#one dimensional abuser or something

[records-of-a-slacker]

Man that breakup must've been crazy.

Spin this wheel of ~300 AO3 tags three times.

[light-wrath-paradise]

I respect the hater mindset of this letsplayer but also he uses 24/7 of his letsplay to hate on my son and what's worse is he hates him for the wrong reasons.

[suigenerisisadiva]

Between Worlds, Between Us - Mark Grayson x Batsis!reader

Pairing: Mark Grayson x Batsis!Reader + Batfam x Batsis!Reader

Summary: After an engineering failure on behalf of Cecil, he crash-landed into Gotham, the city of crime, corruption and a cauldron of Bat(themed-vigilantes)s, the most intriguing of them all being you. You patched him up, insulted his flying, and disappeared.

Neither of you expected to flirt mid-fight, or work well together, or think about it afterward. No names. No identities. Just quick banter, bruised knuckles, and the kind of tension that makes your brothers suspicious.

He thinks you’re mysterious. You think he’s kind of hot when he’s not crashing into buildings. You both think it’s definitely a one-time thing.

Spoiler: it’s not.

He might be Invincible. But you’re inevitable. Part 2 is here!

Content warnings: Swearing, teasing, violence, mentions of bloodA/N: I love Invincible guys

The night was wet and thick with neon haze—exactly the kind of night Gotham liked to dress up in. Rooftops slick. Sirens bouncing off alleyways. Somewhere, someone screamed, which was pretty standard at this point.

You crouched at the edge of the parking garage roof, boots planted steady, watching the idiot in the sky.

He wasn’t a Gotham name. Not one of yours.

Bright blue. Golden-yellow. Hair whipping in the wind as if he thought it looked cool.

He hovered awkwardly over the warehouse below, scanning too slowly, too openly. You could see the hesitation in his posture. like he wasn’t used to the air here. Like he’d just realised Gotham didn’t have air. Just smoke, gunpowder, and judgement.

You pressed a finger to your comm.

“Oracle, Gotham's got a flier, clad in blue and yellow. New guy.”

“Confirmed. Invincible. Cross-dimensional. Vouched by Cecil Stedman of the GDA. Try not to hurt him.”

“No promises.”

You cut the comm and rose silently.

Let’s see how “Invincible” he really is.

You dropped behind him with the grace of a threat. The quiet sound of your boots on concrete made him spin in the air, startled.

His eyes landed on you, dark armour, blank expression, the bat crest clear and quiet across your chest. You didn’t speak.

You didn’t have to.

“Oh,” he said. “You’re—uh—one of them.”

You tilted your head. “One of?”

“The Bat people. The... scowl-and-vanish crew.” He chuckled sheepishly, hand on the back of his neck, an adorable gesture.

You blinked. Then smirked. Just barely.

“And you’re the one wrecking Gotham’s skyline like it’s a tourist attraction.” You said, sass laced in your sultry tone.

“Guilty,” he said, holding up both hands. “In my defence, I only knocked over, like, one smokestack. And that building was already leaning.”

“And the gang you chased into it?”

“Still conscious. Mostly.”

You paced slowly toward the ledge, watching the warehouse below. He floated closer to hover beside you, arms folded, you took a note of how his suit clung to his frame, the yellow fore-arm guards highlighting the contours of the muscle. (Sorry guys I think I like men with massive arms it's just really hot imo , comment if you agree)

“You’ve got a name?” you asked, not looking at him.

“Invincible.” He spoke, sounding very vincible whilst saying it, like his name was a foreign concept.

You glanced sideways.

“That’s a bold thing to name yourself.”

“Yeah,” he said, suddenly conscious. “Bit much. Wasn’t my idea.”

You hummed.

“And you are?” he asked, almost teasing.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“...Yeah,” he said, and that grin flickered across his mouth again. “I would.”

You looked at him properly this time. Up close, he wasn’t what you expected. Not just the usual flyboy muscles and cocky attitude. There was something thoughtful in the way he held himself, almost like he was still getting used to his own strength. Like he’d been hit more than once and still hadn’t decided if he liked it.

He was… kinda cute.

Unfortunately.

You dropped off the roof without another word. He followed.

You fought together for ten minutes in a graffiti-abused hallway. He took a hit for you. You knocked someone out before he could thank you. You both leaned against opposite walls, breathing hard, grinning through the blood.

“Nice moves,” he said.

“You’re not bad for a flying hammer.”

“So…. can I get your number?”

You looked him up and down. Still catching your breath. Still smiling, but not saying why.

“Ask me again after you learn to land without blowing out someone’s windows.”

“That’s gonna take a while.”

“Then we’ve got time.”

You threw a smoke pellet and vanished. Classic.

Mark coughed. He was still smiling when the smoke cleared.

Back at the Batcave

Jason was the first to bring it up.

“She’s smiling again. That’s suspicious.”

Tim looked up from his screen. “She always smiles after punching someone.”

“No,” said Dick, arms folded. “This is different. This is... rooftop flirtation energy. Bat-and-Cat style.”

They all turned when you walked in, still peeling off your gloves, damp from the rain, bruise blooming beneath your jaw.

“You meet the alien?” Dick asked.

“Maybe.”

“You like him?” He pried, tone curious and inquisitive.

“Don’t be weird Dickhead” You shot back.

Jason leaned closer, squinting. “You’re humming.”

“No, I’m not.” You responded, smiling behind your words.

“You only hum when you like someone or you’ve just committed a felony.”

“...Maybe I did both.” You shot your famous million-dollar smile/

They all groaned.

You walked past them with a smirk.

In another world, Mark Grayson lay in bed that night, staring at his ceiling.

“I have no idea who she is,” he told Rex over the phone. “But I think she’s the most interesting person I’ve ever met.”

"Ugh, Mark you cheesy nerd." Rex chided, secretly happy his close friend had prospects of finding huzz.

He didn’t know your name.

But he’d remember your smile.

And the way it felt to orbit your gravity.

And he realised...

He realised he actually liked it.

Hope you all enjoyed this! Likes, comments, reblogs and requests are highly appreciated! Requests are open!

Sources! -

Dividers - @omi-resources

Icon Header - @parkons

Property of suigenerisisadiva, do not repost my work pls & ty

[girl-singing-in-the-wreckage]

William Afton character rambling (SOTM spoilers ahead)

I see a lot of people complaining that Afton’s character has “changed” and that he’s “turned him from a villain with a backstory to a one dimensional villain who’s just evil to be evil.”

I hate to burst your bubble, but he’s always been that way. The point of William Afton as a character is that he’s a total loser who hides in a fucking rabbit suit. He’s not some overpowered supervillain, he’s a loser obsessed with becoming overpowered and knocking people off their pedestals so he can take it over.

Why do you think he targets children? They are smaller than him, easily manipulated. Adults are mostly killed by him in a secondhand way (possessed animatronics that he manipulated into doing his bidding), but he’s never the one doing that work.

Why do you think he sends Michael to the bunker? Because he doesn’t care if Michael dies. He knows the risks, but he views his own son as more of a tool.

The Silver Eyes straight up describes him as someone who spent a some of his life mistreated (whether that be he came from an abusive home, or something else), and rather than growing from that and being good — he “takes on the bitter mantle of sadism himself.” If you read between the lines of TSE trilogy, the journals are pointing out that he’s so obsessed with Henry’s abilities that it’s essentially just the incessant rambles of a madman. What does he do? He kills Charlie, which effectively drives Henry to kill himself. With Henry gone, William starts ripping his shit from him.

Sounds familiar? That’s literally what happens in SOTM. Edwin is just TSE Henry with a fake mustache slapped on him. William snatching shit and causing downfalls isn’t a new concept, it’s at the core of his character. He’s an evil man for the sake of self-serving to get what he wants. He doesn’t care about what he has to do, or who he has to knock out of his way, he only cares for himself. The people he surrounds himself are just stepping stools he uses to boost himself, and when he doesn’t need them, he rids of them (we see this in the movie with Vanessa. When she stands in the way of getting to Abby and Mike, he tries to kill her).

William is literally a grown up, bratty kid who throws tantrums when things don’t go their way.

He isn’t a villain born from tragedy, William Afton is a villain of his own making because he likes it that way. He gets joy out of destruction and taking things for himself.

And before anyone tries to bring up “but fnaf 4 is showing that his son died!!” I beg you to put yourself back in the fnaf 1-4 era where one of the biggest questions was “why the hell do nightguards keep coming back night after night?”

Because fnaf 4 wasn’t showing William’s motive, it was showing Michael’s motivation and why he goes through hell to try and undo everything. Michael made a mistake that he’s trying to redeem himself for. A child’s death wasn’t what marked the downfall of William Afton, William did it to himself by being a shady, selfish businessman.

[namisweatheria]

I feel like we don't discuss Nami's relationship with gender enough. Her entire character is so deeply informed by being a girl in a male-dominated pirate world and it's so interesting and so worth talking about.

The background creepiness of Bad pirate crews, which are most of them, how they tend to not have any female crew members at all, how they beckon any pretty young woman around to come play with them and join them. It's real bad. It's also like, a totally 2 dimensional portrayal of evil that is reserved for the most background of background characters.

However I think their ubiquity says a lot about how piracy is meant to be perceived by the public in One Piece, and is one of the strongest indicators of how prevalent misogyny is in-world.

It's very normal in One Piece for regular island inhabitants to have never met a Different class of pirate in their life. There's no reason for them to withhold judgement that maybe these pirates won't be like every crew that attacked before, and to wait and judge them by their actions. I mean frankly that would be irrationally weak self-preservation.

There are people who live peacefully under the flags of Yonkos who protect them, and feel loyalty and gratitude to them for it, but that seems to only be thing with very big name pirates. The East Blue, being the weakest and least populated, has no such plethora of powerful people and resulting turf wars.

So. Nami. Is very clearly implied to have never met any Different pirates before. I'm thinking about what that means. About how every group of pirates she stole from were creepy, dangerous men. How she started going out stealing when she was still a young child. How she didn't have a mother anymore to guide her or comfort her. How Arlong would grab her chin inappropriately, talk about her as a "human female", as property, and god knows what else.

How all the men in Arlong's crew treated her patronizingly, pretending they're all friends, teasing her and playing at respect when really not a single one of them ever stuck up for her or hesitated to accuse her of betrayal. Who were always ready to kill her if she refused to cooperate. Who grabbed her and intimidated her when they felt like it.

That's what she had to come back to after a close call with stealing from other predatory men, instead of the relief of home there was a dark, cramped room filled with endless hours of misery and isolation and blood. Where any one of her captors could barge in and demand new maps, work faster, where did you go, you took too long again this time. Endless threats and incursions.

I'm thinking about that her fight scene in Alabasta, where she tumbles and rips off her cape and uses it to catch her enemy's spikes, before leaping to her feet and running out the back door, all in one moment. How it makes her enemy reconsider her and think, "so the girl's not a total novice at fighting after all." What that implies about her experiences as a young thief. The times she wasn't fast or clever enough and had to fight and claw her way out. Why she always carried a staff and a knife. Why she was the only one before Chopper who had any medical knowledge or experience.

You know she was stitching herself up. And the weapons, how do you think she learned to use those? If any of the Arlong Pirates helped her it wasn't out of kindness and it wasn't gentle.

Then I think about Nojiko, and Bellemere's memory, and the only softness in a hard life. How easily Nami connects to every young woman experiencing hardship that she meets. How completely she dismisses the struggles of men unless they mean something to her and are going through something terrible. The way that Nami only has sympathy for women and children is easily noticeable in-text, but it's also something confirmed in those words by the author. And it's clearly because of the life she lived, the men who had all the power and only abused it, who saw her as nothing but a girl to take advantage of, without anyone aside from her sister clearly knowing and caring about any of it.

Nami clearly isn't bitter, she doesn't think the world owes her recompense, on the contrary she knows she is far from the only person in the world to suffer the things she has suffered. She is endlessly reaching out and kind, but only to those that she isn't sure would get help without her. Certainly, before Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro, no man ever reached out a hand to her without an ulterior motive.

I think when she sees a girl in trouble, a girl biting her lip to hold in a scream of grief, a girl running in the woods away from a monster, a girl captured by pirates, she sees someone who no one is coming for. Who no one will stick up for. A person without allies in a world against her. Whether it's actually true in this case or not, she runs straight for that girl anyways every single time.

[sunderwight]

Shen Yuan who glitches in his transmigration, but the original Shen Qingqiu still dies of a qi deviation.

So the System still needs someone with narrative relevance to throw Luo Binghe into the Abyss. In a fit of desperation, it contrives circumstances after Shen Qingqiu's death to move Luo Binghe to An Ding Peak (not that difficult), and then the System makes Shang Qinghua be Luo Binghe's new scum master who casts him down.

Airplane's thrilled, really. Cultivators aren't supposed to get ulcers but damned if he doesn't come close to one anyway. Between Shen Qingqiu and then just a while later Liu Qingge both dying from qi deviations, and Shang Qinghua looking like a stiff breeze could take him out any day now, poor Mu Qingfang is also just about at his wits' end.

But it's not all bad news! On An Ding Peak, Luo Binghe actually finds himself surrounded by the kinds of people who are accustomed to being bullied by the rest of the sect. So they're pretty sympathetic to him, and it's easier for someone with basic laboring skills to advance on that peak too. His chores don't decrease too much, but he actually gets rewarded for doing them well, and no one tries to kick him out of the dorms or anything. Shang Qinghua doesn't either go out of his way to bully or praise Luo Binghe, correctly reasoning that his best shot at not getting a gruesome death is to just be a more forgettable bad guy than an abusive dirtbag or a heart-wrenching betrayal. He doesn't sabotage Luo Binghe's cultivation (no point, and it would just farm resentment later) but he also doesn't go out of his way to help him improve (not gonna arm his inevitable maybe-probably-murderer with better weapons!), so Luo Binghe's situation sees an overall improvement but not the zero-to-hero treatment he'd have got with Shen Yuan either.

When Shang Qinghua shoves Luo Binghe into the Abyss (he just full on picks him up and tosses him like a sack of beans, better to rip it off quick like a bandage), LBH is upset, but he's not especially surprised or dismayed about Shang Qinghua's part in it. Later on he'll be kind of confused, because he just assumed that of course the righteous sect cultivator would abhor the demon, but it turns out Shang Qinghua has been working for a demon since before Luo Binghe even came to the sect? But then it still kind of makes sense because a Heavenly Demon would definitely pose a risk to Mobei Jun and to Mobei Jun's rule. Shang Qinghua, he supposes, is just really loyal to his specific demon.

Luo Binghe's subsequent revenge quest is also somewhat mitigated by the Abyss actually not being that bad.

The Abyss is not actually that bad thanks to the glitched out Shen Yuan having been camping there for several years now.

So when Shen Yuan's transmigration failed it failed because he "woke up" during the process, realized where the System intended to put him, was like no way in goddamn hell am I being that guy about it, and actually kind of won the ensuing tug-of-war. The System couldn't put him in Shen Qingqiu but Shen Yuan didn't want to go back to his dead body either, so he ended up stuck in the nearest available space for lost interdimensional beings. Which was the Endless Abyss.

Luckily Shen Yuan's quasi-transmigrated imparted an equivalent cultivation level as Shen Jiu's to him, and the glitch made him able to sense and manipulate certain extra-dimensional energies, so he manifested as this weird godlike being able to manipulate and control aspects of the Abyss. So he set about transforming Airplane's Torment Nexus into a viable ecosystem (the current version would not be anything approaching sustainable were it not for divine/narrative intervention, and is constantly on the verge of destabilizing into unlivable ruin that would only be fit for some particularly hardy microorganisms).

It's still like, a monster land full of demonic creatures and terrifying phenomenon, but with Shen Yuan's assistance it becomes something more like a demonic wildlife reserve than a dimensional horror plane. Though it is still a dimensional horror plane, and Shen Yuan is its chief dimensional horror. He treats it sort of like those dungeon building or wildlife park sims, figuring out how to keep everything in balance while still preserving all the interesting parts. A lot of the extreme survival issues of the Abyss are more of a result of it being environmentally unstable than a result of its actual denizens, and once he smooths out a lot of the messy dimensional edges and creates stable vents for the fluctuating energy run-off, the demonic inhabits start behaving less like horror movie monsters and more like animals. They're still wild and dangerous and prone to killing one another, but also more cautious, and able to access enough stable resources that they can even start to be picky about what they pursue.

Turns out that a lot of creatures in the Abyss actually don't like fighting and dying and being brutally injured on a regular basis, even if they can heal from it!

Shen Yuan has even discovered that some like chin scritches (he's not terribly worried about habituating them to people, given how rarely any people actually access the Abyss, but also because he's not really all that people-ish himself these days).

This means that one of Luo Binghe's first encounters with the horrible creatures of the Abyss, is in fact a pack of wolf-like monsters thoroughly avoiding an actual fight with him. In fact most of the denizens of the Abyss just avoid him. They can smell the Heavenly Demon energy rolling off of him, and given the current abundance of alternatives to dealing with that, virtually none of the monsters actually choose to challenge him. There are still a few that will go after anything that's bleeding, but that problem stops once Luo Binghe's physiology heals his wounds, which takes like... a couple hours, max.

Despite the stories he's heard, Luo Binghe is relieved to find that the Abyss is not quite so terrible as all that. Normal survival skills suffice for seeing him through much of it. He's able to hunt for food, scavenge for tools, and even finds potable water fairly easily. After a few weeks, he also comes across a ruin which seems to be inhabited.

The being inhabiting it is plainly a god, although he demurs and refutes such assertions whenever Binghe is too frank. He's a strange being, at turns looking like some queer approximation of a human, at other times blinking and winking in and out of existence, in patterns of strange lights and oddly geometrical fire. But he's surprisingly not hostile, letting Binghe rest in his residence, and even directing him towards points of interest. Accompanying him, too, though he seems to think that Binghe doesn't notice the odd almost spiderweb-like patterns that appear on things which he's influencing. The god calls himself The Peerless One, or at least that's what Luo Binghe infers from some writings on the ruin. The Peerless One offers instruction, seemingly without thinking about it, and gets flustered at being addressed by title, so Binghe also begins to refer to him as Shizun after a while.

[r3ynah]

I just like the idea of Red hood having a medic, that always finds him whenever and wherever.

Like my boy danny, can and will go to different measures, so he can just find the boss of the crime alley alive and well.

Getting hurt? No you aren't, patched him up and forcefully tucked him into bed with a kiss, Getting depressed? No you aren't, Wrapped him in a blanket and just let him read his novels all day and feeding him, Getting kidnap? No you aren't, Cue the corrupted video of Danny breaking in the kidnapper's lair and just freeing Red hood, No blood was shed that night, well not from Red hood that is.

Danny was something else Red hood will tell you if you ever bring up his Medic into a conversation, he would stare at the man with heart eyes as he accompanied him to do random check ups on people under Red hood's care in his civilian persona. Danny may seem weak and brittle but he can give a punch if he really wanted to, He was mysterious but at the same time so open.

Danny was prideful as he wore the medal of being the only one that knows Red hood's real apartment, and the only one that could break in and enter without getting his presence known, just to make sure the crime lord was sleeping and eating properly.

Red hood practically made a joke out of this and would always tell everyone that his medic will be mad, if he isn't in bed by curfew, and he needed to be back at his house by 10:00 sharp or he'll get dragged and thrown, who knew the all so scary crime lord had a bedtime, criminals and civilians often leave him be when the clock strikes 9:50 pm afraid of enraging the meta medic.

__

"I am telling you B, I can't do that right now, its almost my curfew." Red hood sighed in frustration, he was currently standing in the middle of the bat cave, ready to run if batman tried to talk again.

"This is an important, case Hood, and it requires your participation" Batman stood still, face devoid of any emotions " Afterall it has something to do, with crime alley, there has been a meta spotted, and its creating havoc all around the place."

Jason, blinked, blinked twice, then thrice

"Is that it?"

"Jason, can't you see that this person's dangerous, they had already committed several crimes of arson, assault, and destruction of property, this person is abusing it's powers."

"No im not." An offended voice, called out from the side. all head turned towards the source of the voice, only to be greeted by 6'1 tall boy, who had black hair and blue eyes, and looked just round in his younger adult years. "In my defense they deserved it, won't give me a discount when i literally had a coupon." he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Who are you?" Batman asked, his guard up "And how did you get in here?"

"Red hood's medic and the meta you've labeling as dangerous, nice to meet you, and it wasn't that hard to spot this lair if you have x-ray vision" Danny greeted happily offering a handshake, which the dark knight didn't take, Danny retreated his hand in awkward silence.

"That was so sad" Jason cackled, as he pointed at Danny who gave him the middle finger.

"Shut, Its 10:30 pm, your bedtime was like 15 minutes ago, you don't get to talk until you're taller than me." Danny pointed at him.

"Fucking funny, im laughing" Sarcasm was laced in Jason's tone as he glared at Danny, before giving a sigh. "10:30 already shit, time does fly fast, when you're fighting a man in a furry costume" Red hood stated, as he walked towards Danny who only rolled his eyes.

"Bye B, i hope to not see you anytime this week or the next week." He nonchalantly waved bye to the older male, while walking towards his medic.

he turned his head to meet Danny's gaze, then smacked his arm making the man stumble. "Come on, now boss man do your thing"

Danny gave him, a glare before shoving him playfully, he then turned to look at empty air and practically ripped out a dimensional portal out of it, and pushed Jason in it who tripped.

"Bye Mr.Batman, it was nice meeting you" Danny bid farewell as he closed the portal on the Man who looked like he can use a break.

[zoe-oneesama]

If its okay to ask what exactly is the issue with Chloe's writing in the show for you? The creators have stated multiple times "there will be no redemption, she's rotten to the core and she's gonna stay that way" and it seems like thats what you want from her. So where exactly do they fumble the bag for you?

Mostly the part where they wasted everyone's time.

They tried to play both sides - kept her as nasty and self centered as always and did nothing to change her, but also make multiple episodes where we're meant to feel sorry for her and the heroine is portrayed as In The Wrong for being too harsh on her. It was annoying.

Like, it was just...tonally confusing at the time. It's totally in character for her to "steal" a Miraculous and not give it back when the rightful owner demands it back, being a thief was never outside of Chloe's wheelhouse. So tell me why they had the heroes give her soft woobie eyes and make excuses for her on the grounds of "you just wanted Mommy to look at you" and frame it like that's correct??????

And then, AND THEN, after wasting everyone's goddamn time trying to pretend they were doing something deep with Chloe, they didn't just double down on her being a two-bit one dimensional mean girl and tried to pretend like they didn't devote multiple episodes to convincing the audience she was more than that, but they wrote her to be even more comically evil as if to drive the knife even deeper! You can't help but read into their motivations, it feels like they're doing it to target certain fans specifically. "Oh you liked Chloe and wanted her to be redeemed? What if we ANTI-REDEEMED HER?! And now she's somehow more evil than our abusive magical terrorist! BWAHAHAHA!" Like?????? The Fuck?????

There's a moment in Season 5's "Collusion" where Bustier brings up the gift Chloe got her at the end of "Zombizou", doing this speech about how she recognized that Chloe was just a fragile teenager looking for love and attention (the EXACT THING that Season 2 spent a multi-episode arc trying to convince their audience of) only for Chloe to snap back that Bustier is using her student's feelings to "blackmail" her in that moment and uses this as grounds to get the woman fired.

And I feel like that really encapsulates the frustration I have at specifically the staff behind Miraculous Ladybug when it comes to Chloe.

Here is Chloe mocking Bustier for reading into what happened in "Zombizou" and instead it feels like the viewer is being mocked. Everyone who thought they were going somewhere with Chloe, everyone who bought what they were selling, everyone who's time was fucking wasted, is being laughed at in this moment.

Look, I never bought into Chloe being redeemed, so my personal annoyance was this dilly-dallying through this random side quest that amounted to nothing, which is a constant in this damn show. But, and I know this might be hard for some to believe, I had deep deep sympathy and empathy for fans who really thought and really wanted for the Battle of the Queens Arc to amount to something. I am so, so angry for them, because every season finds a way to not only stab you all in the back but twist the knife.

So yeah, that's my "issue".

[ofswordsandpens]

actually I do want to talk about Sally Jackson a tad more because one criticism I've been hearing about her book counterpart more recently is "book Sally is one-dimensional: the perfect mother with no flaws" and that just has me biting my cheek because one part of her book counterpart that I always thought was ripe with discussion and didn't make it to the show is that Sally states that it was selfish of her to keep Percy close. It's one of the last things she says to him before she's "killed" by the minotaur.

And there's so much that we don't know about Sally because we view her from Percy's eyes. From his perspective we know that she's exceedingly kind, she never raises her voice to him or even Gabe, and she endured a horrible and abusive relationship to protect her son from monsters (of a different kind).

But there are things we can piece together from the text: Sally has known about CHB for a long time, apparently since before Percy was even born because Poseidon told her he wanted to send Percy there; she was told that it was a mistake for her to keep Percy close - who told her that, we're not sure, she only uses the phrase they; she's been in contact with Grover through out the school year; she knows that she can't cross the camp boundary line, which means either Grover or someone else (Chiron? Poseidon?) told her that, and that she understood that there was place that Percy would be safe from monsters.

And all of these little details are so interesting because it does make you wonder just how much she did or didn't know. Was her self assessment right? Was it selfish of her to keep Percy close?

On one hand, she kept him close because she loved him, alongside the fear that if she sent him to camp, she would be saying goodbye for good -- so is it even fair to call the act of keeping him close selfish? Or perhaps, much like Chiron, she assumed keeping Percy in the dark would be safer?

But on the other hand, Percy had been attracting monsters all his childhood, she understood camp was a safe place from monsters, and she had apparently been told explicitly that it was a mistake for her to keep him close.

And then adding in the factors of: Percy is her only family in the entire world, she's been suffering with Gabe for years, sacrificing so much in order to keep Percy safe when he's at home... but even that has a touch of sad irony because when we meet Percy in tlt, its at point when he's not really home at all -- he's been regularly sent off to boarding schools, so much so that he's internalized it as his own short-coming.

And all of this isn't to say "Omg Sally is actually horrible" or to assert definitely that she is selfish... but more to speak to the fact that in the books, she's not an all-perfect 2-dimensional mother. And her self-assessment of selfishness is something that is really interesting to explore and debate given the implications of what she apparently did (or did not) know about the godly world. I feel there's even an argument to be made that Sally being "selfish" could be a reflection of Percy's fatal flaw.

[eldritchx]

Helluva Boss is not progressive, not only is its portrayal of queer people incredibly questionable but the female characters are treated like garbage. The show is so incredibly misogynistic, so is the fandom and it's incredibly exhausting.

All the women's plotlines revolve around men, their stories are in the men's perspective and/or sparked because of a man. None of their personalities, back stories, conflicts, etc. are in a woman's perspective. I understand this show has a large amount of male characters but that's no excuse.

The male characters are allowed to have their emotions raw, exposed and artistically written/drawn. Yet the women can't do any of that. We get pieces of backstory, it's never in their perspective either.

Now, I don't want to hear any excuses about how we just need to wait. It's been years and our main female characters are one-dimensional compared to the men.

This isn't a "man-bad" post, I'm just commenting on how the women just revolve around the men and nothing else. As well as the general sexist writing of the series.

Do I think Vivian intentionally writes women this way? No, I hope not. I just think she has no idea how to write women whatsoever. As well as characters in general.

↓ I'll be giving my thoughts of all the female characters below, if you have any issues or critique feel free to tell me as long as it's civil. I will bring up topics of sexual assault, misogyny, abuse & other canon-typical themes.

Stella

Stella is a one-dimensional, insufferable moral scapegoat. She's a charcuterie of an abusive wife, she's such a poor villain that Vivian made Andrealphus (which is basically male Stella) to process the plot instead of her because she's nothing but a hysterical idiot. The only way Stella could have affected the story was if she were a man.

She's basically deemed "pure evil", we only get her story through Stolas' perspective, her character is incredibly lackluster and stereotypical. Like a majority of women in the series she has anger issues and physically abused the main (usually male) character.

A lot of people excuse her poor writing as something we need to wait for. But it's been two seasons and she's supposedly the main villain, yet we don't get a crumb of basic characterization and she's overshadowed by her brother because Vivian refuses to let women do things without another man in the picture.

She's written to be stupid, angry, nonsensical, bratty and loud. We rarely get to see her be an actual villain and scenes with Stolas (or even Octavia). We know nothing about her because she's just there to scream for the reader's enjoyment. Stella has potential, but since she is female, she is reduced to just a bitter wife and nothing more.

Millie

A lot of people have already critiqued Millie already, but I'm still going to put my perspective here. Millie is a character that only exists for men. She's Moxxie's husband and Blitzø's best friend.

In her supposed episodes, it revolved around men. Her conflict with insecurity in Unhappy Campers is sparkled by Moxxie, her anger and eventual backstory reveal happens because of Blitzø. Not once do we get her raw perspective unless another man is in the mix.

In Ghostfuckers, Millie isn't possessed, we don't get her perspective when separated, she's there to just comfort Blitzø and give crumbs of her character just for him. Mille has plenty of opportunity to be fleshed out but she's never given the chance to just have an episode for herself.

Not to mention the pregnancy plot line. Instead of exploring her self loathing, anger or even something new. They decide to make her pregnant because of course they would. One of the time woman fighters is just reduced to baby drama, which we all know will revolve around Moxxie and eventually get forgotten by the main plot in favor of the pointless melodrama.

Millie has anger issues, which is a running trait in all these days women. I can't help but think that the constant angry personality is just leaning into the "hysterical woman" trope. Millie's frustrations in Sinmas aren't the source of genuinely interesting conflict but hormones and that's just insulting.

She doesn't even get to talk in Mastermind, her husband does. What the hell? The angry, passionate woman doesn't argue once? Oh my God.

Loona is another case of wasted potential. She was born as a Hellhound, which gave her a rough upbringing. And her conflict with her trauma could have been good if the show treated it as something serious. She's a victim of trafficking and her physical abuse / anger is played off for laughs. Instead of fleshing out their character she's just a "bitchy woman" who makes fun of Moxxie for being fat for no reason.

Loona

All I wanted was for Loona to evolve and grow into a better character instead of her development either being off screen or ending in one episode. Her childish behavior and aggression is annoying to see because we really have no reason to like her. She's rude, hurts her supportive father and insults her colleagues. A few seconds of her backstory in Blitzø's perspective doesn't do much. Why don't we see how Loona is feeling in her eyes? Why do we need to understand Loona in a man's backstory?

Her lack of socializing could have been interesting to watch but it's all skipped over and established off screen proven by Sinmas despite it being essential to her character.

She's a survivor and making connections is obviously hard for her — yet we don't see her grow? It's all so quickly concluded. I doubt Vivian actually cares about Loona's development because she immediately becomes a respectful daughter to Blitzø after one episode (yes, I know he almost got executed and she probably realized how much she really cared. But Blitzø is an assassin and has probably nearly died multiple times).

Loona is just a nothing character, her writing is rushed and she pretty much just exists for merch bait. There's nothing special about her and her character was made for Blitzø's story.

Verosika

Not much to say about Verosika, other than she's a plot device. She's just a bitter ex and I don't understand why we should care or feel sympathetic towards her because she literally sexually assaults Moxxie with her friends (which is also played as a joke). She's just Blitzø's ex-girlfriend and that's about it.

I will give the writing credit for giving her perspective on the relationship, but she's only giving her piece for Blitzø and his development. Verosika just exists to taunt or help Blitzø — not act as an actual character. We don't even see Vortex talking about her whatsoever or even a hint of their dynamic.

She's angry, rude and swears like a sailor of course. Her anti-Blitzø party was hilarious because it was the worst written part of the show. Blitzø just hooked up with demons and didn't want anymore, yet Verisoka who is a popular popstar and succubi probably does the same thing and it's fine by the narrative.

The only true committed relationship Blitzø had with Verosika was with her so I'm not sure why they decided to villianize Blitzø for not wanting romance by making Verisoka an unhinged, creepy stalker who hunts down "ex-partners" for a former boyfriend who wanted to remain single.

She's just a pointless character, the fact we know more about her than Millie (a main character) is madness.

Barbie Wire

Where do I even begin? She's apparently the most important figure in Blitzø's life yet she's rarely mentioned, exists in one episode and that's it. Apparently she was cut out of the fire scene in Oops which is crazy considering their mother dies.

And again, she only exists because it's Blitzø's plotline. She's only brought up because of Blitzø and we don't even see her perspective on the matter. Even if she's a side character, if she's so important to Blitzø we should get a proper flashback with her; which we didn't even receive in The Circus.

Another bitter, angry woman to add to the list. There really is a pattern. Also her creepiness towards teenagers is also really weird. I just dislike her in general, what a waste. Nothing but a woman that's relevant when the man's development finds it necessary.

Other Women

-> A good chunk of the mothers in this show die for the men. Do we see their perspective? Do we see their character? No, they're just made to die off for the male characters because what else are they good for.

-> Additionally, I don't have an issue with Sally Mae. I think she's a neat side character but she barely affects the plot and yet she has a ton of merch. It's not a problem but why? I'm glad Sally Mae is a woman and we see her perspective, as well as her dynamic around Mille (finally) but she's kinda just there.

-> Beelzebub is another generic party girl. I find it really weird they try to show the personification of overindulgence to an unhealthy degree and a slave owner as a fun, spunky lady who just wants everyone to have fun! I am glad she doesn't revolve around men and is her own person but this agenda that she's a good person is just ridiculous. Beelzebub probably sold Vortex as property and signed him away, yet they're seen as a cute couple.

My Final Thoughts:

This show is sexist as fuck. And I'm tired of people excusing it. It doesn't matter if your show is male centered or focusing on men, you don't neglect your women and just make them exist for the male characters. I don't think Viv is some evil mastermind, but she needs to write characters better and understand women.

[delawaredetroit]

Based on what you said about them, do you dislike endeavor and bakugo? Or do you like them but your very critical of them? I don't mind either way just wanna know which category you fall into

It's more nuanced than that. Characters aren't real people, so whether I would like them interpersonally doesn't matter much. The factors I would consider in deciding whether I like a character are (1) what is the purpose of this character in the narrative, (2) how I feel about the tropes wrapped up in that character, (3) how effectively the story implements that character, and (4) how does that character affect other themes and character arcs and fit into the narrative as a whole.

Would I like Bakugou or Endeavor interpersonally? The answer is obviously no, but I would never want to be friends with a Touya or Toga either. In the context of BNHA, there is no need to be as critical of Touya or Toga because they were more effective characters.

(1) The Purpose of Bakugou and Endeavor

To understand this, I have to start with the function of Izuku and Shouto's arcs. Izuku's story starts as a wish fulfillment, escapist fantasy of an ostracized kid being given the power to become a great hero with the personal backing of the number one hero. Shouto is a foil to Izuku whose character arc is meant to mirror Izuku's own. From this perspective, the Hellish Todoroki Family is intended to be the escapist fantasy of a kid from an abusive household getting to see his abuser acknowledge the harm he caused and attempt to atone with no expectation of forgiveness.

So Bakugou is the bully that enforced that ostracization of Izuku and Endeavor is Shouto's abuser. For the wish fulfillment of Izuku and Shouto to be complete, both should atone for their actions.

Endeavor and Bakugou also function as foils for All Might and Izuku in their roles as heroes. All Might and Izuku valued saving, self-sacrifice, and uplifting others while Endeavor and Bakugou represented a heroism that prized victory, physical strength, and self-preservation above everything else. Endeavor also parallels Bakugo in that he is cautionary tale of what he could become if Bakugou refused the call of character development.

(2) How I feel about the purpose and tropes wrapped up in the character

I'm not opposed to Bakugou or Endeavor going through atonement arcs on principle. I don't even disagree with the Endeavor atonement as wish fulfillment aspect. Look, coming from someone whose childhood wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows, that scene where Endeavor apologizes to Natsuo and tells him that he can be a good person while never forgiving him really hits.

Shounen rivals are a staple of the genre, so there were going to be characters that fulfilled a similar rival role for Izuku and All Might or this wouldn't be a shounen. They've both got the hothead loud rival trope going on, which I personally dislike, but it isn't an inherent flaw.

(3) How effectively the story implements that character

This is where Endeavor and Bakugou start to fall apart. Bakugou was used less effectively of the two of them, so let's start with Endeavor.

Endeavor

The manga leaned a little too hard into the one dimensional evil of Endeavor in Act One. In particular, there was a huge difference in the characterization of Endeavor the hero between Act One and and Act Two. In retrospect, Act Two Endeavor's arc wasn't bad if it's considered in a vacuum. There was something fresh about him having to reconcile Enji and Endeavor and realize that he could never fix what he broke. It was interesting to see him moving from entitlement to eventually taking responsibility while not expecting anything in return from his family. The fact that Touya ended Endeavor the Number One Hero also works well.

The narrative didn't seem to know what to do with Endeavor for most of Act Three. Horikoshi either needed to make him be less useless or give him worse injuries so there would be an excuse for him to be so irrelevant. As comical as Endeavor versus All for One was, it was a bad narrative choice. It looked like Enji chose Endeavor over his family once again, and the parallel between Endeavor and All for One was already obvious without that fight.

Bakugou

The main issue with Bakugou in Act One was the framing. Bakugou was insufferable early on, but that was the point. His flaws needed to be demonstrated so he could grow past them. The issue was the narrative going out of its way to justify Bakugou even when the growth was miniscule or he was acting in a way that contradicted the themes of the story. (In Act Three, Endeavor also gets these insufferable kids' gloves)

Act Two was promising. Other than the Interim Bakugou problem, it looked like he was reflecting on his actions and incorporating saving into his heroism. It was clearly building towards something.

Act Three was when I began to dislike Bakugou as a character. His arc largely revolved around comparing himself as a hero to Izuku and his atonement arc, but he made minimal progress in actually understanding Izuku. He still spent much of early Act Three mocking Izuku's choices as a hero. They still didn't talk normally after the apology. He made no attempt to understand how Izuku's approach to villains changed after the first war arc. He killed his villain with no second thoughts in the arc about saving villains.

(4) How does that character affect other themes and character arcs and fit into the narrative as a whole.

This is where I begin to loathe both of them.

The main problem is that Horikoshi's atonement arcs reek of insecurity. He feels the need to justify their existence constantly, which means we get too much of the atoner's perspective and not enough of the perspective of the people these atonement are directed towards in the first place. This is a problem because these atonement arcs were introduced as part of the escapist fantasy of Izuku and Shouto's character arcs. If Izuku and Shouto have to be made smaller for the atonement to function, then these arcs failed in their purpose.

Endeavor was less egregious on this in that every member of the Hellish Todoroki Family was given the space to express their grievances to some extent. His sons were able to openly hate him without being chastised by the narrative. He lost prestige and the role of the hero Endeavor by the end of the manga. The problem was that his atonement took over what was supposed to be the clash of Touya and Shouto. Rei and Shouto were the focus of this plotline when Endeavor was introduced, but Endeavor's wallowing ended up consuming the depth of everyone else by the final arc.

The narrative seems to bend itself into pretzels to justify Bakugou. After Deku versus Kacchan Part 2, Izuku just isn't allowed to have thoughts about Bakugou. If the narrative refuses to even acknowledge the specifics of Bakugou's wrongdoing, what is he even atoning for? If Bakugou's transgressions are minimized, then Izuku loses a lot of the depth to his character given the importance of origin to this manga. Izuku isn't even allowed to have thoughts about the apology. I don't care if Izuku decides to accept that apology. He just needed to have thoughts about it.

Not to mention, the fact that Bakugou and Izuku were not allowed to fight after the apology was part of what ruined Izuku's character in the later part of Act Three. Bakugou and Izuku were obviously on opposite sides of whether to save villains. With Bakugou in the picture and the narrative wanting to be done with Bakugou and Izuku's conflict, Izuku could not act outside of the box for most of his final fight with Shigaraki - in a fight where he was supposed to redefine heroism for the next generation.

Tl;dr: I don't inherently dislike the original goal of what Horikoshi was trying to do with Endeavor and Bakugou. I don't like how their arcs were implemented, especially in Act Three. Their most grievous sin as characters is how their atonement minimized the arcs of their victims. Even though Endeavor's actions caused more harm, Bakugou's character arc was significantly worse in how it undermined other characters and overall themes of the manga.

[cloudbends]

Now that the new skip and loafer chapter is out in english, I thought I'd write some of my thoughts briefly.

Something I've always very appreciated about this story is the nuanced approach it takes in terms of character flaws. There were stages I was getting worried about shima's mom appearing a little one-dimensional, and this chapter very pleasantly treaded in the same vein the rest of the story has - in showing her interiority in a compelling and fleshed out way. She's a mother who lost herself in trying to give everything to her son, instead becoming overbearing and a stifling, even at times abusive presence in her son's life. This is a tale as old as time, but the careful juxtaposition of this information with what we know of shima so far - how he performs through his daily life, living with a deep sense of loathing and not being able to come to terms with his own kindness, as opposed to his morose, subdued nature as slowly revealed throughout the manga, is very telling.

For this reason I was also very happy with the fact the storytelling leaned back into the aftermath of shima's incident, because at its heart, it's always been about shima's view of the world, and his specifically strained relationship with his mother. In order to fully comprehend the meaning of his upcoming role as frankenstein's monster, we had to - at first - unravel his relationship with his creator, his mother. And I think this plotline and how it's been carefully (in true takamatsu fashion) built up over the last couple of chapters.

Shima's mother noting that he hasn't smiled, or laughed, or cried or gotten angry at her since that incident all those years ago is incredibly apt considering all we know - shima bottles everything up, internalizing the idea that he's not worthy unless he acts, masquerades, dances to the sounds of society's flute. Which is also why I think it is no coincidence that shima's mother notes mitsumi's presence, paralleling the same scene in the previous year's cultural festival - mitsumi is, in many senses, the one person who's able to bring shima's smile back. And I don't mean this in the sense that it's mitsumi's responsibility, but in that... she broke his mold of how he expected others to treat him. He respects her so much as a person because he views her as brilliant. and her light shined through on their very first day of high school - she's unique in her simplicity, nonconforming in her directness and compassion, she's so very real. The narrative ties between the closure shima is about to achieve regarding his past, and his newfound resolve to prove himself to mitsumi and embrace his feelings, isn't just intentional - it's been built up from the very beginning.

[lilu787788]

There is a line, and this fandom has crossed it. Again....

Someone posted a TikTok accusing Aleksander of being a rapist. Not in metaphor, not in flawed interpretation. In clear, definitive language. And to make it worse, they used a video of Ben Barnes, a real human being, to deliver that lie.

Aleksander is not a rapist. That word carries weight. That word has meaning. And it should never, ever be thrown around to spice up your personal dislike for a fictional character. Especially not when there is nothing in the canon to support it. He does not commit rape. There is no non-consensual scene. There is no forced sexual act. You may not like his intensity, you may not like his power, you may be terrified of a man who is not apologetic about his grief, ambition, or control — but none of that makes him what you accused him of.

And the fact that this accusation is so freely made, so casually posted, says everything about the intellectual rot spreading through Grishaverse fandom spaces full of kids!

People no longer analyze. They attack, they no longer read, they react. They don’t care about facts. They care about outrage. They have turned this fandom into a performance of moral panic, where the most extreme label wins and where no one is held accountable for slandering characters or dragging real actors into their hysteria!

Aleksander Morozova is one of the most complex, painfully written characters in recent fantasy. He is immortal, traumatized, deeply lonely, and entirely shaped by centuries of violence and loss.

Reducing all of that to a label like rapist is not only false. It is fucking disgusting!

And dragging Ben Barnes into it — an actor whose performance brought depth, vulnerability, and humanity to this role is not just unethical. It is cruel. It is the act of someone who has no understanding of boundaries, no understanding of fiction, and no care for the consequences of their own words. There are real survivors in this world, real crimes, real trauma. And using that language to describe a character you personally dislike is not advocacy. It’s mockery and abuse.

I am linking the video here so that others can see how far this has gone:

Let this be clear. Aleksander is not your Pinterest boyfriend or your one-dimensional villain. He is a man built from centuries of fire, blood, love, and betrayal. If you are incapable of facing that, then walk away. But don’t you dare rewrite the story with lies just because complexity frightens you.

This isn't about liking or disliking a character. This is about the truth. And the truth matters even in fiction.

The Grishaverse fandom is no longer a fandom. It’s rot in slow motion. It’s a decaying echo of something that could have been meaningful but got poisoned by antis until there was nothing left but noise, spite, and empty slogans. It’s a place where lying about canon is more popular than reading it. Where mobs of teens post accusations with zero evidence and call it activism. Where anyone who expresses empathy for a complex character gets accused of romanticizing war crimes by people who don’t know the difference between fiction and reality. You turned this into a toxic circus of moral performance. You made it unwelcoming. You made it hostile. You killed creativity and replaced it with fear. Fanartists stopped drawing. Writers deleted their fics. People deleted their blogs. And for what? To prove to strangers online that you are the most morally clean person in a space built around fictional war and political violence?

Antis destroyed this place. Not by being critical. Criticism is valid. What they brought wasn’t criticism. It was harassment disguised as ethics. It was personal attacks, false accusations, dogpiling, and guilt-tripping people for enjoying fictional characters in a fictional setting. You don’t create anything. You don’t uplift anything. You don’t think. You attack, you accuse, you twist every single line to justify your self-importance, and then you wonder why people leave.

You didn’t just ruin the fandom. You erased the reason anyone came here in the first place. Bravo!

[bitchlesshazard69]

MCD Rant? Okay, but who reads these? Everyone likes having their own opinion

Laurance time and time again has actively protested for woman and protected them. Over and over has he told Aphmau that if something was too much, she can back out. Over and over did he try to tell her that he was there for her, no matter how her feelings ended up. He constantly tries to give Aphmau the knowledge that if she didn't like something, it didn't have to be, like their relationship. Over and over has he protected woman, like Isabelle from her abuser- he even defended his own S'Aer (Michi).

Why was Aphmau still scared of him? Well, he's quite terrifying if we're honest. The hostility of his Shadow Knight side is so intense that when she looked him in the eyes, he almost killed her if not for Aaron's intervention. If Laurance's curse was so bad, then why didn't Aphmau just outright end their rising relationship? If it was too much? People pleasing goes a long way. Unfortunately, the situation just got worse without the proper communication.

If I were Aphmau, the proper thing would've been to talk it out with Laurance and say that each other should seperate to focus on themselves, giving full closure that cannot be mistaken. No one truly has a real grudge against Aphmau and Aaron's relationship in Minecraft Diaries, just how it formed. Out of miscommunication and angst of each other's lives.

If it were different, and Aarmau's relationship wasn't born out of lust and an escape from the world around them, it could've been better. The lust part is all the viewers really see when it comes to their relationship. How, instead of Aphmau ending things off officially with Laurance, she decided to do some very interesting things...in the woods...with Aaron. That's why at the end, she was viewed in such a negative light. I don't think anyone truly hates Aphmau, and it's especially not for her gender, but for her actions.

I stopped talking on Tumbler because time and time again I would see so many posts about how Laurance's and Aphmau's relationship was just one thing, while no one was able to see how dimensional all of it was, when really they both had an understanding side to it. Laurance wasn't treated as he should've been and left with no communication, even though he, himself, did his best at communication. Aphmau was expected to be able to have a steady relationship when it wasn't possible.

Both acted like children in a sense. Aphmau didn't want to speak her OWN needs and Laurance couldn't identify his disability in having relationships. Do I think one is more in the wrong than the other? Sure. Do I think both of them are clean? No. Aphmau couldn't have POSSIBLY known how bad it was to be a Shadow Knight, nor truly understand what is going on in Laurance's head. She could have never understood or predicted what could happen. Aphmau (and Laurance too) had to start realizing Laurance cannot be saved with the power of love. I do hate how "he's doomed forever because of this" message that MCD sent, I do not condone it at all, but that's what's there.

Laurance could've done his very best when it came to communication with each other, which he did, every episode almost, did he try to speak with Aphmau, but he couldn't be priority number one. Maybe in my own bias, I believe Laurance did nothing truely wrong, because everything that he ever did was out mental illness not being treated correctly by the people around him. The only person I can recall treating Laurance for how he wasn't like any other human was Vylad. Vylad seemed to be the only person that could look at Laurance and truly say "Yes, he is not fit for a romantic relationship. In his incapable form of mind, he cannot consent to this."

I'm tired of the back and fourth sexism of how they treated each other MUST'VE been because of gender. "Laurance is mentally ill but did all he could? No! His clinginess is assumed to be entitled misogyny. Is Aphmau a multidimensional feeling being who can make her own decisions but mishandled it? Nope! She's an abused bean that needs to be protected because everyone grapples to her with no real respect."

I can't believe I just said that, geez.

Summary: The gender wars on who's right really pushed me off of the platform when the original thing wasn't about gender at all, nor is it the stereotypical man abuses woman trope everyone says it is. It's always been about their quality of character and in my opinion I've shared how I feel about their quality of character. Neither character was truly an evil person with no redemption. Jess figured Aaron to be better for the MC and decided to try and slowly make Laurance some irredeemable, unsavable, psycho to Aphmau so Aphmau could have an angst and pregnant arc... (She didn't do a really good job IF this was the case because I don't see Laurance in that light at all and I still believe that Aphmau is more capable than she's written off to be) In the original planned version, it's clear to see that the message wasn't always "doomed forever and villainized from mental instability"

That's just how the viewers see it now. I need to to take my meds, bye.

(Stan OCD Aphmau and her little autistic brother Laurance for life, they need a sibling arc and a make up arc where they can just be happy and eat apples together while they both annoy Garroth to death because he's the true villian in all of this everyone blame him and let Aphmau and Laurance be besties)

[devoutvesta]

i do not think its wrong to ship billford, here’s why

1) reevaluate the way in which you consume media. no one is shipping something because its their ideal for a perfect, romantic relationship. it’s not that black and white. that’s never been the point of shipping.

2) these tropes are nothing new, and have been beloved by ancient audiences for the same reasons it’s beloved today. whether it’s an imbalanced power dynamic, specifically god x mortal, a shared history, or mutual obsession.

3) for centuries, people have enjoyed navigating complicated and unhealthy emotional dynamics. especially when said ship can not exist in a healthy way. ford either hates or worships a much stronger, less empathetic, ancient eldritch being that likewise either obsesses over him or sees him as a nuisance/pet. either way, they’re always on the other’s mind. they are both deeply flawed, and only they know the true extent of the other’s ugliness, and they still love them.

but there is that middle ground that we’ve seen in the journal pages, some domesticity and genuine, pure love for the other. it exists, abusive relationships are nuanced, they have their good and their bad. and billford had their good parts. why wouldn’t people want to make art about it? here is your reminder that creating art does not equate to justifying or fetishizing abuse. it can and has happened, but there are many people incapable of seeing how obvious it would be if billford’s abuse was actually being fetishized by its shippers. it is so easy to notice. and it isn’t what’s being done here.

that nuance is still present when people make billford fluff. billford did have fluffy moments. there was tenderness, vulnerability, and love in that relationship. it’s okay to acknowledge that. why do you expect all art of billford to be torture porn of ford? not everyone wants to write bill physically torturing ford over and over again, especially when there are other, less gory aspects of their relationship to explore, that only increase the emotional impact of the torture that follows.

the ship is canon and is meant to be acknowledged, alex hirsch has attempted to explore both the messed up parts and the happy parts of their dynamic multiple times. in the show, in the journal, and in the book of bill. why is it any different when a fan does it?

does the art have to be explicitly acknowledge the abuse and remove all nuance from bill’s character, reducing him to something simple and one dimensional whose only motivation is to hurt others, for you to accept it? abuse is not that black and white, abusers themselves are not that black and white. bill in particular definitely is not.

it seems like a disservice to the original work.

navigating the ugly parts of a very fucked-up relationship is something fascinating and enjoyable for artists. there is a lot of grief, anger, and probably every other toxic thing in the book for you to work with. it’s the same reason people wait impatiently for whumptober.

exploring their dynamic has also allowed many to put their own abusive relationships into perspective.

i remember someone on reddit saying, “they’re both broken people, rub them sharp edges together long enough and you’ll get a fire. it’s fun to write.” and i think that describes it perfectly.

[ourfag]

absolutely no beef with anyone who prefer to interpret edizzy as a mutual toxicity thing but i have a real bug in my ass specifically about people deriding the emotional abuse reading as “flattening” or “simplifying” their relationship bc first of all now what youve done here is convince me that your understanding of abuse is anchored in healthline articles. there are as many ways for an abusive relationship to be as there have ever been abusive relationships in human history. the reason discussions of abusive relationships in the abstract evoke such a one-dimensional image for people with limited firsthand experience is because these are discussions of patterns across a very diverse range of situations. those “signs of emotional abuse” bullet point lists are laying out common denominators, not case studies. if the phrase “abusive relationship” is synonymous in your mind with a pair of morally unambiguous figures playing out a straightforward psa-friendly dynamic, PLEASE break that habit for your sake and others'.

second of all, edizzy being such a departure from the image of abuse we’re culturally primed to receive is one of the things that makes the emotional abuse reading singularly interesting to me! how gratifying to watch an abuse victim full of interiority and agency make terrible choices and lash out at their friends and be callous and vindictive towards their abuser and still receive an apology, still remain someone the narrative wants you to want a happy ending for! how fascinating to explore the ways in which structural and situational power can be exercised without physical force, despite physical force—in an effort to extract physical force against the person exercising that power? not even as a darvo tactic, just as something the abuser genuinely wants from the relationship. how satisfying to see abuse portrayed in a way that asks you to consider what violence is, what “counts” as violence, why those things count as violence. what it looks like for a sub to abuse their dom. what it takes for a writer to sell the idea of employee abusing his boss. fawn responses that deliberately look like heartlessness. not that watching people immediately roll their eyes upon coming into contact with the a-word doesn't make for an immersive media experience but let's not get carried away with it