#begging for sympathy

[heidi-oferrall-is-a-narcissist]

[bonefall]

Feel free to ignore you've probably got a lot going on right now, but considering you know a lot about DOTC and Clear sky, I had a question...

We know that he's a terrible, misogynistic, woman beating and war mongering lunatic who was excused of all his actions because his equally misogynistic brother said " But-But he's nice! Deep down! This isn't the real him! "

But! In a world where the Hunters could write such a character, what do you think Clear Sky would look like as an actual sympathetic villain?

Idk if that makes sense, but what I've thought of doing is taking purely cannon Clear Sky and attempting to change him enough that he's still an antagonist, but not too far where only Reddit defends him.

I don't think he works as a sympathetic villain, on any level, ever. I think you're making a huge mistake to even try, and I have never seen an AU where it was done well nor am I interested in entertaining the thought.

Characters. Are. Tools. They exist to tell a story. The story that people tell me, by obsessing over some alternate universe where he was "ACTUALLY sympathetic and had a REAL redemption arc," is that they're not fucking interested in his dozens of victims. Nor do they actually care about the abusive impact he had on the minds and feelings of his family. They're JUST interested in Clear Sky himself.

Just like the Erins. Everything that happens in DOTC revolves around him. Everything. All his wives die so he can be sad about it. His brother defends all of his actions and BEGS you to sympathize with his pain so he can be 'redeemable.' One Eye comes out of nowhere so that there can be an example of "real" evil to contrast Clear Sky so he's less bad in hindsight.

The first three books of DOTC are bad, but the last three are fucking insufferable because SUDDENLY all that Gray Wing apologia pays off, and they take their main villain and throw him out a window. You CAN'T have "redeemable" Clear Sky and the plot of DOTC without dragging in someone else to drive the conflict, to BE the bigger threat to "unite" against. Slash and One Eye have to be conjured up out of thin air so Clear Sky can WHINE about how people only suck his toes instead of deepthroat them after he killed all their friends.

And yet, in spite of this absolute failure of an attempt, we continue to see this bullshit "redemption" be a mistake because Clear Sky is a fantastic villain, with major antagonist roles in nearly EVERY bit of follow-up material for DOTC that came after.

He's the most consistent monster in all of Warriors.

He's a fragile, egotistical, self-absorbed megalomaniac who ALWAYS sees himself as the victim, REFUSING to self-reflect and blaming everything else for all of his terrible choices. He will USE your love of him against you like it's a chain through your nose, step out of line and he will yank you into place with guilt trips, manipulation, public shaming, and violence.

He's a child abuser. He's a tyrant. He abandons the sick and disabled as soon as they're of no use to him, with grand speeches about "illness" and "weakness." He's a murderer who stands above the shredded corpse of his victim and bellows, "I'M NOT GREEDY! I'M JUST STRONG!"

And you'd write a "good" redemption arc for this, why?

Why are people so chronically unable to accept that there are LOTS of people like him, and you can't save your abuser? Why don't you ask yourselves why you're not interested in exploring Thunder, or Petal, or Gray Wing, and how his toxic influence impacts them? Why does the sympathy fall on Clear Sky? What about the DOZENS of victims who are dead by Book 3, and how THEY could have been saved?

Why ruin a perfectly good villain?

What's behind this trend where a billion people say to me, "Yes Clear Sky is a walking cavalcade of fucked up abuse apologia, and an incredibly realistic depiction of an abuser, but how would you change this while keeping it all the same?"

I wouldn't. You can't. It wouldn't be the same story, or it wouldn't be the same character. Never seen it done well, and I have seen it a lot. So I don't entertain this deeply frustrating "Well What If Clear Sky But Nice" impulse.

[profounddefendorcrusade-blog]

I feel bad for Starlo.

Star has a point, idk what the four were ticked off about, there is like 99% chance everyone willingly participated in the trolley problem, based on what we've seen of his behavior thus far it's not like Starlo to be that big of a jerk/drag them by force/yell at them to do it. Ed's words:

he does it because Star asks NICELY

clearly jealous

It genuinely seemed like a fun time/fun roleplay, especially since every day is the same. Like, the five are supposed to be a rowdy and adventures bunch, what exactly did Starlo do wrong, I'm genuinely confused and curious. Except taking a big liking in Clover (his posse should know that this is a big moment for him, according to Blackjack they've known each other since high school and had the same liking for westerns. So they were basically a nerd gang.) Starlo was kind, patient and considerate towards Clover the whole time, even warned Mooch about them not being bandits, taught Clover gun safety, wanted to bring his posse along for a fun time, thanked Ace for telling him about getting Clover a new hat...

Sure, at first he only liked Clover for being a human, but as Ceroba says, that changed and he grew to genuinely care about them, plus I can't help but think Star saw himself in Clover and that's part of the reason he was so proud of them all the time even when they messed up (I'll talk more about this at some point)

What exactly made Ace want to leave the gang? He even said how he doesn't mind "getting run over by the fake train"

he's so nice. says sorry for forgetting the safety goggles even when he was scatterbrained due to his excitement. I love him so much

The only real "faults" (I'll call them temporary faults) I saw in Star during the Wild East section was that he was even more enthusiastic and more proud than usual. But how couldn't he be when he met a member of the species that he has admired for so long because they have real cowboys and sheriffs on the surface (who are seen as brave heroes who deliver justice, while Star canonically feels like a nobody farmer). His posse should have realized Clover wouldn't be there forever and just let their boss enjoy himself with his "deputy who'd have to leave sooner or later anyway"(or be more patient with him/ask him why he feels this strongly towards Clover/if there's a deeper reason for that). His friends including Ceroba just turn their back on him so quickly instead. The moment he's gotten the chance to feel valued for once and put himself first and not have to take care of this whole town and everyone in it and live his dream of meeting a real human, suddenly "his personality is damaged?"

Star's literally built this whole town, organised everything, he worries about everyone, Ceroba (plus was the one to give her emotional strength before and after Clover's sacrifice), Kanako, the monsters, his family, struggles with feelings of worthlessness yet never wipes that smile off his face, always does his best to be hopeful and optimistic and make others laugh, gave his posse a nap time so they don't become exhausted, gave Ceroba a free home, didn't act upon his feelings towards her and was a 110% supportive, caring friend instead. THAT'S who he is. He's the papa bear of this friend group, the glue holding everyone together.

He was just *really* excited. Y'all know he's insecure and just wishes to escape who he is and yet y'all blame him for liking Clover so much. Yeah, the four are very clearly jealous. But why won't the four of you control your feelings for a while? As mentioned, Clover WILL HAVE TO LEAVE EVENTUALLY. They won't be Star's "deputy" forever (the kid who's just as into westerns as he is, who values justice just as much, who also values doing the right thing. Someone he clearly felt understood in the presence of, whom he loved; just look at the way he talks about Clove during Showdown). Star seems genuinely confused of what he did wrong poor guy just wanted to live his fantasy for once and feel important:

Even at the beginning Moray's like "oh no Martlet is upset" Mooch replies "don't be a buzzkill nothing exciting ever happens around here" and Ray's like "Yeah you've got a point"

If you all agreed to have a little fun with a human who will very soon leave forever why is Starlo's enthusiasm such a big problem? If the posse weren't into this after all (unless they were simply too jealous which could have been solved with a honest talk and a little patience) why are you doing this "rowdy" job with Star in the first place? Do you want your boring routine day to day life so much back? Or just for Clover to leave (which they will soon enough)? You, western enthusiasts, literally met a real human, A HUMAN FROM WESTERNS YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE PASSIONATELY INTO (clearly not as passionate as Star but passionate ENOUGH to understand where he's coming from).

... okay.

[holyfigtree]

images that go hard

[minhosimthings]

Alright I think I'm speaking for everyone here when I say this-

You are such a bad writer. Seriously, your writing is so bland, I can't even believe I read it, my eyes were burning when I read every single letter. Please can you block me so I don't have to see your blog anymore seriously

And one more thing, I often see some sensible anons telling you to stop talking about your personal life, and I agree. You talk about it too much really and we don't need to know all about your trauma and scars and blah blah blah like fucking stop. If you want sympathy, go and beg in a street or something and stop being an attention whore.

I know a lot of people will agree with me when I say this so I hope you shut up and get off Tumblr.

I'm fine with the calling me a bad writer thing, but who the absolute fuck are you to hop onto me talking about my fucking life? If I had wanted sympathy, I would have asked for it, my dearest anon, but the truth is, I only wish to talk and vent about some shit that's going on in my life, and it's for my own sake, not for you. Please understand that, and get the fuck out of my blog, because guess what? This is my space and you have no right to intrude upon it.

[katsigian]

Kinda hurts a little when you've spent years creating a specific character in a specific universe for hardly anyone to see them, only for someone else to do the exact same concepts and get applauded for it. Did I just do it that badly or something

I remember when I first made all of my OCs supernatural in early 2022. I was one of the first people in [redacted] fandom who made it canon and talked openly about how my OC were vampires. And I got harassed for it endlessly. People were in my asks and dms telling me it was cringe and overpowered and lame, and that I was dumb to think anyone would care. Regardless of all of that, I kept them around and didn't stop talking about them. And then everyone else caught on and also made supernatural OCs because I helped to normalize it. Which isn't the problem, make as many supernatural OCs as you like, I'm not telling people to stop. That's not what bothers me (I have to add that disclaimer bc someone will undoubtedly try to get offended).

I think what upsets me is that it feels like I talk into a void sometimes and it sometimes feels like I don't have a place to share the things I'm proud of. I have an entire world that I made and this intertwined network of 10+ original characters and I just don't know where to talk about them or how to talk about them. I know we're "supposed to create for ourselves" and to "share it for good reasons", but it's really hard to put myself in that mindset. I don't do it for clout and I never will, I love my characters too much for that. Maybe I've just been doing a bad job of sharing anything about my world and characters, that is highly likely. I just can't help but remember the times I did share things and they went completely unnoticed

Just a little bit of acknowledgement would be nice. I think I'd be happy with that. Just a little bit of acknowledgement for the way I've had to fight to have my supernatural OCs exist in a cyberpunk setting in a hostile fandom. Just a little acknowledgement of the months of effort I put into my characters. And that would be all. Or maybe I'll learn how to just ignore everything and just keep doing as I have been. Putting my head and continuing on, savoring those small bits of genuine friendly interest when they come my way. That's good too

[viiinz]

everyday I think about him (Ippolit Terentyev)

[the-meme-monarch]

well that's the worst nightmare I've had in a while

[rosalinabloom]

I went into rewatching Steven Universe thinking Lapis and Jasper was a metaphor for abuse and reactive abuse, but no they just wrote an abusive relationship and the recovery of it.

[skoulsons]

I’m fairly certain there was a commercial on tv the other day that was completely AI generated. It looked… so weird. The quality was almost shiny. It was all a very similar shade of color. The way the background was blurred was not typical. And the angles with which they shot the woman were impractical and looked impossible to even film. The woman also looked not real. It was all so off-putting

[heidi-oferrall-is-a-narcissist]

That essay from the one anon got me to thinking...What WAS Heidi's endgame back in 2019? Even if Jared never came back to defend himself and Holly was successfully bullied by Heidi's flying monkeys into staying off the internet for good, eventually the drama would have died down and people would move on from her anyway. Was she expecting another guy with a high income and/or popularity to come around feeling bad for her and pick up where Jared left her, or was she really expecting to post "I'm a victim and my ex is a really awful person" several times a week for the rest of her life and get sympathy donations for it? If she was expecting the latter, that's extremely shortsighted for her.

Keep in mind, anon, Heidi's ability to see past her own nose is next to nothing, she's shown herself time and time again to be incredibly shortsighted and refuses to look at the long term. So I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if she was actually expecting to get free money by screeching about her ex husband until the end of time.

[catfacedcat]

Omg wait Wonder/Hater shipname idea....The Mind Electric......miracle musical reference....

dude…dude …. This is amazing your brain is so large i congrat you

[todayisafridaynight]

THIS IS GONNA SOUND SO MEAN BUT WHY DO U LIKE RYO AOKI/MASATO

masato hot

[idknotgonnapost]

SPOILERS FOR THE NEW IWTV BUT OMG THAT LAST 20 SECONDS IM GONNA LOSE IT WE’RE FINALLY GETTING MORE CLAUDIA AND LESTAT INTERACTION I HOPE HE FEELS A TINY BIT OF SYMPATHY AT LEAST BUT HE PROBABLY WONT BUT WHQTEHWR IM GOING CRAZYYY

[firelise]

Another day and I’m STILL pissed at Ming lmao bc now I’m mad that he’s been “waiting for Joe” for 2 years. Whatchu MEAN he’s waiting? Waiting for what?? if it is not soon revealed that Ming has been using his BIG money to investigate what happened to Joe and rain hell upon the company responsible for his death wtf is he even doing? Bitch behavior

[semiotomatics]

prolly shouldnt talk abt this but what the fuck ever

genuinely honestly i feel like the thing sooooooooo many ppl forget is that depression. kills. people. it is a disease and it can kill you. and i fucking hate the narrative that when it does kill someone that its somehow their fault? like, the whole idea of "committing" suicide or "taking" your own life is so. fucking. victim-blamey. a person who dies due to depression "took their own life" no more than someone who dies of cancer. could they have kept fighting? yeah sure, maybe. but did they want to? should they have to, when their quality of life is literally nonexistent?

anyway im just tired of this idea that like. if depression does end up killing me the way ive been convinced it was going to since i was twelve years old, that itll be my fault. it is not my fault that i have this disease. it is not my fault that no one ever, in my entire life, has taken it seriously. it is not my fault that the very fabric of society is designed to let people like me fall right through. it is not my fault if i get tired of having to fight tooth and nail just to survive. it is not my fault if i decide that i would rather stop fighting than keep living like this. and it is not my fault if that leads to my death.

i dont want to talk abt this bc i dont want people to worry abt me. i also dont want to get committed, bc literally everything ive heard abt the experience of being committed sounds terrifying and more traumatizing than continuing to white knuckle it through life. but i do want to talk abt this bc it is real. i have a potentially fatal disease and it is actively trying to kill me and i am simply. trying. to survive. i want people to understand that. and i want people to know its not my fault. no matter what happens, it is not my fault.