#I'm going to go reblog the hotline numbers for the suicide prevention and everything else after this.

[theredqueenandthebloodwyrm]

I don't think you people have realized how Trump's victory is already rippling through Red States. Trump emboldened all the right-wing Republicans down here. Students, children, are parroting Trump and the Republican party's racism, their transphobic rhetoric, their sexism and all the other bigotry. I mean it's laughable almost if I wasn't actually concerned about my family and the people I care about.

Rant below. I'm reblogging the hotlines after this.

Oh sure they'd be saying all that fucked up shit before too, but now? But now? There's legislative power, power not just at the state level but on the federal level given to those Republicans who belong to the party whose presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate spewed all that bullshit.

An actual fucking teacher at a high school was saying the same shit about "abortions after birth" (something that is not a real fucking thing). An educated individual. A person who regardless of politics ought to at least use facts, but instead didn't.

Students at highschools down here are laughing and joking about Haitians "eating cats and dogs" and how Haitians all eat pets. So fuck you all who said that we were being dramatic about Trump and his campaign. That has real life effects, you idiots. Even if he lost in a landslide this year, his racist bs that him and Vance spread would still have an effect on the populace. We've seen real-time the effects of that!!! The bomb threats in Ohio!

No, this isn't "The world's ending, we should all give up" post. But you don't dare chastise me, not if you didn't vote or voted third party. Because it's PEOPLE I care about, PEOPLE I know and love who have to face this hate, who have to struggle even more than before. They're going to have to deal with racists and transphobes, and all that shit. And if you voted for this? Well, by now, you know that I don't want anything to do with you.

So now we're going to have to fight an uphill battle. Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we should all stick our heads in the sand and give up. No, we're going to fight.

[sometimesrosy]

Someone made a great point on Tumblr. For a show so hyper-concerned with being PC and not offending or harming anyone's sensibilities now after S3's L death, where was the trigger warning for the mass suicide and Jasper's personal suicide? Isn't killing yourself just as significant to be sensitive to as having a stray bullet accidentally kill a gay woman? I'm a little confused by their lack of learning here...I mean, metastation even tweeted suicide prevention hotline numbers because of it.

I don’t think they intend to be concerned with being PC and not offending or harming anyone’s sensibilities. I think they treat the audience as if they are adults who can handle watching a dark and disturbing fictional show. Clearly, they are overestimating the maturity of their audience. And yet, they are not actually responsible for the mental health of the people who watch their show. There is no way to talk about these sensitive issues without disturbing some people, because they are disturbing issues. This does not mean that showing them on screen is wrong. Facing the things that hurt us, confuse us, cause an emotional reaction can be very valuable, even for people who struggle with them.

The audience has definitely been warned. This show kills major characters. Jasper was suicidal. Jasper intended to die. It was a plot line that continued the whole season. Two seasons. I think we can consider the very storyline to be a trigger warning, don’t you think? I wanted it to not be true, but I still thought it most likely that he would die this season. His suicide was NOT framed as tragic, romantic, heroic, or a brave choice. That I can respect. He didn’t teach anyone a lesson with his suicide. He didn’t prove himself right and noble and wronged by all those who were mean to him. He didn’t give his life to save his friends because his death was so meaningful and important and gave something back to the world. It was a flat and ugly portrayal of suicide. It was a bad death. He got what he wanted. No more pain. And yet. It was still a bad, ignoble death.  

I think they are not looking at their show as an example of how we should behave, true love, good representation, moral correctness, or the right choices. I’m pretty sure they’re writing a story about how fucked up the world and people are. And how hard it is to struggle through and how good people do bad things and how we can be swayed to the dark side by the choices and people who LOOK good, who look glamorous, and give us excuses for the horrors we commit. Sometimes what this show does is give us an example of how we should NOT behave. And it often shows us that even the good people, the heroes, are just as bad. None of us are exempt from our moral choices, just because we’re the “good guys” or the heroes. And sometimes the good guys give up. They don’t always win.

I think this show doesn’t say we should be like Clarke or Lxa or Bellamy or Jasper or even Raven or Luna or Lincoln or Maya or anyone else. I think this show is telling you to think for yourself and decided for yourself if something is wrong or right.

I think the fandom has always tried to turn this explicitly morally GRAY show into some sort of shining example of Good vs Evil, which is, frankly, just missing the whole point. 

None of them are cinnamon rolls. And none of them are evil. They’re all trying to do the best for their people and trying to survive the apocalypse, and you need to take them for what they DO, not for your impression of what they deserve or how they need to be protected or that they’re your baby who has done nothing wrong ever. There’s not one of them who has done nothing wrong ever. They’re all guilty. None of them is innocent. And some of them are guilty of more than others. 

I think people want to treat Jasper’s death as if it is somehow of utmost importance, changing the world, being meaningful. I’ve heard people say that he should have gotten to say goodbye to all his friends and the whole episode should have been about him. 

I say no. It shouldn’t be. Jasper opted out of the story. He solved no problems. He did not act heroically. He saved no one. His answer to the problems was to leave, let others deal, let others deal with the pain he caused. He chose to make his story a side note. It should not be the central issue.

I’m sorry. Jasper as a character, and people who are suicidal are important and deserving of attention and help and empathy and support. They are worth it, because they are. Because they are possibility and hope and human and struggling. They deserve a chance to make themselves whole again. Or at least struggle on, as they are, broken and beautiful. 

But the choice of suicide itself? We should not glamorize it and make it a way to find the attention and love people feel they are lacking in life. They don’t get anything after death. Their story is over. The impression that they’ll be vindicated after death is a WRONG impression. They stay broken. The harm remains. 

And if you ask me, you can’t look at Jasper’s story alone in regards to suicide in this episode. It was intimately tied with two other stories. Three, if you include Monty, who would be most affected by the suicide. 

Jasper’s story, of fighting to die, was wrapped up with Raven’s story. She was also fighting to die. She was working to die. But she found hope, at the last minute, and came back, willing to risk everything to live on her own terms. I think we shouldn’t talk about Jasper’s suicide without also talking about Raven’s victory over suicide, which was given even more attention than Jasper’s. And Harper’s, who we know was going through exactly the same struggles as Jasper, but chose to keep on fighting, and allowing for hope.

All of this is to say that I do not agree with you about the writers doing something shameful by showing Jasper’s death. I do not agree that they are at all being PC. They continue to show a world that is just as ugly and unfair as before. And I think that if we want to understand complicated issues like this one– which was MADE complicated in the narrative– then we need to look at ALL the issues, not just the ones that offend us, but also the ones that could enlighten us, start a conversation, and help us understand a little bit more about ourselves and the world around us. 

Posting suicide prevention hotlines? Always a good idea. Here are a few, not very comprehensive. I’ll try to post some more later that are better researched. I will also reblog when I see them. 

National Suicide Hotline: 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433) or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Safe Place: 1-888-290-7233

National Alliance of the Mentally Ill: 1-800-950-6264

The Trevor Project: 866-4-U-TREVOR    [X]