#but I don't like when people are mistreated & talked down to over shit that isn't even that serious

[cryptidafter]

What yesterday and today have shown me is that I have some fantastic friends within the BL/GL space and that encouraging creativity and celebration of your favorite media will always be more beneficial than arguing with random strangers online because they dare to not agree with your opinions.

[go-fornicate-yourself]

Every day I am in the trenches fighting for my life defending this poor man. He was going through so much and people online demonize him and say he's as bad as his abuser

(I've got a lot of thoughts about this so I'll make sure to separate things to make it easier to look at lol)

Curly is a victim of abuse. Jimmy is his abuser. This is something that I feel a lot of people tend to brush over or don't acknowledge it often.

And I'm not just talking about post-crash. Jimmy's abuse of Curly is there pre-crash too. The party scene where the crew learns about the company going under is a huge example of this. Jimmy verbally abuses him, he gaslights him, he blames him for their (his) misfortune. Jimmy accuses Curly of thinking he's better than everyone (better than him), that he doesn't care about them (about him). That he's going leave them (leave him). Which is not true. Curly tries to explain himself but Jimmy shuts him down and he just takes it.

The fact that he just allows this to happen makes it seem like he's used to this... That this kind of behavior is a recurring thing with Jimmy. And the fact that nobody else tries to defend him or stands up to Jimmy just normalizes it for him. When Anya tells Curly what Jimmy did it catches him off guard. Bc he genuinely didn't think that his friend was capable of that. It wasn't something that was obvious to him. There were absolutely many red flags in the past but they were subtle enough for him to not see them bc he cares for Jimmy, he trusts him. Jimmy's the only one he feels he can open up to, who he can let his guard down with. Jimmy's his home. That's how close they are.

Because of this deep love for his friend and the subtlety of Jimmy's cruelty, he doesn't see the constant verbal and emotional abuse as what it is: abuse. Which is why he finds Jimmy's abuse towards Anya so shocking and jarring.

He isn't a man covering for his rapist friend bc of the 'bro code'. It does look like that from a certain angle and it's understandable why people see it that way but that's not what his character is really about as much as it makes sense otherwise.

He's essentially a battered housewife who's still in love with her husband but is realizing for the first time that the man she loves is a monster. That the man she loves and devoted her life to has been hurting her this whole time and she didn't even realize it. That the man she loves and spent so much of her life caring for has gone and hurt someone else. That he's most likely hurt others before and she's been utterly unaware of it the entire time she defended him and made excuses for him when he wasn't the best or the fairest or the most responsible or when he screwed up yet again solely bc of how much she loved and cared for him.

And Curly barely had any time to process ANY of that before Jimmy decided to try and kill them all to avoid the consequences of his actions. It was ultimately a selfish act even if he thought he wasn't just doing it for himself. Jimmy is selfish and needs to be in control or he loses it. He cares for Curly. He loves him. Curly's done so much for him. Curly's the only one who understands him, who doesn't hate him. Curly's his home. He resents how 'successful' he is but that's only bc he thinks so highly of him. He constantly puts himself down and put Curly on a pedestal and worships him while simultaneously mistreating him.

He treats his best friend like shit, he's awful to him. But he's not aware that this is the case or maybe he's in denial about it. He can't or just refuses to see how he's doing all of what he does for himself in the end. He justifies his attempt to kill them all (to himself and to Curly) by claiming he's doing this for them both. That if they were to get back to earth it would all be Curly's fault, that it'll ruin his life and career... despite the fact he had basically nothing to do with Anya's abuse. Jimmy's shifting the blame on him while acting like he cares for him. Well, he does genuinely care for him but clearly not nearly enough to not mistreat him or use him as a scapegoat for his own guilt.

Jimmy is the rapist, Jimmy is the one who does all of these horrible things. And yet it's highly likely that Curly would just blame all of it on himself bc that's exactly what Jimmy did to him. He's in so deep he can't see the facts of the situation.

It takes abuse victims so long to come to terms with their abuse. It takes time and reflection to see things with an unbiased and healthy perspective. Abuse (especially years of it) isn't just something you can just escape. It consumes you and can twist your reality. Curly had about a week or less to process all of it and then take action in a way that protected his crew and abided by Pony Express' guidelines. Dealing with something this serious in a setting that makes resolving it extremely difficult in a practical sense is already hard.

There were no locks on any of the doors except for medical and the cockpit. They couldn't just kill him. There was nowhere they could detain Jimmy that wouldn't involve corporate potentially penalizing the entire group. They could have used the cryopods but then there'd only be three available for any actual emergency and there were already five crew members and four pods in total. Also, I doubt corporate would be 'okay' with them using the cryopods for anything other than their intended purpose. Hell, even if they were able to make it back to earth without any incidents there's a good chance that corporate would consider the situation 'poor team synergy' and collectively punish the entire crew for Jimmy's actions.

So on top of having to deal with an already difficult situation, Curly has to grapple with the realization that Jimmy a: abused Anya, b: has been abusing him as well (for a very long time too), and c: has probably abused others before Anya and he had no idea about it. He needed to act but he didn't and it doomed all of them.

But it's so unrealistic (maybe even cruel) to put that much pressure on someone, force them through an utterly earth-shattering realization, and then expect them to do the correct/right/responsible thing in that moment. It's a little ironic how people vilify him for that when other characters do the same thing that nobody blames for it.

Anya is the ship's nurse. Curly is the ship's captain. They both have duties and responsibilities on board the Tulpar. She has to keep the crew healthy and safe and is the only one with enough medical knowledge to do so. He has to make sure that everything goes well and goes according to procedure. He's responsible for the crew, the cargo, and even the ship itself. Both positions are integral and require a lot of responsibility to do properly

They're both put through distressing and traumatic situations where due to them being human people with emotions and fears that make them essentially avoid their responsibility/doing what's required of them.

Curly has a freeze response and doesn't act when he should have when it was crucial to have done so. Anya has a fawn response and essentially puts her patient in danger and harm's way. She knew full well what Jimmy was capable of. She experienced it herself and she witnessed it happening to Curly as well. And yet she allows Jimmy to be alone with Curly while being fully aware of how dangerous he is. Which she shouldn't have, that wasn't the 'right' thing to do. Keeping him safe was her responsibility.

But Anya's human. She's going through a lot at the moment. She's terrified of Jimmy and she's trying to appease him so he doesn't hurt her again. It's a natural very understandable thing to do even if it's not the 'right' or 'responsible' thing. They failed each other when they needed each other most and I think that's the most tragic part of it. If anything, all of them failed each other in some way, shape, or form.

So it's incredibly frustrating to see people give Anya so much sympathy and grace for doing something so human yet still 'wrong' but then turn around and give Curly none of that for doing essentially the same thing she does.

I don't know for sure if it's actually because Curly is a man or if it's only part of it or maybe some people just lack that sense of awareness but it's depressing and frustrating as fuck as a male victim of sexual violence and abuse to see this kind of behavior and this much victim blaming towards a character who is undeniably a victim of abuse like I am.

[blackbirdsblackberries]

What about reader x yandere bat family (platonic) but reader gave up on the family super fast like damian joined the family attacked the reader with the sword reader got hurt next time damian tried it he got throwen into a wall by reader with reader saying that is it I am leaving this shit family and sure jason might be bat mans greatest failure am I (reader) bruce waynes greatest failure!!!

Ahhh! I love this, I would honestly do the same as well! Like you neglect me then don't discipline your newest addition when he attacks me??

It has been six months since you left the manor, what did they expect? Honestly you were only waiting until you turned legal age to move out. Though you wouldn't lie and say you were still clinging onto the hope that they'll love you.

You've left your angst behind, what good is hating someone who doesn't remember you exist? You've made peace with it, you know you're loved by friends and the people who truly matter.

Saying that, it is befuddling when you hear a knock on the door at two in the morning and it's Red Hood there with take-out from Batburger. You aren't surprised or concerned they found your address, they're world's greatest detectives for a reason after all. If anything you're confused as to why one of them pays a visit.

Red Hood had taken your silence upon opening the door as a welcome and limps slightly into your apartment and collapses on the worn down couch. All while you stand at the open door, flabbergasted. Whether it's at the nerve of him to invite himself in or at the fact he's hear, injured, in costume and has take-away like it's an average night you can't decide.

You settle with both.

You hear him grunt and you quickly close the door and walk over to him, eyes narrowed. He looks at you, judgmentally. His helmet thrown into a corner of the room and a burger in his hands. Some of the sauce drips onto the couch and he swipes it up with his hand.

"You look like shit." Is all he says and you have to refrain yourself from punching him. If anything he looks like shit! You just woke up!

"What are you doing here." You ask, you weren't going to get into a petty argument over a comment from a stranger you once knew.

"Takin' ya back to the manor, duh." He says as if it was obvious and he takes another bite of his burger. You blank, what does he mean by that? Is he serious? Does he actually believe you want to go? Maybe he has amnesia and thought you two got along and you didn't blow up at the family and slap Tim? Either way you can't let him continue thinking like that.

"No. The fuck is wrong with you? Why would I go to a stranger's place?" The last part causes Jason to snap his head to you, his eyes narrowing.

"Strangers? We're you're family." You scoff at that, how much head trauma does he have? "Absolutely not. Do you not remember the whole blow up I had a couple months ago?"

"Mistakes happen."

... What? Mistakes happen? It wasn't a mistake! It doesn't matter how he meant it. Neglecting someone for most of their life isn't a mistake. That person then blowing up and leaving because they were mistreated isn't a mistake.

"Excuse me? Mistakes happen? Fucking get out of my apartment!" Okay, you lied earlier, you're still in your teenage angst phase - though it's definitely justified.

Jason sighs as if he's talking to a toddler who wanted a toy they couldn't have.

"Don't be so emotional. Your blow up earned our respect and we want you back. We let you play pretend for a couple months and now you need to get out of fantasy land and return home to your family."

Your jaw drops, what else could it do? You just heard the most insane thing come out of a stoic man's mouth. He was completely serious. Delusional. Utterly delusional.

"You prick! I don't think you understand. You guys fucked up and I don't want anything to do with your family- hey! Listen to me you zombie!" Jason was back to eating his burger, ignoring you. He throws a wrapped burger at you and you fumble with it.

You bite the inside of your cheek, he's more of a child then anyone you know! You throw the burger back down onto the table and glare at Jason.

"You don't get it. Of course you don't. Batman failed you, someone who you had a "co-workers" type relationship. You are Batman's biggest failure. But Bruce, he failed me. I am his biggest failure. I was forgotten about, looked down upon, left out, I suffered. And you know what's amazing? You were able to get revenge and end up loved but me, I couldn't get revenge, I'm not a villain of any kind! You say you and the family respect me so act like it and leave me be. I want nothing to do with any of you guys. Get out of my apartment and never return-"

Before you could finish Jason stands up and heads to the bathroom and takes a medkit out. You narrow your eyes, your fists clenched into balls and frustrated tears start to build in your eyes.

"Heard ya loud and clear so don't throw a tantrum! Just found it dumb how you think that." He states as he walks back to the couch and opens the medkit. "Now, care to tend to your older brother's wounds?"

You want to scream, cry, curse and stab this man in the face a million times. Instead you walk over and grab out disinfectant, you hate that you're doing this but you won't let him get an infection from his wounds.

You start to tend to his wounds and he speaks up again. "I get it. I do. We fucked up and it affected your childhood, we all had it rough and you didn't deserve that. But, give us a chance, you're a Wayne by blood, you won't be able to stay away from Gotham so why not live nicely in the manor? You could finally have what you wanted, you could finally have a family."

"Three big brothers, two younger brothers, an older sister, a dad! Don't you want to be loved by us? Don't you want our protection? We went through your diaries, we read every word. How you wished you could go to one of our rooms when you have a nightmare, how you wish for movie nights, how you want to be able to call us your family. Let us show you we had a change of heart, that we do want that with you now - that we always did but couldn't see it. Let us be your closest group-"

You slap him. What else was there to do? Tears pour down your cheeks.

"I thought I told Alfred to get rid of them..." You mutter. You never planned for them to read your diaries, to know your wants.

You hear Jason sigh before the sound of him pressing a button on his communicator, it's the last thing before your vision fades to black. He wishes he didn't have to resort to using the sticky device he stuck to your shirt when he threw the burger but it was clear you weren't listening.

Waking up with a pounding headache and no memories of last night is usually something that happens when people get wasted but you don't drink - you're underaged.

You groan as you open your eyes and take in your surroundings. It's a fancy bedroom - too fancy, too big. There's a picture hung up of the Wayne family with a picture of you taped to it to make it seem like you were in the picture.

You immediately panic and sit up, the bed is too big, the lights are too bright, the whole room is too much. You stand up and make your way to the door and put your ear against it for noise. You hear footsteps approaching and run back to bed and pretend to still be asleep.

The door opens and you hear a deep chuckle - Bruce's chuckle. He stalks over to the bed and gently runs a hand through your hair.

"Honey, I know you're awake. Don't be afraid, Dad's here now..." He coos. You open your eyes and move away from him, he frowns and sighs slightly. "I'm sorry, I know we should have gotten you back home sooner you just looked like you were having so much fun..."

He was acting like you living on your own was just a play-pretend? That you genuinely did it for fun? What is his problem?!

"Let me go! I swear to god Bruce, if you don't let me go I'll claw your eyes out!" You yell, Bruce tuts and shakes his head. "It's Dad to you. Now stop throwing a tantrum and come along, brunch is ready - you slept through breakfast."

With that he pulls you up from the bed and gently rests his hand between your shoulder blades and leads you downstairs to the dining room where everyone is; The head of the table reserved from Bruce, on the left it goes Dick, Tim, Cass and on the right it goes Jason, Duke, Damian, other end of the table.

You're led by Bruce and sit at the end of the table next to Damian who doesn't look at you and Cass who stares at you intently.

The stares from the others makes you want to vomit. Dick looks at you with pure adoration like he's looking at a defenseless puppy, Jason looks at you like how you'd look at a cute video of an animal, Tim looks at you calculatingly and Duke looks at you with a faint smile, his eyes a mix of emotions you don't want to decipher.

When Damian finally looks up it isn't with an irritated look, it's one of protectiveness, possessiveness and something akin to anger and guilt mixed together.

Clearly you've somehow imbedded yourself into their hearts, or atleast a version of you they created in their heads imbedded itself into their hearts and they weren't going to let you go any time soon.

[dimplyowl]

Today I want to talk about intentions. A while ago I made a post about why Izzy's toxic masculinity and internalized homophobia doesn't give him a free pass to treat other people like shit and then not try to atone for that. A lot of the Izzy apologists I see seem to be of that opinion: that because we take into consideration Ed's past trauma when thinking how his actions have hurt the people we care about, we should give Izzy the same grace.

Well, I don't actually think we should, and I'm going to tell you why.

First, though, I want to say that this isn't about attacking people who enjoy characters who are pieces of shit. Please, by all means, enjoy your grubby little shitstain characters (I absolutely have some of my own that I love). This is about discussing why it's problematic to twist the canonical narrative to label Ed as abusive and Izzy as a victim.

And, in my opinion, it comes down to intentions.

"But dimplyowl," you say, "someone's intentions don't matter when the result is harmful to the people around them!" And I think, to a point, yes, that's true. People who hurt others through careless or reckless behavior need to bear the responsibility of their actions and own up to it (something that imo Izzy does not do). But I think there's also a distinction that needs to be made between people who hurt and control others because they take pleasure in feeling powerful over them, and those who don't.

If we take a look at Izzy's actions in season one and compare them to Ed's actions in season two, in my personal opinion, it becomes clear that one of these men is someone who has repeatedly taken pleasure in mistreating the people around him, both insubordinates and people that he claims to "have love for." And that man isn't the dread pyrate Blackbeard.

Does Ed enact violence on other people? Yes. Does he "love a good maim?" Also yes. Does he enjoy hurting people? Mm, debatable. The thing about Ed is that he has a complicated relationship with violence. To him, it's a tool to be utilized when necessary. I think he certainly gets a sense of vindictive pleasure when instructing Fang to skin the French captain or when the people at the French party descend into chaos and set themselves on fire. But, importantly, it's because those are people who wronged him. Those are people who hurt him, who dug at his race and his background and took pleasure in using those things to hurt him.

But Ed doesn't enjoy violence for violence's sake. There's always a reason, whether it's in reaction to being insulted, belittled, or threatened, or whether it's because it's literally just in the job description, he has a reason.

In season two, his reason for mistreating the crew is that he's trying to provoke them into mutinying on him. And, like, honestly, he does a pretty shitty job of it. Up until we rejoin them, his big crime is overworking them. The crew is tired emotionally and physically, but for the most part they're unharmed. They lost Ivan on a raid, but any one of them could die on a raid at any time, because it's literally just a hazard of the job. Not a single one of them is even considering mutiny at this point.

Ed hits his breaking point when Izzy suggests that they try and "talk it through," and imo completely understandably. It's his fault that the morale on the ship is low, is it? It's his fault because he was sad and heartbroken and vulnerable? It's his fault because he was healing in his own way, but that wasn't acceptable to Izzy at the time, but now because the ship isn't fun for Izzy anymore, because Izzy is on the verge of losing his position of power as Blackbeard's first mate, now is when Izzy decides that maybe talking it through might actually be helpful? Yeah, if I were Ed, I would fucking shoot him too.

But not once do we get any evidence that Ed is taking any pleasure in wearing down the crew. When he hits his breaking point, he is very clearly not having a good time. He realizes that if he wants this to end, he needs to up the ante. He hands Izzy a loaded gun and offers himself up as an easy target. Izzy laughs at his suicidal boss, friend, someone that he "has love for", and tells him to do it himself. He prolongs Ed's suffering. He puts the crew in even more danger. And even as Ed is trying to make the crew kill him, he doesn't touch them. By this point, we've seen this crew turn to mutiny twice, once because of Stede's ineptitude and once because of Izzy's abuse when he took over as captain. It shouldn't take much to get them to act, and yet it takes Ed threatening to get them all killed in a storm for them to finally act. Because up until that point, he's been unstable, he's been clearly going through a crisis, but he hasn't hurt them, he hasn't been abusive. He's clearly not enjoying any of this, he's going through some shit, he's hurting, and they love him, and until their lives are imminent danger, they're discussing how to help him.

If Ed wanted to hurt them, if he wanted to push them into mutiny sooner, there are so many things he could have done to terrorize them. Instead until the point he decides he can't live anymore, his only hope is that either he'll get killed in a raid, or he'll overwork them enough that they'll kill him themselves. This is not about abusing his crew, this is about abusing himself.

In contrast, when we look at Izzy's behavior throughout season one, we see someone who very clearly enjoys his position of power over other people, and who gets pleasure out of abusing that power. In 1x2, he sows distrust and uncertainty in Ivan and Fang about Ed's decision-making, telling them that he's half-mad, keeping Ed separate from the crew, and discouraging any questions by asserting himself physically over Fang. (He then claims in 1x4 to have reassured the crew when they've doubted Ed's leadership, when in fact he seems to be the cause of that doubt). In 1x3 he blatantly lies to Ed about having "explicitly" (his word) told Stede that "Blackbeard wants a word with him." He is practically gleeful when he passes on Stede's message to go suck eggs in hell, clearly expecting that to get a rise out of Ed, certainly to get him to drop his fascination with the Gentleman Pirate, and probably intending for Ed to attack Stede himself for disrespecting him.

In 1x4, he flip flops between caring that some of their crew died while fighting the Spanish to get Stede and his crew, and telling Ivan and Fang to kill anyone who refuses to fight the Spanish. Intending to fight the Spanish warships that have caught up with him is absolutely going to get everyone slaughtered, when there are other options. Ed actually advises anyone who can to leave, knowing that that's their only chance for survival, and similarly he tells the Revenge crew to surrender when cornered by the British. In 1x4, he clearly considers every death that would occur to be his responsibility when he tells Stede that being Blackbeard means that everyone's going to die, and it's going to be all his fault. Who's the one who actually cares about what happens to his crew here?

In 1x5 Izzy attempts to exert control over Lucius and punish him for, apparently, not working on his day off? Never mind that there are two other people in that room who are slacking off. Izzy targets Lucius, who is an effeminate unapologetically gay man, who Izzy clearly believes will be an easy target. He attempts to mock his sexuality (which actually winds up being more telling on himself), decides that it's his right to tell someone else's crew what to do at all, and attempts to use Lucius as an example to show the rest of Stede's crew that their "days of doing fuck-all are over", but then doesn't give jobs to the rest of the crew? He catches one of his own crew members fucking off with Lucius, and from what we can extrapolate, decides to only punish Lucius, because clearly Lucius as the "seductress" is to blame. He threatens to blackmail Lucius into obeying him, is visibly enjoying threatening him and manipulating him, and leaves like a pissy toddler when he doesn't get his way. And by "get his way", I mean successfully gains control over someone through threats and manipulation.

In 1x6, he once again decides that an effeminate gay man needs to be punished for his existence, but this time it's Stede he sets his sights on. He decides that he needs to take action only after hearing Ivan say that he's never seen Ed so open and available. Izzy can't have that, because he needs Ed to be dependent on Izzy, so that Izzy can continue to isolate Ed from the rest of the crew, can remain the only source of contact between Ed and the crew, and thereby easily control and manipulate both parties. He pressures Ed into finally acting on what he said he would do, belittling Stede and Ed's connection to Stede by referring to Stede as Ed's pet. (It is not an accidental choice that the writers will later have another antagonist refer to Stede as Ed's pet; it's deliberate mirroring to Izzy as an antagonist). He uses Stede's ego to manipulate him into insisting on putting on the fuckery so that they can get rid of Stede today--almost as if he knows that putting immediate pressure on Ed to act won't give him time to reconsider, to rethink, to back out, to maybe consider why Izzy is so adamant about this--and then uses Stede and Ed's relationship to further manipulate Stede into doubling down on doing the fuckery when he's doubting himself. And doing it in possibly the creepiest way possible?? Stede literally puts up a physical barrier between them, and Izzy pushes against that, actually literally pushes up against the curtain to push against the boundary that Stede has put up.

And then when it's clear Ed isn't going to kill Stede, Izzy decides that he's going to take that decision out of Ed's hands. He decides he knows better than Ed what's best for him, places more value in his own decisions than Ed's, essentially mutinies on Ed by disobeying him, and on Stede by challenging him to a duel. He clearly believes he's going to win, and easily, in the process forcing someone he again claims to "have love for" to watch as he destroys the only thing that's brought hope and life and light and enjoyment back into Ed's life. He's embarrassingly easily goaded into losing his temper, relishes the moment he thinks he's won, the moment he stabs Stede, loses his temper again when his sword is stuck. Canyonites love to talk about Ed having anger problems, but this episode clearly demonstrates who actually has the anger problem. He looks to Ed when he realizes he's lost, as if Ed is going to forgive him, let him stay, when he just tried to kill Ed's friend and (only in Izzy's mind at that point) lover.

Izzy then turns to the fucking cops to turn Stede in. He reinforces his belief that Ed isn't capable of making his own decisions when he refers to Stede as having "done something" to Ed's brain, as if Ed is a weak-willed, easily manipulated child. He sends Jack in because he knows that Jack will put a wedge between Ed and Stede, and hopefully to get Ed out of there before the navy shows up. He apparently doesn't consider the fact that Ed is the most wanted pirate in the world, and if Jack doesn't succeed, will be in life-threatening danger. But maybe he doesn't care about that, considering what he tells Ed later.

He arranges for Ed to be put into his custody. Like, I shouldn't have to say anything about that, because it's fucking disgusting. Like Ed is property to be handed over to Izzy. He tries to convince Ed that Stede's execution is actually a kindness, despite knowing what it will do to Ed. When that fails, he tries to convince Ed not to take the Act and sign the contract, but...isn't that what Izzy himself just did?

In 1x9 we get more of his control and manipulation over the crew. Taking away a week of Wee John's rations for making a comment about Izzy's terrible name for his ship, as he is actively eating in front of him. Making Ivan and Fang serve him, telling them his food needs more salt, and then not even eating more of it when they salt it? Fucking gross. That move is all about control.

And then 1x10, which I shouldn't even have to talk about, but the fucking horrible way he treats Ed apparently is still something that goes over some peoples' heads. Once again keeping him secluded from the crew, refusing to give them answers about what's going on, keeping them busy by literally spitting on their clean deck, when he could have just dumped the coffee out on it. Watching Ed grieve and bond with the crew, once again deciding for Ed that he knows what's best for him, interrupting his grieving process, telling him that what he's become is worse than death. Threatening him that if he doesn't return to the very specific image that Izzy says Blackbeard is, that Izzy will kill him. Later on his deathbed apology admitting that he knew that being Blackbeard was harmful to Ed, but that he kept pressing because Izzy needed him, needed Blackbeard in order to feel powerful, to keep the level of respect and fear that other people had for him.

All of this paints a picture of a person who enjoys feeling powerful, who enjoys using that power to hurt and abuse and control the people around him, who will do anything, even at the detriment of someone that he has "love for", to keep that power for himself. A person who takes pleasure in hurting people, physically and emotionally.

I see a lot of people trying to say that what Ed did was worse than what Izzy did. I personally don't think it was, when you add up the consistent way that Izzy mistreats every person around him. But I think that what's even more important in this discussion are the intentions behind the hurt.

Ed did everything he could not to harm his crew until it became evident that the only way he could be successful in getting them to kill him would be by giving them a very present, very real threat. And even then, the way he went about doing it was very distant. Making Jim and Archie fight each other. Sailing directly into a storm. Damaging the ship to make an already dangerous situation even more dangerous.

Izzy repeatedly enjoyed exerting his control and physical and emotional violence on other people. He displayed a pattern of believing himself to be the only person capable of making the right choices, of removing the agency from the people around him, specifically of removing Ed, a person of color's, agency. He hurt every single person around him, all for his own benefit, for his own gain.

Maybe it comes down to value systems, maybe intentions behind someone's behavior really don't matter to you, but I know that I am much more forgiving of someone who hurt me as a byproduct of hurting themselves than I am someone who knowingly, repeatedly hurts people because they enjoy it.

[yandere-paramour]

A Long Day

It started with three different kinds of peppers, then the adobo and sazon. Of course, Vivien grew red bell peppers, and the cubanelles were a new but very welcome addition, but the ajices dulces were too specialized. He had to make an unscheduled pit stop at the Supermercado after work but it was worth it.

Vivien chopped, marinated, stirred, and seared. The broth had simmered all day in the Instant Pot and the depth of flavor made him shiver with pleasure. All he needed to do was cook the rice, add the peas, and check that the chicken was cooked through, and then everything would be ready when you got home. You would be able to come in and relax, have a nice hot meal, and spend the evening being showered with attention from your doting, attentive boyfriend. Vivien smiled as he tried a piece of chicken; it was tender and juicy and browned, everything it needed to be.

"My love!" Vivien cried as soon as he heard the door open, "I'm in the kitchen, dinner is almost-"

Vivien's voice trailed off when he caught sight of you. You were in tears, shirt covered in blood, looking miserable. His eyes widened, and after a cursory check to ensure the rice wasn't burning, he rushed to you.

"Darling, what happened? Are you okay?" Vivien worriedly ran his hands over your face and chest, looking for a wound, "Do we need to go to the hospital? Where's the insurance card?"

"I don't need the hospital," You say quietly, "I'm fine. I just had a nosebleed on the train and I didn't have any napkins or anything."

"But you're crying," Vivien said softly, his hands cupping your face, gentle thumbs wiping away your tears, "Something else is bothering you, what is it?"

"I don't want to talk about it... isn't the rice burning? I smell smoke."

Afraid that his perfectly planned dinner was ruined, Vivien shot across the room to see about the rice. It was fine, approaching done, but fine, and he quickly shut it off. The lingering heat would finish it. He had something more important to worry about.

Vivien rushed to the bedroom where he noticed you had snuck off to. You were stripping your blood-stained clothes off, ready to chuck them in the wash, but you knew they were probably ruined.

Vivien came up to you and gently took your hand, trying to get your attention, "Tell me what happened... I want to help, you know I hate seeing you upset."

You sigh, "Just some stupid asshole on the train was laughing at me. He had some fast food napkins but I saw him smirk and stuff them in his pockets so he could watch me suffer. A long fucking day and that was just the icing on the cake."

Incandescent rage burned in Vivien's chest, "That... that's terrible! Did you see what he looked like? Someone needs to teach this guy a lesson."

"Some corporate tech bro jerk. You know the type."

Vivien did know the type; they saw him as little more than the dog shit on their unexpectedly expensive loafers. He also knew they were all virtually indistinguishable to the untrained eye, which left little chance of him tracking the asshole down and making him learn a lesson about respect. Vivien grit his teeth, trying to turn his grimace into a smile. If he couldn't get revenge, the least he could do was make his darling partner feel better.

"I'm sorry, love, that's terrible. People like that are the worst. Tell you what," He pulled you slowly into his warm embrace, "I've still got a little bit to do with dinner so why don't you get a nice warm bath, and we can watch something silly while we eat. The SpyxFamily movie is on Crunchyroll now, that sounds good, right?"

You look into your boyfriend's sweet face, the dark roots starting to show underneath his bleached hair giving him a sort of Cruella de Vil look he thought was cool, and feel yourself tearing up again. You knew how angry he was, you could see the rage in his eyes when you talked about your mistreatment, and you didn't miss the way his hands shook. But there was nothing he could do, nothing but do what he was doing now. He was focusing on you, doing his best to quell the raging emotions in him for your sake, and you loved him all the more for it.

"I-I didn't mean to make you upset, if you want to pick the movie you can, I'm sor-" You cut him off with a kiss on the cheek, and he looked confused.

"No, it's okay. I'm okay now. What did you say dinner was again?"

He grinned, kissing your forehead in return, "Asopao de Pollo. It's one of my favorites."

"And sofrito?"

"Of course, my love."

"Sounds great."

[cosmicjoke]

What do you think about Levi's violence against Zeke in the wagon after he captured him? There is a lot of debate about that. Some people say that he did it because he was in a rage, others say that Levi was not far from violence, that he used it as an opportunity to torture Zeke.

I just wrote a post about this, which you can read here:

Levi wasn't using it as an opportunity to torture Zeke, as in, he wasn't just looking for an excuse to hurt him. Levi doesn't operate like that. He doesn't take pleasure in hurting anyone. He uses threats of violence to avoid actual violence all the time, and people don't seem to understand this about his character. For example, the threats he makes against Annie when she was refusing to come out of her Titan, or his threats against Erwin to break his legs, or threatening to shoot Pastor Nick, etc, etc... Levi's never looking for an excuse to hurt anyone. He'll only resort to violence if he really doesn't have a choice, if it's the only option he has available to him to protect himself or others. Even in torturing Sannes, Levi did all he could to avoid having to torture him beyond what was necessary, hatching that plan to make Sannes think his own partner had sold them out, allowing Levi and Hange to get the information out of Sannes that they needed without resorting to further torture.

If he really wanted to torture Zeke, he had ample opportunity. He spent a month with him in that forest, and was the commanding officer in charge. He could have slapped the shit out of Zeke whenever he wanted, however he wanted, and nobody would have had the balls to say anything about it. There were no superior officers present to reprimand or punish him for torturing Zeke, if that's what he really wanted to do, and his comrades were obviously loyal enough to him not to rat him out if it came down to it. Hell, they probably would have applauded Levi mistreating Zeke. But he didn't.

Instead he treated him civilly and provided all his needs for him. Even talked to his ass.

He slices Zeke up in the wagon on the way to the capital because he was grief stricken. Zeke had just forced him to kill 30 of his own soldiers, with his own hands, and then added insult to injury by making fun of Levi and his comrades in the aftermath, treating it like it was all some big joke, laughing about it. Anyone in Levi's position would have been blind with rage over being forced to do something like that. But Levi never lost control, either. There was practical purpose to him slicing Zeke up. They were out in the middle of an open field, with no trees or tall structures for Levi to use his ODM gear with, with miles to go between them and the capital, and if Zeke had been able to transform, Levi's life would have been at serious risk. Levi was cold about it, and probably more violent than he strictly had to be, but again, it's because he was just coming out a situation in which Zeke had forced him to slaughter his own comrades. Levi's hatred for Zeke is obvious, but he isn't sadistic. He's never been sadistic.

All things considered, I think Levi was a lot more calm and controlled than most people would have been. If that was me, I would have killed Zeke, flat out. I think most people would have.

[aihoshiino]

Hey! I’ve been hearing a debate pretty recently about Kana’s character, especially after 151. Some are saying that Aka is weakening her character…ignoring her past development..reducing her to a love interest…etc, stuff along those lines, by making her dream be just being Aqua’s idol. What’s your take on this?

Saying this with the full awareness that i am Asking For It by phrasing it like this but. this honestly just feels like a bad faith read by people who already don't like aqukana/kana in particular LOL. Like... idk, I can get being frustrated by the sudden swing over to all the romcom stuff again when we have A Potential Serial Killer just kind of vibing in the background, but Kana -> Aqua is something that's been part of the series for over a hundred and thirty chapters. It was going to need resolving before the series ended regardless of whether they actually hook up or not and it's baffling to me that people are throwing this accusation at Kana's arc when like... sorry, but Ruby is right there, lol

Like, if we're going to talk about 'ignoring past development' and 'reducing her to a love interest' whose dreams revolve around a romance with Aqua... is that not just describing Ruby since 123? Everything to do with Sarina's trauma of abandonment and emotional abuse at Marina's hands and the way it continues to affect Ruby, Ruby being triggered and retraumatized by having to engage with material depicting Ai's abuse at Ayumi's hands, the way she mistreated and took Kana & Mem for granted while she was clout chasing and how that caused fan backlash against those two while they did their best to keep B-Komachi afloat for her - all that shit goes out the window at mach speed once she finds out Aqua is Gorou and she spends the majority of her screentime after that gushing over her oniichansensei and having her narrative recentered around her obsession with Gorou. Never mind how bizarrely she'd flanderized and dumbed down she is in relation to it all.

(Note in advance: shout out to this thread by KizzityKaito on Twitter that I stumbled on while I was chewing on this ask that helped me to articulate some of the stuff re: Kana that I was kind of struggling to put to words - I don't agree w/the whole thread but I think the Kana analysis here & 'reincarnation as child acting' is fascinating and really in line with what OnK seems to be going for.)

By contrast with Kana... this feels consistent to me! This feels like additive characterization building on top of and not contradicting what came before. I've seen people frothing and screaming about her talk vis-a-vis being an actress not being her 'dream' but like... that just kind of checked out to me?? Kana is an actress. If that's her 'dream', she's already achieved it, as she says. Everything else has been her fighting and clawing to hold onto it. That's what she means when she says she didn't have any dreams; for Kana, becoming a nationally recognize actress again isn't a dream because it's just a return to the status quo.

Not only that, but like... being an actress wasn't even necessarily Kana's dream in the first place! She herself outright says it - it was enforced onto her by her abusive mom so she could live vicariously through her.

That's not to say Kana hasn't found her own spark for acting and that she isn't deeply passionate about it in her own way. But again, this is something Kana already has. A 'dream' is something you want to achieve - it's something you, well, dream about. And if you read between the lines, Kana's dream has never really been about acting.

It's about love. It's about Kana feeling secure in her relationships with the people she loves.

I think a lot of people are taking Kana's words in 151 entirely at face value and just... totally failing to read the subtext because they've been ignoring her all this time and now her arc is actually coming to a climax they don't know what the conclusion is building off of lol. Kana's 'dream' right now is something pitifully simple - to have the boy she loves not even return her feelings necessarily, but just to say that in his eyes, she shines brighter than anyone else.

[miasmaghoul]

I just, I don't even know what to say

W O W

Ok, serious chat for a moment. Warnings for mentions of an ED and medical mistreatment.

It's so frustrating to still see shit like this when I grew up in the days of fat free everything and Weight Watchers ads every 5 minutes on TV.

Why is it fat people that everyone agrees to dogpile on? We're bullied incessantly for something that a lot of us can't even fix or help, because people who AREN'T fat assume we're just lazy pigs. Like yeah, please just disregard my physical debility and MULTIPLE hormonal issues and just assume that I just shovel food into my mouth constantly. Oh, you say I can't have an eating disorder because I'm fat and "those people" are skinny? BOY DO I HAVE NEWS FOR YOU!

It's bullshit, full stop. I still struggle with my ED, but the older I've gotten the more open and honest with myself I've become. I've never sought treatment for it because, again, I'm still fat. The one time I did bring it up to a doctor, he said "well if you do have an eating disorder then you aren't doing a very good job." I wish I were making that up.

Fat is in my genes, and there are so many other contributing factors it isn't even funny. It's so pounded into our heads that we NEED to be thin (mostly targeting women, let's be real) in order to have value, and I'm so fuckin sick of still hearing about the latest severely unhealthy fad diet or what fucking celebrity is on ozempic.

Which, by the way, I did have pushed on me a couple years ago when regular people could still get their hands on it. It made me feel so much worse. Every dose would trigger a binge, and I would feel horrible for days afterwards. I told my doctor (different from the other one I mentioned) this, and she told me that it was just something I was going to have to deal with because look, you've lost 20lbs since your last visit!

I felt worse than I had in YEARS, but it didn't matter because my body was becoming more socially acceptable. Do you want to know how many times doctors have tried to shove weight loss surgery down my throat? Countless. No matter how many times I say I'm not even there to talk about my weight, and that those surgeries are NOT for me, someone always brings it up. It's crazy how hurtful being ignored for knowing your own body is, because someone else thinks you need to change.

I wish this was something I had figured out when I was younger, but alas. I wore a hoodie over my clothes for 6 years straight, regardless of how hot it was outside, just to try to hide. I made myself miserable, ate barely anything (which would just trigger a binge, of course) and had it beat into my head constantly that my weight was the most important thing about me.

Here's the thing it took me way too long to learn:

IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER

You know what the number on the scale is? It's just a number. Your weight, high or low, is simply a tiny part of who you are as a human. If others choose to judge you based on it, that's not a failure on your part. It's on theirs. Being fat is not a crime, nor is it deserving of the insults and sneers we get in public spaces. People will always find a reason to stare, to whisper and giggle, and the best thing you can do for yourself is not give them the time of day.

I realize that's not easy. It's taken me 30+ years to reach a point where I've realized that going out in public is a necessity, and that the only reason I think people are staring at me is because advertisements like this punched the concept into my fragile little mind as a kid. At the end of the day, this is the one thing all fat people need to know:

Being fat is not a moral failure.

There is nothing wrong with you just because you need bigger clothes, mobility aids, or help from others. I don't care what anyone says - your weight is no one's business but your own. You want to lose weight? Go for it! More power to you, you'll get nothing but support from me. But there's nothing wrong with not wanting to do that either. That's really what it comes down to - the assumption that there's something inherently wrong with us because we're bigger than other people.

That's the part that needs to stop. And if anyone ever needs a reminder, my asks are always open. You're beautiful, I promise. 💜

Thank you for coming to my TED talk lmao

(I'm sure some asshole anons will come at me for "glorifying obesity" or "promoting unhealthy lifestyles". I assure you I am not. I am simply trying to help normalize a different mindset. If you're upset that fat people exist and that I'm saying they deserve the same care and compassion as anybody else, then you need to do a little bit of internal examination there. I promise fat people have not hurt you by virtue of existing in larger bodies ♡)

[tobiasdrake]

What are your thoughts on the Nostalgia Critic?

Complicated.

I was a big fan of the NC in my twenties. I discovered him later than a lot of other people did but that's kind of normal for me, and it meant I had a lot of videos to go back and laugh at. By the time I got onboard, the anniversary movie "To Boldly Flee" had already officially ended the NC's run, before he failed out of his attempts to move on and be a filmmaker, and wound up coming back.

At the time, I really liked the format of "Wacky skits and personal plotlines mixed with video essay". Writing a story with characters and storylines and also riffing on existing media at the same time. It was basically a modern MST3K, which I'd never really been able to find accessibly.

But the thing that really grabbed me was Channel Awesome itself. The community of creators who would cross over into each other's videos and do collaborative projects and mix up their storylines together and stuff.

And I loved the movies. I watched all of them like dozens of times. It was so cool seeing these creators that I had parasocial relationships with going on adventures and fighting villains and stuff.

...but then things fell apart for Channel Awesome, and we started learning more and more about how shitty everything was behind the scenes for those creators. And how the channel was never really invested in those creators to begin with, and only cared about propping up the Nostalgia Critic.

It soured me on the whole thing, and made me stop and really think about the series. How a lot of those other creators that the channel was exploiting are doing what Doug does better than he does.

I'm not going to say Doug is untalented. He has a Jim Carrey-esque comedic talent, which is to say that he has a remarkable aptitude for flailing his limbs and making sounds erupt from his throat.

Doug's bread and butter is wildly over-the-top reactions, frantic body movement, and the kind of shrieking that will absolutely murder your throat. Which sounds simple but is surprisingly hard to do yourself and, with good comedic timing, can be very funny. He got big for a reason.

But. At the end of the day, all he's bringing to these movies is CinemaSins- or Zero Punctuation-level critique mixed with physical comedy, while other creators in his space were offering thoughtful, serious analysis.

And I like CS and ZP, don't get me wrong. They can be very funny when you remember that this is not a proper review but basically a comedy roast. I've always found criticism of those videos to be akin to sitting down to an hour-length special that's literally just stand-up comedians talking shit about Tom Cruise and going, "Wow, they are being very mean to Tom Cruise. Do they have to be so mean to him?"

But it's a very different sort of thing from, say, listening to F.D. Signifier explain the complete history of the legendary Drake and Kendrick rap beef for three hours.

Comedy isn't easy. But it's easier than the kinds of thoughtful critique that other creators who walked away like Lindsay Ellis or Dan Olson were doing.

And at the same time they were walking away, the Nostalgia Critic's revival was... underwhelming.

While the other collaborators were leaving, the NC was becoming an island reliant on his own stable of paid actors and divorced from the collaborations that made him big to begin with. And the passion just... wasn't there anymore.

It was pretty clear that he'd fallen back on doing NC because his attempt at branching out, his new series Demo Reel, never took off with audiences. The NC revival was Doug passionlessly returning to what made him successful and paid his bills. And it never felt the same after that.

After Change the Channel, it all fell into place. I wasn't enjoying Doug's passionless new videos because he was just going through the motions. I couldn't go back and watch the old stuff I used to love knowing how miserable the other collaborators were behind the scenes and how much Channel Awesome as mistreating them to prop up Doug. My parasocial relationship with him fractured after finding out how he treated the other creators.

(It's worth noting that his paid employees who he pays to support him came out in support of him during all that. The NC isn't some guy's internet show that he films in his bedroom, it's a company. Doug himself is an employee. He doesn't even own the legal rights to the Nostalgia Critic; He signed it over to an executive to manage him.

Tamara and Malcolm are not his buddies; They're his hired staff, so take their opinions while on his payroll with a grain of salt. This is a professional operation, which makes how unprofessional it all is appalling rather than endearing.)

And there were other creators out there, including the ones he'd mistreated, making the same kind of stuff he was making but better. So I made a choice to leave and never looked back.

[miss-multi45]

Hey lovely, it's me 🐝 again :)

I know I just requested not to long ago, and I absolutely loved it, and I was wondering if it's not to much, if you could do headcannons for either ghouls/ghoulettes or sleep token, I had a really shitty day, (im trans ftm) and I just hate when people purposely deadname me or purposely not use my preferred pronouns, I was just wondering how the ghouls or sleep token would react if something like this happens to reader or something. I understand if this is an uncomfortable topic, I know it is for alot of people so don't feel pressured to do it:)

Remeber to stay hydrated and eat something, have a good night/day -🐝

hi sweetheart! ofc I can ♡♡♡

sleep token

iii

talks over them to get the point through

when he realised it was purposely, he grabs their collar and lectures them on respecting you and referring to you correctly

iv

cuts them off "hell no, my girlfriend/boyfriend/lover goes by these pronouns, and you will respect that."

aggressive love, he does that to anyone who deadnames you or uses the wrong pronouns

ii

"uh excuse me, the fuck?!"

gets offended, walks away from them and brings you with him like, "how uncultured are these swines?!" (swines means pigs in British slang)

vessel

"i just think that (incorrect pronouns)-" vessel: "(correct pronouns)" "right, right. well (incorrect pronouns)." vessel: "it's (says correct pronouns in a scary voice)." "o-ok, sorry."

will not stop correcting them

he starts to get threatening if they do it too many times on purpose

ghouls

swiss

gets so defensive

like "oh fuck no, my lover's pronouns are (correct pronouns) and you will fucking respect that, do you understand?"

will not leave it alone until they get it right

sodo

murders them

just kidding..maybe

no, but, he will leave the room with you slung over his shoulder

rain

person: "(incorrect pronouns) is such a-" rain: "oh it's actually (correct pronouns."

didn't know they were doing it on purpose until he saw the smug look on their face

then he developed a passionate hatred for them

phantom

avoids them

its happened before, and he won't let you go anywhere near that person for as long as they live

mountain

stares down at them with judgment in his eyes

they get scared and refer to you properly now

aether

"no, no, no, it's (correct pronouns)."

polite about it in the beginning, then he gets a bit rudely polite about it

like "it's (correct pronouns), use it please."

omega

scoops you up into his arms and leaves

he doesn't stand for that shit, and he will never stand for that shit

alpha

"(correct pronouns), you idiot."

isn't nice about it, at all

he will never do anything nice for that person ever again

ifrit

"(correct pronouns). fucking use it, you dimwit."

doesn't hold back on the insults, because if they're doing it on purpose, they deserve to be mistreated

ghoulettes

aurora

hugs you by the waist and corrects them

"it's (correct pronouns)."

secretly despises that person

cirrus

"my darling is a (correct pronouns). is that clear?"

gets even more protective of you

makes sure that person doesn't do that again

cumulus

"no, (correct pronouns)."

like a teacher telling a child off

treats them like a child to annoy them

mist

"it's not (incorrect pronouns). ask them what their pronouns are, don't assume."

very stern

similar to cumulus

[my-castles-crumbling]

Hi

This isn’t something I’ve ever done before so I apologize if my etiquette is off.

I think I should start this by saying I have two best friends, S and A. They’re like my only people in the whole world and I don’t know what I would do without them.

Both of them have really severe ptsd as a result of really bad childhood stuff, they were super neglected and mistreated and overall didn’t get the care they needed. I do my best to support them when I can, but it can be unpredictable

Last night my best friend had a really severe ptsd episode, he was out of it for almost 40 minutes, dead still and unresponsive. I was texting with his partner the entire time so he could tell me how to help(get him water, talk to him even if he’s not talking to me, turn on a movie he likes, just be there, etc) which I did, I turned on a movie and rubbed his back while making commentary on the movie like I always do.

He came too eventually and we mostly just sat and watched the movie for a couple hours. And that was okay.

——

I didn’t really grow up in a great environment. My mom and dad weren’t together and fought over me a lot. My mom was on and off drugs for a while and dated a lot of not great guys. My dad married a woman who hated me, was with her for a while and then divorced her and left the state. He settled down on quite literally the other side of the country and got married a few years ago, but I only see him during the summers, and he doesn’t support like anything about me, very anti-just about anything that isn’t straight white man, yknow? He’s always been in and out and unreliable. And my mom is off drugs now, has been for about 14 years(which I know is a lot and makes the drug thing feel irrelevant, but it is I promise), but is always angry and seems to be annoyed by just about everything I do.

Onto the actual advice part,

My friends always say that I am welcome to talk to them whenever I need it. That I’m not a burden or a bother. And I do worry about that. But my big worry is that I’m complaining about things that aren’t a big deal. Like yeah, my mom ignores me and forgets just about everything I tell her about. But S’s mom buys food they can’t eat and leaves them unattended for days. And yeah, my dad ranted to me about how much he hates gay people and how he’d be ashamed if I turned out to be gay too, but A’s dad hits them on a regular basis and makes them feel like shit about themselves.

I just feel like I’m upset about things when I should be grateful I don’t have as hard a time as they do, and it makes me feel shitty when I rant cause “it’s not that big a deal, they go through worse”, even though they tel me it’s okay.

Sorry this was all so discombobulated, I tend to over explain sometimes. Any advice would help.

- Lost Anon

Hi my love <3

Please know that your pain and experiences are so valid. It's so important to not compare your hurt to others, because like...all hurt is bad, you know? If your friends want to be there for you, let them. You don't deserve to have these things happen to you any more than your friends do, and you certainly don't deserve to have to bottle everything up. Comparing your pain to others isn't going to make it go away, its just going to make you feel guilty, and nobody should feel guilty for their pain. You're ALWAYS entitled to your feelings, especially when you're dealing with some really shit things.

Sending you love <3

[n1hility-k71]

I'm not ashamed to ask but what do you mean the screenshots are cropped? Mel has been accused of more than she addressed when the video was made about her and only responded to things with "That stuff was old" or "I was being immature, I'm not used to having responsibility" or even just "Guys it's out of context".

She made it clear that she didn't read or watch anything brought up about her, only piggybacking off of what her friends had told her about certain things.

I understand that people make mistakes, but she's still pushing blame that she was ever wrong in these situations. Also it isn't drama, it's her addressing that she was wrong, and needs to step down from the public to better herself. Which yes she did do by stepping down from YouTube, but she still continues her behaviors on VRChat or in personal group chats made by herself/others.

Speaking of her evidence in her video, the only "shit talking" that she claims Voided did was her being upset that Mel was mistreating her. Voided has shown so many screenshots and video evidence of Mel blantly using her, and being inappropriate with/surrounding her younger audience.

Also she said that Mel isn't blocked, so another thing of Mel turning the truth on others.

I'm not saying all this in a way where it's "Grrrr, Mel this, Mel that!" But Mel still mistreats people to this day. Which is more clear and clear with what all her past friends have not only said but showed as well.

I know you're close with Mel now, but do consider that since you're her friend, having her best interest isn't sugar coating her wrongdoings.

Apologies if the answers to your various statements are out of order, I just responded with the points that would come to mind first</3

I absolutely agree that having their best interest in mind isn't sugar coating their wrongdoings, I along with the rest of our group have all had conversations about this. While yes, some of the things they have done are bad, they've openly admitted several times both within their own server as well as personal VC's about things they'd like to improve upon. The screenshots I have mainly seen of the situation from various Tumblr profiles just seem to me more that they're angry over the little things rather than.. the bigger picture? An example would be the fact that Voided AND Keith both have insulted Mel for shipping their character Razzberry with an unnamed friends OC; calling it a "rip-off" or an "Iris replacement". The few others I've seen of the supposed 'callout' just involved a lot of extremely out of context screenshots and/or videos with incorrectly used terms. (an example being the SA claim.)

On the topic of Voided not having Mel blocked, I'd like to ask if you've seen proof of "Mel turning the truth on others"? I've seen absolutely NO evidence that Voided hasn't blocked Mel, and considering her tendency to lie and manipulate situations into her favor I quite frankly wouldn't doubt if she were lying to you. The shit talking provided in Mel's video just.. is.. shit talking?

"Don't let Mel taint them, she's evil"

"Careful with her y'all! She's nice now but she's always talking shit about every action and breath you take with me fr!!"

And how exactly would this just be Voided "being upset that Mel mistreated her"? The only 'mistreating' within that situation from Mel was them.. hanging out with Khai and another friend for a day or two. Voided quite literally was just getting pissy because Mel wouldn't respond within 0.2 milliseconds when she messaged them. Mel has stated SEVERAL times to the people they've befriended that they DON'T know how to properly comfort people. While I can understand where Voided's frustration came from with the lack of a response on Mel's part, you CANNOT be angry with Mel for not responding too much when they literally STATED that they don't know how to comfort people.

With the claim that Mel still mistreats people to this day, I can absolutely tell you that they don't mistreat people? The supposed shit talking that I'm assuming you've heard about from Khai & Voided are just our group discussing "hey, have you noticed that ___ has been a bit harsher/meaner lately?", others agreeing, and wondering how to go about it or bring it up to them. The shit talking began after said 'friends' would openly say extremely mean things to the point that others have been driven to TEARS from it. (Khai, I'm looking at you. While Voided didn't do this, they STILL shit talked SEVERAL people behind their backs.)

The behaviors you're asking about with VRChat are just entirely false, given that the claim from Khai that "Mel flirts with men in VR" is just.. blatantly untrue?? Mel is aroace, falling under the category that feels NO ROMANTIC/SEXUAL ATTRACTION to other people. The only "flirting" that could have happened in VR are all JOKES.

And lastly with the whole thing of Mel saying "those are out of context," or "Those are old," still stands?? People are actively bringing past issues up from when Mel was significantly younger, and claiming that they still have the same mindset when they clearly don't??? The out of context screenshots claim also still stands, because the screenshots.. ARE out of context? Hell, in Luvu's video the screenshotted "evidence" is OUT OF ORDER.

Mel stating that they aren't used to being the older person is a genuine explanation, given they've been surrounded by adults for the most part of their time both online and offline, which was WHY their behavior is so normalized to them. They've realized that they can't keep making these jokes, and are actively only making them with our current friends group; which is filled with ADULTS. They were not saying that as an excuse, but rather an explanation for WHY they did it so often. While it doesn't make it any more excusable, it gives you a better understanding of the situation. In their video they take accountability for their behavior involving shit talking AND making those jokes.

Apologies if this reply is long, but I hate seein' my friends be put under fire for stupid petty shit</3

[terrence-silver]

Read somewhere that the only reason Terry Silver was shown to be kind towards his staff, namely helping Carla at the begining of Season 4, was because he's been through therapy and mellowed his ways or some crap. Like Terry Silver was ever unkind towards his staff even before therapy?? He was there chilling with his secretary in the 80's and talking to her like a friend from his tub at the height of him being coked out of his mind. Truth is, Terry was always nice and oddly nice towards his employees. That is just fact. Okay, sorry, rant over.

Agreed.

I think Terry Silver just has gallant, old money manners in general when he wishes to --- he has them the way one has a weapon; he can produce and utilize it whenever and however he sees fit because a battle can be fought with many tools, and he's a master of all at his disposal --- and this includes the time pre-therapy, post-therapy, mid-therapy, in the 80's, 90's, 00's, present day, whenever, however. Always. I think him being the typical evil rich guy shouting at the pool boy or something is a gross mischaracterization and blatantly missing the point.

Out of character galore.

He is nice towards his people. Emphasis on the his. Those he pays. Keeps around. Those he trusts to run his household(s) and mansions. His tasks. His businesses. Important chunks of his life, if we're honest. A wise man once said it is prudent to be polite towards the one tasked and charged with serving you your food, because one never knows how they could tamper with it and this is a belief I feel Terry firmly holds to. Don't shit where you eat. Quite literally. Don't openly mistreat your staff because you never know ways in which they can retalliate and if he loathes one thing it is having no control over someone's actions and it so happens, being nice affords you a lot of control. He might be shouting at a Dynatox agent half way across the world, but he isn't going to shout at someone bringing him his cocktail and placing it down on the edge of his jacuzzi, because one is far away and the other could be an immediate threat.

What kind of captain wants mutiny inside of his ship?

And I do think that all his life, he was actually a surprisingly good boss to work under when one filters out everything else about him and just exists in that liminal space where he's a boss and someone's a worker --- he's bafflingly okay as an authority figure, creepily so --- shockingly so, all things considered, to the point that if some maid working for him was told all about his otherwise bad dealings and practices, she might not even believe it because Mr. Silver is just the salt of the earth and it rings true in the 70's, 80's, present day and constantly. He might even come off as oddly relaxed and jovial at times and that being his underling came with some amazing perks and rewards, so long as you don't cross lines, fail him and betray him, of course.

Naturally.

Even then, I picture Terry smarmy enough to where he can cleverly gaslight and convince the one who failed it is their doing and that he's taking disciplinary actions because he was given no choice. Truly, regretful. Ah, well. Hell, he might have them apologizing to him. But, this chastising usually never has him raising his tone. Not once. He is nice. He understands niceness, like one understands a cavity in their tooth and the outline of its shape when they push the tip of their tongue inside of it.

N i c e.

He is nice.

Margaret Spencer chats with him while he's bathing and one almost gets the impression of friendship and intimacy with all the mutual teasing going on, on equal footing --- like an elderly aunt from overseas berating her unruly American nephew. She is never subjegated or submissive, because Terry is nice, and Terry seems infinitely amused by their interactions. Milos knows Terry Silver's contacts enough to address John Kreese and ask him if he wants coffee right from the threshold of the door. With Snake and Dennis, we aren't certain if they're just some kids that co-habitate under his roof, if they're proteeges, his own personal wind-up jesters, his hired thugs or all four. Even with Mike Barnes back in the days, the way he initially greets him is genuinely inviting, offering the chance of a lifetime, with all the rewards and opportunities it entails; sponsoring him, cheekily sharing pleasantaries, joking around offering him cars, welcoming him to LA, giving him allowance like an overly (and worryingly kind) host.

This isn't nessecarily a bad boss. Not on the surface. Not until he's crossed.

This can all coexist with the fact that he was still a morally repugnant and corrupt individual who relished in the pain of others, but I don't think Terry needed therapy to be genuinely polite towards his people or to understand the power of charm and the perks of some hefty lovebombing, because he didn't need to therapy to understand a gallant approach inspires awesome loyalty that can't be bought with mere money. So, no, I don't think there's an era in his life, in truth, where he wouldn't help a maid or approach them with this disarmingly cavalier attitude where the staff themselves aren't certain if Mr. Silver is just the nicest man ever or if they're imagining things. Mr. Silver is almost like a...friend. Working for him is like being in a family.

[cybertron-after-dark]

Hiiii could i request megatron x bulkhead headcanons, either prime or animated, if thats ok 🙏

You are based as fuck.

We're gonna go with animated just because I think the chemistry is a liiittle better in my personal opinion.

I'm not gonna lie this one kinda got outta hand. Runaway moderate angst train. If you wouldve rather gotten something lighthearted and fluffy, just shoot me another ask and I can do that too.

-Bulkhead takes awhile to get past the whole incident where Megatron kidnapped him. Threatening his friends like that was not very cash money of him, and Bulky holds a mean grudge. Its gonna have to be a good long while after the conflict dies down for them to be okay with being anything more than just tense ex-enemy acquaintances.

-If a truce happens, in the very least between team prime and team megs, it's likely that a part of that will be rebuilding what got destroyed in the battles, forcing the two to interact. Megatron tries to be amicable. Bulkhead's having none of it.

-xXx-

"Bossbot may be buying your whole guilt ridden bleeding spark schtick, but I know better. You're bad news. Always have been, always will be. You just act like the good guy and hope people forget all the awful things you did if you feel sorry for yourself enough. So rebuild all you want. Act like you care. I know deep down, the only thing you really want is to destroy."

"...You aren't entirely off the mark, Autobo- Bulkhead. I am... Not a good person. I never was. And no matter what I do, it seems I cannot change what I am: Manipulative, violent, aggressive, I simply don't know how to be anything else. But... I had always hoped if I cannot be good, I can at least put all the bad in me to use towards a good cause."

"Yeah? Well some good you did starting a slaggin' war."

"Oh, Bulkhead... We didn't start it."

-xXx-

-One history lesson later, and Bulkhead is still massively skeptical and still pretty angry over every shitty thing the decepticons did, but he's seeing it less as black and white. Especially after corroborating with ratchet to make sure Megatron wasn't just making shit up about Warframes being mistreated.

-Bulkhead catches himself actually feeling pretty bad for what Megatron went through. He knows first servo what it's like being written off as nothing but a force of destruction. It doesn't excuse what he did, but he can't help himself from being sympathetic.

-Megatron genuinely wants Bulkhead to see his own worth and potential. To Megs, Bulkhead is this sweet, pretty, young thing that's been told time and time again by Autobot society that he's unintelligent, oversized, unappealing, and only good for breaking stuff, when every single one of those things is untrue. And it breaks his spark a little seeing the guy beat himself up when he's got so much to offer.

-It takes Bulkhead a long time to drop his guard at all around Megatron. At least a few months after their initial conversation. But when they do start talking, Bulky comes to the very conflicting conclusion that when Megatron isn't being a ruthless tyrant, he's actually... Pretty normal? He's just a guy. Classy, sarcastic, witty, actually pretty funny when e wants to be. All things considered, he's good company. And he can't really deny that the guy has quite a bit of charm.

-the bot-con truce is... Tentative. Tense. Both sides do what's agreed upon and they don't interact beyond what's necessary, for the most part. Nobody's really tried to, until Bulkhead asked Megatron to hang out on Dinobot Island after their shift fixing an overpass starscream crashed into. Needless to say, Megatron was extremely confused, but so endeared he couldn't say no.

-xXx-

"Why Bulkhead, just the two of us alone on a deserted island? It almost seems as though you're asking me on a date."

"W-well I mean- it was just supposed to- I mean i- ...did you want it to be a date?"

-xXx-

-from then, they start seeing each other pretty regularly, though they try to keep it low key. Don't need the team asking too many questions. Bumblebee would be insufferable about it if he found out Bulkhead's been dating the resident warlord.

-Megs actually takes interest in Bulkhead's art. The visual arts have been a core part of Decepticon culture since the Great War started, although usually with much bleaker themes than what Bulkhead makes. It's a nice reminder to him that self expression can be soft, and sweet, rather than a grim reminder of something awful.

-Bulkhead thinks it's really funny that Megatron doesn't know all that much about Earth, and what he does know is taken pretty far out of context. His attempts to introduce the con to videogames have been comedy gold. The big scary Decepticon tyrant can't figure out the controls half the time, and the pokemon type matchup chart is entirely beyond him.

-Bulkhead has gotten Megatron with Deez Nuts at least twice.

-Megatron loves that Bulkhead is so round and cuddly, especially because his Autobot status make him pocket sized to a bigass Warframe like megs. He's very friend shaped, perfect for picking up and snuggling up to, which leaves Bulkhead, invariably, flustered as all hell every time.

-its not a perfect relationship by any means. There's trust issues on both sides. Bulkhead is still always nervous Megatron might go back to being evil, and Megs is always worried whether this sweet Autobot might give into fear and shun him. They can both be stubborn as mules when they want to be, so it takes them a long time to make up after fights. But at the end of the day, Megatron has enough life experience to know letting petty squabbles tear someone away from you is a horrible thing, and Bulkhead went into the relationship knowing Megatron is flawed and often frustrating. They make it work.

-For all Megatron talks of letting Bulkhead see how wonderful he really is, Bulkhead wishes Megatron would practice what he preaches. The con seems to really believe his very existence is a sin he has to atone for, that he has to fix the universe just to make up for being in it. His insistence that he's an awful person is a self fulfilling prophecy, and bulk just wishes he could see that for what it is.

[imaginarianisms]

okay so. one thing ive been meaning to talk about in the rpc over the years is. the blatant ableism, sanism, racism & overall downplaying & watering down of serious issues such as cults to the point where nonsurvivors are rly out here making cult jokes which, to actual survivors, are like a massive slap in the face.

that's telling us "you don't matter".

on disabled characters & representation. i& genuinely don't remember the last time i& saw someone with a character who had a mobility aid or a wheelchair... if at all. i& genuinely don't remember the last time i& saw a disabled character actually Talk about their disability if it's even mentioned at all in threads & if it is it's usually a skinny cis white character, mostly cis white male characters, with the disability & fuck me& if there are any disabled characters of color at all.

i& genuinely don't remember the last time i& saw a character go indepth about the ableism & sanism they face. & i'm not saying that a disabled character has to let their disability define them but just like gender & orientation, a disability affects people & this doesn't just apply to physical disabilities. & i'm& not even getting into the way disabled & neurodivergent MUNS OF COLOR are treated, ESPECIALLY if their disability and/or neurodivergence is stigmatized.

i'm& not even getting into the stupid fucking way ppl go around throwing "delulu" everywhere as if they somehow have that right to mistreat schizospec & psychotic ppl & stigmatize us further. no, worstie, you're not fucking "delulu" for wanting your unlikely ship to be canon. no, you're not fucking "delulu" for wanting your crackpot theory to be true. it isn't some cutesy fucking trend you can hop on, theyre serious fucking issues. no worstie you're not "delulu" you're just sanist & hate psychotic people. stop using my& fucking symptoms as a stupid joke while stigmatizing me& for having them. i see a lot of nonpsys (for the unaware: nonpsys are people who dont have psychosis & aren't on the schizospec) using the word as if it's this cute quirky word to describe their fantasies & desires. its. literally not. delusions can INVOLVE fantasies & desires but arent those things on their own. it's not fucking funny to call yourself delusional as a joke & it's definitely not funny to just armchair diagnose people when a) you're not even a fucking doctor, psychologist or psychiatrist or any kind of medical professional & b) it's dehumanizing & c) i'm& betting y'all who use "delulu" have never even actually experienced a delusion, this isn't something you throw around for fun, it's an actual serious symptom with serious consequences for people who experience it. & as a schizospec did system myself i'm& Very Fucking Tired. noah fence but i& don't get delusions that're mostly trauma based & persecutory delusions just so y'all nonpsys can make it into another fun quirky thing & the same shit apply to ppl who use "psychopathic" "sociopathic" & "narcissistic" as an insult when most of the time personality disorders come from TRAUMA. & ESPECIALLY if you're autistic, you fucking know better

also. ppl are like "yeah i support systems!!!! :)))))) except fictive heavy systems, systems with lots of members, systems that share everything about themselves and systems who won't shut up about being systems. oh sorry your did and/or plurality makes me uncomfortable :(((((" i've& had people just. straight up refuse to acknowledge my& system at all & act like everything was fucking fine even when people claim to be my friend & give a fuck about me. my& older sister literally told me& to my& face that i& was lying for attention then she heard i& was actually dxed & she shut her ass up real quick. ive had people literally REFUSE to use our names or our pronouns despite KNOWING we're a system & some of us& were Also talking to these people. even from people who claim to be all like "oh i'm all for disabled people!! i'm all for respecting everyone's pronouns" but when it comes to our& plural ass they shut up real fucking quick. like. it won't kill y'all to ask about the rest of us&, about our& lives, showing us&.. idk, the latest episode of a show we've& never seen or a psd you made or introducing memes to us& & it definitely won't kill you to use an "&" by our names & pronouns or at the VERY FUCKING LEAST refer to us& as "y'all" or "you guys".

as someone w/ undxed aspd i& can tend to be very blunt especially if i'm& irritated. does that make me an evil person? uh. no. i& don't think so. someone w/ a personality disorder doesn't automatically mean an abuser & that goes ESPECIALLY with people with narcissistic personality disorder & antisocial personality disorder. disorders by themselves cannot be abusive. not everyone who's abusive has a personality disorder & even if they did, it's bc of their actions, not the disorder itself. & sometimes people just suck & are downright cunts.

if i& sound irritated its bc i& am. i'm& your local angry mean madcripple tryna tell y'all that this is a rpc. rp COMMUNITY. there are people who see this ableist shit. there are trauma survivors in your community. yes, this is worded aggressively but i& need y'all to understand that y'all Need to be able to engage with the anger of people with more stigmatized disorders & ESPECIALLY trauma survivors w/ more severe trauma & not just when we're being informative or entertaining to you if the rpc's gonna be better.

[cheemken]

“how do I put this delicately.. I think it would be best if you die." THATS COLD just like the spear

Girly straight up just said your free trial is over and stabbed her dad

ough Iris feeling like real shit because Kyurem had to pretend to still be under Ghetsis control, and Iris had to watch her grandpa mentor try fight off the legendary. All while Ghetsis is being a dick and monologuing about how powerful he is and the next part of the plan

Iris being an anti-hero is good shit. Like yeah she got rid of Ghetsis and she’s leading Neo Plasma in a different direction, but she’s killing people and doing questioning things to do so. She’s still going down the same path her dad was leading her just without him, because she knows she’s better and smarter than him. Plus she was just sick of the abuse and fear she had over him

You know Drayden really loves Iris cause Hilbert told him about her being seen with N, the enemy, and he still wished for her to be safe and found. Man didn’t even doubt for one moment that Iris was still alive, he knew she was. Even though the rest of the League probably thought she had died sometime in that battle

Homegirl has had enough, I think along w a hug she also deserves to commit murder yknow, as a treat uvu hahahah

But ougndmcbxnxbd please Iris believing she's so much better than Ghetsis, she was stronger and smarter and unlike him she didn't have to forcefully control Kyurem, as Kyurem was already her friend, and Kyurem would do anything for her.

And like right anti hero Iris is soooooo *wild hand gestures* like she really thinks she's doing the right thing, even former Plasma members joined again bc they know she was genuine w her cause, they don't separate people from Pokémon in an instant, but they're also.. they don't hesitate to kill. Iris had said if they ever see a trainer, no matter who it is, mistreat their Pokémon, they should kill them on the spot and save that poor pkmn.

She doesn't understand why the people are still terrified of Plasma. She's not like Ghetsis, it's not like she's doing smth wrong, she's just making sure her pkmn friends are safe. Her brother should know better right. Her brother knows what it's like, her brother should be on her side. But imagine once she and N met again, N had told her that what she was doing is still wrong. Hurting people was wrong, he finally realizes that, and tells her that she should really just disband Plasma, as it's nothing but a connotation of fear for the Unovan people at this point. Imagine him telling her she's no better than Ghetsis, letting Plasma's followers believe what they're doing is right, when it actually isn't.

Oh Iris was pissed, she really thought her brother would know better, but perhaps these humans really corrupted his mind. A shame, really, she did like those kids she met, she befriended them, but she can't just let people hurt pkmn, she just can't. Well, no matter, she's sure Drayden and Hilbert would be by her side, right?

No but like cbmdnd imagine Drayden being so happy that Iris was alive and safe and was back home to him, and like Iris getting so excited for Drayden to really meet Kyurem. And imagine the fear Drayden felt when Iris called out Kyurem, the Boundary Pokémon looking at both of them. Drayden could feel the chill, he held Iris close in fear of Kyurem suddenly attacking them, but Iris calmed him down telling him that Kyurem was sorry for attacking Opelucid. They had to bc they want Ghetsis to believe that he still had Kyurem under his control. And to make it up for it, Iris commanded some grunts to help around Opelucid, making sure the city is safe. Drayden wasn't sure what to feel abt that, he was happy his granddaughter protege was back, but just,, she's still part of Plasma ofc. He doesn't know why she still ties herself w that organization, she has so much potential, but he fears it will be wasted on being Plasma's leader.

Oughh imagine if Drayden actually had a talk w Iris tho, later that night, saying how he knows she's strong, she's a really good battler, a battling prodigy really, that maybe she could give up Plasma and live a normal life. She already has a home in Opelucid w him, and Drayden was kind enough to mention that her brother could live w them too. But like, Iris thinking of smth else tho. Thinking that Drayden was right, she was strong, maybe strong enough to be a Champion. And if she's Champion,, well, maybe people would stop fearing Plasma. Ofc, why hadn't she thought of that sooner, she could become Champion!

Oh, how grateful she was for Drayden, but he can't know she really wasn't willing to disband Plasma. Without Plasma, who would protect those poor Pokémon being mistreated by their trainers? Well, she's sure once she's Champion, people will see her vision, and they'd finally stop being scared of Plasma, they'd finally stop being scared of her and Kyurem. Yeah, that would be cool, she decided, before she slept she promised herself she'll be Unova's Champion, the strongest trainer in the region, and people will see that Plasma is there to help them.