#I really had to get this off my chest

[fizzigigsimmer]

The power of narrative empathy.

This is kind of a strange post about Billy, but I’m just gonna let it flow. I’m gonna start with this, I am a Billy Hargrove fan. I am a black, queer, female abuse survivor and I make no apologies about loving this character. Also, none of what I just said matters, I just think it’s important to note that we are out here. Even if I wasn’t those things I would still have the liberty and hopefuly the empathy to feel for his character. Today I want to talk about how Billy was written, why I think that’s dead wrong and damaging to those of us who survive abuse without a halo, and I am going to use another beloved fictional victim to do it. He also happens to be one of the world’s most iconic and well known villains. Yes I am going to talk about Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker, and how his story is real. How it happened to me and it’s happening to someone else right now, and how I see evidence of the same societal failure shown in the films playing out in real time every damn day in the Stranger Things Fandom when it comes to Billy Hargrove. So here we go.

For a highly condensed slightly satirical recap: The genocidal tyrant formerly known as Darth Vader started out as Anakin Skywalker. A gifted child slave whose only living family was his mother. If the words child slave didn’t clue you in, let me just tell you that my ravenous consuming of any and all Star Wars companion novels confirmed that Anakin regularly suffered abuse and was put into life threatening danger by a greedy master because he was a protege pilot. As a result, Anakin learned from a pretty early age that how he used his gifts might literally be the difference between whether he and his mom survived. Fun shit like that.

Despite all, Anakin was a good person. Yeah he was a little rash and a little angry sometimes, but he was also kind, brave, and loyal and had all the makings of a great person - in other words he was an ordinary child who just happened to have a special power that gave his FEELINGS agency in the world.

Enter the Jedi Knights, literal space Knights, and fellow feelings practitioners. They’ve developed a truly insane way of dealing with the fact that their feelings are a literal force in the world, by forming a kind of religion around not allowing themselves to feel very much at all and keeping the peace. They’re the ultimate good guys whose reputation proceeds them and our enslaved child instantly looks up to and idolizes them as heroes. He’s willing to put his life in danger to help them even when there’s literally no gain in it for him and then they happily use him in order to get some parts they need to get off the planet. He’s 9 by the way.

But Anakin isn’t risking his life for nothing nothing. Jedi master Qui-Gon Jin has seen Anakin is a fellow feelings user and immediately thinks he’s the prophesied “Chosen One”, who is supposed to bring BALANCE TO THE FORCE THAT GUIDES THE UNIVERSE. Based on literally nothing nothing and possibly an immaculate conception. Anyway, he’s convinced. Even though he already has an apprentice/surrogate son, he immediately starts love bombing this slave child and filling his head with promises that he’s gonna be freed from his horrible life and trained to be this great Jedi - promises he has no idea whether he’ll be able to keep by the way. So Qui-Gon buys a child and calls it a rescue, and tells him he’s going to have to leave his mother in bondage and cut off all emotional ties to her. Like he can never see her again or even feel too strongly about never seeing her again because Jedi’s aren’t supposed to love. Love is too strong a feeling and it leads to all the other BAD FEELINGS. So the nine year old child slave is told to be brave and start acting like a Jedi already and stop with the whole being scared/guilty about leaving his mother thing.

The nine year-old child slave who has just been separated from his mother for life, does not do that. In a turn of events that should really shock no one, instead he immediately trauma imprints on the first girl who shows him empathy after he opens up about his EMOTIONAL PAIN. He then spends the next decade fixated on this girl and crying out for help because he can not just turn off his emotions. He is constantly criticized, demeaned, and treated like a pariah for not just being able to magically rise above his trauma or control his trauma responses, in order to become the white knight he’s supposed to be for the republic. Side note, when I say dude was erratic AF and crying out for help AF, I mean that. There are several Youtube Psychologists who have done reactions to this character and an interesting theme  throughout all of them is how Anakin displays all of the typical indicators for Bipolar Disorder and Reactive Attachment Disorder. It’s interesting, and I’ve linked a favorite.

So back to this child slave who is either the victim of a three movie long mental health crisis or the Worst Writing Syndrome (I’ll take both for 300 Alex). Obi-Wan, Anakin’s big brother/father figure has no idea what the hell he is doing or how to help him, because he hasn’t processed his own trauma. Time for a side note about Obi-Wan’s former master Qui-Gon. He was an overly critical and emotionally unavailable teacher/father whose teaching style was essentially to give out tiny scraps of approval every now and again just so Obi-wan didn’t decide to swallow his light saber.

So there was Obi-wan, 25 years old, still out here trying to get daddy’s stamp of approval so that he can be a real man who has MASTERED HIS FEELINGS, but he’s being told he’s not ready and reminded of all of his short comings on the regular. It’s Tuesday in other words. But then dad finds this new kid and literally just stops caring about training Obi-wan. He tells Obi-wan it’s time he moved out and got a job with zero notice.

Qui-Gon announces to the Jedi Council that he wants Anakin as his apprentice. Which is super awkward because his actual apprentice is standing right there. When they point out that he’s already got one, he’s suddenly all ‘oh Obi-wan is ready to be a big boy now’. Obi-wan was rightly jealous, hurt, and low-key pissed off, but Jedi’s aren’t supposed to let FEELINGS get the better of them so he swallows sadness.

Qui-Gon might be a bit of a dick but he is still dad, so when he tragically dies right in Obi-wan’s arms and uses his very last breathes to beg him to train Anakin, this fresh as fuck Jedi-Knight suddenly becomes a father figure to a traumatized slave child. And the saddest thing is Obi-wan is a better man than Qui-Gon. He has every reason in the world to hate this little twerp, but he tries so hard to break the cycle and he be the father figure Anakin needs.

But the thing about breaking cycles is someone has to teach you how to do it. The Jedi Council is not out here encouraging Obi-Wan to be emotionally present and empathetic to Anakin’s unique struggles and challenges. And LOLS do he have them. In fact Obi-Wan is constantly in the council room defending Anakin against their prejudice for shit Anakin can’t control, and is often being criticized himself for being too soft with his apprentice. Like they would literally sit him down and essentially tell him to stop being an Anakin defender and apologist 😂.

So the end result was Obi-wan landed somewhere in the messy middle between the dad he promised himself he wouldn’t be and the one he wanted to be, and the child slave’s mental health continued to decline (surprise surprise) until he finally met a creepy groomer who manipulated him by VALIDATING HIS EMOTIONAL PAIN. Nobody intervened, although there was ample opportunities to do so. Anakin was literally as well as figuratively crying out for help the whole time. He didn’t get it. He was told to just stop being afraid. Just stop being angry. Just stop loving your mother and don’t think about what may or may have happened to her. Just stop and do the savior thing okay? JUST GET OVER YOUR FEELINGS ANAKIN.

And the rest is just tragic history.

I took the time to write all that because I have been in Anakin’s and Billy’s figurative shoes. I was abused more ways than I want to recount here, and I’ll just say it. It messed me the fuck up. I know what it’s like to cry for help, over and over again and never get it. I know what it’s like to be blamed for blowing the whistle the same day you’re blamed for behavior that stems from the rage of utter helplessness. I know what it’s like to break shit and hurt people who don’t deserve it because that’s what you know. And I know what it’s like to be told I have to break the cycle somehow, even though you wouldn’t know the first place to begin even if you were in a place safe enough to start.

I aged out of my abuse. Nobody rescued me. The systems failed me. I simply got old enough to move away from my abusers and then after considerable self harming behavior I got lucky and broke good. I reached my lowest low and realized I did want to live and that I had to fix my shit in order to do that. I started going to therapy and working to build the life I wanted. And in case this isn’t clear enough I will spell it out. The world did not look at me, an abuse survivor and empathize. There was not a reliable support system, no heroes in capes. I’m here, stable, loved and in a good place because I survived long enough to buy the help I needed. That’s it. It’s fucking tragic and as a society we have a lot to be ashamed for. We fail.

I empathize with Billy Hargrove because his story is my story. Right down to societies response, and the way his writers decided to condemn him from conception.

As terrible a writer as George Lucas may be that is the one thing he did not do. He could have condemned the character of Darth Vader with his narrative, but instead he wrote what is essentially a redemptive six part epic about an abuse survivor that the ENTIRE GALAXY FAILED. Anakin’s story is a text book case for why it is fucking awful to look at an abuse survivor and put the burden of healing on them. Like they’re just supposed to be organically “resilient” to the shit that you claim you wouldn’t even know how to survive, in order to be some virtuous example to others about how to “stay good”. 

People expect that of characters like Billy Hargrove because that’s what people expect of real victims too. You’re only worthy of empathy if you somehow survive the unsurvivable mentally and emotionally intact. That’s how the Duffer brothers related to Billy’s trauma. In their own words, he’s not written as what he is (an abused child) he’s a villain whom they wanted to look like a real boy so they gave him trauma. He’s written to be judged, hated for his inability to just magically STOP, and then die so that the story can plod forward.

And just in case you don’t yet see why that matters, just stop and think about how people are more accepting of the character who literally decimated planets and slaughtered children, than the teen who was abused and then possessed. Anakin is allowed to have fans who empathize with his struggles, who dream of the better life he might have had. Anakin’s sacrificial death is allowed to be the redemptive moment that it was, and he’s literally allowed to shed the name of Darth Vader and be remembered as the friend and brother that Obi-wan loved within his own narrative. Because he’s written with empathy.

And society responds to that empathy. I have never, not once, been shamed, ridiculed, or called a child murder apologists (or what the fuck ever) for loving his character.

Billy isn’t real, but the people who empathize with and see themselves in his character are real. Nobody’s required to like him, love him, or even want to think about him for that matter but this drive some people have to blanket judge other fans and start calling people weirdos and monsters for feeling anything for him that isn’t disgust - that’s what can stop. You can literally just stop. Back away from the keyboard and take a deep breath. Agree to disagree. Feel how you feel. But don’t go fucking far out of your way to tear strangers down over the internet.There’s no justification in the world for it. I promise.

[always-too-many-daisies]

Does anyone else here feel that Jeremy Brett's last decade of life and his performance in every season of Granada Holmes after The Adventures is described as far more miserable than it might've been in reality?

I'm reading Bending the Willow rigth now and I don't like the author's pessimistic outlook at Jeremy's mental and physical state. I don't like the assumptions on how was he feeling and what was going on inside his head or how mentally ill he was. I am refusing to believe that his whole personality after 1986 was defined only by his illness... There must've been moments of happiness and pride in his life, right? I've seen some interviews dated around '90 where he seemed really content with his life and with playing Holmes. Which is even more sad to me because those latter episodes which he seems proud of are generally less appreciated by the fans than The Adventures - and sadly I think it's mostly because of his changing physique. It's so crazy that everyone are so keen on commenting of his face and body changing. Apart from the last season where he is obviously ill, the man just... I don't know... LOOKS HIS AGE??

[ferryfoam]

He has no idea he's like a daughter to me. My middle aged male daughter

ASIT is making me real sad and lately I have been spending every waking hour thinking about nothing but Elim Garak

I have also been reading this wonderful fic by Cucumbermoon and it is making me sadder but it's beautifully written and very good https://archiveofourown.org/works/30310065 I am very enthusiastic to read the sequel once I am finished (it is possibly correlated to the fact I am menstruating as of current but I cried multiple times while reading so. Really good!!!)

[lagosbratzdoll]

It must be difficult for you lot to come to terms with the fact that you are simply a bizarre subset of obsessed fans. No matter how much you scream in your little echo chamber, it will not stop Daenerys from being loved and adored. It will not stop her from being the face of the show.  

I know it stings when you see viral tweet after viral tweet of her most iconic scenes. It's probably upsetting for you to know that they created Fabergé eggs resembling her dragon eggs and sold them for $2.2 million. Pieces that were inspired by her sell for thousands of dollars. Just this year, a jewellery brand made affordable versions of Daenerys jewellery. 

It must be hard for you to accept that, despite millions witnessing her burn peasants, she is still widely loved. Only Reddit incels and people who should have been left behind keep you company in the extreme Daenerys hate club.

I know it upsets you when you find out that individuals who possess reading and comprehension skills beyond a 10th-grade level adore Daenerys. I know it keeps you up at night. It must hurt that, even after the finale, her name is the one that House of the Dragon uses to market their show. 

I can see that you're struggling to hide your resentment when you think about how much critical acclaim Daenerys has earned for GRRM. Knowing that both fans and critics nominated the two novellas that focus on Dany must be a bitter pill to swallow. I am sure it disturbs you that the Stark show was such a failure that HBO shelved it after investing $30 million.

No matter how many times you say that Daenerys should be raped and killed as punishment, it will never change Sansa's chances of becoming queen. Regardless of how many times you call her “villain-coded” or praise her much-reviled heel turn, her relevance will never fade.

Irrespective of how many times you edit the text to support your baseless theories, celebrities will continue to reference her, fans will continue to create murals of her and shows will still be made about her family. Brands will continue to create luxury items based on her story and image. The actual text remains unchanged. Her impact remains undeniable, no matter how much you disregard or downplay her importance. That has got to hurt.

[itsnothingofinterest]

Hey hope you're doing ok with the recent bnha discourse?

Still holding out hope for shigaraki/tenko and good writing 👍👍

Can I ask you, if you ever find it kind of off-putting (like I do) when some bnha fans commit to the idea that Deku and the other younger heroes will be the ones to change their society for the better, after the villains are killed?

As if purely heroic methods were really capable of changing hero society, when the very best that the innocent people in bnha have done from their constant protectors, the heroes, is toss the hero kids a shirt and some dollar store med. Items??

(To say nothing of the government corruption that came to be under All-might's nose, that Deku and the other heroes haven't thought about once.)

And they honestly believe that's the best outcome...

It feels either very optimistic or unknowing at best, and completely ignorant at worst.

Do you think so or differently?

Oh yeah, no I totally get what you mean; it kinda looks like we’re on course for a lot to get worse actually. And it all comes back to how poorly they handled the villains; both their talking points, and their failure to save them.

We just have not been given any indication that the next gen are going to do anything better than their predecessors; they're ending their arcs side by side with them as equals and partners after all.

Rather than improving things, they're basically a carbon copy of the last generation; which I feel is exemplified in how the final battle of this war ending in a retread of Kamino. Except like I said, in some areas it feels like it'll just get worse. This retread of Kamino ending not in an arrest, but in a murder; something I find very worrying given Deku's status as the next symbol (which, despite all criticism of All Might in the same roll, Deku has become anyway) because of the impact that'd have on treatment of villains by the heroes Deku inspires. Add in their treatment of Machia & their support of Hawks' handling of Twice and it just doesn't look good. Oh and if that same crowd gets wind of his status as 'The Greatest Hero Who Saves By Putting You Out Of Your Misery' that'll be even more catastrophic. (Especially once the Singularity doomsday starts up for real.)

Meanwhile, what little progress has been made on a societal level is either purely for the heroes benefits, like the civilians acting more grateful to the heroes (and as you say, the results of that are pretty middling, amounting to first aid & a shirt); or else maybe baby steps in the right direction like Shoji's answer to the heteromorph plot. Baby steps they do not have time for, mind you. And even then, that's still a 'maybe' because Shoji's not actually planning anything different from normal hero activity: just be inspiring and hope people follow your example. Meanwhile everything else societal that brought us here, corruption in the system, poor treatment or handing of quirks, general prejudice; it's all just gone unaddressed.

Probably because the points with which they used to be addressed, the League, instead got their plot points changed to revolve around motives more personal, less serious, less justifiable, and more easily addressable by the kids. Y'know; Toga's plot used to be about society's treatment of the other but then was about her wanting love, Dabi's was about people in power abusing their power but then was about him wanting attention, and Shigaraki's was about the lie of hero society and the complacency of the people it inspired, but Deku couldn't do anything about that so instead it because about Tenko's hatred towards his house. But then Deku still couldn't do anything about that so instead it became about Tenko's self-hated. And then Deku still couldn't address that either all too well, really, so we instead got 'It was AFO All Along'; and that Deku could handle with trivial ease. What self-respecting All Might clone couldn't punch AFO?

To use a metaphor I think Tomura would appreciate; it's like they all turned on easy mode, and Deku especially turned on baby mode, and it feels like we're all going to get the bad ending as a result of them skipping so many side-quests, dialogue trees, or special objectives. Personally speaking, any hope I had in things turning around was based in how the villains would be handled, both a) because I expected how they were handled would reflect how their societal motives would be handled(i.e. how Deku saved Tenko would inform us of how he'd save other Tenkos), and b) because I expected they'd need the help and perspective.

Needless to say, I've not been left with much hope that things will turn around.

So yeah, right there with you hoping Tomura could somehow come back, partially because that's the only part of this ending that feels salvageable even by his long-shot odds. But boy is the rest a mess of unfortunate implications beneath the veneer of how "The Day is Saved"...Man, Deku really is an All Might clone.

[otomehonyaku]

otomehonyaku writes ☽ it's possession that will set me free (Ruki/Yui)

Ruki/Yui scenario with some yandere tendencies, bite play & semi-spicy aftercare. Full text under the cut. Implied NSFW.

I blindly patted the bed sheets around me when I came to. My eyes squeezed shut to block out the light—it must still be very early in the morning if the sun blinded me like this—but I could feel that I was alone this time. 

Flashes of last night flooded my mind. Ruki had never been this rough with me before.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Yesterday, Ayato had confidently positioned himself as a competitor when he pulled me aside after class to ‘introduce’ himself. It was fortunate that Ruki had been close by and sensed the danger immediately–the realisation that other, less cordial vampires were coming for me had kicked my adrenaline into full gear, after all–but my relief soon turned into dread when Ruki took me home.

The situation had clearly struck a nerve and ignited a fierce possessiveness in him that I had never seen before. Ruki had dragged me into his bedroom and unceremoniously ripped the uniform from my body until I was left in my underwear. I had simply stood there with my back pressed up against the door, holding my breath, my mind hazy in a flurry of both fear and anticipation. Ruki had towered over me, eyes ablaze with frustration and hunger as he growled at me to hold still. 

I had tried to reassure Ruki that I wanted nothing to do with Ayato. That he hadn’t hurt me, and that I would never let him hurt me, either. I grasped the collar of Ruki’s shirt in an effort to get through to him, but I was imprisoned in his arms. I don’t think he even heard me. 

His body was suddenly flush with mine, his face buried in the crook of my neck. His lips ghosted over the delicate skin of my collarbone. He inhaled deeply. Savoured my scent. A final attempt to ground himself. 

“You are my Eve. Mine alone.” His whisper had been quick and frenzied, his composure gone. “I’ll carve it deep into your body so you will never forget.”

No matter how hard I bit down on my lip, I couldn’t keep myself from screaming Ruki’s name every time his fangs penetrated me, piercing veins and scraping bone. The others undoubtedly heard me. Lavender bruises in the shape of his fingertips had come to flower all over my body since then–my wrists, my waist, even my thighs–where Ruki had held me down firmly while he overrode any possible traces of the other vampire.

It always took considerable effort to keep myself together when I let him feed on me. I had come to manage it over the past weeks. Indulge in it, even. That night, however, his frantic bites and touches had made my composure crumble in the blink of an eye. Every whisper of my name left me reeling. My cheeks were soon wet with tears. The bizarre concoction of agony and ecstasy overwhelmed me. Intoxicated me.

Ruki was devouring me whole, and I let myself succumb to his greediness completely.

“Yui. Look at me.” 

Ruki’s breathing was ragged. He grabbed my chin roughly and forced me to meet his gaze when my eyes threatened to roll into the back of my head. His other hand erratically roamed my skin, as if I could disappear at any moment. My whimpers spurred him on even more.

It was getting difficult to focus, but I managed a pleading look at him. “Ruki…”

The taste of iron flooded my mouth when his lips collided with mine.

Ruki’s desperate desire to monopolise me hadn’t worn off until my head began lolling off the side of the bed. I drifted in and out of consciousness. From that point, I only vaguely remembered him carrying me down the hall and into the bathroom. 

At least I hadn’t been completely naked. Ruki had draped his bloodied shirt over my shoulders as a courtesy, but it did very little to keep the chill of his bare skin away as I lay defeated in his arms.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

In a wave of sleep-induced, blind panic, I instinctively reached for my bra with one hand and the other down under the bedsheets to my panties. They both felt slightly damp to the touch. I relaxed a little. Right. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The remaining blood in my body had crowded in my cheeks when Ruki coaxed me under a hot shower to clean up, all with a surprising amount of patience and care. 

He had agreed to leave my underwear on. He hadn’t even bothered to take off his own slacks, for that matter. My memory was spotty, but I was sure Ruki would make me remember every millisecond of it if he had. It was already torture enough to have to clutch onto his bare upper body to keep myself from falling over.

Losing consciousness had turned out to be the least of my problems. I winced at the pain of the warm water flowing over the fresh wounds on my skin, but arguably much worse was having to endure the full extent of the healing properties of Ruki’s saliva. I appreciated the gesture, of course. The punctures, especially this deep, would take weeks to heal otherwise. However, whereas Ruki’s feeding mostly incapacitated me–it made it hard to form a coherent thought at all, really–it was unbearable to be wholly conscious of his mouth in such intimate places.

Ruki expertly ran his tongue over the wet skin of my neck to close up the punctures, occasionally sucking without drawing blood just for the sake of it. By the time he had knelt between my legs to heal the one bite mark on my inner thigh, I was completely out of my mind. The steam clouding the shower cabin seemed to be coming out of my ears. My hands were braced on his broad shoulders, and I nervously looked down at him. 

Streaks of his dripping inky black hair fell in front of his eyes as our gazes met. I shivered involuntarily when the light caught the tips of his sharp teeth, making them stand out. Those teeth had been in me. Ruki held my gaze, his face slowly leaning in to nudge my thighs apart…

For a fraction of a second, I recalled him forcefully parting my legs as I lay bleeding and writhing underneath him on the bed. He’d taken a brief moment to savour the sight of me, his expression dark with desire, before making me cry out when he greedily drew blood from the innermost part of my thigh.

Embarrassment had gotten the better of me in the cramped space of the shower. I swatted him away before I could stop myself.

“I’m sorry,” I whimpered.

Ruki had stood back up with a low chuckle. The devious twinkle in his eyes suggested that he enjoyed my reaction.

“If you insist,” was his only reply.

With heavy-lidded eyes but no less interest, I had watched the lean muscles of Ruki’s back shift under his skin as he washed his hair. To say that his feeding had always been an intimate experience was an understatement—sharing the very thing that keeps you alive does that to you, I suppose—but this had actually been the first time I’d seen so much of his body. Ruki casually showed me the lacerations on his back, the sole reminder of his human past. It had been humbling. The bite marks he gave me would always fade away with time, but even in death he was quite literally branded for life. Merciless as he could be, he had once been a human boy with hopes and dreams for the future.

At the same time, the plain carnal desire for the vampire—the man—before me had hit me like a battering ram. Anyone could see at a glance that he was beautiful, unusually so. He was equally apt at using his handsome features and gallant façade to effortlessly lure people in like moths to a flame. Upon a closer look, then, the inhuman poise with which he carried himself was nothing short of predatory. A chill ran down my spine when I realised how much he must have held himself back before I knew about his true nature. Now that no holds were barred, Ruki both relished his bloodlust and yet had the unnerving restraint to kiss me like I was as fragile as a porcelain doll. Perhaps the precarious balance between the two was what drew me so much to him. 

While my eyes followed the V-shaped line of muscle in his lower back until it dipped below the waistband of his slacks, which were drenched to the skin, any lingering resolve to run away faded in an instant. Instead, I had come to entertain the thought of Ruki taking me to bed and claiming the last part of me that I hadn’t surrendered to him yet.

I wanted him to ruin me.

Ruki turned around, and so my gaze had been promptly and undeniably trained on the front of his slacks. The soaked fabric left little to the imagination.

“You really are an indecent woman, Yui.”

I inhaled sharply and looked away so fast my head spun. 

“Try not to stare so much,” he said, sounding unfazed. “Unless you’re hellbent on fainting, your heart rate is much too fast for an anaemic.”

Ruki silently grabbed a towel and stepped out of the shower. 

I stayed behind in the cabin for another while, trying desperately to regain my composure, but I had to cover my burning face with my hands when I caught the wet sound of his slacks falling to the bathroom floor.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Now wide awake, I rolled onto my stomach and groaned into my pillow. I was glad to know that at least some of my modesty had been preserved. But then again, the throbbing pain up my leg reminded me that I’d lost most of it already.

[cornerstoreclown]

‘terrifier has no story, it’s all gore!’ ‘terrifier is just one big gore fest!’ ‘it’s just gore porn!’ ‘people who watch this are sick!’

1. It’s a slasher movie, plot was never gonna be that serious to begin with. they never are.

2. Saw is gore porn too, and it’s been in the cultural realm since the early 2000’s. When it first came out it was said to be torture porn, too. I know—I was there.

3. It’s transgressive media, it’s a breath of fresh air. Liking a clown cutting people up doesn’t make you fucked up in the head, never has and never will. Put down the christian right wing talking points and chill. It’s not that serious. It was never that serious. And moreover it’s not real.

[officersnickers]

Am I the only one who is kinda (and with kinda I mean very) bothered when people claim "the Promised Neverland-fandom is dead" like ??? Yeah we're not massive anymore. Yeah S2 of the anime fucked up a lot of potencial. But there are still a lot of fans around here on Tumblr, new artwork everyday, people who come back after some years, discussions and stuff. It really doesn't help to talk down things you like and not interact with others if you want to see it flourish.

[cavennmalore]

Something weird I've noticed in the kotlc fandom that I really cannot wrap my head around is the treatment of the Vacker family, specifically Alden and Fitz. These are understandably popular characters (and for good reason) and it makes sense that people interpret them in different ways. I can't help but notice that some of the predominant discussions around them center on personality traits they just... don't have in canon.

Most of the characterizations I see of Alden treat him as a rampant child abuser. He's overbearing, stern, and determined to force his child to live up to the Vacker name by any means necessary. Naturally, Alden is not a perfect character or father, but such a harsh depiction flattens much of what makes him dynamic in the books. As I see it, there are two main flaws that Alden has in canon: his past with Prentice and his meddling.

What Alden did to Prentice is treated pretty seriously throughout the series. In Exile, it's made clear that falsely accusing (or, not so falsely, depending on what you consider the real crime to be) Prentice and performing the mindbreak is the biggest regret of his life. So big, that it shatters his sanity and ruins one of his closest relationships (Exile, Chapter 35; Nightfall, Chapter 3). It's the mistake that keeps on giving, and it's made abundantly clear that while Alden wasn't aware of what he was truly doing, he bears responsibility nonetheless. It's a burden that Alden takes extremely seriously, pushing him to search for the Moonlark for years, but more on that later. While his guilt over Prentice is an important part of his character, it's not the flaw that I usually see given the most weight in his characterizations.

Alden's meddling is prominent, to say the least. It heavily features in most interpretations I see of him online, largely negatively and largely without specificity. In canon, there are really two ways that his nosiness presents itself: his children's personal lives and his hunt for the Moonlark. The two best examples of his meddling as a parent come from his interventions in Fitz and Biana's friendships. In the first book, Alden encourages Biana to befriend Sophie because he worries about her (Keeper, Chapters 43 and 47). He acts similarly with Fitz and Keefe, encouraging Fitz to invite Keefe to Everglen so Keefe can avoid spending time with Cassius (Flashback, Chapter 21). In both cases, Alden doesn't go beyond asking his kids to spend time with potential friends. He doesn't micromanage their hangouts or insist it's for status reasons; he's interested in supervising kids who he worries are in a bad spot. This is notably different from Gisela's meddling, which is for personal gain with tangible, selfish goals (Neverseen, Chapter 63). Maybe Alden shouldn't be pushing his kids to spend time with those they don't have an interest in. But the eventual friendships that arise from them make up for it, in my opinion.

The other form Alden's meddling takes is his hunt for the Moonlark. As a manifestation of his guilt over Prentice's mindbreak, Alden enlists Alvar and Fitz to search the Forbidden Cities for the Moonlark. I've seen this search used as the basis for a lot of the animosity between Alden and his sons, which I think is incorrect. Alvar is the first hunter and is very open about how pointless he thought the endeavor was (Keeper, Chapter 28; Neverseen, Chapter 1). The difference of opinions over the Black Swan between Alvar and Alden is a point of contention in their relationship, but it's important to note that Alvar doesn't claim to feel pressured or pushed into the search. He just thinks the conspiracy of the Black Swan is stupid (Keeper, Chapter 28). Of course, much of this protesting was a cover for the fact that he was working with the Neverseen and would've been searching anyway (Neverseen, Chapter 63).

Fitz takes over the search at age six (Neverseen, Chapter 1). Fitz's age when being sent out is questionable at best, and I think is fair to criticize Alden for (though, I think the age has more to do with Shannon being unable to decide how Elvin aging is supposed to work since none of the other characters seem to think six is unreasonably young). But while the reader can freely critique Alden for this, what's crucial is that Fitz doesn't seem to mind this. Rather than be upset or resentful that Alden had him search for the Moonlark, Fitz calls it "the most important thing [he'll] probably ever do" (Stellarlune, Chapter 43). He's proud of the work he and his father did; if anything, it's a positive in their relationship. I've seen some arguments that pushing Fitz into the Forbidden Cities is part of a pattern of having kids do dangerous work (per Sophie doing Fintans mindbreak in Exile, even though that wasn't Alden's idea and he offered to disobey the Council if she didn't want to), which isn't necessarily unfair. What I do think is a problem is acting like the search for the Moonlark had a significant negative impact on Alden's relationships with his sons.

Part of the reason I think this interpretation is so prevalent is a contributing misunderstanding about Fitz's character. Fitz is often portrayed as anxiety-ridden over his role as a Vacker and the expectations that come along with it. Being a leader isn't something he wants, but something he feels pressured into. In canon, Fitz is almost the complete opposite. He's shown at being naturally gifted at telepathy and school and is incredibly charming. Being a Vacker -- and the expectations that come with it -- is something he embraces wholeheartedly. In fact, it is the loss of his leadership that causes struggle. A main point of contention that Fitz has with Sophie in Stellarlune (Chapter 43) is that he "still want[s] to be that guy that everyone looks to" even though that's no longer his role. None of this is to say that Fitz is perfect, or that he doesn't fight against the idea of being labeled so. Instead, much of Fitz's arc is about learning when to step back and change his perspective on the world, including recognizing when his privilege has clouded his judgment. His rejection of being labeled perfect has more to do, in my eyes, with having a difficult time reconciling his "idyllic" childhood with the harsher childhoods of his friends (Flashback, Chapter 21).

So what is the problem between the Vackers, if not fanon? The one issue that is repeatedly brought up by both Fitz and Alvar alike regarding their father is favoritism. Alvar felt ignored after the births of Fitz and Biana, claiming that Alden replaced him with Fitz whom he refers to as the "Golden Child" (Neverseen, Chapter 72; Flashback, Chapter 49). Fitz feels betrayed by his parents' immediate re-welcoming of Alvar when his memories are gone, insisting they prioritize Alvar over Fitz and Biana's safety (Flashback, Chapter 16). In both cases, Fitz and Alvar feel like an afterthought or the lesser child. It's that feeling that fuels (or encourages, considering Alvar's done quite a bit throughout the series to create independent hate lol) the animosity between them and Alden.

It's this "favorite child" dynamic that I find really interesting and unique about the Vacker's dysfunction in the series. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see a reason to paint over this dynamic with bullying, especially considering there is a father-son relationship in canon that is the Vacker fanon almost to a T. Cassius spent Keefe's whole life attempting to pressure him into becoming a "real" Sencen, which Keefe tried to do before realizing it was unattainable (Flashback, Chapter 21). It's the bedrock of their non-relationship. To shove Fitz and Alden into that pigeonhole is a disservice to each of these relationships, which have their own intrigues without sharing. None of this is to say that people can't headcanon as they wish, and to try and play with characters is the fun of fandom. I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from that or shame them for it. But to claim those relationships are canon is disingenuous to me and a misportrayal of the books.

[viridian-snow]

God, Generator Rex just kills me sometimes. This one scene from Six Minus Six just hits me right in my emotions every time I can't stop thinking about it. The closest Rex comes in canon to explicitly calling Six his dad and it's when he can't remember him and is actively trying to kill him. "I'm not your parent, kid." "You're close enough." The way Six visibly hesitates before attacking him again. The way Rex has so much faith in Six even when he's about to drive a sword into his chest. I'm never getting over this ever.

[petit-papillion]

Salty Post Warning

Winning after overtaking the leader in WDC standings (who has already won 6 races and will go on to win 9 more this season) three times and driving the last 10 laps with the throttle stuck: 9.6

Winning after overtaking the leader in WDC standings & winner of the previous 9 races when that driver's car had a brake stuck that led to him to retire a lap later, and your competitive team mate was told to hold position behind you, so no one actually challenged you all race: 10

I know these rankings are always controversial, but it also reminded me of just how high people's expectations of Charles are. Better in all 3 FPs than his teammate, qualified P5 but finished P2, fastest lap, and still only 7.8. Max didn't even race and got a 7.2. Make it make sense.

[idolomantises]

ngl, the more I think about it, the more I feel conflicted over how people sexualize my characters.

On the one hand, it would be silly to deny that I don't go out of my way to create aesthetically pleasing/attractive characters because I love to draw what I enjoy, and I love it when people simp for them.

But on the other hand, sometimes it does bother me that people are so fixated on sex and their own arousal that they miss important lore/plot information that I get a bit frustrated

[aaronisapyromaniac]

I remember meeting someone who didn't like brakendra, I got excited because I didn't like the ship either, they're fine as friends but still- Neither of us liked the ship for multiple reasons

But then.

They said they shipped Kendra x Raxtus

AND I TRY NOT TO SHIP SHAME I REALLY DON'T- BUT THE MAIN REASON THAT THEY DIDN'T LIKE BRACKEN WAS BECAUSE HE WAS OLD

RAXTUS IS OLD TOO HES CONSIDERED AN ADULT DRAGON IN THE BOOKS ITS NOT HIS FAULT HES SHORT AND SCARED

[pass3ra]

cressida's storyline was genuinely shameful tbhhh it's like they started rewriting it in the first half of the season then completely forgot about the changes they'd made to make it fit the book plot and it just ends up making everyone else look bad😐 every character in the second half got a "penelope did nothing wrong" lobotomy so we ended up with eloise completely ignoring cressida being sold off to an horrible man (when she made every effort to support her in the first half of the season) and for some reason resenting her for pretending to be lady whistledown? Then they somehow frame her ignoring colin's offensively bad pleas as it being her turning away from redemption when all she's trying to do is escape being trapped in the country with her likely abusive aunt... and it ends with her meeting her horrible fate and it still being framed as tragic only to immediately juxtapose it with the bridgerton family winning the idgaf war while gleefully seeing off francesca and her future dead husband. The bridgertons were the villains of the season frfr

[pronounrespector]

I feel like we should make a new rule, if you're a dranti and not going to watch the drideo or read ANY of Dreams tweets regarding the drontroversies you should not be talking about dream at all.

I've already seen someone go "I'M NOT WATCHING ALL THAT" you look pathetic. It says more about you if you keep slandering and making fun of someone who has multiple recipes of being innocent

you don't care if anyone was groomed or not, you don't care if dream is actually a pedophile, you don't care about if he was wrong about anything or not. You don't want to be wrong about someone who you think deserves to be called various different slurs, deserves to die, or be beaten up.

If you continue to meme about someone without caring if they're innocent or not you are a bad person, and I feel bad for you

[offorestsongs]

literally most of the twst shipping discourse is just the most stupid shit ive ever seen but people who are super against Malleus/Leona definitely take the cake. i just cannot imagine making any discourse posts about what is essentially your most basic, standard, run-of-the-mill fandom enemies to lovers ship