#because real people look at what happened to hughie and are disgusted by it

[cha-lii]

if it had been hughie the shapeshifter turned into, and annie that they tricked and raped and proposed to - there would have been monologue after monologue this episode about how violated annie felt.

and if hughie had blamed annie for even an instant for not realising it wasn’t him or for being raped or accidentally getting engaged to a person who had the same face, body, voice, mannerisms and memories as him - the amount of unholy backlash hughie’s character would face in the show and from fans would blow him away.

why are people (and the fucking shitty writers) so fucking quick to dismiss hughie’s trauma and accept annie’s wrongdoings just because he’s a man and she’s a woman? being a man doesn’t immediately make you the wrong one, and being a woman doesn’t excuse your mistakes. like, they both suffered huge amounts of trauma - why should either of them have had to apologise for what happened to them? and to the people saying “oh annie forgave him and they made up immediately after” no - she told him to get an std test and somehow that made everything okay again?? seriously?? roles reversed, how would that have felt coming out a man’s mouth to a woman?

fuck kripke so much

[a-simple-imagine]

Tear apart the heart

synopsis: you just watched your girlfriend die right in front of you

pairing: victoria neuman x reader

words: 1k+

WARNINGS - themes of grief, blood, death, mention of body pieces

she promised you the world and instead, you got the most disgusting makeshift lab you ever had the displeasure of stepping inside. but it really didn't matter anymore.

that heavy feeling in your chest is brand spanking new. you search your brain for a comparison but it's like nothing you've ever felt before. it's almost suffocating. blocking off the one thing keeping you alive right now. air. gross, dingy air that was so polluted with chemicals and old take out, it almost knocked you sick but now a hint of copper joined this mix. an unwelcome change. a tickle against your cheek. you reach up to remove the tear. only it is red as it slips from the tip of your finger down your hand and to your wrist. you wanted to believe it was fake even as it trickled down your forearm. so desperate for none of this to be real. but deep down you know it is. it's blood. her blood. and maybe the droplets that adorn your skin should have been actually tears but they just never came. did that make youan evil person? undoubtedly. everyone cries when someone dies. it's like the first thing that's expected. but you just couldn't. what you felt inside wasn't sadness per se. or maybe it was. you couldn't tell. it didn't feel like when you were normally about to cry. this felt all-consuming. you felt rigid in this moment. unable to process anything. This wasn't ordinary. most people didn't watch the person they loved get ripped in two. weren’t drenched in tiny pieces of their girlfriend. it felt comical in a way. perhaps that was why you were having such a hard time acknowledging it. people don't just get ripped in half. this wasn't a comic book or some mid-budget horror film which gaineda startling cult following because they used practical effects instead of CGI for the gore but they didn't overdo it with the gore either. it was tasteful. no. this wasn't tasteful. you don't know what this is. you can hardly even look at her. you want to go back. dear god. you shouldn't have given in so easily.

"did you order the food?" you question, glancing up from her laptop that you had been playing on.

"What?" a brief blank expression that settles into a gentle smile. the kind of smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "no. sorry."

"Can I order something?" a silent nod puts you to work and decides what to have. "who were you talking to then- on the phone?"

"Hughie,"

the name alone forms a pit in your stomach. you used to think so fondly of him. you'd met him a great many times but that was before. "you can't be serious,"

"Just hear me out"

"no, Victoria- that man has tried to kill you multiple times," you express. "what could you possibly want from him?"

"out," a simple word. She cares not to elaborate as she walks closer to the kitchen aisle. taking her laptop, she spins it around to face her. "so what are we eating?"

"what do you mean out?"

she shrugs. "I want out. out of everything. I just- I can't do this anymore."

your heart beats a little faster. out of everything? out of this? that wouldn't explain the conversation with Hughie. although they used to be close friends. "what?"

"he's gonna help me get out of this mess," she expresses. "I think I wanted this for a while. like genuinely wanted it not just because of what was happening around me or stan or whatever. but now it's just not something that makes any sense."

"Vic,"

"It's pathetic really but I'm just never gonna be more than a puppet. and that's not what I want- I don't wanna be under anyone's control, y'know?"

"Sure," a lopsided smile with a hint of shrug. you didn't get it. felt like a few pieces of the puzzle were missing. a small sigh leaves her painted lips as she walks over to you. your eyes trail after her until you're staring into all too familiar eyes. usually so steely but today they possess a flicker of something different.

"Hughie is gonna help me get out. if I do this- if I help them bring down homelander then I just get to live my life away from all the bullshit. I realised all I want now is to be with Zoe. and with you too."

"Are we just skipping the part where he and his friends tried to murder you? how can we trust them?" you wonder what she can see in your eyes. the fear of what's to come. the joy of knowing she was willing to give up everything to be with you? That was a crazy thought. a crazy thing to admit. Victoria was gentle with you and loving but this felt like a different level of vulnerability. one you never saw from her.

"I'm not asking you to trust them," she holds your gaze, firm and pleading. "I'm asking you to trust me."

she had never steered you so wrong before. on shaky legs, you push yourself up off the dusty floor. brushing yourself off; little did it help. your heart races with your decision as 5 people - mostly strangers- surround you. you weren't a supe. you had no means to protect yourself here. they don't seem like they're gonna kill you as you turn around to find Hughie amongst them. he was covered in blood too. your girlfriend's blood. it was almost strange how fitting it was. That pit that once formed was now a silent rage as you stared at him. the man who Victoria trusted enough to come here. the man who promised her protection. the man who leads her to her death. he just stares back. a look of sympathy perhaps- no, pity. you take a deep breath and turn away in search of the other person you arrived with. zoe lies unconscious off to one side. at least you hope she's just unconscious. or maybe you didn't? what was a worse experience for her? you slowly make your way over to her. nobody stops you. nobody makes a move. you know you can't carry her so you just sit down beside her. a gentle hand on her side. you don't want her to be alone when she finds out her mother is dead.

[ltleflrt]

I know spn fans like to drag Eric Kripke for being bad at his job, and accidentally making it gay because he’s a closet misogynist, and using Soldier Boy to explore toxic masculinity is going to fail because he wouldn’t know it if it smacked him the face, blah blah blah...

But I wonder if the loudest naysayers have actually watched The Boys?  It’s not perfect.  It’s crass and disgusting in a lot of ways, sure.  But there’s some really good stuff in there.  

Like Kimiko?  He gave her A NAME.  In the comic the show is based on, she didn’t have a name.  She was just The Female, and she had no backstory.  She was just a feral chick everyone called The Female.  Granted, the comics only lasted for like 6 issues, so who knows if the creator intended to do more with her, but c’mon, giving her name and a family and a backstory and showing her trauma by having triggering moments... like, she’s a character.  A Character.  A Person.  

Queen Maeve is bisexual.  Not Gay, not “attracted to people instead of their genitals”, but actually Bisexual.  And when it comes out, and Vaught tries to capitalize on their lesbian hero, Maeve’s girlfriend gets snippy “You know she’s BI, right?”.  You know how no one is ever allowed to outright say they’re bisexual in media depictions?  It’s always “I don’t like labels” or some wishy washy bullshit like that.  Nope.  Came right out with a clapback over the lesbian thing, and said she’s Bi.  

And Frenchie?? WHAT A GIFT.  Toxic Masculinity who?  He’s so queer, he’s so sweet, he’s so ready to build bombs for his friends.  Not even Hughie has a bigger heart than Frenchie.  And when he does get a little controlling with Kimiko (out of concern for her wellbeing), and she snaps at him for it, he backs off and APOLOGIZES.  SINCERELY.  Help, I love him.

Speaking of sweetness, literally the whole gang is so in love with Butcher’s soft side.  They just want to sit there with popcorn and coo over him, and that’s adorable.

And Mother’s Milk!  MM is a big rough looking black guy, and when I first saw him I said uh oh, because I know SPN gets accused of being racist a lot (it is, no lie).  But he’s kind, and loving, and protective, and when he’s not involved in Butcher’s schemes, he’s a counselor for incarcerated men?  Like?  A Real Person? Not a stereotype???  

And the ONLY Good Heroes are the women.  They’re complex, and imperfect, and make mistakes, but deep down they’re Good People who have been thrust into Bad Situations and are trying to make the best of it.

And in season 2, I was like “y’all better not be trying to redeem The Deep” cuz he deserves every bad thing that happens to him.... but by the end of it, he’s still being shit on by the narrative and I love that for him.

Anyway, maybe... maybe... Eric has learned some valuable shit in the decade after he stopped working on Supernatural.  And maybe some of the toxic shit we credit to him was from TPTB at the network he worked for.  I don’t think we should give him such a hard time.

[breckstonevailskier]

It definitely feels like double standards. If they want to rectify this, there needs to be some way that in season 5, they can do a storyline with Hughie seeing a therapist, show him with PTSD over the whole matter of being repeatedly sexually assaulted by an imposter. But I doubt Kripke will try that.

if it had been hughie the shapeshifter turned into, and annie that they tricked and raped and proposed to - there would have been monologue after monologue this episode about how violated annie felt.

and if hughie had blamed annie for even an instant for not realising it wasn’t him or for being raped or accidentally getting engaged to a person who had the same face, body, voice, mannerisms and memories as him - the amount of unholy backlash hughie’s character would face in the show and from fans would blow him away.

why are people (and the fucking shitty writers) so fucking quick to dismiss hughie’s trauma and accept annie’s wrongdoings just because he’s a man and she’s a woman? being a man doesn’t immediately make you the wrong one, and being a woman doesn’t excuse your mistakes. like, they both suffered huge amounts of trauma - why should either of them have had to apologise for what happened to them? and to the people saying “oh annie forgave him and they made up immediately after” no - she told him to get an std test and somehow that made everything okay again?? seriously?? roles reversed, how would that have felt coming out a man’s mouth to a woman?

fuck kripke so much