#and when someone is being accused of rape by 13 different women that’s not something to brush under the rug

[mssi]

football players defending other players that are rapists is not something that should happen in 2023 but here we are how are they not embarrassed

[ukrfeminism]

Named by Rape Crisis Scotland as a “seismic” development in securing justice for survivors, a ruling last week meant the process to establish corroboration in rape and all other crimes involving corroboration has been simplified.

Under the previous rules, corroboration required two forms of evidence that penetration took place, two forms of evidence that consent was not given and two forms of evidence that the accused knew consent was not given. 

The decision from seven appeal court judges earlier this month now means that distress - seen by an independent witness - can corroborate penetration on its own. 

This is the story of the three women who spearheaded that change. 

The ‘sisterhood’ who fought for change to corroboration laws in Scotland 

The story of three women who led the way in changing the law around proving corroboration in Scotland. 

Aged just 14, Emma Bryson reported to the police she had been raped and sexually abused for years as a child.

The attacks happened while she was aged between ten and 13 but police told her they couldn't take her case on.

After high-profile sexual abuse reports against the notorious paedophile Jimmy Savile, Emma, now an adult, decided to report once more in 2016. 

This time it resulted in a year-long investigation but she was told the evidence “did not meet the requirements of corroboration” when it came to sexual penetration.  

“I just came away thinking how is that right?" she told STV News. 

"How is that even possible that you can have all this evidence but it doesn’t tick these really tiny little boxes so they just drop the case?” 

“I really struggled to cope with it,” Emma, who is now 51, told STV News. “That sense of failure, being let down. I put my heart and soul into it and then I didn’t get a prosecution. 

“It was a little while later that I decided I needed to do something to move on.” 

And she did. Not alone but as a team.

Named by Rape Crisis Scotland as a “seismic” development in securing justice for survivors, a ruling last week meant the process to establish corroboration in rape and all other crimes involving corroboration has been simplified.

Under the previous rules, corroboration required two forms of evidence that penetration took place, two forms of evidence that consent was not given and two forms of evidence that the accused knew consent was not given. 

The decision from seven appeal court judges earlier this month now means that distress - seen by an independent witness - can corroborate penetration on its own. 

This is the story of the three women who spearheaded that change. 

In 2018, Emma met Suzy Angus and Shirley Ross through Rape Crisis Scotland and established the Speak Out Survivors group to tackle their shared issues on proving corroboration in child sexual abuse cases. 

Like Emma, both Suzy and Shirley were told their evidence could not be corroborated. All of their cases were dropped and did not make it to court.

“My journey began back in 2006 when I first reported,” Shirley told STV News.

The 45-year-old said: “I was told after hours of interviews that no charges could be brought forward as it was my word against his - 14 years of abuse I was subjected to wasn’t enough. 

"He needed to abuse someone else for my experience to be corroborated. I walked away from the experience more broken than from the abuse I had already experienced.” 

Suzy, who is now 65, said she was raped as a child by a group of adult men. She did not report the attack until decades later.  

Suzy told STV News, “What we all endured was horrific but out of that trauma we found each other and hopefully have made a difference for others.” 

Speaking about the impact of coming together through Speak Out Survivors, Emma said: “It’s been life-changing for all of us. 

"Suzy is calm and measured. I’ve always been a bit more direct and focused. Shirley shoots from the hip. We’ve done this as a team every step of the way. It really is a sisterhood.” 

In 2020, Emma sent a proposal to reform corroboration in Scotland to the Scottish Government and those in the legal community. 

The proposal suggested removing the requirement of corroboration for penetration and introducing corroboration of distress as standard to confirm lack of consent. 

“It was a bit of a slow burner,” Emma said.

“When we first engaged with the legal community, all of them at first were pretty much against any suggestion that corroboration should be reformed or removed so we always knew we were up against it.” 

Eventually, the dial shifted. By the end of 2022, in consultation to their proposal, judges sitting on the Supreme Court agreed that corroboration needed reforming. 

The group also secured a commitment from all political parties that, in theory, they were willing to come together and consider how corroboration could be reformed. And in draft forms of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, the group’s proposal was included. 

“But on the day they published the bill, there was absolutely no mention of corroboration in there at all,” Emma said. “We were absolutely gutted. It felt like we were ghosted by the Scottish Government. They said there was no support but this didn’t make sense to us. We all had to take a bit of time to recoup.” 

However, while this was happening, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC was looking into how corroboration laws could be changed in Scotland. 

Emma said: “We wrote to her in November 2021 about the proposal and she agreed. 

“In the meeting, she was really positive and broadly supportive. She said to us, 'Speak Out Survivors are the way forward' and this was huge.”

Then, finally, the change came. 

Earlier this year, the Lord Advocate urged the Appeal Court to re-examine an Aberdeen High Court case in 2022 (HMA vs CLB), where the verdict was not proven. 

In reference to this case in the recent judgment, it stated: “The jury’s reasonable doubt may have been prompted by…the inability of distress to corroborate penetration”. 

The judges concluded “distress, which is observed by a third party… is capable of corroborating a complainer’s account that she has been raped…The penetration does not require to be corroborated separately". 

The Lord Advocate said this ruling would now be considered by the Crown Office with prosecutors considering what this means for their work in future cases.

The opinions expressed by the court in response to the reference do not affect the original verdict. Instead, it serves to clarify or develop the interpretation of a particular point of law for the benefit of future proceedings.  

Speaking to STV’s Scotland Tonight, defence advocate Thomas Ross KC said: “The biggest change it will make is that in cases, which at the moment cannot be prosecuted because there’s insufficient evidence, [those cases] will be able to be taken forward.

“The big change will not be in relation to cases that we see in court at the moment but it will relate to cases that would never have been taken to court but could now be due to this rule change.” 

Sandy Brindley, from Rape Crisis Scotland, told Scotland Tonight: “Up until now, unless there were other complainers of the same perpetrator, somebody in these circumstances had no possibility of seeing their case in court. 

“So I think in terms of removing a barrier to possible justice and certainly a barrier to cases getting to court this is a really positive development.” 

Yet, some lawyers raised concerns about changing the law, arguing that evidence of distress "tells one nothing about the mode of assault".

In a submission to the court put forward by a legal team led by Roddy Dunlop KC, the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, they argued that changing the law would "raise the real possibility of convictions which are simply not merited."

However, Emma, who now works for the police in a victim support unit, said this ruling has been a long time coming. 

“The outcome of that judgment echoes what we put into that proposal we submitted years ago,” Emma said, “The issue with corroboration formerly is that it was misinterpreted, misapplied and inconsistent. We can’t claim all the credit but we made a really significant contribution to changing that dialogue."

The next steps for the group are pressing for a meeting with the Lord Advocate and continuing to support survivors of rape and sexual assault. 

Emma said through tears: “Sorry I’m getting quite emotional but we don’t want survivors to go through what we’ve gone through.

"We hope, in the future, there won’t be any more Emmas, Shirleys and Suzys falling into a black hole.” 

[pebblysand]

[JUNE ‘22] - THE LIFE/WRITING UPDATE NO ONE ASKED FOR (AND SOME QUICK LINKS)

hello, hello! happy pride month! believe it or not i almost forgot june meant pride, i’ve been so tired lately it almost feels like jetlag and all i feel like is to ask: sorry, what month is it again? anyway, i hope you’re all doing well! i’m sorry for the lateness of this post, my mum is visiting at the moment and while i certainly aimed to write this ahead of time, it seems that life has caught up with me once again ^^! 

anyway, before diving into more life/writing updates, here are some quick links to different blog pages you might not see on mobile :

FIC MASTERLIST [updated]

FIC RECS 

WRITING ADVICE 

ORIGINAL PIECES [updated]

OPINION PIECES & ASKS [updated]

THE FANFIC WRITER’S CRAFT (NEW PODCAST)

[NOTE: i am currently not accepting prompts]

Castles (chap 11) ETA: i’ve finished chapter 11 but i’m working on trying to get 11, 12 & 13 out as a block at the same time. more on that below. 

links extended a/n-s: chapter v ; chapter vi & vii ; chapter viii ; chapter ix ; chapter x

[more life/writing updates under the cut]

WHAT I’M READING:

i’ve read absolutely nothing this month. like, idk, i’ve been writing a lot and dealing with return to the (physical) office at work - it’s kind of drained my energy. i’m going to galway and edinburgh later in june, though, so as i most often read when i’m travelling, i’m sure you can expect some more book/fic updates in next month’s post :). 

.

WHAT I’M WATCHING: 

i’ve already spoken about the lincoln lawyer in episode 2 of the podcast which will come out soon but in other news, i watched: 

‘

anatomy of a scandal: i know this one has received mixed reviews but i actually really liked it. for context, this british mini-series centres on the story of a politician who is accused of rape by a staffer who he used to have an affair with and deals with themes of cheating, sexual assault, consent, etc. while i think that, yes, of course, the final reveal (if you’ve seen the show, you’ll know what i’m talking about) was extremely foreseeable (and kind of unnecessary to the story, imo) i feel like that’s not really the point. i thought the way this series showed the wife’s point of view in the case, rather than only the victim’s or the perpetrator's, was very clever (a-la the good wife, in a way) and refreshing. i think this series was also very good at showing how many of these men who have recently been accused of assaulting women do not, themselves, even see these incidents as assaults. they don’t understand/were never taught consent (were actually taught that being “strong” and “manly” was the opposite) and are now “shocked” when it’s coming back to haunt them. the main character’s constant refusal to admit he did anything wrong, and to even see what he did wrong (when he very clearly assaulted this woman) was so striking and intelligently put, though so incredibly shocking. also, though i’ve no experience in trial advocacy specific to the uk, as a lawyer, i felt like the trial scenes weren’t too cringe, which is always a plus. overall, i thought that this show delivered very well on what it promised, even though it could have done without that final reveal.

‘

i’m not sure if this is something that fits into the “watched” category but something you may not know about me is that i used to be (and to a lesser extent still am) an avid watcher of youtube content, specifically in the uk youtuber sphere. as such, i was very pleased to watch dan howell’s comeback video “why i quit youtube” which i found absolutely fascinating. if you are interested in social media in general, i would highly recommend you checking it out, i think it offers an amazing perspective on the pressures of internet “fame,” the content “treadmill,” as well as on the inner workings of social media companies. specifically, this quote: “never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity” which, as someone who works in tech, is honestly an industry motto. i think most people outside of the industry don’t realise how new and “amateurish” most tech companies (including big ones like facebook, google, etc.) still are. working in tech is literally just a bunch of people constantly trying to figure shit out that didn’t exist half an hour ago, and finding out that that shit sits with some random engineer in sf and who left the company five months ago without telling anyone. as sorry as i felt re:dan’s experience, i can totally see how this was the result of complete negligence, rather than outright malice. additionally, one thing that i really loved in his video is the way he was like: everyone thinks youtube is “homophobic” and that’s ludicrous, everyone who works for youtube is gay! i genuinely laughed out loud. honestly, it’s true. while advertising in most tech companies is definitely a problem re: content that is promoted and whatnot, the employees and the companies themselves definitely have a much more liberal agenda. every job i’ve been in in tech, i’ve grown to generally assume people are LGTBQA+, until told otherwise hahaha. tech is such a welcoming environment in that way, it’s one of the things i really love about the industry. 

additionally, i also watched the our father netflix documentary this month, which was fine but i’m still sitting here wondering why not just charge him for fraud. i mean, legally, i understand it’s not rape, but it’s certainly criminal fraud? this case is so bizarre. lastly, i also finished s2 of smother. this is an irish thriller mini-series - i really enjoyed s1, but s2 was a bit much in fairness. the number of times i said “ah, stop” to myself while watching it was honestly too high for it to be considered good. plus, the “cliffhanger” ending? again, “ah, stop,” please. 🤣though i won’t lie, it’s always nice to see ireland on screen :). 

.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO:

not really what i am listening to but what you are listening to: lani and i have a podcast!!!!!! honestly you guys, this is so exciting!! we put in so much work into creating this lovely thing and getting you guys’ feedback and kind words has made it all worth it. as you’ve probably gathered, we’re still figuring things out as we go along in terms of sound editing, recording (i discovered three days ago you have to pay for hosting lmao) but we hope to get better as we go along. our next episode will be live on the 10th of june, so stay tuned for that!!

(and of course, we’d love to hear from you if you wanna be featured/have a topic you want to discuss - my dms as well as the podcast’s ask box are always open :))

additionally, in terms of podcasts, i really recommend the laughs of your life episode with aisling bea! i just love doireann garrihy’s podcast generally, it always brings a smile to my face and i really admire her ability to sustain an entire podcast with the same set of questions she asks all of her guests. and, god, do i love aisling bea! she’s such a funny, wholesome person, and this entire episode felt like a big hug. 

in a completely different genre, if you’re interested in social media and its economics, i would highly recommend the waveform podcast with hank green discussing tiktok monetisation and economics. i thought it was wholeheartedly fascinating and hank green is such a huge source of knowledge when it comes to these things. 

aside from that, top five songs currently are: 

que tout s’danse by noé preszow - i reckon this one is kind of on this out. i mean i still love the song but it was very much the inspo for chap 11 of castles, and that’s written now

the kids are all rebels by lenii - same as the above but also i love lenii so much. i’ve been following her for a few years now but it was so nice to see her finally get the traction she deserved on tiktok over the pandemic!

mockingbird by eminem - em is back in my top five which should surprise absolutely no one. i’ve been listening to this song (which imo is one of his absolute masterpieces) a lot while writing chap 12 of castles. and, it’s funny, i talk about this more at length in ep 2 of the podcast but it’s not that chap12 has anything with the actual content of the song, it’s more about the “rhythm” of it and the way the song makes me feel. obviously eminem is a huge inspo for castles (i mean, the fic is even named after one of his songs) and i think i just sort of relate to the pacing, phrasing, and tone of mockingbird.  

tea & toast by lucy spraggan - listen. like everyone else, i’d obviously previously heard lucy’s hilarious song last night about “the fear” that she sang at the x-factor a few years ago, but omg this one is a whole other level. the first time i heard it (on tiktok, may i add), this song gave me chills. this woman is such an amazing story teller and i have so many emotions about this song - in just a few weeks, it’s become one of my absolute faves. 100% recommend you giving it a listen!

anthem by yonaka & barns courtney - another upcoming castles song that’s probably on the out. 

.

WHAT I’M WRITING:

i have made So Much progress on castles last month, i’m so chuffed! it’s certainly been exhausting and a lot of work - with the podcast, the tumblr stuff, writing castles, etc. it sometimes feels like i have two full time jobs at the moment haha. and it feels odd because i know you’re only getting to see the half of it because i’m waiting until i’m done with chapters 11, 12 & 13 to publish, which believe me is the evidence of So Much self-control on my part, haha. it’ll all be worth it, though, i promise. 

at this point, chapter 11 is done (just maybe in need of a few edits to iron things out once 12 & 13 are done as well) and i’m about maybe 75% done with the first draft of 12. what i am hoping for at the moment is to finish everything (i.e. writing, edits, etc.) by the first weekend of august, so that i can publish everything before my three weeks of holidays and really take my mind off things. i will say, though, writing castles has been a joy since truly getting back into it. it’s funny with this fic, whenever i leave it to the side for a while, i find it really hard to come back to. but once i do, it’s always such a rewarding experience. it can very difficult to write at times cause it’s obviously a very intense story, but it always pays off in the end.  

lastly, on a writing-but-not-really update, i know it's annoying but i ended up signing up for the "tipping" feature on tumblr. not that i actually expect anyone to tip me but idk, i had set up a tipee a few months ago cause i think iirc, one person asked, but then i couldn't be arsed to maintain it, so i thought having it integrated to tumblr would be better. obviously, i wouldn't say no if you wanted to buy me coffee to fuel all those hours spent writing castles 🤣 but i'm not really expecting anything lol. also hosting for the podcast is $12 USD/month so if you want to give towards that, feel free to, haha. will obviously continue doing it regardless, and i don't want to run ads on it cause that seems silly 😅.

.

WHAT I’M DOING:

i’ve loads of travelling scheduled for june! i’m very excited for it, but also hope it won’t get too much in the way of writing haha. i’m going to galway and the aran islands with my mum this weekend, which is always a treat. then a friend of mine is turning 30 and we’re celebrating by going to edinburgh next weekend (if anyone has any tips, let me know). she’s a huge hp fan as well so we’re hoping to go take pictures of the train (lmao), hopefully the weather won’t be too bad. then, the weekend of the 25th i’m going to london again! i went in february for a gig that ended up being cancelled so i’m flying back now to hopefully finally see it. i love london though, so i’m sure it’ll be a lovely weekend. 

other than that, yeah, a bit tired at the moment and feeling like i’m working all the time but hey, i suppose i’ll sleep when i’m dead haha. 

anyway, i think that will be all for now. i hope you all have lovely month :). 

lots of love, 

pebblysand. 

[nefariouscryptid]

here's a fun one: dare you to do the entirety of that list with a character of your choice >:3c

Gotta do it with my boy Peter!

1. What is one word to shut them up?

Murray

2. What is the thing they feel the most guilty about?

He’s not torn up about it or anything but he feels bad about what happened to Mary, or what could of happened to her.

3. What is the worst pain they’ve ever experienced?

Getting your face and eye slashed open is pretty painful.

4. Describe their worst nightmare.

With his job being kidnapped and tortured is pretty plausible. He thinks about that one a lot.

5. List 3 fears; one “surface level” fear, one “repressed” fear, and one “deep dark” fear.

Surface: the ocean

Repressed: being taken advantage of without his knowing. Reminds him of his childhood.

Deep Dark: losing Jason in any form. He’s be a broken man left to his own devices, and his own safety would be completely compromised.

6. What is something that never fails to make them feel sick?

Gunshot wounds and deep cuts. He cringes at those.

7. What feature (physical or otherwise) do they hate most about themselves?

Physically he’s not a big fan of the scars he has or his general face structure but it’s not enough to keep him up at night. Mentally he doesn’t like how he gets when triggered and how easily it is to trigger him.

8. Do they have anything that triggers them?

Certain physical sensations but mainly what others do to him, such as rubbing their thumb on his hand, whispering behind him into his ear, stroking his hair while he’s standing, and certain phrases. If a woman talks seductively to him it’s easy for him to get triggered, but when men do it it’s a lot less frequent unless certain phrases are said. Country music is a big no go but he can listen to old country.

9. What is their greatest physical weakness?

He’s half blind and slowly going blind in the other eye

10. What is their greatest mental weakness?

How willing he is to throw everything away for someone (his Jason) and his apathy after the accident makes him blind to potential dangers.

11. Do they have any vices?

Smokes a lot of weed, used to be a heavy drinker but quit, did a lot of coke and before Durante starts he had just managed to escape a meth addiction.

12. Have they ever done something illegal? What was it?

His whole life is illegal. His worst crime would have to be aiding in terrorism

13. Which of the 7 Deadly Sins best describes them?

Greed and lust

14. Are they prone to outbursts (of violence, extreme emotion… exc… )?

Yes but he’s quick to calm himself down, and Jason can calm him near instantly.

15. Who do they hate the most?

Kind of hard to say, he hates a lot of people. He hates his parents but he’s since moved on as much as one could from them, he hates Anahii but he finds ways to tolerate her existence, and he hates Ivan for what he did to him but his breakdown made it impossible for him to really plan any retaliation other then killing his wife.

16. Is there anyone who makes them feel inferior?

Not that I can think of

17. What sound always gives them a headache?

Women’s voices lol. Mainly naggy ones.

18. Is there a certain flavor that disgusts them?

Hates bitterness

19. Do they consider themselves ugly?

Honestly yes, sees himself as a butterface.

20. Do they consider themselves unloveable?

Yes but it’s manifested and internalized more subtly and masked.

21. What is something that causes them great anxiety?

Broken glass and lack of contact with people he needs to be with.

22. Do they have any mental illnesses?

I’m not going to diagnose him specifically with anything. But short answer yes a lot.

23. Have they ever been assaulted/abused/raped?

Raped multiple times by his mom as a child, beaten by his dad, and you could call his and Anahiis marriage abusive.

24. Do they fear the possibility of being assaulted/abused/raped?

He feels he can defend himself better and stay out of situations where that would happen but it’s in the back of his head.

25. Have they ever been betrayed by someone they thought they could trust?

His parents

26. Have they ever been seriously injured?

Other then his face he has been shot before in the chest.

27. How many times have they been in the hospital?

About 7 times not including doctor visits after an injury (checkups)

28. Is there a certain type of person that disgusts them?

There isn’t really any person that disgusts him on a moral aspect. There’s people that he thinks are absolutely retarded and blind, but no one really makes him recoil.

29. Does what they cannot see scare them?

No, he pretty much knows it all

30. Have they ever been bullied?

Yes a lot in his school years.

31. Do they have self-confidence or self-image issues?

Yes but it doesn’t stop him from putting on a facade. Like I said early, it manifests differently.

32. Do they have a bad relationship with their parents?

He wishes he killed them.

33. Have they ever been in a relationship that didn’t work out so well?

Anahii lol

34. Have they ever self harmed?

Yes

35. If they could change one thing about themselves, what would it be?

If he can’t change the whole lot he won’t change any.

36. Are they in control of their emotions, or are their emotions in control of them?

He’s in control of his emotions for the most part.

37. Have they ever had their freedom taken away?

Sort of. He’s been in many holding cells and was in jail at one point.

38. Have they ever been imprisoned?

Yes

39. Have they ever been accused of something they didn’t do?

Many times but he’s been able to prove his innocence

40. Do they often blame themselves for other people’s problems?

Depends on the situation. He won’t blame himself he the problem can’t be directly linked to him.

41. Do they get sick often?

He gets eye infections sometimes but not much.

42. Are they comfortable with where they are in life?

Fuck no lol but least he’s well off financially

43. Do they wish that they could change their pasts?

Doesn’t do him good to do so, so no

44. What’s one thing they wish they could do more often, but can’t?

Take a break. He’s love to run away from his life with Jason but he knows they’re both too greedy to do so, even without being trapped.

45. What is the emotion they most commonly experience?

I would say apathy but it’s hard to explain. Other then that, yearning.

46. Have they ever contemplated suicide?

He’s attempted a few times in his life.

47. Have they ever gone so far as to attempt suicide?

Yes

48. Is there anyone that they would willingly kill?

His parents, Ivan if his job allowed it, Anahii if he’d have a chance, literally anyone Jason dates, whoever took Mary

49. If [name] was put into ______ situation, they’d rather die than live to see it through.

If Peter had to see Jason die, get tortured, have to kill him, or any other variation.

50. Create your own!

Would history repeat itself if he had children?

He’s observant and understands himself enough to see the patterns of his parents in him. Since he would love his children deeply he would be able to stop himself from being like his parents towards them, but he wouldn’t be perfect.

[theoneforgameofthrones]

Daenerys Targareyan: The Path Towards Madness.

Okay let's begin.

Intro: I read book 1. And then, I binge watched seasons 1-6 after season 6 finale. By that time, I knew all the major theories like L+R=J, dark!dany, targ!tyrion etc.

So, I was paying extra attention and these are some of the obvious moments where I felt they showed Dany's mad side show. Some points, you may find valid. Some points you may find silly and over-reaching. In any case, this is what *I* felt.

Feel free to have discussions. Appreciate positive critisism. However, just yelling/abusing will not be tolerated.

1. Lack of Empathy

Her obvious lack of empathy when her brother was killed.

I did not expect her to save him. I did not expect her to mourn him. I did not even expect her to cry for him. I did, however, expect a reaction, any sort of reaction, when someone close (despite him being an abusive asshole) dies that suddenly and that violently.

2. Her facial expression during Drogo's speech.

"I will kill the men in iron suits and tear down their stone houses! I will rape their women, take their children as slaves and bring their broken gods back to Vaes Dothrak!"

3. During her Breaker of Chains phase, she conviniently seemed to forget that she used to practice not only slavery, but also pillaging while she was with her khalesar.

Master Illeryoi owned slaves. Her brother owned slaves. She was gifted slaves to teach her how to please the Khal.

Her husband was a war-lord and her khalesar constantly raided and pillaged villages. They killed men. They raped women. Remaining alive women were taken as sex slaves and later sold. That was their way of life. She saved Mirri Maz Duur and several other women from the fate of gang rape and murder but they were still dragged along side the khalasar as slaves. In books, the reason MMD was not sold was so that she can assist Dany during childbirth.

4. The burning of Mirri Maz Duur (MMD)

This is going to make sense to a lot of people. But confuse the fuck out of many. But let's see.

In colonized countries, we have a term called "Savior's Complex". It is where a colonizer raids a country, steal its riches, impose extreme taxing, destory most of its heritage and then expect praise for bringing something (could be education, technology, architecture).

Dany takes the complex another step above. She not only expects gratitude from an enslaved MMD while dragging her along with her khalesar with sole purpose of assistance with childbirth, she also expects her to save the life of her husband. The war-lord whose khalesar raided her home, pillaged her village, killed her countrymen, raped/killed her countrywomen, dragged remaining alive women along with the khalesar to be sold later. Despite all this, Dany expects gratitude from MMD for her life. This flawed logic however is thrown back in her face.

"So, tell me again exactly what it was that you saved?"

"Your life."

"Why don't you take a look at your Khal? Then you will see exactly what life is worth, when all the rest has gone."

This is an old age tale of revenge. Khal raided her village. She took revenge on them for destroying her temple. Dany burned her for it.

What completely bamboozled me in this fandom was how much people hated MMD for what she did while completely making Dany the victim in this scenario while forgetting that MMD was the orginal victim who was not only an enslaved prisoner of war, but also gang-raped victim of her khalesar's doing.

5. Ser Barriston's words.

Ser Barriston in Mereen, tells her to treat injustice with mercy. She replies that she will treat injustice with justice.

Another quote by Ser Barriston: "He gave people the people the justice he thought they deserved."

Justice and what people in power percieve as justice is often very different.

6. Daenerys' justice for the crucified slave children

She did that by choosing 163 random Great Masters and crucifying them to avenge the 163 slave children. This seems like justice. But is it, really? They never recieved trial. They were never proven guilty. Like Hizdahr Loraq said, some of the masters were not in favor of crucifying children and tried very hard to stop it. Who knows how many other good masters she crucified?

This is a direct parallel to Ser Barriston's words about Mad King Aerys: "He gave people the people the justice he thought they deserved."

7. She stopped slavery only when it benefitted her.

Some of you, while reading point 6, may have thought, "They were SLAVERS! So what?!".

Well, while choosing 163 masters, Dany decided that all Masters are her enemies. She decided that all of them deserved punishment. She decided that they were guilty just for engaging in slavery while conviniently forgetting that if that were the case, she should be the one in the first cross.

8. She burnt Great Masters without even investigating who were behind the Sons of Harpy's attack.

After Ser Barriston's death, we again get to see more of her twisted sense of justice. By her own words, "Who is innocent? Maybe all of you are, maybe none of you are. Maybe, I should let the dragons decide."

It is not supposed to be called justice if you punish (and a cruel punishment, at that) without even caring whether they are innocent or not.

9. "You are a conquerer. Not a ruler."

Time and time again Dany proves this to be true. She conquered Yunkai and left immeidetely. The slavers took back the city in no time. She closed off the fighting pits and refused to open them despite being told that participants will be free men who enter willingly. This is where ruling comes in. Any place she conquered and freed, she failed to put something else to keep up the economy. She collapsed the economy so bad that slaves were selling themselves again.

10. Wrongful imprisonment.

Dany finds that Drogon has harmed children. The correct response is to either train or punish the dragons. She, however, imprisons the two dragons who werent at fault while Drogon ran free. Does that mean she is not responsible for whatever terror or death Drogon caused to wherever he flew off to? What exactly does imprisoning Rhaegar and Viseryion get her?

What kind of justice is it where the accused is free while the innocent get prisoned for association. Again, feeds into the twisted justice train.

11. Twisted Justice. Hipocrisy. Again.

While many men were fed to dragons, Hizdahr Loraq was imporisoned. He begged for mercy in terror.She also decides that she will show her respect for Meereen by marrying a member of one of its great families. For a woman who was forced into marriage and "sold like a broodmare", she sure didn't feel any moral dilemma in making a terrifed man betroth her. His death though, proved that he was not at all involved with Sons of Harpy and he was imprisoned for nothing.

12. Burning POW's

Burning Tarly's (father and son) was a direct paralell to her father burning Ned's father and brother alive. You cannot hide behind "It was a war. She gave them a choice." No matter what defenses one can attempt to give her, killing (forget burning) POW is a war crime. So is forcing prisoners against their own side of war.

13. Defending cruelty in path of justice

She killed Tarly's and defended that decision, by saying that was necessary.

When Hizdahr asks her how many men will have died to achieve her goal, she says "They would have died for a greater cause." She is talking about destroying cities and sure, that must be for a greater purpose.

When Tyrion reminds her that about what her father planned to do when she said she wnated to burn Mereen to the ground.. her response was "This is different,". How, exactly?

"The easiest way to defend cruelty is to say that it is part of the destiny."

14. The insinct to burn down cities.

By s8e01, she has wanted to burn down cities thrice. Meereen - once. King's Landing - twice. Both times, she had to be talked out of it by her advisors. The fact that her first instinct when her plans were failing was to burn down cities. Direct parallel to Aerys wanting to destroy king's landing because he thought there were traitors everywhere. The fact is that a person can surrond themselves with good counsel. But it is not necessary that the counsel is always heeded. Which is what happened to Aerys. He was going incresingly mad for months and his counsel members hid the fact from the outside world because they thought they could control the madness. We all know what happened in the end.

Since s7, Dany has been becoming increasingly paranoid about Tyrion's loyalty and increasingly more frustrated with every loss. How long before she decides not to listen to them anymore?

15. The entire collonialist/white savior imagary presented in Essos.

It is amazing how most of the fandom either ignores it or is just unaware of it.

Though this point doesnt parallel anything to the show, i just found it extremely cringy. I am sure members of most colonized countries would. I cant even beging to describe how cringy that mysha scene was.

16. The typical white priviledge mentality.

She wants to inherit her ancestor's throne and power. But she doesnt want to repent for her ansestor's sins and betrayal.

17. Wrong sense of entitlement

She truly believes that she is entitled to the North's fealty. She asks Jon Snow not to judge her based on her ancestors and in the same breath asks him to hold up the vows of his ancestors.

But, whatever vow the Starks made to the Targareans was broken the moment Aerys decided to burn the Starks. The fealty was made on promise of protection. Technically, any member of the houses that Aerys burnt, is no longer accountable to the vow.

Still, she expects everyone to uphold their fealty but refusing to accpet that her father broke that fealty when he decided to burn the vassels (whom he promised to protect) alive.

18. Savior Complex

Some parts of Dany reminds me of how missionaries work.

"Will your God punish me for not praying to him if I did not know about him?"

"No."

"Then why did you tell me about him?"

I believe one thing about Daenerys Targareyan. That she truly wants to help people. That she truly wants to save people. But her problem is, she wants to be the one to save people. She doesnt seem to understand that some people dont require saving.

She talks about freeing the world of tyrants and in the same breath refuses to give North the independence that they demand in solidarity. How is that not the definition of tyranny?

This is Westeros. I am not expecting a democracy and free elections. If she wants to be a conquerer, then she can be one. If she wants to bring to bring together the 7k, she can. What she cannot do is talk about destiny, talk about a wheel, talk about breaking the wheel, and and then do the exact same thing her ansestors did years go by spinning the wheel so that she is on top.

19. She was smiling when she saw that her dragons terrified people of Winterfell.

20. "They eat whatever they want"

Is that really the correct way to respond to people are already scared/cowering over the arrival of dragons? To people who have never seen such beasts before? Did she forget that few seasons ago "whatever they want" that Drogon ate were children?

21. Jaime's trial

She made Jaime stand trial and was heavily leaning towards punish him despite the fact that she knew what her father had planned and what Jaime Lannister had done. She openly spoke in favor of the Mad King in front of Northern Lords. When Tyrion intervened, she publically breated him and questioned his loyalty. Further adds to the Mad King's paranoia and unwillingness to listen to counsel.

22. Jaime Lannister

Not only has he tried to kill her, he has also questioned her intentions twice. The only living person who knows about Mad King more than anyone is perhaps Jaime Lannister. When he questions Tyrion, "Is she really different? Are you sure?" in a sceptical tone. If he doesnt trust her or thinks she had the Targ madness, then I am willing to bet that she probably does.

23. Her decling human connections

the show seems adament in making her seem alone. Like a stranger in her own home land. In an episode full of emotional reconnections, tenderness, friendships and relationships, she is shown all alone. In later episodes, she is incresingly shown alientated: Theon coming to fight for the starks despite being her bannerman, death of the Jorah, Tyrion's withdrawal.

24. jorah was her mercy.

She had shown jorah mercy despite his betrayal. She cared for him and most importantly, completely trusted and listened to him. When she felt no remorse about berating Tyrion and strongarming Sansa, jorah urges her to forgive tyrion and to try and make amends with LAdy of Winterfell. And, she listened to him. He is the only advisor she fully trusts and listens to without having to worry about wavering loyalties. And jorah's death is going to be the acorn in Ice Age that started the avalanche.

<<2 episodes left. will add more after next one airs.>>

This is not to say that she was an evil character. She was a good person with good intentions and bad execution with a twisted sense of justice and destiny. But, the journey to hell is paved with good intensions. Dany was a character who had the potential to be great. But she was always headed to doom. She is a good person whose downfall will be due to pride, ambition and obsession with destiny. She will chose her fate with a sound mind but a flawed personality. Her story will not be heroic, but tragic. Not because of what she was, but because of how she could have been.

[madllamamomma]

I Think I Have a Problem.... (A personal true story).

So as the title suggests, I have a strange problem…. Just as a warning, this is about my view of my younger self. It is about religion, and gender identity. This is not how I see the world anymore. It was how I told how the world should look. If you are offended in any way, please know this is a vent post and nothing to hurt anyone else. This is just what happened to me as a child. Shit….. This is about to get very long winded, so buckle up and here we go… *takes deep breath*

So a little backstory on your Mother Llama: I was raised in a weird backward ass “Independent” Baptist church most of my young life. If you guys don’t know what those are, be thankful…. But I guess I should explain it the best way I can…. they are a borderline cult. Yes. I said it. I’m not sorry. It may sound like an extreme accusation, but hold on. Just listen to me.

Now, I have no problem with Christians, or religion. You should believe whatever you want to believe in…. I do however, have a problem when religion is used as an excuse to not educate minds about the real world, force them to not let them think for themselves, and when someone questions any of it, they are punished or shamed for it instead of thinking about an answer. If you can’t tell, I am still a little angry about that shit. Imma try to keep on topic here….

I wasn’t taught science (real science anyways, it was all about ‘creation’ bs—OH! And being anything but a cis straight person was compleltly unexceptable. Woman were the weaker sex and were made to raise babies and take care of the husband. Men were superior and should be taken care of.) nor about World history or about other cultures, other than biblical of course. And when they were mentioned, they made them look evil and behave like heathens because they didn’t believe the same as they did. Everything changed when I went to public school half of fourth grade when my family moved to a different state and there wasn’t any church school like I went to. I learned a lot those years, that ‘The World’ wasn’t as bad of a place as they said it was. It was vast and had many things to offer. (No, not the World, Dio’s stan power from Jojo’s bizarre adventures—that is what our pastors called anything outside of the Baptist approved realm. Something ‘Worldly’ was basically something sinful and ungodly and therefor was bad and wrong).

So this may seem like a strange Segway in to what I am actually getting at, but I had a huge crush on this boy back when I was young and it started when I was about 12 or 13 years old and ended when I was 16. He was the same age as me, and he was the son of a pastor of a small church of about 20 people, mostly military families— we will call him.... D.... for dick...

I thought for a long time that I ‘loved’ D. I thought that ‘God made him for me’ (yes I really said that and it hurt to even write it). I really thought I knew what love was back then, but I was very wrong.

D was homeschooled, he didn’t have many friends and was also a navy brat like I was. So, naturally, we got along very well, and I would hang out with him at his house sometimes. We mainly played video games I was terrible at and he would always bet me. But I liked hanging out with him, so I didn’t care if I won or not. My heart for some reason was totally head over heels over D. And he liked me too for a while… or at least I thought he did… He however never made a move. I always thought D was just too shy, and didn’t know how to ask me. Any time I tried holding his hand, I’d chicken out. It was a stalemate. But this particular church did a thing where people had to court. Yes... COURT someone, not DATE (Courting is where you had adult chaperones keeping an eye on you two, you were never really alone. Ever, because apparently you can’t be trusted?). When we both turned 15 yo, D started a private Christian school. Being the awkward girl I was, I never told him how I felt, I just waiting for him to say something. Time passed, and I still waited and waited for him to ask me out.

But here’s the thing! He didn’t know the real me.

I was in public school, in middle school, and I started to become a weeb. Like a super cringy weeb that didn’t like anything else but anime—I was also kinda emo/punk kid thought I was edgy. (Yeah rock music was bad too, it was ‘Worldly’).Not a very good mix for Baptist I know. At school, I was one person, and at church I was another.

Well, being an anime fan meant I was exposed to a lot of things like the LGTB+ community for the first time. A lot of my friends at the time started to come out other than straight and that was very new to me.

During that time, I soon was starting to secretly question my faith, my understanding of my own sexuality and gender. Like, maybe people liking the same sex or both is actually not a bad thing after all (if you haven’t seen any of my works, hopefully you guys know that I know better that what I was taught—I am a proud fuckin’ ally! I still consider myself cis-straight, but some days I feel like I’m bi-curious, and that’s ok! It took me a long time to realize that, but I’m here now. Gender roles are dead and stupid.)

So here is the kicker~ One faithful day we had a guest pastor join us for a few weeks from another church. This mother fuckin’ nasty ass old white man from Alabama came with his ‘perfect quiet godly’ wife. Who badly ever spoke a damn word. She always just sat in the corner all ‘ladylike’.

—Oh!!! Another fun fact, I didn’t wear pants for a year when I was 10 yo becasue that was considered “cross dressing”— I’m dead fucking serious. My parents then decided after attending sporting events and stuff like that to drop that ludicrous lifestyle, becasue it was stupid. So, Outside of church, my family and I still wore pants and shorts and whatever, but in church we pretended that we didn’t wear anything but modest skirts, dresses, and long culottes. (That’s a little damaging…. don’t you think? Telling people your one thing, when in reality you're not like that at all??)

Anyways— I hated skirts, especially wearing them in the state we lived in, it was way too hot and I’d get chafed (these had to be knee length or longer btw). And of course that guest preacher would preach about the sins of women wearing pants, but I didn’t care. I wore them for so long, it just made me angry anytime someone would bring that up. I liked my jeans and I was starting to become a rebel teen who gave less than a fuck and started to speak my mind. Which was dangerous to that community…. Also I had a bad tendency of not keeping my legs together when I bent down, and one time I accidently showed my underwear (that’s really embarrassing btw, it’s not cute, it’s not funny, it’s awful when you're 14 yo-- really any age actually).

So, one day I wore a long jean skirt for a youth outing with the church. I was required to wear it, but I always wore leggings underneath so I wouldn’t accidentally show my undies if I fell down or the wind blew it. This fucker had to say something about it. The old man turned to me with a wrinkled smirk as I was passing by him and dared to utter, “Now, don’t you feel most femine and ladylike in that skirt? I’m sure Jesus would like seeing you like that.”

My shoulders clench up tight, my brow furrows. All I can remember seeing is fucking red and actually trembling with fury. (This was happening in my pastor, D’s father’s, own living room mind you.) D was there watching as I blanched about ten shades of red in anger and embarrassed because that prick of an old man called me out in front of everyone. I turned to him and half shouted, “NO! I don’t!” I could see my pastor’s mouth drop to the floor as I began to completely obliterate this old man. But I couldn't stop myself as I started to further cut into him. “—I hate wearing skirts! I don’t feel ladylike! In fact, they make me feel vulnerable! What if some guy tries to rape me! They won’t have any problem getting to me!—Why is something with a whole on the bottom more ladylike than something that actually covers me?! I like pants! They are comfortable and they make me feel safe! Why is that a sin to wear something that is more covering?!?! I’m not cross dressing, my mom bought them in the girl’s session!! [Keep in mind that was a long time ago, I don’t feel like people should care about what section they get their clothes from, wear what you want] And what do you know about wearing a skirt?! You’re a man! You try wearing them! They suck! You need to stop telling me what I can and can’t wear! I’m not dressing like a whore for wearing something with a crotch!! SO LEAVE ME ALONE!!” Everyone in the living room was just stunned at my audacity to dare speak to this pastor like I did. But he was so fucking quiet after that. And I stormed out of the house and the guest pastor never spoke to me again about it. Luckily my mom came and picked me shortly after that. She was angry too after I told her what happened. That old fuck singled me out and I was pissed off. I was a teenager and that shit was embarrassing!

But I made the mistake of showing my true self. I think after that moment, D stopped liking me after that.

Some shit went down south with my parents behind closed doors of my household, and eventually they got divorced. They left the small church because the pastor didn’t approve of it. Pastor said that my parents just needed more counseling but he didn't understand that they just needed to not be together. Sometimes you can’t make things work. Especially when your dad is a toxic piece of shit that only cares about himself.

Anyways, everyone in my family left the church, but I stuck around that shit-hole just to see if D would ask me out. I was so desperate, I felt like I waited forever, but really it was like 2-3 years, and I felt like I couldn’t give up. Eventually D and I turned 16. He started to become distant and a little mean towards me and I became confused and started to realize the worst. Finally, I was tired of waiting so I asked his older sister if he liked me on the way back taking me home. I could see it in her face, that she didn’t want to have my heart broken, but reluctantly she told me no. He actually liked another girl at his new private school and was going to ask her parents to court her instead.

I was so devastated.... It hurt so much, I cried myself to sleep that night, and most of that week I was very sad.

Obviously, after that, I stopped going to church entirely, I couldn't show my face anymore. Finally let myself question my faith, sexuality, gender roles, and humanity all together. And realized that religion was stupid (in my opinion at the time) and I came u with the conclusion that people can be sheep. I was a sheep for a long time. And I refuse to be one ever again.

High school was very enjoyable after that, and I let myself grow and started to love other religions and world history, and tried to stop being so judgmental of others and what they felt like. I even got into a relationship with a sweet boy around my age.

Eventually in college, after a break-up with my high school sweetheart, I reconnected with D via FB. Apparently, the church went under and his parents moved away to Greece to be missionaries or something. D still lives in the same town I’m in, but graduated from a “Christian academy”—not Catholic, Christian. Catholic colleges are accredited at least. But he basically told me he was a secret “bad boy” now. He lost his virginity in highschool, (like I did) and he was totally trying to booty call me. Not even hiding it either! He was like, “Hey, Llama, you wanna fuck?”.

And I was like, “D! You broke my fucking heart when we were young! Don’t you remember that???”

And he was like, “Oh no! I had no idea! (the fuckin’ liar). Well, we can fuck now!~ *wink, wink*”

🤨

This is where I was a jerk.... Because he broke my heart. I led him on, told him I would meet up with him at his house to sleep with him, and just didn’t show up—ghosted him ever since. The worst part about that, is I still don’t regret doing that to him. I hope I hurt his feelings and felt like an ass like I did.

So years have passed, I consider myself as a rather successful woman now. I’m 27, I consider myself Buddhist (I am a terrible Buddhist I know), I am an Occupational Therapy Assistant and I have a great husband (I married the guy I was with in high school). And he loves the real me—the crazy closet weeb, cartoon watching, creative, expressive, me! The person who also writes fanfiction about a romance novel and he is fine with it. Because he is a huge nerd too and we are both nerds together.

My husband is my best friend and I don’t know what I’d do without him. When I write about Rhemi and Muriel, I draw a lot of inspiration with our conversation we have and how relationship dynamics are and I think it makes the writing more authentic and makes them feel a bit more real.

I love my husband more than anything… So why do I keep dreaming about that stupid asshole that just liked the fake me? D was and always will be a total tool. He is like the basic bitch of a man. And yet I still find him creeping in my dreams and I try to cheat on my husband with him in them. I wake up feeling totally terrible and weird after them too. D is a terrible fucking person—the worst person you can be in my opinion—The kind of person why lies and tells people one thing, but hides the fact that he’s really just a nasty fuck boy. If you are one, just be honest! Don’t tell another woman you're a good christan man, when really you’ve slept with not just one, but multiple girls! That how you get fucking STDs! I hate being lied to, and I’m sure other girls do too! So I guess that’s why I do, because I felt like I was lied to my entire life. Then again, why should I even care?! Why do I feel like I still obsess over him? I hate him so much now! So why do I even care? Why do I still find myself stalking him on social media? Why does it even matter? Why do I want him to see I’m happy without him? Why do I want him to see what he could have had with me? We were just stupid teenagers! Why did I care so much? Why did it hurt so much when I found out he didn’t like me?! It’s been over a decade, and we didn’t even really date! Why did this affect me so hard? …. FUCK!

So yeah. That’s my long ass rant for you all… thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[inkskinned]

at 13 we are already held responsible. if our shoulders show in school, we are sent home on behalf of the boys who are distracted. we grow up like this. by 16 it’s your fault if you wear the wrong skirt, drink too much, make a mistake, what did you think was going to happen. you are responsible for not screaming, for being too much of a tease, for trusting the wrong person. it’s your job to carry the baby to term, to mother it, to suffer for nine months for something someone else absolutely did. but you got yourself pregnant. 

but men. god, it must be nice. nothing sticks to you, does it. when men do terrible things, you shrug your shoulders i’m one of the good ones, though, not all of us are like this. and you can say that because men is a big broad term and it’s unfair to use a brush under which a whole gender might be painted. women are liars, though. women just want attention. women make it up and try to ruin lives and are hysterical and never think about the consequences of their harsh language. and you all can look at each other and know you’re one of the good ones, even if you’re just mediocre, because you don’t think you’ve ever, you know, done something that bad. and it’s fine you’re still friends with that guy you know did do something that bad, but you weren’t at the party she says he raped her at (but you remember his snapchat), but it’s not like you’re him, and besides, it was a year ago and everybody lived. and it’s not your fault, and it’s probably just a misunderstanding, and you’d never say something like “women are whores” but you’d smile, wouldn’t you, and you’d nod because it’s a joke, come on. and it’s a joke, come on.

and when it’s your fault - and god! is it ever? - there’s always an excuse. you were drunk a little bit too. you didn’t know better. you were too young, making a boyish mistake. you were too old, from a different generation, you only know how to treat women in that way. you were angry, you were just fooling around, you were a good guy, not like one of the bad ones, you know, the black men or the brown men or the muslim men or the real problems with this country, amen. you’re a good upstanding citizen, and what, are we going to ruin your life with this simple accusation? no, we’re not, because you aren’t any of those things (if you were, huh, you’d be dead, you’d be shot by a cop or dragged in the street or lynched or kicked out of housing or in jail for weed or a million other things). you’re just a good guy who is being lumped in with the others because women, women are vindictive.

you spend three beautiful months in jail. or one. or a week. or you’re told by a judge the official ruling is no sex until marriage. or buckle down next time and really try harder for your swim team. and this is heartbreaking, god, you cry next to your lawyer while you are found actually guilty with no time served. does she even know the kind of stress you are under. how sad you are. how dare she look at you and ask you to take responsibility. you’re not a monster.

but god forbid you have a uterus and don’t want something growing in it. the judge looks at you from over where he sits. you’re 17 and an immigrant. and you’re going to carry that baby to term because he thinks you’re old enough to have good judgement.

it’s your fault. your responsibility. well, you should have thought about it.

[theartoflovingthomashunt]

GMH: Setting the Record Straight

Masterlists: [Hollywood U] || [Red Carpet Diaries]  || [Baby Hunt]  || [Love & Scotch HWU/OH ]  ||  [#HollywoodHacks HWU/LH]

The Last Duchess Opening Weekend (four+ parts)

>Part One: Viktor’s Wrath (PG13) >Part Two: Taking Back the Narrative (PG) >Part Three: The Red Carpet Premiere (PG) >Part Four: Just Like the First Time (M)💎 >>Weekend Warriors (PG) >>Good Morning Hollywood - Talking about Viktor (PG13)

– ��� –

Characters: Alex (MC), Leland St. James, Chazz Javellana, Thomas Hunt

Setting: This takes place immediately after Red Carpet Diaries Book 2. The Last Duchess has opened in theatres and beat Double Agent at the opening weekend box office. Alex (MC) has told the press about Viktor. Leland St. James asked Alex to come on Good Morning Hollywood to talk more about what happened. She has accepted. Thomas and Alex are dating–their friends know, but they are not public yet. 

Rating/TW: PG-13 (due to the rape allegations)

– – –

“My guest today needs little introduction, she stole our hearts as The Last Duchess and her bravery to come forward has led to the ousting of one of this city’s most vile members. Please join me in welcoming my forever Woman Crush Wednesday, Alex!” Leland stood and led a round of applause.

Alex smiled and waved to the audience as she made her way to the chair next to Leland’s desk. “Thank you for having me, Leland! I’m so excited to be back here so soon! Twice in one month!”

“Last time you were here, I predicted you would be a box office queen and now you are!!!! All hail Queen Alex!!!! Congratulations on the success of The Last Duchess. The film is AMAZING!!! Don’t forget to thank me when you accept your awards for best lead actress!” Leland teased with a sly wink. 

“I think I speak for everyone at The Last Duchess when I say thank you to everyone who came out to support our film this past weekend. We made the film quickly with a small budget, but I think everyone’s hard work and dedication to the project really came through on screen,” Alex beamed as she remembered all the long, but rewarding days of filming.

“Don’t be so modest,” Leland interrupted. “The Last Duchess didn’t just do well, it SLAYEDDD at both the domestic and international box offices. It’s the number one film across the globe and everyone is talking about it and you! Speaking of which, can we all just take a moment to appreciate this.” He held up a photo of Alex, Chris, and Thomas from the Red Carpet Premiere. “Can we just talk about that crown for a minute, Queen Alex?”

Alex blushed as she studied the photo, but for a different reason than the tiara. She knew why Thomas’s eyes smiled, despite his best attempts to keep his apathetic expression. 

“The crown was so beautiful,” Alex maveled, resting a modest hand over her heart. “I was in awe that the people of Cordonia would trust me with such a valuable item, if only for one evening. Our time filming there was some of the best moments of my life. It is truly a remarkable country. I hope to have the chance to visit again soon!”

“As much as I’d love to spend our time talking about more pleasant things,” Leland said hesitantly. “I know that isn’t why you decided to come here today.”

Alex nodded.

“Then, let’s just get straight to it,” Leland suggested. “Over the past several months there have been numerous reports about you in the press, many of them negative. I know prior to the release of The Last Duchess, you had tried not to address many of these stories. You and I talked before the show and I think you are ready to set the record straight?”

“I try not to address tabloid gossip. I feel it only gives the original story more attention,” Alex explained. “However, I feel like I need to tell my side of the story now that I have a platform to do so. Several months ago, there were reports that I had bullied students in high school. That is simply not true, nor was my supposed social media replies. I was locked out of all my social media accounts for weeks. I didn’t retain access to my accounts until after I was fired from Double Agent. The reports that I traded sex for favors on-set are also not true. All of these reports were made by Viktor in hopes of controlling me.”

“Viktor Montmartre,” Leland interjected.“As we know now, Viktor tried to force himself on you and many other women.”

“Right,” Alex responded. She took a deep breath and continued. “When I said no and I escaped him, he promised to ruin me until I behaved for him.”

“The negative press wasn’t all he did to try to control you, is it?” Leland asked.

She shook her head. “No. It was just one part of his plan. The next day, Viktor changed the film so that I was no longer the lead. He took me off the poster completely. He had my trailer removed and replaced with a really old one that was covered with dirt, stains, mold... you name it. When I questioned production about it, no one could give me a straight answer. Later, Victor sent me flowers with a card that said “Next time, behave. -V”

“UGH,” Leland expressed. “How repulsing!”

“When we went to film in Russia, I was told I couldn’t fly with the rest of the cast and crew. I was rescheduled to fly coach. When I arrived, I was told I would not be staying at the hotel with the rest of the cast and was instead put up in a dingy non-descript place. I wouldn’t even call it a hotel. Honestly, flying coach and staying in less than ideal locations –all of this–would be fine if it were not meant as a punishment; if it wasn’t meant to demean me into doing something I did not want to do … Then, obviously all the negative press about The Last Duchess…”

“We know now that Viktor has been accused of more than 20 counts of assault and attempted rape spanning a couple of decades. With more women coming forward daily,” Leland stated. “Do you have any words for him?”

“I really don’t want to waste my breath talking about him,” Alex admitted. “He’s not worth it. He has no hold over me, not anymore. I just hope that he takes responsibility for his actions and spares everyone a trial.”

“Why come forward now?” Leland asked.

“I told myself that if I tried to come forward before I had a platform, Viktor would have drowned out my voice. He had already successfully attacked me in other ways. I felt the best way to address it would be to wait until I felt my voice would be heard and listened to.” 

“But, honestly, that wasn’t the only reason,” Alex continued. “I… I felt ashamed of what happened. For a while, I struggled with feeling responsible for it somehow. I kept thinking about what I could have done to have avoided it. Eventually, I came to the realization that it wasn’t my fault. Viktor is a predator and he took advantage of me. He tried to destroy me because I didn’t ‘behave’ for him. I imagine that I am not the only woman who has been assaulted that feels it was their fault. So, I decided that I couldn’t let him get away with it to hurt someone else; but also, I wanted to let anyone else who might have found themselves in a situation like this know… it is not your fault. Do not ever think less of yourself because of what was done to you. You are a survivor. You are an overcomer. It took me a while to realize this, but now that I have, I will do what I can to help others who have gone through similar or worse experiences.”

“Many of you may not know this, but Alex has been working with a sexual assault support center locally,” Leland explained. Alex shook her head in disbelief at his announcement. “Oh, Alex, you thought we wouldn’t find out? You are an amazing woman. Thanks to you, not only have so many other women been able to come forward and share their stories about Viktor, but you’re helping others who might not have the same voice. You are an inspiration!”

Alex’s eyes filled with tears. 

“Don’t cry yet! On behalf of everyone at Good Morning Hollywood, we would like to present you with a generous donation to be made to the center where you’ve been volunteering.” Leland exclaimed, cupping his hands around his mouth as he shouted, “Bring on the big check!!!! I just love big checks, don’t you?”

“Thank you,” she stammered at a loss for words. Her hands covering her mouth as tears streamed silently down her cheek.

“Thank you,” Leland stressed, before turning his attention to the audience and the cameras. “If you or someone you know has been assaulted, please know there is help for you. We have set up a page on our website with more information. To quote Alex ‘you are an overcomer’.” 

Chazz greeted Alex as she walked off the stage. “You okay?” “Yeah,” she nodded. “I feel... relieved.”

Chazz put his arm around her, letting her lean into him.

“I’m glad I got to tell my story,” Alex continued. 

“You did great!” Chazz said supportively.

“I don’t want to keep reliving it though,” Alex admitted. “I want to move on. I don’t want to do any more interviews about it. Is that okay?”

“Absolutely. I’m sure Leland will love the attention of being the only one with the story,” Chazz reassured her. “We’ll just send any inquiries about it his way.”

Alex smiled. “Should we tell him?”

“Nah,” he returned her smile.

“Thanks,” she whispered. “I’m so glad to have you back.”

“Me too,” Chazz agreed. “Not to change the topic, but I kind of made an assumption about what you might like to do after.”

“Yeah?” she questioned curiously.

“I had two ideas. The first was a bestie ice cream date,” Chazz nudged her. 

“That does sound appealing. I do enjoy ice cream!” Alex grinned. “And the second one?”

“He’s waiting in his car in the parking garage,” Chazz winked. 

Alex thought about the choices for a moment.

“I appreciate that you are actually considering this, but GO!!!” Chazz encouraged her. 

“Movies and ice cream tomorrow night?” she suggested. 

“You got it. Now go!” Chazz directed. Alex kissed his cheek and went to gather her things from her dressing room before going to meet Thomas. 

Alex found Thomas’s car and quickly made her way to it. She hopped in the passenger’s seat. “Ohmygoodness are you Thomas Hunt?! I am such a huge fan. Can you sign this for me?!!”

Thomas rolled his eyes at her. “I see you are doing well.”

“I am now,” Alex leaned over until her lips found his. “Thank you for coming.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Thomas admitted. “As always, you were exceptional.”

“You watched it?” 

“Obviously,” he stated, his hand brushing over her leg. “You are a remarkable woman, Alex. I hope you feel as though you have reclaimed your narrative.”

“I do,” she smiled. 

“Where would you like to go?” he asked starting the car.

“Can we just get out of the city and drive?” Alex asked.

“Any particular destination?” he questioned.

Alex shook her head. Thomas pulled out of the parking structure and headed out of the city. 

As the buildings of the city started to fade in the distance, Alex pushed the button for the convertible top down. She closed her eyes as she let the wind wash over her. Alex smiled as she finally felt free. 

Thomas smiled to himself as he glanced over to Alex, finding her in peace. He reached over and found her hand, interlaced his fingers with hers. 

Alex opened her eyes momentarily to gaze over at Thomas. His dark hair blew in the summer breeze, the ocean at his back, as they drove down the Pacific Coast Highway. For the first time in a while, everything was perfect.

– – –

Thomas Tags: (let me know if you would like to be added)

  @hopelessromantic1352 ;  @alleksa16 ;  @mfackenthal ;    @flyawayboo;  @alj4890 ; @the-soot-sprite

[1dandjbnews]

Beyond Belieb-f: Fact or Fiction

“You are about to enter the world of strange truth, a world where the line between fact and fiction is almost imperceptible...” - James Brolin (Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction), May 25, 1997.

Throughout Justin Bieber’s career, spanning ten years, he has gotten himself into many controversies and was the victim of many rumors and lies which a lot of people still believe, due to the Justin Bieber hate bandwagon. In this post, I’m going to separate truth from fantasy and open the minds of the people who believe things that Justin Bieber never did.

I hope this thread will help people with how they view Justin and hopefully be able to generally separate what is true from what is false when it comes to everyday life too.

1. “Justin Bieber said rape happens for a reason”.

FALSE: This one was a misquote by Rolling Stone Magazine, in Justin’s interview with them in January 2011, when asked about politics. Bieber’s original quote is “Well, I think that's really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I don't know how that would be a reason. I guess I haven't been in that position, so I wouldn't be able to judge that.”. This interview was when Justin was still 16 and back then, he barely had any real knowledge of politics or serious matters such as listed above.

2. “Justin Bieber wrote in the guest book at the Anne Frank house that he hoped she would have been a Belieber”.

TRUE: While this event took place and Justin did write “Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.”, the media and his haters over exaggerated his comment. The Anne Frank museum staff did defend Justin by saying “His comments were quite innocent, he was here for more than hour and interested in Anne Frank's life, and that for us is the most important thing.”. Unfortunately, Justin’s comments in the guest book can still be twisted or taken the wrong way by small-minded people who want a reason to hate him.

3. “ When asked to try being a vegan, he gagged and spat out a vegan steak that had been specially ordered for him“.

FALSE: This one only has two sources and was most likely invented by a writer to victimize vegans and slander Justin.

4. “He makes fans pay tons of money, even though he can afford all the tickets be 50 bucks instead of 100+ for mezzanine seats”.

For the Believe tour, ticket prices were:

Lower Level Seating $36.00 - $86.00 $47.25 - $101.45 w/ Ticketmaster fees

Upper Level Seating $36.00 - $76.00

Also, Justin isn’t in charge of how much his tickets cost, it’s management who’s in charge.

5. “He went to a children’s hospital in England and was talking to the nurse who was working there when Justin Bieber visited the hospital. He made them clear an area for him so he didn’t have to wait around near the sick children, he then spent about 5 minutes with them while the cameras were on and left without so much as a thank you”.

FALSE: This tale NEVER took place. There is no photos or evidence of him going to that hospital in England and he never attacked any photographers (at said hospital). Usually, Justin will spend quite a lot of time with sick kids

6. “He attacked a photographer at said hospital”.

FALSE: The only paparazzi scuffle that happened in England was the one video where a paparazzi pushed Justin’s bodyguard and Justin confronted the paparazzi, however, Justin was quickly restrained and went back into the van.

6. “He peed in a restaurant kitchen”.

TRUE: But, he actually urinated in a mop bucket, also, he was drunk at the time and many celebrities have urinated in places they shouldn’t, such as Hayley from Paramore (sink).

7. “Someone's coworker did security for him once. He faked a really bad asthma attack and made them call the paramedics and then laughed his ass off when they came through the door. His people talked the paramedics into not saying anything bc you can go to jail for that apparently”.

FALSE: This one was invented by a writer. If anything is partially related to this claim, then it’s an incident in November 2011, where Justin was rumored to have an asthma attack during an interview and was taken to hospital for it.

8. “He also called for a car to take him to the mall and didn't like the color so he sent it back. And then he went to the mall and stayed 5 minutes before saying it was the shittiest mall he'd ever been in“.

FALSE: Pure fiction! There are no reports of him ever doing this. This claim stinks of the “Justin Bieber is a brat” mentality.

9. “He's banned from walt disney world for punching out Goofy“.

FALSE: It’s a total fabrication. There have been zero reports of this ever taking place, also Justin has been to Disney World many times since this claim came out.

10. “Not only does he me make his fans pay tons of money for a concert, but on a school night, he didn't even show up until half way through the scheduled time“.

FALSE: It’s true that he was late, however, it was only by 35 minutes and not half of the concert duration.

11. “He's quoted as screaming 'Fuck Bill Clinton!' to cameras and attacked a paparazzo, who is suing. his mother is quoted as saying she's 'hoping he'll soon mature'.“

TRUE and FALSE: While Justin did scream “Fuck Bill Clinton” and spayed a cleaner on the picture (probably the cleanest Clinton’s ever been), many people disliked Clinton and him screaming “Fuck Bill Clinton” isn’t too different from how many people react to the current President of the United States (as of this post), Donald Trump (who, I, in no way support and dislike as much as the next guy). He never attacked a paparazzi during this incident.

12. “He spat in an old man's face“.

FALSE: Not an old man, but a Club DJ, but, this is alleged.

13. “When he went to Vermont, he was kicked out of every single business he went in. IHOP, Walmart, Hannafords, everywhere. He went to the movie theater and threw a temper tantrum when told he couldn't bring his subway sandwich into the theater, as it was against the rules. He then made a HUGE mess of the theater and had to be carried out by his bodyguard kicking and screaming about how they were all worthless monkeys”.

FALSE: This one NEVER happened. There is no proof or reports of this ever happening and the only thing that shows up when “Justin Bieber banned from Walmart” is searched online, is a meme picture. There was talk of Justin possibly facing banning from the U.S due to alleged involvement in a brawl outside a Hampton’s nightclub, but, as of 2019, Justin is still in the U.S.

14. “He randomly showed up to Disney unannounced and demanded that the entire Yachtsman Steakhouse be cleared- reservations cancelled and all- so that he could eat there. The staff had to call every single one of the guests to tell them that their reservations they had been planning for months were cancelled and wasn't allowed to give them an explanation. Disney also decided that it wasn't fair to their guests and gave them free dinner at another restaurant, which obviously lost them a lot of money and business for that night. So after personally shutting down the restaurant, Beiber comes down in nothing but a bath robe. Like I'm so sorry Biebs was it just too hard to put on pants and act like a respectable human being?“.

FALSE: Not a scrap of evidence to this claim exists.

15. “I don't hate him because he has a 'girly' voice or because he's gay. he can be gay if he wants (even though he's not)“.

FALSE: Not a real argument.

16. “I hate him because he's not a good person and he's basically the leader of a teenage girl army (with a couple of older women, teenage boys and older men, but mainly consisted of teenage girls). He can make them do whatever he wants“.

FALSE: This makes little to no sense. Justin Bieber is a musician, not a political leader. Not ONCE has he ever forced his fans to do something he wants. Also, there are many people who have done MUCH worse than Justin has, yet have gotten away with it, managed to slip under the radar and still have huge amounts of support.

17. “He made some of his more 'devoted' fans cut their hair off because some internet trolls 'leaked' that he had cancer, and asked his fans to shave their heads to show their support. A lot of them did“.

FALSE: This was a 4Chan prank and Justin is not responsible for it.

18. “More internet trolls leaked that he had been smoking weed which made a lot of his fans CUT THEMSELVES (which is a serious problem) to stop him from smoking weed under the hashtag '#cutforbieber?' or '#cuttingforbieber?' Those weren't his decision, but he didn't make an attempt to stop them, he didn't deny the rumors, he just let them carry on cutting and turning it into a joke, thinking it was funny that people did these things because of him”.

FALSE: Another 4Chan prank! Once again, Justin is not responsible for this. Also, the best thing he did was stay silent about it, because if he had responded, more of these pranks would have happened and would have gotten to Justin one day.

17. “Justin Bieber spat on fans”.

FALSE: It’s an urban legend, that never happened! The Internet and TMZ went bananas over a picture of Justin spitting off of a balcony into a bush and with Justin often stating how he loves his fans, a claim about him spitting on them would make headlines and it did. The picture of the fans crying is from 2011, which was superimposed into a picture of Justin spitting off of a balcony.

18. “Justin Bieber was a huge brat on TV shows“.

FALSE: These are claims. In 2011, Marg Helenberger claims Justin punched a cake and locked a producer in a closet, but, unfortunately, nothing about this has come up since. In 2010, David Koch of Sunrise (Australian morning news show) also accused Justin for swearing at a floor manager for touching him (to direct him to where he had to go), but if this did happen, then Justin isn’t wrong for calling out a grown man touching him (what 16-year old would want a grown man touching them?).

19. “Justin Bieber  said that he doesn’t believe in abortions“.

TRUE: This took place in 2011, during an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. In Justin’s defense, this was 2011 and back then, a lot of people were still pro-life and Justin had grown up in a Christian household. Since times have changed and we are more progressed, many people’s views have changed.

20. “Justin Bieber has made racist jokes and said the N-word multiple times”.

TRUE: There are thousands of reports of these events happening. While his racist jokes and comments were wrong (and still are), he was 15/16 and uneducated at the time, apologized and has since acknowledged his mistakes and educated himself on how horrible racism is, and now shows support to the Black Lives Matter movement.

21. “Justin Bieber punched a fan in the face, made that fan BLEED“.

FALSE: This was not a fan, but a stalker. Justin did punch him, but, only as a means of self defense. How else are you going to react if someone is invading your personal space? Also, Justin most likely felt threatened by the guy putting his hand through the window.

22. “Justin Bieber has been done for drunk driving“.

FALSE: The drunk driving charges against him were over exaggerated and he was below the legal limit.

23. “Justin Bieber eggs his neighbors“.

TRUE: He egged his neighbors ONCE, but, that was due to possible harassment prior to the incident. The thing is, the victims seem to still be whining about the incident (”GIVE ME MONEY! I’M A VICTIM!”), long after it took place and Justin had served his punishment for the incident.

24. “Justin Bieber made jokes about Prince’s death with petty Instagram comments“.

FALSE: Justin simply commented “Well not the last greatest living performer”, responding to a Instagram post that said Prince was the “last greatest living performer”, unfortunately, people took it the wrong way, twisted Justin’s words and accused him of being egotistical. However, Justin was most likely saying that other artists such as Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Beyoncé, Madonna and Barry Manilow were still alive and not every legend was gone.

25. “Justin Bieber throws tantrums on stage with him just ending up leaving the concert“.

TRUE: However, not as bad as you may think. A lot of these incidents were due to disrespectful fans not listening to him when he told them not to scream, clap off beat or throw water on stage. These can all distract him from playing, singing and can even put his life in danger (if he slips on water he doesn’t know is on stage).

26. “Justin Bieber threatens his neighbors“.

FALSE: There is no solid proof to support these claims. It’s a well known fact to demonize someone when someone else is doing it.

27. “Justin Bieber abandoned his pets”.

FALSE: He never “abandoned” any pets. If you’re talking about the monkey, he simply didn’t have the correct papers nor was he given them, also at the time, he was busy touring. The hamster was given to a fan.

28. “Justin has cheating scandals, he was horrible to Selena Gomez”.

FALSE: These claims are as old as the hills. At first, Justin and Selena’s “relationship” was PR, also prior to the November 2012 accusation of Justin “cheating on Selena”. Selena had been on the beach with Justin’s ex-friend Alfredo Flores, in various pictures where the both of them seemed very in love, this took place in July 2012. Also, there is video proof of Justin being physically assaulted by Selena in 2011.

29. “Justin Bieber hates Asians“.

FALSE: This is a total fabrication. Since when did he ever hate Asians, where’s the proof. He’s been to Japan multiple times and has been very welcome in Asian countries. There is one incident where Justin has mistakenly offended South Korean and Chinese fans by visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which he thought was a place of prayer. He apologized for this incident.

30. “Justin Bieber groped a underage fan breast at a meet and greet“.

FALSE: The fan was like two years younger than him and didn’t seem to mind. As of 2019, she has often spoken about it and still has no problem with it.

31. "Talks down to alternative/rock bands such as Linkin Park and The Beatles and said screaming isn’t music”.

FALSE: More like fans of alternative rock bands have been talking down to Justin, sending him death threats and sexualising him.

32: “Justin Bieber disrespected the Argentinian flag”.

TRUE: This took place, however, it isn’t as bad as you think. A fan threw it up on stage and Justin thought it was simply a shirt, he didn’t know it was the Argentinian flag.

33. “Justin Bieber is rude to fans”.

FALSE: He’s only “rude” to disrespectful fans who stalk him and get in his personal space, K-Pop fans would know them as “sasaengs”. He’s only called disrespectful fans out, that’s all.

34. “Justin Bieber is very violent to photographers/paparazzi”

FALSE: Not a chance! He’s lashed out at photographers and paparazzi in the past, but, it’s only because they’ve provoked him. Of course he could have acted a bit better, but other celebs have done much worse than Justin.

35. “Justin Bieber ignored a disabled fan”.

FALSE: The video is staged and was a smear campaign to get Justin hated (and it worked). The person who played “Justin” was YouTuber, known as Brad Souza, the disabled “fan” was a hired actor.

36. “Justin Bieber bullied Shawn Mendes”.

FALSE: Justin and Shawn are longtime friends and they were simply joking around. If Shawn truly had a problem with Justin’s lighthearted jokes, Shawn would have said something.

37. “Justin Bieber hates Anime”.

FALSE: The tweet was fake.

In conclusion, only seven and a half of these claims are true, the rest are all fabricated stories made up by people looking for sympathy (fake hate crimes) or created just to slander Justin and get him hated and unfortunately, it worked.

[dfpbetrayed-blog]

Modeling And The Tragedy Of Karen Mulder

The news that '90s supermodel Karen Mulder was arrested in Paris for making death threats to her plastic surgeon could be written off as, at worst, a punchline, or at best, the latest expression of an unbalanced woman's erratic behavior.

Karen Mulder was a blonde 5'10" Dutch teenager who shot to fame after a friend sent in pictures of her to the Elite agency's famous Elite Model Look competition. Within two years, Mulder had given up high school to work full-time for clients like Valentino, Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein, Yves Saint Laurent, and Versace. She made the covers of British Vogue, Italian Vogue, and various international editions of Elle, among many other magazines. At 21, she bagged a multimillion-dollar multiyear contract with Guess? She was picked as one of Peter Lindbergh's iconic gaggle of leather-clad biker supermodels in American Vogue in 1991, when DUMBO was still thought of as a little dangerous.

That's Mulder second from the right, between Stephanie Seymour and Naomi Campbell. Her career, still managed by Elite, flourished through the 1990s. Mulder capitalized on her wholesome look with commercial gigs, like her two appearances in Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Edition, and she became a Victoria's Secret model. There was a Karen Mulder doll, made by Hasbro. Mulder dated a racecar driver, she dated Prince Albert II of Monaco, she dated a real-estate developer named Jean-Yves Le Fur. They broke up, but it was still Le Fur who picked her up off the floor of her Paris apartment and called the ambulance in the winter of 2002, after Mulder attempted suicide by overdosing on pain pills.

The suicide attempt and the coma she would lie in for two days following it came after Mulder had told the press, "From the beginning, I hated being photographed. For me, it was just an assumed role, and in the end, I didn't know who I really was as a person. Everybody was saying to me, 'Hi, you're fantastic.' But inside, I felt worse from day to day." It came after she laid a formal rape complaint in France against Prince Albert. It came after she said, "My job distracted me from my worries. It enabled me not to be myself, to pretend I was someone else." It came after a notorious appearance on French television where her various claims — that men at Elite had raped her, that she had been coerced into having sex to garner better contracts, that Elite had used her and other models as sex slaves in a ring that extended through the top echelons of French society, implicating politicians, members of the police, and other top officials, that her own father had raped her, that she had been sexually abused by a family friend from the age of 2, that she had been hypnotized and raped, kidnapped and raped, and raped some more — were regarded as so potentially libelous that France 2 not only never aired the segment, but destroyed the master tape. No matter: In a series of more-or-less coherent magazine interviews, Mulder repeated most of her accusations, and added that her agency had encouraged her to use cocaine and heroin. She told the Daily Mail, "They tried to turn me into a prostitute because they thought it would be so easy. I was raped by two bookers. I reported them and they were fired. Another time I was shut in the office of [a high-profile man from the modeling world] for a whole day. All these people who betrayed me I used to love very much. Then I realized how big the conspiracy was. It brought in the government and police, who both used Elite girls. People have tried to kidnap and poison me." 

Her suicide attempt came after she was packed off to Montsouris hospital and heavily sedated for five months of treatment for depression and anxiety. (Gerald Marie, the head of Elite Paris and one of the men Mulder had accused of raping her, paid.) It came after Marie was filmed on hidden camera by the BBC trying to give a 15-year-old model £300 for sex, and bragging of how many entrants to the Elite Model Look competition — average age 15 — he was going to sleep with that year. It came after Mulder's attempt at a crossover music career resulted in the release of a cover of "I Am What I Am", which peaked at number 13 on the French pop charts in the summer of 2002. It was after recanting all her rape accusations, and explaining that she was in fact dealing with the aftermath of childhood sexual abuse and had "gone overboard," that the former supermodel tried to kill herself. Since emerging from hospital, and until her arrest yesterday, Mulder has kept a low profile. 

How a woman like Mulder, one of those people who journalists are always quick to say "has it all," could fall so far, so fast is not really the question that commands interest here. We all know this story: it's got drugs in it, and predatory older men, and very young women, and the abject self-consciousness of the individual whose worth is in her pictures. It's always more or less the same story, even if Mulder, with her recantations and paranoid stories of kidnapping and poison at the hands of a shadowy "they," isn't always its most credible narrator. It's the story of Wallis Franken, of Ruslana Korshunova, of Katoucha Niane.

It's the story presented in a 60 Minutes segment from 1988 that reported, according to author Ian Halperin, "about the many models who had been drugged, raped, and sexually harassed by the world's top agency owners." (Halperin characterized the segment as "shocking.") It's the story of the BBC's undercover documentary of Elite executives offering to pimp out their models for drugs. (This was seen as "alarming" and "surprising.") It's the story models like Sena Cech are telling when they talk about being coerced into sex by photographers and clients at castings and on the job. (These accounts, and model Sara Ziff's documentary that provides one vehicle for them, were described in the Observer by writer Louise France as both "shocking" and "surprising.")

What amazes even more than how little the story actually differs from telling to telling, how fundamentally the same its elements remain, is our capacity for disbelief. It takes a certain dedication to one's own credulity to insist on being "surprised," "alarmed" and "shocked" by a situation that has been the subject of interest from such under-the-radar media venues as 60 Minutes going back a generation. As a culture, we have so far managed, through every news story and blog post and exposé, to maintain an innocence of the realities of the modeling industry that is almost touching. Or nearly culpable.

Our persistent willingness to be taken aback by the notion that wealthy, powerful, older men, when left in charge of a younger, poorer, female workforce, might generally act as something less than gentlemen, is testament to the power the multibillion-dollar fashion industry wields as an expert creator of narratives. It's this attitude of disbelief that allows agency directors to claim they had no idea some of their models were using cocaine and that some of their bookers were dealing it to them, or that some photographers like to sleep with models and some bookers encourage models to go along with it. Our endless capacity for shock is what gets Karen Mulder sedated and lets Gerald Marie retain, to this day, his position as head of Elite Paris.

 The longer we keep up our charade of disbelief, the less the industry will change. One of the most chilling scenes in Sara Ziff's documentary, Picture Me, didn't make the final cut. A model was talking about a photo shoot that took place she was 16, with what Ziff has described as "a very, very famous photographer, probably one of the world's top names." When the girl left the studio to go to the bathroom between shots, the photographer cornered her in the hall. Then he started touching her dress. "But you're used to this," Ziff reported he said. "People touch you all the time. Your collar, or your breasts.

 It's not strange to be handled like that." Then the world-famous photographer put his hand to her crotch and forced his fingers into her vagina. The teenager, who had never even kissed anyone before, just froze and waited for the man to walk away. They finished the shoot, and she never told anyone. The day before the New York premiere, she begged for the scene to be cut.

 But more and more models are speaking out. (I have.) If only we can dispense with our "shock" at what they have to say, perhaps this is an industry where some realistic chance for improvement remains.

[rachello344]

I’m going to tell you all a story. I don’t really know who all will see this, but I think it’s important for me to make my position and my history clear, so I’m going to write it out anyway.  This will probably have some level of TMI, so your mileage may vary, but I don’t want to censor myself for this.  Includes frank discussions of sexuality, sex ed, etc. so it’s relatively NSFW.  Nothing especially graphic, but again, ymmv

This is... much longer than I meant it to be, so tl;dr: Fiction is meant to be a place to explore.  Being afraid of sexuality or intimidated by it is normal, but trying to control the people around you because of that is not.  The only person whose sexuality is your business is your own, and potentially your partner(s)’.  Policing the sexuality of other people will not give you anything more than the illusion of control.  Illusions, however nice, don’t generally last long.  Be kind to others, and be kind to yourself.

I started reading fanfiction when I was 12 or 13, which I think is about the average.  Everyone around me was starting to talk about dating and the like, and I wanted to figure out what they were talking about without asking anyone I knew.  As an avid reader, the only way I knew how to get contextualized information was through stories.  So I did what I think a lot of kids online inevitably do:  I looked up stories about sex and romance.  The site I was using at the time was DeviantART.

Any of you who have used the site are probably recoiling right now, as you should be.  I have seen so many terrible things written in fiction from such a young age that a lot of the stuff people complain about here seem legitimately tame.  But that’s not the point.  The point is, I was a curious kid looking for answers, and I turned to stories to find them.

I started with original fiction.  Imagine that.  A 13 year old girl online reading effectively hentai-style fiction about OCs she had no connection with.  I learned about my body through badly written dA hentai fic.  I figured out things that felt good.  I experimented quietly when my family left for my brother’s baseball games.  And then, at some point, I found my first fanfiction.

I’d technically written fanfiction of Sonic characters when I was 8 or 9, but they were all just fairy tales with Sonic and Amy as the leads.  I didn’t start with Sonic fanfiction, though.  No, the first fanfiction I remember reading was Naruto.  It was a badwrong Uchiha-cest fic.  I was probably 13 at this point.  I’d never watched Naruto, but I absolutely knew that those characters were related.  Morbidly curious, reluctantly fascinated, I read the fic.

It was short, but it was definitely hot, to my 13 year old standards.  I mean, most things were.  I was 13.  I didn’t exactly have standards.  And then I realized:  If this exists, shouldn’t there be stories with characters I actually know?  Granted, I still read SasuNaruSasu fic because it was SO easy to find--I preferred Naruto topping at the time, but now I’d go back and forth, I think, I just hated the characterization of bottom!Naruto--but I also discovered slash for things I actually knew.  Sonadow was a revelation.

It does not escape me that I got my start in fanfiction reading incest and furry porn, btw.  I mentioned earlier that I was curious, and that was my driving force.  I wanted to see where the limits were.  I would read anything.  And then once I figured out the tags, I could look for the things I liked and avoid the things I didn’t.  I didn’t much care for a lot of things where romance was concerned, but for a PWP those limits evaporated like rain in the desert.  And through this process, I developed standards.  Things I will read, things I won’t, writing styles I prefer, things that I won’t read no matter how well written, writing unskilled enough that I wouldn’t touch it regardless of the kink depicted.  And on and on and on.

I feel like it bears mentioning that the demographic of my junior high and high school was predominantly Mormon and Fundamentalist.  Not all, but a significant number.  We were mostly white, mostly well-off.  I was in as much of a bubble as I could be.  But that meant that until my friends started coming out in high school, I didn’t know any queer people IRL.  I had one friend, Avery, who told me she was Bi in eighth grade, but until about tenth grade, she was the only one who’d told me.

Our sex ed was abstinence only.  Heteronormative and absolutely the kind of thing that we all speak out against.  There were no websites that I could find with reliable info.  I was using google image searches to figure out what genitalia looked like, and I wish I were kidding.  All I’d ever seen was stuff with diseases and sores.  I was told that a girl who has a lot of sex is like an old pair of gym shoes.  I was told that boys will be boys.  I was not told that boys could love boys or girls could love girls.  I was told “Just say no,” instead of any kind of way to tell when it was safe for me to say Yes.

Luckily I wasn’t interested in sex for me, personally.  I was interested in it intellectually.  I wanted to know how it worked, why people chose to do it, what it might feel like, what kinds of sex you could have.  I was arming myself with knowledge in case I ever needed it.

When I was 15, I stumbled on a kinkster’s blog.  She was a writer, and she specialized in BDSM practices and culture, specifically in explaining it to the uninitiated.  I was too young to be there, but the information I got was invaluable.  Again, scarleteen might have existed?  But I’d certainly never found it.  This was the first time I saw someone talking about consent, about condoms and dental dams, about safe words.

It was life changing.  I read her blog avidly.  I spent about three weeks there, researching BDSM.  When I found something that seemed interesting, I’d return to deviantART to see if I could find it in story form.  I’d google terms I wasn’t familiar with or cross check online.  I googled so many things that it’s lucky that my parents let me have my own computer (an old desktop from my dad’s boss).  It’s even luckier that my parents generally let me have free reign.

When I was 17, I found the word Asexual.  It was the best word I’d seen for how I was feeling.  Sex positive asexual.  “It would be fine if it happened, but chastity isn’t exactly a punishment.”  I could make do on my own without much trouble, and I didn’t really like any boys.  Not like that.  (Whether or not I ever liked girls, I’m still trying to puzzle out.)

What I’m trying to say is that my best online experiences were via kinksters.  Fic at the time did NOT go into safer sex details.  They were either implied, glossed over, or outright ignored.  Fantasy doesn’t need to jive with reality, so it’s hardly wrong of them to ignore it.  But that information was truly incredible to me.

And I know I’m an odd case.  Someone who’d never felt sexual attraction to her knowledge researching every kind of sex under the sun sounds strange, I know.  But I’ve always been a researcher.  When I come across something I don’t understand, I look it up.

I guess, the point I was trying to make is that... for me, without all the “bad” erotica and porn, without kinksters, without slash ships, I never would have figured things out for myself.  I had no sexual education to speak of, no context for anything I did no, no one to talk to, and I definitely didn’t have any queer role models or examples in media or in my real life.  The first time I met a lesbian was when I was 13; she was my gym teacher.  And she was the absolute first queer person I ever knew about.  And until college, I’d never met another queer adult that I knew of.  Never.

We had a gay straight alliance in high school, but I didn’t want to get involved.  The cultural climate wasn’t outright homophobic, but I’d learned to keep my head down for being “too much” a feminist.  Like hell was I going to put a target on my back.  I doubt I would have been bullied--no one had come after me yet--but I didn’t really want to tempt fate either.  I stood up for the people around me, and I called it good.

When I hear people say “Kink is unhealthy and glorifies abuse” I think back on my sex ed, on learning that women who sleep around are dirty.  I think about the first time I ever even heard about consent being on a blog about a woman who loved BDSM.  When I hear people say “X fic trope condones Y behavior” I think back on the absolute sewage that I was reading as a young teen.  It’s safe to say that I’ve read just about every kink there is.  I read vore on accident by the time I was 15.  And I didn’t even remember it until I had a visceral flashback to it about a year ago when the jokes first started getting popular.  And despite all of the abuse and rape and badwrong incestuous fic that I’ve read, never once have I knowingly harmed another person.  And that makes the arguments feel a little odd.  Like “violent video games make teens more violent,” the argument that violent erotica and porn makes teens more violent is absurd.

So, for those of you still reading, if you promote anti-shipping or kink critical anything, I think you should look at it a little more closely.  Do some more reading on the other side, within your limits.  Do your own research and figure out where you stand.  I know that sex can be intimidating and scary, especially when you’re young, but something can be scary without being harmful.  Only you know your limits, but there are plenty of places to do research that have reliable information.  I’d be happy to help you find them.  For general sex ed, scarleteen is definitely my go-to.

Policing other people’s sexualities is not the way to make things feel safe again.  I know it seems like a suitable answer, and it makes you feel like you have power and safety, but think about how you feel when people tell you what you are and aren’t allowed to like or do or feel.  Think about how you feel when people accuse you of all kinds of things simply because your views are different.  That’s what anti-culture is doing.  And just because you don’t agree with someone doesn’t mean you have the right to tell them how to feel or how to think.  Because that opens the door to them returning the favor.

“But incest--”  “But CGL--”  “But--”  No.  It doesn’t matter.  If you know it isn’t for you, then avoid it.  That’s the end of it.  Do I think some things are weird or even kinda gross?  Sure.  But that doesn’t mean no one is allowed to like those things.  If that was the case, no one would be allowed to write fic where people have sex in a kitchen or otherwise involve food in the process.  That squicks me out, but that doesn’t mean people don’t want to get off to it.  I avoid the tag and move on.  Don’t waste your time on things you don’t like.  Period.

Life is too short to waste your time on things that turn you off.  That’s time better spent finding the things that turn you on.  And hey, tastes change.  Maybe someday I’ll decide I want to read people having sticky food sex (doubtful).  Maybe someday I’ll decide that I cannot read another tentacle fic ever again (unlikely).  I won’t know until that day does (or doesn’t) come.  But I’m not gonna waste energy worrying about what other people think about my fantasies.  They’re no one’s business but my own, and theoretically a future sex partner should I find one.

Fiction is for exploration, so explore!  Find ways to keep yourself safe.  Figure out what you need to avoid, and how to do it.  Find the things you want to read and read them.  Consume the media you want to consume.  And if anyone bullies you for it or tries to make you feel bad, you block their ass on sight.  They don’t deserve even a second more of your time.

[rapeculturerealities]

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Baldwin released a series of tweets comparing the accusations of Dylan Farrow against her father, Woody Allen, to be similar to the false rape accusation that takes place in Harper Lee‘s To Kill a Mockingbird.

“[One] of the most effective things Dylan Farrow has in her arsenal is the ‘persistence of emotion,'” Baldwin tweeted. “Like Mayella in [“To Kill a Mockingbird”], her tears/exhortations [are] meant [to] shame u [into] belief in her story. But I need more than that before I destroy [someone], regardless of their fame. I need a lot more.”

Baldwin followed that tweeted shortly after with: “To say that @RealDylanFarrow is telling the truth is to say that (brother) @MosesFarrow is lying. Which of Mia’s kids got the honesty gene and which did not?” He also shared a Sunday New York Times piece that discussed whether Allen would work in the business again.

Baldwin concluded with “If my defense of Woody Allen offends you, it’s real simple. Unfollow. Condemn. Move on.”

Now my rage about this is twofold. Firstly, trying to act as though Dylan Farrow is shedding crocodile tears when her story has been consistent over the years says more about Baldwin than it does about Farrow. I’m sorry that her story seems so unbelievable to you when Allen is married to his own former step-daughter. I’m sorry that seeing Dylan Farrow cry and show genuine emotion in her first major interview about this traumatic event that she says took place seems to you like a “persistence of emotion.” But how sad for you that you are so willing to dismiss a woman’s pain because it is inconvenient for you to give up some sorry idolization for Woody Allen.

In another tweet, Baldwin said: “Is it possible to support survivors of pedophilia and sexual assault/abuse and also believe that WA is innocent? I think so. The intention is not to dismiss or ignore such complaints. But accusing ppl of such crimes should be treated carefully. On behalf of the victims, as well.”

Really? What more exactly do you need to believe Farrow? Furthermore both Moses and Dylan can be correct. Both of them could have suffered about from different parents and had different experiences with their parent of choice. That is not uncommon, and if you did even an iota of research about sexual abuse that takes place within families you’d know that. Breaking it all down to an “honesty gene” and making it about “Mia’s kids” ignores that Allen was their parent too. Just because you want to work with Woody Allen again, doesn’t mean you have to call Dylan Farrow a liar.

How can you stand with survivors while ignoring the fact that most survivors of this type of molestation were molested by someone within their own family, while dismissing that Woody Allen, by being Farrow’s father, would have that type of access to her?

Secondly, and I’ll admit that part that makes my blood boil even hotter, is the comparison between a black man who gets sentenced to jail due to racism and the false testimony of a white woman to what is happening to Woody Allen.

Woody Allen is not going to jail, in fact, he can’t be for what he did to Farrow because of the statute of limitations. Woody Allen is also not at risk of being lynched by an angry mob. And most importantly, what is happening to Woody Allen isn’t happening to him because of his race, ethnicity, or religion.

While To Kill a Mockingbird is a work of fiction, the reality of the hundreds of black men who were lynched and towns destroyed due to the false accusations of white women is not something to be used to prop up a man accused of sexually assaulting his own daughter! We may never know the exact number of black men killed due to lynching, but looking at cases like the Scottsboro Boys, where nine teenage black boys between 13 and 19 were accused of raping two white women on a train. Or the case of George Stinney, a fourteen-year-old boy who was sentenced to death in South Carolina for raping and murdering two girls, and was so small for his age, they had problems strapping him to the electric chair when he was put to death. It was was only last year that the woman who falsely accused Emmett Till of harassing her, an accusation that led to his death, admitted she lied about it.

To pretend that Woody Allen is getting even a fraction of the complete and utter destruction that was brought against other men of color, or minorities, is outrageous and insulting. Baldwin may have been referencing a piece of fiction, but it was based on real injustices that took place in this country.

If Woody Allen is guilty of what he has done, and I personally do believe he is and stand with Dylan Farrow, he has escaped justice in almost every way possible. People like Baldwin who use their platform to defend these men for the sake of justifying their own decisions are transparent.

Maybe playing Trump so much has finally gotten into his brain. Time to give the wig a breather.

[espytalks]

I saw a mutual fill out an oc ask meme, and I thought it’d be neat to do it with Knox. I’d do it with all of em, but these are a whole lot of hard questions, man, I’m not doing that.

1. What is one word to shut them up?

Any curse word, really. He has no patience for dealing with vulgar language. ALso maybe calling him unintelligent or stupid? But he may just actually try and prove he’s smart idf he’s actually knowledgeable about something.

2. What is the thing they feel the most guilty about?

There’s some people he used to keep in contact with but fell out of touch over the years. It wasn’t untill long after they passed that he found out they were gone. He’s guilty he stopped trying to keep in contact with them, especially one woman, who ended up creating Owen, actually. 

3. What is the worst pain they’ve ever experienced?

When the man who desined him, James, died.

4. Describe their worst nightmare.

Working his hardest towards a goal, sacrificing everything for it, only for something to happen and ruin all possibility of him ever achieving that goal.

5. List 3 fears; one “surface level” fear, one “repressed” fear, and one “deep dark” fear.

On the surface he’s afraid of swimming and the ocean, which stems from a subconscious fear of drowning. He’s also afraid of his closest friends dying suddenly, and experiencing the same pain as when James died, but he tries very hard not to think about this.

6. What is something that never fails to make them feel sick?

hmm I haven't thought much about this. I’ll have to come back to ya.

7. What feature (physical or otherwise) do they hate most about themselves?

Oh god, he hates that strand of hair on his head. but because of toon logic, whenever he tries to cut it it just grows back almost instantly. He’s also annoyed that he sounds exactly like mark iplieer, after kaylee points it out to him. It’s not that he doesn’t like the voice, it’s that mark has some pretty... colorful language in his videos, and doesn’t want to be associated to that.

8. Do they have anything that triggers them?

Strong language makes him pretty mad.

9. What is their greatest physical weakness?

He doesn’t have a lot of physical strength. he probably can barely lift a big thing of dog food on his own. He’s also a lot less loose and flexible than a toon from the rubberhose era typically is. He’s kinda stiff and subtle in his movements, which is mainly just how he is as a person, and he’s not incapable of being that way, but it doesn’t come naturally to him.

10. What is their greatest mental weakness?

Probably his intrusive thoughts. He’s also a lot less “wacky and zany” in personality than a toon from the rubberhose era usually is, and has a hard time grasping that mentality. Some people would probably consider that a weakness in him.

11. Do they have any vices?

He’s a bit of an alcoholic, and has suicidal thoughts.

12. Have they ever done something illegal? What was it? 

Uhm aside from maybe downloading music illegally, i doubt it.

13. Which of the 7 Deadly Sins best describes them? 

I’d say pride. He’s very proud of his accomplishments, and the things he knows and his talents. He’s not extremely narcissistic, but to some people he may seem that way.

14. Are they prone to outbursts (of violence, extreme emotion… exc… )?

I don't think so. He’s pretty even tempered, and would really only snap at you if he cares about you.

15. Who do they hate the most?

People who are very disrespectful of others.

16. Is there anyone who makes them feel inferior?

People who are more knowledgeable about a topic than he is, and people who are more talented than him.

17. What sound always gives them a headache?

...sounds can give people headaches? I didn’t know this, and I’d have to think about this.

18. Is there a certain flavor that disgusts them?

Uhm I’m not sure. He doesn’t like spicy food, but he doesn’t really think it’s disgusting, though. Maybe super bitter stuff? 

19. Do they consider themselves ugly?

Nan, he probably thinks he’s pretty handsome, actually. He might not brag about it, but he definitely likes the way he looks, aside from his one hair.

20. Do they consider themselves unloveable?

This one’s kinda tricky. He’s probably gotten love letters from women before when he was younger and more well-known, but he’s unsure about how attractive he’d be to a guy. He’s very uncertain about that, and he’s only recently started worrying about it because he’s only just now started accepting his own sexuality. He’s probably afraid that he is, but is hopeful that he’s not.

21. What is something that causes them great anxiety?

Being around pools and beaches, and really important meetings or auditions.

22. Do they have any mental illnesses?

He has undiagnosed depression, which he thinks is just laziness.

23. Have they ever been assaulted/abused/raped?

Fortunately no. 

24. Do they fear the possibility of being assaulted/abused/raped? 

I don’t think so. Maybe at one point, but definitely not now.

25. Have they ever been betrayed by someone they thought they could trust?

Maybe by Kay, kinda? He never exactly trusted her, and she didn’t betray him so much as ruin his one chance at a major acting gig. Other than that, i haven't thought of anything specifically.

26. Have they ever been seriously injured?

No, But it’s mainly because he’s a toon. They can handle a lot more physically than an human can, so if he was a human, some of the stunts he’s had to pull would have definitely killed him. 

27. How many times have they been in the hospital?

Probably not many. Again, toons heal surprisingly fast and efficiently on their own, and Knox doesn’t do a whole lot of stunts that would cause enough damage to him to send him to the hospital. (he’s not much of a stunt guy at all lol.)

28. Is there a certain type of person that disgusts them?

see 15. 

29. Does what they cannot see scare them?

I’m not sure exactly what this means? are ya asking if he’s afraid of the future? Kinda? he’s afraid of some things that are inevitable (like his friends dying in the future) and he’s nervous about not getting callbacks or anything, but no more than what people would normally be?

30. Have they ever been bullied?

Not until recently with Kay picking on him. 

31. Do they have self-confidence or self-image issues?

mmm no not really.

32. Do they have a bad relationship with their parents?

he don’t have parents. He had a good relationship with a lot of people that worked at the studio he was made in, though, as well as the mad that designed him.

33. Have they ever been in a relationship that didn’t work out so well? 

He tends not to hang around people he doesn’t like, unless he has to for his job. As for romantic relationships, I don’t think he ever really tried to date much. Maybe very early on in his life he tried to date a girl or two, and if he did it definitely didn’t work out, but probably in a “we should see other people” kind of way, and nothing especially negative.

34. Have they ever self harmed?

No, But he’s thought about it. Mainly when he’s cutting vegetables or something. 

35. If they could change one thing about themselves, what would it be?

I think he’s pretty content with who he is as a person. He probably wishes he could age. Other than that,.. maybe he’d like a college education, or at least a GED? He never had any need to get a formal education, and most people don’t ask if he ever did, so he can get away with it, but he likes learning things.

36. Are they in control of their emotions, or are their emotions in control of them?

I’d say he’s pretty good at controlling how he acts when he’s feeling certain emotions. 

37. Have they ever had their freedom taken away?

I don’t think so.

38. Have they ever been imprisoned?

No.

39. Have they ever been accused of something they didn’t do?

Not really? Kay does think he’s a pretty stuck up and snobby guy before she really gets to know him, but other than that, no.

40. Do they often blame themselves for other people’s problems?

Nah. What other people do is thier own business, not his. He may or may not be concerned depending on whether he knows the person or not, and what they got themselves into.

41. Do they get sick often?

Ha ya know what. I’d say yeah, kinda. Not like, all the time, but he probably gets sick a few times a year, like during flu season.

42. Are they comfortable with where they are in life?

He’s comfortable in the sense that he’s probably well off enough that he can keep doing minor acting jobs if he has to, but he’s ambitious enough to want more than that.

43. Do they wish that they could change their pasts?

He probably has a few things that he thinks about how they could have played out differently, but if you actually gave him the power to change it, he might be more hesitant to actually do it. He’s read enough sci fi novels to know the consequences of time travel.

44. What’s one thing they wish they could do more often, but can’t? 

Visit his friends, watch movies at the theatre, go to plays. Ice skate. A bunch of random things like that.

45. What is the emotion they most commonly experience? 

... I don’t know how to describe this emotion other than that emptiness that comes with depression. I can say it starts to become less common in his life after he starts hanging out with Carter and Kaylee and even Kay and Ken, and he starts having more good days than bad. 

46. Have they ever contemplated suicide?

Yes.

47. Have they ever gone so far as to attempt suicide?

He’s made preparations for it, the main one being buying a gun that he keeps in his room. He has a suicide note ready and everything. But no, he has never actually tried to kill himself.

48. Is there anyone that they would willingly kill? 

... I don’t know. I don’t think so, but I’m sure if he felt justified enough by it, he would. I have an Au where this is a definite yes, though, but he’s evil in that one.

49. If [name] was put into ______ situation, they’d rather die than live to see it through.

There’s some situations where he’d probably rather die, but I haven't thought much about what it would be.

50. Create your own!

Uhm I think i’ve answered enough of these already.

[kateofthecanals]

For The (Not)Watch: Episode 7.6

The Term “Jump The Shark” Has Officially Been Replaced By “Spear The Dragon”

I knew it was gonna be bad. I had plenty of warning. But I did not expect... this. Even the Sandor stuff, which I was lead to believe would be decent, was also pretty awful. There was just NOTHING redeemable about this episode. In fact, this may be The Worst Episode since 5.6 in terms of completely annihilating my faves. Sickening. Unforgivable. Grab the salt shaker and tea kettle and let’s get this over with...

So this episode really only dealt with shenanigans in the North -- beyond the Wall and in Winterhell. We open on the first of what seemed like 300 scenes of our wight posse shlepping through the snow and engaging in stilted, pointless conversation that served neither plot nor character development. They literally just pointed a camera at different subgroups of the gang and filmed whatever drivel they farted out of their mouths. First up, Gendry, Jon, and Tormund. Gendry is freezing his balls of while Tormund has a snow-boner and there’s the umpteenth conversation about how wildlings consider anything south of the Wall as “the South”. Tormund declares that “fucking” is the best way to keep warm in the North, and when Gendry points out that there’s no women for hundreds of miles, Tormund leers at him and says “We make due with what we’ve got.”

(Guys, remember when Tormund KILLED Rattleshirt for making a gay joke about him and Jon?)

This makes Gendry fall the fuck back, and Jon and Tormund immediately start talking shit about him. Oh, and also Mance Rayder. Yes, kids, this week, Tormund thinks Mance was a total noob for never bending the knee to anyone. Huh. Okay.

Gendry finds himself rolling with Beric, Thoros, and Sandor, and he gives them what for for selling him off to Melisandre and describes how she sexually assaulted him. Sandor, who heretofore has been looking for any ammo with which to give Beric and Thoros shit, suddenly hops fully on their side and ridicules Gendry for feeling bad about being raped and almost murdered. What. The. Fuck. D&D, please keep your loathsome “men can’t be raped just lay back and enjoy it” garbage out of Sandor’s mouth, k thanks.

At any rate, Sandor seemed REALLY interested in this convo. The scene devolved into the most crude version of “Summer Lovin’“ I’ve ever heard...

“Tell me more, tell me more, did you get fucked by Mel??”

“Tell me more, tell me more, was she naked as well??”

Sandor then gives us a little vocab lesson and tells Gendry to stfu because he’s still alive and that’s all that matters. Which was ALMOST a good point except for the whole your-trauma-doesn’t-mean-shit vibe. I refuse to believe that Sandor Clegane, at THIS point in the narrative, would still be a big enough asshole as to belittle someone else’s trauma. #NotMySandor

BTW, literally NONE of the principle characters are or will be wearing hoods or any head coverings of any kind. Only unnamed, expendable characters get hoods on HBO’s “Game of Thrones”!

From here we move on to Jon and Jorah, who had what was ALMOST the most bearable scene in the episode wherein they are discussing their fathers. Ned is brought up, as well as his honor, and no one calls him an idiot for it (!!!!). There’s even a nice moment where Jon offers Longclaw back to Jorah, but Jorah refuses. But this scene doesn’t work for 2 reasons: (1) Jorah suddenly thinks Ned was RIGHT to have punished him?????? and (2) Jorah openly admits that he brought “shame” to his family and won’t take back his sword because of that. This does not jive with the Jorah we’ve come to know, either in books or show. JORAH THINKS HE IS IN THE RIGHT. Jorah is a selfish man. He totally woulda taken his damn sword back.

Next, we take it to Winterhell where Arya is on the perch above the yard and Sansa (very gingerly) approaches her. Arya then begins telling a story about how Ned totally encouraged her tomboy ways because he was #WOKE and a total feminist ally or some shit (hahaha ok) and then says that Sansa probably doesn’t remember because she was too busy “knitting”...

Remember, Empowered Ladies: knitting is a “girl thing” and therefore STUPID and POINTLESS.

Things then take a ridiculously dark turn when Arya accuses Sansa of conspiring to kill Ned. And she totes has “proof” in the form of a letter Sansa was forced to write when she was 13 (but not with “a knife to her throat”, because manipulation and intimidation only exists in physical form, not psychological) and because Arya saw WITH HER OWN (blind) EYES Sansa smiling and clapping or something when Ned was beheaded. Arya claims that Sansa’s age is no excuse because LYANNA MORMONT! (Ah, now we see the TRUE purpose of that character...) Sansa tells Arya that she “can’t imagine” the things that happened to her while she was married to Ramsay, and Arya “Girl Power” Stark replies “I can imagine quite a lot.”

Just... WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS.

Rhetorical question, we all know EXACTLY what this is. This is D&D giving voice to every militant Sansa hater in the fandom, using Arya as a conduit for their OWN irrational hatred for Sansa, just to remind everyone who may have been starting to warm up to her this season why they hated her in the first place. Because Sansa MUST NEVER BE FORGIVEN. Sansa must ALWAYS BE PUNISHED for her mistakes. They are so driven in their determination to validate the Sansa haters that they will even sacrifice Arya and all her intelligence to achieve this. It’s fucking pathetic.

I really hope one day Maisie wakes up and realizes how she (and her character) was used in such a vile, petty manner. If she has any brains, she’ll be just as, if not more, outraged than we are.

Any-fucking-way.... back beyond the Wall, Sandor is lacing up his kicks when Tormund decides he wants to make a new friend. Sandor repeatedly tells him to fuck off but we all know that that only encourages him. Sandor tells him he hates “gingers" in an effort to cut him off, and Tormund muses that “gingers are beautiful. We’re kissed by fire. Like you.” Couple this with Tormund going on about how he has a “beauty waiting for [him] back at Winterfell” and how he wants to make babies who will conquer the world and I... just...

I WANT TO BELIIEEEEEVE.

I want so badly to believe that this is seeding something and isn’t just a shitty excuse to get Tormund and Sandor talking about Brienne. But then I come out of my coma and remember this is D&D and sadness takes over once again.

Speaking of sad, Tormund tries to get all Dr. Phil with Sandor by declaring that he doesn’t really think Sandor is “mean” (except every single scene since he returned last season where he’s mean to literally everyone??) and that he has “sad eyes”... which, THAT part is true! Sandor, of course, takes Tormund’s interest in his mental health as an opportunity to no-homo him, and here we get some actual dialogue written by two grown men for an Emmy Award-winning prestige drama:

“You won’t to suck my dick, is that it?”

“Dick?”

“Cock.”

“Oh. Dick. I like it.”

“I bet you do.”

“Nah, only pussy for me!”

Guys, this is literally D&D trying to make up for not seeding this euphemism prior to Bronn laughing about Dickon’s name a couple episodes ago. “See, guys?? Sandor says ‘dick’, it’s totally a thing!!” Amazing.

Anyway, kudos to Sandor for inadvertently pouring that tea over “Briemund” by ACCURATELY pointing out how Brienne looks at Tormund as if she’d like to see him mutilated. #OTP AMIRITE GUYS!!!!!

Our next vignette is Beric and Jon for a bit of pandering to the 3 people who still think this show is clever and that they are clever for liking it, when Beric points out that Jon doesn’t look much like his father and must take after his mother.

They then BARELY have a bonding sesh over having both been brought back from the dead by the Lord of Light, but Jon’s just like I DON’T KNOW HER and Beric proceeds to give the shittiness pep talk ever which culminates in the line that pretty much sums up GoT’s entire philosophy: “The enemy always wins.” Thanks for the motivational speech there, Beric!!

The party then comes to a halt as Sandor sees a mountain in the distance and points it out as the one he saw in the fire, and I’m just like oh sweetie that looks nothing like an arrowhead... But hey, give the guy a break, this is his first flame vision! Mel’s been doing this for centuries and she gets it wrong constantly! Sandor’s actually doing pretty good for a rookie! He then tells everyone “we’re getting close” because apparently he is the Moses of this mission...?

In other realms of D&D Trying To Convince Us The Opposite Of Something We Already Know Is True, we cut to Dragonstone where Dany ACTUALLY SAYS THESE WORDS to Tyrion: “You know what I like about you? You’re not a hero.”

Apparently Dany doesn’t like heroes because they do “stupid” things like charging into battle with both barrels and getting themselves killed. Hold that one under your hat for a moment, folks...

We then get more TELL than show when Tyrion tries once again to convince everyone watching that JON SNOW TOTES IN LUUURRRRVE WITH DANY YOU GUYS BELIEVE ME!!!!! The rest of the scene is just Tyrion being the level-headed one in the room because chicks be so irrational and hysterical amirite fellaz?? And “breaking the wheel” blah blah blah... Also, a reference to Dany having children, which follows a scene of the same with regards to Jon. WHAT COULD IT ALL MEEEEEAAAAAAAN

Back on the Tundra, it’s now a full-on blizzard and still NO ONE IS WEARING A HOOD. Seriously, these guys should all be dead. In the distance they spot a bear, and Tormund doesn’t even make a bear-fucking joke or anything (hmph). Although Sandor does shout “A BEAR!” which once again gets my SanSan senses tingling even though they shouldn’t... Anyway, Zombie Bear Attack happens. Beric sets it on fire with his flaming sword.... which, should have killed it immediately? No? This show is super inconsistent with that bit of information, so whatever, this time it doesn’t work I guess. Anyway, Sandor then finds himself face-to-face with a giant fireball bear and of course he completely freezes up. So Thoros (who also has a flaming sword now too??) jumps to his rescue. Unfortunately, Sandor is unable to do the same for him, and just stands there practically catatonic as Thoros is mauled. Much like Theon a few episodes back.... but I don’t see anyone calling Sandor a “pussy” today, do you? Hmmm, funny that... I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that Sandor’s trauma stems from something “badass” like getting his face pushed in a fire, while Theon’s trauma is gendered and “emasculating”. Nope, nothing to do with that at all...

So anyway Jorah comes in and finishes off the bear with, I assume, dragonglass, since one stab with a little dagger did the trick. Beric tends to Thoros while Sandor stands off to the side like

Beric cauterizes Thoros’s wounds, which of course Sandor has to turn and walk away from. After this scene it occurred to me that Beric and Thoros have the most well-developed relationship on this entire show.

Meanwhile, in Winterhell, what the FUCK is Sansa doing alone in a dark room with Littlefucker and why the FUCK is she telling him ANYTHING about the note and what Arya said??? She couldn’t stand to even be in the same breathing space with him all season long, and now she’s turning to him when she’s getting death threats from her sister?? Why didn’t she go straight to BRIENNE first??? UUUGGGGGHHHHH!!! Speaking of Brienne, LF creepily suggests that Sansa should perhaps send Brienne away in the event Arya DOES try anything, because then Brienne would have to be forced to kill Arya to protect Sansa (and vice-versa). I guess this is supposed to appeal to Sansa’s tender heart in not wanting to see her sister killed, which I can believe since Sansa does seem genuinely rattled by this stranger who calls herself Arya. But of course the haters will immediately think the worst, that Sansa will send Brienne away so that Sansa can kill Arya. Sigh.... this is what bad writing does, folks.

Back on “The Walking Dead” set, Tormund and Jon spot a small group of wights, lead by an Other, and decide to lay a trap for them. They attack, blah blah blah, and when Jon stabs the Other with Longclaw, all the other wights immediately crumble to the ground. But lucky for our groovy gang, there’s one straggler! Tormund cold-cocks it and Sandor body-slams it, getting his hand bit in the process (which has given rise to a bunch of ZOMBIE CLEGANEBOWL theories, jfc....). Jon tells Gendry to RUN back to Eastwatch to get a raven to Dany, and Tormund takes his warhammer before he leaves to fulfill a thousand new memes. The rest of the group books it the hell out of there too, including Sandor who has the wight slung over his shoulder...

Guys, remember when Sandor had a severe limp last season? Now he’s sprinting across frozen tundras with zombies on his back. While carrying a warhammer. Okay.

They all stop short, though, when they get to a patch of thin ice. They see a whole horde of wights closing in on them, so they take a chance and run like hell to a big rock in the middle of the frozen pond, thereby loosening the ice for the wights to fall helplessly into. Which... shouldn’t be a problem for them since they are ICE ZOMBIES?? But sure whatever, let’s just accept that they have a problem with water for some reason to make it fit the plot we want...

Meanwhile, Gendry’s still running!!! LULZ!!!

He ends up faceplanting right in front of the gate, where Davos rushes out to retrieve him. And that’s the last we see of him this episode. Was he okay?? Did he freeze to death?? We’ll never know!! (Until next week when he’s necessary again for the plot...)

The next morning(?), our gang is still on the rock, and Sandor (who had been sleeping against Jon’s shoulder, awwww) wakes up to the sound of the the wight screeching, so he gets up and kicks him. Then Beric discovers that Thoros has frozen to death, so he kisses his hand, promises him he’ll “never let go” and watches as he slips beneath the waves...

But not before Sandor comes over and kneels beside him and delivers a heartfelt speech about how sorry he was for not saving him and wishing he could have been stronger in such a crucial moment and--AHHHAHAHA PSYCHE he swipes his flask! Oh what you didn’t think our awesome Hound was goin’ all SOFT, did ya?? Yes, the same man who, in the first episode of the season, buried two people he hardly knew could barely muster any feelings at all for Thoros kicking the bucket.

So, a farmer and his daughter die because of Sandor, he feels bad and buries them. Thoros dies because of Sandor, he shrugs and steals his booze.

So they burn the body, which Sandor hasn’t the stomach to watch.

Soon they discover the Night King watching them from a hill not too far away. Considering what we will soon learn about him, this whole situation could have ended pretty easily...

At Winterfell, the Plot Convenience Raven has arrived with an invite to King’s Landing for Sansa. Eureka! So, she decides to send Brienne as her envoy. Brienne objects, saying it’s not safe for her to be alone with Littlefinger since he’s probably plotting behind her back (uh, DUHHHH), but Sansa insists that she is the “safest” she could be there at Winterfell. Which.... yeah okay let’s review...

Ever since she’s returned “home”, she’s gotten:

Raped

Almost killed by her husband’s crazy side-piece

Her claim usurped by her (non)brother

Stalked by Littlecreeper

Death threats from her own sister.

Yeah, this whole “I AM HOME, NOBODY CAN HURT ME” drum she keeps banging is getting weaker and weaker.

Anyway, Sansa tries to sweeten the deal by reminding Brienne that Jaime is in KL, because at least one ship ought to be saved from sinking, right? ;-P

Over on Dragonstone, Dany has slipped into her Elsa cosplay as she gathers her dragons for duty. (Y’all, what if the reason everyone’s been wearing black this season is so Savior Snow Queen Dany can stand out in contrast all the better?) Tyrion is pleading with her not to go but she’s decided it’s Opposite’s Day or something.

Back beyond the Wall, Sandor is bored and also stupid, which is a really bad combination. So for so reason whatsoever, he picks up a rock and throws it towards the walkers, which hits one in the jaw. Hahaha okay funny, dude, you got me, good one... But no, the idiot decides to do it AGAIN only this time it lands just short on the ice... thereby tipping off the walkers that the pond is frozen over again. FUCKING GOOD ONE, SANDOR.

Seriously, why is he even THERE?? What is the fucking POINT of him being in this storyline?? Literally all he’s done is get Thoros killed and started Wight War III. HE IS FUCKING USELESS. Which makes me SO MAD because Sandor Clegane -- the REAL Sandor -- is not some brainless, violent oaf, he is actually QUITE INTELLIGENT AND RESOURCEFUL. Book-Sandor would probably kick Show-Sandor into a pile of wights for being such a fucking liability.

Everyone keeps trying to convince us that Sandor has some BIGGER PURPOSE, but from where I am sitting, he is only there to fulfill the show’s “cunt” quota until they’re ready to pull the trigger on CLEGANEBOWL.

So then the fucking melee begins. At one point, Tormund becomes overwhelmed by a bunch of wights, and some even pop up out of a hole in the ice to try and drag him under.... SO ARE THEY WATER-INCAPABLE OR AREN’T THEY??? Anyway, at the last possible second, Sandor saves him, and it’s a super effective moment, guys, because up until then, we didn’t know that Sandor was actually capable of saving people!!

So, once all the remaining nameless, expendable characters are killed off, we’re finally able to unleash the DRAGON EX MACHINA! And then, it happens, the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the moment when Game of Thrones officially became the silliest nonsense ever pretending to be serious. Proving why he was the gold medal winner in Track & Field at the 283 AC Summer Olympics in Highgarden, Night King picks up an ice-javelin, and instead of aiming at the dragon on the ground with a dozen passengers not a few yards away, he hail-marys the bitch up in the air straight at Viserion, who goes down in flames along with this show’s last shred of credibility.Dany barely bats an eyelash.

This bitch has been going on and on for TWO EPISODES IN A ROW now about how her dragons are her babies and the only babies she’ll ever have, and she barely registers any emotion at all. Like... THIS WAS YOU MOMENT, EMILIA. This was your time to pull out all the stops and prove that your range actually includes more than a dull smirk. But no. Doesn’t even call out his name or nothing. I felt more emotion when I saw a wasp drown in my pool over the weekend ffs...

Anyway, Jon yells for Dany and the crew to take off while he tries to hold them off or something, and Dany hesitates until she sees Night King reload. So off goes Disneyland’s newest ride, and NK chucks another super-spear, but Drogon knows how that zig-zaggin’ works. Jon falls into a hole in the ice with a bunch of wights and is somehow able to survive. He pulls himself out, and all the wights just... stare at him. Until they don’t and start running towards him...

But wait! Here comes BENJEN EX MACHINA!!!

He puts Jon on his horse and sends him on his way as he attempts to hold off the wights, which obviously doesn’t work and he is torn to shreds. Cool of you to show up again out of nowhere just to get killed, thanks Uncle!!!

Back at Eastwatch, Sandor lugs the captured wight into a rowboat with the non-help of Tormund and Beric. He gives them a little nod and Beric says they’ll see each other again, to which Sandor replies “I fucking hope not” but he said it with kind of a grin so maybe he’s finally learned to love again.

Up on the Wall, Jorah’s trying to have a moment with Dany but she’s too worried about what happened to Jonnycakes, while Drogon seems to be the only one who cares that Viserion is now a dragon-kebab. (P.S. Where is Rhaegal?) Jon finally arrives and they haul him onto Dany’s boat, where they immediately tear his shirt off, because we haven’t seen Kit’s abs once yet this season and that is a WAR CRIME.

But if you thought we were out of the woods with this episode, you were WRONG.

Sansa is snooping around Arya’s bedchamber when she stumbles upon her stash... OF FACES!!! Yes, it’s literally just a bag of rubber masks. Arya catches her and Sansa’s like WHAT THE HELL, SIS and Jigsaw Arya tells her all about how she got the faces and what that entails and pointedly suggests that she could even wear Sansa’s face. Yep, just straight up threatens to murder her own sister and wear her face, because that’s a totally reasonable response to.... I don't know, knitting? Is that why she’s pissed off at Sansa? I can’t remember anymore. For her part, Sansa maintains her composure very well, but hey, she’s used to this I guess.

BTW, I have to point out that Sansa is wearing her “Bolton Dress” in this episode, which begs the question.... IS THIS THE SCENE THEY WERE FILMING WHEN THEY SHOT THAT STARK COVER STORY FOR EW???? If that’s the case, then.... wow, were we fucking deceived.

^^^ hahahahaha nvm

Another side note: Kudos to Sophie for effectively conveying, more than anything else, just being HORRIFIED at what her sister has become, instead of just straight fear or her usual blank slack-jawed stare. She clearly seems more worried FOR her sister than OF her. Whether that was her/their intention, I don’t know, but that was what I read, and it worked.

Anyway, NO, Arya, all you need is NOT her face, you would also need to grow about a foot, but whatever.

Back on the Love Boat, Jon wakes up (still shirtless) to Dany keeping teary-eyed vigil next to his bed. He apologizes for Viserion getting killed (I guess? that wasn’t entirely clear) but she says she’s glad because now she’s seen the threat and IT’S PERSONAL!!! He then calls her Dany, which she gets all gooey about and says her brother is the last person to have called her that. Yes, Dany, the last person to call you that was your brother, and now your nephew has, SO BETTER BONE HIM!!! Blah, blah, blah, cheesy cheesy cheesy, the end.

I’m so ready for this to be over, because I am so fucking over.

EDIT: I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT THE DUMBEST PART!!! Somehow the wights, who, again, SUPPOSEDLY CAN’T HANDLE WATER, did some deep-sea diving with Tyrion’s long-lost chain from S2, hauled Viserion to the surface, and was resurrected as an Ice Dragon™ for the NK. Done.

[dobe-and-teme]

rape isn't funny

So, since I don’t want to make a drama on the post of @vaporeonmaster, I will answer your post here, @caleidozkopie.

For anyone who is interested in the whole post, here is the link to the post I am talking about.

And a quick warning: In the following, I will talk about rape and rape jokes, so if you are uncomfortable with one of them, please don’t read.

I told you, right? If you find joking about rape okay, unfollow me immediately. But okay, since you replied to my post with such a rude and disgusting answer, I will tell you some things.

It’s important to understand the concept of boundaries in the online space. The point is, although someone’s post may move into your timeline, that doesn’t mean it was actually addressed specifically to you and demands your rebuttal. → You knew what I thought about it, and yet you replied with such a disrespectful post.

A person can feel strongly about rape and sexual assault; considering that almost 300,000 people experience some form of rape or sexual assault every year, it’s always best to err on the side of caution and assume they either had first-hand knowledge or know someone who does. It’s common courtesy to tread carefully in that case.

When a person is saying, “I don’t want to hear any jokes about rape.” it’s a very easy boundary to respect, and it’s shocking how many people feel the need to immediately storm that particular barrier in pursuit of some weird intellectual point. Is there anything more disrespectful than a person drawing a line in the sand regarding rape and someone demanding the right to step over it?

To sum up, when someone posts “rape jokes aren’t funny,” that’s not a challenge. A devil’s advocate is not needed, as if Hell were short on lawyers or something. That person is establishing a perimeter where they do not wish to have rape jokes spoken to them, and it is not anyone’s job to prove them wrong. Even if you feel they are 100% in error, they are actually allowed to be wrong within their personal space, and you owe it to people to respect their wishes in that space. It does not belong to you. 

Some people say it’s because I “just can’t take a joke,” or I need to “lighten up” and get “a better sense of humor.” My sense of humor is fine, but thanks for checking. 

In the United States, an American is sexually assaulted every two minutes, and yet people continue to think that making jokes about rape or sexual assault can be interpreted as being funny. It’s not.

Just because there is such a thing as free speech and yes, you are able to and have the ability to say anything you want and make jokes out of tragic situations and even people, it doesn’t mean that you should. It doesn’t mean that it’s right. Not every awful thing in the world needs someone to make a joke about it. 

The worst part about joking about rape and sexual assault is that there are serious consequences. Young men and women have killed themselves because of the aftermath of sexual abuse and rape. Around 33 percent of people who have been raped have suicidal thoughts and around 13 percent of rape victims will try to commit suicide.

Rape can have a severe and negative impact on survivors’ lives. Many survivors experience Rape Trauma Syndrome, resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a multitude of physical, emotional, and social consequences. Rape jokes could trigger emotional distress and even flashbacks.

Some people even consider rape worse than murder, because the victim “has to live with it”.  In other words, you’re better off dead because nothing can make life better than a lack thereof after you’ve been raped. If you think about it, sexual abuse usually ruins one’s ability of enjoying sex and intimacy. Not to mention that PTSD put one in constant fear of it happening again.

It’s one thing to completely surrender yourself to someone, it’s another to have it taken. Joking about it is no different.

Here is another thing: A lot of people accuse feminists of thinking that all men are rapists. That’s not true. But do you know who think all men are rapists?Rapists do. They really do. In psychological study, the profiling, the studies, it comes out again and again.

Virtually all rapists genuinely believe that all men rape, and other men just keep it hushed up better. And more, these people who really are rapists are constantly reaffirmed in their belief about the rest of mankind being rapists like them by things like rape jokes, that dismiss and normalize the idea of rape.

People who make rape jokes probably haven’t been raped. These people probably don’t even know anybody who has been raped. They don’t understand rape, because their only exposure to it is in a trivialized form used as nothing more than a comic device for a cheap laugh. How do you educate somebody so unwilling to be educated? How do you break down their years of false experience and replace it with even the basest modicum of understanding? .

Rape jokes are not funny. Rape jokes are tactless, and they are irresponsible. To you, a non-rapist, they may be just a joke. To a rapist, or a potential rapist, they’re a legitimization of their actions, under the guise of societal acceptance. To a victim, they’re a horrible reminder of an ordeal best-forgotten.

Here is something you should think about: By trying to laugh along with them, by trying to shrug it off, have you turned this into a laughing matter for the next victim as well? There are people in the world who are ashamed of themselves, because they got raped. And I’m just wondering, why? Why should someone, who got mentally and physically abused, be ashamed of themselves? The answer is easy: Because people laugh. By laughing at a rape joke, you are giving this people the feeling that what happened to them is nothing serious, nothing you should think about. You are playing it down, you are literally saying that what happened to them is not a serious matter. Rape is an act that disenfranchises someone, that makes them feel less than human. And by laughing at them, you are making them feel even more horrible. 

So please, tell me again how it is okay to tell jokes about rape.

[lauraramargosian]

Positive Celebrity review: What the show 13 Reasons Why taught us.

Positive Celebrity review: What the show 13 Reasons Why taught us. And my personal story.

Positive Celebrity review: 9/10

“Sometimes we have thoughts that even we don’t understand. Thoughts that aren’t even true—that aren’t really how we feel—but they’re running through our heads anyway because they’re interesting to think about.”  ― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

I was quiet when my father’s abuse ensued for years. That is one reason I’ve been irritated with critics and their thoughts on 13 Reasons Why. It’s more than just a Netflix original, the show is meant to teach, pain, reality, hidden emotions, bullying, crime, love, and relationships, especially, how badly people like Bryce want to change but are so confused they have no idea how to change for the better.

13 Reasons Why shares emotions that maybe you have never felt. Or maybe your the jock reading this right now who recently pushed someone into a locker.

Most importantly, the show takes a stand on “me too,” showing that even men are a part of this group. In fact, many women out there either falsely accuse men of rape (because they can) and get away with fake police reports.

Just because you didn’t live it, does it mean it’s not happening?

Truthfully, it’s not easy to talk about abuse at school or at home. Further, if we look back far enough my dad has spit on me for “being a tomboy,” and not “classy” enough to show off to his Romanian friends.

Maybe you think having a mop shoved up your ass is “going too far,” for a series, but it’s not and let’s talk about why it’s not going “too far.”

Let’s start off by a quick introduction to the show, Hannah Baker was one of the main characters in the show 13 Reasons Why and she is the one who left those tapes that lead her friends, her abusers, and those who loved her to the truth.

Ruby Rose: ‘Dreamt Big’ when she felt ‘so small.’

With that in mind, we now know that she takes each of the viewers through a whirlwind of truths, explaining the reasons why she gave up on life, shared secrets that not even I could live with, it wouldn’t be easy, in fact, it is never easy to share those open wounds with family or friends.

What did the show 13 Reasons Why teach us?

The show is based on fictional high school characters, and the series shows it’s viewers many issues that are relatable. Everything…everything from fallouts with friends, love, bullying, isolation, most importantly, the fact that it could happen to anyone.

Many can relate to using a smile to mask the pain we feel because life can be cruel at times.

Of equal importance, actions always have consequences, even the smallest actions we take, we will eventually pay the piper, much like Justin, Bryce, Clay, and the rest of the crew.

In addition, the show 13 Reasons why teaches us that there are definitely two sides to every pancake, confusing us, who told the truth, who has all the pieces of the puzzle, lastly, who to trust and who to fear.

Beyond physical abuse, the show 13 Reasons Why taught us that words are powerful. Most importantly, you cannot take back communication, it’s the one thing that cannot be reversed.

The huge impact words can have on others, don’t believe everything you hear because sometimes, it’s far from the truth, trust actions, not words.

Selena Gomez talks her show 13 Reasons Why, Disney & Rehab!

The show 13 Reasons Why takes us through each of our favorite characters, including the antagonist, giving us a feel for what happens inside the mind of someone who “rapes,” yet has no idea why they are so “fucked up,” as Bryce had mentioned in his recordings through different ways of expressing his emotions and truthful apology.

Throughout all of this, it taught us that communication is key and we should always listen to those willing to talk about the problems they face, as we all have a different trek in life.

Maybe you’re wondering how Hannah Baker committing suicide is a lesson for us to learn.

Let’s look at this way, Hannah’s first struggle, it was blunt, graphic even for some viewers. I don’t know about you but I have felt like Hannah Baker before, I was bullied in school for looking like a “little man,” and hanging out with the guys because they were my “bros,” and girls were overdramatic.

In fact, my home life was so dramatic, I didn’t need any of that other stuff in my life. The show related to me on many levels, including “me too,” I sure as hell would have stood up with the rest of those students had it been a real assembly taking place in my life.

Of equal importance, Hannah’s choice created such a ripple effect. Let’s throw down an example.

What if I had successfully killed myself in 2012 after I put my dad away in jail for taking a can opener to my head and punching my mom?

She likely would have ended her life as well, and the rest of the family would have suffered but because I was strong because the universe put something inside of me to never give up again, we are okay, we are happy, we are healing, which means one thing for anyone who can relate to home abuse.

It hurts, it’s temporary and you will take it as long as you decide but the moment you make the choice to put “the monster,” haunting you away, you will find peace, further proving that our trials are temporary and suicide irreversible forever, you can’t take it back and people you never even knew loved you, well, they’ll suffer.

It’s safe to assume many of you reading this have either been able to relate to abuse or know someone who has been abused at home or at school, or hell, even work because it doesn’t just “go away,” after you graduate.

This baggage, those fears, they all follow you through life. Most importantly, life is full of bullies who never grew up and there’s always one person you can think of at work or college that seems to have no love in their heart.

There is always one, no matter what job you take or what state you move to in order to “reset,” life.

That’s just another important fact of life that the show 13 Reasons Why taught us. Life is hard, life is blunt, life goes by fast so why waste it hurting others?

Hannah Baker’s struggle was a lesson, a cry for help that eventually leads to her death, which created that ripple from friends she didn’t personally know to teachers and parents.

The whole community mourned over her death.

Honestly, bluntly, the show 13 Reasons Why taught us endless things about life. Including the fact that every person (including you) have their own trials, barriers that slow us down or sadness deep down in our hearts, over something that happened years ago.

Backstories exist in every single living person on this planet. Painful ones because there is not one person immune to pain, not even “celebrities.”

“You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything. . . affects everything.” ― Jay Asher

For instance, Beliebers, you all know about Justin Bieber and his post about his past, present, and hopes for the future. But you likely thought “oh he’s rich, he must be so happy.” Well, so was Bryce and he came from a broken family. Now that’s a stretch because J-dawg has never raped anyone or bullied anyone to the point of taking their life.

We have all hurt someone, you are not excluded even if you’re reading this right now and thinking “not me,” false.

Beyond watching the show 13 Reasons Why, shouldn’t it be common sense to be kind, to spread love and to put a stop to any bullying we may see at school, work or even the most unexpected places like standing in line with someone who is racist and treating employees like shit due to their race or age.

The Last Letter to someone I loved, the devilish truth.

Critics are wrong to take the negative side and say “there is nothing good about the show.” In fact, they likely are in a lot of denial about life. They likely either never felt those emotions or maybe they were the ones doing the bullying, you just never know.

As a person who runs a positive niche, I am not afraid to say I used to bully someone, the reason being my dad bullied me, such a cause and effect, don’t you agree?

Fortunately, when I turned about 22, I apologized to anyone I thought I may have hurt and their response was beyond comforting, creating a friendship that should have existed than not just because I said sorry, the bullying never should have happened but when you get called a man at school and then go home and think the worst possible things about yourself confirmed from your own father’s mouth, it hurts.

Also, the show 13 Reasons Why gave us the perfect example of “different situations cause people to handle them in different ways.”

For example, you obviously know at this point I am part of the “me too,” movement and I didn’t give up but Hannah Baker did and so have so many other people in our real-world lives, whether it be rape, drugs or pure depression.

We all handle those treks so differently, our pain tolerances are different from the rest of the world.

However, regardless of the situation, we must always remember to be a friend because you truly never know what someone might be going through in their life. Further, not one friend of mine during middle school or high school knew about my home life but now I ask myself “what if they did at that time, not now but at that time.”

Research has shown that most people who bully are often dealing with their own battles at home, in their personal life. Justin is a prime example of abusive home life and it’s cause and effect on his external world.

He vented his anger on others at school, don’t be so quick to label someone unless you attempt to talk to them, seriously, just befriend them, give them a real reason to trust you and show that you care by being kind, you could not only save their life but trickle left behind had they not had a friend like you to come and help them out in more ways than you can possibly imagine.

With that in mind, it’s also important to remember that even though they are being abused it does not legitimize their toxic behavior, instead it will help you better understand, putting you in a place to help.

Lastly, do not be a bystander. Unfortunately, I’ve seen more fights uploaded in our new spawning generation than someone who has the guts to stop a fight they are witnessing.

Bluntly put, put your fucking phone down and do something about it, you can watch UFC if you really wanna see a fight go down.

People are wrong to say that the show had no lesson or no room for further seasons. Film and TV is about creating beauty, it’s about putting ourselves in front of that camera, vulnerable as ever and sharing with the world a story they may relate with and carry with them for life.

In my case, filming heals. It’s all about getting those emotions on the little or big screen.

To expand, the show 13 Reasons Why taught us to be a better version of ourselves than we were yesterday.

That my friends is called a successful show and we feel it deserves a 4th season, which is seemingly set up perfectly on the last episode of the show 13 Reasons Why, season 3.

Suicide should never be an option for a situation that is temporary.

If you are struggling, or know someone is struggling, remember you can always call and talk to someone who can help, further, you can approach someone and just be a friend. You never know whose lives you might save by being a friend.

The show attempts to stress these lessons and we’re not sure that many are looking at the creative side of the show rather than “that was too bloody.”

Maybe, just maybe it needed to be that way to wake someone up, such as a bully, possibly…

Maybe it was “too much,” for you but for someone else, it might wake them up and help them realize “holy sh*t I’m acting horrible and it’s time to change.”

Ditch The Label shared reasons why suicide is not an option.

Because no matter how lonely you feel. You are not alone. We are here and you matter.

Because you have a bright future which may not seem so clear, but trust us – it’s there even if you can’t see it right now.

Because there are people who care about you deeply – don’t end your story early.

Because you could save somebody else’s life with what you are going through now, somebody who in years to come, feels everything you are feeling now and only the words ‘me too’ could ever reach them. Be there to say those words.

Because help is available and millions of people all over the world have felt how your feeling and still recovered.

Because no matter how it comes across in the show, it is not glamorous or mysterious, it’s devastating to those around you

Because you are enough and deserve to be here.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is there to help and you can contact them by phone (Call 1-800-273-8255) or even chat.

There are so many options to seek help, if you feel that low and not comfortable talking on the phone, remember, there is also texting available.

Be strong, be kind, pick someone up off the floor and stand as an example to those around you, they will notice your love and it will spread.

If by chance you haven’t had the chance to binge-watch the show 13 Reasons Why then consider it. Maybe it isn’t your favorite genre but it’s a show that can teach you something powerful.

In fact, each of us will take something from the show, and it will likely be different for each person who takes the time to watch, listen and learn.

Have you ever been a victim? Feel free to share your story in the comments below.

Have you helped someone before?

Then, it’s your time to sound off because you never know who reads the comments, that alone can change a person’s life.

The positive vibes constantly flow, stay up-to-date by subscribing to our positive celebrity newsletter or follow us on social media.

13 Reasons Why | Justin Prentice Reads Your Letter | Netflix

The story I kept a secret.

Here I stand, listening to these letters, they hurt my heart because I too can relate. In the year of 2010, I was skating with a “Mormon,” guy.

He would sit outside with me and eventually made me feel as though I could trust him. One night at about 9 P.M., he showed up to my friend’s house where I was living at the time (my dad’s abuse was too much, so by the grace of this friend and their family I moved in) he asked me to come sit with him. I was happy, said sure and told my friend’s parents I was going to walk my mom’s fur baby. We walked the neighborhood but he said to me “over here is a shortcut through to the park.”

We got there and he forced himself on me, the words clear as day, “you’re going to be number 99,” followed by him sticking his fingers in where they were not welcome saying “you’re so tight.”

I felt like if I fought, I would end up dead, so I didn’t, I let it happen. And when he was done got home, took a shower, and laid in my bed crying. I never did report the mother fucker.

But the above is a picture of him was a picture of him (see still fearful) and hopefully, someone, somewhere in Utah will see this so I can go forward years later.

Walking back he knew I was upset and stated: “if you tell anyone your best friend will be next.”

I loved her, so there were only a handful of people who ended up knowing.

Lastly, at the end of the day, I would have never guessed this person I trusted would turn around and violate me.

As a virgin, I was absolutely destroyed inside and out.

You are not alone, thank you to the cast and crew of 13 Reasons Why for helping me heal, for showing the world what happens, for being genuine and turning this passion project into utter healing for many of us who watch the show.

To end, Christopher, you know what you did, I don’t know where you are, or what you’re doing, or even your last name. But I hope that one day all the people you hurt before me, heal.

The post Positive Celebrity review: What the show 13 Reasons Why taught us. appeared first on Positive Celebrity News and Gossip.

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