#and also. again: Jean isn't even better than thea

[dayurno]

didn’t jean not want to be court? i mean i don’t think he’s better than kevin but i thought the ec implied he could’ve been and decided he didn’t want it at all

well, whether jean wanted it or not, the ec still says jean didn't make the cut for court, which means he wasn't good enough for it either by his own choice or a lack of interest in progressing enough to be in the olympics

[foxhole-pipe-dream]

My God. I wasn't gonna reblog this again, but I want to expand on my previous tags.

I'm not Thea's biggest fan, but I'll defend her because a lot of these talking points are built on assumptions or aren't applied to other characters in the series.

The amount of hate Thea gets is disproportionate and people go rabid at the very mention of her to the point of directly asking Nora to kill her when she's brought up.

I personally do not like the age gap.

But Thea and Kevin being in close proximity a few times over the years is not grooming. They played on the court and Kevin admired her from afar, that's it. There's no real evidence that Thea gave him more than a passing glance or any thought outside of exy before he turned 18.

Andrew and Roland met at 17 and 22-23 (which I also dislike). This is confirmed by Nora. Why aren't we campaigning for Roland's death? Let's dogpile him too.

Thea grew up in the same toxic environment as the other Ravens. Y'all harp about the cult mindset and the aftereffects, but don't give her the same leniency. Her thinking 'no harm no foul' because Kevin's hand eventually healed is no doubt fucked up, but again, cult mentality.

She needs therapy just like the rest of the Ravens. That thinking is unhealthy, but it's how she was conditioned. That doesn't mean she thinks it's okay or doesn't care for Kevin. Nora stated that she's furious that Riko went so far.

And no, Thea was not angry at Kevin for outing the Ravens/Riko's abusive behavior (???). She was angry that Kevin went no contact and left her completely in the dark. She had to find out through a press conference that Kevin was hurt and was leaving the team.

She was worried. And now she's finding out that Kevin's injuries maybe weren't an accident and he didn't think to say anything to her. She came to find answers.

Andrew is another love interest who expresses his worry through anger, yet Thea is the one demonized for it.

After Kevin brings her to Jean and explains everything, he comes back relaxed. Everything went well and she believes him.

So what is the issue?

Her actions in this scene where she's upset don't define her entire personality and Nora did say she planned to develop her more in the scrapped 4th book.

You can't call her toxic/abusive for being 'mean' to Kevin for 5 seconds and love the rest of the Foxes, a team of assholes. They've lashed out at Kevin at one point or another, even Matt.

Y'all can say Kevin deserves better and should be with someone who isn't a Raven, but I never see people give the Kevin/Jean ship the same hate.

Again, the lore excuse falls flat because y'all give depth and headcanons to every other character who appears for 0.5 seconds (like Jeremy). I never see people do headcanons for Thea or make any effort to flesh her out.

If you hate her just because you want Kevin to be gay, then that's a personal problem. This is the same 'she's getting in the way of my gay ships' excuse.

I do believe a lot of the hate is misogyny and antiblackness. Characters of color get waaay harsher treatment and Thea would be received differently if she were a man.

You're allowed to dislike her, but the amount of hate she gets compared to other minor characters is ridiculous.

Hating on Thea in Nora's mentions isn't going to do anything but make her stop interacting with the fandom.

Thea is going to be in TSC, whether you like it or not.

This fandom is going to devour itself from the inside when the new books come out.

putting a theory to the test here