#like the blatant misogyny is insane

[garwicbreb]

I hope the wives and partners of famous older male celebrities have the most blessed and wonderful day every single day for the rest of time

[plamglam]

Almost every female character in twdg series gets absolutely insanely ridiculous amount of hate for simply failing at something, being mentally unstable or making mistakes. When a male character does excatly the same OR MUCH WORSE they're always labeled as "love to hate", "great villain", "moraly dubious", "gray area" characters. ehhh. so tired of that bs. I mean I get it Bonnie or especialy Jane did mess up big time but ask yourself if they're really worse than literal cannibals or child kidnapper who takes his wife's head with himself everywhere he goes.

[lesbianwyllravengard]

I hateeee seeing polls that are like "which Bg3 romance is your favourite" bc I know what the results will be because y'all have 0 taste. And then I'm mad when I'm right.

[adhd-merlin]

You know, there is still Gwen-hate, people only learned to mask it better.

oh, I'm sure. don't worry I'll love her enough to make up for the haters

[absolutelynotsanebaby]

Okay, so, I’ve been seeing this idea that Jay was completely out of character in Skybound and ngl been driving me a little insane so I figured I’d finally share my thoughts on the topic. See the thing is, Skybound is a very flawed season for reasons regarding misogyny and racism (<-- Nadakhan). It’s got redeeming features like any other seasons (I really like some of the concepts, nadakhan was a very genuinely intimidating villain, I like the pacing and action, the gis are literally so good) but of all its flaws, Jay’s BASELINE CHARACTER is not one of them.

Two of Skybound’s objectives are to A) pick at Ninjago’s earlier misogyny and B) pick at Jay’s flaws. Which I believe are insecurity, lack of impulse control, and not respecting boundaries like he should. Especially regarding Nya. The season goes out of its way to parallel Jay to Nadakhan (main season villain, man who feels very entitled to Nya’s body and person, amongst other things) and to Cliff Gordon (man who’s dating advice book said to literally lie to women). One of Jay’s earliest scenes is him asking if a kidnapped girl was hot, this decision and characterization didn’t come from nowhere! He’s obviously not evil or irredeemable because of those flaws either. There’s an entire scene where he defends Nya against outward, blatant misogyny and affirms she’s one of them. It’s one of the numerous scenes where Jay is shown behavior worse than his and I believe the motivation behind that is to teach him not to be like that, because he is a better person than that.

I understand the impulse to defend your favorite character but to entirely dismiss one of Jay’s defining seasons is just such a frustrating way to do it. Some people go out of their way to demonize or over-exaggerate his flaws, yeah, 100% but it’s not productive to overcorrect so harshly. Additionally, not everything about Jay’s characterization in Skybound is negative.

Skybound really hammers in some of Jay’s most heroic or positive traits. It’s especially clear during his “stay” on the Misfortune’s Keep. It proves that above all else Jay is extremely adaptable. It shows him withstanding Nadakhan’s mental games/torture because he grows to understand it, and in creative, smart ways figures out how to contact people, how to sew discourse into the crew, and nearly escape all on his own! Even off the ship, Skybound affirms that when put into the position with necessity, Jay can and will step up to leadership and do it well. All of this characterization is seen later in Prime empire if I’m remembering right, though I haven’t watched Prime Empire in a while.

But, back on track, to conclude while I get feeling frustrated I think dismissing a large portion of Jay’s early characterization and flaws in an effort to defend him doesn’t help, because it really takes away from other aspects of his character (that being everything I listed, and also his ability to change for the better) and all around makes him a less interesting character. I don’t hate Jay but I also don’t hate that he was or is flawed, it’s not an inherently horrible thing, narratively or otherwise.

[peggingeddiediaz]

Hello, I know I’ve been gone for a while, but I received a lot of hate for not staning a side character and I had to take a break. Now though, I don’t care.

The obsession with BuckTommy as a couple is pretty much fetishization and misogyny bc I'm 100% sure that if Tommy had been a female love interest, his stans wouldn't have been so obsessed with the relationship and would’ve hated every single thing he did last season.

Buck’s coming out as bi should be the focus, but as always, such an important storyline gets reduced to a rushed relationship and a obsession for a side character with not enough background to fill a napkin.

Buck being bi doesn't mean he has to end with the first guy he kisses or that people have to like whatever he has going with Tommy, especially when he’s had so little development that his characterization is whatever head canon you guys gaslight yourself into and think that makes him the best gay character ever. Y’all really went insane over those cameos.

I don’t think you guys really care about good, well crafted, quality narrative representation of queer relationships, you only care about flaunting around your canon surface level ship. It’s pretty obvious why a lot of Bucktommy blogs used to be Buddie accounts in the months prior. It’s bc y’all only cared about Buck messing around with any guy he could find. A white man specifically.

The negativity towards Buck and Eddie skyrocketed from "They won't be canon, Eddie is straight" to the absolute extreme with "Why not just have Eddie die so Tommy and Buck can raise Chris?" The increase in blatant racism using shipping as a cover is incredibly sad.

A lot of you had no issue with Tommy, a white man randomly appearing again being revealed to be queer or Buck’s coming out but the idea of Eddie, a mexican man with catholic guilt and failed relationships with women, is too insane to happen somehow. And let’s not get into the “theories” about how Eddie, a latino man, is gonna side with Gerrard’s racism because of a mustache but Tommy’s active bigotry towards Chim and Hen during season 2 should be ignored because “he changed”. I wonder WHITE that is...?

[woman-respecter]

seeing so many truly insane takes on 4b here. ppl are acting like this is the most radical extreme thing ever that is going to do horrendous violence and harm to the world. like why does the idea of women not having sex with men offend you this much unless you quietly believe men are entitled to sex w women...something to think about! the new york times has an op-ed up about how a sex strike is a "losing strategy" for American women and part of the article is talking abt how the 4b movement is bad because it "demonizes men". (in fairness to the author that's not the whole argument, but it is part of it that stood out to me.) just wild responses to women saying "hey, i live in a country where getting pregnant might kill me, maybe i don't want to do that." in a way it gives me hope that this movement is actually gaining traction, given the terrified response to it in more mainstream venues. anyways thanks for running this blog, it's a lifeline amidst the blatant misogyny of our current political climate.

yeah like…the thing is even if it was a “losing strategy” it’s still a good personal choice to make? women should be allowed to non-violently protect themselves without a thousand think pieces about how it’s ineffective and evil

i think this is proof we are going in the right direction, if they weren’t freaking out that would prove it’s toothless

[cainhurstundead]

The amount of hate Tyrion gets in the fandom is so over the top. The way book Tyrion specifically is spoken about will often have me wondering if these people have actually read the books or just skimmed the wiki or are just repeating what they heard others say. 

The idea that Tyrion is just a villain and evil is ridiculous. He certainly isn't a saint but people exaggerate how bad he is to an insane degree. It's so hyperbolic at times that with absolutely no book knowledge you'd think he’s another Joffrey or something. There's barely any empathy shown towards his character and it's very clear the fandom holds him to a higher standard then they do the other characters and are more likely to criticize him for things they're quick to praise, show sympathy or just love other characters for. 

This often leads to them either inadvertently or outright validating Cersei and even Tywin’s treatment of him. 

More than once I've seen people in this fandom saying that Cersei had good reason to hate Tyrion and call him a monster or that she and Tywin were right about him all along. It's abuse apologia plain and simple; Tyrion is not pure and perfect so they don't acknowledge him as a victim and instead see his abuse as justifiable. The thing is, there is only ONE reason Cersei calls Tyrion a monster and you know what it is. She has been calling him that since he was a baby for that very reason and has been abusing him since then as well but people act as if she is the real victim in it all. It's like they forget that he's a disabled character who faces constant discrimination and dehumanization even at the hands of his own family. 

Of course Tyrion wants her dead, it's no surprise. Of course he wants revenge and wants every person who’s ever hurt him to burn, but every other character is allowed to hate their abusers and want them dead or want to make them suffer or kill them. They can have all the revenge they desire, but Tyrion is not allowed the same. The bias here is so blatant and there are also the ones who bring up his misogyny while they stan characters that are just as misogynistic as he is or even more so. There's no consistency. 

Tyrion is one of the most interesting and complex characters and it sucks to see him reduced to just some evil guy especially because this is the very thing the books critique but it completely flies over their heads and they just do the exact thing that is being criticized. At the end of the day it's mostly ableism at play and it's not even subtle. 

[stupidlittlespirit]

i've seen the "he'd never date a woman" thing with ford so much, which i think about a lot. like it's one thing to just headcanon him as gay but there are a lot of posts where internalized or blatant misogyny shine bright. one i saw straight up had multiple people going "he respects women too much to want to date/fuck them" like hello? do you realize what you are implying ab real women when you say that?

i'm not great at articulating my thoughts but i think it's especially prominent with ford because of his intelligence + unconventional demeanor. he's off-putting and a genius and didn't want to give up his work to settle down into a standard marriage with kids. women can't be weird or smart in the same way men can for example and all women want the typical white picket fence nuclear family american dream. therefore you are off your gourd if you think he'd ever want to be with a woman. so there’s that on top of the already rampant misogyny present in fandom spaces with shipping especially.

there's also the whole "gibe the oracle your phone number" / "i miss dimension 52" that could have some implications if you want but ig i can't blame people for forgetting jeselbraum because hirsch barely expands on her LOL. but basically it’s all up to interpretation and it really isn’t all that wild to think he could be attracted to women.

personally i just enjoy projecting my own sexuality onto him. “what gender are you attracted to?” don’t care. can i show you my isopod colonies. “how would you describe your sexual attraction?” uhhhhhhhhhhh (<- is probably demisexual)

So, I deleted my post because I felt like I was rehashing points I'd previously made a million times before, but I stand by it.

I want to address what you said and then I want to kind of go on a tangent (shocker, I know) about the interpretation of GF at large because I've been engaging with a lot of Lynch stuff recently, who we know was by and large the most influential person for Hirsch, and one of the biggest things around Lynch's work is the beauty of subjectiveness. I think Hirsch carries that legacy with him at the heart of his work.

So yeah, the comments about Ford 'respecting women too much' is insane. If anyone thinks that they are probably the kind of person who doesn't respect a woman anyway. If your hands sully the one you touch, perhaps your hands were not so clean to begin with, yknow? That's the vibe I always get with those kinds of comments.

Society approaches women so differently from men in this regard, as you said. Where a man is 'quirky' and 'cool', a woman is 'annoying' or 'trying too hard'. She suffers for her differences where as he profits for them. She can only commit the crime of being Cringe, and in my experience, people will forgive many things but never that.

There is certainly merit in the way in which a lot of people recognise that Ford is partial to things that are 'weird' or that are shunned by society, especially because of his hands, and that plays well into Queer culture. It's a feeling most of us (if not all of us) experience. So I can see where there connection comes and it's totally cool to hold that belief. Queer is BIG umbrella and I think he falls under it myself, what with the ace/aro stuff. We're given much more canon evidence of him being ace/aro, in fact, than of anything else. I maintain personally that canon Ford is asexual and aromantic, and that romance doesn't factor into his life in the way it does for 'normal' people. It's why when Bill mentions that quiz Ford does in his dreams in TBoB it makes me think of my own struggles with asexuality: "I'm not normal, everyone else is feeling this type of way and I'm feeling that type of way. There's something wrong with me. I'm weird. I need answers." It feels very much like Ford is attempting to understand that side of himself and is very afraid of the answer.

The Oracle stuff makes me so sad it was never expanded on more. I really love Jheselbraum and it felt like she was one of the first people that Ford met who was of higher intelligence than him, and who actually did just want to help. She extended an extreme kindness to him. Whether it was more than that doesn't even really matter. There was still a relationship formed there that can't be discounted. But again, it can be interpreted in lots of different ways.

This is the other thing. There's nothing wrong with projecting yourself onto your favourite character. We all do it. I do it. It's fun and it brings comfort. And that's okay! But that means we can all do it. So it's unfair for someone else to say "you're wrong for thinking XYZ about Ford" because we're all just kids in a sandbox playing house with these characters. You can't gatekeep someone else's enjoyment.

You can believe Ford is gay. You can believe Ford is ace. You can believe Ford is whatever you want him to be, but what you can't do is then rescind that privilege from someone else just because you don't like it or because it makes you feel better about yourself to punch down on someone else. People are entitled to their own interpretations of media, even if they make you feel uncomfortable or whatever.

Which brings us onto Lynch. Now, I'm not a huge surrealist fan, I like Lynch most for the person that he was (ugh I'm still so sad to type that). One of the biggest things about him was that he valued the intelligence of his audience and respected them enough to allow them the space to interpret his works as they saw fit. He never wanted to define his films in a way that would prevent another person from taking their own meaning from it. There was no definition, only feeling.

There's a clip of him being asked to expand on his meaning for one of his films, I forget which one, and he just replies "no". It's so fucking good because that, to me, is art. It is fundamentally subjective in its existence and the way I view something is not going to be the way someone else does, so why take that interpretation away from one to give to another just for their approval? We may align in thoughts but the way we process the media is going to be entirely different. Why? Because we're different people. Our experiences throughout our lives have informed the way we interact with things.

I think Alex Hirsch enjoys other people making their own interpretations of his work in a similar way. Just as Lynch does. Hirsch wants you, the audience, to derive personal meaning. He doesn't need (or even want) to tell you how to engage with the themes because why would he? It would only make him work harder to get a simpler point across and it would risk alienating parts of his audience. He wants the audience to connect and to find their own familiarities, and he respects his audience enough to give them the space to let them do that. He's often evasive when he's asked to tie things down firmly. To be honest, I think he should be braver in just saying "no, I don't want to answer that" sometimes. You can tell he wants to but he also wants to engage with people so it can be hard.

People are very desperate to want to have answers in black and white. They need things to be canon in order to feel vindicated, when in actual fact, an idea is just as legitimate when it comes to fiction. Fiction IS an idea. It isn't tangible and therefore cannot be quantified, so it can be interpreted however.

Anyway, by forcing your interpretation of the work onto others (ie. 'Ford would never', 'Stan would never' etc), I think you fundamentally misunderstand what the purpose of the work is. You're taking away the light of other people because you're scared yours doesn't shine bright enough. And you're scared because other people previously took your light away, but all you're doing is repeating the cycle and taking away from the rest of us.

Your ideas can coexist with others. No one is right and in that, everyone is right. Does that make sense? Idk.

I voice my opinions of disliking certain ways the fandom engages with elements of the show, but I don't think they have less right to have those ideas than I do to have my own. I interpret Bill as one way and someone else will interpret him another. That's okay. You're allowed to do that. But I don't think you're allowed to be actively vicious to others over it.

Engage with honesty and recognise that other people enjoys things in different ways, and it's okay not to control the narrative of that sometimes.

I have my criticisms of Hirsch but I also have a lot of love for the guy, and one of the biggest things I respect about him is him allowing us to draw our own beliefs. Do I think he could stand to do some things better? Yes. But that doesn't mean I don't love what I already have from his work.

I'm not sure if this makes sense, I'm having a bit of a Day, but I hope it at least reads well enough to convey my meaning.

[freakenomenon]

dude i was gone for like a couple weeks and we are already back on the "ted is mental, he can't help what he does" bullshit,,,

insanity ,, does not excuse blatant misogyny and active racial bias ,, are YOU off of your rocker

[mariacallous]

I love this comment and I also wanted to pull it out so I can go on about it more <3

It wasn't until I finally was honest with myself and accepted my gender identity that I really actually gave any fucks about personal fashion and style - pre-myself me was very much about function, and comfort, and on what I could get away with. I rarely dressed up or got formal, and I was ruled by the multi-event outfit - jeans or slacks paired with a polo shirt or sweater or sweatshirt depending on if I had class or a meeting or what have you. Working in a homeless shelter also amplified that.

Once I finally confronted reality and fully began to inhabit and realize who I was, I also had to confront the fact that not only would I need to dress more how I identified, but that from that moment on it would be scrutinized and likely attacked or demeaned.

It took a good...year or two of experimenting and gradually being bolder and building confidence to understand fit and comfort and personal preference. For a while I was essentially in a more feminine version of my previous standard, and it was rough for all involved. Between weight and learning and seasonality, it wasn't easy or great.

But eventually, you learn, you grow, you get comfortable, and I began to better navigate everything. (I am being completely serious when I say that transitioning made me more of a feminist, because you get to confront the casual and blatant misogyny combined with the transphobia and other bigotries, and that part of all of that involved confronting beauty culture and the insanity of women's clothing and fashions. I'm not saying I'm the best or even consistent with handling that, but it was eye-opening and sobering.)

And so much of the comfort and growth came as a result of thinking about what I liked while suiting me best, and I've always had an affinity and love for the clothes and aesthetics of the 60s-80s - Joan Holloway became even more of an icon at that point - and so I decided to lean into it, and try to make it work for me but also not be just cosplaying.

I like colors and patterns, the fit-and-flare. And, by making it enjoyable and also something more connected to me and who I am and how I felt, it makes so many other things more bearable. And we all need that, at this point.

I think it's also a matter of just going with it. Some days I want to be like a normie Shiv Roy, some days I'm imperialcore bureaucratmaxxing, other days I vamp and vant to be left alone.

I found out that I can at least have some control over something with my outfits and look, and that while that may be all I have control over that day, it isn't nothing, either.

I also really believe that there aren't many rules when it comes to fashion and style, and that the main thing is to find something you can live with and have comfort with.

[the-owl-tree]

It's wild to me that all these years later people are STILL making shit up about Nightcloud. I started writing a whole document about it to just post wherever clearing up misconceptions because good lord 😭 Crystalcolors did irreparable damage to the warriors fandom istg

The most insane take I've seen on her was that she groomed Crowfeather. Yeah. It was argued that "she was a mature older warrior who wanted kits and Crowfeather was desperate to prove his loyalty so she used him to have a family" this was on an +18 (sfw) subreddit for Warriors btw. The people saying this shit were like 20. I have no words

Nightcloud literally appears out of nowhere in Starlight with no mentioned family and by that point Crowfeather is already a warrior (LATE might I add, he was supposed to graduate before arc 2 even starts) there's no way to know how old she is STOP MAKING SHIT UP I WILL EXPLODE YOU WITH MY MIND!!!!

The only real "proof" that we have that Nightcloud is older and wanted kittens is from Cats of the Clans, not any canon source material. Mind you, this field guide is riddled with bias and some really questionable additional information on characters ("Squilf and Brambleclaw are biased, Ashfur's a loyal warrior!" and "Brightheart feels ugly and hideous constantly, she's only beautiful because Cloudtail loves her and he sort of knows how it feels to because he was a kittypet? Don't look too deeply into the horrific implications of this page" and, the infamous "Brambleclaw matches Squirrelflight's fire" AKA he argues with her. all. the. time.).

Nightcloud's page is pretty revealing in the author's bias, considering a majority of this characterization really does not line up in canon-

"If Nightcloud weren't such a huge bitch I'd feel sorry for her. She should be grateful she's Crowfeather's mate and not dead." <- Very normal thing to write, Erins, thank you.

Nightcloud has no confirmed parents, this is entirely retconned in information by whoever wrote this field guide. The idea it should be taken as hard canon when canon actively disproved it is silly. The idea that she groomed Crowfeather, who at the time of their relationship, was a full grown cat (he's a fucking adult at the start of TNP too fyi). The grooming argument is ridiculous, it is just blatant misogyny to make up shit about this nothing ass she-cat character.

Gonna just additionally throw in this post I made covering all of Nightcloud's appearances in Po3-OotS because it's relevant.

[comradekarin]

so i’m not directly for a tiktok ban ig (not completely mad about it, will miss the edits though) but I do think it’s funny when people imply that information they get up there isn’t accessible elsewhere. now, lets pretend for a second that tiktok isn’t filled with blatant misinformation, disinformation, lies, rampant racism/misogyny and political brainrot… i have a hard time agreeing with this idea that carefully algorithmic curated tiktok tidbits by your favorite creator is better than idk actually picking up a fucking book, or reading the newspaper/articles, or watching the news, or paying attention in school or listening to experts in their fields or doing your own research. like the pete hegseth hearing for instance… someone on tiktok was like “god how else would i have been able to listen to this! thank god for this app!” and the hearing was plastered on virtually every platform you can imagine. so im not saying tiktok is completely useless. i have learned things up there i hadn’t known before. but tiktok absolutely should not be a substitute for how you gain and interpret information in the same sense that facebook/twitter also shouldn’t.

information you could find if you just took the time to google it or read about it is not being “uncovered” or “brought to light” by tiktok. that’s how we get insane conspiracy theories.

[tamelee]

Just a little rant about HOW MUCH I FUCKING HATE NARUTO FANBOYS OH MY GAAWWWDDDD besides the obvious reasons (homophobia, misogyny, incels) they worship the shit outta the worse characters ever like Shikamaru and Itachi and Hinata. Like I just saw on the Naruto Reddit (my fault, I know, but I searched something up about Naruto and the first link discussing that was Reddit) and they all used that stupid dumbass filler where Shikamaru was asking his dad about Naruto and why everyone hates him and how he doesn't hate him (even tho in CANON he did 😤) and they all said not only is he a better friend to Naruto than Sasuke ever was but (here we go again) Sasuke's more of a brother 🙄 and they also said Sasuke treated Naruto like trash and was the worst friend 🤦🏻‍♀️ like it's so insane to me the dudebros lack of brain and reading comprehension. Like how do you as a grown ass man not know the difference between what's actually real and what's not about what you're watching? Or maybe it's that they just hate Sasuke so much and how much Naruto loves him and keeps talking about him and how he's his best friend in canon (he said it way too much for me to believe that even these ugly incels couldn't understand) that they'd rather give the credit to someone else that isn't a threat and doesn't make Naruto act borderline homosexual. Oh and they obviously ignore Shikamaru's blatant misogyny and still consider him the best thing ever because why would they care 🙄 anyway end rant, sorry. I just hate this fandom 😭 I stay on my side of things mostly (well, other than this one time. But when I do I just rant about it to someone and move on)

Ah yeah it’s frustrating isn’t it? 

I think it’s obvious if you’ve read the Manga. I wonder if they’ve only seen the Anime and just don’t bother checking what is canon first. So much is changed from Kishimoto’s original. (Has anyone seen that twt discussion on filler? I’d love to read your opinions on it.) 

I mean, Hinata’s supposed backstory with Naruto is just ridiculous, but I don’t understand why people think Naruto was friends with any of them? Even if it’s shown in filler that Naruto was around them or they asked their parents about Naruto... what makes fans say they were friends? 

Sasuke was the only one who acknowledged Naruto with a smile and they weren't even friends until much later.

Right before the exams, Shikamaru tells team 7 not to die. Not because he’s worried for them, but because he believes they’re not capable, largely because of his lack of faith in Naruto. While Naruto calls them idiots and insults both Shikamaru and Hinata as he introduces them to the reader. 

'A big mouth idiot' and a 'weirdo' (I believe he actually also called her creepy but I can't find the translation, but remember when Kushina told Naruto not to go for a weird girl? She used the same words xD) And then Shikamaru immediately wanted to target Naruto in the forest of death.

Had either of them at any point been friendly to Naruto or whatever, then we would’ve known here and Naruto wouldn’t have insulted them like he did (as is his right) because he craved a connection more than anything. It’s ridiculous how the Anime at times just blatantly ignores the lonely misery Naruto had to grow up in (ALONE) in favor of these other characters. As if sugarcoating that would make any of them look less bad. And don't get me started on Hinata during that written test because it's no wonder Naruto got so confused and didn't trust her "kindness".

Regardless, I think a lot of Naruto-fans who tend to glorify any of these friendships and extending it for what it is largely do so because they side with a narrative regarding the system and don't get why Sasuke (and others) challenged it in the first place. Brushing it off like it was some evil, selfish thing. I personally like Shikamaru's development and who he is as a character in the end because him showing change might've been very helpful in actually changing the system had they worked towards that. But you know... we'll never know.

[rivetgoth]

The insane hostility that so many KMFDM fans have towards Lucia Cifarelli’s singing is such blatant misogyny it’s genuinely kinda staggering. Perhaps shouldn’t expect any better from KMFDMheads but like the standards she’s held to in comparison to the dozens and dozens of mediocre male vocalists in the scene is unreal.

[scaly-freaks]

Also, on a side note/rant about the Aemond grooming discourse. My sister was truly up in arms citing specific episodes of the last season to prove that the woman was secretly “in charge,” and a pedophile, because “she continued to see him.” Idk, that rubs me the wrong way, because it truly sounds no different than like people saying “well, she continued to work in that place even though she was sexually harassed, clearly she wanted it.” Like, as you’ve said, even if he was a kid, he’s still the son of a king and has the equivalent to a nuclear bomb at his beck and call. My sister tried to say “well, she could have given him to another sex worker,” like no?? If he asked for her in particular, she’d have no choice; also, idk how it would be any better if she sent him off to have sex with another fully-grown woman.

I sometimes wonder whether this absolutely insane response is the result of some kind of cognitive dissonance that Aemond fans get from seeing someone whom they’ve imagined as this domineering, sex god character act in a submissive way to someone. Like, I have a sneaking suspicion that they wouldn’t have as much of an issue if Aemond were reacting through hypersexuality or rough sex with this woman, even if both were in response to him having/being forced to have sex at a very young age (both of which actually ARE common responses). Like obviously, there is an air of wrongness in the scene, because he very clearly sees her as a type of mother figure, in a way that’s very reminiscent of a son with his mother. That is very alarming, but, again, I don’t think they would have as much of an issue if he were having another common reaction to having sex way too young.

Personally, I never got the “daddy dom” Aemond vibes because literally no aspect of his character would ever scream sex god. From a young age he looked down on Aegon for his drinking and sexual proclivities, his closest confidante is his (until recently) sexually-repressed mother who uses religion as a means of sublimation, he spends all day training, and all night likely reading. So the brothel scenes weren’t shocking to me due to the implications on Aemond’s character (though it was shocking seeing how skinny Ewan Mitchell was). Idk, like you said, it’s just a classic “applying contemporary understandings of power to situations with different contexts of power and oppression than most of us could even comprehend.” And it personally pisses me off to see a woman who had no agency in this scenario be labelled as predatory. Like y’all, Foucauldian power analysis was about the intersectionality of power, aka the ability to hold more power in one context, and far less in a broader context, you can be an abuser in one context, and abused in another. And, in Westeros, there are very, very few contexts that would equate to having more power and agency than the son of a king.

So on one hand, I get annoyed by seeing a woman get shat on by other women as a means to defend their image of a man, an image which I personally find to be entirely inconsistent with his character (so the literary analysis system in me goes berserk like klaxon klaxon does not compute), and also seeing women ignore blatant power imbalances but then invoking them as a means to hate other women. Idk, maybe it’s a trend I’ve noticed, similar to how a “pick me” has morphed from genuine discourse on internalized misogyny to a criticism of any women who don’t necessarily identify with traditionally feminine behaviour (but who are doing so out of genuine interest rather than a desire to appease me). But it does piss me off. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe that groomers should be reviled, but rather, that there’s a huge trend of male or white power being ignored in favour of criticizing the actions of those in the more marginalized position.

Anyways, rant over!

I have noticed that even with a so-called liberal approach to sex work, most people still view sex workers with a degree of disgust and a refusal to humanise them (usually subconsciously, but it filters through in how they speak of them). In-verse, Aemond's disregard for Sylvie - a whore is a whore - was especially telling because everyone last season was swearing up, down and sideways he respected women because he "loves" his mother, or "listened" to Criston. None of the men in this show respect women LMAO not even Corlys (he literally dragged Rhaena for not having a dragon and not knowing anything about the "sea" when Rhaenys said she should take the throne of Driftmark).

Rhaenyra was more powerless than Aemond when Daemon left her alone in that brothel with her pants down. She was a young girl, and she was dressed up as a peasant. The things that might have happened to her if a group of drunk men found her and were too conked out to hear her yell that she's the princess? Unfathomable. But I don't see half the amount of bald outrage for her situation than I do for Aemond's.

I fully agree with you on the case of Aemond's "daddy domification" going way too far. I think he has it in him to rough someone up sexually but it wouldn't be pleasant for them. I think he's selfish, and he only considers his own pleasure/pain and not the pain or discomfort of others (minus that one scene where he apparently felt sorry for Jace, but post-eye-removal, they may have scrapped empathy entirely). I also think he's set up on screen to be this "woe is me", poor little white prince who feels sorry for himself more than he ever does for others, but when the fandom takes it at face value, that's when it gets really fucking annoying.

He burns the Riverlands for fuck's sake. He slaughters men, women and children because he cares about his own feelings of anger and betrayal more than how others will suffer because of them. There is very little feeling in him displayed onscreen, but because straight women have turned him into the archetypal "I'll fix him" trope, now we're seeing Frankenstein-headcanons of a man that doesn't actually exist in the story.

The thing about Aemond being set up as Daemon's foil is that Daemon is shown to care, whether it's about his niece or his brother. Aemond appears to care about nothing but himself. He is the ideal foil because he doesn't give a fuck (do not get me started on that stupid scene of him regretting Luke's death, and not the fact that his nephew is dead because of it).

If Alys is having a ball fucking with Daemon's head, she is not falling in love with a petty little prince like Aemond except to fuck with his head even worse.

I am very objective about Aemond and that's why people may accuse me of not liking him, but I can be very harsh on Aegon too so that's really not an issue.