#Child abuse cw

[sun-marie]

Something that makes me. insane about Lydia/Lucanis is that, deep down, I think they both have a part of themselves that desperately needs someone to look out for them, and they feel they can be there for the other person when they weren't there for themselves 🥲

[hajihiko]

It runs in the family

[toringo]

Sleepover at Jimmy's this au is consuming my life idk

[Part 2]

[incognitopolls]

Psychiatric help could include medication, therapy, institutionalization, etc.

Hitting or hurting could include spanking, yanking arms or hair, etc.

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[teaboot]

I have decided that from now on when people jokingly speculate about highly personal experiences I'm just gonna answer honestly until it stops

Like yeah Shannon my parents did hit me growing up, would you like to sit down and talk about how that was a formative experience or did you want to tell me something with your big girl words

[fairandfatalasfair]

Edwin doesn't talk about hell because Charles is innocent, pure and righteous and destined for heaven, and doesn't deserve to be tainted by the ugliness of Edwin's past.

Charles doesn't talk about home because Edwin is innocent, sweet and soft and a stranger to violence, and doesn't deserve to be tainted by the ugliness of Charles' past.

Edwin doesn't talk about hell because he doesn't want Charles to think of him as broken, doesn't want the first friend he's ever had to look at him with pity thinking of the hunted animal he became in those green-lit halls.

Charles doesn't talk about home because he doesn't want Edwin to see him as weak, doesn't want his favourite person, the one he's sworn to protect with every ounce of strength he has, to know Charles couldn't even protect himself.

Edwin doesn't talk about hell because he doesn't know where to start. It's one thing to say that you spent 73 years in the worst place, with the worst people. It's another to try to open your mouth and pour out what that means. There is no order of events or narrative structure that can make sense of that much grief and rage and terror and anguish. There are no words in any language to describe the scale of it.

Charles doesn't talk about home because silence is a hard habit to break. He learned it young, saw his parents lie to teachers and doctors, and prompt him to do it too. He practised it all his life, 'till the lies came to his lips easier than the truth. Slipped on the stairs. Wasn't looking where I was going. My fault. How do you crack open that vault? There's never a good time to bring it up. It's easier just to leave it unspoken, hinted at but never explained.

[thehmn]

My post about not hitting children got some responses from people who said “I agree and also some young children who get hit by their parents have no respect for adults who doesn’t hit them and become unruly”

As it turns out, the same goes for animals.

I adopted this girl, Ellie, a year ago. Her previous owners were devastated that they had to give her up but their situation was less than ideal and they lived in their landlord’s house and he was apparently very rough with Ellie and blamed her for everything his own dogs did.

When Ellie first moved in she responded strongly to us talking sternly to her. Even saying her name in a deep voice made her tug her tail between her legs and hide. But eventually she realized we were never going to hurt her no matter how sternly we talked and now, a year later, we have a very sweet but cheeky dog who loves us very much but has zero respect. She will jump on tables and when we shout “Ellie! No!” she just looks at us like “What?”

Positive reinforcement works pretty well but her early experiences with “discipline” means she clearly doesn’t understand when we are displeased with her. So thanks previous assholes in her life for making this unnecessarily difficult. You’re lucky she’s such a sweet dog who doesn’t let life get her down.

[signanothername]

What if the Apple incident was more historically accurate for the time, and Nightmare got burned at the stake for witchcraft or being the devil? Or, to make it worse, what if he was hanged from the tree of his mother? Would that be fucked up or what?

That would indeed be extremely fucked up Anon

I already explored the possibility of Nightmare burning at the stake (not necessarily for their past but in the future) but it’s definitely something I thought of for their past too

But I never thought of the idea of him being hanged… and it’s so fucking tragic to think about

But like is it before Nightmare’s inevitable corruption or after? As I feel like it’s impossible to even get close to Nightmare after his corruption, so I’m thinking maybe even in the process of him getting corrupted?

Imagine if that is why Nightmare kills his own mother? What if it is out of anger at his mother or even just to save himself? Like he cut the tree down so he wouldn’t suffocate?

What if he has the biggest mark on his neck cause of him being hanged??

And it’s also fascinating how that could change Nightmare’s view on trees for me, I like to think Nightmare finds comfort in trees but if he were to be hanged I think that’ll make trees just a negative trigger for his C-PTSD

[aronarchy]

[image ID: Facebook post by Songbird Schwarz

I often think about how gross it is the way we’ve normalized kids hating school. Like to the point of fear and avoidance. “Lol he’s pretending to be sick to stay home.” “She was so happy it was a snow day she jumped for joy.” “Hahaha he’s hiding under the bed to avoid going.”

It’s... It’s not funny. It’s actually really gross the way we make kids sit a desk all day to be force fed dry as hell information and make them ask if they can use the bathroom, for 7-8 hours a day. 5 days a week and then go home with oppressively unfair amounts of homework.

And then we laugh - we LAUGH - at how much they hate it. It’s become a cultural touchstone. To shake our heads and chuckle while kids try to scheme ways to get out of it.

That’s… That’s bad.

And then we ask adults to do the same with work.

/end image ID]

[ewwww-what]

Aelwyn Abernant and a vision of her sister

[fanby-fckry]

I have a lot of feelings about Mastermind, but can I just take a moment to say, poor Via.

I’m a child of divorce. Of a messy divorce. Of a divorce where one parent tried to use me as a pawn against the other. And that shit fucks you up.

I was lucky enough that I saw through the bullshit. My father is not as good of a manipulator as he thinks he is, and so his sudden interest in me fell hilariously flat. He never got the chance to turn me against my mother, because I never trusted his word over hers. He did a lot of other shit that involved treating me as a pawn, but I knew through it all that I had one parent who cared about me, not what I could do for them.

Octavia does not have that.

She thinks Stolas has abandoned her, and while she may believe Stella’s lies for now, it will become increasingly clear that Stella views her as a pawn rather than a person. Stella will show her true colors, and when she does, Octavia will be all alone.

[captainjonnitkessler]

"But we should just let the 6 year old live on the streets if they want to" says generic (probably white) middle class person who probably dreamed of running away for the adventure aspect and has never fully considered the conditions those on the streets have to suffer through. Like, come on man, we can agree that providing better options for those fleeing abusive situations without trying to glorify/purify the idea of being a homeless child. The level of privilege that goes into saying 'family abolition' is truly fascinating in a sickening sort of way...

And I'm [shocked, shocked, well not that shocked.gif] that there is overlap between prison abolitionists and family abolitionists because the thought process is fundamentally the same sort of logical fallacies.

I'm sympathetic to the general idea behind family abolition - that family units are huge vectors for abuse that are absolutely inescapable for the vast majority of children. Like yeah, that IS a huge problem that we should be solving! And maybe we SHOULD be offering children more of a voice in their own living situations.

But I don't think any of the solutions I've seen would decrease the amount of abuse. If you let every kid who wants to live on the streets because they're angry at their parents do so, WAY more of those kids are gonna get assaulted or abused than they would otherwise. I've seen people propose government-run shelters that kids can choose to stay at rather than return home, which could be promising, but it's going to be susceptible to the same systemic abuse that schools are (not to mention the funding and personnel it would need). I'm open to letting children choose who they want to live with, but I'm not sure that solves the underlying problem since that opens a way for abusers to essentially lure children into their homes.

It's a complicated problem, which is why it's so annoying when people act like anyone who doesn't immediately get on board with abolition are just liberal cucks who can't envision real change or whatever. But I guess it doesn't really matter, since America hasn't even caught on to the idea that children are people and not property yet, so we have a long way to go before any of this is even remotely relevant.

[blue-rose-soul]

A post about Alastor turning into a kid prompted a spiraling daydream wherein Husk gets thrown to Earth in the past. Sometime between 1905 and 1912 ish. He's a demon so of course people are fucking terrified of him so he takes off running through the back alleys, hiding in the shadows, and ends up crashing through the window of someone's house trying to stay out of sight. The house was dark so he thought it was empty, so Husk is completely shocked when he brushes himself off and turns to find a very familiar kid staring up at him.

All things considered, kiddo Alastor is ENTIRELY too calm about the giant winged cat monster with four-inch talons and wicked yellow fangs that came barrelling in through his bedroom window. Not that Husk is complaining, since the kid sneaks him some food and a beer. He's less than thrilled when little Alastor suggests he live in the closet as a pet, but at least he has somewhere he can stay out of sight until he figures out how to get back where he belongs...

The first night, Husk is awoken by the sound of furious yells through the door. Glass shattering. A muffled grunt. Slowly he pushes open the closet door to see Alastor huddled against the wall with a large man towering over him, reeking of beer with his fist raised.

Husk doesn't stop to think about the fact that this is a living human who won't respawn like all of the demons he's killed in Hell. One quick slice of his claws and it's over. The drunk bastard is dead. The hid is staring up at Husk, spattered in the man's blood.

Now, Husk doesn't regret putting the mean bastard down, but he knows he can't stay. So he tells Alastor to say a robber broke in and fled out the window when things got violent. Only, Alastor wants to go with Husk. Husk asks about Alastor's mother, and the look on the kid's face says it all. But Husk doesn't need a brat weighing him down and the kid doesn't need to get mixed up with demons so Husk just sweeps out the window, intent on leaving Alastor behind.

Only, Alastor follows him right outside, slicing himself on a piece of broken glass in his desperation not to be left behind. There's a lot of screaming and crying and Husk frantically looking around in case someone's heard before he finally cracks and agrees to take Alastor with him.

Cue the adventures of the alcoholic homeless cat demon and his tiny boss he accidentally kidnadopted as he tries to figure out a way back home while also searching for a safe place he can dump the brat.

Including such shenanigans as:

Husk bundled up in a trench coat, 3 sweaters, 7 scarves, a hat, a pair of mittens, and heavy boots, in Louisiana, IN THE SUMMER, asking around for a job.

Beby Alastor happily playing with Husk's wings (the mental image that convinced me to actually type all this out).

Husk teaching Alastor how to play poker and regretting it when not two games later, the kid is cleaning him out (they're betting bottle caps).

Husk's debut as a street magician, still dressed in aforementioned trench coats and scarves. He hates every moment of it but Alastor loves it, the little menace.

(This was kinda sorta inspired by this post from @nunalastor.)

[incognitopolls]

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[sunshine-zenith]

This is kinda a part two to this post here, about Ballister’s scar. Specifically I wanted to speculate a bit on Ballister’s relationship with Queen Valerin when you consider the fact that he was a mistreated and vulnerable child when he met her

Like. Look at this moment here

She’s reassuring him. She genuinely believes in him, and it’s clear from the knighting ceremony, when she specifically lowers her voice to tell him how much she’s been looking forward to this moment that her intentions around him a pure. She wants to change things, she wants to give this kid a chance, and she’s killing two birds with one stone by making him a knight

But like Nimona herself says, question everything

Look a little bit closer at this image — the queen is well dressed and already had a statement prepared. Ballister is dressed in rags and looks like he hasn’t even been given the chance to wash his hair. He looks surprised and a little scared when the media erupts with questions. And I don’t think this was the Queen’s doing, necessarily — odds are the Director was the one who was supposed to prepare Ballister, and chose not to, because she probably knew that while the Queen wouldn’t judge him for looking like the homeless kid he was, the media would. Still, it shows that while the Queen has overall say on Ballister’s future, she doesn’t have a lot to do about his present

Ballister says he loves the Queen, but it’s hard to tell if he meant he loves her like you’d love a family member, or if he “loves” her like someone who has been raised to not question authority “loves” said authority. He took a deep breath and looked to Ambrosius during the knighting ceremony, not to her. She realistically probably wasn’t super involved, even if she wanted to be — she had an entire kingdom to run, other knights to knight, and likely spent her days making progressive decisions that were controversial with the conservatives in her kingdom. Plus, if she had been super involved, it could’ve increased bias against him, like she was favoring him above everyone else — Ambrosius seemed overall not sure popular among the knights, and while they respected his authority when he was put it charge, there was definitely a vibe that they resented him for being the “Golden Boy” descendant of Gloreth.

Let’s compare Bal and Queen Valerin to Comic!Ballister Blackheart and one of the Queen’s inspirations, Dr. Blitzmeyer (the other was the king, who was a basically prop that was referenced heavily in relation to Ballister as someone he should kill before dying off screen).

Blackheart and Blitzmeyer end the comic opening a lab together, working as co-scientists. Blackheart clearly thinks of her as a friend, but she thinks of him as a fond colleague for most of the comic — she’s happy to offer help in the form of exposition, and she helps him save the day by giving him a McGuffin That You Just Gotta Read The Comic To Understand, but part of her is worried he’s a rival scientist that wants to steal her ideas. She still welcomes him in her home and offers him team. When he’s at the end of his rope and needs a comfort hug, she awkwardly indulges him

She’s surprised when he puts her down as his emergency contact

Dr. Blitzmeyer is a quirky scientist that hangs out on conspiracy forums and probably practices witchcraft for the sake of scientific study. Queen Valerin is a warm and progressive monarch who makes controversial decisions. And they make big decisions regarding helping Ballister

Remember the reluctant McGuffin handover?

She’s weighing the odds of him lying to her and stealing/tampering with/destroying it, hesitating before trusting him. If she had said no, a lot more people would’ve died in the comic, but she had no way of knowing that. She was barely interested in looking out her window and just worried the thing she spent years on would be wrecked

Now, the Queen — we don’t see her weigh the pros and cons of letting Bal become a knight, but she had to. And consider what she was presented with: a homeless kid with either no family or an abusive one judging from his scars and bruises. He had no adults in his life to protect him. No one to tell her no, making him essentially a child soldier might not be in his best interest. And he jumped a fence into the middle of a knight training session declaring he wanted to be a knight, basically coming to her — essentially the perfect candidate for her semi-social experiment

I can totally see her in another world letting this kid into her home and giving him tea and comfort, but I don’t think she could here. While she meant good, she took in a kid with nothing to lose and gave him everything to lose (a home, education, likely his first friend, safety), while also putting him under unavoidable social pressure. And she did it while the only adult figure other than her in his life, the one who would actually be involved in his upbringing — the Director — openly and defiantly failed him from the get go, and protested letting him join the knights to her face

Y’all I adore Queen Valerin, even if we only got her for like five minutes. Even if it’s in a speculative sense I like that she’s a good person while morally gray actions. She very much improved Ballister’s circumstances by giving him a home and the opportunity to pursue his interests. She clearly cared about him. She’s also a politician who, even if unavoidably, lowkey set him up to be a scapegoat without a backup plan and no outside support

Like. Y’all.

[incorrectohtweets]

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