#defending rape survivors

[heli-writes]

A dragon's heart

Pairing: Barbarian!Bakugou Katsuki x female!reader

Summary: The dragonblood tribe is known for being cruel, barbarian warriors that slaughter, loot and rape all places they pass through. They are feared among the villagers and even bigger cities. Having lost most of their women to a plague, they're trying to ensure their tribe's survival by kidnapping women from other places. However, they're not the only monsters in human form out there. When y/n experiences this first hand, she has no choice but to ask for help from no other but the barbarian leader Katsuki Bakugou himself.

Disclaimer: Heavy violence in the last part, throat cutting and gutting of human people, mentions of rape (no visual description!), swearing

[Please don't read if you are sensible to or triggered by the topics mentioned above.]

Part 1, Part 2

Series Masterlist

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People don't dare to speak about them out loud. Afraid that it would manifest them. They would only speak about them only in whispers behind closed doors. Fathers would tell their sons that it's better to flee than to fight. Don't play the hero. You can't win a fight against them, no one can. Mothers tell their daughters about the horrors they commit. You'd rather be dead than be captured by them. The women they don't kill after they're done, don't last more than a week. Y/n heard all the stories growing up. Some are more horrifying than others. Y/n has never lived in one place for too long. Her people have always been wanderers, offering their services and wares to the villages they pass through. So, she's come to hear a great deal of stories in her lifetime.

In the past two years, life has been unfortunate for y/n. The wandering folk have always been victims of bandits waiting on the side of the road. They've found ways to defend themselves but bandit activity has risen in the past years due to the barbarians attacking and raiding places all over the kingdom. Like sharks smelling blood, other low-life criminals start to crawl out of their holes, sensing an opportunity to gain some coin and women for themselves. Y/n's group has been attacked quite a few times over the last two years, decimating their numbers bit by bit. Having lost people, coins and wares, the last winter was harsh. Those, who didn't starve to death, died due to the harsh cold or infection that followed soon after. After that winter, there weren't many left of them and the survivors started to question if their way of life was still liveable in the current condition. Eventually, the group dismembered. Not all at once, but one by one. People found other work or opportunities in the villages they passed through. A better prospect of life. Even y/n's elder brother, her only surviving family member, left this spring and enrolled in the military service of the king. He tried to convince her to come with her and settle down in the capital. But y/n can't imagine such a life. Being used to living in the open, in tents and wagons, she developed a distaste for sleeping in houses made of stone. It gives her nightmares. The thought that the house might crumble and its stones burying her alive, scares her to death.

Eventually, y/n ends up alone. Only her, her tent, and a wagon her parents left behind. She tried keeping up the life of a wanderer until her donkey died of old age and she had no coin to buy a new one. Having no opportunity to continue to pull her wagon, she was forced to settle closeby to a small settlement. Here's the thing. Villagers are usually nice to the wandering folk. They're happy to trade with them and the change of pace and stories they bring with them. However, they are not keen on having them in their life permanently. It's nice to have them around for a couple of days, but it's also good when they move on. Then there are the prejudices. Often people put y/n's kind into the same box as other people without a permanent residence like bandits, homeless people, or moving brothels. So, people weren't too happy when y/n put up her tent close to the village entrance.

You see, most people don't treat y/n unkindly as long as she keeps her distance and has the proper coin when she needs to buy something. They even trust her enough to buy her wares but they're not very inclusive. So y/n does not really find any friends or social connections and she is aware of the demeaning glances and sneers people give her when they think she's not looking. She's trying to save up coins for a new donkey and hopes to find her brother. Maybe convincing him to leave the military. Or at least to find a more inviting place than where she is now.

Today's the celebration of the long day. It's the longest day of the year and the people celebrate the daylight for blessing their fields and fruits. There's a festival in the village with dances, beverages and lots of music. It gives y/n some consolation that the village people are celebrating this day. It's a big festival for her people with different traditions and rituals that are held all day and night. This year y/n tried to do as many of them on her own, but it's just not the same without your family around. So, she's glad she can go into the village and take part in the buzzing celebration. Though 'take part' is probably a bit too much. She probably will buy a cup of fruit wine and watch the hustle and bustle of the villagers. It's not like anybody would want to dance with her. After all, she has no real prospect of marriage around here. Nobody would let their son court and marry a woman like her. Not that y/n is interested in any of the young men she's seen in the village. She finds most of them quite close-minded and not very driven.

Y/n wears a flower crown she's woven today and one of her mother's dresses. It actually might be the one she got married in. She wanders the town square and watches old men toast with full jugs of beer and young couples sneaking around, waiting for the music to start. She gets herself a cup of wine and a sugary piece of cake and settles on the ground next to the bakery stand. Cross-legged, she bites into her cake and takes notice of some middle-aged women looking in her direction and whispering behind raised hands. Y/n shrugs it off as the music starts to play and people start to dance. She watches the commotion and whips her feet to the music. She really would love to dance. At midnight, the villagers dim the lanterns and lit a fire in the middle of the square. Curiously, y/n blends into the mass that gathers around the fire. She bumps into a man her age. She apologizes and gives the man a small smile. The man looks at her in bewilderment and his friend gives her a mean look, pulling the man away from her. Slowly, silence befalls the square and the old storyteller of the village makes his way to the middle of the square, next to the fire. Y/n buzzes with excitement. She loves stories. Before starting his story, the man lets his gaze wander through the people and takes a deep breath.

Far away from here, behind the mountain range we call bear fangs, lays the territory of the dragonblood tribe. These beasts of men managed to tame the greatest monsters known to mankind: the dragons. Over 12 feet high, spewing raging fire, these creatures are nothing more than steel-hard scales and razor-sharp teeth. While normal people, like us, would fear for their lives encountering these monsters, the dragonblood tribe has lived together with them for centuries in what they call harmony. There's no doubt you have to be a special kind of person to survive an encounter with such a monster, let alone live with them. Tall, strong, cunning and unafraid of death. All characteristics the men of the tribe possess. Some say they even mixed their blood with their dragons and gained impenetrable skin and superhuman strength.

A strength that they still use today to bring terror and fear into our lands. However, a few winters ago, a horrible sickness befell the women of the dragonblood tribe. Most of them didn't survive the season. Having lost their women, the dragonblood men lust for female flesh. Flesh that they seek nowadays in our lands.

We've all heard stories. From an aunt or uncle living in other parts of the kingdom, from passing merchants or the wandering folk about them. They do not care for day or night, they attack whenever they feel like it. There's no plan or logic to their attack, just chaos and violence. They burn houses, skin men alive, put children on spikes and do unspeakable, terrible things to our women. We should fear every single one of them but... there's one we should fear the most. Their leader: Bakugou Katsuki. He's the cruelest, strongest, and meanest of them all. He managed to tame the biggest and most dangerous dragon of all kinds: A hellfire dragon. With scales red as blood and fire as hot as a hundred forges, no one can escape this beast. And no one can escape its master either. With an insatiable hunger for coin, gold and women, their leader and his men continue to invade this country and raid its villages and towns. Greedily acquiring riches and kidnapping and taking our women whenever they please. You never know when they strike, but when you see a sliver of burning red in the sky... Take your little siblings, put your old mother on your back and leave farm and home behind, and run as fast as you can. If you're lucky, and cunning yourself, you might just be able to escape the terror of the dragonblood tribe and live another day to tell the story.

As the storyteller finishes his story, the market square lies in eery silence. Nobody dares to even move. Only when the musicians start playing again and the lanterns are lit again, the tension eases and the gathering around the fire dissolves. Y/n gets up from the place she was seated in and rubs her arms. There are goosebumps all over her body. What a creepy story to tell during such delightful festivities, she thinks. She grabs her cup to return it to the vendor. In passing, she hears someone say: "Why on earth would he speak of this? Doesn't he know it's a bad omen to speak it out loud?". She returns her cup and lets her gaze wander over the square once more. Some couples picked up dancing again but it's obvious that the atmosphere has shifted. Y/n notices the man she bumped into earlier watching her from across the square. She gives him a nod and then turns around to leave.

Y/n set up camp not too far away from the village, but far away enough to have some peace and quiet. The wandering folk often set up camp in a forest or closeby a river, living off the land around them. So, y/n has a short walk by foot back to her tent. The moon stays high in the sky, illuminating her surroundings enough for her to comfortably find her way home. Deep in her own thoughts, y/n doesn't notice the dark shadows following her. She's been walking for a while when she finally hears the snickering of male voices behind her. She looks over her shoulder and sees three male silhouettes following her. "Hey, y/n, wait a second!", she hears one of them yell. The voice is familiar. One of the villagers. She stops for a second, a stupid mistake on her part. One of the men jog up to her, the others following closely. "I'm sorry, can I help you with anything?", y/n says calmly. "Actually, there's something huge you could help me with.", the man she bumped into earlier grins. Y/n pretends not to catch on the allusion. "If you need help with something, it's best to work on it tomorrow. Also, we probably should talk to your father first since he handles business in your family.", she states. She hopes the mention of his father will intimidate the guy. "Oh, I think it's best to work on it tonight.", the man answers and his friends snicker behind him. "Sorry, I'm tired. Let's talk about it tomorrow.", y/n tries to advert him once again. "It won't be any work for you at all. You'd just have to lay down. Or stand up, depending on how you like it.", the man says and leans close. "I'd like to go home. Alone.", she tells him and turns to leave. "C'mon don't be like that!", one of his friends grins behind him, as the other one grabs her arm. "You're drunk. You should all go home, too. It's best to sleep it off.", she tells them and pulls on her arm. "Why are you like that? You don't think we're worth your time?", the third one coos. Y/n pulls on her arm again. "I'm sure you're all great and we can talk about everything tomorrow. Right now, however, I'd prefer to go home alone.", she tries again. "Not even for some coin? I heard your kind does everything for a little bit of gold.", the man holding her arms sneers. Not for any gold in the world, y/n would like to say. She knows better than to offend them. It's already a dangerous situation she's in. No need to escalate it further. "C'mon, babe. At least let me feel you up a bit.", the guy says and tries to pull her closer. Y/n decides that she has had enough of this. She balls her fist and swings it right into the man's face. Not expecting the blow, he lets go of her arm and stumbles back. Y/n doesn't waste a second and makes a run for it. Immediately, she leaves the well-known path and darts into the woods. She hopes that the trees give her enough cover to keep out of their sight. She runs in a zigzag, changing her direction multiple times. She hears the man behind her, trying to keep up with her. Unfortunately for her, they are bigger and faster than her and it's hard to shake them off. Eventually, y/n loses them. She climbs up a tree and stays unmoving for a long time. She doesn't hear them anywhere close by and her heart slows down a bit. It's not the first time she had to run away from men with bad intentions. She knows it's not a smart idea to return to her tent immediately. So, she stays up on the tree for most of the night. Her eyes fall close a couple of times but after she almost loses balance one time, she stays awake for the remaining night listening closely into the woods.

Only when the sun starts to rise again and wafts of mist waver over the cold forest ground, y/n climbs down from her spot. Her joints are stiff and she's chilled to the bone. Cautiously, she starts her way back to her tent. Of course, she did not watch where she was going last night and it takes her multiple hours to find her way back. When she arrives at her campsite, chills run down her back. Apparently, these men were not only relentless but also petty. Her entire campsite is destroyed. They absolutely trashed the place and set fire to her tent and wagon. Y/n takes in the sight. She tries to stay calm but her blood is boiling. It's not like she cared much about the possessions. The wandering folk always packed lightly and only what they could carry. It's the disrespect for her. Also, the little things that she did own were necessities. It's still early in the morning, so y/n decides to salvage what she can and take her leave. She knows men like this. When they don't get what they want, they don't rest until they absolutely destroy everything.

Unfortunately for y/n, the devil works fast and these men work faster. She just started piling up things that were still usable when she hears clamoring just a mile away. "Let's go! She must be back by now! No way she leaves her witchcraft stuff behind!", she hears a man yell. Y/n debates for a few seconds whether or not to stand her ground but decides it's better to avoid confrontation. She quickly grabs a small bag and retreats to the forest. However, she doesn't make it far. Only a few meters into the woods, an arrow flies by her head. "There she is! I saw her just beyond the tree line!", she hears a yell behind her. Immediately, y/n breaks into a sprint. She tries to lose them by zigzagging again but the broad daylight makes it easier for them to spot her. Being used to walking all day, y/n has quite the stamina and hopes to tire them out. However, she didn't sleep all night and the men seemed to have prepared for a longer hunt. 'Hunt' is the appropriate term here. They keep shooting arrows at her and seem to track her trails.

The forest no longer looks familiar to y/n as she keeps pushing on. Her heart feels as if it's about to explode. In a bad way. She's sure the men on her tail can hear her heavy breathing from a mile away. She's also sure that they start to catch up to her. She can hear them closer and closer behind her. They are whooping and whistling as if they are making fun of her. So sure that they can catch up to her. Suddenly, an arrow flies close to her face again, cutting her ear. She can feel blood dripping down the side of her face. "Come out, come out, wherever you are! You can't hide forever, you little bitch!", she hears one of them call out behind her. She gathers all her strength and pushes her legs to run even faster than before. Panic sets in and she hears an arrow hit the ground behind her. Trying to look back in order to estimate how far they are behind her, she stumbles over the roots of a tree and falls to the ground. "Over there!", a voice yells closely behind her. She gets up as quickly as she can and a piercing pain jolts through her. She must've torn or broken something in her joint as she fell. She limbs on trying to use the trees for cover. Another arrow hits the bark of the tree right next to her. She pushes herself off the tree, trying to bring more distance between herself and the men hunting her. Suddenly she loses her footing and finds herself sliding down a slope. Thorny bushes cut her legs, arms and face. The impact leaves a ringing tone in her ears. Her entire body hurts now. For a moment, she's tempted to just lay there and accept her fate. But when she hears the howling men above her, she fights to get back onto her feet again. Her bones feel heavy as she staggers on. She can hear some of the men sliding down the slope as well. Suddenly, she smells smoke in the air. Somebody must be close by!, she thinks. This thought cost her a valuable second and suddenly a pointed force to her right shoulder knocks her down again. Next, she feels a soaring pain from the very same place. When she turns her head to her side, in terror she realizes that an arrow is stuck in her shoulder. She can barely lift her arm now. On her hands and knees, she frantically looks for smoke in the air. Y/n fixes her eyes on the dark clouds of smoke rising into the air just a yard or so from her. It's my only chance, y/n decides. These people might be able to help. They can't be worse than the men that are hunting her. Little did she know, it was quite the opposite. Having found new hope, y/n gets back onto her feet. She starts sprinting again. Ignoring the pain in her foot joint, she pushes her body to the limit. Avoiding arrows out of sheer luck, she manages to avoid getting killed. Finally, she stumbles onto the clearing where the smoke was coming from.

Her eyes fall onto the fireplace first, then at the man sitting next to it. The man only wears dark pants and a pair of boots. He's got blonde spiky hair that stands up in different directions. Necklaces of teeth hand from his neck. All things y/n doesn't register in her panic. That and the giant, red dragon sleeping at the other side of the clearing. The man gets up immediately and grabs a sword that laid across his lap just seconds ago. He looks at y/n angrily, ready to yell or behead her or both. However, he does not get a chance to speak. Y/n's body gives out and she falls onto her knees. "I'm begging you!", she yells out, tears streaming down her face. "Please help me! If you have just an inch of good in you, please find the mercy to help me! They are going to kill me!", she continues to yell. The man looks at her in bewilderment. Nearby, the village men yell in her direction. In horror, she pushes herself up once more and stumbles in the direction of the strange man in front of her. She falls straight into his chest, clinging onto his arm. For a moment, the man looks as if he wants to push her back to the ground again but he doesn't get a chance to do so. One of the men hunting y/n stumbles onto the clearing with a knife in his hand. "There you are, you little slut!", he yells. In fear, y/n clings to the man in front of her. Suddenly, the stranger grabs her right arm. Pain shots from the arrow wound into her fingertips. She looks up and sees the stranger look at the wound with narrowed eyes. Another villager reaches the clearing. This one carries a bow and arrow. The stranger quickly makes the connection between the arrow stuck in y/n's shoulder and the arrow in the man's hand.

The stranger yells something non-understandable and pushes y/n to the side who falls to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The impact sends more pain through y/n body. "Who the fuck are you? That one belongs to us, find your own toy to play with!" the knife man says and raises his weapon. The stranger exclaims something loud and angry. Again y/n can't understand him. He must speak a different language than her. Suddenly a rumble pierces the air. Y/n's head whips around and the dragon rises to his feet. Y/n's mouth hangs open in disbelief. The man with the arrow yelps in surprise and lets go of his arrow sending it flying in an arbitrary direction. The stranger in front of her doesn't waste a second and uses the distraction to cut the knife guy's throat in a swift movement. In horror, y/n watches as blood gushes out of the horizontal wound and the man chokes on his own body fluids. The man with the bow stumbles backward onto his butt. His eyes are still fixated on the dragon to his right. The stranger harshly steps onto the man's foot. The disgusting sound of breaking bones rings through the air. The man yells in pain and throws his head back. The stranger grabs a fistful of his hair and yanks his head forward. Angrily, he yells at the villager and when the man only groans in pain, the stranger sticks his sword into his side. The villager lets out a bone-chilling scream. When the villager continues to not answer him, the stranger starts twisting his sword in the wound. The villager throws up on himself and his eyes roll into the back of his head. Y/n can't advert her eyes. She doesn't really comprehend what's happening in front of her. When more yelling is heard at the edge of the clearing, the stranger pulls his sword diagonally through the man's abdomen, creating a wound that makes squishy red things fall out of the man's body. Y/n feels like throwing up. The stranger drops the twitching man and makes its way to the edge of the clearing. What happens next is not registered by y/n who can't help but stare at the gutted man in front of her who keeps twitching until the light has left his eyes. She doesn't hear the screams of terror and death from the other side of the clearing. She doesn't even see the giant beast watching her every move.

Only when the stranger returns with blood dripping down his sword and chest, y/n's consciousness finds its way back into her body. The stranger looks as angry as he has since she entered his clearing. He sounds angry too. He's saying something to her. Looking at it backward, y/n is sure that she wouldn't have been able to understand him even if he spoke her language at this very moment. Only when he stomps closer to her with a raised sword, y/n springs to action and pushes herself backward with one leg, still sitting on the ground. This is it, she thinks, I'm going to die. The man grabs her uninjured shoulder and shakes her. She stares up at him with wide eyes. Suddenly, her vision starts spinning and her hearing starts to fade. Before she understands what is happening, her world fades to black.

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[Please comment if you'd like to be tagged in future chapters]

[wimpywompythethird]

I cannot stress enough how hypocritical Vivziepop and a large portion of both of her fandoms are when it comes to deciding who “deserves” to be recognized as a sexual assault survivor. Vivzie has publicly stated, “I support and respect all survivors,” yet she writes scenes where characters are sexually assaulted for laughs, only treating the issue seriously when it suits her narrative.

Vivziepop: “I support all survivors!”

Also Vivziepop: Creates an entire scene where a character is forcibly dragged into a room—presumably to be sexually assaulted while visibly struggling, clawing at the floor and repeatedly saying “no,” making it absolutely clear that he wants nothing to do with it. All of this is framed as comedy, serving no purpose other than to be a cheap, tasteless joke.

The number of people defending this with “it’s meant to be funny!” is absolutely appalling and then there’s the fandom’s go-to excuse:

“Well, Sir Pentious wasn’t actually raped, so—”

SO NOTHING! Attempted rape is sexual assault. He was dragged away against his will. Sexual assault isn’t just rape—it’s any non-consensual sexual act or advance and in this case, it was absolutely sexual assault. The way people in this fandom dismiss his experience just because “it didn’t go all the way” is horrifying. Do they even understand what survivors go through? Do they realize that sexual assault encompasses so much more than just rape? What about groping? What about coercion? What about sexual harassment? Or is it just easier for them to ignore the reality because the scene was “supposed to be funny”?

That is not support. That is not respect. That is minimizing sexual violence for the sake of a cheap laugh and it’s absolutely disgusting.

[enchantressiren]

❝𝐏𝐀𝐂: 𝐅𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟!❞

How to heal from your sexual trauma? (Detailed).

Masterlist ♡.

Author's note,

Two more pap are coming if you don't feel connected to any. Also, warm hugs to everyone. Much love.

Divider. (Edited by me).

Pile I.

Sometimes the people we trust are the people who turn their backs on us. And those around them will not bat an eye. Why should they? You were a child after all, and sometimes children lie so why ruin your male figure/uncle’s reputation, right? Like who cares, you were a liar. You lied about it all, so why should anyone believe you? Weren’t these your thoughts growing up? Didn’t you find yourself unworthy of love because of what your family said? How many times did your mother or aunt say it was your fault that it happened? That you should have covered your younger self's legs? How many times have they mentioned it for you to believe them and never heal from it?

How many times have you self-harmed because of their words? Cut, cut, cut. What makes it appealing to destroy your precious legs because of their words? What makes it appealing to harm yourself from anything they say? What makes anything appealing to please them? Do you think it is okay to harm yourself like this? Genuinely—if you were doing the same to your younger self, would it be okay then? What makes it okay compared to before? “Because they didn’t know, they were naïve and wrong! I have the right to do it now! You don’t get it!” Perhaps? But then again, what makes it truly okay for you to do it now? Why not do it to someone younger? Are you comfortable doing it to a victim of grooming? How about a baby survivor? Are you going to cut the baby’s legs because they got raped or groomed? Are you going to insult any survivor like yourself because they got touched? Is that okay with you?

It doesn’t feel right, now does it? It does not sound appealing to you anymore. The thought made you uncomfortable when it came to the baby. Some of you are questioning if it is possible for a baby to be raped and it is. You were a baby too when you got groomed, so why are you questioning it?

“I was not a baby, I was a loser that got touched. I should have done something about it, defended myself. At least pushed him away! It’s my fault! You seriously do not fucking get it, do you??” No. You do not get it. You were a baby when you were groomed by a male figure in your family. How can a baby consent to that? How can a child consent to that? Even someone who is legal would not consent to being groomed by a family member. So, I ask again, are you going to insult any survivor like yourself because they got touched? Is that okay with you?

Groom. Groom. Groom. This word keeps running in my mind like a wildfire. My mind is spinning and each time the word groom pops up, I feel nauseous. You felt the same as it was happening, and as you read this pile, those same fears are coming back to haunt you. Some of you have healed from your CPSTD or PTSD but have not treated yourself in the way you deserve: compassion. Those who did not suffer from the disorder, you have to accept what happened was not your fault. It was their fault. Your family members who have not said anything about it, have brushed it away, or blamed you for it are just as guilty as the male figure. Do you understand? It is their fault just as much as it is his. Not yours. Him.

Each of you is worthy of having someone appreciate you. And this is not coming from an intuitive perspective, more so with how I see it. I know that people have told you it is not your fault. And that you have tried numerous times to heal, to do better for your younger self or inner child, and focused on trying to be kind to yourself but failing with the lack of support. But support does not only come from family members, you need to remove those thoughts. They won’t help because they are just as guilty as him. You need to give yourself the support you have been seeking for a while. You need to find your support in different and logical ways rather than focusing on your emotional side. And you need to fully grasp that it is not your fault. Truly feel it. Don’t tell yourself, “yeah, it wasn’t my fault,” and move on as if it is nothing. Allow yourself to mourn it. It is not a disease to mourn your feelings and your past, and it is not always a bad thing to look into your past. Use your past to heal and fully accept what had happened and what is happening now. Stop treating those who are guilty as friends. They do not deserve your kindness nor appreciation when you compliment or gift them things because you feel pressured to by your mother or aunt.

Masterlist ♡.

Pile II.

“Mama, it hurts. Everything hurts. My bone hurts. My mind hurts. I wanna die, momma. I wanna die, momma! Just let me die, momma! A scream. I need to die momma, it hurts, it hurts—a slap—it’s what you deserve, child.”

A mother is supposed to take care of their child. Supposed to love their child, put their child above themselves, educate their child, protect them, and make sure they can survive on their own. A mother is supposed to give you the warmth you need and to give you advice in other affairs. A mother is supposed to be your role model, someone you want to grow up into, someone you want to be when you have a child. Your mother is supposed to be your best friend, so why was your mother your rapist? Why did your mother have to brainwash you into believing that you deserve to be spanked? To be sexually groomed by others for money? Why did your mother touch you like it was okay? Why was your mother the sole reason you are learning to understand what sex is all about through your current relationship or with yourself? Why is your partner or your comfort stuffed animal your provider when you have to deal with panic attacks from your mother? Why do you have to suffer from this when your mother is living in “heaven” or in a mansion? Why are people giving her an out just because she was a “great” mother to others, making sure they are okay and if they are eating? But when it came to you, it didn’t matter? Why did everyone ignore your screams and your heartfelt tears when you begged others for help? How come no one helped you? When everyone found out what happened, why was it okay to be gaslighted because there was no way your mom could do that? Why do you have to believe it was your fault and not hers? And why do you have to cry yourself to sleep hoping no one hears you when you remember every single detail of what happened while you struggle to sleep? Why me, why not her? Why? Why? Why?

Green man (synergy): “You have the advantage of an incredible synergy at this time.  A flow of Life is guiding you, where things just seem to fall into place as you move about your business.”

“Mama, why do the trees grow brown and the leaves perish? Mama, why is the color of the snow yellow sometimes? Mama, why do you ignore my questions sometimes? Am I a burden? Yes. She whispers, Yes, you are.. my sweet thing.” She caresses your cheeks, gazing into your innocent curiosity, and smiles with maliciousness, 'such a sweet thing deserving of pain.' Mama, why are things the way they are? Because that is how God (or Gods) made them, my sweet child. Oh! That is so cool, mam— yawns, good night mama. Goodnight sweet child.”

Sweet child—were you a sweet child or a burden to everyone in your hometown? How did it make you feel to be one? Do my words sound harsh? I’m sorry, I am just speaking upon everyone’s words, those trigger words that have hurt you. Are you crying right now? Good—or so that is what they would all say. Right? Do you also think you should say the same to yourself too? Good? Good that you are crying! You deserve to cry, you deserve it all, you deserve all that was given to you, you deserve it, yo—do you? Do you really deserve it? I don’t think so.

I understand that you came here to LEARN how to heal your trauma, but I cannot give you the reading you seek. And I am sorry that I triggered you, but you had to be triggered so you could heal on your own. You DO NOT need anyone’s help but your own. You are all such a strong pile, I mean it. So so strong and so very resilient. An image of Hercules popped up and how he saved Meg; the same can be said about the attachment you have with the movie and your stuffed animal or partner. I cannot tell you how to heal as much as I would want to, nor can they do much to help you heal. But you have to accept what has happened and understand that you are ALLOWED to cry and feel the pain. To allow yourself to go back into the past and accept everything that has happened to you. You are allowed to stay in the past for as long as you want and stop allowing your subconscious mind to repress your memories. You are allowed to tell your attachments what really happened—allow yourself to say the truth to them. Stop hiding them because you are so ashamed of it. And you have absolutely no reason to be ashamed. You were a baby. A precious baby that deserved so much but didn’t have that. But now, you have to give yourself that love, or else you will never heal properly.

Channeled song

Why why why by Shawn Mendes.

Masterlist ♡.

Pile III.

Justice.

To be manipulated and tricked by your abuser and to be gaslighted by yourself—those troubles have been causing you pain. To have your so called friends abuse you sexually or rape you and then mock you must have hurt. To have shamed yourself for trusting them but blaming yourself must have damaged the friendship you had with yourself. To have become self-aware of what they wanted you to do must have made you fraught. So, why exactly did you follow through? If you knew they wanted to deflate your confidence just as you were with your guardians, how come you followed through? How come you had to gaslight yourself with what actually happened? Why couldn’t you be honest about it? You knew they raped or sexually abused you. You knew they were tricking you from the start; you knew they were going to drug you and let their friends take your virginity—so why did you allow it? Why? Why? I SAID WHY—

Can you keep your shameful and hateful thoughts to yourself and understand that you are not in the wrong if someone touches you without consent? There are no whys. Let it go and accept what has happened. If you keep letting this happen, you will let yourself go and become crazy. All your thoughts are always whys, it should not have happened, it is not their fault, why did I trust them, and did I, or what did I do to deserve this? What do you think you did to have had this happen? Nothing. Their main goal was to destroy your confidence since they were intimidated by it. So, how could that be your fault? How can you blame yourself for their distasteful personality and projection? It is not your fault, nor could it ever be.

The only thing that is your fault is allowing these thoughts to control your life. Stop living in your fears, stop letting your fears MAKE all the decisions for yourself. Stop saying your healed self will decide for you, or at least be stuck in the future and imagine what your future self would choose for yourself. Stop fucking neglecting your present self; it deserves your love and care right now, so make yourself a priority. How can you heal, or expect to heal and become your best self, if you are neglecting yourself? It’s impossible.

One thing I wanted to add was: those were not your friends, so don’t forgive them. I know that some of you are assuming that if you were to forgive them, then you could move on from your trauma. But you will never move on from it. The person who needs your forgiveness is you. You have to learn to let go of this anger you feel for yourself. I understand that you could not protect yourself and therefore it should be your fault, but the problem with that is.. it lacks honesty. Some of you pride yourself that you are an honest person, but you are a hypocrite. A huge one—you are a liar to yourself. So take a peg down for a moment and be honest with yourself—you were raped or sexually abused, and even if you could have protected yourself, you would have dealt with the same issue. You cannot change or fix the past, what is done, is simply done and you must let it go. So let it go, forgive yourself, and—it is okay to hate on those who cause you harm. Ignore people who say otherwise, they do not know your story and do not deserve to control HOW YOU FEEL. You are ALLOWED!!! to feel angry. To feel hurt, disappointed, and so forth. So let it go and learn to trust yourself genuinely again. Okay? Okay.

Some of you are wondering how to let yourself feel those emotions without disrespecting someone else. Read that again. Why are you worried about disrespecting someone else when it is YOUR EMOTIONS? It is YOUR EMOTIONS, not theirs. You are allowed to feel, stop disrespecting yourself for someone else. Let me ask you something and tell yourself this answer honestly. Why do you feel the need to disrespect yourself for someone else? Is it based on judgment? Why are you feeling judged? Were you supposed to be emotionless your whole life? If so, understand this.

Emotions are emotions. Emotions are normal and it is OKAY to feel them. It is okay to feel disappointed, you do not have to be aloof for everything. If you want to feel them, then feel them and push your thoughts away. Those thoughts are taking away your personality, happiness, and sabotaging you. I know that ignoring those thoughts can be daunting sometimes, but I also know it is better to be scared than sorry. What I mean is, would you rather deal with a shitty outcome because you let your fear dictate your life, or would you rather have those fears but not act upon them? Which one sounds appealing to you?

Masterlist ♡.

[etz-ashashiyot]

Okay today in: Things I never thought I'd have to explain to alleged leftists

There is literally never an excuse for rape. There just isn't.

Like torture, it is a crime with absolutely no valid purpose whatsoever; it is simply a way to cause extreme suffering to another human being. Rape is effectively a type of torture, especially when paired with physical abuse or other sadistic acts.

With most other kinds of violence (not all) there are at least some circumstances that might (regrettably) call for them. Hitting someone? Injuring them? Even killing them? In a life or death scenario, you might have to defend yourself or someone else, even to the death.

But rape and torture require a lot more intentionality and are never necessary. Torture is known to produce bad information. And rape? Well, rape is specifically and only a way to humiliate and dominate someone. There are no circumstances under which rape is the correct answer.

No personal trauma, no collective trauma, no cause — nothing is a valid justification for rape.

Worse — rape is often not even intended as a punishment for the person (most commonly a woman or girl) being raped, but actually as a proxy to wound the men in their lives, the fathers, the husbands, the brothers, the sons who aren't able to protect "their" women.

Not only does this line of thinking reject the pain of the actual survivor in favor of her relatives, but it actually totally dehumanizes her and reduces her to an object that the rapist has damaged to get back at the man he actually wants to hurt.

Justifying rape as a tool for any reason whatsoever makes you a cesspool, I don't care what your internal justification is.

[ratdaisy]

Ew i just saw a victim-blaming sponsored post on my tumblr dashboard to defend Neil Gaiman. :/

Interesting that a "Neil Gaiman fan" who is a survivor of rape would pay money to make this post more visible as a sponsored ad. Would any actual survivor fight this hard to try to discredit other survivors? I really hope not

[jewish-mccoy]

I’m sure some people may be bothered by the fact I’ve been recently using pro-palestine tags on my posts, I’ve had at least a few people be like “hey idk if you know but that’s an anti Israel slogan…”

yep, fully aware it is. pro-pals have been flooding jumblr tags since October 7 (and before). And they’re flooding it with things like bloody images of our dead. I’m tagging text posts. I’m not dragging innocent civilians and children’s bodies onto your dashboard because I’m not evil. So yeah, I will continue to flood their tags with the truths they want to avoid, which is that they are fueling violence and their movement is a hate movement. You don’t fight an enemy by playing fair.

The free palestine movement is not about freeing palestine. People will tell you it is, it’s in the name! If it were about freeing Palestinians, that would be their focus. They’d be talking about aid, about a two state solution, about striking deals, about music festivals for peace — oop, that last one might be a sore spot.

When the dust settles and the tide turns, and it will, I know I’m on the right side of history. I’m not defending terrorists like Hamas, who purposefully kill civilians, their own people. Or excusing kidnapping and rape. Seriously, how do you all sleep at night? Did brain worm dude bring back Quaaludes just for pro-pals?

Where was I? Ah, yes - the free palestine movement is a targeted campaign to wage war against the only Jewish state in the world, a state they are convinced is pure evil. They froth at the mouth to talk about genocide, which objectively is not happening in palestine. They are doing a fantastic job at spinning a narrative and because the world is antisemitic, you all are fucking letting them. But you can’t take down one of the best defended countries in the world with words, which just pisses y’all off, so you go set Holocaust survivors on fire, or shoot people in broad daylight in the back because you’re just such big brave heroes. Free palestine is just leftist Nazis. Full stop. You want to eradicate all Jewish Israelis. If it walks like a nazi, it’s a goddamn nazi.

[deeppenguinstudent]

People who say they want Jean's abuse to be publicised (especially about the backliners) don't understand why it's egregious for his career and just like an absolute horrendous idea in general.

First off, male SA is only now being talked openly on social media ONLY. Despite this, many victims are not being put to justice because, again, they are male. So imagine how bad it would have been back in 2006-2008 (where people assume that TSC takes place in)?

Men were seen as strong and immune to something such as SA, and it was deemed as less traumatic for men compared to women, which is completely bullshit. This is also to do with a lot of the generic masculinity bla bla bla and roles they were forced on.

Most of the time, male survivors were considered complicit in the act, hence the whole Lucas assuming Jean wanted it as well. This was more of him trying to convince himself that his brother was a monster, but I would argue it's also because of the whole homophobic stigma. I mean, lucas did notice that Jean was also into men.

The other thing is that there's genuinely no proof that it happened to him. Kevin does not know well anything, mainly, and none of the other Ravens would ever come forward and support Jean of all people. This is clear because I can guess a few handful knew of the truth of the backliners "breaking" Jean in. And who's to say those seniors who did that aren't already successful Exy players? That's another problem, especially because it would be a well crafted persona in retaliation to Jean who's labelled as the traitor of the Ravens? Who would the fans believe? Again the whole statutory rape thing would absolutely fuck up things in general because it will just support the propaganda back then that all gay people were predators. The prosecutors wouldn't take Jean seriously because, again, he does like men.

Also, I don't know whether this was relevant, Jean being French is another punch to the gut for him. The age of consent in France is 15, so the backliners could just defend themselves and be like Jean came onto them (which was the rumour spread around in the Nest) and again back in 2000s they didn't take statutory rape for homosexuals seriously. Also, the age of consent in West Virginia was 16, but for California, it has always been 18 so there's that I suppose.

All in all, I really hope it doesn't get publicised in the news because Jean will literally go to hell and back if it does.

[drdemonprince]

what is your take on the notion that rape is categorically not sex? for instance some people believe that a victim of rape who has not had consensual sex still fits into the cultural category of "virgin." or you'll hear that rape is about domination and control, and not about desire (usually in the context of defending a victim from accusations of "asking for it"). do we benefit in any way from considering rape a "type" of sex? to consider that a rapist is motivated by control but perhaps also has sexual motivations?

in case it isn't clear, i don't mean this question as a gotcha. i think you're really onto something with your "sex neutrality" worldview but this question is something i butt up against when i try to integrate it into my own.

It all smacks of sex exceptionalism, doesn't it? The idea that an assault cannot count as sex because sex is something sacred and special -- and on the flip side, the vagueness surrounding what even counts as sex, given that so many sexual abuses are not penetrative intercourse, and most of the consensual sex people have isn't either. Does being touched on the feet or breasts in a certain way count as sex? Does oral? Stimulation? My big question in return would be "who cares"? -- why does it matter whether the abuse is sex or not, does that change how traumatic it is? Since i don't think sex is exceptional, I don't think it changes it. The survivor can describe it however they personally like.

[glitter-stained]

A fun, happy dc story for a change

Look I can be very critical of Winick's writing because I'm so ambivalent about it but damn if it isn't, on a meta level, a really satisfying spite story.

At the core of this story, there is Jim Starlin. Now Starlin's writing has many flaws, not least of all the blatant racism and sexism. And if there's one thing Jim hates, it's Robin. He wants to kill that little boy so bad, oh how he hates that bright coloured child in tights that's just holding Batman back from reaching his true potential as an absolute badass... And hey, good news! Dc, in trying to bring a second Robin after the first got a new identity, has dropped the ball, and the new boy is unpopular amongst the fans who miss the previous iteration! This is his opportunity to kill Robin, definitely!

But how? People may not have voted him dead yet, but Jim is already planning, setting up plots and trying his damndest to get him killed. And the thing about Jim- the thing that makes him a good writer, you see, the thing that separates him from those losers who fail to see Batman's true potential, is that his writing is gritty. He's not afraid to write a true dark knight facing the grimdark horrors of a town laden with crime, to shy away from the real dark, gritty topic that are mature and dark like rape. And uh, sexual violence against women. And uh, serial raping and killing women. (I'm kidding, of course, I didn't forget the native american cult leader who bathes in blood to prolongate his life. Or about the kgb agent Batman straight-up kills after he tries to kill Reagan. Or about the suicides, god I haven't forgotten about that. Don't worry.) But anyway, sexual abuse in general is a big theme for Jim. It shows how serious and dark and gritty he can be. So he has an idea: why not make Robin a child sexual abuse victim and give him AIDS? That way that's a justification to write Robin unlikeable (by making him emotional when exposed to situations of sexual abuse, unable to restrain his anger when defending a prostitute...) and at the same time it's the perfect way to kill Robin! DC has been considering giving a character AIDS, it's perfect! It will show everyone how dark and gritty Jim's writing is, he can make Robin even more unlikeable on top of how people are upset about the transition between Robins, and then he can finally kill Robin! It's perfect! Jim is a genius!!!

Now, of course, we know that plan failed: first because dc rejected Starlin's idea for Jason to die of AIDS, and second because as soon as Jason (as a character, which is what DC apparently had a problem with) died, they fired Starlin as a Batman writer and introduced a new Robin, making Starlin's vehement campaign against a fictional fifteen years old completely vain.

So that's it, right? Crisis avoided, we almost had some even worst writing that what already was, everyone sigh in relief and go home?

Enter Judd Winick stage left.

Now, remember how DC wanted to give a character AIDS? In 2003, Green Arrow #43 reveals that Mia Dearden, Oliver Queen's ward and a csa survivor of underage prostitution, is HIV positive, and in #45, she takes on the mantle of the second Speedy, becoming, according to Wikipedia, the most prominent HIV-positive superhero to star in an ongoing comic book. (And also one of my favourite comics characters, but that's unrelated.) An important thing about Winick, who wrote those issues, is that he is personally invested in education about AIDS, continuing his friend Pedro Zamora's educational work after his death of AIDS-related progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. (He also wrote a graphic novel about it, called Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss and What I've Learned). So kudos! We finally got someone who has done research and actually holds respect for HIV+ people writing HIV+ characters. And Mia is so cool, man- but not only is she a really interesting character, she is, first and foremost, a survivor. That's how she characterizes herself, sees what happened to her: she did what she had to do to survive, and now she's a fucking superhero and she's here to help others and you know what she's not gonna do? Die "of AIDS."

Yeah, I haven't forgotten Starlin's terrible writing. And, if Winick's writing is any identification, it seems like he hasn't either. The idea of making the second Speedy a parallel with the second Robin isn't groundbreaking, but it's cool that it's there (and also, incidentally, a reminder that parallels are interesting and fun and backstories are not a finite resource characters can run out of or steal from eachother.) Anyway, this includes Winick altering Mia's backstory and making her a street kid to make it more similar to Jason's, as well as Mia's on-screen murder offering a nice parallel to Jason's ambiguous murder in Starlin's Diplomat Son (a parallel I can't help but regard with vindicative snark, because that's how you handle a teenager who has just caused, directly or not, a man's death out of hopelessness in a situation that felt impossible. A little snark of See? Now this is how it's done. Yeah, Starlin's Bruce isn't winning any parenting against Winick's Ollie, that's for sure.) So there it is! Our fun spite story, Winick taking on Starlin's terrible ideas, a teen vigilante and survivor taking on a hero identity to mirror a teen vigilant's loss and death, a good old fashioned schooling. Cool? Cool!

And then, in 2005, Winick buries Starlin's last remaining impact on DC by bringing back Jason Todd, in a move so audacious in the back-then landscape it would be kinda akin to bringing Ben Parker back to life in Spiderman's life as a villain (please don't tell me this happens in the comics I don't read Marvel and if someone wrote that I would honestly prefer not to know). Now, of course, the impact of Jason's death on the narrative can't and shouldn't be undone by that move, but that's not important, because that's not what Starlin wanted when killing Jason - he wanted to kill Jason/Robin, not give everyone grief-induced hallucinations where Jason/Robin had an incredibly salient place in the narrative, so he didn't get what he wanted anyway.

Personally, my view on Winick's writing of Jason is contrasted (and the fact that there are some elements of Starlin's characterization of Jason that I prefer to Winick's deeply amazes me, incredibly ironic situation. Which only serves to point that even Starlin' goal of making us hate his version of robin failed drastically, as me and my jaybin fan mutuals can attest. Sucks to suck!). But as much as some of the decisions frustrate me, do you understand how much of a power move it is to take this child, this victim who has been victim-blamed for years, and bring him back to life with a vengeance and a demand that his life mattered, that his death was a bad thing that shouldn't be tolerated? Do you know how good that story feels, especially to victims when reading it and see that indignation validated, that rebellion against the status quo and victim-blaming, how good it feels to see a "bad victim" that refuses to stay down ? And in the context of Starlin's intent to write Jason a CSA victim, Winick writing Mia, the HIV+ plot for them both- do you understand the genuine and violent glee I feel, that it's Winick that wrote Jason coming back to life and hunting down the narrative with a machine gun?

So yeah. This is the context in which I talk about acknowledging the csa subtext in Green Arrow: Seeing Red, but this post isn't about lecturing you to accept it as canon or imply that you're bad for not sharing that interpretation. It's about spite -towards Jim Starlin specifically. And it's about that interpretation, but the context in which it was written in general, is not just a victory against Starlin, that guy lost long ago, but the narrative equivalent of that Green Arrow meme about taking a funny selfie over a gravestone. In Seeing Red (specifically in the line that's discussed when questioning the csa headcanon), Jason tells Mia they are similar because of what they had to do to survive, framing the sexual trauma on Mia's part (and thus allegedly also on Jason's) again firmly on the side of survival rather than victimhood. Whether it's by becoming a villain or a hero, there's this rebellion against being an object to the violence, which is at the core of Starlin's treatment of sexual violence. This is fun. We're having fun. I'm repeating myself, but do you understand how satisfying, electrifying it is? I'm filled with unreasonable amounts of glee. You don't always need the context in which a story was written to enjoy it but in this case, doesn't this make it so much more enjoyable? (And on top of that, kudos to Winick for killing Captain Nazi, I hope it was as satisfying to write as it looked.) Anyway, Mia Dearden and Jason Todd, the characters that you are. I love them so much.

[tomorrowwithme]

hi everyone, I just wanted to say this that I rarely post anything too opinionated because I know that any pro-Hindu voice is always silenced. Any time I bring up the fact that my own parents were the survivors of a genocide I am met with nonchalance and disdain, which hurts me very much. Maybe a more easy to understand analogy would be that a rape victim told about their rape to the world and the rest of the world would take the sides of the rapist and victim blame the victim. Do you see how traumatising this can be? But enough is enough. I'm an adult and I know that there are many Hindu kids out there who have no one to defend them, to protect them. So I am stepping up. I apologise in advance for my harsh words and rants, but I need to get them out of my chest. Thank you.

[hidingfromthelackofreadingcomp]

I like how Captain Curly is written. He's a peacekeeper. I myself, am a peacekeeper, I can relate. I'm not saying it's a good thing, in some cases it's really not a good thing and I admit that. For example: the rape of Anya. Curly tries to play it cool and de-escalate the situation like he always does. But this is rape. This isn't an average, more tame problem. This is very serious and peacekeeping isn't usually an option in cases like this. Also take into consideration, there wasn't much time for Curly to act further about the situation before the crash. To my understanding, Anya only confirmed she was raped to Curly when she told him she was pregnant. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong in a polite and civil way). So if I'm right about that, Curly REALLY didn't have much time to fully process the situation and act accordingly. Also keep in mind, he's good friends with Jimmy. If you found out that someone you don't care for is a rapist, you would automatically take the survivor's side. If you just found out that one of your good friends had raped someone, you'd be in denial at first because you like your friend. You would hesitate at first, even if only for a second or a minute. Some people, depending on who they are and how close they are with the rapist, might need proof to fully believe it. Only after you've gotten proof that the survivor is in fact a survivor of your friend's assault would you stop giving your friend the benefit of the doubt. What kind of proof? Well, that depends on the person, some people need more proof than others, it also depends on how close the person is with the rapist. I believe Curly is in a situation where he needs more proof. He wants to inform himself on just how bad the situation is in order to make a decision. Which is why he talks to Jimmy. He talks to Jimmy hoping for humanity, any kind of regret, he's hoping that Jimmy will take responsibility for his actions. He's also secretly hoping it wasn't really Jimmy who did it. Also also, he wants to see both sides. Which is usually a good thing, but when it comes to rape, it should be pretty obvious that you should take the survivor's side. But Curly doesn't know that, he's used to smaller, lesser situations, so he acts as if it's a smaller, lesser situation without realizing that's what he's doing. He's trying to process everything. Maybe if he had time to process everything, it would hit him that hey, this situation should be handled more seriously and you can't keep being the peacekeeper to make it better. Because Curly does like and respect Anya, he has no ill will towards her, he's just plagued by his peacekeeping nature and bias due to his friendship with Jimmy. However, he doesn't have time to fully process the situation because, well, the crash happens and he loses all ways of communicating with others. I am in no way defending Curly, he's not a great person, but I recognize that he's trying to be, he's just not used to this kind of situation. He feels like a real person. Which is why I personally, don't dislike him, but I see why some do. And that's ok :). I just wanted to rant about him, honestly. If anyone comes at me in a hostile way, I will block you. If you're civil, I will gladly discuss with you!

[she-is-ovarit]

A Glance at Women's Oppression

Oppression may be measured by assessing socio-structural conditions. Males oppress female human beings on the axis of sex, and this pattern has been recognized across several disciplines of scientific research.

Violence Against Women

One in three women globally experience physical or sexual violence.

More than 1 in 4 women (26%) aged 15 years and older have suffered violence at the hands of their partners at least once since the age of 15.

The vast majority of substantial research on violence against women in the United States is now 20+ years old :)

As high as 64 - 84% of cases of sexual violence go unreported, so these estimates are low.

A male perpetrator was reported in 98% of cases of violence against both men and women.

58% of all women murdered in 2017 were killed by an intimate partner or a family member (source. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2018).

80% of women are victims or survivors of corrosive violence - aka "acid attacks". 60% of these attacks go unreported, most instigators of acid attacks are male, and there has been a 90% increase in these attacks in the last 10 years, with the UK being the country with the highest rate of acid attacks.

Worldwide 1 in 5 girls are married off usually to men twice their age or more.

Globally, as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by a male intimate partner.

200 million women have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting.

71% of all human trafficking involves women and girls – mainly for sexual exploitation (source. UNODC, 2016).

The killing of women accused of sorcery/witchcraft is reported as a significant phenomenon in countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Many women are killed specifically in "honor killings" - to defend the honor of a man.

200 million girls experience female genital mutilation.

National studies indicate indicate that as many as 4 million women are battered each year, but only about 48 percent of these cases are reported to the police.

Violence against women meets the requirements of widely accepted definitions of hate crimes, but crimes motivated by hatred of women are not included in most antibias crime legislation.

Medical Misogyny

The disregard of pain and illness by medical professionals

This doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of this, but: women are seven times more likely to be misdiagnosed and discharged than men in the middle of having a heart attack. 70% of the people who experience chronic pain are female, but 80% of chronic pain studies have been conducted on males or male mice. Women also wait longer for a diagnosis and pain management than men.

Lack of research: the vast majority of scientific understanding and research on human beings conducted globally has been on males.

Period poverty and death due to misogynistic period shame (and I hope that this is obvious, but I am on Tumblr so I will emphasize that 100% of these deaths, illnesses, and disabilities are happening to female human beings.

Reproductive exploitation, discrimination, and control

Women across many countries have little to no access to abortions and other reproductive care, and are forced to carry their rapist's child.

Women are imprisoned for having abortions, and even people associated with helping them in any way to obtain an abortion experience legal consequences. Being impregnated through rape doesn't change this. In multiple states, rapists can sue their victims for parental custody. Women who are victims of stalkers and had children with them also are forced into allowing them visitation in the vast majority of cases.

Women also experience the brunt of forced sterilization and uniquely endure mortality rates from childbirth complications, in which often the infant's life is prioritized over the mother. Doctors may also refuse women and girls birth control, or subsequently deny women's requests to be sterilized.

Being forced to co-parent with their rapist.

Even if rape is proven, men can sue their victims for custody and may use children as a point of control over their victims and contact with their victims continuing psychological terror and causing trauma to children.

Over 3 million women experience pregnancies as a result of rape.

Men who donate sperm privately and through sperm banks experience no regulations and enforcement of how often they donate, resulting in some men producing thousands of offspring and others deceiving women on whose sperm they were impregnated with. Mothers of these children endure severe psychological trauma from this rape by deception in addition to themselves and their children navigating the psychological effects of avoiding potential incestuous relationships with the donor's other children.

Job Discrimination

In 38 countries, women can be fired for being pregnant.

From January 2017 through December 2019, 2.7 million workers age 20 and older were displaced from jobs they had held for at least 3 years; women accounted for 45 percent of those displaced.

While on leave, substantially fewer women than men

receive full pay (32 percent versus 55 percent), and more

receive no pay (41 percent versus 25 percent).

Women continue to experience occupational segregation in nontraditional jobs. In 2013, women composed 7.3 percent of all Craft Workers, while the participation rate for women in the Office and Clerical Worker category was considerably higher at 75.6 percent.

Despite the gains in employment made by women in the last 50 years, the annual median earnings of women working full time in 2013 was $39,157, compared with men at $50,033.

In 86 countries, women face some form of job restriction and 95 countries do not guarantee equal pay for equal work. 59 nations have no laws on the books addressing sexual harassment in the workplace, and 18 nations around the world allow husbands to legally prevent their wives from working.

Influence and resources:

Less than 15% of landholders worldwide are women, despite most women in the global south working in agriculture (source. Food and Agriculture Organization, 2015; World Bank, 2019).

Women make up just 25% of parliamentarians worldwide (source. Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2019).

Between 1990 and 2019 women made up 2% of mediators, 5% of witnesses and signatories, and 8% of negotiators in major peace processes worldwide (source. Council of Foreign Relations, 2019).

Only 1% of aid supporting gender equality went to women’s rights organisations in 2016-2017, despite governments around the world committing an extra $1bn to gender equality initiatives globally (sources. Guardian, 2019, OECD, 2019).

130 million girls are denied the right to an education.

According to the largest study on the portrayal, participation and representation of women in the news media spanning 20 years and 114 countries, only 24 per cent of the persons heard, read about or seen in newspaper, television and radio news are women.

A glass ceiling also exists for women news reporters in newspaper bylines and newscast reports, with 37 per cent of stories reported by women as of 2015, showing no change over the course of a decade.

An analysis of popular films across 11 countries found, for example, that 31 per cent of all speaking characters were women and that only 23 per cent featured a female protagonist—a number that closely mirrored the percentage of women filmmakers (21 per cent)

[ship-and-let-ship]

Not my normal kind of topic, but Jesus Christ, it is EMBARASSING how passionately outdoor cat owners will defend their right to neglect & endanger the animal they supposedly love.

I said "don't neglect your cat" on Instagram & immediately got 100+ butthurt cat owners in my replies bitching and whining and crying and SENDING ME DEATH THREATS???

Several people threatened not only me, but MY PETS???

More than one person compared blaming the owner for their free roaming cat getting hurt or killed to victim blaming RAPE SURVIVORS??? Which is an INSANE comparison to make.

Why are y'all THIS desperate to shirk all responsibility for your animals???

[floralcavern]

https://www.tumblr.com/communities/critics-of-the-helluvaverse/post/782804402529583104/tw-for-assault-i-think?source=share

I just found all this out, and I am beyond furious. Everything makes disgusting sense now. The way Vivziepop refuses to acknowledge the abuse dynamic in Stolitz, the way she rushes to defend Valentino a literal rapist and how she brushed off a fan who related to Blitzø’s trauma? That’s not ignorance. That’s not bad writing. That’s someone who’s into this kind of shit. Stop sugarcoating it

She was drawing sexualized art of her underaged OC Addison back in her Zoophobia days, who was paired with an adult. Let that sink in. And the absolute worst—she deliberately brought someone with a known rape fetish to storyboard for a sexual assault survivor like Angel Dust. The playlists are non-con. This isn’t “dark storytelling.” It’s fetish fuel and it’s bleeding into the show, and people are still defending her? This should absolutely be part of the conversation when talking about Stolitz and "ValAngel"

Why the fuck isn’t this talked about more? Why is this not common knowledge? Survivors have spoken out saying Angel Dust’s portrayal makes them uncomfortable—and what does Viv do? Nothing. No accountability. No listening. Just more bullshit dressed up as “representation”

I’m sick of seeing her get away with this under the guise of “queer art” or “edgy humor.” Vivziepop has a massive platform, and she’s using it to normalize abuse dynamics and sexual violence through stylized animation—and her fans are still defending her like she’s some misunderstood creator

This should be everywhere. These screenshots, these receipts, this truth—it all needs to be shoved into the spotlight. She loves arguing with fans online? Great. Throw this in her face. Expose it. Stop letting her hide behind a fandom that worships the "aesthetic" and ignores the rot underneath

I am done. Done watching survivors be dismissed. Done watching people call this “deep” or “meaningful” when it’s just thinly veiled fetish content. Vivziepop is not a victim of “cancel culture.” She is a woman who’s shown us who she really is and it’s past time we believe her and act accordingly

link:

I’m guessing you checked the videos in those photos? For context for those not know what they meant by ‘dark storytelling’, I asked for context for those videos. If they were noncon videos, or dark short films. I’m guessing anon actually looked into it. And.. ya. It definitely explains a lot. People have been speculating that she has a rape fetish for a LONG time now. The way she actively follows people who make ValAngel art, the way she defends Raph to the grave. If you want more context as to how Viv clearly doesn’t give a shit about SA, look at these posts

If I had the equipment, I would make a full length YouTube video going into this. This is disgusting. Share this around.

[sokkastyles]

I have a feeling people misremember things from their childhood and so they are in denial. I often see people who complain about Nice Guys in media liking the katara/aang ship and I think it's because they don't remember it very well. I personally didn't remember even half of that stuff until I rewatched. I actually don't mind that because there are some ships I like better in my mind than in canon haha but then I don't like it when they bully others.

Part of it is certainly the nostalgia filter, and like you I don't mind if people want to make KA better in fanon than it is in canon. But I agree that the bullying and the insistence that EVERYONE has to see things through this revisionist lens is the problem.

Part of the problem is also that certain people have decided that Aang can do no wrong and therefore it's unfair to criticize him, and act like they're performing social justice by doing so. This is a common fandom phenomenon but it's even worse for ATLA because the character in question is a genocide survivor, so how DARE you criticize him about anything! You see this especially when it's pointed out that he kissed Katara without her consent, and generally behaved like an ass in that entire conversation with her. "He's a genocide survivor!" is thrown out to silence any critique, even though that has nothing to do with whether or not what he did to Katara is wrong and being a genocide survivor is not a moral trait. People just like to believe that it is because they want to believe that all victims are innocent and pure, which is its own kind of racism.

This also focuses on protecting the man's reputation and treating the assault itself as if it's just a victimless crime, which is extremely common rape culture ideology. And that's even easier to do in the case of ATLA because Katara is not a real person and she marries Aang anyway despite getting to tell him that she didn't like it when he kissed her.

And certain parts of the fandom are afraid to critique Aang over anything because of the influence of fandom bullies who misuse Aang's culture and his status as a genocide survivor to insist that you have to ship Kataang. And then they'll do things like accuse people of racism for saying Katara wouldn't find him attractive because he's bald, because it's "part of his culture." Except that it being part of his culture doesn't obligate girls to find it sexy, and the cultural practice in question is supposed to represent a detachment from personal vanity, so it not being sexy is the point.

I've also seen people argue that it's racist to say that Aang didn't respect Katara as a warrior because "he's a pacifist." Which ignores that respect is not only extended to people whose cultural practices align with yours, especially a romantic partner. If you can't align your cultural practices with your partner's, then you still need to respect them, or not marry them. This argument used to defend Aang actually makes him look worse, and gets even more insidious if you assume this is the reason Katara was reduced to a housewife in LoK. The problem is that we never see Katara agreeing to follow Aang's cultural practices, and in fact, we see her disagree with him at every turn. But we're supposed to assume that she just silently conformed once they got married because that's convenient for him.

This also ignores that Aang himself still gets to be a warrior and that Katara doesn't do anything worse than he ever did and chooses not to kill the same as he did. And the fact that we're given many examples of women who follow Air Nomad culture who still get to be warriors. But for some reason, the rules of Aang's culture apply differently to Katara. I wonder why?

You can tell that there are people in the fandom who don't like Kataang but feel like they have to performatively pretend to like it because they're afraid of being called racist, people who ship zutara but feel like they have to not ship it too loudly because they are afraid of being attacked by virtue signaling bullies. These kinds of people flourish in fandoms, especially ones like ATLA where the source material is directed primarily at young people who are easily impressionable. But they are bullies, make no mistake. They don't care about racism or social justice, and only misuse it to the extent that it can make their ship look better than the rest.

[infiniity-survivor-choco]

I'm going to speak the truth and people won't like it, good, learn something.

There's a gigantic problem within the survivors community and society as a whole, if you're born AFAB anything that makes you uncomfy you have hoardes pitying or defending you, however, if you're AMAB you're squinted at and secretly seen as a boy that's about to rape someone.

I'm nonbinary, yeah, but I'm amab, and this has always been a thing, if someone afab breaks our boundaries? gotta put up with it quietly, now, if someone amab doesn't do everything perfectly? clearly about to commit crimes.

Same with COCSA, visibility for male survivors is non-existent, why? because at the end of the day most of you are society's slaves no matter how you try to think otherwise, and it's easier not to deal with that and instead make it everyone else's problems