#purposefully excluding my brother lol

[t4twnyclaw]

lol so guess what i did the math and uhm

excluding stormtail and daisy everyone in thunderclan is related in some way. most mates are related. most cats are related to everyone else by ATLEAST 30% [My english is brokn so examples are: Squirrelflight is related to 70.73170731707317% of Thunderclan, Bramblestar is related to 82.92682926829268%, etc]

funnily enough i was just watching a habsburg video. also- your english is fine!!!

I don't understand why they couldn't just write in extra background characters with no family ties like stormtail and sandstorm or purposefully leave cats without families. there is no need for poppydawn to be cousins with pinestar- stop making people cousins i hate cousins i dont understand cousins.

they could've also made characters not have a second litter like with redtail, willowpelt and spottedleaf all being related to tigerclaw. or with dustpelt and ravenpaw apparently being canonically brothers to brindleface and frostfur.

also- why the hell did frostfurs kits need to have like 4 kits each, thornclaw had four kits, (eaglewing, shellfur, stemleaf and plumstone) brightheart had four kits, (whitewing, ambermoon, snowbush and dewnose) brackenfur had six kits, (molepaw, poppyfrost, honeyfern, cinderheart, seedpaw and lilyheart)

[hellothere-generalangsty]

I HAD A BRAIN WAVE MOMENT

DO YOU REMEMBER WAYYYY BACK WHEN EVERYONE HATED ASOKA? DAVE DID THAT ON PURPOSE SO HE WAS IN CONTROL OF WHAT PEOPLE HATED ABOUT HER. OK NOW THIS MIGHT BE A LONGSHOT THAT HOPEFULLY DOESN’T END UP LIKE LONGSHOT THE CLONE, BUT, IM HOPING THATS WHATS DAVE IS DOING WITH TBB. BEING IN CONTROL OF WHAT THE FANDOM HATES ABOUT IT AND THEN IMPROVING IT SLOWLY BIT BY BIT.

PLEASE IM DESPERATE FOR A EXPLANATION!

(also where’s my explanation about why the clones are white washed, dave? hmm? where is it dave?)

OMG LOOK.

It wouldnt excuse the whitewashing or the weak scenario, because he got us used to some good stuff now (tcw s7, Mandalorian, that kind of things)

But it would make sense - to a certain extent - to work that season as a "cliché team in a cliché scenario" and see how people react to be able for a second season (if there's a second season) to improve it

_

Disclaimer: I'm a white, abled person so I'm not trying to speak on behalf of poc/disabled people, but I think it's important to support them and listen to the critics they make about SW and it's content

Also this is quite long I got carried away but worth it it is!

I linked some of @rebekadjarin 's post here because I read a bit through her blog today and agreed with her posts; and I invite you to check out the "#whitewhashed tbb" if you want more extanded and developed information about that matter! (As my knowledge on the matter is still quite limited/ incomplete due to my privileges, and this post is more of a summary than a real analysis)

_

So here, we know that the fans are unhappy about:

- the whitewashing of the Bad Batch (especially since they proved they could animate dark skinned people/ more generally poc with the first seasons of tcw, Kanan in Rebels and the Separatist in the latest TBB episode)

It is a real problem and it shouldn't have happened in the first place. Even if they are different, the Batchers are still clones and it's really not that hard to show their enhancement while keeping Temuera's features and skin colour (I mean, look at all the artists who did and do it everyday on this app; no excuse here)

Star Wars has wasted a lot of potential on numerous occasions because they keep doing stuff like this; and it's quite ironic (and very sad) to see that racism, ableism and stereotypes are prevalent in a universe where people fight for equality and peace...

Here and here are two posts about it (if you're the author of these posts and want me to delete them from my post please tell me so; I took the liberty of adding them because I think they highlight quite well the issue and do a clear job at showing the whitewashing in SW/ around the clones)

~

- the way Crosshair is treated; both by the Batchers and the writers, he's manipulated by the chip yet no one is talking about rescuing him and we see nothing about the effect of his absence on the Batchers (they don't mention him, don't try to save him, and Hunter is more distraught by Omega's absence than by his own brother's)

And don't get me wrong, Omega is a kid and she's nice, of course they have to take care of her and protect her

But they also don't know her purpose; why is she here? She could be a bad omen (maybe she doesn't even know it! The Kaminoans probably didn't tell anyone about her real purpose and I stand by the idea that the infos they got about her are all wrong and purposefully misleading) and I have the dark feeling that she will be the end/ death of the Batchers by the end of the serie, even if she didn't wanted it that way

But Crosshair is never mentionned, except for when he's needed in the scenario. Which is a shame, because he's a Batcher too even if he's mind-controlled and (for now) working for the Empire. He's supposed to be a main character, and he's a key element to the plot; yet out of 10 episodes we saw him in only 3, and only the moments where he was acting bad (i'm excluding the lonely moment at the end of ep2 because it had a lot of potential about him fighting the chip but that was all we had and i'm still bitter about it lol)

Here is a post about it

~

- speaking of plot; I feel like it's always the same disk playing since episode 2-3: They have a mission given by Cid, they do it, things go wrong, Omega saves the day and they get the money.

Crosshair is doing bad guy stuff so no need to tall about him (haha right?)

Now. I'm a good public. I know when to activate the Dummie™ in me and enjoy a show about a found family doing crazy jobs for a criminal and raising a newly adopted daughter at the same time. It's fun, it's sweet, sometimes it get emotional and the animation is beautiful (the lights are amazing I am always in awe)

I can enjoy it and be in awe and see Echo sniffing food and Tech smiles and Wrecker playing with Omega and feel happy about it.

But I also expected more. I hadn't any clear idea because I didn't wanted to set expectations (how ironic) but I can't help but feel sad about the wasted potential around Empire! Crosshair and the rise of said Empire.

If you want to antagonize one of the main character, do it, but do it fully and do it well. Show us Crosshair getting really invested in a plan to catch the Batchers and suddenly making a scene for a tiny detail that could blow it up; show us Crosshair and Hunter fighting each other hand to hand after they disarmed each other, and Crosshair getting the upoer hand until something holds him back; just enough for Hunter to take control again

Show us a complex character who suffers but doesn't fully realise it, and show us brothers mourning yet hoping to get the family back again you know?

~

- the way Echo is treated by the Batchers. And as much as it saddens me, they do him dirty in the show.

Echo is a war veteran, an ex- prisoner and a disabled character. He went through a lot; first he lost the Domino squad, then he lost brothers on Kamino (including 99 who was close to his squad), then the Citadel happened and he lost both his legs, an arm, his freedom, his brothers and probably any hope to be saved.

Then they found him in that freezer, and he probably realised that, if Fives wasn't here to save him, it meant he lost him too.

Then he left Rex to go with a team of 4 because he probably didn't feel like he belonged with "regs" anymore; he chose strangers over brothers because he thought he couldn't find his place there. Which in itself is sad and problematic.

And now he's with the Batchers, and they don't seem to grasp the importance of his trauma. I mean; they always had the 4 of them and never lost a brother (apart from Cross; which is another wasted potential here because they could have exploited that trauma and made a parallel with Echo being so used to losing brothers and them experiencing it for the first time on such a personal level you know) and they do some crappy stuff to him.

Selling him as a droid? Not cool.

Brushing off his trauma for a mission and some credits? Not. Cool.

And Echo can't say anything because he chose them, and now he has nowhere to go anyway because Order 66 happened; and he probably doesn't want to be a burden to Rex, and he probably doesn't want to abandon his brothers especially now that Cross is gone and they have a child to take care of

But yeah there are a lot of things happening - or NOT happening - around Echo and his trauma and his disability that are wrong and people are right to talk about it

Here is a post I read and I agree with it

~

- Overall, the way the show and the characters are handled; they often feel very stereotyped/ cliché and the basic plot doesn't really help for character development or improvement

I read a post about it and it was really interesting; they linked the whitewashing of the characters with their abilities/enhencement

Tech and Crosshair are the smartest and the whitest in the group (which is bad)

Wrecker is portrayed as the Bid Dummie™ and he's the one with the "darker" skin and the features closest to Temuera/ Maōri features (also very bad)

Hunter is straight up a Rambo with a face tattoo, and Echo - and you guys know I love him - is whiter than a sheet of paper (all so bad)

Not only this, but there is no improvement in their personality or thinking

They don't seem to evolve, and just like their mission, they end up playing the same song over and over again

Hunter is the broody soldier and though people enjoy talking to him as a Dad (count me in) but he's not a good dad for Omega (he calls her soldier and is always acting awkward and uncomfortable around her)

Wrecker could be a better dad for her; but again they display him as a big dummie and give the impression he couldn't take well care of her

Tech is here to be the smart one, we only see him when they need someone to do the smart speaking and the complicated computer things

Echo is the grumpy reg, the "more droid than man" and sometimes the Mom™ but they never show him talking about the Empire or the trauma or how the I am not Freaking Out™ I did came back for this Shit™ he's just here to... Be here and be grumpy and bring the oldest clone wars fans to watch TBB

And Crosshair is almost non-existent.

Here is another post about it

~

What could it be then?

So either Dave is pulling a Ahsoka on us; but he'll still have a lot of things to correct and explanations to give because I can excuse a bad plot but I draw the line at blatant racism ans ableism (especially when they KNOW the fans and they KNOW what people want and they KNOW it would probably bring more people to enjoy and get invested in the show)

- If he's doing this, he will probably work with the animator to correct the whitewashing (because it really is the only really wrong thing in the animation, the rest of it is quite good to be honest like the light, framing and all)

- Understand that Tbb and Mandalorian are two different shows and cannot be treated the sale way; so he'll get back to the main plot and hopefully work on Crosshair's arc and hos his absence/ him being controlled by the chip affects him/ the Batchers/ their relation

- He'll probably work more on displaying the effect of their trauma; collective and personal, and see how it reflects on their relations (and give Echo the healing he deserves)

- By extension, give the characters more depth and complexity, dig their stereotypical surface and reveal their true nature (show me a ruthless yet easily overwhelmed Hunter; a smart but constantly anxious Tech, a very emotional Wrecker playing the big explosive dummie to protect himself, etc.)

Well, that's what I would do

Or he's just... Doing this and not planning any changes; in which case I'll probably do what I did with SPN s15: stop watching, scroll through tumblr to get some infos and gifs and tell everyone about how dirty they did the characters, and they did us.

~

But I really hope he's hearing us and taking our remarks into account; the show in itself had a lot of potential and I'm still hanging on the thin hope that the ending could "save it"; but I also have no expectations and am in fact waiting for a disappointing ending

On a brighter note, I'm glad the fandom exists because I see artists and writers and gif-makers and theorists and all kind of people creating and sharing their own content, headcanons, art, writing and they all feel right and better than the canon

Like yes, give me a in-character dark skinned clone who deals with his trauma and the sudden changes around him in a realistic way

Tell me about the real effects of the war on soldiers, and the truth behind the corrupted government taking over the galaxy, and the efforts everyone has to make to survive, exist and live together

If Dave and his team cannot do it, I know you guys can and that's why I'm glad to be here too; you give me hope when they fail to do so 💙

~

I hope I like... Answered this correctly? 😂 I got carried away but yeah, though I'm usually not vocal about it and try to enjoy it with my Dummie Energy™ I still see and read about what you all think, and usually I agree with you; the show deserved better and we deserved better

Now back to ignoring the canon and writing a fic about my very much alive and beloved Fives 🥰

[gaykey]

So many thoughts over this ep:

1) i can’t with kinn and porsche being so soft and dreamy around each other 😭 they are OBSESSED WITH ONE ANOTHER, THEY ARE THe KIND OF DISGUSTING COUPLE THAT ONLY SLEEPS CUDDLING I HATE THEM 😭😭😭

2) the one scene when Porsche is blowdrying Kinn’s hair. 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3) love how everything around them is crashing and burning but they are busy with helicopters tours of bangkok and en air blowjobs. GOOD FOR THEM. G O O D F O R T H E M.

4) LMAO @ porsche’s new dream team of bodyguards. My baby doesn’t trust anyone to protect his baby except for himself, and he’s also a jealous little shit 🤷🏻‍♀️

5) Thankhun is a gem 😭🫶🏼❤️ he was so happy for kinn and when he was boasting about being the one who raised his little brothers to porschay 🥺 also, he already loves porschay!!!! But honestly, who wouldn’t (bitch ass kim i see right through you but still your behavior is unacceptable) (when porsche asks porschay if he can look after him AND kinn both 😭)

6) happy they choose to not follow the book with the r*pe storyline between vegas and pete, bc what we saw was already a lot and yet in this context is still kinda… forgivable? Not exactly the word i’d use but 🤷🏻‍♀️ still, i too was disturbed by the “feeding” scene :/ even more so than the one with the belt.

7) Vegas having major daddy issues is SUCH a cliché 😪 also, i obviously don’t want to minimize what the lack of love and affection does to a child, but how are you going to complain about your misery and how nobody can understand what you’re going through to your prisoner 😭😭😭 fuck i hate rich people

8) not vegas that going incognito worries only about bringing his prisoner and hid HEDGEHOG ALONG 😭😭😭 i can’t take this bitch seriously for the life of me 🤧 that poor hedgehog must have ptsd from all the shit his owner put it through

9) how is vegas an evil mastermind and yet it’s like his two minute therapy session with pete blows his fucking mind??? Not only he’s a bitch, but he’s also a basic one rip

10) in all seriousness, i kinda hate that these are the premises for a relationship, mostly bc i can wrap my head around vegas loving pete (latching to the first person who ever showed him pure kindness) but not the other way around (if we exclude stockholm syndrome). Still, i’m curious to see how they are going to play this whole thing out.

Bonus: how much longer until we discover why kim started his whole espionage mission and how shady korn is involved with porsche’s parents death?

anon, you are meeeeeee

like, these are my feelings about everything pretty much?

gonna try and address all your points

kinn and porsche being loved up, and confident in their feelings about each other. just enjoying being together.

all the soft intimaciiiiiiiies, as i spoke about yesterday. the domesticity.

i'm obsessed with their love fr

i am genuinely thriving off their happiness and don't care that some people are so bitter over their screen time in a show that is titled after them lol. hope they get all the air head they deserve ♡

tankhun and porschay was something i didn't know i needed until i got it. the way khun immediately saw him and immediately entered eldest sibling mode.

and yeah, when he said he raised them, i got a bit emotional ngl. after their mum died he most certainly was a parental figure to them, because korn for sure wasn't around to do the job.

mmhmm, i knew the should would most likely not have all the sa, but there was this level of anxiety beforehand, and it was nice to like, have it be confirmed. though few moments where vegas is touching pete in a purposefully sexual manner, and kissing his neck had me tense af.

the suggestion was enough to get through how horrifying it all was y'know?

god yeah the feeding scene. i really really didn't like that. the beating scenes are horrible, but, wounds heal. and pete can handle the pain.

the force feeding though...it's the absolute degradation and kinda grossness of it that tipped it for me. it felt so???? raw. definitely had to pause it for a minute.

the daddy issue thing? yeah, it was to be expected. i mean, if you don't have daddy issues, are you even a theerapanyakul? but vegas' total lack of awareness of the situation (him complaining to pete about it, who he isbluterally holding captive) just annoys me. but hey, i guess that's just vegas's whole thing. he's not meant to be liked. he's meant to look pathetic and weak and small in these scenes.

we're meant to see the real vegas.

still, as intriguing, intense and in depth as his character is.....he annoys me sorry. my feelings about vegas are complex atm.

i just wanna see him get throat punched.

vegas should not be a pet owner. that is all.

lmao he is a basic bitch, you're so right anon.

it's the look for confusion though that gets me, when pete starts explaining why his dad does what he does. the man is so emotionally stunted, the thought of someone even possibly understanding how he feels totally baffles him.

god this man is messed up fr 🤦🏾‍♀️

and this is why we should raise kids in the mafia lol

i'm getting off topic here hold on

yes ok! your last point

see this is my thing too

vegas falling for pete, makes total sense, for the reasons you've stated.

but pete? pete's more emotionally rounded, more clever, just, overall a stronger person, that, i can't see this situation developing into romantic feelings?

i don't even think it's a stockholm syndrome situation. i feel like pete's using the situation (vegas softening up) to bide his time, and eventually escape. i can't see him willingly staying there, even if he does develope some sort of pity for vegas.

so then how do we get from that, to them being in a consensual relationship, in a way that's still true to his character??

it's all??? ugh, i just don't know how to feel about it at all.

but yeah, i guess we'll just have to wait and see how they do it? i'll probably end up being on board in a few eps but as of right now i'm back & forth.

bonus point! i think it'll be pretty soon tbh. we've got 3 eps left, and the ending of this ep was a big revelation - well not so much for us, we been knew korn is behind it all - but for kim it is.

it's all gonna come to a head real soon.

[yume-fanfare]

alright, since you asked, here's Nonsense Thoughts as i read! wwww

koudai go interview the next national track and field star Suzumi hiyori

the word koudai used to describe akechi is funny bc it's kinda like. egregious, has contradictory definitions

yeah

i get it though, lab coat-wearing language teacher with an endless supply of lollipops, he's not completely sane

also i love that akechi is like. The Teacher (1). the one who's always there when they need a teacher. no other teachers at sakuragaoka just mr akechi and his lab coat

(i love him)

kotarou and hina taking over koyuki's place in the gardening club. that's it that's the post

hhhhh ken and aizou's relationship....................... koudai knows something's going on but he doesn't want to push,,,

i love hina and hiyori's relationship so so much,,,

hina had been the kouhai waiting for koyuki to notice her for so long, but now she's hiyori's (beloved) senpai and just,,, her trying to be a cool senpai like koyuki was for her,,,

i have a lot of hiyohina thoughts please consider Them

i love how good aizou's relationship with his classmates is!!!

they may not be very deep friendships, but i love seeing that he gets along with everyone and that his classmates call him by his first name so casually

he's such a cheerful and fun kid i love him sm

and the way koudai's thoughts went "he's similar to his brother but more sane" oh if you knew

the nonfan novel pains me i want to know more about the famous vampire costumes they wore at the haunted house

we've gotten a lot of LIPxLIP vampire content, it's impressive

there's the vampire aizou from the calendar, this year's vampire/werewolf card, the elusive costumes from the school festival...

ALSO mskdlsmflslfms the hands on the haunted house's walls... yuujirou's hands

i love that the sound effect was yuujirou's hair dryer galsnsmdks boy knows how to take care of his hair

i want you to know that my first thought upon seeing how well the interview with aizou had went and the mention of yuujirou being a bit problematic was that yuujirou would somehow end up threatening him

then the flowers scene absolutely broke me

i've said this but there is just. something so poetic about yuujirou standing alone in the november cold, looking at yellow flowers that should have wilted already

like god. there's a lot to unpack there isn't it.

"looking at them as if he wasn't really there" so yeah, with his mind somewhere else, but the og sentence is so.

on the other side, that's such a stereotypically introvert thing to do it's almost funny yuujirou i love you

he is actually such a good kid

the contrast between this scene and aizou's is so striking too

on aizou's, there's laughter, lots of people, congratulations

yuujirou, however, has purposefully chosen a lonely place to spend his lunch break

and neither of the two is actually eating

it's interesting, really, in aizou's part you can imagine the sunlight, whereas in yuujirou's you feel... cloudy

anyway all the flower symbolism in haniwa Gets me

every mention of tulips is.....................

ayase koyuki i love you

i also love that yuujirou has so much curiosity

someone mentioned it was kinda like childish wonder and i haven't been able to get it off my mind ever since, it's true

he just,,, likes to learn you know

it makes a lot of sense too, considering his drive was "to find something"

BUT LIKE

THE WAY HE JUST PULLS A REVERSE UNO CARD AND DECIDES *HE* IS GOING TO INTERVIEW KOUDAI I JUST

CAN I EVEN LOVE HIM MORE

yes my boy go take pictures of your dog what's the point in getting an expensive camera if not to take pictures of things you like

(jshk people you know)

AND THEN HE,,, TAKES A PICTURE OF KOUDAI,,,

HOW CAN HE BE SO SWEET

he is so. lovely.

this short story made my love for him skyrocket sorry his part on this post is so much longer than the rest but oh god

(he deserved it, last time the stories were more focused on aizou)

(why are you so secretive about yuujirou haniwa)

yuujirou sleeping in the break room table...................................

i wanted to know what koudai wrote abt him aaaaa

though, the comment about chopping hiyori's head off aizou what the heck

he got violent so easily no wonder yuujirou and him are always fighting lol

ALSO UCHIDA'S COMMENT ABOUT AKECHI MSDKLSKDLS

god that was so funny

sorry miss hes gay

anyway yeah hiyori deserves a full interview come on

HIYORI CALLING AIZOU A PINEAPPLE,,,

and the scene with koudai looking at everyone from above..........................

it kinda feels like he's excluded, also in the "i first got a song last year despite having existed for ages" kind of way lol

but he's getting a new one so soon!!!

i wanted him to be aroace but, good for him lol

i think he would get along well with yuujirou, maybe

i love that they flat out said aiyuu are difficult students to handle smdjsmdmkd good luck akechi

and yeah, the ending,,, heartfelt

this was a really fun story overall!!! it really is so nice to see them being normal students, the lines that mentioned that felt a little like 4th wall breaking lol

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

(2/2) especially given that the first thing i shipped once i knew what shipping was comes from the realm of daytime soaps, where people are betraying and backstabbing each other constantly lol. for me, i think it comes down to framing. if the show frames a pairing as abusive/toxic, i can deal with it a lot better than with fandoms and shows that romanticize it or sweep it under the rug. that, and of course, chemistry, is a big part of the reason i hate ships like c$ but can enjoy a pairing (2/3)

So, Tumblr ate some of your asks again (damn this hellsite lol) but we spoke on PM’s and you explained that in your other asks, you discussed toxic/dark ships, asked me what makes a dark ship work for me and the darkest ship I’ve ever shipped. You also said that some of the toxic ships you like such as Todd/Blaor and Joker/Harley work for you because of the framing of those ships.

I want to start off by saying, thank you so much for this ask. It’s such an interesting topic to discuss and I feel like it’s very relevant in fandom. There’s this hysteria around “abusive”, “toxic” and “dark” ships with people misusing or misunderstanding those words. I briefly discussed this previously in an ask I recieved about Stelena being abusive, which you can read here if you’re interested.

Overall, I think dark ships are brilliant because when they’re done correctly they can be the most intruiging, complex, authentic and gripping relationships in television. There’s no getting around the fact that love is tricky and complicated, and it can lead people down dark paths. Also, everyone has their issues, insecurities and scars, which often bleed into their relationships. So it’s only right that these sort of relationships should be portrayed in the media.

I feel very much the same as you about what makes a dark/toxic ship work for me. It’s all about the way that it’s portrayed and written. I can’t ship a dark or toxic ship when it’s romanticised or when the toxicity is glossed over or ignored, which is the case with ships like Ross/Rachel (Friends), Damon/Elena (The Vampire Diaries), Spike/Buffy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer - although my only qualms with this ship are in season 7, I actually think they were well written in season 6), Edward/Bella (Twlight) and many more. I have a particular issue with this because I think of all the young people that watch or read about these kind of relationships and aspire to have them and it concerns me. In my opinion, nobody should aspire to have a relationship like any of the ones I’ve just named or any other like them. 

Dark ships work for me when they’re authentic and realistic. These types of relationships are intense and passionate, but they’re also exhausting and very detrimental to the people involved. So when I see a ship like this I expect to see that. I expect to see the consequences, to see the people change as a result of the relationship and be pushed to the extremes. I’ve discussed this previously in response to an ask about Delena which you can read here (be warned, it is anti-Delena). In that ask, I use Jax and Tara as an example of a toxic ship that works, and I stand by that. What makes Jax and Tara work so well as a toxic ship is that it’s constantly acknowledged and we see the devastating impact their relationship has on both of them, but Tara in particular. Yet with ships such as Damon/Elena or Emma/Hook, all I ever see is their love being glorified and romanticised. 

I have to admit, I don’t have a tendency to ship dark ships. I’d say the only ships that I have that could fall into this category are Cook/Effy (Skins), Damon/Katherine (The Vampire Diaries), Dexter/Debra (Dexter), Ben/Callum (Eastenders) and Henry/Anne (The Tudors). There may be others, but I can’t think of any off the top of my head. There are different reasons as to why I still ship these couples despite them being dark and/or toxic. I’m going to analyse these ships one by one. Feel free to skip over this, because it’s going to be long and I’m literally just using this as the perfect excuse to talk about some of my favourite ships lol.

Cook and Effy (Skins)

I’ve spoken pretty in-depth about Cook and Effy being toxic and bad for each other previously. However, I’ll do it again because there are little things that I missed from my previous meta. Cook and Effy are toxic for one another at points, and this stems from the fact that as individuals they have a lot of issues and they use each other as a buffer for those issues. The reason they enter into a sexual relationship in season 3 is because they both use sex as way to deal with the disconnect they feel with others, but also because Cook wants to get one over on Freddie and Effy wants to deny her feelings for Freddie. As a result, they both unintentionally hurt each other. Cook knows that Effy is using him, but he allows it to happen which feeds into Effy’s pain about Freddie, whilst simuetanously causing himself pain, because he has genuine feelings for Effy. Their communication throughout season 3 is poor and they’re rarely honest with each other. Cook knows that Effy is in love with Freddie, but neither of them address this and it causes them both a lot of hurt. They also use each other as an escape. They run away together at the end of season 3; Effy to get away from Freddie and Cook because he wants to pursue the fantasy that he and Effy are going to live happily ever after. Although Effy willingly stays with Cook during that time, he does take her away from her home and loved ones and isolates her to an extent, because he wants to pursue this fantasy by any means necessary. He knows Effy doesn’t love him the way he loves her, but he goes into denial because he’d rather live a lie than lose her.

In season 4, when Effy finally admits her feelings for Freddie and gets into a relationship with him, she continues to cause Cook pain because she never validates his love for her. Instead, she ridicules and belittles him for it and downplays their relationship. When he tells her he still loves her, she tells him to piss off and later on she tells him that he was never good for her. Instead of admitting that what they had was real, but that she simply loved Freddie more, she makes Cook feel stupid as though what they had meant nothing. This leads to Cook once again going into denial. When Effy is suffering from mental illness and appears to not remember him, he plays along with her because it enables him to be with her, even if just for a short time.

The reason I’m still able to ship Cook and Effy is because despite the toxicity, there’s an equality present in their relationship. Everything that happens between them is mutual. Cook loves Effy but he never actively manipulates, coerces or pressures her to be with him in any way. In fact, he respects and accepts that she loves Freddie even though it hurts him. Effy hurts Cook by undermining their love, but excluding the one occassion where she tells him to piss off, she respects him and treats him with kindness. Cook and Effy never purposefully hurt each other or try to keep each other harm. The hurt they do cause each other is more an extension of their individual issues which have a knock on effect when it comes to their relationship. It’s not their relationship that’s toxic, it’s them as individuals. But also, the narrative never portrays Cook and Effy as being anything other than they are. We see the detrimental impact of their relationship and we hear Effy admit that they were bad for each other and would’ve never worked.

Damon and Katherine (The Vampire Diaries)

Once again, I have discussed Damon and Katherine’s relationship in-depth over at my writing side-blog, so don’t need to go into too much detail. I don’t think any explanation is needed here as to why Damon and Katherine are toxic. From the moment Katherine meets Damon she uses him for her own amusement, she sleeps with Damon and his brother at the same time without any regard for Damon’s feelings, controls every aspect of their relationship to suit her, fakes her death and lets Damon think she’s dead for over a century, continually plays with Damon’s feelings to get the reaction she wants, is continually dismissive of his love for her and rubs the fact that she loves Stefan in Damon’s face. And that’s just the aspects of their relationship that are toxic from Katherine’s side. Damon’s love for Katherine is so consuming that he goes to terrible lengths to be with her and when she rejects him resorts to violence and cruelty.

But again, the reason I’m able to ship them is because Damon and Katherine opearate on a level playing field. At the start of their relationship when Damon is human, Katherine definitley has an upper hand, but later on it’s tit for tat. They both hurt and manipulate each other, and in fact, they almost thrive on it. It’s part of how they communicate and relate to one another. Over the years, their feelings for each other become so twisted that they can’t express their love in the correct way anymore. Most importantly, just like with Cook and Effy, the narrative never strays from what Damon and Katherine are. They’re not true love, they’re not good for each other, they’re not healthy or a love to aspire to have. They’re profoundly connected and have a dark, twisted and complex history which is underlined with love but that manifests itself in often awful ways.

Dexter and Debra (Dexter)

These two are by far the darkest and most controversial ship I’ve ever shipped. As adopted siblings, there’s an incestious nature to the relationship which immediately creates toxcity in their relationship, but as individuals Dexter and Debra are both really messed up. Dexter is a self-proclaimed psychopath and serial killer, and Debra endures a lot of trauma throughout the series which deeply impacts her. Dexter and Debra have such an unhealthy and co-dependent relationship, it’s actually kinda crazy. Dexter lies to Debra and keeps an entire aspect of himself and his life a secret, he kills for Debra, he fails to validate or understand her feelings for him and he emotionally blackmails her. Debra lies and compromises her entire identity and morals to protect Dexter’s secret of being a serial killer, she murders an innocent woman to protect him and harbours a wanted criminal for him. Dexter and Deb will quite literally do anything to protect each other, but the result is devastating. You only have to watch Deb in season 8 to see just how damaging and toxic her relationship with Dexter is to her. Dexter and her love for him quite literally destroys her.

So it begs the question how and why do I ship these two? Well, the answer is the same as always: because the narrative doesn’t portray them as anything other than exactly what they are. Their relationship and Deb’s feelings for Dexter are completely fucked up and we’re told and shown that repeatedly. They’re not romanticised in any way, if anything they’re written in a way that would make most fans and viewers despise their relationship, particularly the romantic aspect of it. The show is true to them as individual characters and the toxicity of their relationship is authentic and understandable. I’ve briefly spoke about this previously, but Dexter and Debra’s relationship is supposed to be completely messed up because it’s an extension of them. Dexter, in particular, is damaged beyond repair and destroys everything he touches. Debra is part of that. Likewise, her falling for him makes perfect sense in the context of what she endures. Deb is a naturally self-destructive and self-loathing person, and loving Dexter is the biggest act of self-destruction she could ever enter into. In my opinion, of all the dark ships I have, Dexter and Debra are the perfect example of it being done right. They’re so dark and they love each other so much, but every step of the way the toxicity of their relationship is acknowledged and explored properly.

Ben and Callum (Eastenders)

I love Ben and Callum so much, and as far as they’ve come in their relationship, I can’t help but see the toxicity of it. In the beginning, Callum was unsure of his sexuality, was extremely closeted and carried a lot of internalised homophobia and self-hatred. This impacted on his relationship with Ben who had struggled with the same issues and didn’t want to return to that sad, lonely and miserable place. Callum’s relationship with Whitney and inability to admit his feelings for Ben made Ben feel rejected, sidelined and frustrated. At the same time this was going on, Ben’s issues of being afraid to love and let someone in after his ex was murdered, meant that he was unable to be completely open to Callum. By the time Callum was ready to come out and embrace his feelings for Ben, Ben was scared and backed away from Callum. Since the two have entered into a relationship, there’s been so much hurt and so much back and fourth. Ben is so afraid of hurting Callum and bringing harm to him, that he constantly pushes him away. The issue is that whether they’re together or not, Callum and Ben get hurt simply by loving each other. When Ben breaks up with Callum or pushes him away, they’re both heartbroken and long to be together again. But when Ben and Callum are together, their differences causes issues, and Ben’s actions put Callum in awful positions. Callum’s been forced to keep an innocent man’s murder a secret (he wasn’t really dead, but Callum didn’t know that), and now Callum’s been kidnapped and beaten, his life threatened, because of Ben’s actions. Ben has gone to extremes to save Callum including holding a gun to his own dad’s head and threatening to pull the trigger.

Unlike the other ships I’ve already discussed, the reason I’m still able to ship Ben and Callum isn’t because the narrative acknowledges they’re toxic for each other. It does acknowledge it, but the main reason I’m able to ship them is because none of the hurt they bring to each other is ever intentional. The hurt that Callum caused Ben before they were together was something he couldn’t control. He couldn’t force himself to come out and break up with Whitney. He had to come to terms with it in his own time and come out when he was good and ready. Likewise, Ben never intentionally hurts Callum. He does everything he can to protect him. Sure, he makes mistakes in trying to protect him, but all he ever wants is the best for Callum. A lot like Cook and Effy, the toxicity of Ben and Callum’s relationship doesn’t come from their relationship itself, but them as individuals. More specifically, Ben. Ben’s lifestyle, choices and actions have a detrimental impact on him and everyone around him (the mother of his child was also kidnapped not too long ago), including Callum.

Henry/Anne (The Tudors)

These two are a weird pairing to analyse, since they’re technically a real-life historical couple, but I’ll obviously be discussing them purely from a fictional stand-point and how they’re portrayed on The Tudors.

Henry and Anne are toxic as hell. Their relationship develops because Anne’s father uses her as a pawn to seduce Henry for the benefit of his own political career. Henry is also married to Katherine when their romantic relationship develops, so there’s infidelity and lies involved. Henry pursues Anne and although she falls for him, she actually has little agency in the early days. She’s told to entertain Henry and play on his attraction to her by her father, and later on, she has to submit to Henry because he’s the King of England. As the King of England, Henry has more power than any person should ever have and his arrogance and self righteousnous means that he’s more than happy to play on his power and use it to his advantage, even where Anne is concerned.

In the early stages of their relationship, considering the type of person he is, Henry is reasonably generous and gentle when it comes to Anne. He respects her, he listens to her and she has a voice in the relationship to a greater extent than Katherine did. But the moment that Anne challenges him or speaks out of turn, he shuts her down and forecfully reminds her that he’s the one with the power. He tells her to shut up and endure like her betters before her and he threatens her by telling her he can bring her down as quickly as he raised her. When she miscarries, he makes her feel that she’s a failed as a wife, mother and queen. He makes her feel embarassed, ashamed, anxious and unloved; the exact opposite of how she should feel during such a traumatic and painful time. Things only get worse when he proceeds to cheat on her whilst she’s pregnant. And we all know how this relationship ends. There are a lot of toxic ships out there but very few who actually kill their significant other, so Henry and Anne take the top spot for that alone. 

The question arises again, why do I ship this? And it’s because a) they have amazing chemistry b) the ups and downs in the relationship are portrayed fantastically c) you visibly see the downfall of Anne as a result of her love for Henry. Anne is destroyed, both metaphorically and literally, by her relationship with Henry. None of the bad aspects of their relationships are ever masked or ignored, they’re laid bare, but we see that despite how bad they are for each other, they have a deeply intense and passionate love which neither of them can fight against.

So if you’ve read all of that, I guess I’d say that when it comes to dark/toxic ships, they don’t always work for me. I take them on their individual merit. Sometimes they work and other times they don’t. It all depends on how they’re written and portrayed, and how their relationship develops overtime