#mistreatment mention

[whumpshaped]

tw fantasy discrimination (institutionalised), exploitation, mistreatment mention, capitalism

"A conscience? Ethics? I haven't looked for that around here in a long time. I know you're a soulless, disgusting creature. You and your kind... you all are."

Standing at almost seven feet, with broad shoulders, muscles tensing and untensing visibly even under the coat of fur, a mouth full of sharp teeth designed to rip flesh from bone, and a death glare directed straight at the human in question, one might've thought the image was intimidating enough to make them back off. But with two guards on either side of them, equipped with the latest (and deadliest) version of the silver-coated, monster killing weapon family, they could afford to meet her gaze with calculated coolness.

"Surely, scolding me is not the purpose of your visit."

"No. No, it's not." The werewolf, leader of not only her pack, but the entire coalition of non-human creatures, gestured for her assistant to step forward and present the documents.

Her assistant was an unassuming little thing, one chosen specifically for her docile appearance. She must've thought that by choosing a dainty nymph to accompany her on her diplomatic missions, the picture would be a little more balanced; at the very least, humans wouldn't employ twice the guards for every meeting.

She spread out the papers on the desk, then gracefully stepped back to allow the human to look them over. It was complaint after complaint, pleading letters, terrified confessions from every creature on land, in sea, and air, all about one corporation, the director of which was sitting in front of the two of them.

"How could you have let this happen?" she snarled, fangs bared in a clear display of disgust and anger. "I know damn well- we all know damn well that rich human fucks love to abuse and take advantage of my people. So you, as someone who is working with hundreds if not thousands of them should've put in place strict measures to keep those people out of this corporation."

"Madam Chancellor, please, no need for such vulgarities-"

She slammed her clawed hand down on the table, letting out a frustrated, animalistic growl, ignoring the four weapons now pointed directly at her. "I will speak however I please, and you, Director, will listen. Get these people out of your corporation. I know there's not a smidgeon of empathy in that cold, dead heart of yours, but to think that you wouldn't even care about your billion dollar company is beyond me. Do you care for nothing but causing misery? Is that your sole motivation for getting out of bed in the morning?"

"I must ask you to refrain from making such accusations, ma'am," they said calmly, staring up into her glowing, yellow eyes. "I will keep the copies of these documents, and have my employees look through them. We will conduct thorough investigations, I assure you. Anyone found guilty of the crimes you've mentioned earlier will be let go."

"You have three months, Director. And during those months, while you conduct your investigation, you will make sure that the suspects don't set foot in this building, nor any of the others you own. Am I clear?"

"Very."

There was not an ounce of fear in their eyes, a fact that she could only lament. Slowly, she straightened up again, waiting until the guards lowered their weapons as well. "Good," she said finally. "Our meeting is concluded, then. I expect regular reports sent to my office."

"Of course, ma'am."

"I hope I won't have to barge into this office ever again, Director."

As they watched the two beasts leave, the human could barely stifle a laugh. Inflicting misery, as their sole motivation? Oh, what a ridiculous idea. No, they were a businessman through and through. Money had always been the only thing that dictated which direction to take the company in.

At the same time, these primitive monsters failed to realise that the billion dollar corporation was not the actual money making machine. The company was the cover-up, the ruse designed to lure hundreds of their kind to this one place with the promise of a well-paying, flashy career; a cover-up that had gotten a little too successful by complete accident.

The business, the real money was in letting those people in, the ones she expected them to now fire. And of course, they would, because it didn't matter in the slightest. Whether they were listed as employees and granted access to these disposable freaks that way, or they were simply let in through a backdoor, or invited to afterparties, it didn't matter. The money was going to keep flowing regardless.

They picked up one of the papers, scanning the tearful testimony with critical eyes. Oh, they were about to launch an investigation alright, and they were going to make sure that there would be no complaints like this in the future.

"Bring these over to my secretary," they ordered nonchalantly. "I want to know the sender of each individual complaint."

~

@ashh-ed @whumpsday @whump-queen @the-scrapegoat @hidden-dreamland @rosewriteswhump

[kindnessoverperfection]

Please, if you can, take a moment to read and share this because I feel like I'm screaming underwater.

NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) stigma is rampant right now, and seems to be getting progressively worse. Everyone is using it as a buzzword in the worst ways possible, spreading misinformation and hatred against a real disorder.

I could go on a long time about how this happened, why it's factually incorrect (and what the disorder actually IS), why it's harmful, and the changes I'd like to see. But to keep this concise, I'll simply link to a few posts under the cut for further reading.

The point of this post is a plea. Please help stop the spread of stigma. Even in mental health communities, even around others with personality disorders, in neurodivergent "safe" spaces, other communities I thought people would be supportive in (e.g. trans support groups, progressive spaces in general), it keeps coming up. So I'm willing to bet that a lot of people on this site need to see this.

Because it's so hard to exist in this world.

My disorder already makes me feel as if I'm worthless and unlovable, like there's something inherently wrong and damaged about me. And it's so much harder to fight that and heal when my daily life consists of:

Laughing and spending time with my friends, doing my utmost best to connect and stay present and focused on them, trying to let my guards down and be real and believe I'm lovable- when suddenly they throw out the word "narcissist" to describe horrible people or someone they hate, or the conversation turns to how evil "people with narcissistic personality disorder" are. (Seriously, you don't know which of your friends might have NPD and feels like shit when you say those things & now knows that you'd hate them if you knew.)

Trying to look up "mental health positivity for people with npd", "mental health positivity cluster bs", only to find a) none of that, and b) more of the same old vile shit that makes me feel terrible about myself.

Having a hard time (which is constant at this point) and trying to look up resources for myself, only to again, find the same stigma. And no resources.

Not having any clue how to help myself, because even the mental health field is spitting so much vitriol at people with DISORDERS (who they're supposed to be helping!) that there's no solid research or therapy programs for people like me.

Losing close friends when they find out, despite us having had a good relationship before, and them KNOWING me and knowing that I'm not like the trending image of pwNPD. Because now they only see me through the lens of stigma and misinformation.

Hearing the same stigma come up literally wherever I go. Clubs. Meetings. Any online space. At the bus stop. At the mall. At a restaurant. At work. Buzzword of the year that everyone loooves loudly throwing around with their friends or over the phone. Feels awesome for me, makes my day so much better/s

I could go on for a long time, but I'm scared no one will read/rb this if it gets too much longer.

So please. Stop using the word "narcissist" as a synonym for "abusive".

Stop bringing up people you hate who you believe to have NPD because of a stigmatizing article full of misinformation whenever someone with actual NPD opens their mouth. (Imagine if people did that with any other disorder! "Hey, I'm autistic." "Oh... my old roommate screamed at me whenever I made noise around him, and didn't understand my needs, which seems like sensory overload and difficulty with social cues. He was definitely autistic. But as long as you're self-aware and always restraining your innate desire to be an abusive asshole, you're okay I guess, maybe." ...See how offensive and ignorant that is?)

Stop preventing healthcare for people with a disorder just because it's trendy to use us as a scapegoat.

If you got this far, thank you for reading, and please share this if you can. Further reading is under the cut.

NPD Criteria, re-written by someone who actually has NPD

Stigma in the DSM

Common perception of the DSM criteria vs how someone may actually experience them (Keep in mind that this is the way I personally experience these symptoms, and that presentation can vary a lot between individuals)

"Idk, the stigma is right though, because I've known a lot of people with NPD who are jerks, so I'm going to continue to support the blockage of treatment for this condition."

(All of these were written by me, because I didn't want to link to other folks' posts without permission, but if you want to add your own links in reblogs or replies please feel free <3)

[blackpearlblast]

"i hope you get into a clown car accident involving hammers" <- worse than death and rapes threats according to staff.

because it's directed at them and not marginalized people on their website :)

[dykedvonte]

I think a big misunderstanding is the power people give Curly to actually change things about the way the pony express operates or could’ve done things on the Tulpar.

We are talking about a company that docks pay for bad synergy despite mandated psych evals that should tell which staff members would work well together, only allots for 5 hours of sleep despite having literally no other tasks to truly do and locks all resources behind the access of one person. The last one is likely to manage resources and make it easier to justify collective punishment and blaming one person for it; someone needs something in “excess” or the captain gives in? It’s all on them your pay is docked. Instant resentment.

It’s insidious how the company works, it’s by design to distract you from coming after them, to force tensions to line their own pockets. With all the restrictions and forced interactions, altercations are bound to happen. 5 hours of sleep a day, limited sources of entertainment, no real tasks… the monotony alone would cause bad cabin fever, mix that with just only one absolute mediator and you get the exact environment that allows shit like in the game to happen.

The idea he could just complain and try to throw his weight around to get them to dig into their pocket for the crews comfort is laughable and misses the predatory and dehumanizing aspect of capitalism the Pony Express represents. Curly was and is still just another asset to them. Being a top show pony doesn’t mean he’s anywhere close to the actual top. He is the top of the working ladder, not whoever’s in corporate, he wouldn’t even be on the bottom step unlike what Jimmy perceives. The resounding recommendations he would get are almost mocking as they throw him out like nothing just like the rest. Being a shitty fucking company, how much do you bet they’d mean anything anyways, especially since he wanted to leave the field all together.

He made a fuss and they didn’t listen, he says he should’ve done more but you can tell he knows it wouldn’t have changed anything. Jobs like this are willing to make a sacrifice if it means even a penny more. Curly makes a bigger fuss they likely would’ve just found an “unrelated” reason to fire him, hired a more pliable guy or, terrifyingly, promoted Jimmy. The company was failing, going to shut down whether anything happened on the ship or not. But knowing that they were shutting down and that everyone, including him, would be out of a job with this being their last paycheck, he had to factor in not destroying the last bit of their financial stabilities combined with every other issue on the vessel and his own. He gets another cryopod or locks and then he has to break to them that they are not only fired but there will be substantial cuts to their paychecks due to the “upgrades” (things that already should’ve been in place on their part) on top of anything else that could be docked along the way.

You can blame him for saying it so early into the trip but then again, if he mentioned it later who’s to say it wouldn’t have been worse? On the capitalism side alone how would people in a galaxy away from home, out of a job and already stir crazy react? Don’t get me started on how Jimmy would have reacted if he realized he only had two days left to fix what would be a very hard to miss “problem” in his head…

I can’t even consider explaining this as devils advocate because it’s just facts of the world we and they live in and factors that heavily affected the situation. People are just so quick to make claims on the ease of the choices when P.E literally makes it hard to choose to do anything but suck it up.

[diamondsunbursts-and-marblehalls]

“Like when you were drinking in the parking lot when Robby was born, no wonder Robby’s so messed up.”

get him miguel

[toddtakefive]

breaking my silence: i think a lot of anderperry angst mischaracterizes them so badly it’s impossible to take seriously or enjoy. neil in particular is almost always made into some raging asshole for… some reason? and it makes him so unrecognizable it’s almost insulting to his character

[trash-gremlin]

could you imagine how good spirit animals would be if it wasn't written as a children's series

[thetempestechoes]

Actually, Es is their own person.

I see a lot of people treat Es like an audience self-insert, a complete blank slate for the audience to project their thoughts onto. But I think there's more to Es and their character than that, and I think that if you treat them as characterless, you're doing their character a massive disservice. Here's a (relatively) short post about why.

From the very beginning, Jackalope encourages Es to accept Milgram as their identity, wholly, and encourages the audience to look at Es like a blank slate. Jackalope even says in one of the Milgram timelines that the only way the audience can affect events in Milgram is through Es (how this interacts with the voices heard by the prisoners is for a different post). From the very beginning, Es is presented to the audience as a vessel for them to look at Milgram through.

But Es isn't a blank slate. Es did accept Milgram as their whole identity very early on, but it's important to remember that they are a teenager who remembers almost no personal information except for their age, who wakes up in a completely unfamiliar environment with no frame of reference for the sort of situation they've ended up in. That makes it much easier for Milgram to become Es's identity, because they have almost nothing else to latch onto. Any questioning of this causes them to be mentally barred from thinking about it further, even progressing to breakdowns when pushed (such as in Muu's first VD).

Es and Amane are remarkably similar in their perspectives in that sense. Amane justifies her actions by using the rules of the cult she's grown up in; Es is doing their utmost best to follow the rules laid out to them by Milgram. Even when Fuuta points out just how similar Es's situation is to the rest of the prisoners, Es rejects this - simply because they are the warden, and by Milgram's rules, that means they're in charge. Es and Amane's agencies are both downplayed or even outright denied by people within Milgram or the audience, mostly because of their ages, and they both resent this.

Es physically isn't allowed to doubt Milgram, and not only that, but doubting Milgram means doubting themself, because it's become their entire identity. They are the warden, that is what they do, that is their job, this is irrefutable and doubting this means doubting their very being. Even if doubting Milgram didn't push them into breakdown territory, I think it's understandable that doubting the thing that has become the core of their identity would give them an existential crisis. Whoever Es used to be is suppressed as much as possible. Milgram wants Es to be that blank slate, that audience vessel, but Es is also a person. And no-one is a complete blank slate.

[pigeon-butch]

I certainly have my own concerns about the treatment of moo deng but um. well i think some of you may just be racist

[uncanny-tranny]

People who compare transition to self harm or use real people they know who've self-harmed as a metaphorical comparison to transitioning aren't making the gotcha they think they're making - they're just showing that they don't have the compassion or maturity to engage with either topic at even a conversational level.

And, frankly, it's infuriating as a person who does see those who self-harm as my equal who doesn't need to be used as a cudgel against another group of often vulnerable people.

[0sbrain]

his ass is lying

[memoriamp4]

I can't stop thinking about how Astrid says to Hiccup "Figure out which side you're on", and a short while later, after bonding with Toothless, he goes to the cove with the full intent of running away with Toothless. He chose his side and it wasn't Berk or his father, it was Toothless, a dragon that he was taught to fear his entire life. It's really sad to think about the fact that Hiccup had been treated so terribly his whole life that he was going to run away with a dragon that he had known for maybe a month. And it didn't even seem like Hiccup had any difficulty choosing Toothless over Berk/Stoick

[decidedly-not-heterosexual]

What do you think about Will makes him Hannibal/ bluebeard's last wife? And how did that line make Will realise that Hannibal is in love with him?

Hi Anon! So, my familiarity with Bluebeard comes from two adaptations (Catherine Breillat's 2009 film Bluebeard and Angela Carter's short story The Bloody Chamber). The film especially seems to match the most common portrayal of the Bluebeard story. Though, like all fairytale/folk tales, there are variations.

In gist: Bluebeard is a rich nobleman. All of his wives have gone missing. His young wife is aware of these disappearances, yet still chooses to marry him and leave her family. Bluebeard gives his wife a key to a chamber and tells her not to open the chamber. He goes on a trip. The wife opens the chamber and sees the corpses of his former lovers. Bluebeard comes back earlier, having given his wife the key as a test of loyalty. Betrayed, he prepares to kill his wife. His wife stalls so that her sister has time to come and kill Bluebeard.

In terms of connections to Hannibal:

Will goes back to Hannibal in S3 while knowing that Hannibal is a killer. Will even orchestrates Hannibal's escape from prison. This parallels Bluebeard's last wife marrying Bluebeard while very likely knowing he's a killer. She knows that, even if she's "special," her fate could be the same as the other wives.

In Breillat's film, Bluebeard truly does love his last wife. Yet he still gives her the key to test her loyalty. This puts the wife in an impossible position. She has to know what lies beyond the chamber door. This parallels Hannibal's tests of Will throughout the show. Because Hannibal loves Will, he wants Will to love the entirety of his monstrous self.

Take Hannibal's wrath in Mizumono. Will has to betray Hannibal because of who he is: someone desperately trying to hold onto their "goodness" by catching killers, rather than being one. Similarly, Bluebeard's wife, as a curious child, has to open the chamber door.

Will betrays Hannibal by setting up a sting. Even though he backtracks, Hannibal doesn't care--the betrayal is still there.

Hannibal says "I forgive you, Will. Will you forgive me?" and kills Abigail, an innocent. This parallel's Bluebeard's wrath when his wife betrays him and he plans to kill the wife, who is also innocent.

There are some interesting differences here. Hannibal kills someone else rather than Will. Unlike Bluebeard, Hannibal is willing to set up another test after Will betrays him.

Will stalls. He does love Hannibal. But Will can't let go of who he is--or who he wants to be. (I think Will's desire to not be a killer is as much a part of his character as him enjoying killing). Rather than becoming a fully-fledged killer, Will chooses to kill Hannibal. This parallels how the wife's sister kills Bluebeard.

In Hannibal, Will is the beloved and the killer. There is no external "sister" to sweep in and save him. He chooses to kill the monster, who he loves, also killing himself in the process.

Will himself is somewhat of a monster, having embraced his "becoming" and being a murder. So, along with being a victim of Hannibal's, he's also complicit in Hannibal's evil, and can't stand to betray his strongly-held values.

As another parallel, maybe Bluebeard's wife was suicidal, choosing to marry him when all his wives have disappeared...

So yeah. The monster (Hannibal/Bluebeard) cherishes their beloved (Will/Bluebeard's wife). But the monster has an evil that is too great. The monster asks their beloved an impossible task, which requires being complicit in the monster's evil, and requires the beloved going against their own nature. The beloved can't stomach the task. Then the monster has to kill their beloved. But the monster ends up being killed by their beloved.

PS: When I made that post I actually didn't remember that Bedelia has a quote mentioning Bluebeard's wife and wanting to be the last wife😭 Lmao. There's a whole other analysis as to how Bluebeard applies to Bedelia. As such, I'm not sure if that line made Will realize Hannibal was in love with him. PPS: Sorry for the late reply! I knew it would take me a while to type out my thoughts on this and I didn't have the spoons until now. I really appreciate the question!!

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

crew-ra: we're calling it she-ra and the princesses of power because our show is about girl power and we want to include all the princesses to show how strong women can be!

also crew-ra: but most of them are useless and overdone archetypes who serve no real purpose to the story. the only princesses who get some sort of arc or development are glimmer, scorpia and entrapta.

[tropicalcontinental]

I got curious about what Chris was exactly prescribed at Desiderium Asylum and how like, bad the place was at doing its job. Legit take everything I typed with a pinch of salt, I am in no way a professional or even remotely knowledgeable enough when it comes to things like this.

So like it's clear that the "medical" treatment that Chris went through in Desiderium Asylum was extremely abusive. But I was curious as to what the medicine Chris was prescribed actually does. And like, the main two are Benzodiazepines and Aripiprazole Capsules. Hell, he got a stronger dose of Benzodiazepines before being prescribed Aripiprazole Capsules.

(These are his patient files by Dr. Rue in order)

And it's unknown if Chris had any counseling at the ward alongside prescription drugs, but it seems like Dr. Rue is knowledgeable enough of Chris (knowing he had "hallucinations", knowing his claims of not being alone at night, and straight up diagnosing him with Bipolar Disorder + PTSD) that I'm assuming Dr. Rue (whose full name is Dr. Runesworth, ain't that neat) was his psychiatrist.

So like, from what I gathered from a few quick searches, Benzodiazepines can be used to treat insomnia and anxiety on the long-term, and are used short-term for sedation. Aripiprazole Capsules are used to treat mania episodes in Bipolar Disorder (Type I) (It's kinda odd that the patient file didn't specify which type of BD Chris had, but also it fits for the sake of story, and also the asylum is like, already below the bar for standards.)

Considering Chris was feeling watched (or in this case smiled) at night, and was found wandering the halls before being put on Aripiprazole, the Benzodiazepines prescription seems to make sense (treating his restlessness and overall anxiety considering everything.) And the Aripiprazole seems to make sense too, or at least I think so? They're an anti-psychotic, but that seems to be mainly for some symptoms of schizophrenia, while it's prescribed to treat the manic episodes of BD (though manic episodes can include psychosis, which can include hallucinations, so maybe that's what they're trying to treat? Idk man. The emphasis on auditory hallucinations instead of like, idk, Chris being in a manic episode is weird. But also, it's Desiderium. Two other people appear to have killed themselves in this place.)

But then it's like, bro, the side-effects. Like, the time frame as to how long Chris was at this asylum is unknown, but it seems like being on Benzodiazepines will lead to a tolerance and major side effects, especially if it's long term. And well, on the patient files, Chris has been prescribed an even larger dose of Benzodiazepines after already have taken them.

And being the mild sedations that they are, the side-effects include fatigue and drowsiness. And then the other side effects include trouble coordinating, confusion, and impaired thinking and memory loss. And this is off the basis that Desiderium isn't a good place to be if actual care is wanted. So like, it's already bad. And then the dosage gets increased. So I imagine these symptoms get worse.

Then there's the fact that the side-effects can also cause the opposite problem of what the prescription is trying to treat (I think they call these paradoxical symptoms.) This includes restlessness and being unable to sleep. Then there's the Aripiprazole Capsules. Like, in conjunction with Benzodiazepines, the side-effects caused by Benzodiazepines can worsen.

(It can also be extrapolated that his later prescription of Aripiprazole Capsules was around the time he was diagnosed with BD. Or maybe they just waited to prescribe it to him, idk man.)

And it's like, they give him more drugs?? Like in the patient file before the Fixing Room, it's stated that no medicine is having any effect on him. There's a gap there that we don't get to see.

So like, hey man! I think we know why he got worse! It's not only Smiler's fault! Bruh.

(Also sources:)

[kyouka-supremacy]

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