#stuck in a temper tantrum because none of the writers know what to do and im a new earth truther who likes the narrative ive built

[manyu-ten]

Stans of all kind are lowkey a curse upon oneself because how are you gonna just be like "he isn't the only one who died young" but another person will say "its a trauma response not a temper tantrum".

Now, y'all. Both can be true. A temper tantrum can be a part of one's trauma response when the trauma in question is "I died at 15 and was lowkey catatonic before being pushed into a magical pit of green water". No shit the kid has shitty emotional regulation 😭. How many of us were happy with our families' versions of help when we were teenagers who felt like no one understood us?

Yeah, a temper tantrum is a clear sign of Emotional Dysregulation. Its also a sign of trauma. Thats two things that are both true, even at the same time.

As for Jason's actual death:

It was literally a turning point for Comics in general. I've tutored students from classes where DitF was taught in curriculums concerning the development of media and pop culture. Where it—in context of DC's pre-crisis, Infinite-crisis and post-crisis lineup AND in the context of the actual climate of DC Comics/real life fans in the 80s—was dissected.

Him dying young, as Robin, as an associate of Batman and the newly minted Nightwing, as a character explicitly shown to not want to give Rapists compassion—that was a big deal at the time. Not a mind bogglingly big deal. But it meant something to a lot of people one way or another. Tim's creation, from his background, to how he is associated with Dick to him eventually having his very own Robin run is a testament to what DC felt like they had to do after Jason was killed. Haunting the narrative for the character development of Bruce, Dick, Tim and even to a limited extent, Cass's relationship to Bruce during her og Batgirl run.

I think (this is a flexible opinion than can be changed and or added upon. Have comprehension y'all) the most significant (and truly, that may be stretching it a little) death of an underage hero in DC's lineup before Jason might have been Terra and part of the reason her death was so significant was because of the characters it introduced: Deathstroke, Jericho and Dick becoming Nightwing.

Modernly, we are influenced by our thoughts and behaviors concerning these characters by not just the actual comics, but the social climate (economic, political, parasocial, the avenues of trends in media) permeating the time in which each of these storylines were presented. We have predisposed notions of characters and their archetypes, as well as the facets of human sociability that they represent.

Implicitly, or with full discretion, we're inclined to give certain narratives, certain characters, more or less leeway than others. It doesn't matter which way you skew, we all tend to fall somewhere on the spectrum.

On Jason's standoff with Bruce:

He explicitly states that he knows Bruce loved him. What he wanted proven was does Bruce still love him, despite what he's done and if he shoots the Joker through the head.

It should also be noted, Jason says he doesn't care for the World in Lost Days, but, because we all have enough comprehension, we understand this isn't true, as he is shown still caring for other people.

Saying that he rejects every hand offered: yeah, he does. He probably doesn't feel like they are offering because they care about him specifically, only that they gotta save him from himself like some paradigm of their moral codes. Sometimes, he's just being a bitch. Which, real. Y'all do shit rationally all the time with no impulsive influence of emotion? Give me your tips. People on the internet in their 30s, with fully developed frontal lobes still irrationally react to things all the time. Why are you guys expecting a fictional, died and got resurrected 19 year old to have proper emotional regulation? The bitch didn't even graduate high school like guys, yeah he's wrong about shit. Yeah, he can throw a temper tantrum. But. He's also rightfully angry about some stuff.

Is rejecting the offered hand of one only worth criticism when the person is an obvious danger to others? When Dick places the blame upon all wrongdoings on himself (unfairly so) and chooses to walk the path alone, when Cassandra does the same (equally, unfairly so)—are they not dangers to others too? They are. It doesn't matter if it works out for them in the end—the point is that they WERE a possible danger. Self-flagellation or perceived guilt doesn't absolve you of possibly risking other peoples' lives and or livelihoods. As the saying goes, the dog that cries after the kill is no better than the dog who does not. (Kill is metaphoric here. Please understand this y'all 😭).

(Another aside: Everyone is so quick to call a character sociopathic 😭. Sociopathy isn't a diagnosable mental disorder, but more than that, in real life, one must have actually had a Conduct Disorder in order to fulfill part of the criteria to be diagnosed with ASPD as an adult. You could argue Jason had CD, but in most cases, you could also say the same shit as Dick. If Jason has childhood CD, so did Dick. People misunderstand antisocial behavior as a symptom of other disorders as stark evidence of sociopathy or psychopathy. Jason was antisocial in his New-Earth run in Lost Days and UtRH (and anything else predating BftC) but, arguably, so was Bruce and Dick to an extent. The only reason people are so adamant to point it out with Jason is because of his alignment and his stance on killing. I'm sorry guys, but some of the most antisocial, diagnosed with ASPD, literally psychopathic or sociopathic people I have ever worked with are Surgeons—especially Surgeons who work with convicted felons. They will save your life, put their all into the care of a patient and guess what? They still antisocial as fuck. Doing good things doesn't excuse you of being antisocial nor having other traits of psychopathy or sociopathy. You don't have to be a murderer to be antisocial and caring about the lives of others doesn't inherently mean you aren't antisocial. When you hear 'disregarding the rights of others' that doesn't pertain just to acts of abuse or violence but to the rejection of others' autonomy, their opinions and even their expertise in their own field.)

Anyway.

You kin to a character and a narrative that means something to you while disregarding or undermining another character—especially when that character breaks the mold of what fits your narrative.

It be like that sometimes.

Jason died at 15 and that is tragic, but the real tragedy is that when he returns he is stuck in a teenage temper tantrum the likes of which have never been seen. He's cold and calculating until something doesn't go his way and then he's lashing out and slamming doors. Except he's vigilante trained and has access to guns so his temper tantrum is realized in lives lost not new doors.

[mittensmorgul]

You and the show itself have repeatedly called Chuck a hack writer... ("Ayn Rand after firing her editor" hahahahah), and yet the story is deep, moving, multilayered, endlessly engaging. So what gives? Or is it the fact that Chuck-the-writer himself is a character?... *gets a headache*

HAAAA.

Well, first off, I thought I’d said “Anne Rice after firing her editor.” *goes to check* yup, that’s what I said. :’D

https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/188632630880/i-know-this-is-a-weird-question-but-with-his

(for context, early in her career after her first brush with success, she just... unilaterally decided that she would have sole control over her creations, and has since refused any and all editorial guidance. And it’s... noticeable...)

but YES I mean ~Chuck the Character~. Since he’s not the one writing the show we’re watching. He’s writing his own thing in-universe. Which we know for a fact is... not exactly true to what *we* have seen happen.

I mean, one of the first things we learn about his books is that he never used Sam and Dean’s last name in the books. We also learn that he HEAVILY edited stuff out to suit the story. Like, in the Supernatural books in canon, there’s no mention of Sam’s blood drinking. Chuck left it out because he thought it made Sam seem “unsympathetic.” So what else has he left out, or changed, to suit the story he ~actually~ wanted to tell?

Lizbob wrote a great piece years ago about this-- the in-narrative “book fandom” vs “our tv show fandom.” This was from January 2015, so it’s been a while, and doesn’t include current... developments... regarding Chuck. (so please don’t go asking lizbob for an update on this one... she’s still half a dozen episodes behind and doesn’t know things yet... thanks!)

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/108911450713/he-seems-helpful-and-dreamy

So that’s for what he actually LITERALLY writes in canon, as a character. But as for what he metaphorically writes as GOD? As the creator of the universe in-narrative, who set the stage by his own creation, and then repeatedly manipulated circumstances to attempt to force his characters to enact certain plotlines? And then when they finally REFUSED? Because as part of the story he’d not only given his characters free will, but also spent the last 14 years testing that sense of free will by fire at every opportunity, hardening it into a rock-solid foundation they finally stood upon in 14.20? And ultimately defied him?

Yeah, he had a temper tantrum.

This is the point in my reply where I begin to feel a bit dizzy, because it’s one of those mind-bendy sorts of situations. So apologies in advance if I go a bit *wobbles hand back and forth*

When they introduced Chuck as a character, I don’t know if there was already intent, or even long-term thought put into him secretly being God playing a hack writer in his own story. But I do know that Kripke told Rob that he’d been essentially playing God, and joked with him about it. So even if it hadn’t started with the firm conviction that Chuck was actually God, it was definitely the intent by the time 5.22 aired.

That said, how much influence over creation did Chuck really have? How much was his characters surprising him, and defying his original intent? Supernatural has played with this concept repeatedly since then, but especially heavily in Dabb era. Which, as I’ve stated many times in the past, I firmly believe began at the midpoint of s11 when he quietly took over the showrunning duties. I believe Chuck As Final Boss had been his intent since he took over, and he’d been setting up the pieces all along. He could’ve run another season on the AU!Michael arc, he could’ve drawn out the story for several more seasons after that if everyone had wanted to keep going. But I believe that what we’re seeing unfold now had always been the Bigger Picture Plan. Which makes him very un-Chuck-like.

And this is what makes the whole thing incredibly meta. Because the writers in ~our universe~ have been creating this story all along, deliberately writing Chuck as a mediocre writer. Sure he had some interesting ideas, but remember those characters with Free Will? Who he gave this power to make choices for themselves? Yeah, they’ve been getting better and better at ~interfering~ with Chuck’s big plots. And Chuck... has been getting worse and worse at thinking up plausible alternate scenarios to throw at them to wrench them around to the tragic plots CHUCK wanted to write for them.

Chuck is NOT an in-story symbol for the current writers. He’s The Original Storyteller. He’s also a handy metaphor for the “Supernatural should go back to what it used to be” crowd. It can NEVER go back to what it was at the beginning, because the characters have grown and evolved so much since then, because remember, in story THEY ARE AUTONOMOUS BEINGS WITH FREE WILL! And Chuck doesn’t WANT them to be. He wants them to be actors on his personal stage, willing to follow the script, even when it doesn’t make SENSE. Even when none of the characters even like the play.

He created this world, and has spent years tormenting Sam, Dean, and Cas (and now Rowena, Jack, and everyone else too) for his own personal entertainment. And he refuses to let them rest. The moment they earn themselves a win, he throws yet another problem at them. To the point where he’s had to break his own “storytelling rules” to divert them back into the story numerous times.

Have a gun that can kill anything? Great! Try shooting the devil in the face with it! WHOMP-WHOMP. Sorry, there’s only five things in the world that gun can’t kill, and Lucifer’s one of them! Sucks to be you guys!

Angels don’t have weapons, they just have glowy mojo! WHOMP-WHOMP! Except this one sword that can kill other angels! Wait, you like that? OKAY SO MAYBE ALL angels have swords from now on! Sucks to be you guys!

Oh, you have a magical necklace that glows in my presence? WHOMP-WHOMP! Sorry, I switched it off. Blocked your number. Wasn’t taking calls. Too busy writing my masterpiece to be interrupted by your pestering. Sucks to be you guys!

He’s repeatedly blamed all the worlds problems on anyone but himself, despite most of the problems his characters have complained about to his face... were literally of his own design. They’ve got a list of complaints about his storytelling about five miles long by now, and he just shrugs and goes on writing.

And he’s so completely lost touch with his own “characters” and now so CONVINCED that he’s actually telling a good story that it’s become the Last Job of his characters to somehow (by the end of the series) wrest control of their own story from him, one way or another.

He’s “written” countless other universes that he considers (and that AU!Michael referred to as) “failed drafts.” He didn’t like the way the story was going, and abandoned ship to create a new universe, with a different story. But all the stories are essentially the same, or at least similar enough to see his pet themes and plotlines play out over and over in different permutations.

His attempt to control the story had faltered so badly by 14.20 that he finally felt compelled to turn up in person to set things back on track, to wrangle in his misbehaving characters by literally having Dean kill both Jack and himself. I mean... this was Chuck’s last ditch attempt to force all their hands back into compliance.

So... the entire “story” of Supernatural the television show hasn’t been a contrivance by Chuck, you know? The characters of Sam, Dean, Cas, and Jack (and all the rest) haven’t been all Chuck’s doing. The characters do have free will (to an extent, as Chuck’s narratives have sometimes limited their choices they have available to them), but he’d finally driven them to a point where they refused to keep acting out his dramas.

But Chuck’s so not done with them yet.

I hope this makes sense... because I think it’s incredibly clear what Chuck is arranging, what he’s manipulating, and what’s just ~life~, or what’s just ~characters acting out of their own free will.~ But that distinction is not clear at all at the moment to, say, Dean for example. Because he’s inside the story, and can’t see what the truth of the situation actually is yet. He doesn’t realize he’s STILL inside Chuck’s story, and that Chuck isn’t done with them yet, you know?

But they will. And it’s OUR writers in THIS universe that have written ALL of this.

So THAT’S where your incredibly nuanced and layered storytelling has come from. Chuck writes the setup, but the characters don’t have a script. I said in something a while back that it’s like he puts the characters into an escape room with a set of parameters and then watches them work out how to escape on their own, only to find themselves still stuck in an even bigger escape room. As the creator, he can manipulate the room they’re stuck in, arbitrarily change the rules on them, but he can’t manipulate THEM DIRECTLY. That pesky free will at work!

But OUR writers in OUR universe are the ones telling the ENTIRE story, including those characters with free will. And isn’t that just incredible?

[ohmytheon]

17, kacchako? (Also, thank you for being such a lovely fic writer, I live for your updates 💖)

I hope you like this! It got a little out of hand. I wasn’t quite sure what to do for this, but eh, it turned out alright. Yeah, I skimped on the action because I was feeling lazy, but it’s something at least. Grown Kacchako being heroes is my jam so here ya go. (Can ya’ll tell how much I loved working in the service industry?)

17. “Don’t you dare look him in the eye.”

It was a beautiful night. The stars were out, not a cloud in sight, and there was a gentle breeze that took away the mugginess of the summer air. People were laughing as they walked the streets, the lights of the city offering promises of fun and relaxation. Content hung in the air, blanketing the night, putting everyone at ease. It made it feel like nothing in the world could go wrong at this moment.

Uraraka should have known better than to trust it, but for once, she had wanted to rest in the hope for a peaceful night.

It wasn’t often that she and Bakugou could afford the time to go out for an evening dinner and have the night to themselves, even if she now had the money for it. Their jobs as pro heroes was a constant thing. It didn’t stop once they took off their costumes or when they left the office. It stayed with them even after they clocked out. A heroes job was never done.

On top of that, Bakugou had his own hero agency to run and only at twenty-two. He’d put his phone on silent, but she could it buzz on the table. He had long since given up on trying to answer it discreetly when they were out like this. Not that she minded. She was insanely busy as well, but he had a lot more on his plate.

He didn’t apologize as he answered yet another text and she didn’t expect one, coolly sipping on a glass of wine. She was proud of him. He’d done so much since graduating from U.A. to better himself in every way. How could she be upset with him for that? His goal to the top had come far before she had entered the picture. It was a part of who he was. It didn’t make her feel any less important in his life. The fact that they were here now, eating dinner outside of one of their favorite restaurants – that he had gone out of his way to make time and space for her alongside his goal – meant everything to her.

So taken in by the relative peace of the night, the explosion from inside the restaurant caught both of them off guard for once.

It was so strong that it shattered glass, the force of it blowing tables and chairs aside. Uraraka and Bakugou threw themselves out of their chairs and on the ground instinctively. She touched the table and floated it above them, Bakugou grabbing the stand and holding it above them like an umbrella to protect them from falling debris. It cracked as broken brick peppered it, but neither of them were hurt thanks to her quick thinking. Once he deemed them in the clear, he stood up and shoved it to the side. She deactivated her quirk and raised herself next to him.

“What the hell was that?” Bakugou demanded as he ran towards the burning restaurant.

“Was it a kitchen accident?” Uraraka asked, immediately focusing on the other patrons. Many of them were on the ground, injured and terrified. She wanted to focus on getting them out of the area as quick as possible in case there was another explosion. Luckily, with her quirk, all she had to do was give them a tap and she could carefully pull them to a safe distance.

Bakugou scanned inside the restaurant with narrow eyes. “I don’t–” He was cut off by a thin red laser, which he narrowly managed to dodge by rolling to the left. When he rolled into a crouch, he snarled and pushed back his sleeves. “Definitely not an accident.” It was a villain. Somewhere inside that restaurant, there was a villain lurking, hidden by the flames and broken debris. “Get these civilians out of here! I’ll handle this asshole.”

Some heroes might not have liked being stuck with rescue duty, but Uraraka knew that it was an important part of hero work. Not only that, her quirk enabled her to be much more efficient at it than Bakugou, who was known for his offensive quirk. Quite frankly, she could save these people better than he could. They’d both learned to acknowledge their quirk’s strengths and weaknesses over the years, especially when they worked together as Uravity and Ground Zero. By doing so, it made them much stronger.

She trusted Bakugou to take care of things on his end. So she got to work.

There were more injured civilians than she’d realized. Some of them were so hurt that moving them had to be a delicate process even for her. It was taxing work, lifting fallen rubble off of people and ordering less injured civilian to put pressure on the more terrible wounds of others. Sweat ran down her body, creating paths through the grime and ash on her skin, and blood was trailing down her shin from where she’d skinned her knee from diving on the ground. Even worse, she could hear the sounds of the fight raging behind her and it sounded like there was more than one villain.

It wasn’t long before other pro heroes arrived on the scene, but it wasn’t soon enough.  She barked at them to assist Bakugou and then pulled a few others to help retrieve the civilians as the other first responders arrived. An explosion that she recognized as one of Bakugou’s rocked them from behind, nearly forcing her to her knees again, but she pushed herself back up.

“Take care of the rest!” Uraraka ordered. “I’m going in!”

She was wearing a red dress not fit for combat and flats with none of her support gear, but she didn’t care. They’d promised to have each other’s backs no matter what. She ran into the building, ignoring the heat from the flames, but was met with a shocking sight. There were multiple people attacking Bakugou, most of whom looked to be dressed like regular patrons of the restaurant, but what was truly shocking were the two heroes fighting him as well. She’d just sent them in here to help.

“What are you doing?” Uraraka demanded in a scream. She grabbed one of them by the shoulders, ripping him off the ground with her quirk activated on him, but when she turned him to face her, she was only met with a vacant gaze, like he wasn’t even seeing her. It reminded her of the look on a person’s face when they were under Shinsou’s brainwashing quirk.

“It’s not them!” Bakugou shouted as he dodged an attack from what looked like a civilian. He was roughed up more than she’d originally thought, his clothes tattered and burned, and a gash on his face. “There’s a villain with some sort of brainwashing quirk that makes them go berzerk!”

“So what do we do?”

Bakugou landed a solid punch on the guy he was fighting with and the guy dropped to the floor like a sack of flour. “Knock ‘em the hell out.”

The hero that she had a hold onto started to claw at her, so she threw him up through the hole in the ceiling, sending him floating somewhere in the upper levels of the building. It wasn’t a knock out, but it took him out of commission until she released her quirk and then he’d probably have a one hell of an unpleasant landing. She was able to touch another civilian and threw him across the room. She winced when his body collided with a wall, but released her quirk, dropping both of them. It wasn’t their fault and she hated it when civilians got stuck in the crossfire, but they were being used as weapons right now and she and Bakugou couldn’t just not defend themselves.

Before she could trade blows with another person, a voice commanded, “Stop!” and everyone froze. Uraraka looked over and saw that one of the heroes had Bakugou by the neck with two hands while tentacle-like ropes had a hold of his wrists, pulling them high above his head. She moved to help when that red laser was shot in between them, forcing her to a halt. “Did I not say stop?”

As Uraraka swung her gaze in the direction of the voice, Bakugou managed to rasp, “Don’t look at him! His quirk is activated by connecting eyes!” and she jerked her head away at the last second, catching a glimpse of a man in a white kitchen uniform.

“Oh, you ruined the surprise,” the villain huffed. He sounded young, around the same age as them. Was he actually a part of the staff of this restaurant? “That should be expected of a hero like Ground Zero. No fun at all.”

“You call this fun?” Uraraka asked, feeling out of sorts since she couldn’t face the villain head on. She could sort of see him out of the corner of her eyes, but she kept her focus on Bakugou, who was staring back at her as well. His face was getting redder as the mind-controlled hero squeezed his neck tighter. Uraraka’s breath hitched in her chest.

“Working for this shithole certainly wasn’t,” the villain complained. “I felt like a slave back there.”

“Maybe you should’ve just quit instead of attacking and hurting innocent people,” Uraraka told him.

Bakugou wheezed a little, an angry smirk cutting across his face. “If you can’t take the heat…”

“Oh, I’m out of the kitchen, that’s for sure.” The villain hopped over a broken table towards her. He tried to slide into her view, but she turned her head away. “And who do I find out here but the famous Uravity and Ground Zero! Eating dinner together no less! Are you two like together or something?”

“Stay away–” Bakugou’s yell was cut off by him gasping for air.

The villain stayed just out of Uraraka’s reach. “I could get him to stop, you know. It’s pretty simple. People are so easy to turn. It’s like they want the control taken from them.” He kept circling her, trying to get her to make eye contact, so Uraraka closed her eyes. She felt so ridiculous. All she needed to do was land one hit on him. She could do that. “I could also have his throat crushed. That would be fine by me. He’s kind of an asshole. What do you see in him?”

A hero. A future. There was a lot she saw in Bakugou, but she wasn’t going to tell this punk any of that. He really was just a guy throwing a temper tantrum over a job he hated.

“I’ll tell you what,” the guy said. “I’ll let your hero boyfriend live. All you’ve gotta do is look at me.” She could hear the grin in his voice now. “C’mon, Uravity, let me see those pretty eyes of yours. I’ve had such a shitty week. Chef is relentless. Well, he’s probably dead now, but that’s not the point. You are. We can have so much fun together tonight! Come on. I want you to see me.”

“Don’t you dare look him in the eye,” Bakugou gasped with great difficulty.

Uraraka let out a shaky breath and softly said, “I do see you.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, you’re some nobody who thinks he’s hot shit, but can’t even be bothered to do his own dirty work,” Uraraka told him. “You were in the kitchen tonight, right? No wonder my food was sub par. A child could cook better than that. And this? It’s obvious that you’re too weak to fight on your own.”

“I’ll show you weak,” the guy snarled, stepping forward to grab her. She heard him step on glass behind her and spun out of his way before he could snatch her. As he stumbled forward due to his own momentum, Uraraka opened her eyes and tagged him with her quirk. He yelped as his feet slid out from underneath him. She grabbed him by the back of his white jacket and threw him hard up in the air so that he smacked into the ceiling, releasing her quirk and letting him fall to the ground hard, knocking him unconscious.

As soon as he was out, everyone under his control snapped out of it. The pro hero squeezing the life out of Bakugou realized what he was doing and hastily let go of him. Bakugou’s hand flew to his throat, but he pushed the hero away when the man attempted to apologize. He wiped at the blood on his face and walked through the rabble towards her. He nudged the unconscious villain with his boot and let out a disgruntled huff.

“Are you alright?” Uraraka asked, lifting her hands so that she could see his throat.

“I’m fine,” Bakugou replied in a raspy voice. “Stupid prick. I hate disgruntled employee villains.” His eyes moved from the villain to her face, no less intense but not angry. “Get him out of here.”

The hero that had been choking Bakugou moments ago handcuffed the villain and did as he was told. Seeing as how they had been out for a nice dinner, neither of them were equipped to fully detain anyone. Water began to rain down on them as first responders attempted to put out the fire and the two of them worked to pull out the rest of the unconscious victims out of the building.

It had been a night that neither of them had expected – a night off turned into work as usual. Uraraka was exhausted and more than a little bruised, but when Bakugou slipped his hand in hers as they waited for the police to take their statements, she found herself relaxing and leaning against him. At least she hadn’t been alone. Neither of them had been. And that was why she never got upset when Bakugou prioritized his work. Because she was a part of his world as much as he was a part of hers and they were a team.

[nihilisticbotanist]

Retail is killing my mental well-being

I am not a writer, I do not know how to properly format this or where to even begin. I just need someone to hear me out, just one person to understand where I’m coming from. I also do not want to hear “oh, don’t take it personally”. I’m writing this specifically so I can be anonymous and get my feelings on it out there. I know it’s a lot. I know it’s stupid, and not a big deal, and that I’m blowing it out of proportion. But this is really weighing on me, and I absolutely need to let it out. Please no hate remarks on this. I really appreciate whoever chooses to read this.

I have been working retail for almost a decade. I love helping people, I love making people happy, I love merchandising and creating mannequins. But I hate my job. I cannot leave. I am getting paid far too well to find a comparable job or career. The only experience I have is retail. Currently I am taking classes towards my degree, while still working full time, so that I CAN leave. I simply cannot afford to get another job, plain and simple. I cannot move back home for reasons I will not get into, none bad or anything, I just want to stay anonymous. I am an adult, I have bills, and I am stuck.

The reason I hate my job is also plain and simple in my mind. Everywhere in retail corporations are contradictory rules, statements, etc. Honestly I am so stressed about it because when certain things come up, it’s not only frustrating, but becomes a moral issue with me. I’m mostly talking about “policies” that come about with customers. 

I’m tired of being told by corporate to do one thing per policy, only to do the other “based upon customer reaction”. It’s unfair, and I morally do not agree with it. An example would be:

Having only an X day return policy. Me telling customer “I’m sorry, but because you are X time over limit (usually weeks, we are lenient if it’s just a stupid day or few days over), therefore it cannot be refunded in cash or card”. Nice customer: ‘’Oh, alright. I understand.” Not so nice customer: “No I want it back how I purchased it. Are you a manager? Let me speak to a manager.” Management: “Ok we will do it for you this one time.” Which we all know turns into every time when this situation arises. 

Now I feel terrible about that. That sucks.

Why should the nice rule-abiding citizens be punished to receive a gift card, or no return at all, yet the grown adults who are getting mad at us for a rule get all they want? This is where my stress comes into play. 

This happens with everything whether it be people who forgot coupons, people who want to return year old worn stuff, people who lost their receipt and want their payment back in original form (my job does not have the power to look up receipts or card info).

For me it’s not the point of 100% following the rules, or getting spite on mean people. This is not the point I am trying to make. My point is that there are all these policies and rules, that are constantly getting “swayed” with corporate approval just because someone threw a temper tantrum. We are REWARDING bad behavior. People know if they come in and create a small fuss, they will get what they want. Where all these wonderfully kind-hearted people just sit there and take it when we aren’t supposed to do this or to do that per policy. 

All for fear that the company will lose one mean customer. That they will write a bad yelp review. A bad google review. That they will call corporate on us. I get it from a business standpoint. But I also believe that it is morally wrong. 

I give you terrible service (i.e. ignoring, being rude/unprofessional). Sure. Please call corporate on me or complain because I am not giving you good service. 

I apologize and refuse a return because there are no tags, no receipt, from years past after I explain our policy? You’re just being rude and nasty to me because I cannot give you a coupon that doesn’t even exist? You berate me, call me dumb, make snide remarks about my intelligence when I need a calculator for something (has happened multiple times, by the way!) then you want me to make an exception for you? When I stand there still with a smile on my face, trying to save the situation? No no no. I’m sorry but that is not me “giving you terrible service” per corporate. That is me following the rules, and you getting upset for something out of my control, or even upset because I had to use a calculator for your change my computer didn’t show. But you know what? Management will let you do whatever you want anyway. They always do.

The worst part is that no one even cares how they look or sound. No one thinks I’m a human being who goes home everyday just like them. Who goes to school full time to try to get into the career  really truly want. Who sincerely tries to be nice to everyone. Just to go to work and feel bad because I didn’t give a very sweet person a substantial coupon, just because they didn’t ask, per management, then to give that same coupon to the first person who gets irritated about it.

In a way I feel as though we are conditioning people to act out, to act rude, and to act mean. We are rewarding bad behavior, and like a toddler, if we reward it, then it will absolutely be repeated. 

There are ABSOLUTELY those customers that come in and just make my day better. There are people so genuinely nice to me. There are always those customers that make your job not seem like a job. It’s so extremely sad to me that I will always remember the people that were nasty to me over the people that were wonderful to me.

I remember that person who called me “a stupid dumb c***” because she thought I didn’t give her back her tax in her even exchange. 

I remember someone who stole a bunch of stuff, then demanded and yelled for us to return it for cash (per mgmnt). Even after I spoke about how I saw her take it 10 minutes prior and tried to confront her. 

I remember the woman who demanded my undivided attention on a busy day in a crowd. I was helping around 3-4 people at the time, and said “I’s so sorry I will be with you in just one or two minutes alright? I’m currently with a few people.” For her to throw her stuff down, complain about me, and walk out with a discount. 

I remember refusing a gentleman a sale, because at that store we swiped the cards at the register, and checked the back of the cards as well. His said “check I.D. Now, we did that anyways if it wasn’t signed, because we actually did have to check the accuracy of name, signature, etc. (high end store). He was with his three daughters, maybe 12-17? “I just need to check your I.D. sir, it also says it on the back you would like me to.” He refused, said his I.D. was at his hotel. “Sir I am really sorry but I am required to check some form of I.D. Do you have anything with your picture and signature I could just check”. He said no. “I apologize, unfortunately I cannot accept this as a form of payment. I would happily hold your stuff behind here if you needed to get cash or a form of I.D. from your car.” He immediately started to cuss at me. F this F that, berating me. I call management over. They process his sale. 

Countless others. But even if those wonderful customers make me feel better, and if they help me get through my day, I will always remember the bad over the good. 

That really sucks. 

“The customer is always right” was the worst phrase to ever happen to the service industry’s employees.

[tompatel95]

Daenerys, First of her Name.

It’s been a few months since that ending to Game of Thrones. Various thought pieces have been written, reviews analysing the show’s myriad parts and critiquing its execution. As with many fans, I felt a lot of emotions during the finale, none of them good. I’ve waited all this time to write this, to allow myself to simmer down. But, to be honest, I’m still raging – how could they do Daenerys dirty like that? Firstly, I acknowledge my status as a Dany stan. She has to be one of my all-time favourite characters and I resonate with her intensely – I felt actual grief at her death. Before anyone reading this begins to roll their eyes and mutter “overreaction,” Daenerys has helped me through the years. By identifying with her and her journey, I was able to get through bullying and mental health struggles. If anything, her travails provided a welcome respite from my struggles, privileged as they may be. However, I don’t believe I’m being biased here. So, let’s break it down. Much has been made by the cast that women are just as capable of being evil as men and Daenerys’ storyline proves that. Fair point, but this has been established since season 1 with Cersei. Cersei Lannister has been labelled as one of the greatest villains of all time, a nuanced combination of an overprivileged, entitled individual who still is underestimated on account of her gender. Indeed, Lena Headley’s portrayal has revealed that she is one of the most talented actresses of her generation. However, let’s delve into this myth of the ‘better sex.’ Women have been associated with evil since the very beginning. Circe, Medea, Lady Macbeth, the White Witch – the concept of evil women is embedded into our storytelling culture. Furthermore, these damsels-in-distress are painted as the exception – most women are unpleasant besides these princesses. Even within medieval Europe, the Virgin Mary was depicted as an impossible ideal rather than being exemplary of her gender. 

The most recent female villain who rocked our perceptions has to be Amy Dunne from Gone Girl. I feel Amy is what the writers were aiming for with Dany’s storyline, falling awfully short. What made Gone Girl so revolutionary isn’t Amy’s sociopathic nature, it’s that she got away with it. Amy outmanoeuvred her husband, the press, the police, all these smart, intelligent people. She used her white privilege as a weapon and got everything she desired – attention, wealth, a devoted husband, a child. There’s no karma, no repercussions; she wins. Saying that Dany’s storyline proves women can be evil just doesn’t hold up – especially given the kingdom goes to a man. Secondly, let’s tackle this idea or foreshadowing. It’s an important point to make – foreshadowing does not equal plot development. People have been muttering about the Mad Queen for years, yet a lot of this is hypocritical. Before she burns Kings Landing, Dany hasn’t done anything more atrocious than anybody else. Much has been made about her reaction/treatment of her brother and the slave masters. To those people I say, are we watching the same show? Viserys is abusive, violent and just as vicious as Joffrey. He had been tormenting Dany for her whole life – she stuck by him because where else would she go. However, once she marries Khal Drogo, once she begins to create her own family and comes into her own, why would she put up with his tirades? Why would she mourn him – this is the man would allow Khal Drogo’s entire khalasar and their horse rape her to get the Iron Throne, the man who threatened her unborn child. To those who now point to the crucifixion of the slave masters, well, they’re slave masters. I’m sorry, but I find this point so infuriating because they’re slave masters! You wouldn’t mourn jihadists dying, nor Nazis, yet somehow slave masters are legitimate individuals who deserve respect. Wow. And those who point out that Dany even killed those masters who were working towards abolition – the smallness of this plot point highlights how relevant the writers thought it was. Even accounting for that, it highlights Dany as rash, not mad. The Tarlys. Where to start with the Tarlys? I guess with one of the first scenes of season 1, where Ned Stark executes a member of the Night’s Watch, whose begging for his life. Or let’s go to Jon’s execution of Janos Slynt, who also begs for his life. Both these men ignore their victims’ pleas and kills them anyway, yet they’re still heralded as honourable men. Tyrion, Sansa, Arya, Theon; all have committed acts far worse than Dany’s execution of the Tarlys, yet Dany’s the bad guy. Both Randyll and Dickon Tarly go willingly to their deaths – all they had to do is bend the knee. Let’s not forget the xenophobic spiel Randyll spews before he dies as well. 

Speaking of racism, Dany is the sole character who actually doesn’t care about it. She is a white saviour, but that’s one of the tropes George RR Martin deconstructs. Ned’s death means the good guys don’t allows win, Robb’s death destroys the revenge narrative and Dany’s conquests highlights how, despite good intentions and the might of your army, if you don’t know the people you’re going to rule, you’ll struggle. Call me an apologist if you’d like, but Dany’s views on race and birth is refreshingly progressive. This is not echoed with the other characters. The northerners react with hostility towards Missandei and Grey Worm, and Sansa later says that Dany and her followers aren’t from the North – implying they shouldn’t be as loyal to them. Are we meant to care at all about what happens to the North now? How am I, a POC, meant to feel about this? I want any answer because all I can see the show trying to make me care about racists. Even Jon and Tyrion display classism – Jon dislikes his sworn brothers at the beginning and Tyrion mocks an attempt at a democracy. Daenerys promotes a former slave to leader of her armies. She comforts dying slaves as they hang, crucified and in her attacks on the slave cities, orders her armies not to harm any women or child. She removes rape from the Dothraki and Ironborn cultures and is devoted to equality. She would’ve revolutionised Westeros, bringing it under a centralised government and, due to her dragons, dealt with local warlords quickly and effectively. Indeed, an interesting angle would have been, yes, Dany’s a tyrant, but her rule was necessary for Westeros’ progression. Russia wouldn’t be the power it is today without Peter the Great, and he dragged Russia into modernity on the backs and bones of serfs. Whilst his actions are deplorable, it is undeniable that Russia wouldn’t be the superpower it is without him. So, even if the writers wanted to go down the Mad Queen route, this would’ve been a far more innovative angle rather than Dany throwing a temper tantrum. To conclude, I’m still angry. Dany’s treatment has ruined the show for me, especially given her treatment by fellow characters and the writers. She had no family but made something of herself whilst remaining true to herself. Long may she reign!