This demotivational poster is highly Anti-BBRae with a few moments of Pro-RobRae and Pro-BBTerra thrown in the mix. Sit back, relax, and revel in the evisceration I shall give to his annoyingly overrated, undeniably unhealthy NOTP of mine.
Throughout my whole life as a Teen Titans fan, I was never a hardcore shipper of Beastboy and Raven as a couple nor did I understand why this “couple” is such a huge deal when there are other better alternatives for these two. This is mainly attributed to me solely seeing a sibling dynamic between the Azarath sorceress and the green-skinned changeling in every episode I have watched from this particular show, in which Raven acts like the taciturn, sardonic, book smart older sister to Beastboy’s pesky, annoying, mischievous younger brother. Considering their former lives with their families, especially with Raven having a ruthless demon father and Beastboy originally being a member of a group consisting of superhuman adults, I have always bought their relationship as extremely akin to siblings and not the whole Takahashi couple route, which is a relationship trope I could never get behind in any shape or form.
Thanks to a Tumblr post made by neopuff, my reasoning for placing BBRae as one of my NOTPs for life became more than just I never cared for them as a couple. In fact, there have been moments where Beastboy never respected Raven’s privacy and where Raven constantly slapped, punched, and kicked Beastboy even though he was mildly annoying to her. When one cuts down to the bone, one can easily see an abusive relationship about to blossom.
If one were to remember episodes like “Nevermore”, “Spellbound”, and “The Beast Within”, one would realize that these moments of Raven taking the Mickey out of Beastboy with her snide, condescending comments and even Beastboy branding her as creepy, calling the books she reads as nasty, and thinking that she cannot have fun like normal people are signs of an unhealthy, unfulfilling, toxic relationship. Ergo, there was a lack of respect, compassion, and understanding from Beastboy when it came to Raven needing privacy to enjoy her main hobby and passion which led Raven to be deeply hurt about his comments about her. Even at the end of “Spellbound”, Beastboy did not apologize to Raven for hurting her feelings but for what she had to go through with Malchior meaning that nothing of significant value between Raven and Beastboy was learned quite akin to what happened in “Nevermore”.
What is most aggravating about BBRae are the extreme hardcore fans who support this couple. Sure, there are some who are civil and who can take criticism of this couple and take it in stride. However, there are those toxic fans who convict that any other pairing for Raven and Beastboy is not legitimate and abusive, when they could not see that what these two are doing to each other does not sound like relationship goals in the slightest. These toxic fans would even go out of their way to give irrational reasons why they ship Beastboy and Raven as a couple while bashing their detractors for thinking otherwise.
Finally, a lot of BBRae shippers are usually those who absolutely despise Terra mostly because she was a traitor and a manipulator who got in the way of BBRae. What they failed to realize is that Terra had severe trust issues due to her being a wanderer for many years and she was also the youngest member of the Titans being only 13 years old. When one thinks of the age of 13, one would think about the changes one would need to be accustomed to with the body, the mind, the conscience, and the overall surroundings. Terra’s powers and the hardship she faces trying to control them can be interpreted as a metaphor of her trying to go through the beginning of her formative years. On top of that, she was also going through several moments of confusion until “Aftershock Part 2” where she finally took responsibility for her powers and sacrificed herself to save Beastboy, Raven, Starfire, Robin, and Cyborg.
This is where I have to bring in the RobRae and BBTerra ace of spades cards because these two OTPs of mine are what totally destroy BBRae’s annoyance and burn this “couple” to ashes.
In RobRae’s case, Robin does respect Raven’s privacy and there is a much deeper connection between them in terms of their feelings, the support they have for each other, and how much they are willing to protect each other from all forms of harm. One would not need to look further than “Haunted” and a majority of the Season 4 episodes to see how much they are willing to be there for each other. It is not just the boundless support, respect, and earnestness that both Robin and Raven give to each other but also the cool amount of intellect they have in any situation they are in.
BBTerra’s case goes much further than the various lovely, cute, and adorable moments Beastboy and Terra have as a couple, especially in Season 2, but also the mutual understanding, compassion, and genuineness that they have for one another. Since they are also the youngest members of the Titans with Beastboy being at least one year older than Terra, they have also known what it is like to fall in love for the first time thanks to acknowledging each other as people first and having the undeniable will to understand each other. Even when Terra initially snapped at Beastboy for thinking that he betrayed her feelings to Robin because of her powers, Beastboy still wanted to keep rooting for Terra. At the end of the day, Beastboy and Terra genuinely cared for each other so much.
In conclusion, BBRae is a couple I will never endeavor to support and will always brand as my NOTP for life because of the toxicity occurring between Raven and Beastboy. They might as well be kept in an extremely sibling-like platonic relationship because there are better life partners for these two. Robin and Raven can indubitably find a deep, meaningful relationship with each other based on compassion and earnestness, while Beastboy and Terra can connect with each other thanks to the mutual understanding and genuineness they have for one another.
I hope you all enjoyed this Anti-BBRae demotivational poster and I will see you in the next submission. Take care and stay safe, everybody.
Beastboy, Raven, and the screenshot from “The Beast Within” from Teen Titans belong to Glen Murakami, David Slack, DC Comics, Warner Brothers Animation, and Cartoon Network.
