#i've seen so many toxic things in this fandom it's hard not to remember them. and sometimes i just don't know how to ignore what other | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bigtittiecomitte · 6 months

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Hiya!! So, I've got a question..so with Murder Drones coming back and the next upcoming episode (EP 7) coming out next Friday, do you have any worries and concerns for episode 7, including for how the entire show might end as a whole? I've seen some express their concerns mostly because they aren't sure how long the episode is gonna be.. I honestly hope the episode is long enough to where it doesn't feel rushed, (like 30 mins or so) they mentioned how EP 7 will have so much revealed but they can't do that in 20 or something minutes, because it could end up leading to disappointment similar to what happened with Episode 5, especially since we all waited months for the continuation after EP 6's cliffhanger.

(btw, I didn't hate EP 5. I know that episode is mixed with the fanbase, but I just thought it had so much potential and could've been much better)

Also, there's a possibility that V is gonna be returning in some way or so because when the trailer released over on Twitter, Nola Klop (Voice Of V) retweeted the trailer and such, I'm not sure if that's much but it's something, plus in the trailer we don't ever see V's body so it's a possibility she's still alive.

Also, this is totally off topic..but I'll admit that the fandom and some of the shipping wars have honestly ruined the show and experience for me, this is mostly due to experience and such. I've vented my frustrations with both the ship wars and the fandom itself before so I won't go into detail, but mostly from the Envy shippers and how horrible most of them are (NOT ALL) has kinda ruined my enjoyment..it's hard to fully enjoy my love for MD and the ship I've got comfort for, when in the back of my head the fandom and how poorly it treats others is bothering me inside. It's sad and also, it's gotten to the point where I barely care about who'll get with who..I know that's not the point of the show but still. It also doesn't help that YouTubers such as Vanitymoth and others aren't making things better..I'll also admit to something else that the MD fandom (mostly V stans) have kinda ruined V for me, she's not my favorite, but she is a character I've always been pretty invested in and I do love how complicated she is and she's also very interesting and I do hope we see more of her character growth whenever she comes back, wether that's in the last two final episodes of S1 or the future of the show.

But, ever since between EP 5 and especially EP 6..the fans have ruined V for me and it's made it hard for me to fully love her and be a fan, especially as many of them are insane, also can't separate V from N most of the time, seeing her as NOTHING but N's love interest or use her as a way to shit on Uzi and Nuzi 24/7 (especially on Twitter) + always defend her actions and never see her in the wrong. Yes, she has trauma and she's been through a lot..but it doesn't excuse how she acted, especially how she treated N and often mistreated and threatened Uzi.

And not only that, but the V stans and insane toxic Envy shippers have also made it hard for me to fully like Envy..I'm someone who's kinda natural on the ship and mostly only like their mansion counterparts and don't think they'd work in the present, but it could work now possibly since V has gotten some development + her sacrifice but I'm still not sure. But anyways, I'm into other ships in the fandom and although Nuzi is my main ship..I'm still in support of other pairings and love many other things in the show (unlike some fans) but It's been hard for me to fully embrace and like Envy due to how damn toxic and horrible they are and how they do nothing but spread misinformation, talk shit about Nuzi and just act horribly..remember that Envy shipper over on Twitter who threw a tantrum and cried over the Nuzi scenes in EP 6?

[Anyways, I'm sorry for getting off topic..but am I the only person who feels this way?? I've got my worries and concerns for the next episode but I've wanted to vented out about how I've been feeling lately about MD and the community..the show has changed me and still means a lot, but lately it's been hard to feel excitement and feel happy when this fandom at times can be so damn horrible and the shipping wars have also drained me so much. Once again, I deeply apologize for this ask being too long and just being all over the place. 💗)

Thanks for the ask! No need to be sorry for anything, I get off topic a lot too so we’re in the same boat lmao. All of your feelings are completely valid about any worries about the show and the fandom. I’m the same as well

I’m obviously very worried about how the show will end. I really don’t want a bad ending, especially for a show where a season 2 hasn’t been completely revealed yet. I’m really worried about N or Uzi dying the most though, you’ve seen these guys go through some shit, it would generally hurt if N or Uzi die. I feel like I would be in peace if they died together at least cause I’m weak for one dying and the other having to go back to the beginning of loneliness again

I’ve mentioned this a bunch of times but I do hope that V doesn’t appear this episode, I feel like it would just be pointless to make her have this big sacrifice and just suddenly appear the next episode. I don’t think she’s completely dead but you never know, Liam could surprise us lol

About shipping wars. It definitely ruined the fandom, the Nuzi vs Envy war is really stupid. I believe that you can criticise a ship and not the shippers (only ok if it’s a proship ewwww) Unfortunately from my time at the beginning of this fandom, it was already a hellhole with the shipping wars, it just got bigger as time goes on and they slowly went for Nuzi. I definitely can understand Envy shippers pain when Nuzi became the endgame ship. I’m someone who is a huge Nuzi shipper (I quite literally live and breathe Nuzi) and if another ship with N or Uzi was endgame, I definitely would be really hurt but a lot did take it out on Nuzi shippers that are just enjoying the show and the ship even before it became endgame due to the whole proship thing

Even if Envy became endgame, even if any other ship became endgame, it shouldn’t matter. People should be there for the show, not the freaking ships, this isn’t twilight

I will admit that I didn’t really like V, I never saw the appeal that everyone had about her but I do like her character growth. She didn’t deserve to be not only mischaracterised but also heavily sexualised

Maybe I would’ve liked V if her fans weren’t such obsessed weirdos that would literally send death threats over her existence but unfortunately they exist and there’s nothing to do about it

Her relationship with N definitely gets misinterpreted as well. I mean thank god for N being the way he is because if he was aware on how V treated him, he probably would’ve left her because V treated him really shitty. They don’t have a toxic relationship but they do have a dysfunctional relationship and now thanks to the fight in Episode 4 V has been treating N and Uzi nicer

And yeah I did see a lot of Envy Shippers hating on Uzi for getting in the way of N and V’s relationship but…what relationship? They didn’t have one before Uzi even showed up. Sure N did have a crush on her but V just completely ignored him and let J abuse him. Would that even change if Uzi wasn’t in the picture? It’s more likely it would be rinse and repeat if Uzi didn’t go out of the colony, N would continued to be abused and V would continue to ignore him, only focusing on the workers

In fact, they actually have Uzi to thank because N and V started their platonic relationship again thanks to her. N and V had a fight because of her which made V change and have her character growth. Uzi showed N that it’s ok to stand up for yourself and be more assertive in scenarios where it’s appropriate, which is what made N lose his shit at V at Episode 4. They’re only mad because Uzi got in the way out of their romantic relationship BUT unfortunately to disappoint some people, N and V will quite literally never have a romantic relationship in the present and that’s been shown numerous of times 8n the show that N and V could never work out in the present. It’s only in the past

I think N x V is definitely a good example of a lot of things in relationships and tropes. They’re a good example of loving someone who changed into someone you’re not fond of. They’re a good example of how trauma can affect relationships. But most importantly they’re a good example of the “right person, wrong time” trope

Think about it. They were happy in the manor together, they drew together, they read books together, they were in love with each other, and that would’ve stayed the same if the absolute solver wasn’t there. If the absolute solver came at a different time in the future then it would be very different for N and V but the absolute solver just had to be there and that’s how they turned into Disassembly Drones

So if there’s someone to blame for ruining N and V’s relationship it’s definitely not Uzi lol. N and V can only have that romantic relationship in the past, not the present, not the future. Despite their romantic relationship being gone that doesn’t mean that their relationship is completely gone, they can slowly build up to become friends and still have a bond. It’s not the end of the world and hey, if you still want them to get together romantically then there is fanfiction and AU’s

Coconut 🥥🥥🥥🥥🥥

#murder drones

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cloud-somersault · 12 days

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I've been following this fic since the start, and reading each chapter. We are so incredibly lucky to be enjoying this series at all, let alone for free. I appreciate all the work you’ve put in a lot of effort to create something that brought so much joy to so many people. Thank you so much for writing and remember you don’t owe us anything because you are incredibly talented and impeccable, and this story has me in a chokehold like no other and I would be more than happy to read more about what you have planned for this series.

It's great that your fics inspire such strong emotions in people because these characters are very nuanced and have a lot of depth and reasoning behind their actions, but sometimes it seems really hard for readers to remember, before writing any critique, that we have a lot more information than the characters in the story. We can see the same event from the perspective of different characters and even hear their internal monologues. But characters are limited to what they themselves can figure out, so of course they will make mistakes and do things that don't make sense at first glance. Sorry to hear you’re dealing with some drama in the comments. Hope you’re taking care of yourself! I know that must be pretty stressful, so maybe stepping away from a series for a while and then coming back later is a good choice. Your stories are completely worth the wait. Have a nice day or night! ❤

Thank you for sticking with this fic and this AU from the start! It's almost been 2 years. Thank you for reading and enjoying. I really appreciate that!!

That's very true. We, as the readers, have SO MUCH INFORMATION compared to the characters themselves. The only person who knows more is me, the author. And, something else I think is forgotten so much in this fandom in general is that Wukong and Macaque are immortal beings. The things that hurt us physically? Do not hurt them. The things that we think are egregious and out of this world? Are not to them. They have fought monsters and all that; they don't care about a quick squabble. They also know magic. We have to put all of that into context because, yes, in the real world, their fights and everything would be seen as wrong and dangerous. To them, though? Who have seen and been through so much? They don't have that same threshold that we do. I incorporate that into my writing.

And yes, the characters will do things that don't make sense! They will do things that will make you go "Aw, hell. This is gonna blow up in his face later." That's the entire point of fiction. Is seeing these characters grow and change or even fail to grow and change in some aspects.

That's also something we need to keep in mind. These are immortal beings. It takes them more time to understand something or learn a lesson or unlearn a toxic behavior compared to mortals who only live for so long. Wukong is nearly 4,000 years old; it's gonna take some time for some lessons to stick.

But thank you very much for sharing your opinion and kindness. I am defineitely going to take a step back once the epilogue is finished. I was going to stop here, at chapter 12, but I don't want to do that for my own personal reasons. I want it to be finished and in one place so that I can read it without opening a 300 page google doc and crashing my phone. It's mostly for ease of access right now.

But thank you!! Thanks for sticking with me. If you've been here since the start, wowie, you've seen it all. Thanks for seeing it through to the end with me. 💖

#constellations fic #ask #anon #thank you so much for sharing your perspective

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rainbowsky · 11 months

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Hi Rainbowsky

Hope you are doing well.

Happy Halloween!! Hope you enjoyed your day well!!

Few days back, I was reading a fanfic where the plot was OOL shooting and some photo leaks BTS causing ripples in yizhan relationship..

I know it's a fic, but the plot is so real.. I just wanted to know was there something like this back then...

Coz in those times I was not into turtledom so I have no Idea..

Hi Anon, Thanks, I did enjoy my Halloween! I hope you did too! 👻

Fake, fan fiction, CPN.

There were some set photos (props for the show) that were 'leaked' at one point and caused a stir among some turtles, and often held up by antis to try to hurt turtles. HOWEVER.

That does not mean they caused any stir at all in GGDD's relationship. Remember, they are both actors and know full well what that entails. IMNSHO there is zero chance that DD was upset in any way by the photos.

Perhaps you don't need this reminder, Anon, but just for the sake of it I want to reiterate that fan fiction is fiction, even - and I'd say especially - when the plot seems real or follows the real timeline of events.

Fan fiction about GG and DD is totally invented, and authors have no special insight into GG and DD's feelings, thoughts or real life experiences. It's their job as writers to bring stories to life and make them seem credible, but no matter how credible it seems, it's still entirely fictional.

I know that sounds lecturey and obvious, but you have no idea how many times during my years in this fandom that I've had stories from fan fiction reported to me as 'things that actually happened', and seen fans vehemently argue that fictional events were real.

Fan fiction is an open frontier. People can write whatever they want. But the more a story follows real events about real people, the more it stresses me out. There are unfortunately a lot of people who have a hard time distinguishing between fiction and reality.

And this is something that can creep up on just about anyone without their realizing. Turtles are faced with a TON of information from various sources, so much that it's hard to keep up. The more fandom information we take in over time the easier it is for us to forget where we saw or heard something, and to accidentally mistake something we read in a fic for something that actually happened.

This is why I vastly prefer AU stories over ones that try to build a narrative around actual events and fictionalize GGDD's real lives. I 100% support people's right to write 'fandom timeline' stories if they want to, but that doesn't mean I'll enjoy them or recommend them.

So while you read these stories, Anon, please keep in mind that very important point:

Fan fiction is fiction. Always.

It's also very common for turtles, including fan fic authors, to glamorize or romanticize jealousy. There's nothing romantic about jealousy. It's a very toxic emotion that can lead to bad - even dangerous - behavior. I personally believe it's insulting toward GG and DD to paint either one of them as 'the jealous type'.

There's a huge amount of disinformation floating around about the OOL photos, including claims that DD was wildly jealous and totally freaked out over them. I find that notion absurd and even offensive. It is insulting to DD's level of emotional intelligence, and makes uncharitable assumptions about his level of trust and respect for GG.

As I said, GG and DD are actors, and they know what that entails.

More on that here.

You can read more about the photos in some of my past posts.

The photos and turtles reactions

Confirmation they were fake props

Why some people believed they were real

#bxg fact checking #fan fiction #fandom reflections #ool #oath of love #ask

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ihateliterature · 2 years

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I'm really sad. Let me tell you why I'm sad

So this whole debate is going on over on twt about wlw content and I see a lot of people giving their experiences with the wlw fandom and it's really disheartening. And from what I see the problem is not that the rest of the queer fandom is overwhelmingly mysoginistic or lesbophobic, it's that the wlw fandom is unbearable

No, really, there are so many people talking about how they've tried joining the wlw fandom but it was too toxic or they were afraid of doing it in the first place because they've seen people who had to deal with them. And the people saying this are not only gay men and transmascs, they are overwhelmingly other queer women

And I understand this, hell, I am one of those ppl afraid of the wlw fandom. That's because every time I've witnessed it they were harassing and dogpilling people for the most minor of things. I can still remember one particular occasion when the author of Percy Jackson tweeted that he sees Artemis as ace and qrts were full of people borderline threatening him and being aphobic until he backed down on it

And this is not the only time. I've seen people getting threats for headcanoning a character as bi or pan, shipped a character with a man or headcanoned a character as ace/aro. I still remember how it was in the SU fandom with Peridot

I wish it wasn't like this. I know for a fact there are nice and civil wlw fans, but a large number of people, myself included, can barely fucking find them behind all the assholes

The explanation, which I gathered from queer women active in the fandom or who used to be part of it, is that the wlw fandom is INFESTED with radfems top to bottom. Which created a hostile environment for EVERYONE including some queer women, especially bi women. All of it leading to a space dominated by radfem ideas, exclusionism and antis. And also to a very stifling creating environment, as many queer women with experience in the fandom I've seen talking about it have said that anything straying from wholesome is heavily policed

And I find it horrible, because so many queer women felt the need to distance themselves from a fandom that is FOR them, because of how toxic it is, depriving themselves of what should have been a wonderful fandom experience alongside other people that can understand and relate to them on that level. I hate it how radfems have infested every corner of the community, warping it and creating conflict. To a point where many of us get red flags when seeing someone with a lesbian pfp because of past experience. It should not be like this. I don't like doing it this, doubting my own family, but I feel like I have to, for my peace of mind at least. And yes, I mean family, because as hard as lesbian separatists tried to drive us away from each other, to make lesbians as insular as possible, to paint transmascs and bi women as traitors to womanhood, lesbians are still my family, just like any other queer out there, and it breaks my heart seeing them becoming the boogie man of online queer spaces and a shield for TERFs

Idk where I am going with this anymore it's just that. . . I'm sad, I wish it wasn't like this

#fandom #wlw fandom #twt discourse #i hate radfems #radfems dni #queer #queer fandom #shipping problems

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alarrytale · 5 months

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Hi Marte, this is just a rant because I don't plan on going anywhere as I'm addicted to twitter lol but what is going on with Nick's fanbase? I knew it was too good to be true when rwrb came out and everyone got on so well. There were some toxic ph fans but they were such a small minority that everyone ignored them. It was really nice with everyone getting on and everyone making memes and jokes. Now people are fighting every day and policing each other, especially bullying fans into watching tioy and speaking well on it. There was someone in the fandom who said they didn't like it and fans were harassing them. They're getting big heads after the rave reviews and they're even starting to turn on rwrb fans for not wanting to watch a really het movie. So many of them are teenagers too and that's unusual for a man almost 30, that most of his fans are teenagers. They are really really ageist to people in their 20s+ but karma will come around because they'll turn that age. Then they'll be on the receiving end. They've just become so toxic. There is also a small section of his fandom who are rwrb fans who claim to be a fan of him but they're clearly not. They keep up with him but they're going out of their way to twist things he says and they're trying to get him cancelled. I think they're more Tzp fans. But some Nick fans have been toxic to Tzp too. It's just really different to how it was some months ago. There isn't often a day without drama.

Hi, anon!

Rant away! I've seen it too. I think it's a couple of things. One, he's currently promoting a very, very het movie and it's attracting a lot of new het fans. Second, his fandom has grow rapidly, explosively over the past six months. He is everywhere and doing stuff like roundtables with other great actors. His team is pushing really, really hard and working overtime to make this his break-through. Remember he's 30, he isn't that young anymore. This is his shot. He seems very ambitious and willing to do almost anything and be anything to grow a fanbase and get those oscar worthy roles. It's hard to remember he only shot to fame eight or so months ago.

To me it seems like they want him to have an ambigious image, like Harry does. He's not as straight passing as H is, so maybe he'll get away with it without having queerbaiting accusations. But they're also pushing the het and teasing his fans to create engagement. It's working. It's fucking annoying that it's working. His fans shouldn't be that young and naive, when he himself is almost 30yo. He's lucky they are. But it's not fun for the rest of us who have to deal with a fandom going from being harmonious to being factured and fighting.

Anyways, bullying isn't cool, fan policing isn't cool, ageism isn't cool and people are allowed not to like something or not support something without beeing peer pressured or ostracized if they don't. His fans need to grow up.

#teenagers are saying 20+ year olds aren’t allowed to be a fan of an almost 30 year old?#lmao #nick galitzine #his fandom is going to crash and burn if he can't get a handle on the toxic environment #not 1d

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hopefulsapphic · 8 months

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miscellaneous tag game

tagged by @searchingfortheuniverse! tysm i love these things <3

A band you don’t like that many others do: uhh i'm really not a hater and i genuinely do not have that strong of opinions about music and bands, so i really can't think of any right now

A childhood memory that you remember vividly: god i have so many vivid childhood memories it's hard to pick just one. my most vivid memories are probably the ones i have of playing with my twin when we were pretty little. they all tend to blend together, but i can still picture so clearly the castles we built out of soft blocks and the little lego people and toy cars we moved around them like dolls and the stories and scenarios we made up and acted out and the dragon costume in his closet he always tried to scare me with

Least favorite animal and why: insects probably, but only the really annoying little flying ones that buzz so relentlessly and never take the hint when you shoo them off. also whatever wretched little bug bit me in my sleep the other night

Hot fandom take: idk if this means like for a specific fandom or just fandom in general, but either way i don't really think i have any? then again i didn't think that that "steve harrington wasn't a bad person/boyfriend he was literally just 17" post i made a little while ago was a hot take either but apparently it was a little more reactive than i expected

Do you wear any jewelry, if so, what’s your favorite piece: i'm literally always wearing jewelry; i've got two hands full of rings that i basically never take off like ever, and it's rare to see me without earrings in and necklaces on. my favorite piece at the moment is probably my little silver bat necklace i got at an antique mall about a year ago

A movie others liked but you didn’t: guys i'm really not a hater. also i tend not to watch movies i just don't have the attention span tbh

Three things you love about yourself: my creativity, my perseverance, my sense of self-expression

A place you hope to visit in the future and why: everywhere, there's so much of the world i haven't seen. more realistically though, i hope to visit my twin in washington sometime this year, probably in the summer

An actor that gets on your nerves and why: again i'm. really not a hater. i tend to be utterly indifferent to like 95% of all celebrities, i just can't care about them enough for them to even be able get on my nerves

Things you’re excited for in the nearby future? there are a few alternative music club nights (emo, goth, metal) coming up over this next month and i'm very excited to dress up and go to those with friends!

Least favorite ship in a fandom you’re in: okay now i'm a hater. it's harringrove 😬

What’s the most toxic fandom you’ve been in? all fandoms are toxic if you venture far enough or have the misfortune of landing in the wrong corners of the internet, but i think my worst experiences have been in areas of the percy jackson fandom (in the mid 2010s especially; ik it's probably kicking up again now with a new wave of toxic fans but i am living in blissful ignorance of that discourse) and, in more recent years, the stranger things fandom (i've had to narrow my involvement down to basically only one specific ship fandom within it and even then only seek it out on tumblr; tiktok is rancid)

List three things you find beautiful about life: human connection, the art of words and stories, the joy of flowers in the spring after a particularly desolate winter

Any dreams for the future? just the typical stuff really: graduate university (i have one semester left that's insane), move out (for realsies, not just for school), and find myself a solid job and make myself a solid home and be able to be self-sufficient and successful and happy in this world. ideally i also dream of actually finishing and publishing a novel one day

How are you really feeling today? i have not had even three consecutive hours of sleep a night for the past week and it's making me feel just a little bit insane, and i'm a bit anxious about school and about meeting up with a newish friend tomorrow, but overall i actually feel pretty good. i finally feel like i've got real proper friends here in this city and i've been seeing them a lot lately, so that's been buoying an overarching sense of positivity despite my sleep deprivation and anxiety

tagging @turquoiseorchid and @rainbowteri if you feel like it! and if anyone else wants to do this too, consider yourselves tagged also; live your dreams, overshare on the internet 🫶🏻

#i love tag games <3 #oversharing to random questions my beloved #i feel like they're a dying breed lately when they used to be so prevalent so this totally made my day #tag game

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blue-listener · 11 months

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Blackpink's rumored disbandment is such a disappointing thing to me. But at the same time, I cannot say I'm shocked.

Blackpink is an insanely talented group. They are attacked a lot by other fandoms, but that's quite normal when you reach the level of fame they did.

Yet no group is meant to last. Yes, they're a girl group, and can be active a lot longer than a boy group can because of the mandated military service, but with as long between the break points in YG's promotion of them, they're bound to start either losing faith in the company or want other things to do.

I do not agree with people calling Jennie or Jisoo "lazy" or "stiff." I would love to see these people try and do half of the things Blackpink does while surrounded by thousands and thousands of people.

I'm not even a blink. I just occasionally listen to Blackpink's music on the side, but I know their impact. And yes, their impact is something many people debate, but you cannot discredit them for their achievements.

People talking bad about Lisa for her French boyfriend (I do not remember his name) is wild. "Oh, he's not even that attractive." So what? If she likes him, and in a lot of her newer pictures she seems a lot happier, then so what? As long as she's not visibly unhappy with him or being mistreated, is it really any of your concerns?

I do not believe Blackpink has to or should disband like so many K-Pop fans have been saying. But it's been seven years. Most groups don't continue after that. The idol industry is a hard place to survive and the conditions are not great.

But if they chose not to resign, it is their decision. It is certainly sad to see such a beloved group leave, but what you should do is support them.

Because why should they have to continue something that they don't want to?

People have talked so poorly about members for years. K-Pop fans love to use Blackpink as a punching bag, especially Jisoo and Jennie. That is bound to take a toll on the member's mental health. And there is only so much one can do. When the toxicity goes so far, the only thing you can do is cut it out.

K-Pop fans love to bash idols and then get upset when their actions start to show consequences.

And the fact that I've seen people on TikTok complaining about this? Blaming it on the company or certain members? It's as if people cannot understand that Blackpink are all adults. They're all adults who have actual lives outside of the persona they play as an idol. They're actual people who deserve to have freedom.

Shouldn't you be happy for them and supporting them in their future endeavors instead of bashing them in the moment for showing even a bit of supposed hesitance?

tldr; Blackpink's rumored disbandment is sad but is not something that people should attack the company or members for. Each member should be supported for whatever they chose to do going forward.

#kpop opinions #opinions #long post #blackpink #kind of rambled here #but its so annoying #not even a blink and i cant STAND seeing people do this #bc a lot of the ppl doing this are their own fandom #how do you call yourself a blink and then bash a member?

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kimtaegis · 2 years

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Maybe you just don't want to talk about this with anyone, so feel free to ignore it, I'm glad if you only read. Please please take control of the people you follow, the people you interact with and have on your blog or in any other site or social media that you use to share your interest in BTS... Our experience in the fandom will depend 100% on that, the way you see armys will be entirely affected by it. Don't follow anyone just 'cause they're nice if what they say upsets you, don't be afraid to block or unfollow anyone who makes you uncomfortable. There are many types of armys and accounts you can engage with, there are fanbases sharing beautiful projects and kind actions from armys around the world, there are artist armys (just like you!) who show their creations, armys focusing on gathering votes and streams (this will be forever important) and overall many many armys who just care about what BTS have to say, trusting their messages and trying their best every day. I'm afraid that you may start to see armys in a negative way, I'm afraid that you can believe that this fandom isn't a good fandom, that this doesn't feel like home... This is not true, please remember that? Ever since I becamy army I never thought bad of this fandom and I always could understand why BTS love armys so much, 'cause armys have been comforting me too and I don't even have friends... I'm comforted just by "strangers". Even on Twitter, where things are much bigger and easier to trigger us, I've found my "safety zone". It's all a result of whom you follow. This doesn't mean I haven't found mean people, stalkers or antis, I did and sometimes I kept looking for them, even knowing how it made me feel, but I do my best to control what and whom I search for. Please take care of this ♡ life is already so hard, this part doesn't need to also be. Our fandom is the biggest in this world and of course that it means there'll be more toxic and obsessed people, the bigger it is it can be scarier, but I hope you can always see that this number isn't even close to all the kind armys who learn a lot with BTS, all the armys chasing for their future and trying to be better human beings. You're one of them!

oh you’re very sweet for sending all this, I appreciate it. I just think that it’s pretty much impossible to avoid any of this simply because of how today’s social media works; I have a tiny twitter account, only follow a very small bunch of fans (mostly mutuals from here and editmys/fanartists); the algorithm still suggests super problematic tweets to me. Which is sad in itself because those tweets get so much traction that they’re suggested to me, do you know what I mean? I do block and mute every single one of these accounts, have a mile-long list of muted words, and yet. And just leaving or disabling these functions would let me not see the stuff I would like to see anymore, so that’s also not great. Tumblr is comparably fine but is also absolutely deserted and boring. I’m sorry to say this but ever since I joined the fandom two years ago, I had my opinion on the general vibe of armys and this didn’t change at all. I’ve never seen this fandom as a healthy community or a home, I’m only in it because I love the group. Yes there are definitely amazing (and sane) people I’ve met here on tumblr through the boys and I’m so grateful for that, but unfortunately it’s really just a very small number of people who I truly get along with (probably my own fault but yeh). Also it’s not just the negativity by the way, but also the infantilism, or the other extreme, sexualisation of the members, the absolute obsession with chart and streaming numbers, awards and records, the “quantity over quality” way of thinking, the list goes on. There’s just so much I can’t vibe with, don’t want to. I’m trying my best to keep curating my own fandom experience and I don’t see myself not following bts’ career at any time soon, but it still sucks that such a big part of loving them feels so.. corrupted at times.

#thank you for all the subtle compliments you seem very kind 💗#long post #anon #annie’s mail

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eulchu · 3 years

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LET'S TALK: DREAM AND THE DREAM STANS

PART 1: DREAM STANS

i'm going to start this off by sharing a very cherished memory.

mcc day, september 2021. my roommates and i tune in to watch dream's live stream. it's the first time watching for my best friend who, although clinically online and very well versed in twitch etiquette, had always stuck to hispanic streamers. dream loses after a very close competition. still, my friend turns to me and says: "i'm a little emotional right now. i've never seen a chat so kind and encouraging in my life. usually i have to close it because they're, well, horrible, but this was one of the most heart-warming things i've seen on twitch chat. it's like you guys are his little cheerleaders."

i've heard bad things about the dream stans. i've DEFINITELY seen some of them. i'm no stranger to fandom culture. i hate making 'not every...' posts because that defies the point of holding accountable those who are toxic. i'm not above being critical of my own 'fave'.

however, i'm sick of seeing the demonized version that the internet has deemed reflective of reality in regards of dream 'stans'. because it's not true! i've seen the worst of the worst. i've been involved in pretty shitty fandoms. you know how dream keeps standing up for his 'stans'? he's not enabling the 'stan' community that many people think it is.

not to be cheesy, but dream fans are like nothing i've ever come across. maybe because we've had too much shit spewed at us. because we've had to endure death threats that, upon reacting, would not only make things worse for us, but for dream too. we've learnt to keep quiet in our little bubble to avoid conflict. we've been driven to the point of exhaustion. now, i'm not claiming this has been the case since the very begining. i'm sure early 2020/2021 had many dream stans who were a pain in the ass.

it is, however, quite revolting to realize dream's community's growth keeps getting looked past. by anon users. by ccs. by whole ass men older and more mature than many of us, with far more power and not one ounce of regret when their comments send a hurricane of harassment dream's (and by default, our) way. if any of them took a second of their day, they would find out all most of these 'dream stans' nowadays do is respectfully denfend themselves and their cc.

i'm tired of the whole 'dream enables hate in his community' narrative. we're human too. i could've snapped so many times at threats being sent MY way - not even dream's - and i never do, because god, i could fight fire with fire. but we've learnt the hard way that it doesn't benefit anyone. doesn't help the situation. certainty doesn't help dream. so we keep quiet. we turn into the bigger person per request for dream. i'm a mindless dream stan for being decent because dream asked me to? sure, say that to my face when you're not telling me to die. you're LUCKY dream is the last line in defense that's still standing in my moral compass.

dream has managed to create such a community that reflects who he is as a person. which isn't the cold, manipulative bigot that people think he is. dream's community is nothing but a reflection of his infinite kindness, compassion, acceptance and eagerness to learn and grow. thinking dream enables his fans' behavior as marketing strategy is a major downplay of who he is as a character.

i remember one quote from him, a long time ago, "don't let anyone tell you you're weird for liking something because they're the weird ones". i can imagine dream, who latches to games for days straight, and forgets to sleep sometimes, was just another kid who was shamed for liking things 'a little too much'. if anything, all dream's ever wanted to do is create a safe community where people aren't shamed for their 'weird ticks' or 'fixations'. when he's defensive of his community, he's not defensive of the people who send death threats and harass and doxx. he's defensive of a community that he built with care, in hopes to shelter all the 'freaky' kids that don't have something to go back to.

fuck anyone who tries to paint dream's community as something toxic. it's the furthest thing from it.

#im parasocial about all of you none of you have done anything wrong in your entire life #dreamwastaken #dwt #long post

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wowsoboring · 3 years

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Deconstructing Baseless Harry Potter Arguments#2 (i) : Harmione Edition

Obviously I once again do not mean to target all Harmione shippers. I know quite a few who're very good human beings and tolerant and accepting above all. However these aren't. In this case, you might sense quite a bit of levelheadedness in the beginning, however you must not be fooled as it goes south and takes a nasty turn very quickly. Don't get your hopes up, this is some of the worst shit I've ever seen, especially the way in which it progresses through its course. Naturally, for this post I have picked my own style of writing which will match that of those redditors. Reddit is the perfect breeding ground for all these weird cults, honestly. I shall be resorting to a formal language and style of conversation, very much like a debater would to sound as pretentious as these do. These posts are found on the instagram handle toxicharmonyshippers who gather such toxic musings and sayings for Harmione shippers while respecting the ones that are nice.

Oh yes, let's use words like 'vehemently' to sound smart, why not? Of course, this little tidbit of the highly stupendous post seems more or less civil at the start. They also have the common decency to say "some Romione shippers" rather than generalizing all of us. Very nice of you, how very saint like. Let's wait till they drop the act and show us their true colors. Harkening back to the argument, I have but one question for you, "where do you find these people?". Where's the proof? Who are these radical Romione shippers who worship Ron and dislike Hermione? I haven't seen any such shippers and I am surrounded by Romione shippers on tumblr, instagram and fan fiction sites as well and haven't met the people you speak of. Some point out her flaws, yes, but no one hates her or dislikes her that much. I have seen two or three Romione shippers across hundreds and thousands who're skeptical of Hermione's perfection. Skeptical. Not hating, disliking, or anything. Of course, unlike this person, I have evidence: find these pi charts for your referral (clickable): https://imgur.com/a/QfPnQbB

you can, through these, see the amount of Hermione bashing across Harry Potter fanfiction and you can see that even in Romione fanfiction there's more Ron bashing. Hermione-bashing is a non-issue. That's what it is. Regarding the "nagging" statement, where's the lie in that? "Annoying" is somewhat subjective, I personally don't find her annoying at all. Who are these people and how often do you find them? "Mary Sue" is only reserved for Movie!Hermione. I have only seen book fans call her that. No one has ever called Book!Hermione Mary Sue. The movie does paint her as a flawless, all-rounder who's also drop-dead gorgeous. Only things she's bad at are flying and divination, all of which she denounces as useless, even though flying is like biking for wizards, divination, sure, not that important. with a teacher like Trelawney, even I would denounce it as hokum.

Remember what I said about waiting for them to show us their true colors, well here they are. Bask in the glory of their senseless arguments. Why, I am from reddit, heck I have 25 thousand karma points on there, I just left because it was too stupid for me but I can argue like them very well. And in this case I would like to say that these people are under the impression that Ron is just there in the story for the sake of existence. And he doesn't work hard. That argument is of course, wrong. Because Ron (in no particular order):

1) fights a troll when he's 11

2) is willing to sacrifice himself when he's 11

3) stands up for his friends

4) makes sure Harry feels like he belongs in the family

5) worries about Harry and rescues him from literal jail

6) stands up against Draco rather than by-standing and enabling his behavior

7) tries his level best to make sure Norbert the dragon is in safe hands and carries it out, albeit not in perfection

8) is with Harry every step of the way in his confronting the basilisk

9) sends Harry and Hermione long letters and calls them often to check up on them

10) stands up on a bitten leg to defend his best friend

11) always apologizes for any of his mistakes and is forgiving when others wrong him

12) works his way to join the Quidditch team unlike Draco who most certainly bought his way in

13) destroys at least 2 horcruxes

14) finds out how to defeat a horcrux

15) has an excellent enough memory and observation to notice Harry speaking parseltongue and also using it to his benefit which proves he's resourceful

now since I have 8 more such pictures to rebut and I do have a life, I will stop. These aren't even a twelfth of the remarkable things Ron has done though, so rest assured.

oh wait what did you say about him just existing and not working for anything? If I recall correctly, he did just as well as Harry did in school and didn't score well only in subjects he didn't care about. Which is true for most people except for Hermione who has an eidetic memory which not everyone has, understandably. Rote memorization is not the best way to get by in life, by the way.

what are the "so many reasons" behind why Harry is the best fit for Hermione? Kindly share so I can rebut those too, I'm rather free nowadays, my finals have been cancelled. You say there are so many reasons but don't even give one, yet you want me to take you seriously. I'm afraid that's impossible.

Romione shipper here, i don't dislike Hermione. I haven't met or seen many people in the book!romione fandom who dislike Hermione (except for Movie!Hermione). The question of someone you like ending up with someone you dislike doesn't particularly make sense. In Friends, Chandler ends up with Monica: now I'm not the biggest Monica fan (I don't hate her but I don't like her very much either) but they are my favorite couple because they make sense. It's about compatibility and character traits, not liking or disliking because that's just a set-up for a ghastly invitation for people to pair up hideousness. "Oh yeah, I like Harry and I also like Hagrid, they should be together. I mean it would be very very disgusting but that's my logic, now, you can't fight it. "- that's how you sound. Please read what you write. Your logic is just...abysmal. That's all I can say without breaking my resolve and berating you with colorful profanities.

This is without the doubt, the easiest one to rebut. It's a delight to see such terrible arguments at my disposal. Come on, dear Harmione shippers, write something that makes me question my choices, not things that make me scoff in disbelief.

In this case, you're essentially providing us with theories. Unproved theories and speculation of what you believe because you'd say anything you like. Where's the proof of your theory, though? Where is that crazy radical Romione shipper who does this? Kindly show me these people. Oh yes, you wanna say we objectify Hermione and disrespect her and view her as a prize. This aches me, that you believe this. No one has ever insinuated this, ever, in the history of anything. What is this winner-loser theory? How do you round off Harry Potter to "an alpha-male ends up with lead-lady" trope and still say you're a fan of the series? Harry Potter doesn't fit in with that format. Ron, Hermione and Harry are co-heroes. Similar to how there's no main character in Friends or the Heroes of Olympus series or the Avengers. We're not living in the 80s anymore. Hermione will be a hero, invariably whether she ends up with Harry, Ron or no one. She ends up with Ron and that's it. Talking about her like this doesn't make you sound any better either. Now you're calling me a misogynist because I don't support the ship of two people who describe themselves as siblings. That's very mature of you. Well here's the thing- I'm not a misogynist. It's as simple as that. I believe that women are capable of anything and everything. I believe Hermione is an amazing person and she is a hero and a different person. I believe the series would be impossible without her. I believe she is no one's prize. There's no requirement of a prize. I just think, similar to canon and the truth and her romantic interest, she will have a great relationship with Ron. There's nothing complex or deep about it, really. No personal weird-thing, no psychological complex, no internalized misogyny. There's nothing deeper than what I said. I am not sexist. I am a feminist. I am all for women empowerment. I love women with the fabric of my being. I love Hermione. I think she's amazing. You only become sexist when you ship people with unstable power dynamics, a bully-victim relation or something of the sort. Neither Romione, nor Harmione are sexist. Heck if you paired Neville with Hermione you wouldn't be sexist. And I hate talking about this so much, I can't even tell you. This talk does make it sound like I treat Hermione like an object and I assure you I respect her and I normally won't talk like this unless someone just outright calls me sexist for something that's not sexist. And this is that situation.

in the case of Romione, no one is too good for anyone. Both are amazing people who're heroes and have done amazing work. That's all I have to say. There's no league, they are romantically interested in each other. I have no intention on sounding lame, but, in love there is no league. As long as you're not putting in any effort and are extremely lazy and leech off of your partner, there is no such concept and no, Hermione is not "too good" for him. Unless of course you're talking about movie Hermione, who is too good for anyone.

5) (halftime!)

oh yes they try to pull this off and wonder why we hate them. Classic. This person likes to sound british, so let's switch up our language, yeah? At least then I won't be out of my element. Let me correct ya, Ron at his best is an amazing, loyal, friendly, brave, strategic hero. There you have it. Ron and 'git' can't be used in the same sentence. Now if you talk about Ron's achievements, I re-iterate you to point two. If it's too much work, here:

1) fights a troll when he's 11

2) is willing to sacrifice himself when he's 11

3) stands up for his friends

4) makes sure Harry feels like he belongs in the family

5) worries about Harry and rescues him from literal jail

6) stands up against Draco rather than by-standing and enabling his behavior

7) tries his level best to make sure Norbert the dragon is in safe hands and carries it out, albeit not in perfection

8) is with Harry every step of the way in his confronting the basilisk

9) sends Harry and Hermione long letters and calls them often to check up on them

10) stands up on a bitten leg to defend his best friend

11) always apologizes for any of his mistakes and is forgiving when others wrong him

12) works his way to join the Quidditch team unlike Draco who most certainly bought his way in

13) destroys at least 2 horcruxes

14) finds out how to defeat a horcrux

15) has an excellent enough memory and observation to notice Harry speaking parseltongue and also using it to his benefit which proves he's resourceful

hey, see, I like Ron and I took the time to copy-paste this instead of asking you to scroll up. And I'm a lot of bad things but I am not lazy. I stick to my deadlines like Hermione. I start my homework in library class and continue it during phys ed the day its given. And I am not exaggerating. Bloody hell, I wish I was. I'm the ceo of deadlines, mate, don't tempt me! So you can see that Ron is much more than just a "nice bloke". And being a "nice bloke" isn't a bad thing either. He's all the things I said: intuitive, strategic, helpful, loyal and on top of that he's also a nice person. Yes, I do see a bit of myself in Ron. I do. I see the insecure side. I waste my time hating myself and criticizing myself and undermining myself, telling me I'm no good. But Ron overcomes that. He inspires me to appreciate myself. Is that a bad thing? Are you going to shame me for having a low self-esteem? Do you want to worsen my low self-esteem and make me feel more like shit?

Now the person who replied to your comment saying, "he isn't a nice bloke most of time.", he is. He is not being nice twice in a span of 7 years. How often do you act rudely or with jealousy? Wasn't Harry yelling at everyone in caps lock in OOTP. Now I don't condemn him for that because he's a fucking hormonal teenager like me and that would make me a hypocrite, but by your logic why don't you condemn him? Or why not condemn Hermione for saying "I only date good Quidditch players" and shoving canaries at Ron's face because someone else kissed him, while she kept using Krum and Cormac to make him jealous. She wasn't being a nice girl, then, was she? Now, once again, i don't dislike her or hold that against her because guess what, mate, I'm a hormonal teenage girl who gets jealous most of the time and would probably react in a similar fashion in the spur of the moment (Not defending her actions here, just putting myself in her shoes.) In short, Ron is a nice bloke MOST OF THE TIME.

It would be misogynistic to think that. The thing is, NO ONE DOES my dear friend! My dear daft friend. I have never heard anyone say that! why are you so hell-bent on portraying us as misogynists when no one ever says that? Stop assuming. Just stop. You are crossing a limit here, aren't you? Yes you are. You cannot say these sort of things. We never said that or believed that, no one ever said this to be a reason to ship Romione. God what is wrong with you? Literally, stop fucking ASSUMING god damn it! Do you want me to assume things about Harmione shippers? Do you want me to go there? Because I will go there! I will go there the moment you tell me to. Just challenge me.

Ron is not a perfect best boi , the reason why so many of us like him is that he's imperfect and tries to become better through the course of time. You are once again assuming and I am once again asking you to stop.

Ron might be an ordinary wizard. He might be poor, sure, but he's a pure-blood and won't face much if he chose not to fight. But he did. He fought. Now I identify with Ron's attitude a fair bit, but I am also likely to spend my day in a library without noticing. People aren't one dimensional. Stop trying to act like you're a psychologist, i know you're not. I don't even think Hermione's overbearing at all! You just insulted someone you're a big fan of. Jesus.

Both Hermione and Ron are strategic, jealous, passionate, feisty, argumentative, intellectual...

that's like 6 similarities. They aren't polar opposites in the slightest. Their differences are just: workaholic, not workaholic. Nerd, not a nerd. Like that's fucking it, man!

being relaxed doesn't make you less independent or driven. A relaxed and levelheaded Hermione will think through things, not be impulsive, not panic etc. She doesn't need Ron. I don't understand your obsession with acting like we ever insinuated that. Then she doesn't need Harry either lol. Stop shipping her with Harry, then or like shut the fuck up. Being a bit relaxed won't stop her or anyone from hitting great strides. Just don't get relaxed to the point you're lazy and casual about everything, that's it.

What do you mean? Ron is balanced. He does finish his work on time. And even if he does procrastinate, she could also help him not and be more driven. Of course, this is an open invitation for you to call me a sexist bitch because I said that she could help him and now you'll think her goal is to help him become better yada yada yada. Fuck off. Defeating the horcrux taught him enough. He respected her. He remembered about the elves when she didn't. He begged to be tortured instead of her. He wouldn't need it because school work and jobs are different and the same person might perceive those differently. Calmness and relaxation doesn't hinder your potential. Not caring and laziness does. You can't function if you work and are stressed 24/7 with zero breaks. Period.

10)

No i do not want (nor does anyone want) Hermione to become Ron. Being slightly calmer doesn't change up your personality. I'm sure many people dislike those sort of fanfics without a doubt. I hate OOC and I don't want Hermione to lose her intellect with Ron because that makes no sense. Ron himself is intellectual and loves arguing with her. They'd boost each other, more like it.

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okay thats it i am exhausted as fuck. thanks for reading, i appreciate it. notes and reblogs are appreciated, this takes work.

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thebookreader12345 · 3 years

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750 Followers Celebration - Q&A

Thank you so much for supporting me through this journey! You guys don't know how much this means to me. Every single one of you is amazing.

Below the cut are my answers to the questions that you all submitted.

Q: Do you think Jay is going to become Sergeant this season? A: There has been a lot of debate over this question because of the past few seasons and all of the "Easter eggs", like the sergeant exam poster hanging in the background of the show. In my opinion, I do not believe Jay will become Sergeant. Yet. I think it won't be until the beginning of next season because, if this is a possible storyline, I would expect that the producers and writers would make the finale of season 9 about Voight stepping down/getting promoted, etc.

Q: Did Chicago Justice deserve more episodes? A: I'm sort of split with this question. I loved the fact that there was a big episode involving Kevin, and they always included people from Med, Fire, and PD in some of the episodes. However, the whole plot of the episodes was kind of slow because it wasn't like they were police officers and could go out and chase suspects and arrest people and what not. Their job was just to gather the evidence and then present it in court. I think for many, the show fell flat because there wasn't much action, and part of me does agree with that, but the whole idea of the show itself was kind of cool.

Q: What would make you stop watching each Chicago show? A: This is a tough question because I've only ever dropped one show that I can think of, and it was only because the plotline got really dumb. Maybe if some major characters died in each show I'd stop watching it? But then again, I love the One Chicago universe so much that I don't think even that would stop me from watching. So yeah. I really don't know.

Q: Do you believe in magic? A: As much as I would love for magic to be real, I don't believe it is. But I feel like everyone thinks that way. Cause lets be honest, Harry Potter and Disney make magic look so cool. However, we all know deep down somewhere that it's almost impossible for certain things to be real, and magic just so happens to be one of them.

Q: Are you superstitious? A: I'm not the most superstitious person out there, but I do somewhat follow a few superstitions. Whenever I find a penny on the ground with heads facing up, I pick it up because I believe I'll get good luck. Doing the whole "fingers crossed" thing is something I do a lot. I believe you shouldn't open an umbrella in the house or else you'll receive bad luck. Broken mirrors are bad omens. Those are the top 4 I believe in, but other than that, I'm not really too superstitious.

Q: Is your perception of yourself similar or the same to how others perceive you? A: I mean, I would hope so. I appreciate my level of smarts, and whenever my friends acknowledge them or compliment me on them it makes my day. However, with that, people think that I'm always only doing things to boost my intelligence. For example, I love to read. So whenever I say that I didn't do much over the weekend, people always assume that I read a bunch, when I really didn't. Or that I always study for tests or do homework like a week before it's do. That is not the case. But for the most part, I believe my perception of myself is the same as how other people perceive me.

Q: Who is your favorite couple on each One Chicago show? A: Okay, so for Med, there aren't really any couples at the moment besides Maggie and Ben, whom I love but they aren't my favorite, so I'm gonna pick a past couple. When I first started Med, Manstead was my prime ship, so I'll choose them. Will had been pining after Natalie for so long so I was glad when they finally got together. For Fire, it's gotta be Kelly and Stella. They were literally made for each other, and they support each other with everything. Also, they are so cute together and all of Firehouse 51 ships them as well! And for PD, while I do love Burzek, Upstead is my favorite ship at the moment. I've seen the connection between Hailey and Jay since season 5. You don't understand how angry I was in season 7 when Hailey was so close to confessing her feelings. So season 8 made me very happy when Jay and Hailey finally got together.

Q: Jay and Lindsey or Jay and Hailey? A: I respect everyone's opinions on this matter, so hopefully you all respect mine. I thought that Erin was almost toxic in a way for Jay. She continuously broke his heart when all he wanted to do was help him. But what really does it for me is that she left Chicago without telling him goodbye. Hailey, on the other hand, has pushed Jay to seek out help when he needed it, like when she recommended he take seeing a therapist seriously to help with his PTSD, and she is always there for him, no matter what. That's why I believe Hailey and Jay are the better pairing.

Q: Which character death got to you the most? A: There have been too many sad deaths in the One Chicago world. But if I had to pick one, I've gotta go with Otis on Chicago Fire. Otis was always one of my favorite characters, even way back when I watched Fire with my dad when it was first coming out. He was witty and funny, and his friendship with Cruz was everything. So, when I watched the episode where he died, I was full on balling. I had to pause the episode for 10 minutes because I couldn't stop.

Q: Who is your favorite character on each show and why? A: I'm gonna do favorite male and female character because I've got too many favorites from each show. On Med, my favorites are Will and Natalie. Will has been my favorite since day one, and I like that he will go out of his way to help patients, even if it means he could get in serious trouble. Natalie, even though she's not in the show, always pushes for the best of care for her patients, and whenever she dealt with kids it was always the sweetest thing. On Fire, I like Kelly and Sylvie. Kelly is so headstrong and driven, and he will do anything to protect the other members of Squad 3. Sylvie is such a hard worker and you can tell she is passionate about her job. I feel so bad that she's had to go through so many partners. On PD I love Jay and Hailey. Jay has not always been my favorite male character. Back when I watched the show for the first time, I adored Adam. However, I love that Jay has such good morals and is always pushing to do the right thing even when Voight disagreed. Now, it took a few episodes for me to warm up to Hailey, but after seeing her be so badass, it was hard not to like her.

Q: Where do you get inspiration for your stories?/How do you get inspiration when there's not a request? A: This question is always hard to answer because I really don't know. Most of the time I'm fulfilling requests sent in by you guys and I just write what comes to the top of my mind. If there are requests that are not requested and I come up with them on my own, chances are I saw the plot somewhere else, like in a book or show or movie, and I just tweaked it a bit to fit the One Chicago universe. Either that happens, or while I'm trying to fall asleep, I make up random scenarios in my head, and if I find one that I really like, I'll make a note of it on my phone so I don't forget it, and then I'll write about it.

Q: Do you think Brett and Casey are endgame? Why or why not? A: I'm gonna go with yes on this one. Now, Brettsey is not one of my top ships in the universe. However, they are cute together, and I've been expecting them to get together for a while. The two of them, even when Gabby was around, had a great relationship and always cared for each other. Plus, Matt jumped out of a firetruck to go help Sylvie when the ambulance flipped. He was willing to risk an injury just to make sure she was okay. And now that they are officially together in Chicago Fire, you can see that they really love and care for each other.

Q: What inspired you to start writing? A: I always seem to get this question whenever I do a q&a, but that's okay because I don't mind talking about it. I first got into stuff like this as a reader. Basically, I went on to Wattpad and Tumblr to read other people's stories. I had no intention of creating my own. And then, one day, I started imagining myself in some of the fandoms I was apart of, and I thought, "If I'm imagining myself in these fandoms, chances are others are too," and I began creating stories that followed the plots of movies and shows exactly, just adding Y/n in it. However, that got tiring after a while because I wasn't able to have much freedom because I was following a set script, and that's when I remembered I had a Tumblr account I never used. So, I revamped my account just a little bit and started posting story ideas I had that I couldn't post on Wattpad because either they didn't fit with the stories or they were for someone I didn't write for on Wattpad. And now, here we are. For anyone interested, I've posted this before but I'll post it again, my Wattpad handle is @Writer_Reader05.

Q: Jay or Will Halstead? A: I'm sorry, but I really can't choose between the two of them. I love them both so much. Will and Jay are two of my favorite characters in the whole One Chicago universe. While they do have some qualities that I'm not the fondest of, at the end of the day, I adore the both of them, and I could never choose between them.

Q: Who would you rather date: Jay or Will Halstead? A: Why do you guys do this to me? I love them both so much! But, if I have to choose, I'm gonna pick Jay. The only reason is because I like the characters in PD more than Med, so if I'm dating Jay, chances are I'm friends with Hailey and Adam and all of Intelligence. Will is just as awesome as Jay though and I feel like sometimes people sleep on that.

Q: Which of the requested fics you’ve written is your favorite? A: I think I'm gonna have to go with a Jay Halstead x reader I wrote titled Two Becomes Three. Something about the plot just makes me smile. And to think of Jay being a father......So yeah, while I have so many amazing requested fics thanks to you all, that one has to be one of my favorites.

Q: What’s your favorite series you’ve written so far? A: I love all of the series I have written. Something about creating a whole story that's more than just one part is always fun. If I have to pick one series, I'm gonna pick On the Loose. It was the first series I wrote on Tumblr and the plot of it is something I'm really proud of. However, From the Big Apple to the Windy City, Identity Loss, and Difference of Opinion are all amazing! The first two are finished series and the last one still has a few chapters left to go. Go check them out if you haven't already.

Q: What's your favorite imagine you've come up with and why? A: I don't have a lot of fics that are solely my ideas. Most of my stories have plots that were sent in by you all. However, if I had to pick a favorite out of my stories, it'd be Back Home for Christmas, a Halstead Sister fic I released when I was somewhat new to the platform. Something about writing sibling fics always makes me happy because I get to express the familial side to the characters.

Q: If you had to be roommates with 5 of your mutuals/fellow writers, who would you pick and why? A: I love all of my fellow writers/mutuals so much! I know how much work we put into whatever we post, and most of us are very active on this site. As for who I would pick to be my roommates, I'd choose @hereforhalstead @fighterkimburgess @halsteadlover @resanoona @sylviebrettsey because I feel like we'd all have great conversations, mainly over One Chicago. And every Wednesday night we'd all watch the episodes live together and experience them as a group and then freak out over what happened..........Now watch me fantasize about this all day.

Q: Do you listen to music when you write? A: It depends. On some days when I plan that I'm gonna write, then yes, I do put on some music. When there are days that I have a few minutes to spare, I don't put on music just because I'm only writing for a few minutes and I don't want to waste time. But mostly when I'm writing I do play music in the background.

Q: Do you know how your fics/stories end before you finish writing it? A: This is a really interesting question. The answer is no, I do not know how I'm gonna end a fic before I finish writing it. The only story I had a set ending for was my series On the Loose, but that one wasn't even fully planned out until I got a chapter or two in. Obviously, if I get a request that includes a set ending, like two characters get together or something like that, then I know what the ending will be. Otherwise, I have no clue.

Q: Have you ever met someone who had a very similar personality to your own? Did you get along? A: You know, I can't say that I have. Everyone is different in their own way, and that's what makes us all unique. I would imagine if I did meet someone with a similar personality we'd get along because we'd basically be a carbon copy of each other, but who knows. Maybe our similar personalities would cause us to clash.

Q: Do you hold yourself to higher standards than you hold others? A: Not really. I know myself more than anyone else so I know what my limits are and when I've reached them. With people, on the other hand, I always feel like they can be doing more with themselves and their lives. So I do not hold myself to higher standards than others.

Thank you to all of you who sent in questions! I never thought I'd reach 750 followers on this platform. The only reason I have is all thanks to you wonderful people out there!

@winterberryfox @maximeevansblog @scarletsoldierrr @i-like-sparkly-things @dreamingmanip @soph0864 @ryliegh8 @lorenakaspersen @wanniiieeee @nevertoofarfromivar @securityfriendly-jay @pinkbay-love @stephie123

#one chicago #q&a time #q&a session #question and answer #750 followers

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comradedream · 3 years

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I FEEL THE EXACT SAME WAYS about how you described the situations with dttwt, sleepytwt, dtblr, and sleepyblr like

first though another big reason WHY there r more sbi stans on tumblr and dt on twt (imo) is that sbi fans are less "stan"-like (they tend to be lore fans/be more dsmpblr) and it's more like a traditional media fandom which tumblr is like,, the home of vs twt which is the site of the infamous kpoptwt n stuff and so attracts more "stans" (the ppl who like ccs)

but HARD agree on the black and white thinking part all nuance is killed on twt bc its easier to use quick buzzwords to get a point across which abandon the usual elaboration you'd get if such a word limit didn't exist (ie tumblr)

and i never even considered the easy access the fandoms have to each other on twt :0 but that's such a good point since that also means more clashes

with the lore it definitely doesn't help that the VERY FIRST major conflict was a dt vs sbi (adjacent) one (lmanburg revolutionary war) which 100% paved the way for lore discourse btwn the groups

oh god old dtblr... i think the way it was also contributes to the dt vs sbi popularity divide btwn tumblr and twt bc i see so many twt users say they r turned away from tumblr bc of old 'dtblr' meaning that initially tumblr had immediately marked itself as a more dream-anti space (but not an anti-sbi one, explaining the divide) so not only did people adopt the general attitudes of old dtblr but such attitudes attracted those prone to accepting it as well

SO TRUE abt many anti-dt sleepyblrs being the way they are bc they base their perceptions off of how dttwt acts and with all this mess being soo big simply bc of twt's sheer volume (the amount of sbi blogs i've seen where the only time they talk abt the dt is to point out their toxic twt and/or "cringy" stans definitely points to this)

on the sleepytwt and dttwt mutually hate each other while (more) sleepyblr hates dtblr yet (most) dtblr r fine w them it makes me think about how dream is always made the villain in sbi fics even when its not abt the dsmp while in dt fics sbi rarely ever have a significant role in them in the first place

a major factor of it i believe is the idea of who's the "underdog" bc obv mcyttwt is way larger and has way more eyes on it than mcytblr and ppl tend to feel more entitled if they feel more "oppressed" (for the lack of a better word) and despite sleepyblr being bigger than dtblr not many people acknowledge it that way? and still act like there r more dt stans bc ppl tend to look out of the platform as well so in general sbi stans hating dt ones seems more justifiable bc 'just look at dttwt!!' while dt ones hating sbi ones is less so

i also think the early stages of both fandoms were huge contributors, bc early dtblr and sleepyblr baaaarely interacted (i don't even know if a distinct sleepyblr that wasn't mostly smpblr existed back then??) so any hatred btwn the two is actually more recent and thus established with the precedent of the two fandoms (like i said previously how there is a dttwt majority and their general hate on sbi)

meanwhile i remember CLEARLY how the rivalry btwn dttwt and sleepytwt started. not only was it bc of the idea that two mcyt twt fandoms must compete but also bc sleepytwt hated dttwt bc they saw dnf shipping as toxic + would flaunt about how their ccs got into no drama (during a time where dream especially got into a lot of it which was june) + they saw tommy joining the dsmp as dream "taking" tommy from sbi (despite him not being a part of it yet) + the 'kickschlatt' situation left many bitter while dttwt saw the addition of sbi + adjacent ccs to the dsmp as them ruining the smp and in general took advantage of their size to get things their way

(feel free to not post this!! esp if it's too inflammatory, unsolicited, its better for dms, or just too much in general xD but i wanted to respond w my thoughts)

(in reference to this even doe its been like eighty days i am so sorry)

o em gee me and esper hoteltea psychoanalyze the mcyt fandom part TWO (real) this is crazy

( + another old asks response at the v end relating to the og posts response LOL)

DUDE ive NEVER been able to articulate the difference between the energy of the two sets of fans cuz i interact/ed with both the stan like ppl and the non stan like ppl and the ppl in-between on BOTH platforms so theyre all blended in my head BUT WHAT UR SAYING IS SO RIGHT IT MAKES SENSE ,,,,, it's the 'cultural' split between the two platforms and its effect on the way their individual sets of fandoms function/consume media... like what u said about it being a traditional media fandom and how a lot of them focus on lore on here,,,, u r a genius

someone said once that twts use of buzzwords is like headlines in clickbait-y article titles and i think thats when it clicked for me y it works the way it does on there💀 such a bad system lol

i forgot about the first dsmp story conflict being literally sbi adjacent vs dt adjacent LMAO thats 100% a definitely a part of setting the tone for future divides/paving the way like u said

IVE SEEN TWT USERS SAY THEY ORIGINALLY TURNED AWAY FROM OLD DTBLR BC OF THAT TOOOOOO OH MY GOD💀its so crazy to me how things that might not seem so influential create such a butterfly effect lol

everything u said about the generalizations is so so true. and like ik ive done it myself as well at a smaller scale but its Such a bad mindset to have at the rate ive seen -- and half the time its misinformation on here about them in cases like that anyway lmao, and just spreads more and more bitterness and contempt over shit thats hardly an issue. like i see ppl on here yelling about them trending certain things for example when 1) its not trending bc its a legitimately trendy topic, it's trending bc several ppl talking about something at the same time causes it to trend in the "for u" trending tab (shitty design) and 2) its 'trending' for a very small amount of time in only certain geographical locations and 90% of the tweets under it are ppl going "ummm why is x trending i fucking hate x ppl for this so bad 🙄🙄🙄" which contribute to the small pool mentioned in 1) just by including the words, regardless of what theyre saying about it. so bringing it over here is essentially transcribing shit that is a not an issue, especially in the grand scheme of the tens of thousands of people in mcyttwt, to their followers on here that already have preexisting views of mcyttwt and wont double check themselves. ITS SO FRUSTRATING😭 its part of y i try my best and avoid talking about solely twitter-esque drama thats irrelevant on here, ESPECIALLY when in a "information providing" way (like "u guys wont BELIEVE whats going on on twitter in a totally large scale right now!11!!1" when its like,,, two mass qrted tweets that ended up getting deleted.) RANDOM TANGENT

UR SO RIGHT HOLY SHIT lmaooo and it's not only weird to have him involved in a solely negative way in their totally irrelevant to cc!dream fics but its made extra weird by them being the only ones doing it LOL, and REGULARLY like i remember that one non-lore sbi fic blowing tf up and being so lost when i heard about dream turning out to being the ultimate villain one secretly mind controlling all of them or something like what lol💀 no hate to the author im sure they didnt have malicious intent but its just an exhausting narrative to see repeatedly and with plenty of backing

ur so right about everything u said about the underdog victim complex lolll💀💀💀

I KNEW ABOUT THE DNF SHIPPING AND NO DRAMA THING CUZ I SAW PLENTY OF EFFECTS OF IT IN WHEN I JOINED BUT PUTTING IT INTO WORDS/CONTEXT LIKE THAT IS SOOO💀 dnf fr the origin of a blood feud theyre so powerful for that omg😍 also everything u said about tommy joining dmsp/the dsmp/etc is so embarassing help i didn’t know most of that

thats so fucking funny/sad at the same time oh my god what a rollercoaster of a timeline. and its only gotten worse from there yikes. i remember seeing tweets of ppl trying to say they arent ACTUALLY part of mcyttwt theyre better and stuff in like,, early autumn 2020, wayy before it was even as messy and huge and infamous of a very multi-sectoral fandom as it is now. kind of ironic in hindsight knowing how certain things played out today. maybe it couldve all been different with a different start, on both apps🙁

and this was a super interesting topic ty for discussing it w me, i learned a lot tbh LMAOO and i appreciate u putting the time in to send ur asks and explaining off-branches of this in dms 😵😵 ur insight was so so good to have n i loved the long askssss again sorry this took ages to reply to lmaoooo

okay and one more thing, i wanted to include this on here cuz me and esper spoke about it in dms and i also kind of wanted it to wrap off the topic (at least for now) and mainly i feel weirdly randomly putting a post about old dtblr on the dash after the topic on my own blog died a few days ago LOLLL (also its already a long as hell post who v few ppl r gonna read so might as well)

the split off from the extremely dream negative group came w several of them just totally going off into the deep end and involving themselves w doxing and this becoming known. that probably solidified a lot of opinions on them or drastically changed them, and a lot of ppl disassociated from them. the circle and the ones adjacent to it kind of became distanced and distinct then, so just that sector getting cut off is a big part of how the general larger community went on to grow from it all

the dsmp/dteam getting bigger and beginning their climb to their peak brought in new ppl and so growth of the fandom and new ppl helped drown out negativity, and dream himself continuing to grow as a person and as a cc probably further ‘encouraged’ for lack of a better word ppl to openly/like him and shit. and gnf mains in dtblr made "modern" 404blr (as opposed to the earlier distinct group of gnf 'mains' (solos)) cuz of other general fandom happenings which was like,,, a way better space. and then like generally as time went on all of this and conscious efforts to reduce negativity and more aspects im sure helped it all in becoming a more positive space over time, as well as w effects of the fandom multiplying in size. FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND and have seen

OKAY THATS ITTTT WOOOO

#love fandom psychology yasss #honestly all of this filled so many random gaps i had in my understanding/knowledge of the topic #i feel so enlightened now my third eye is wide open #long post #discourse #IVE BEEN SO BUSY LMAOOO AND EVERY TIME I HAD SPARE TIME SOME1 STARTED STREAMING AND I WAS THEN BOTH DISTRACTED & FELT WEIRD POSTING ABT IT #dash is dead posting this and passing out zzzz

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kitkatopinions · 3 years

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I feel the need to hear your opinion on this since this is something I've been thinking about recently, and it's how crwby handles complex relationships/abuse in their show... It's infuriating.

I can't tell if they genuinely think they are writing this in a good way or if they know they're half asss-ing it and don't care since the fandom will eat it up anyways. Two big examples that come to mind for me in the last volume are emerald & cinder and whitley & jacques. In both instances the the victim never gets a moment of closure or a moment of breaking away from their abuser, nor are either victims allowed to show any sort of 'hesitance' (for a lack of a better term) related to their abuse.

Emerald (despite being all over cinder before Midnight), just conveniently forgets about her for the finale. Same for whitley. He just completely forgets about jacques (the man who manipulated him from birth) the moment weiss hugs him. On a shallow level, watching a victim pay no mind to their abuser is satisfying, but it being so immediate is just unrealistic and takes away from the pain that we are supposed to think these characters have suffered.

One of the worst things about suffering from abuse is how is affects the victims even when they have left the abusive relationship, but crwby seems to want to erase that completely from characters who should experience that for plot convenience.

It seems like the lesson learned from this is "if you were abused, just get over it and be convenient to our heroes or else!" And it's pretty gross imo.

Thoughts?

I thought that I would put these two asks together and take this opportunity to talk about the abuse victims in RWBY and how they're handled. I've tried to think long and hard about what to say about this, because this is an important topic to me and something that's personal for me. I'm an abuse survivor, but I have a complicated relationship with that part of myself and I'm never really comfortable talking about it much. But despite the fact that I've experienced abuse, I recognize that I'm not a professional sensitivity editor, not a therapist, and not someone who's studied the effects of abuse.

I'm simply writing this based on my own feelings and what I've picked up witnessing other abuse victims discuss their own feelings about abused character. There will be RWBY criticism below the keep reading. Please keep in mind that I'm not speaking for all abuse survivors and am only trying to articulate my own feelings in regards to this issue.

The first thing to note is that there isn't one, correct, right way to write an abuse victim in my opinion. Lots of people have different reactions and responses to abuse, the way they were abused is often also different, causing different reactions.

In the first anon, it's noted that Emerald and Whitley both seem to move on from their abuse quickly and with very little effect on them or their stories. Many abuse victims put their experiences on the back burner or 'in a box' to deal with later, or mask and pretend that they're alright or that their abuse just didn't happen. Some of them let their feelings or their anger simmer over time. There are also abuse victims who do just... Move on with relative ease. I'd imagine that's very rare though. (again, I'm not not an expert or any sort of psychologist.)

In the same way, an abuse victim becoming an abuser in their own interactions is something that one hundred percent happens. Cinder, Salem, Adam, and even Blake and Winter have all acted in abusive ways towards the people around them (though obviously Blake and Winter acted much less abusive than any of the villains mentioned.) It might be very hard for abuse victims to not fall back into those patterns of abuse that they've suffered, especially if they go through it at an early age. I'm not very comfortable talking about my own experiences, but myself and my siblings have all had to fight down toxic, hurtful traits that we picked up either through emulating or through survival. And it's hard to do that. Portraying characters who have been abused that lost that fight and might have abusive tendencies or slip themselves is - to me at least - sometimes even helpful in working through my own feelings.

And there are definitely one hundred percent abuse victims who feel like the way they were treated is deserved, that they 'earned' it, that they must 'make up for it.' Oz is in this category. There's nothing wrong with the concept of a character who feels responsible for their abuser or the hurt their abuser has caused to others, there’s nothing wrong with a character who tends to act as though everything is their fault and who thinks very poorly of themselves.

In theory. But the problem is that in application, there are a lot of pitfalls and struggles that come with writing for abuse victims. Understanding, thoughtfulness, and care are not the RWBY writers’ strength, and any time you portray real life issues that strongly impact the real life people involved in them, you have to be aware and careful with the messages you’re sending. This is obviously very important when someone writes for any minority or oppressed group or the issues that they face, but it’s also important to remember when you write for abuse victims, because they do have stigmas around them and deal with stereotypes and harmful portrayals as well. Let’s look at what I consider some harmful or hurtful pitfalls when it comes to abused characters.

Are the abused characters treated as the victims they are? If the abuse a character faces is treated as comical, treated as unimportant, or treated as deserved, that’s an obvious major flaw. Sad to say, but RWBY does not pass this. On two separate occasions, a character is hit by someone close to them in a way that clearly causes them some pain, with Blake hitting Sun across the face for following her, and Winter hitting Weiss for answering a question incorrectly and again for failing in her training (I tend to be more sympathetic towards Blake’s situation, as it is more gray with her clearly thinking Sun had stalked her which is a clear trigger from her own abuse, but this is an explanation, not an excuse and the fact that it was framed as funny rather than something Blake shouldn’t have done and should apologize for is the problem.) They also do not treat Ozpin like the victim when Qrow punches him in the face, having no one call Qrow out for it and having him never express guilt or try to apologize for it. Yes, I know Ozpin had retreated, but they never showed Qrow even make an effort to get Ozpin to come back so he could apologize. . They also ‘redeem’ Hazel and give him a ‘partially right’ storyline despite his openly beating Ozpin, unfairly blaming him for the death of his sister, and insisting that Ozpin deserved to be tortured. On top of this, despite having been horribly abused by the SDC, Adam isn’t treated with even an ounce of sympathy or understanding and Jacques Schnee and the SDC is treated like a more comical-ish nuisance in season seven and eight. This is greatly flawed. Hitting someone because they lied to you or kept secrets from you is not okay, hitting someone because they said something you don’t like is not okay. This should not be treated as funny and it shouldn’t be treated as the fault of the person who was hit for not being a good enough friend.

Are the abused characters mostly villains, when the heroes have never faced it? The reason for this is obvious, although it’s valid to have a villain be an abuse victim, it’s never alright to villainize abuse victims. Making the majority of your bad guys abuse victims and your good guys have positive relationships is in my opinion, harmful. Point for RWBY, this is not the case for their show. Mercury, Salem, and Cinder on the bad side are all abuse victims with Raven being a possible, but unconfirmed abuse victim as well. While Weiss, Blake, Ozpin, and Whitley are also abuse victims, with Qrow and May both being possible, but unconfirmed abuse victims, and Winter and Emerald are both abuse victims who were on the side of a villain and then turned good.

Is the abuse more severe in the ‘bad’ characters and lighter in the ‘good’ characters? If the abuse that the good guys faced is mostly lighter things and the abuse that the villains suffered is worse and more severe, that might send some bad messages that people who suffer more are automatically worse people, or ‘unsalvageable’ or ‘too broken,’ as opposed to the people that ‘there’s still hope for.’ Unfortunately, I think RWBY is almost a tie? We’ve never seen Weiss or Emerald suffer more than a hit, we don’t know for sure that Whitley or Winter were ever victims of physical abuse. Ozpin and Blake’s abuse is worse, however, as they are hunted down by their abusers who attempt to murder them, make them suffer, and hurt their loved ones. They also were heavily emotionally manipulated and victim blamed by their abusers. And on the villain side, Mercury was beat by his father who hated him and stole his semblance (an extension of your soul, I believe, in canon,) and the abuse led to the loss of his limbs. Cinder was forced to work hard labor by her abusive employer and the ‘stepsisters’ treated her badly, and she was physically electrocuted. We see her abuse extend to Salem using her Grimm arm to hurt her, copying the effects of the necklace. Adam was also a child laborer who worked in terrible conditions who got his face branded by his employer, in the SDC, which had to have been anti-faunus charged due to his bull horns. We don’t see Salem ever physically abused, but know that she was mistreated, isolated, and neglected by her ‘cruel’ father. So it’s not quite a tie, there are more severely abused characters amongst the villains than the heroes, but this is close enough that I don’t consider this much of a strike against them.

In the villains, is the abuse they faced given as ‘reason’ for their villainy? As I said before, villainizing abuse victims isn’t the way to go. A good way to avoid this - I think - is not have abuse be the sole reason for someone’s fall into a life of crime or cruelty. This is something that RWBY... Fails at imo. When showing us Mercury’s backstory, we’re introduced to him through seeing that he had just killed his abuser who cost him his legs, and then gets recruited by Cinder who at the very least likely emotionally and physically abused him the same way she did with Emerald, leading to the conclusion that the only reason he’s there at all is due to abuse. However, he’s just a teen and it’s possible that (like Emerald) he’ll be redeemed. A much more condemning story to talk about is Cinder’s. After people had been clambering for a Cinder backstory since volume three, RWBY finally showed us one. But it doesn’t include Cinder meeting Salem, why she joined her, her proving herself, none of that. Instead, Cinder’s backstory was entirely focused on her abusive situation as a child, entirely focused on her suffering. Cinder killing her abusers and then killing the teacher who decided to arrest her for getting herself out of her abusive situation was portrayed as the only needed backstory, the explanation to why she’s a power hungry, abusive, cruel, selfish, and just plain evil person. ‘She was abused’ is the explanation for why Cinder is where she is and why she is who she is in RWBY. That’s highly problematic to me.

In the heroes, are they “the Perfect, Sanitized Abuse Victims?” As I said before, there is no one type of abuse victim, but if someone has several abuse victims and they’re all either submissive, sad, and self-doubting, but gentle and caring and soft or dropped their abuser like a hotcake and never looked back, never seem affected, never really talk about it after they left... That’s bothersome to me personally. Measuring how RWBY is in this particular subject is... A little harder than I thought it would be. Let’s start by looking at the most prevalent abuse victim, Blake. She’s one of the reasons why this is hard to gauge, because for the first five seasons, Blake was deeply flawed and clearly affected by her abuse in ways that made her ‘unappealing.’ Blake was cynical, stubborn, cold, hard to get to know, she didn’t trust easily, she lashed out at her friends regularly, ran from her problems, made choices for her friends, and had a very negative self image. This didn’t stop her from being a good character and friend with a lot of good sides, too, and she had real, important friendships. This was - to me - a really great portrayal of someone clearly affected by their trauma, with lots to work on, who was still a good person. Some of her faults and problems started to get resolved in a natural way through her journey with Sun in volumes four and five, but when season six came around, many of Blake’s other traits suddenly vanished. No longer stubborn, independent, or cynical, and no longer standing up for herself, or really displaying her temper or hardheadedness or her struggles with getting to know people... Blake became more submissive, sad, self-doubting, but gentle, caring, and soft. Sigh. As the first ask mentioned, Whitley and Emerald both seemed to drop their abusers quickly the second they were removed from their lives again. it’s also worth noting that Whitley was treated with nothing but coldness and contempt by Weiss until he ‘proved himself’ by doing something selfless. Weiss did more or less drop Jacques the moment she left her house in V4, only mentioning him or her experiences when she’s using it to talk about Blake, and when she confronted him again in V7, she did so as someone who is proving she no longer cares. Ozpin seems to be the only one still unable to move on from his abuse and the ‘unappealing’ abuse victim. The first anon is right, there’s something satisfying with seeing an abuse victim move on like their abuser didn’t matter. But when almost all your abuse victims do, and one of the only other ones is turned into a submissive and soft support based / romance based character, and the only really ‘unappealing’ abuse victim is someone we’re supposed to see as ‘gray’... There’s something off there, in my opinion.

Were the abuse victims treated respectfully and thoughtfully by their friends, and if not, were they portrayed as wrong? This probably isn’t something that really even needs an explanation. Abuse victims should be able to set their own boundaries and tell their stories only when they want, when they feel comfortable, Their friends should be understanding of this and not force anything from them. In the case of Blake and Weiss, this is handled really well! Their friends let them talk about their experiences in their own time, and they’re understanding and validate their feelings when it comes up (much more common with Blake than with Weiss, who like I said, seemed to move on from her dad quickly after she left.) However, when it comes to Oz... This is all wrecked. Although unintentional (no one knew how deeply tied up with Salem Ozpin was or how intimate the memories they were going to watch were,) our main characters still forced Ozpin’s deepest and most personal secrets out of him in a fit of upset while he was tearfully begging them not to. He was forced to relive his most traumatic experiences in hi-def with other people watching with him, all his secrets and all his abuse wrenched away from him in what was clearly a very painful way. And then no one showed Ozpin even the slightest bit of sympathy or understanding for what he’d gone through, and no one ever apologized for what they had forced him to relive. In fact, Team RWBY were clearly displayed as in the right, and Oz was displayed as completely wrong for not trusting them implicitly. He had to apologize to them, which they acted begrudgingly accepting of as if they hadn’t shouted at an abuse victim after forcing him to relive all his worst experiences.

Are some abuse victims portrayed as bad for things that other abuse victims aren’t portrayed as bad for? Like the second ask says, in RWBY, Cinder and Mercury are treated as villains for having killed their abusers and Cinder is almost arrested for it, it’s considered a step in the direction of their villainy. But Blake is (rightfully) treated as the victim who was forced, who had no choice, who just wanted the abuse to stop. This is hypocritical and fundamentally flawed. I think this is a reflection of the fact that Cinder and Mercury are meant to be ‘bad’ abuse victim, who had violent tendencies and anger issues, and were already featured as bad guys before their backstory’s dropped, whereas Blake was meant to be a better abuse victim who (by season six) was starting to get written as a soft girl who just wanted to help her friends.

All in all, although there’s some things that I think that RWBY did well enough, I definitely think that I would consider their portrayal of abuse victims to be lacking. This is just my opinion and the way I feel about the writing, but there are a lot of ways to look at it. I think overall, I just really wish that the RWBY writers had been a little more sensitive and spent a little longer focusing on the character arcs involved in abuse recovery. (There’s still a chance for Whitley, Weiss, and Emerald to get more focus in volume ten, though, so long as the writers don’t timeskip!)

#rwde #rwby criticism #rwby critical #rwby hate #rwby bashing #tw; abuse #trigger warning; abuse

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