Raphael Tang - Blog Posts

A huge thanks and shout out to @jadethest0ne​ for the absolutely amazing work and help with the Logos/Banners for Tmnt:Unity! these all turned out fantastic!

I created a few banners, titles, and logos for @lunawoona11 's original TMNT incarnation, TMNT Unity. It was really fun figuring out a way to incorporate all of the character motifs into the banners! Andro gave me some great direction for what to include!

I'm particularly fond of these title logos I did. I based the lettering on the Japanese art of knot-tying, called Mizuhiki. I thought it worked best with the theme of the word "unity" and fit culturally as well.

Finally, here's the symbol of the Yuu Clan - the family that the Turtles and Splinter belong to. Unlike the Hamato symbol, which was meant to be modeled after a cherry blossom, the Yuu symbol is that of a Japanese camelia. We also wanted 6 petals - one each to symbolize the turtles, Casey, and April, with Splinter at the center. I wanted to keep a similar style to previous incarnations' Hamato symbol, but this time with a different flower, and a different clan in mind

My Commission Sheet

Thank you so much @jadethest0ne for this amazing art! This fills me with such Serotonin!

Pizza and Photography

Been chatting a lot with @lunawoona11 about his own TMNT incarnation - TMNT: Unity. This was based on some of our conversations and a little snippet she wrote involving April and Raphael. I really like Raph’s interest in photography, and thought that he might show April some of his pictures and/or ramble about camera specs or something while they sit on a rooftop eating pizza

Whats all the brothers relationship like? Whats their dynamic if u know what i mean?

Buckle up cause this one is gonna be long.

Raph and Donnie-The youngest and the oldest. Donnie is acutely aware that Raph can be a walking trouble magnet(when he's not the trouble in question)and tends to try and keep and an eye on him. On the other hand, while Donnie knows he probably shouldn't be impressed by his brother's "I fear no god" attitude, it's hard not to be sometimes. Raph meanwhile appreciates his older brother’s resourceful nature and uncanny ability to get them out of danger. Due to Raph's Insomnia and Donnie’s tendency to stay up late working on projects, Raph tends to hang out in the lab when neither of them can sleep, sometimes they'll chat away the hours, but most nights it's just nice to hang out and do their own separate thing. Both can be stubborn at times, but it doesn’t result in more than the occasional minor squabble for most part. Raph is the one person in the family that actively enjoys Donnie's drum playing as opposed to just politely encouraging it.

Mikey and Leo-The middle children of the family. Leo's tendency to distrust overly nice people clashes with Mikey's dislike of assuming the worst about people, This of course, has led to disagreements on how to resolve situations. Mikey is also a terrible patient as he tries to sneak off because he gets restless easily; which drives Leo up a wall from worry and frustration. Leo will seek Mikey out to bounce ideas off when he's experiencing a writer's block, and they also share similar tastes in food as well as a stage magic phase when they were younger... though it was to varying degrees of success.

Leo and Raph- The red and blue duo. Raph hates taking medicine and will try and prolong the inevitable for as long as he can, despite this Leo considers him the best patient out of his brothers since he’s the one who's most likely to actually rest. Raph continually tries to convince Leo to get out of his April Fool's retirement and form an alliance with him... the day both of them agree will be the most terrifying day for the whole family, Leo is waiting for Raph to show him an idea that will prove he is ready. Raph's roller skates are actually Leo's hand-me-downs; Leo swore off skating after he lost his first baby tooth to it, Raph got the hang of it after losing a couple of his own baby teeth. sometimes, Leo will join Raph on his photography ventures, both to clear his head and spark some ideas, and to have the peace of mind of someone being there with his brother if something bad happens. Despite not being much taller, Raph likes to poke fun at his older brother’s height.

Donnie and Mikey- the purple and orange duo. When Mikey was 9, he asked Donnie if he could make him a ‘'cool robot arm' like those from the movies; the prosthetic he has currently is the 28th model. After Donnie made the first model, Mikey gave him his scarf, the one he still wears, as thanks. That model was unfortunately not waterproof, something Donnie had forgotten to tell Mikey, and it needed to be wrapped in a bag of rice pretty soon after. They like to play 1v1 board games together, mostly connect four, Donnie will drag out his turn as he gets absorbed by strategy, but Mikey always wins with the same strategy. As he believes, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it.". Mikey is very appreciative (and a bit guilty) that Donnie is patient in repairing his arm if he breaks it, but Donnie has never considered it a bother, and never will. They also share similar music tastes.

Raph and Mikey- The youngest brothers. Despite only barely being a year older, Mikey will still try to pull the “older sibling” card to try and impart some wisdom on his younger brother. Since Raph is his only younger brother, Mikey does try to be the cool older sibling…he gets points for trying. What Mikey doesn’t know is that he never needed to prove himself anyways cause Raph already admired him for his emotional intelligence. They have somewhat of a friendly rivalry going on the during training, which can extend to the battlefield by way of making it a competition. When they were younger, the two used to fight a lot, but nowadays the arguments tend to be short lived and they are quick to apologize. Both of them avoid horror films like the plague. Raph can’t understand Mikey’s love of bugs, finding the creatures freaky.

Leo and Donnie-The oldest brothers. Leo is the most successful of all the brothers at getting Donnie to actually go to bed. Leo is acutely aware that Donnie is the smartest person he knows, but that doesn't mean he knows what to do in every situation, so he tries to lend his assistance when he can. Donnie admires (and sometimes envies) Leo's ability to work under pressure. Leo has yet to beat Donnie in a spar, and really admires his skill. They disagree (rather vehemently) on pineapples on Pizza, and probably will for the rest of their lives. Both of them can’t cook to save their lives. When they were younger, they were almost the same height but Donnie shot up while Leo was condemned to the shorter twin existence. they bond over watching "unsolved mystery" shows together and are most comfortable venting to each other. Leo's very willing to listen to Donnie ramble about science though he doesn't always understand. All that aside, Donnie, unfortunately for Leo, is actually the worst at resting when he's sick and it drives Leo mad.

And as a bonus!

Splinter and the turtles-As Splinter was rather young and inexperienced, in the first few months of raising the turtles she was more like a frantic babysitter and less like a parent. Eventually, she found her footing as their mother. She tries to balance guiding her children and giving them their own free choices so that they can learn by making their own mistakes and triumphs. As such, she's always openly supported her boys' passions. If faced by a "greater good or your family" situation, she would choose her family without regret. Despite all this, she's never told her family she was once human, as she believed that children should never carry the responsibilities and burdens of their parents. She also encouraged Ninjutsu as a skill and taught them that there was never any shame in running away from a fight. Despite their contrasting opinions on the Horror genre, Raph will often join her in watching trashy reality tv shows. At Leo’s request, Splinter was the one who taught him first aid, and she grew up listening to the same type of music Leo does. Mikey likes to meditate with her and they sometimes work together on quilts(even when they don’t need one).She sometimes worries about her eldest; that his nonstop mind may serve to hurt him once he finds a puzzle he can’t solve.

This was a very fun ask to answer!

In TMNT: Unity, what are your turtles different fighting styles? Are they more defensive, offensive, melee, ranged, etc? Also, how do they work together in a fight? Do some work better together than others? Or are they all a mess? (and same question for April, Casey, and Splinter if you're feeling up to that)

Now this is a fun question! I’ll try my best to describe the fighting style of our main characters!

Donnie’s fighting style is what I would call versatile, It involves a lot of shifting, twisting and blocking. He can switch between the three Size settings on His Bo[Tanbo, Jo and Bo] on the fly, allowing Him to Switch to whichever best compliments the opponent’s weapon and the circumstances. Sometimes he will switch mid combat to throw the opponent off, doing it only infrequently to prevent the Opponent from adapting

Raph’s fighting style is what I would call Agile. He will try to get in close fast before the opponent has time to react. It involves a lot of catching the weapon on the Kama, tripping the opponent, and using the chain as a chokehold. what it lacks in stealth and offensive power it makes up for in disarming opponents. He has the most range of his siblings

Mikey’s fighting style is what I would call Energetic. He will use evasion to tire out the opponent, blocking when they manage to get in close. He will then try getting in a few good hits, A mix of Striking and kicking before kicking the opponent backwards in order to regain some distance

Leo’s fighting style is what I would call Adaptable. He will often feint with one Kodachi then strike with the other. He will use the opponent’s momentum and strengths against them. He tends to favor his right Kodachi over his left one.

Casey’s fighting style is what i would call unpolished, She often hits hard with the force of raw power but he lacks the finesse of a trained combatant, this often has the side effect of leaving them open for counterattacks. They will tend to use anything she can get his hands on as a weapon.

April’s fighting style is what I would call Evasive. If she can, She will tend to avoid being confronted directly, Either through trying to stay hidden or through the use of smoke bombs for a quick escape. If she is cornered and cannot avoid a direct confrontation, She will try and end the fight quickly by catching them off guard.

Splinter’s fighting style is what I would call defensive. She favors blocking, striking at weak spots in the opponent's stance or armor when the moment is right. She can be seen utilizing her unique physiology to Jump backwards and forwards with ease. Though she may appear to be moving freely to the outside perspective. She is efficient and effective in her movements, preserving her stamina.

Now in terms of who works best together...

Raph and Casey-these two work well together in that they tend to make up for the other’s weaknesses. Casey’s attention drawing fighting style gives Raph the advantage he needs to catch opponents by surprise and He can disarm the targets Casey does not notice, thus both can cover the other’s blind spots.

Donnie and Leo- Both of their fighting styles rely on understanding the opponent. Donnie with the Calculated variations of his staff, and Leo with his on the fly redirection of their strengths. when paired together, this can make them quite a pain for an opponent relying on raw power

Mikey and Raph- Mikey’s method of kicking the opponent backwards, causing them to lose balance makes it easy for Raph to follow it up with their chain. they have a sort of friendly competition on the battlefield and this tends to motivate both of them.

This was super fun to ask. Look forward to more Tmnt unity in the future!

TMNT:Unity-Raphael

Finishing off the Turtles with Raph!

Credit for the the Fullbody Lineart goes to incredible @jadethest0ne!

Extra note:

*Red is what a certain foot recruit refers to Him as

-Takes pictures of mostly architecture or wildlife(sometimes trying fashion and still life

—-Image ID below—–

[Image ID: image 1 depicts a full body lineart ref for a fanmade design of Raphael from teenage mutant ninja turtles standing against a blank strawberry red background.He is an anthropomorphic turtle with muted olive green skin, a small tail and a red fabric mask covering his electric green eyes, the short squared ends of his mask tails hang at the back of his head. He has red fingerless gloves and socks which reach his shins and have a hole in the heels. His forearms and lower legs above his shins have deep brown wrappings. He has a brown belt and a muted green shell bridge.He has a brownish yellow angular plastron with a line going down the middle that is segmented into parallelogram shapes which create a wide V shaped edge at the top. He has a dark green shell with spikes that curve downwards. He has a yellow crescent-like stripe going over each of his eyes that curve around the side of his face and the top of his head. He has yellow triangular markings around his neck and upper arms that curve in from the side and alternate between pointing left and right.He also has a similar triangular mark on the outer part of both thighs, with both pointing inwards. He has three fingers on each hand and his right hand is curled around one Kama of his Kusarigama, which is connected to a metal chain that is hooked to the side of his belt, the blade is metal and the wood is reddish brown, with a red stopper at the bottom where the chain connects.His left hand is curled resting on the side of his head, he has a small closed smile and his left leg is slightly bent and hidden behind the other.At the bottom of the image is a stylized watermark reading “Jade” with small fox head next to the e

The text alongside the image reads as follows

Raphael

Nicknames:Raph, Raphie, Red*

Pronouns:He/him

Age:13

Turtle species:Sawback turtle(false map turtle)

Weapon(s):Kusarigama

-Animal lover

-Sarcastic(in a tongue-in cheek way)

-Has insomnia

-Playful snarker

-Won’t sugarcoat things

-Won't suck up to people

-Impulse shopper

-Tends to underestimate opponents

-The self preservation of scrappy doo

Likes:Home renovation shows, Hot chocolate, Rollerskating, Photography, going on walks

Dislikes:Horror movies, Medicine, Being underestimated, Feeling useless, The cold

Image 2 shows a dark green turtle shell, with four sickle like markings curving in from the edge of each quadrant of the shell towards the center. in the center is a vertical line of triangles representing larger spikes that curve down. Text underneath reads “^Shell”. To the right of that is a pair of Kama floating in the air. Their blades are metal and their wood is reddish brown, they have a red stopper at the bottom where the chain connects them. Text underneath reads “^Kusarigama” /.End ID]