#as a way to justify legit some horrible abuse he did to one of the female protagonists and all i could think was: ''jesus fucking christ''

[darth-sonny]

remember when i said that prime wasn't in love with leo and was just obssessed??

yeeaaaahhhhhhh that part's changed now.....

(edit: cleaned up with better line work, a darker color palatte, and some lighting. i like it better like this too)

[grahambaham]

Controversial opinion, especially for any Jason Todd fans out there (I'm one of them), but I completely understand why the fans in, the 80' I think, voted to kill him off. Hear me out, okay?

Jason was at first a literal Dick Grayson copy, was legit given his backstory and personality with the name being the only change. And for a while that was all they knew about and, rightfully so, hated about him. Now I'm not sure whether he was given the whole Alley kid who tried to steal Batman's tire story before or after his death but either way, in those fans' minds, Jason Todd was just a boring replica of Dick Grayson and no one liked him. If I was alive and a fan back then, I honestly would have done the same thing.

WHICH IS WHY I HAVE SUCH A HUGE PROBLEM WITH THE WRITERS DOING TO JASON THE EXACT SAME THING THAT GOT HIM KILLED OFF BEFORE!!!

Jason immediately after getting brought back to life was a villain. He wasn't misguided, he wasn't an antihero, my man was a Villain with a capital V. He didn't protect workings girls or children from any drugs or anything, he just made one off hand comment to a guy not to sell to kids and that's it. One of his only interactions with any prostitutes is to mock her for her past and decisions that led to her becoming one. Bruce did not abuse him or attack him unfairly. Jason had not only tried to kill Joker or other horrible villains, he killed anyone whether they were rapists, or robbers, or petty fucking thieves and he didn't do it for justice or whatever the fuck but because he was angry and taking it out on everyone he could get his hands on. He stopped Batman from going after Nightwing after Bludhaven blew up with him in it. He blew up a school. He beat up Tim in his little Robin panties and was a fucking villain.

I love Jason. But I love him as the messed up asshole he is. Not as some misguided wittle antihero. Which is why I despise the fact that the fandom latched onto the completely inaccurate version of him, because the writers of DC had started writing him the way the fandom wanted and he is now irreversibly ruined. Aside from the already mentioned stuff, they made him into a copy of Dick Grayson (for the second fucking time) and Helena Bertinelli.

Helena is the one protecting women and children, the antihero that often uses violent force. She's the one with the reluctant sibling relationship with Tim. Jason was not Tim's Robin by the way, Dick was. Tim does not like Jason one fucking bit and spends most of their forced interactions roasting him so bad he has to buy burn salves. Also her personality was taken and given to Jason in some ways too, like her manner of speech and stuff, but I'm willing to let that slide as accidental.

From Dick Grayson, they mostly took his relationships, romantic and platonic. Jason slept with Barbara and Kori both, which aside from just being dumb as hell is also weird and creepy because Jason is six years younger than them at least and they knew him as a fourteen year old when they were at least twenty, and they would never date someone so much younger than them, they aren't fucking creeps. Then they took Starfire and Arsenal and made them forget their own lives to join Jason's little antihero team (neither of them are antiheroes what the fuck) and act like the sun shines out of Jason's ass and he's their leader or some shit when they would never follow him before that, especially Roy who has led so many other teams and does not deserve that shit. Some fans also ship him and Jason, which is both creepy and character assassination for Roy's entire character more than him being friends with Jason and in the Outlaws already is.

Also, Pit Madness is not a thing you fucking brainless losers. Stop trying to justify and erase the flaws that make him an interesting character. His anger has always been due to the trauma of being tortured and dying and the misguided feeling of betrayal he felt for Bruce. He was unwell and taking his problems out on others. So, repeat after me: PIT MADNESS IS NOT A REAL THING!!!

Thank you for reading <3

[theerurishipper]

I think two of my favorite double standards of how a certain group of Marinette stans reacts to the Paris special are:

1. Getting angry at Claw Noir for treating her badly (although he was ironically still the more empathetic one??) while simultaneously completely ignoring that Shadybug was treating him shitty too (cause, yknow, they don't take issue with Marinette treating people badly. She's always justified, can do no actual wrong and the world just needs to learn to cater to her every whim or else she's not treated "right").

All because it's heavily implied that Alt Marinette's crush was Claw (because he fits the criteria of thinking she's lame) but now suddenly the show's lesson that Adrichat's crush on Ladybug isn't in any way her problem somehow doesn't apply in reverse for her stans. Because of COURSE it doesn't, it's Maribug. Now suddenly Altrien is awful for not treating his rival well (who isn't treating him well either but tahts fine of course) and being immediately in love with Shadybug and being a gentleman, since here Alt Marinette wanted it and needed someone to take care of her.

Somehow Adrien/ Claw is the irrational asshole in all that bc Altinette had a secret crush on him and that means it's his responsibility by default, in some of her stans eyes, to take whatever treatment she puts him through without complaining but also be perfect towards her like Adrichat in s5 who had to cuddle her into her important trauma development and basically do all the emotional work in the love square.

2. Not only saying that Altinette had it "so much worse" than Altrien when they literally went through the same miraculous horror, Adrien as per usual gets barely any sympathy for his backstory from her fans even though his main problem (His father and dead mother) is actually depicted on screen in the special to explore it a bit further, while almost all of Marinette's backstory is off screen

but saying "Chloé bullied me" without Chloé ever even being SHOWN ONCE somehow is supposed to trump everything again. I legit saw people say that Alt Marinelle was JUSTIFIED in her actions and she deserved to take revenge. It's wasn't even said ironically or in a way that still acknowledged taht what she did was morally wrong, it was said in sympathetic support towards her bc Chloé was mean

(Sabine having been different in a negative way isn't even a factor for these people. Funnily, Chloé is apparently one of the most important characters in all of Miraculous for the extreme Marinette stans. But how DARE Adrien stans talk about Gabriel's horrible abuse of Adrien, since we've all long learned that Chloé is and has always been WORSE than Gabriel/ Monarch)

I honestly have nothing more to add, because you said it!

Thank you for your ask!

[melchron]

Okay I know we've been over this a million times and at this point ppl probably get the idea but I might as well say it:

Really everyone in hatchetfield is morally gray.

It's okay to like villains, yes this includes really bad villains who are just straight up murders like Hidgens and Wilbur. If you don't actually think cold blooded murder is okay then your fine and it's cool and doesn't matter.

And you know what? Hidgens and Wilbur might not actually be that controversial but I'll fucking say it: this goes for every character including Zoey, Sam, Linda, Gerald, Roman and even Pamela too. You're allowed like them, like them as characters, think their funny, whatever, once again as long as you don't actually think killing or child abuse is okay it's fine. Yeah Pamela's a fucking terrible person but you know what she's a hilarious character.

But also, like I said, about all the characters are morally gray. Ted is an absolute peice shit but he used be nice and he also a tragic character with a sad story. Bill doesn't fully listen to and support Alice with absolutely everything (& plz don't think I'm saying "doesn't support" in way that means he's homophobic, dear God no, he fully supports her there, I just mean he doesn't like Deb.) but he also does love her and wants to connect with her. Sam is cheating on Charlotte and she's lonely and sad but she's also cheating on him. This goes into smaller ones too like Ethan can be an asshole sometimes. Or hell even Paul and Emma can be jerks. This goes for basically every single character. I could literally talk about every character and the good and bad they've done (and I would too don't test me).

And also when we see a post saying "I like this character" we don't need be like "okay but are you okay with their bad actions?" like ppl don't need to defend everything, guess what that person is probably aware of that character being bad we don't need to ask. Unless someone is legit being like "actually these absolutely horrible things they did are totally fine" there's no need to worry, and guess what, no one does think those actions are okay bc we're not dumb we're aware murder is bad we're aware cheating is bad, ect ect.

Yessss to all of this. Everyone is morally gray in this universe. There is no one that is 100% good or bad. Yes there are characters that clearly lean more to one side but everyone has some of the other in them too

Also yeah, you're not a bad person for liking bad characters. Like unless you're trying to justify their actions you're allowed to just enjoy fiction

[vivithefolle]

About criticizing Hermione.

Personally I think Hermione should be criticized for everything that happened in the books, the facts speak of their own but there is a limit in how responsible a fictional character is for the actions the author made her do . It's not like she actually had her faith in her hands and she chose to be JKRs shelf-insert and make all her Shitty ideas her own.

Let's look at the bigger picture here, is Hermione realy being treated better than Ron from the phantom?

JKR trusted her characters to Kloves and he basically pimped Hermione. She is the most sexualized fictional character of the 21st century so far, he portraited her like an OP/sexi cosplay of the real Hermione. She became a top10 sex fantasy for every healthy and sick mind out there and JKR did nothing to stop It for like a decade.

Ron is being hated for being an 'unworthy' pair for her(actually they hate him just because he has Hermione) and she is being hated for choosing him and she must be punish for it. You said that if she was a boy everybody will call for his head on a plate and I apsolotly agree but she is a girl so they call for her vagina on a plate instead. This is how you punish an intelligent woman, you subdue her and then you sexualy demean her.

You know better than me what is happening in fanfiction. She's been paired with evreone from Harry to Hagrids dog and the giand squid. Hermione is a sex slave, a dominated toy, a sperm dumpster, a total slut, a cheating/cheated wife, she is been mercilessly raped and abused and portrayed like a young Bellatrix or umbridge.

She has earn as many nasty titles as Ron so I don't think her being a girl worked in her favor.

Unfortunately it seems there are a lot of people who think that Intelligence is a mark of higher character and superior maturity as you said but Hermione is not one of them. She is hanging around with Harry and Ron and his family not her 'intelectual equals' from Ravenqlaw book club and she is dating athletes not distinguished students. Intelligence isn't the most important thing for her and she never acted like different people are not worthy of her company or her attention. So let's not hold her accountable for those ridiculous ideas.

Anyway I don't know if I am ranting but I just believe Hermiones character has been damaged and shamed just as much as Rons has, just in bit of different way and she don't deserve extra hate because she is JKRs shelf-insert in the story.

That comment of yours 'Hermione is literally JKR' ruin my appetite for the day. I just imagine Ron doing things with her.... Buhh😫🤢

The major difference in fanfiction is that... many people legit think this is “better” for Hermione.

They write stories of her being abused by Big Bad OOC Ron and being rescued by heroic prince charmings like Harry, Draco, Snape, or whoever. And all the while, the shippers genuinely think this could be plausible.

They take this huge dump on Ron and everything he stands for as a character - your insecurities don’t define you; the people you love only ask for you to be there, not for you to always be a 5* badass; you don’t have to prove anything to anyone but yourself - then proceed to “reward” Hermione with the affections of someone they’ve deemed “worthy” of her.

Usually, a person with which Hermione finds herself in a more subservient position.

Harry Potter: Mr Save The World, super fucking rich, will forever outshine whoever marries him Draco Malfoy: aristocratic/nobility, super hella rich Lucius Malfoy (yes, Luciumione is very popular on AO3): same as above + MUCH older than Hermione Severus Snape: Potions prodigy who actually invented stuff while Hermione only ever stuck by the book, MUCH older than she is Viktor Krum: famous athlete, probably rich

And so on and so forth.

Many of the Hermione ships of the fandom have an inherent imbalance. When it comes to age gap ships like Snamione or Luciumione, people will justify themselves by saying “oh but Hermione is so mature for her age, she needs someone on her level!”

.......... I very much hope to never meet one of these people in real life.

Not only is Hermione nowhere as mature as what they believe she is but MATURITY DOESN’T MAKE UP FOR A GAP OF NEARLY TWO DECADES OF EXPERIENCE. (And can you imagine saying  “Hermione needs a mature man!” then pairing her with Snape, the teenager stuck in a grown man’s body? Talk about cognitive dissonance.)

Anyway, those ships usually take Hermione to pair her with, let’s say it in the worst possible way, a man of “more value” than her.

The Hero. An aristocrat. An older man and a teacher. A celebrity...

They’re not trying to look to match Hermione with an equal.

They’re trying to pair her with someone she can be subservient to.

Because as @lytefoot​ brilliantly put it:

A woman has to be all-around pretty good at everything, whereas a man has to be the absolute best in his area of greatest competence (surely better than any puny female!) with a help-meet there to compensate for his weaknesses. People are very, very uncomfortable when Ron and Hermione reverse this dynamic. Hermione is extremely intelligent and dedicated to intellectual pursuits, but is complete pants at things like self-care and people skills. Ron is bright enough to keep up with her and strong in her areas of weakness.

Even if Ron was as dumb as a sack of rocks (he’s not), his other virtues are more than enough to “justify” Hermione loving him. (Because she needs an excuse?) But no. A woman has to be with a man who outdoes her in her area of greatest strength.

But they’re completely convinced that they’re making a “better” match for Hermione because in their heads, they’ve convinced themselves that Ron’s “inferiority” (= his underrated qualities like his good heart, his humour, his patience (many of which are also coded as primarily feminine qualities); his poverty; his language; his tendency to stand up for himself even against his friends; his insecurity) is a sure sign he would be bad to Hermione. Because there are two types of people: those who are inferior and those who aren’t! /s

They sincerely believe they’re elevating Hermione when they’re using her as Harry/Draco/Snape/Aragog’s token to redemption/happiness. Because they genuinely think Hermione should be “rewarded” with a man that outclasses her in the aspects of her life she prides herself on (her studies, her academics, her social justice ambitions). At the same time, they build up this whole narrative about how Ron would “want her to be another Molly, barefoot and pregnant all the time” to convince themselves that they really are Good Little Feminists.

All in all: when people write Hermione as Snape’s sex kitten, they do it because they believe that’s the best thing that can happen to her. But when they write Ron to bash him, it’s because they genuinely hate him. They want the worst to happen to him. They delight in his misery. They love it. Because they’re so blinded by their own lies and so convinced that “hurmion 2 gud 4 ron durrhurrhurr” that they think he deserves the most painful, humiliating things to happen to him.

That’s the difference. People pair Hermione with the most horrible people out of blind adoration for her. Those same people bash Ron as retribution for “defiling” their goddess.

The kind of “Hermione bashing” you refer to is done out of good sentiments. But Ron? He doesn’t get that sort of bashing; he’s reviled and hated for things he didn’t even do, because people can’t fucking comprehend that just because he acted badly at times doesn’t mean those actions define him. The bashing comes out of hatred and an unfounded, unfair desire for “justice” that is unwarranted in the first place.

That’s why I turn the tables and judge Hermione with the fandom’s absolutely impossible standards they only seem to apply to Ron and a select few others (Dumbledore, some of the Weasleys). To prove that no fucking human being could even hope to dream to meet those standards.

[love-too-believe]

This is from a reply to a Snater post but I wanted to make a separate post just in case they block me XD

I've been over this before so I'll probably just tag it with my other Harry Potter stuff. But I'll use this as a sort of master post. Alright, lets talk about what's canon and some non-bias facts we are told in the story.

Canon: Severus was a poor kid who grew up in an abusive house hold. Its implied his dislike of muggles stemmed from his muggle father and to an extent Petunia.

Canon: Lily was Severus's first and only friend. He loved and cared for her deeply as one of the only people to show him kindness besides his mother.

Canon: Severus wanted to escape to Hogwarts for a better life.

Canon: James and Sirius disliked Severus immediately for wanting to be in Slytherin. ( you can find this on the scene where their on the train )

Canon: Apon arriving at Hogwarts Severus is immediately ostracized by his peers for basically just being really awkward looking and interested in the dark arts.

Canon: Canon James disliked Severus more for his close relationship with Lily. James would also harrass Lily despite her disinterest

Canon: In "Severus's worst memory" ( which also includes him in a fit of anger calling Lily a mudblood. Funny how some people just choose to ignore how he views that as PART of his worst memory ) James and Sirius choose to bully Severus out of boredom. This includes, attacking him out of nowhere, shoving soap into his mouth, forcefully pulling his pants down. Flipping him upside-down in the air and the scene ends with James threating to take his underwear of in front of a crowd.

And can I just say, I think its so interesting how people try to excuse or justify this behavior. I've legit scene people try and state how Severus "deserved" it. But oh, oh if Severus was female. This would be so much more of an issue. But because Severus is male its not nearly as serious.

Canon: Severus felt horrible about what he said and tried to apologize.

This is when Lucius and his group of Slytherins begin indoctrinating Severus into the death eaters.

Notice how they go for him when he's at the lowest point in his life. This is text book indoctrination. Cults use the same tactic.

Canon: Sirius attempted to kill Severus by having Remus ( his friend mind you ) kill him during one of his werewolf transformations.

Canon: Dumbledore ( not caring for the possible trauma this will cause Severus ) commanded Severus to not tell anyone about what happened but also excused the Marauders for their actions scot free.

Does any of this justify his actions towards Harry or his friends? No obviously.

You know what is does though? Gives you context. The books literally show you the how and why of these characters. Choosing to ignore these facts are your option which is why fanfiction exists. However trying to present fanon as canon is simply untrue.

Now let's get into some fanon so we can better understand.

Fanon: Severus was an incel and just wanted to fuck Lily.

Yeah no. Severus shows no sexual interest in literally anyone. Its true that Severus loved Lily and adored her as his only friend. But there is no sexual implications.

Fanon: Lily friend zoned him.

Lily didn't even know he liked her...

Fanon: Severus believed in blood purity

Also untrue. Severus even when he was a death eater NEVER once believed in blood purity. He even states this and discusses how blood status has nothing to do with a wizards or witches capability. I think people choose to forget how logical Severus is. Not even sure how people come to this conclusion. Severus is literally a powerful half blood.

Fanon: Severus was pure evil MUAHAHAHA

.......So do people just choose to ignore everything about his character including the reveal in Deathly hollows??? His love for Lily, him protecting Harry and honestly other students. Him being a spy for Dumbledore for years???

Fanon: James regretted what he did.

This is never stated. All we are told is that James "changed" from the opinions of people that loved him which is a bias opinion.

And lastly. I noticed how this is another post that chooses to ignore or denounce Severus's abuse in favor of the worst of his actions.

Here's my whole thing. Do the same for Sirius. Who was unhinged and tried to get a student killed when even later in life has no remorse.

If you want to denounce how one character become the way he was and only view him by the worst of his parts do the same to others. The series has quite few.

In conclusion, Was Severus a bitter lonely and vengeful man? Yes. Was he pure evil and showed no regrets? Nope. Is he a morally grey character? Yes. JK Rowling states this herself.

[fluffyglass]

THE MR. RUDE APOLOGISM MASTERPOST

you may be asking "Oh dear god what has Finn gotten up to this time?" well, that my friend, is a very valid question! The answer to which is as follows: He's rewatched every single TMMS segment with Mr. Rude in it to prove that he's done nothing wrong!

After many many hours of rewatching, I've come to some conclusions on the depressed tomato man. I'll give a quick rundown here, then throw my episode by episode analysis under the cut.

Season 1

Mr. Rude is in 30 episodes in Season 1.

In only 3 of these episodes does he do anything wrong.

In 4 of the episodes where he's innocent, Mr. Fussy yells at him for no reason.

Season 2

Mr. Rude is in 30 episodes in Season 2.

In only 6 of these episodes does he do anything wrong.

In 1 of the episodes where he's innocent, as well as one where he did do something wrong, Mr. Fussy yells at him for no reason.

Conclusions

In total, Mr. Rude only actually did anything wrong in 9 out of the 60 segments he's in, which is 15%. That's less than a quarter of the time. Even counting the three episodes I was unsure about, that's only 12/60. 20%. Still less than a quarter.

Why have I been bringing up Mr. Fussy? Because this experience genuinely made me not like him anymore. In only one out of Mr. Fussy's 7 appearances with Mr. Rude does he not yell at him, and in five of the times he does - it was completely unjustified.

Now, onto the episode by episode section!

Ah, you wanna see my episode by episode analysis? Well, I'll give you a quick color legend first.

Yellow - Mr. Rude does nothing wrong

Red - Mr. Rude does something wrong

Blue - Mr. Fussy yells at Mr. Rude for no reason

Pink - I have no idea what to put for this one lmao

Also, there's a ton of cursing in here because I wrote these notes as I went along and I don't feel like editing them to be more professional. You get what you get when it comes to Mr. Rude apologism.

SEASON 1

Flying - He does nothing wrong, he just asked Mr. Grumpy to do his fucking job. Though, I will admit, he was a dick about it.

Music - He does nothing wrong, Miss Naughty is a fucking bitch and Mr. Fussy targeted him for no got damn reason even though he has fucking ears and should have heard Miss Naughty going off on her fucking cymbals. Miss Naughty also tried to poison him so

Farm - He does nothing wrong, those bitch ass crows broke his fucking robot I cant believe this.

Booboos - He does nothing wrong, he literally just wants some decent service while he is in the fucking hospital and Mr. Scatterbrain is a fucking moron about it

Mall - He's barely in it and I will admit he is a bit of an asshole in this one but he doesn't do anything explicitly wrong

Birthday - He does nothing wrong, he just wants to buy a birthday present for his homie Mr. Grumpy. In fact, he shows that he cares about his friend because he knows what he would want (and gets something he wouldnt like, presumably as a joke). Hes a caring friend but also a troll.

Superstore - He does nothing wrong, he just wants to return his shitty toaster. It ends up well for everyone involved :)

Books - He does nothing wrong, he is literally just neurodivergent and cannot read social situations

Camping - He does nothing wrong, he tried to warn everyone that they were going the wrong way, and then called out Miss Whoops on her fucking bullshit and putting everyone in danger. He then proceeded to fucking die. Miss Daredevil doesnt even give a shit about two of the raft riders fucking dying what the fuck.

Paint - He does nothing wrong, he just wants to finish his painting commission.

Jobs - This is the one I time I'll admit he does something really wrong. He commits multiple driving related crimes, as well as throwing his sandwich at Mr. Quiet, splashing Mr. Nosey and Mr. Small, and taking advantage of Mr. Scatterbrain's stupidity. He also crumpled up Mr. Scatterbrain's drawing of a hamster.

Trains - He does nothing wrong, Mr. Fussy's a bitch ass motherfucker, and he did more good than bad because he rescued Mr. Messy at the end.

Fair - He does nothing wrong, he got a fucking pie yeeted at him of course he wouldn't like it. He does put the pie in Mr. Scatterbrain's face though but he already got it in his face so it's just even now. He then proceeds to be pelted with pies. But thankfully it seems like they're both having fun by the end.

Movies - Yeah he's a bit of an asshole in this one. He puts too much cheese on Mr. Happy's nachos (and then throws them at him). He does get his karma though cause he gets fucking trapped in the popcorn machine someone please save him oh my god.

Dance - He does nothing wrong, he just has taste.

Inventions - He does nothing wrong, Miss Chatterbox just doesnt like him for the way he is which is super fucked up of her. What the fuck, man. He accepts Miss Chatterbox's invention regardless. He then proceeds to be abused by everyone around him. Hes totally justified in being mean at the end.

Amusement Park - Okay yeah he was an asshole in this one, cause he was rude to Miss Calamity about her supposed grooming habits. However, he was also abused a lot during multiple of the bumpers, which I guess counts as karma.

Adventure - He literally doesnt even do anything in this one

Rainy Day - Dude, his entire fucking family died. Give him a break.

Games - He did nothing wrong, he won the fucking game but Mr. Scatterbrain took the credit what the fuck he only had 3 POINTS MR RUDE HAD 4 MR. HAPPY YOU DUMB YELLOW FUCK LEARN HOW TO COUNT

Restaurants - He does nothing wrong, Mr. Fussy is so fucking mean to him I will never get over this he deserves so much better what the fuck

Cars - he's just vibin man

Canned Goods - He does nothing wrong, he just ate some beans man

Collecting - he's barely in it and just kinda vibes

Full Moon - He does nothing wrong, he legit just got kidnapped by some fucking aliens with his alien husband

Heatwave - He does nothing wrong, 6 gay men just casually committed acts of Home Invasion and are going to be arrested for their crimes against him.

Sleep - He does nothing wrong, and I doubt anyone would have even noticed he was asleep if Miss Chatterbox kept her fucking mouth shut. He cant control what hes doing if hes fucking asleep. Even after all that he still clapped for Mr. Fussy, who hates him, at the end. What a champ.

Carwash - He does nothing wrong, Miss Calamity technically fucking kidnapped him what the fuck.

Lawns - He does nothing wrong, he didn't want to take his lawn to begin with and then got his lawn ruined for literally no reason, even after warning Me. Nosey and Mr. Small that their invention was gonna explode. He even gave Miss Chatterbox the joy in knowing she "won".

Parade - He does nothing wrong, he legit just made a float and Mr. Fussy fucking bullied him for it. What the fuck.

SEASON 2

Clean Teeth - Yeah hes a bitch in this one but Mr. Fussy was also a bitch so it evens out.

Airports - He does nothing wrong, he just wanted to go on his flight. Of anything, Miss Scary was more rude than he was.

Game Shows - He does nothing wrong like. Genuinely nothing, and then gets physically assaulted.

Hats - He does nothing wrong, Mr. Grumpy's just a fucking bitch and took credit for both his and Mr. Tickles hats. What the fuck, man.

Robots - He does nothing wrong, he legit just got his baguette burnt wtf

Up and Down - He's fine for the first bit but I will admit hes an asshole in the second one

Gifts - He does nothing wrong, he's just trying to keep Mr. Tickle from fucking assaulting people. Then his entire store is destroyed for no reason.

Sun and Moon - He does nothing wrong, he barely did anything at all

Telephone - I refused to watch this one I just know hes a bitch in it

Washing and Drying - He does nothing wrong, he just wanted his laundry done and he got assaulted at the end. Why is this a trend.

Fruit - He stole Miss Sunshines fucking fruit and then proceeded to endanger everyone around him by driving recklessly. What the fuck, man.

Radio - He does nothing wrong, Mr. Scatterbrain is just a moron, and Miss Whoops is a dumbass.

Supermarket - ???

Cinema - He doesn't do anything wrong, and he looks very nice in his new hat.

Post Office - He doesn't do anything wrong, hes trying his best okay (he also gets covered in stamps at the end)

Pets - He doesn't do anything wrong, he doesn't do anything at all

Dance Dance Dance - He doesn't do anything wrong, Mr. Fussy's a fucking bitch

Trees - He doesn't do anything wrong, someone free him

Library - He didnt even do anything man

Pirates - He doesn't do anything wrong, in fact he is the first to jump in and protect his crewmates from the aliens. He also saves the entire space crew in the end.

Trains and Planes - He doesn't do anything wrong, he barely does anything to begin with

Out to Sea - He doesn't do anything wrong, it makes sense for him to act in his own self interest because he was stuck on a deserted island with those three morons for 30 fucking days. He didn't intend to take the boat, because the tide rolled him out. He is now inevitably going to die.

Next Door - Yeah hes a bitch in this one, but he didnt deserve to get his fucking car crushed.

Lunch - He doesn't do anything wrong, Mr. Stubborn drew first blood.

Machines - This is a weird one. Is he really in the wrong for wanting to go home? I mean, it's safe to assume Miss Giggles is fucking dead if she was taken by a dinosaur. He even vows not to doubt Miss Daredevil at the end and is happy to see Miss Giggles okay

Fairies and Gnomes - even though he thinks it's silly that Mr. Nervous is scared of a garden gnome, he still "arrests" it to make him happy :)

Home Improvement - He doesn't do anything wrong, Mr. Stubborn is just a moron.

Birds - He doesn't do anything wrong, he was even nice enough to invite Mr. Nervous along for the birdwatching trip. He's totally justified in not giving a shit about Mr. Fussy because Mr. Fussy has been nothing bit horrible to him the entire show.

Parks - He does nothing wrong he just wanted a burger

Surprises - Refused to watch this one again, I just know hes a bitch

Wow, that's a lot. Anyways, as a proud Mr. Rude apologist, I conclude that he's an innocent man and doesn't deserve the shit he gets. I can get taking his drivers license though that man cannot drive for the life of him

[autumn-foxfire]

I feel like the reason so many villain stans have such bad interpretations of the story is because they project way to much on it. Like hero society must be destroyed because it must be just as bad as RL cops who they want to be dismantled. Because the heroes are cops that makes the lov right. Killing cops is OK so killing heroes is okay. Because even young people should be able to understand racism and how bad cops are in RL, the ua kids should be the same, so if they get hurt it's their (1)

(2)faut. Because people in RL defend abuse that means that deku is excusing dabis abuse when he yells at him. This makes him unforgivable. Because in RL people can have different reactions to grief that means dabi must be grieving Twice, and actually really care about people deep down. Because in RL corrupt systems generally have to be broken with violence that means the lov are actually fighting for justice. But when u look at the story that's such a stretch. Like so much of their posts are(-)

(3)paper thin. Like they'll look at the panel of dabi off to the side and compare it to how shoto has friends and be like he must be so sad 😢. Dabi must be in pain and suffering but no one cares, meanwhile all these heroes have it easy. Dabis way more burned then his victims. Won't anyone help this poor man? Like write paragraphs on 1 pic on how a Liv member must feel, but then take one look at a ua kid or hero and be like eh, they must just hate villains and be okay with abuse. Like okay guys.

They definitely project onto the story, that much has been made extremely clear recently with people treating the heroes like corrupt cops (which doesn’t even make sense in the context of the story) or trying to apply the “good” and “bad” victim mentality to the story even though Hori has never really done so himself and just showed a wide variety of victims and how they react to their trauma.

Anyone who tries to defend the heroes become “procop” and are treated harshly because of it (which... considering I know some people have harrassed minors because they dared to try and support individual heroes just shows you how far some of these stans are willing to go...) and must support in real-life police brutality and other horrible things.

And look at how people have reacted this chapter with Hawks daring to say he’s going to support the Todofam in their time of need and seems to be recovering! They’re treating him like an abuse apologist even though we don’t know his opinions on abuse (but considering his history, he probably doesn’t think highly of them) or how he feels about what Endeavor did. He legit only had to say one thing that shows he’s going to support Endeavor, a man who is changing and trying to become better for himself and his family, for everyone to hate him.

It seems in this fandom that apparently the only people allowed second chances in the fandom are the villains <.< And Hawks was wrong for trying to do that too because “He was trying to turn Twice against his family” or whatever BS they came up with to hate on Hawks.

Uraraka also got hated by the fandom because she stood up to her her attacker and told her that she was wrong. Again, it seems like only villains are allowed to stand up to the people that hurt them, if a hero does it then they’re just being dirty cops and supporting a corrupt system.

The double standards in the fandom is truly ridiculous at this point and it’s so frustrating.

I really don’t know why they continue to read the manga at this point if they think it supports or tries to justify all these horrible things. You’d think they would have dropped it and stopped supporting Hori if it was really that bad.

[alewyren]

I dislike redemption arc culture.

I hate seeing arguments over which characters are “irredeemable,” and this notion that every villain story has to be a morally didactic narrative in which the bad guy gets punished, the end.

I’m almost tempted to say we were all spoiled by having Zuko as a formative experience, because he’s really just the picture perfect redemption arc. He started out as a legit villain, but he never did anything too atrocious, had a tragic backstory that explained why he was like that, and went through three whole seasons of gradual character development. Like, Zuko was an amazing character. That’s the problem, though; he set our expectations too high for what “the perfect redemption arc” should be. Everyone expects their “reformed villain” characters to follow those same beats, but not every story is that cut and dry. There are lines between redemption and reformation, reformation and rehabilitation, rehabilitation and just... continuing to exist but no longer hurting anyone, and there’s a lot of nuance lost when people try to cram all that into the box of “redemption arc.”

Gonna be bringing a lot of different examples to the table here, but let’s start with Azula for ease of transition. She went through the same abuse that Zuko did, but she never got a redemption arc in ATLA proper. Some people say this isn’t fair. I disagree. This is not to say I don’t think she should be afforded the opportunity for post-canon character growth, because I absolutely do. I fully think she is capable of Getting Better, and spinoff media has consistently portrayed her as a sympathetic character. But like... she’s done some shit. She was a straight up war criminal, and emotionally abusive towards basically everyone in her social circle. I understand why. She was a 14 year old raised in an environment that rewarded that behavior, and never given a healthy outlet for her aggression.

The difference, in my opinion, is this: Zuko was fundamentally a good person from the start. Far from perfect, but he has a strong sense of values even as a child. Azula is not. Redemption for someone like Azula would look much different than it did for Zuko. Besides, in ATLA proper she was already filling an important villain role. She’d need her own show. (Which would be awesome, actually.)

But I think that’s where you have to ask the question: what even is a redemption arc? Is it any story where a villain stops being a villain? Is there a scale for like, “must do X amount of good deeds equal to Y bad deeds to qualify for redemption”? Must they be sufficiently punished for their bad deeds? What if reformation is possible without punishment--is punishment for its own sake truly justice? The focus people have on penance and atonement feels very baked in Christian moral philosophy. People don’t work like that. There’s not a cosmic scale of right and wrong, or a cosmic sin counter, there’s just... actions and their immediate impact. Bad people being let off the hook too easily can leave a bad taste in your mouth, and there are of course things with unfortunate real world implications which can’t be divorced from real-world context which are... irresponsible to allow in the hands of Certain Groups, but I hate this notion of “villains must be punished appropriately for their crimes, always, even if they have extenuating circumstances, even if they have demonstrated the capacity for personal growth, because that personal growth will never negate their misdeeds.”

In real life, it’s different. In real life, you can never be sure what’s going on in another person’s head. But the prison system of justice is fundamentally broken. People are rarely fundamentally evil, but there are some people who are too twisted and dangerous to society to be allowed to live without, at the very least, constant supervision. True evil is banal, rooted in social systems, not individual “bad people.” People have individual will, but ultimately they’re just the products of the environment and systems that fostered them. Setting aside the questions of whether people can be born evil or at what age you become personally responsible for your actions, you will get bad apples in any sufficiently large group of people. If someone has to be punished and removed from society, that’s not a success of justice. The fact that they reached that point in the first place is a failure of society in and of itself.

In fiction, technically everyone is redeemable. You can get into the heads of the bad guys and do basically whatever you want with them. Fiction should be responsible when dealing with real-world issues that affect real people, but it does not have to be morally didactic. Sometimes there just... isn’t an easy, morally didactic answer for dealing with morally complicated characters or situations. And more importantly, sometimes the morally didactic answer isn’t the narratively interesting answer. 9 out of 10 times, what’s more interesting to read about? A horrible villain being put to death, or a horrible villain being forced to live and grow?

Some hypothetical examples to ponder, purely in the context of fiction.

Horrible war criminal villain with a body count in the millions has all memories of their crimes wiped, or is forcibly brainwashed into being a better person. Setting aside the ethics of brainwashing: are they still required to “repent”? Would a victim still be justified in seeking penance from this guilt-free shell? Would this change at all depending on who was responsible for the mind-wipe?

More realistic: horrible war criminal villain with a body count in the millions straight up retires. Gets older. Bloodlust, national zeal, whatever once motivated them to do such evil loses its edge. They fall in love. Start a family. As they grow as a person, learn the value of life, the weight of their crimes starts to sink in. They atone in little ways, through little random acts of kindness and helping the people around them, but for one reason or another (not wanting to risk harm to their family, knowing they’ll be tortured for information? you decide) don’t turn themselves into the proper justice system and are never punished. Should they be punished, or allowed to continue existing? Would this change at all depending on the surrounding political circumstances, i.e.: whether their public execution would hold any symbolic value, whether affected groups are calling for their death? Does it matter at all in deciding justice whether this hypothetical villain feels personal guilt or regret over their war crimes? Why or why not?

Child villains. IRL there are documented cases of violent crime in children as young as grade school age, not all of whom had violent backgrounds. Should they be held to the same standards as adult villains, even if the scale of their crimes are the same? What’s the cutoff age? Are all villains under 18 capable of rehabilitation, no matter how horrible their crimes? How about 16? 14? 12? What about villains whose ages aren’t really clear, ie Cell from DBZ being like, six?

How much does backstory matter? Should it matter if there’s a good reason someone is Like That, or should their actions be judged as-is? It doesn’t matter to the victims whether or not the villain had a bad childhood, right? Moreover, does it matter at all whether someone is “fundamentally a good person,” at least insofar as genuinely caring about the people around them and caring about a moral code? People do evil things for reasons other than “being evil people.”

Morally bankrupt person who regularly fantasizes violent harm on the people around them, wholly selfish with no love for any other human being, fundamentally incapable of meaningful self-reflection or growth. Just a complete piece of shit all around. But they never have, and never will, commit any crimes, either due to some divine ordinance or just plain self-preservation/fear of getting caught. They might, at worst, just be a toxic asshole, but not one who holds any power over others. Should they be punished solely for their moral character, rather than actions?

There aren’t always easy answers. It’s okay to acknowledge that, and it’s okay to tackle hard moral questions like this in fiction. And I hate seeing this boiled down to “stop trying to redeem villains who are Actually Horrible People” or whatever. Especially in kids’ media which takes an optimistic stance on people being capable of change in the first place. Y’all gotta stop holding it to the same level of moral realism as gritty stuff for adults.

On the whole, I think we should do away with the term “redemption” in the context of morality entirely. Like redemption arc, redemption equals death, what does that mean? It implies one has sufficiently made up for their past deeds, that that’s the gold standard, but is that really ever possible? Like I said, there’s not a cosmic good deeds | bad deeds counter for every person, or at least not one that living people have any way of knowing about. And that’s a flawed way of thinking to begin with. Those bad deeds can never be erased, ever. There plenty of examples of villains who commit crimes they can never realistically atone for. Regardless of whether they want to atone in the first place, it’s like I said: in fiction, it’s often just... more fun to force them to live and deal with the consequences. But on the flipside, there are so, so many people who see themselves as “good” and use that to justify their own bad deeds. Which ties back into what I said about the whole discourse reeking of Christian moral philosophy, because lmfao @ corruption in the catholic church.

The point is. There are shades of grey. Not everything has to be a full-blown bad guy to good guy redemption arc. You don’t need to “properly atone for your sins” to be worthy of life or love.

Here are some better questions to ask than “is this character redeemable”:

Is it believable, from what we know of this villain as a character, that they are capable of becoming a good, law-abiding citizen?

How about capable of love?

Guilt?

Are they capable of any personal growth whatsoever?

Are they capable of being a positive impact on the lives of the people around them?

Is it actively harmful to leave them alive, even with clipped wings?

Is it interesting to leave them alive?

How morally didactic is the narrative as a whole?

How much forgiveness are they offered, versus how much could they possibly ever deserve?

How abstracted is this character from reality, ie: are there any real world parallels that make it uncomfortable to frame this character in a sympathetic light? (be careful not to fall into a black and white abuser/victim dichotomy)

Would further punishment or suffering be productive? (Productive, not justified, that’s a key distinction--punishment for its own sake is just pointless cruelty.)

Even the most vile, irredeemable bastards can still be dragged like... an inch. And that’s still a fun and valuable story in and of itself, even if it’s nothing remotely approaching a redemption arc and they’d very much still deserve to rot in Hell by the end of it. I don’t believe Hell is real, as much as I personally wish it were sometimes, but like. If it were, or in fictional universes where it is.

But also, there really are some characters and botched “redemption arcs” that just come off insanely uncomfortable. And there is a subjective aspect to that as well, but more than once I’ve seen people say “X villain did not deserve redemption/forgiveness” and 9 times out of 10 I’m like “that’s... really not what they got, though?”

It’s complicated.

[tomeandflickcorner]

So I have all OUAT choices.. Choose between:

Elsa and Emma friendship or Emma and Ruby friendship?

Peter Pan or Cora?

Arthur or Nimue?

Aurora or Philip?

Mulan or Merida?

Oh, quite the collection of choices!  Thanks, Nony!

Elsa and Emma friendship or Emma and Ruby friendship?

Gotta go with Elsa and Emma.  While Emma and Ruby had potential to become friends (and I think it goes without saying that Ruby would have been Emma’s godmother if things had gone the way they should have gone had Regina never cast the original Dark Curse), it sadly never developed.  I can’t really remember them interacting much after the curse was broken and everyone got their memories back.  Not that they had much of a chance to do so, as Emma got trapped in the Enchanted Forest shortly after the curse broke, and then she had to deal with the whole Neal was Rumpelstiltskin’s son thing, followed by Henry being kidnapped.  By the time Emma had the opportunity to really rekindle the friendship she had started to build with Ruby in S1, the character in question was suddenly nowhere to be seen.  Because she’d gone off on some soul searching quest we only found out about a season and a half later.

Elsa and Emma, on the other hand, were actually allowed to interact and form a legit friendship.  It’s just a shame that Elsa never showed up again after the Frozen arc ended, because I consider her to be the first real friend Emma made.  Well, apart from Killian of course.  While it could be argued that Emma and S1 Mary Margret were friends, the fact that Mary Margret was actually Emma’s mother the whole time kinda complicates matters.  (Particularly since that relationship went downhill once we reached S4.)

Peter Pan or Cora?

Ugh, that’s a tough choice.  Honestly, I detest both of them!  As far as the show’s Big Bads went, these were the two I had absolutely no sympathy for at all.  (Well, them and Cruella, but that’s another story entirely.)  Pan was a despicable father who chose to abandon his son in favor of age regression.  Not even the reveal that he became that way after the way he lost Fiona, who he clearly loved, was enough to excuse his behavior.  After all, he could have chosen to treasure his son as the only thing he had left of his wife.  Instead, he blamed Baby Rumpy for Fiona going off the deep end.  And he was downright creepy as Pan.  As horrible as it might sound, I still feel he deserved the River of Lost Souls treatment.  And Cora was even worse.  I can’t even pretend to have a drop of sympathy for someone who would leave their newborn baby in the middle of the woods to die when there was nothing stopping her from simply leaving Baby Zelena with a kindly peasant couple.   Yeah, I get her situation was not ideal, as she was a single unmarried mother in a medieval style world.  But even that was kinda her own fault.  I still feel that if she had came clean with Prince Leopold when she was given the chance to do so, he probably would have still married her.  After all, he did seem to sincerely care about her.  Instead, she continued to lie to him.  And that’s what caused him to dismiss her.  And then she went and became mentally and emotionally abusive to her second daughter, to the point where she murdered her boyfriend in cold blood because said daughter wasn’t willing to go along with her social climbing agenda.  However, I guess I do have to give Cora a little bit of credit because she seems to have seen the error of her ways at the end and redeemed herself enough to cross over into whatever this show called Heaven.  That probably should count for something.

Arthur or Nimue?

Also a tough choice, as neither of them were that likable.  Especially when they allowed themselves to become what they became.  But like with Cora, at least Arthur seemed to realize that he had been wrong in the end.  (Unfortunately, not before he had a chance to properly apologize to Guinevere and everyone else he essentially subjected to his sick mind control.)

Aurora or Philip?

Probably going with Aurora here.  Simply because we actually got to know her as a character.  Aurora was clearly the prissiest most girly-girl princess on the show. But despite that, she was still shown to have the makings of a strong leader and ruler.  Case in point that time when Cora tried to convince her to betray the rest of the Princess Squad. Instead of giving into Cora’s manipulation, Aurora had the fortitude to stand up to the older woman.  I rather liked that, particularly as a feminist.  This was a woman who was feminine and strong at the same time!  Phillip, on the other hand?  Did he even do anything in the show?  All I can remember him doing is turning into the Yagwei, lifting the Sleeping Curse on Aurora, getting killed by the wraith (before being somehow saved from the wraith off camera- I’m still upset we never found out how they did that) and then turning into a flying monkey.  Yeah, Phillip was mostly there as a plot point.  Not much character development there.

Mulan or Merida?

Mulan.  Hands down.  She was a likable and interesting character, and my only complaint with her is that we never saw her get a happy ending/beginning.  Obviously, her unrequited love for Aurora was never going to go anywhere, but then there was a missed opportunity for her to find love with Ruby, with the writers deciding Ruby would instead enter into an arguably rushed True Love relationship with Dorothy.  (Eh, at least that leaves things open for my headcanon ship of Mulan/Tiger Lily).  As far as Merida goes, however?  Uh-uh.  I HATED OUAT Merida.  In fact, her characterization in the show actually ruined Brave for me.  I can’t even think of that movie anymore without feeling utter rage.   I’m afraid I’ll never get past that one scene where she was threatening to shoot an arrow at Dark Emma, despite the fact that Dark Emma was pretty much restrained and powerless at the time.  That moment was the final nail in the coffin for me.  Yeah, Dark Emma was not exactly nice to Merida.  But when you get down to the nitty gritty, what Dark Emma did to Merida wasn’t too dissimilar to how Merida treated Belle in Camelot.  (Remember how Merida kidnapped Belle to force her to help her out in freeing her brothers?  And then justified it by pretty much saying ‘I didn’t think you’d  agree to help me if I’d asked?’  How is that any different from what Dark Emma did?  I am asking.)

[itsclydebitches]

(1/4) As always, great analysis. You bring in some strong points and it's always great to read! You know what frustrates me the most? Now that we HAVE the Summer lore… Qrow’s anger has even less weight. I’m not saying the blow to his personal self-esteem is anything to shrug off, but I felt if Qrow was going to have such an extreme reaction, then something more was going on in his head – the only conclusion I could come to was the effect it had on his family.

(Never worry about length. I’m the biggest chatterbox around :D)

But thank you! I’ll be honest, a huge part of me is relieved that they didn’t go the ‘Summer died on Ozpin’s orders’ route just because the backlash against him is already so heavy. If the characters and fandom react this badly to things legitimately outside of his control (like the gods screwing him over, Salem abusing him, Raven telling lies, Pyrrha making her own choices, etc.) I hate to think what it would be like if they introduced a Legit Bad Choice into the present day narrative. Something way heavier than, ‘I kept information secret from a group who, in a few days, will decide that is actually the best course of action.’ His character never would have had the chance to recover because Summer is a ghost. In the figurative sense. As a dead mother, she exists as the perfect martyr; as a dead character, she exists as the perfect, blank canvas for whatever the fandom chooses to imagine for her. She can do no wrong because she’s not here and therefore she’ll always be above the man who is forced to continue living and, by default, keep making mistakes. The living can’t compete with the dead like that. 

(Although, we can admit the opposite as well: the characters and the fandom hate Ozpin so much when he’s presented as no better or worse than the rest of the cast, if they’d given him that Legit Bad Choice in regards to Summer it might not have made a difference. People throw him under the bus whether he’s responsible for things or not, so...). 

I’ll say though that you’re right. This severely undermines a lot of the assumptions for why characters, Qrow in particular, are reacting to Ozpin with this degree of coldness. At every turn the narrative undermines the reasons why people are supposedly justified in hating him: 

He’s secretly evil! Oh no wait, “The Lost Fable” killed that theory. 

He got Pyrrha and Hazel’s sister killed! Oh no wait, we all saw Pyrrha make her own choice. The choice that directly contradicted what Ozpin told her to do. We’re likewise shown that Hazel is delusional with grief and can’t accept that his sister chose a dangerous career. 

He drove Qrow’s sister away! Oh no wait, Raven was always a shady character who snuck her way into Beacon, gained Ozpin’s trust, and then (unlike Qrow) betrayed him. Also she abandons her daughter and murders young women for power so... not convinced losing Raven is a downside here. 

He cast horrible magic on the Branwens and kept is secret! Oh no wait, it’s not horrible at all. And Qrow kept it secret, not Ozpin. 

He told lies and kept other secrets! Yeah. So has the rest of the cast. And they’re now telling the exact same lies and keeping the exact same secrets. That’s an ongoing thing. 

Now: He got Summer killed! Oh no wait. He didn’t. No one knows how Summer died. 

It’s the biggest disconnect between showing and telling I’ve ever seen. At every turn the story shows us a flawed but ultimately good man, someone who, to be frank, did really well considering the impossible situation he was thrown into. Yet every time more information is revealed, instead of reacting to it appropriately the cast (and fandom) keeps insisting that Ozpin is the Worst Person Ever. He’s a scapegoat, plain and simple. The worst part is that as a human being Ozpin has made mistakes. And as a 1,000 year old abused and tortured human being his sense of his own responsibility has been completely warped. Ozpin has reached a point where he’s so tired and so grief-stricken that he’s no longer able to accurately look at a situation and say, “No. That wasn’t my fault. Not fully, at the very least. I am not responsible for every horrific thing that has ever happened to you.” His abuse at the hands of the gods, Salem, and others around him has resulted in the belief that he is responsible. For everything. So when the likes of someone like Qrow goes, “No one knows how Summer died... but Ozpin could definitely be responsible” he’s not there to speak up for himself (thanks, @missroseyred) and even if he was he doesn’t have the confidence or the mental health required to call out that undeserved blame. That’s why he left. The group said, “You’re the worst thing that ever happened to us” and Ozpin responded with, “You’re right.” 

Frankly, idk how the story is going to come back from this. If it even can. Because we’ve been given SO MUCH that shows us how good Ozpin truly is and the characters have flat out twisted or ignored it all. Ozpin himself isn’t in a position to speak up for himself and change minds. No one else wants to. Maybe Oscar will, but he doesn’t have to social power or the confidence to refute such a deeply embedded belief. It really just feels like we’re stuck with a show that has everyone insisting Ozpin is The Worst even while everyone is shown otherwise, providing no justification for that contrast, having the characters embody his beliefs and choices, and then not acknowledging that hypocrisy either. It’s pro-protagonist in the extreme. 

So... yeah. “Why are y’all angry again?” It would be great if RWBY would actually force the cast to answer that question and not let them use faulty logic, undeserved blame, or ‘But we’re different’ as answers.

[heat-riser]

Some weird analysis of when you knew me.

I’ve thought about doing this for a while. One part screaming into the void, one part for anyone who was on tumblr in it’s heyday and watched me be strange and into- frankly- the worst characters and really terrible ships. I’m 26 now and understand a bit more about myself after finally finding a good therapist who specialized in sexual trauma and delving into the deepest darkest parts. Maybe it’s part insight for people who were friends with my at the time- and by ‘at that time’, I guess I mean any point in my life up until a couple years ago. From around 5 years on- I was in a constant state of incredibly deep sadness and anxiety but was too numb to even really consciously feel it. I learned some of the worst things about people and became acquainted with some of the worst things a person can feel at 5, and then again multiple times around 9 due to rape by two different boys. The first, my family and people around me knew about pretty immediately. The second was completely unknown to people until recently. It’s not an easy thing telling your parents another neighbor boy who was a ‘friend’ raped you too. I can’t really explain properly how deeply this effects a person and how people don’t really understand it. Things as little as not being able to be outside my house without a jacket and full pants to cover my whole body because I internalized that showing your body is vulnerability opened up the possibility of sexualization and therefore- attack. All the way to now with everything being resurfaced and having nearly no sex drive and being unable to feel arousal without more anxiety coming in and overpowering the arousal feeling. It was recently recommended to me by my therapist to not play horror games because the feelings of arousal and fear are so tightly linked. I’ve been with the therapist for three years and anticipate at very least another 3-5 and she has clients who have been seeing her 10+ years for having experienced childhood sexual abuse. I can’t remember if I’ve talked publicly here about any of that but most of my friends are aware of the first one (it’s not really something I want to throw out there randomly and conversations in covid time are strange). I was only aware of the first one up until a couple years back. When talking about buried memories, how they come up, how to tell if they’re legit, I halfway thought “what if there was more” and felt sick to my stomach. One of the sure signs of a memory being true is an emotional response. I’m in the process of reclaiming the memories of the events involving the second neighbor boy. But point being- I learned the world was awful very early on and it became the background for all future development (sexual, social, self, etc. etc.). I began to numb myself after the first event and went through half of elementary school and middle school angry, sad, and hateful- I especially hated men, but also just the world at large. By high school, I had learned to shove all of that down. I can’t really recall feeling much of anything in high school. So the people that knew me at the time really only knew a weird ghost of a person. Then there’s this thing called trauma reenactment- where victims are drawn to things relating to the trauma situation. So this is what takes me to explaining the characters I was interested in. 1- Adachi. I now see as little more than a sad incel but it does say a lot about where I was at the time to be so fascinated with him. He shared my resentment towards the world, the idea that anyone who wasn’t depressed simply didn’t understand, and saw more of a problem with the world than his current state of being. Of course that was relatable. I very clearly remember in middle school believing people that weren’t depressed simply had no idea what was going on around them. Of course I thought that and still struggle with that mentality. All I had really known was deep despair and numbing myself from the world. I didn’t understand how other people didn’t realize that but now know what the emotional world I was living in was not typical of children. So here was someone that knew how bad everything around was and how bad the world felt and I clung onto him the same way I did my own idealizations. With what I’ve been processing more recently, the dude needed therapy and to unlearn that depression was cool and correct but had shown multiple times he was unwilling to challenge any of his issues and just started killing people. There were a lot of favorite characters through this but one that sticks out as another really fucked up example of where I was was Damon Gant. I look back at liking him as the ultimate symbol of trauma reenactment. He’s older, he had power, he was creepy, intimidating, unsettling, and controlling. Everything my predators had been to me at the time. So- all of those things were in a way intertwined with my own sexuality as they’re what I first learned with anything ‘sexual’. Some of my favorite ships are due to the same reasoning. Gant and Lana- again, kind of inherently controlling, imbalance of power, and ends horribly and tragically. I always found something intriguing and beautiful about the most horrific and sad feelings. And I’ll touch on it just for the record. Cyrus is big fucked up- but I think he is, though maybe incorrect, well intentioned with his main goal being what he believes will actually be better for everyone cause of his projection of the awful things he feels on everyone. He doesn’t go out of his way to hurt anyone and certainly doesn’t enjoy other people’s pain but rather wants to eliminate what he sees as the reason for people hurting others with and end justifies the means mindset. His numbing/attempts to numb, hatred of emotion, and hatred of people inflicting pain on others is all incredibly familiar and I’m certain a part of me in middle school knew that when picking him as a fave. As I progress, I’m more interested his potential to relearn people and start opening up to feeling. (Pokemon Master’s definitely more than hinted at him changing and I’m hoping that means they’ll go that route with remakes.) I should note that during my most ‘numb’ parts would sneak out and I would be very- and increasingly over time starting with 6th grade- suicidal and became addicted to cutting and self harm (which I realize now are both just further numbing techniques). I described the feeling at the time as a parasite controlling your brain and a part of yourself knowing you had to fight against it. There was a period I was certain of how I would die, it was just when I would finally snap. I should also say how much people are able to numb themselves. I can remember getting so anxious that my heart would race and the world felt fast- I would get to the point of gagging but can’t remember ‘feeling’ any ounce of anxiety consciously. When first becoming sexually active, I had extended, horrific anxiety that would have hospitalized me for a couple weeks if not for my mom being able to stay home with me (also out of work for a couple months and left addicted to xanax for a bit). And still didn’t quite believe her all the way when she suggested it was anxiety. And I sure as hell didn’t make any connections to any possible mental issues around sex. So I’ve ranted enough but saved this bit for the end cause it hits kinda hard. People tend to feel the same things they felt in locations. Curiosity got the best of me and I drove around parts of my childhood I spend a lot of time at and specific routes I would take. (It’s called state dependent memory if anyone’s interested). I’m learning just how much I was numb to everything and wondering just what it was I was covering up my whole life. This isn’t easy to really type out cause of how fucked it is with the realization that I didn’t really experience childhood to a degree. During my drive, past my high school, up near my friends houses, the route I would take coming back from college- I was deeply, and very profoundly sad in my core. Nothing near what a person should have felt through their childhood. I missed so much. And I’m sorry to my friends at the time who only got to know a strange, numb, trauma reenacting, ghost of myself. I’m not going to be able to relive those times in a better light but I can at very least do some work to prevent a future spent numb and profoundly sad. But my brain is finally allowing me to remember some things because it’s deemed that I can handle it, I’m learning more about myself and my past, learning how to listen to what my brain and body are telling me and why, and getting better at expressing grief and real, raw, sadness and a touch of deep-seated anger so I think I might be starting to turn this around.

[gaytoshi]

How old you feel if it was revealed that Enji and Rei had a good relationship in the beginning and that it all changed until Shoto was born? Do you even think that's feasible or that it would make sense given the narrative we have been given? What if Horikoshi decided to invalidate Shoto saying they had a quirk marriage where he solely wanted her for her quirk (to compensate the weaknesses of his quirk).

Okay, I'mma start from the beginning:1. Endeavor himself pretty much said that’s why he got with Rei and had all the children. Basically to cover up the weakness of his quirk and the ‘flaw’ that was holding HIM back from fulfilling his ambition. It wasn’t some ‘AW MY FAMILY IS MY STRENGTH!’ bs; he plain out says that he was using them all to fulfill his ambition for strength because he wanted a perfect mini Endeavor without his flaw (overheating). He basically wanted to live his dream through Shoto.2. He himself also says that he had never approached his family as family but as a hero. Sure, maybe he wasn’t always horrible, but he was WAY too caught up trying to defeat AM, trying to surpass him by becoming ‘the best hero’ so he was probably never ever home, too busy resolving cases, defeating heroes, patrolling his district and just… neglected his family. I actually think this is what he meant when he says he didn’t mean to neglect any of them. I don’t think it was 1000% deliberate BUT he definitely did NOT care about being a father until it was extremely late. The only thing he ever did for them “right” was provide $$$ and failed at everything else. Maybe he never abused Rei or the children before Shoto was born (physically, at least) but that was most likely because he was too busy ignoring them (Natsuo himself comments on how Endeavor ignored Rei AND them. Rei does NOT say anything to prove him wrong). It wouldn’t even surprise me if Endeavor remembered her favorite flower because that was one of the FEW things she actually told him. They probably barely even interacted despite being married (it’s SUPER common for spouses to sleep in different beds and even bedrooms in Japan so I’m mostly certain that’s what they did tbh). 3. I fail to see why people think that “love in the beginning” would make anything better because it doesn’t change the fact he LEGIT SOUGHT HER TO USE HER!!!! and because that relationship ended up extremely bad for Rei. It’s been TEN YEARS and she still cannot see him because SHE IS TOO AFRAID. I wanted to be positive assuming maybe he never abused them but just neglected them, but Rei’s fear of him is just… wow. Maybe he only hit her once, but what he made her go through was DEFINITELY traumatizing to an extreme and I actually think that as soon as the story develops we’re going to learn why Rei’s fear is justified.

Lastly I’d fucking hate if they got back together because it’s been stated -TWICE- in canon that Endeavor isn’t allowed to see her. Sure, she accepted the flowers but that’s it. She also DOES NOT mention him at all in her letter. I HIGHLY doubt she wants to go back to him. Sure, she may be able to forgive him but that doesn’t mean she’ll want him near her at all. In fact, who knows if he’d be allowed to see her even after she’s dismissed. That’s probably why he decided to get a whole new house for her and the children. Otherwise he’d probably have to leave anyway. Also, what reasons does she have to love him???? Because he remembered a flower she told him she liked once? Bullshit. Idk but he can’t do anything to earn her romantic love anymore lol. That ship sailed like 25 years ago. Any attempt of his part would feel fake and like he’s doing it 1. to not end up alone 2. to manipulate her 3. because after all they’re married so they gotta stay together. It’s also obvious Enji never loved her before (not that there was anything wrong with her, he’s just scum) and I’m glad because I don’t want the message of “he abuses you BUT he loves you” to be spread anymore. If he had loved her he would’ve cared for her, he wouldn’t have neglected her nor abused her and her children. End of story. tl;dr: fuck any and all possible variations of enji/rei in a romantic sense both past, present and future. they’re all whack and shit writing in all universes. i don’t mind if she ‘forgives him’ because she’d probably do it for her sake (to move on and heal), but going back to him or even trying to talk to him and tell him ‘it’s all right’? nah son. Let her leave. She is not Endeavor’s consolation prize and like the Joss Stone song says… “you had me, you lost me, you’re wasted, you cost me, I don’t want you here messing with my mind”. 

[opinionatedpieces]

Cancel Culture and the Effects it has on Actual Human Beings

I’m aware most people are sick and tired of the typical “Cancel Culture is bad” and “Don’t make assumptions without evidence” and so forth. However, depending on the topic, it’s stupidly difficult to consider the facts when something horrible ALLEGEDLY happened; usually these events would require the authorities to be involved in some way or talking things out in private, instead, there are people who talk about private events in a public fashion, without speaking in private or contacting the authorities. This year we have seen multiple instances of public figures being slandered due to a “mistake” or someone’s personal vendetta against them; I understand that it’s hard to tell someone how you truly feel about them, but it’s worse to LIE about it to an impressionable audience and to yourself as well.

The biggest example I can think of that pretty much highlighted how quickly a celebrity’s fanbase can go against them is the James Charles situation, this event occurred because Mr.Charles chose to promote a beauty product that rivaled the product of a friend of his, keep in mind, these two people were close. Then, the friend lashed out and made a call-out video, the waterworks and all were included; this person is a woman known as Tati, a 37-year-old married woman with a career made, who had a vendetta against a 19-year-old young man. I put emphasis on their ages because she already has her life set out for her, while she, destroyed someone else’s career, someone who barely had a career in the first place. She claimed he sexually harassed a straight man who was a waiter at some restaurant they were in and he said a joke that wouldn’t come off as funny to an outsider, however, this joke was a reoccurring one and she conveniently uses it as a tool against him, later on, that same waiter says that he’s bisexual and that he was into Mr.Charles at first but then called him a pretty bad kisser, which was funny, but it contradicts that woman’s story.

 As the result of all of that, Mr.Charles’s audience turned against him to the point where outsiders became blatantly homophobic, this greatly affected Mr.Charles’s mental health as many stories were surfacing about him being some type of pervert for straight men, all these stories were false and their only purpose was to continue to destroy the image of this teenager. James Charles made the mistake of releasing a video trying to explain himself at his most vulnerable, he was clearly aware of his previous emotional state when he made a second video that was calmer, thought out, and overall, NO CRYING. Personally, as any viewer, I don’t like seeing public figures cry on video if it’s not something that would make someone cry without realizing it, like when someone tears up when they think about a traumatic event or talk about something they’d rather forget, those people might not even realize they’re crying; usually they edit that stuff out if it’s not a raw video. Usually if it’s done on purpose, the only reason they do that is because crying generates views and makes your audience feel sympathy for you in some way.

What grinds my gears is how disingenuous it looks when a public figure cries on camera, ESPECIALLY if I see editing throughout the video, it’s like the CS:GO Gambling website apology video by Trevor Martin. To put it briefly, it promoted gambling to young impressionable children. His apology wasn't sincere and it was meant to manipulate his audience as well; that makes me very angry, because that’s no different to me than spitting on my face and expect me not to have a violent reaction to that, it’s disgusting and it shows just how much literal human garbage exists on the planet. Which is why I appreciated the video Mr.Charles made, it was calm and collected, he addressed the accusations with his own evidence to debunk Tati’s allegations, and he ended it with an obviously passive-aggressive, but well deserved, “Bye Sister”, considering his catchphrase is “Hi Sisters”, it’s the nail in the coffin for Tati’s credibility.

However, James Charles isn’t the only one who fell victim to false allegations and cancel culture, a Youtube commentator known as Slazo was accused of rape by a former friend, the reason for the accusation had little to no weight, the young lady along with Slazo’s group of friends just wanted a reason to not associate with him anymore. Sure, maybe Slazo isn’t or wasn’t a good person, but I’m pretty sure that doesn’t justify an accusation like that. Brilliantly, his “group of friends” opted to basically destroy his life; because that’s appropriate when a bunch of teenagers just decide to accuse someone of rape, everyone involved is a child, sure, they’re adults based on age, but the way this was handled? Nah, they’re all a bunch of muppets if you ask me. The girl who accused him of rape recently tried to commit suicide and was taken to a Mental institution, as horrible as that is, I know it’s because she doesn’t want to face the repercussions of a false allegation and the inevitable consequences of getting eaten alive by those who stood by her; to me, that attempt only confirms what many people know, they’re all children and like children, they don’t understand how serious the effects of an accusation like that can have, Slazo’s career is ruined, whether they meant to do that or not, and they DID because its rape he was accused of, the deed is done.

Maybe it’s because I grew up in a different environment, or maybe it’s because I plan to have a career in law enforcement, I don’t know. But what I DO know, is that people are incredibly misinformed, they don’t take that extra mile to question people when they make serious allegations. With Slazo, this girl didn’t go the police, there’s no record of her contacting the police, filing a report, nothing from her; but yet, people chose to believe her. Instead of making sure if the accusation was legit, very few people demanded proof that she went to law enforcement first before going online. I’m well aware it’s incredibly difficult for victims of abuse to report their trauma and admit it happened to them online where you are vulnerable to intense scrutiny and skepticism. However, going online to slander or create libel against a person is disgusting, I'm talking about the people who do this knowing they’re not going to report it, hoping to gain “Justice”, it’s an act, a disgusting act. It happened with Tobuscus, a gaming YouTuber who even played a role in the annoying orange in Cartoon Network, had his life destroyed by some woman. Her claims were false, she intended to cause harm, and yet that event seems to slip everyone’s mind, these women need to be held accountable for their actions, they only hurt real victims.

I’d like to take note that I know little to nothing about these people, I am an outsider, I had to learn this and search for credible evidence. I don’t watch their videos, I don’t much care for them either, but I do care about how they ended up where they are now because those are very real things that can happen at a local scale, and that scares me.

[verysharpteeth]

My final feelings on GoT are as follows: 

Everyone sort of ends up where they’re supposed to be, but the way they were written to get there is awful. 

1. Sansa as Queen of the North- The book seems to be setting up for that big time, so she, who has ruling ability and is way smarter than most of the other players ends up with “Scotland”. I have no problem with that. I have a big problem with them making her cold as ice to get there. They also abused her character so heavily that she, who always seemed like she wanted a family of her own, is justifiably alone, which I don’t think the books ARE setting up.

2. Jon back in the wilds- Jon never fit in to anything and as a combination of Stark and Targaryen, his ancestry is messy. He’s happy not being involved in the whole political mess, so this isn’t a bad ending for him. But this whole season he’s acted like confused white bread so I barely cared.

3. Arya hieing off to the west- She always liked adventures and there’s no one saying she’s not going to come back. Giving no explanation about any of that though makes it seem like she wasn’t doing it because of her motives in the books, but because sHe’S DaNgErOuS and CaN’t LiVe iN sOcIeTy. She has the freedom to move around and see all of her family and I don’t doubt she’ll do that, but the writing failed her hard. 

4. Gendry as Lord of Storm’s End- I’m not sure why Gendrya was even allowed to form on the show for what they did to it. I do think Gendry should be Lord of Storm’s End because he’s a good man. He’ll do a good job, forks or no. Would Arya have been happy in a settled existence? Probably not so much, but I feel like it should have been established WHY she turned him down better. And part of me says she’s right, Gendry WILL find a woman he cares about and will have a good life with her and reestablish House Baratheon. Another part of me says screw that, he’s gonna wait for Arya to come visiting between her travel and sometimes go off with her.

5. Bran as king- I can sort of see it, but there’s been almost no set up for it on the show. 

6. Jaime dead- I could have lived with that if he died killing Cersei and completing his arc for Brienne to honestly add to the annals, but the way he went out was ridiculous. 

7. Dany dying- Again, I could live with this had the set up been ANYTHING but what the show did with her. They literally made her go crazy in one episode and killed her halfway through another. Did she want the throne too much? Heck yes. Did the show ever set that up as being an issue? Hell no. By skimming over a lot of her characterization in the book, this bit of writing is by far the worst. Could they have built her as morally grey and slowly losing people around her until she’s so stuck on her own headspace her making horrible choices seems inevitable? Absolutely. But they literally spent no time doing that and just had another character list off a bunch of “oh...and here’s some stuff she did...but like don’t pay attention to it in context” to try to justify her death.

Like on the whole I can objectively see how a lot of this makes sense, but the execution of it was HORRIBLE. Mainly D&D was so concerned with getting the thing finished and having “surprises” that they completely sacrificed characterization, which I think they fail to realize is why most people loved the books. Will the general public live with it? Sure. I mean who cares about the legit fans when it comes to ratings, right? But from the standpoint I’m at, this was a truly bad take on someone’s excellent writing.

[falling-red-petals]

Arc Family/Jaune Headcanons

Note: Several of these are bound to contradict each other. (Also feel free to add your own.) (BTW this is mostly angst.)

1.) They’re nomadic. Jaune never indicates where his family is actually from but we know they DID travel a fair bit and Jaune never seemed THAT concerned whenever team RNJR lost the map. Our boy knows his fucking way around.

2.) At least ONE of his sisters is lgbt+

3.) Jaune is either the oldest or somewhere in the middle, but not the youngest. (Mostly because Jaune being a cute big brother who babies a gaggle of little sisters is my dream ya’ll.) (Imagine them clinging to his legs or making him read them bedtime stories!!!!)

4.) His parents, intentionally or not, are neglectful as fuck towards him. As someone who grew up with four siblings I assure you that it can be difficult for working parents to make sure each kid gets the same amount of attention. I can’t imagine what it’s like trying to divide that time between EIGHT FUCKING KIDS.

5.) His parents DO try really hard with him but fail hardcore for various reasons. If true I think this is because most of their advice we’ve heard Jaune repeat, (”My dad said you just have to have confidence.”), is less than great and Jaune himself openly states in V3 that they didn’t even remotely believe in him or what he could do. Maybe they meant they’d be fine if came home but it came out more like “We fully expect you to fail and come home with your tail between your legs” from his point of view. It’s hard to tell since we haven’t actually seen them.

6.) Alternatively, if his parents really are just that dismissive as to think he’ll fail at everything... well, that’s a pretty good way to explain why he’s been massively insecure since Vol 1.

6-b.) Them being abusive to some extent would go a long way in explaining why he was so dismissive about Cardin’s bullying BECAUSE MAYBE THAT’S JUST HOW HE THINKS HE’S SUPPOSE TO BE TREATED OH GOD- 

7.) Some of his sisters are adopted. The idea of some poor woman going through eight pregnancies (that is, if none of them were part of multiple births) makes me cringe because that’s a lot of stress to go under repeatedly. 

8.) A few of the girls have Faunus traits. Additionally, his dad is the faunus parent while his mom is the human parent.

9.) Jaune’s ancestors were great warriors, not heroes. Given that huntsmen get idolized in Remnant (for obvious reasons), I wouldn’t be surprised if a naive-child-Jaune immediately associated “warrior” with “hero” because of this. IMAGINE HOW SHITTY HE’D FEEL IF HE FOUND OUT HIS ANCESTORS DID HORRIBLE THINGS INSTEAD OF BEING HEROIC?! THAT WOULD PERFECTLY SET UP A BROKEN PEDESTAL PLOT

10.) “Jaune Arc” isn’t his legal name. The way he introduces himself to Ruby imo has one of two interpretations. A.) He’s trying and failing to sound cool. B.) He’s a huge nerd and is excited about his new totally not legit name because he thinks he picked a really good one.

11.) His family has some kind of connection with the criminal underworld. I really don’t have any reason why for this one other than I want to know how he got those fake transcripts and I’ve read a bunch of @ofdustandpotions post about the subject.

11-b.) Bonus points if their underworld connection goes by the alias of “Kevin.”

12.) Even before he went to Beacon, Jaune felt like he was useless. That he wasn’t living up to his family name. Something put him at such a terrible state of mind that he felt like the only way to be worth anything to his family was to put himself in an extremely life threatening field of work. 

13.) If a character suggests he goes home to his family for a little while Jaune will refuse, both because he won’t abandon his friends but also because he doesn’t feel like he’s worth enough yet to go back to them with any honor intact. 

14.) His parents ALSO don’t know what aura is. Maybe Jaune’s dad is a warrior but was never trained to be a huntsman and has survived by pure grit, who knows?

15.) Ruby is the first real friend he’s ever had, which is why he’s so intense with her sometimes. (Similarly this is also why he’s so intense with Ren and Nora.)

16.) Jaune’s bi, but leans more towards being heteromantic. (There’s just something about his gushing over Neptune and his relationship with Ren in general that makes it seem like he isn’t full hetero to me, idk.) 

17.) One of Jaune’s sisters’ name will be Jean as a mythology gag. (It’s been stated by Word of God that Jaune’s name was originally suppose to Jean [as in blue jeans] until Burnie Burns pointed out the word jaundice and referring to him as Jaune just kind of stuck.)

18.) The reason Jaune never went to a combat school prior to Beacon despite always wanting to be a warrior, as well as his general lack of knowledge on the world around him, is because he had some kind sickness that kept him bedridden for a good deal of his life. This would also go a long way to explain his early social ineptitude, and the fact that he was following advice that sounds more like something you’d tell a shy elementary school child than a seventeen year old boy. Again, although his full name is an obvious allusion to Joan D’arc his first name came specifically from Burnie Burns mentioning a RL sickness.

18-b.) His (previous) sickness may be the reason he looks down on himself so much, and why he’s obsessed with holding up the family honor now. Maybe his stay in the hospital cost his parents A LOT of money and as a result he’s desperately trying to become something that’s remotely worth having around in order to justify the economic (and/or emotional) turmoil he put them through. 

18-c.) Dancing was part of some kind of physical therapy and his sisters decided to learn with him as a sign of support. <3 

19.) Alternatively to 18, Jaune is just extremely sheltered and his parents made massive efforts to keep him that way... for some reason.

20.) If his parents were verbally abusive towards him then I imagine they used the concept of “family honor” as a bullying tactic in some way.

21.) NONE of sisters were interested in becoming huntresses... until he left to become a hunter himself. (I honestly hate the theory that they’re all badass huntresses because WHY THE FUCK DID THEY NOT TELL HIM ABOUT AURA OR TRAIN HIM THEMSELVES IF THAT’S THE CASE)

22.) If his parents are neglectful/abusive, at least ONE of his sisters is the exact opposite and loves him unconditionally.

23.) In the case his parents AREN’T abusive/neglectful in some way they are instead adoption-happy and will try to adopt Ren, Nora, and Weiss (PLS LET SNOW CHILD LIVE) the second they see the three of them.

24.) Alternatively to everything above, Jaune has a perfectly happy home life but his parents have a tendency to stick their feet in their mouths at the worst times (he has to get that from somewhere) and Jaune is naturally predisposed to experience high levels of anxiety and depression.