'trope' that's always really bugged me from the rottmnt fandom is the "poor mikey has to be the family therapist/most emotionally mature even though he's the youngest!!!"

and i mean? like, yeah, the 'family therapist' thing by itself has its merit, because I don't think anyone should have to be the 'family therapist' (though I don't necessarily think that describes mikey? like I think he WANTS to and does 'therapy' his family sometimes but I also don't think that this is something that everyone seeks or expects from him all the time?) but it's more like

the

the youngest thing

it grates on me when people act like it's such a tragedy or injustice that he's 'forced' to emotionally caretake for his family members at times when he's the 'baby.' but it's not like he's some child being taken care of/relied upon by adults? in both the show and most fanwork i've seen with this trope, he's doing a majority of this 'emotional caretaking' for his brothers. and like... raph is literally only two years older than him. why is it so messed up if mikey happens to have some more emotional maturity than him in some areas? why is it so horrendous if mikey takes care of raph? just because raph's a couple years older than him? this means it's bad for raph to ask for or want their sibling to take care of them sometimes? mikey shouldn't have to provide any emotional support or care, but raph should?

why is mikey not able to provide emotional support for his family without it being viewed as toxic or tragic just because he's the youngest? this is basically expected of raph as the eldest by the fandom. sure, there's lots of "aw poor raph had to raise his brothers" type stuff (which I also don't really agree with but that's another thing) but it's always in a light of "it's so messed up that raph had to parent his brothers instead of their dad" rather than "it's so tragic that raph is providing emotional support for his younger brother."

i hate this idea that because raph, leo, and donnie are a couple years older than mikey, they are able to protect and caretake for him and that's cute, wholesome "good sibling" content, but if mikey does the same for them, it's somehow tragic angst and reflects poorly on raph/leo/donnie.