#they were clearly being exploited and clearly the victim but were convinced it was their fault when it wasnt

[magicalgirlpropaganda]

I feel like a lot of people who suck up to authority do it because they feel suffocated and trapped so they suck up to make sense of the situation and blame themselves and others for getting in trouble with authority so they can justify it. That way, they dont have to deal with the unfairness and anger they feel because they convince themselves its justified.

Ppl like tht still piss me off tho

[saintsenara]

what did you mean when you said tom was "grooming" ginny during cos?

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

"grooming" is when someone establishes a social relationship with a vulnerable person and then convinces this vulnerable person that they are their closest friend in the world, that they alone understand and support them, and that they alone can be trusted to act in their best interest - in order to isolate, manipulate, control, exploit, and abuse them.

[know the signs!]

the term is primarily used in a legal context, and it is primarily used in cases in which the vulnerable person is a child who has been sexually abused - but it can be used to describe relationships in which both people are adults, and which contain neither sexual nor physical violence [i.e. relationships which feature emotional abuse or coercive control]. it often refers to relationships established online over significant periods of time - although short-term and in-person grooming is also possible.

the difference between grooming and other forms of abusive behaviour is that grooming hinges on flattery, rather than threat. someone who is being groomed will not [at first] be afraid of their abuser - they will feel listened to, supported, and understood; they will enjoy the conversations they have with the person who is grooming them; they won't think that any of the conversations they've had or information they've disclosed have crossed a line into behaviour they should tell someone about.

and so many victims of grooming often don't realise what's happening to them until the abuser has isolated them from other support networks and primed them to rely on them alone - and has also made the victim like them and want to avoid upsetting them - at which point the groomer will start a more active campaign of abuse against the victim [for example, making them perform sexual acts, or making them work for them as a drug dealer], using the strength of their supposed "friendship" ["i thought you were my best friend, but i guess you're not if you won't do this for me..."] to secure not only the victim's compliance, but to manipulate the victim into thinking that they're behaving consensually and with agency ["other people don't understand that you want to do this... but i do... i understand you better than anyone in the world..."].

and this is exactly what tom riddle does to ginny in chamber of secrets.

he makes ginny believe that they're best friends - and that he's the only person who truly understands her - by initially chatting to her about [relatively] benign things:

“The diary,” said Riddle. “My diary. Little Ginny’s been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes - how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, how” - Riddle’s eyes glinted - “how she didn’t think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her...” [...] “It’s very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl,” he went on. “But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. No one’s ever understood me like you, Tom... I’m so glad I’ve got this diary to confide in... It’s like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket...”

it's unlikely that ginny regarded any of these things as personal secrets which nobody else was aware of - she is embarrassed and annoyed that her whole family know she fancies harry [and tease her about this accordingly], rather than terrified that they'll find out that she does.

but riddle then clearly manipulates her - since he's her best friend! - into disclosing things which she hasn't told anyone else:

“If I say it myself, Harry, I’ve always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted... I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets."

which she is clearly terrified of him revealing:

“Imagine how angry I was when the next time my diary was opened, it was Ginny who was writing to me, not you. She saw you with the diary, you see, and panicked. What if you found out how to work it, and I repeated all her secrets to you?"

which he then uses as a springboard into getting her to do things for him:

"I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her...” “What d’you mean?” said Harry, whose mouth had gone very dry.  “Haven’t you guessed yet, Harry Potter?” said Riddle softly. “Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the Serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, and the Squib’s cat.” “No,” Harry whispered. “Yes,” said Riddle, calmly. “Of course, she didn’t know what she was doing at first. It was very amusing. I wish you could have seen her new diary entries... far more interesting, they became... Dear Tom,” he recited, watching Harry’s horrified face, “I think I’m losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and I don’t know how they got there. Dear Tom, I can’t remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I’ve got paint all down my front. Dear Tom, Percy keeps telling me I’m pale and I’m not myself. I think he suspects me... There was another attack today and I don’t know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I’m going mad... I think I’m the one attacking everyone, Tom!”

it's up to interpretation whether riddle convinces ginny that she's responsible for the attacks or not, but it's certainly clear that he promises her that he won't breathe a word of her fears that she is - and that this keeps her in thrall of him for months after the attacks begin:

“It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary,” said Riddle.

this entire arc of chamber of secrets really is textbook grooming [which i am sure was intentional, given the fact that so much children's literature is didactic]

while the doylist text immediately ceases to care about what happens to ginny at the end of the book because of standard genre reasons [both children's stories and mystery stories - which chamber of secrets is - always wrap up with that sort of "everything's fine now, no long-term problems here" vibe], the watsonian explanations are interesting to grapple with.

especially given the... lax approach the wizarding world takes towards the safety of children.

[sarasade]

On Claudia, Viren, Aaravos & Claudia's Character Arc

This post is mostly about Claudia's character development or should I say character deterioration.

It's highly likely that Callum will be the one to take down Aaravos- like it all goes back to Harrow's letter in s2 and chains of history and the themes of free will vs destiny and such. Aaravos possessing Callum is all about that. He's literally taking control of Callum's faith. There is clear antagonism there that's in a direct conflict with who Callum is.

But at the same time Claudia is the one who's got the biggest personal beef with Aaravos. He exploited her grief, manipulated her and used her father to accomplish his own goals. If Aaravos didn't exist Claudia wouldn't have spent two years of her life in a complete stagnation waiting for her dad to come back from the dead instead of moving on. It seems like Aaravos has been molding Claudia into his personal minion through dark magic during the time skip as well.

Taking this into account it would be really satisfying to see Claudia snap out of it and take her revenge. Characters having a personal connection to the villain always makes a story's climax more gripping. More personal the better! And everything between Aaravos and Claudia is VERY personal.

That's why Viren worked so well as a foil to Callum and Ezran in s 1-3. Especially Ezran whose rightful place as the king he tried to take. He was basically their shitty, power hungry uncle who turned against them. Side note but if Viren is still alive I hope he makes a return as Ezran's foil.

Claudia helping to take down Aaravos would be emotionally satisfying. All the elements for that are already there. Of course Claudia should come to some kind of realisation about the way she's been used by Aaravos before she can take that turn. I doubt the show's got the time for that but it's an interesting possibility to think about.

I really like how the plot around Aaravos manipulating Claudia is done. Even Claudia's own father didn't do anything to prevent it from happening although all the signs of Aaravos having sinister plans for Claudia were there from the beginning: Aaravos calling Claudia "an asset" and encouraging Viren to lie to her in s3 therefore enabling Viren's worst impulses while also using them to his benefit. It's SO EVIL (and I love it). Viren isn't that much better since he always had some kind of excuse to ignore the red flags. At this point of TDP's run I'm convinced that Runaan's "Faith worse than death" line about Aaravos' mirror is finally paying off. It means that the consequences of Viren's actions have hurt Claudia, the only person Viren loves unconditionally, in an unfathomable way.

I think Claudia's arc is relatively subtle and very well done. It balances between Claudia being a victim of manipulation and neglect while also giving her agency to influence the plot as a whole. My only complaint is that Lost Child short story should have been implemented in the show itself and not just be extra material. I have some other grievances but those are mostly fandom related.

How some fans, especially in YouTube reviews, talk about Claudia's downfall like it was inevitable because she's always been fucked up or talking about how "trauma isn't an excuse for bad behaviour" is strange to me. Like, yeah, it isn't an excuse but it's simply just bad media analysis to instantly jump into condemning Claudia's actions, like she's a real person who uses trauma as an excuse to hurt other real people, instead of seeing it in the terms of a character study. Claudia clearly uses trauma to convince herself that what she's doing is right but never tries to manipulate anyone else by using it as an excuse. Think about her and Terry for example: she usually refuses Terry's help instead of trying to garner sympathy from him. This character trait is one of the many reasons why she felt obligated to keep her family together as well. She's extremely stubborn and not very self-conscious about her trauma brain but she does understand why others would see her actions as objectionable. I think this character type (usually a woman) has been given the playful nickname "trauma bitch" in the internet lexicon. Anyway god forbid if we actually empathise, reflect on and engage with unpleasant or problematic characters instead of instantly condemning them.

TDP is about how people can always CHOOSE a different path. Viren's dark magic hallucination in season 5 stated this very clearly.

In Claudia's case it's more interesting to think about WHY she DOESN'T choose differently. That's where all the meat of her character writing lies.

Claudia's arc is what happens when the desperate actions of someone motivated by trauma around abandonment are taken to their logical conclusion in this fantasy setting. It's a fictional story, it has metaphors and shit. Fantasy genre has used necromancy and extending one's life by magical means as a story element to explore humanity's relationship to death many times. The metaphor for loss and regret basically writes itself. Ursula Le Guin has used this trope in The Earthsea books, Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn has done it etc. Everything can't be a one to one comparison to real life (trauma rarely makes you want to kill your friends with dark magic irl. idk that's just me though) and there needs to be a level of abstraction involved in a fantasy story. Abstraction and metaphor, paradoxically, can reveal a greater truth about the world. (I'm probably accidentally quoting someone here but can't remember who.)

Anyway the rest is great. When you think of it all for a moment it's pretty fucked up how Claudia has been used by Aaravos. It's not some tiny part of Caludia's story. It IS her story. And Viren set that norm for her. Viren too has abused Claudia's trust. It's a complex subject and probably requires its own post since Viren, Soren and Claudia's situation reflects some pretty realistic dynamics real life troubled families have. That's why the characters compliment each other's stories so well. Viren is a more realistic character after all when Aaravos is more over the top and symbolic and less of a real person. Aaravos is one of those villains who embodies the opposing ideology of the heros. We (still) don't know almost anything personal about him so he matters mostly in relation to other characters.

Thanks for reading this Claudia propaganda! I've had so many of these in the drafts. Anyway TL;DR

[demani-dusk]

I really loved Babel or the Necessity of Violence a lot and I want to get some more of my own thoughts out.

What I liked: I mostly read/listen to/watch scifi/fantasy stories, and while I love scifi/fantasy for allegory and metaphor that can focus in on and provide sharp commentary on the real or how the hyper real can heighten the emotions of a real thing, it turns out it was very grounding to read a story about empire set in the actual British empire about people who would have been its actual victims. And even then, I really do love the fantastical elements of the setting and the way silverwork and translation convey the ideas and themes so well.

I like the way the premise of the story and the positions of the characters so clearly and directly conveys the exploitation and extraction of imperialism, the way educating and shaping Robin into an Oxford student is so deeply and inherently abusive. I love that actual real world translation work from the time fits so neatly into the story. Commentary on everything being translated into English but rarely would something be translated from one colonized language to another. Commentary on the way imperialists treat texts written by cultures they don't respect. It all works together so satisfyingly well.

Translation as a kind of magic, as a central theme is also just such a great tool for a writer to do fun and good writing stuff with. I love the way etymology and translations give weight and new layers of meaning to the text the way other literary devices might. It's a book where the thinness of any single language is part of the conceit of how the magic works and Kuang is like, supplementing the inherent thinness of language by offering the reader translations as supplement, trying to get *us* closer to the "realm of true meaning" as it were.

I love very much Robin's internal turmoil throughout the first 2/3 or so of the story. His love and hatred of Oxford. His inability to choose between his father and his brother. His fear, his wonder, his resentment. The way he feels extremely at home and never at home at Oxford. It's all done extremely well imo.

Things I'm less sure about:

I really wish Victoire were more fleshed out earlier in the book. I think what we get makes sense with the story being Robin's perspective, because Victoire and Letty are pretty much always together and Letty has a way of sucking all the air out of a room. But I still wish more room had been made for us to learn more about Victoire before the last act.

I would like to see a little more about sexism and Letty's relationship to feminism. We know she is very aware of the sexism she faces at Oxford but what does she think of suffragists? I can imagine white feminist Letty supporting women's suffrage and still not taking racism or imperialism seriously, and I can also imagine ivory tower rich girl Letty being entirely skeptical of addressing any social issue in a way that isn't about personally fighting to improve your own position, including sexism. I also think Victoire's experience of misognoir is relatively underexplored and that's too bad.

There's also this thing in the writing I'm not sure how I feel about. That is, there are a couple of intractable arguments characters have repeatedly on and off the page. I found myself not loving this as a reader, but I'm somewhat convinced that the way I didn't like it was that it effectively conveyed the boredom and discomfort of having the same argument over and over without making progress, and isn't that the book doing its job well? I still sort of feel like it would help to get these arguments in ways that highlight different character's perspectives each time or something. Or like, ifl having the same best reappear in a story you want the circumstances to change such that the thing happening feels importantly recontextualized, and I didn't always feel like this was happenijg. idk I'm not sure my instincts about this are good.

Anyway, it's a good book, I liked it a lot.

[exploringthesunkenplace]

Ounga (1936) vs. Candyman (2020) - Blackness Through a Black Lens (Finally)

Although Ounga /The Love Wanga (1936) contains overt discussion on race within the film and centers on black magick/”voodoo” through its black female protagonist, it’s a large miss. It’s a story of how voodoo was seen through white eyes during the time. At first glance, even I thought this was a Chloe, Love is Calling You situation, where white actors play back roles. Alas, Klili is indeed played by Fredi Washington, an African-American actress. I also found it interesting that this actress was called “pioneering”, as if it was so grand that she was able to obtain roles in major films “even though” she was black. Coming back to my initial thoughts upon seeing her character for the first time, Klili is the same color as the white characters, but what seems to set her apart is the slight kinkiness of her hair and the general understanding that she is black. The story centers around how Klili loves a white man, but because she can never be with him due to her being half-black, she tries to use voodoo to gain his love. The film’s tone-deaf nature is apparent in the way Klili first begs Adam to be with her, saying “I’ll be your slave, anything…”. What black person would really say that about themselves knowing the deep, blood-stained history of slavery? Probably the kind of character that is written by a white person in the 30s. The depictions of voodoo and black culture are also alarming, voodoo is shown as a weapon used by those that are “primitive”, those that dance in an odd “forced-to-be-tribal” manner in a circle, against white people. The film completely overlooks how black magick and voodoo are actual houses of true belief, similar to the religions of christianity or catholicism. Overall, the film left a bitter taste in my mouth. 

Candyman (2020), on the other hand, left a sweeter taste (no pun intended). Candyman is a retelling of a film with the same title released in 1992. The original film centers around a white graduate student who tries to investigate the urban legend of the Candyman, who largely preys upon the black inhabitants of Cabrini-Green. Candyman tries to convince Helen to “be his victim” so that his legend can be revived - inserting clearly that a white woman’s death would bring him attention the way his other kills haven't. Though Candyman’s story does originate from a black man’s lynching, there is no attention payed to his origins and the generational trauma of black people. Candyman is the villain of this story, and a white woman is the hero. 

However, Candyman (2020) reclaims this urban legend. First off, it addresses gentrification and even flips it on its head by featuring black gentrifiers - Anthony and Brianna, a tortured artist and art curator duo. It also touches on white exploitation of black talent in the way that Clive tries to push Anthony to put more of himself in his art, which translates to “make your art blacker so we can sell your trauma”. When Anthony shares his troubles with “Billy" Burke, a Cabrini–Green resident who tells Anthony about the Candyman's legend, even he acknowledges the situation and follows up by saying, “they love what we make, but not us”. This saying connects to more than art for me, it made me think of how black athletes are often scouted for their “strong” and “talented” bodies by white-owned teams, and even how black slaves were often praised and preferred for their strength and stamina on plantation fields. But of course, it not only takes on police brutality, but also white-on-black violence overall. The long, dark history of racial prejudice against black men, often culminating in torture and death, comes back to haunt the present in a literal manner. This version of Candyman does not kill black people in the projects, he embodies all black souls who have been wronged and avenges them through the murder of white individuals with visible prejudice. Candyman serves as a weapon FOR black lives, urging that black stories are told to “everyone”.

[furiousgoldfish]

Why boundaries don’t work with abusers

You’ll often hear that to combat abuse, all you need to do is set up some proper boundaries! Say no, tell them to stop, and then everything will get better. Here’s several reasons why this does not work.

You should not have to specifically set boundaries that are pre-assumed for every human being to have

Abuser has already done everything they could do to bypass your boundaries, possibly to even punish you for having any boundaries in the first place

This type of thinking minimizes abuse as ‘your boundaries not being visible enough’ instead of, the real problem – abuser never having any intention to respect your boundaries or see you as a human being

It shifts the responsibility of ending abuse on you, the victim, as if you not setting boundaries is the cause of the problem, and not someone’s repeated abusive behaviour.

Abuse is not a problem of poorly-set boundaries, even if it looks (on a very surface level) as if the victim is 'letting’ it happen, the reality behind is that the victim’s choices were already taken away; it’s possible they faced violence in the past for 'not letting it happen’, or they’ve been threatened, blackmailed, groomed, and stand to lose a lot if they attempt to oppose the abuser on any level.

Abusers don’t only cross the 'invisible boundaries’, the ones that are negotiable and differ with every human being, instead they go for the natural boundaries nobody could violate 'by accident’. Such as: touching you when you’re clearly uncomfortable with it, humiliating you in front of others, regarding you as their property/servant/toy, implying or directly stating you’re not good enough, disgusting, stupid, physically assaulting you, threatening, blackmailing you. Imagine if everyone had to explain to everyone that it’s crossing the line if they’re publicly humiliated, physically violated, insulted or belittled repeatedly; we don’t have to do that. Because these are pre-assumed boundaries everyone in society is obliged to respect by default. If abusers violate them, it’s not because they 'don’t understand this is wrong and harmful’, they do it because they know they can.

Abusers also do a great deal of sabotage to bypass your boundaries, such as enforcing terror if you fight back, isolating you from support, triangulation, grooming you to believe you’re bad if you have this boundary, pretending the boundary is hurting them, convincing you the boundary is hurting you, or brainwashing you to believe you have no right to boundaries at all. They’re also in position of power over you and can take things away from you if you insist on a boundary – putting you in position where you have to choose between a boundary and your home, food, job, transport, medical care, security. They will make sure it’s impossible for you to defend your boundary before they attack it.

And lastly, you are not responsible for the abuse regardless of whether you set any boundaries or not. The problem was never in you 'not fighting back enough’; it’s in the abusive behaviour of a person who repeatedly hurt you. Good people will not abuse you regardless of boundaries; they will not violate your consent without paying attention what it does to you, they will not isolate, humiliate or threaten you. They will not try to exploit your vulnerability or use any lack of boundaries against you; instead, they’ll ask if it’s alright, they’ll check if it’s okay, if you’re hurt. Good people will not use your reluctance to set boundaries as a 'gotcha! Now I can do whatever I want to you’. They will care about not abusing you.

Telling someone to 'just set boundaries’ in a situation of abuse is the wrong thing to say. Shifting responsibility on the victim, and minimizing abuse as 'boundary setting issue’ is the exact opposite you want to do. Nobody gets abused due to lack of boundaries, responsibility for the abuse lies 100% in abusers targeting vulnerable people they can trap and traumatize. If vulnerable people had a simple trick to not be vulnerable anymore, they would have done it a long time ago. You will do much better to acknowledge this reality, get outraged at the abuser’s despicable and cruel actions, acknowledging the victim didn’t do anything to deserve or cause this, and staying consistently on their side.

[mack3030]

Just as an FYI...

Maybe it's JUST ME but I personally think that if I were a creator and I had people confused on if I was following EA's policies or not and I saw people questioning that, I'd first be looking at myself and MY communication on the subject to see if I could clarify it rather than just outright attacking people and acting like they have an issue with me. Like, if you clearly state your policies and it's as plain as can be that you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, okay. But if you start to have people who are confused and express their confusion and frustration over not knowing what you are doing...they're not your enemy. They're not spewing hate. They're confused.

It doesn't help that there are a lot of creators using loopholes, double-speak, sob stories and other things to try to get people to ignore the fact they aren't following the rules....like...check yourself first. I don't think people understand how tired we all are. Everything is expensive. We've been in a hellstate since 2020 due to COVID. There's wars, shootings, division, political unrest...like people just wanna play their damn game without everyone asking for money every single second and making su feel like we're just cows to be fucking milked. Is that so damn hard? People act like we're suddenly turning against everyone or we're going crazy or being "hateful" for just being DONE with being exploited. It's so fucking manipulative. Do you talk to victims of violence or abuse this way? Because that's what the narrative is sounding like:

Then we have the folks who make this shit even worse by showing their whole asses and literally making comments comparing CC making to s*xual assult and the h0locaust. So now in addition to having all this real life drama that we wanna get away from, we now have to deal with people showing their asses in that way. Add in the wonderful induced guilt from a lot of people posting sob stories to try to convince us they aren't out for our money....and we are just at the end of our emotional rope. This is supposed to be relaxing for us. We shouldn't have to worry that we're a walking bank to y'all. We shouldn't have to worry about being "tracked" when downloading CC.

We shouldn't have to worry that if we speak a concern about behavior or quality to a "big" creator we'll get mobbed by their followers and get hate. Good creators shouldn't have to worry about being lumped into the category with bad creators or losing income because bad creators scared people off from patreon entirely.

None of this should have had to be a problem. But because people didn't talk about it, didn't speak up about the rampant abuse going on in this community of the custom content policies, because some of y'all gave certain creators a pass because you "liked them"...this is what it has come to. The few people who spoke up got shouted down and abused for speaking on what was wrong. So we don't have mercy anymore. And that's it. We don't have the extra ability to be nice. So sorry that it's inconvinent for some of y'all, but perhaps you should have spoken up and been a bit louder when I and others asked you to.

[lala-lovesie]

Honestly one of my biggest issues with FMAB was the consistent refrain that your gender, nationality, race etc doesn't matter, it's just who you are as an individual. This is clearly and obviously not true for anyone who has an identity vector which impedes on any segment of their privilege, whether it's gender, race, class, whatever. It's a wonderful ideal, but it doesn't hold up in reality. This idea, that none of that matters but your spirit or character does is a common argument amongst people who are unwilling to deal with the concept that they may benefit from racism, or sexism, or any other part of their privilege.

They need to believe that they are where they are because of their own merit, and not because of the luck of the draw in terms of the lottery of life circumstance that you're born into. That's where the whole 'pull yourselves up from your boot-straps' rhetoric in America largely stems from, and this meritocracy then convinces people who are being harmed to protect and defend the very system which is harming them, which is why you'll see so many poor whites voting Republican, and against their own self-interest in terms of economic prosperity and actual equality - they have been driven into the ground by the circumstances of our society - the long hours, the poor wages, the toxic masculinity which deprives people of every gender from feeling safe being vulnerable or from making genuine human connections, and then are provided a target, a common enemy to distract them - generally an immigrant group, but occasionally human rights advocates or queer people or whomever is the convenient fall-guy - with which to rally them. They are sitting in front of a plate of 12 cookies, and the rich man sitting next to them has taken 11 of those 12 cookies, and then said 'look! that immigrant is trying to steal your cookie!'. It's just about as tone-deaf as any of the white people who have ever said 'I wish I was BIPOC so that I could get affirmative action'. They genuinely see it as special treatment, and think that the history of our country has no impact on its state today. They have to, to avoid looking at the truth and reality that has to be reckoned with that the country has been built on the backs of the exploited, and that often the people doing the exploiting have looked just like them. I understand that in the context of Ed speaking to Miles, it's meant to mean that he's not biased against Miles for being Ishvalan, and it's treated like a wonderful statement of equality or something. This is also largely because for most of Brotherhood, Ishval is cast in a very different light than Ishbal is in FMA03. The narrative of FMA03 sympathizes with the Ishbalan victims first and foremost - their pain is forefront in the story. It is still made clear that the soldiers feel bad about it, but it is not offered as an excuse. But Brotherhood centers the pain of the soldiers committing the genocide, and maintains calling the Ishvalans the enemy, and creating a more equal back and forth dynamic, rather than the brutal campaign which is depicted in 03. Miles is also a very notable addition - he stands in for Ishval in offering a sort of forgiveness or acceptance of what happened. Also, the fact that we're supposed to feel sympathy for the soldiers because they were "made" to do these actions (to the extent of Ed apologizing to Armstrong because he doesn't know how he feels about the atrocities he committed) is ridiculous - the Neuremberg trials settled quite definitively whether or not orders are a good enough reason to commit atrocities. FMA03 handled that matter far better - it did not deny that these people are human, and showed their depth and complexity. But they did not ask us to forgive them or to sympathize with them the way that FMAB does. It's not a mistake that the Nazi metaphor is made literal in Conqueror of Shamballa.

They absolve the military of its two main crimes from FMA03 - they transfer the killing of the child that starts the war to the homunculi from the military squad that murdered an entire Ishbalan temple, and transfer the killing of the Rockbells from Mustang to Scar, an Ishvalan. Thus, they shift the blame for the origin of the war and the impacts and losses of the war away from the military and onto outside forces, including the Ishvalans themselves in a neat little trick of misdirection. It makes Scar a less complicated bad guy - it's not just that he is on what he sees as a holy mission to avenge his county, it's that he went wild and murdered innocent people in his pursuit of it. It sidesteps the validity of his mission and the reasoning behind it that gets explored in FMA03. And what's worse, they then use the Miles trope of working from within to justify the erasure of his identity in order to "help the military rebuild the Ishbalan nation". A) there's no fucking way it's going to be a positive influence to have the military there. Yes, they will bring resources, but it will also be a continued military occupation of Ishbala, even if it is a different context. It is not going to help or improve the situation even a little bit. And B) they really have Scar being saved just to be embroiled in this military effort, and the big gesture at the end that Scar is working for the people and not himself anymore is that he decides to give up his name and nickname both. FMAB really said that the dissolution of who you are and your identity is the best way you can help your oppressed peoples.

And this is not to say the Ishbalans are nothing but victims in FMA03 - there is a moment when Ed is very directly called out by an Ishbalan for his assumption that they could not be smart enough to use alchemy. People are complex. No one is pure villain or victim, everyone is a varying combination of the both, as illustrated in FMA03 by the storyline around Rick and Rio and the issue of Ishbalans oppressing other Ishbalans, as well as the humanization and development of the military team's characters (like Winry talking to Mustang despite him having killed her parents, followed by an episode of a slice of life for the military team). But Ed takes it as an opportunity to hold himself accountable to his own biases and perceptions, instead of pretending he doesn't have any, as he does in FMAB. By pretending that there is no influence apart from personal responsibility, FMAB actually denies the possibility of personal responsibility in practice. It is only by acknowledging the biases and schemas that we are raised within that we can begin to undo our own complicity in that system, and to begin to take personal responsibility for our actions within that system. I have not seen the show multiple times unfortunately (I just saw both back to back over the course of the last half of December before they removed them from Netflix) so I'm not fully confident on a lot of the details, and I'm more than happy to concede any specifics that I got wrong. However, I stand by the overall point. To quote a very on point tumblr post that I could not find bc, ya know, hellsite is not functional and all that - "FMA03 said ACAB. FMAB said All Lives Matter" (and please lmk if you know the author, and I'll edit the post to add their information). And this is all before we even get to the very egregious whitewashing of Rose in FMAB. I know that she is not identifiable in terms of color in the manga, but FMAB is not a strict adaptation of the manga. So, let's go ahead and put into context the intense colorism which is present in Japan (along with the rest of the world, the darkest people of any country are the most oppressed), and the fact that FMAB left everyone else in her village a shade of brown, but took away any amount of color from the integral character from that story line. In addition, FMA03 showed the harm that can be caused by a powerful agent coming in to overthrow the leader of a culture that they don't understand (as can be seen in any CIA coup or our military invasion of the middle east), even if it was done with good intentions (Ed's good intentions, our military and the CIA have none). FMAB follows the party line that by coming in with your white wisdom, you can save a place and its people, even if you have to decimate their culture to do it.

[the-awful-falafel]

tbh i hate how everyone is on Rick's side just because he showed character development, i think this is a breaking bad situation where everyone will stick with the main character (even though they've done awful things) because, well, it's the main character. It's like a fucked up toxic relationship between the audience and Rick, evil Morty was 100% correct in all his motives, even if his actions were fucked. At least they were temporary (hopefully), unlike literally any other rick

Yeah, Rick has definitely softened to a degree and I'm not inherently opposed to the idea of him getting redeemed, but from the way he's getting praised across the fandom you'd think he just underwent a full-blown redemption arc, rather than just half-teased the beginning of one. I can't see his recent "niceness" as being all that impressive in the grand scheme of things-- not only is he still exploiting Morty's forgiving nature to not fully confront how much he has damaged him + continues to damage him, he still hasn't faced any serious long-term consequences for his abuse of his family, or apologized for his worst actions in a way that shows he'll actually meaningfully change. Like, the fact he only came back to the family after his relationship with the crows fell through, and then brushed off Beth about him immediately resuming his concerning dynamic with Morty, says it all.

Rick doesn't seem entirely willing to confront the root of his dysfunction within the family, either-- he seemed more eager to return to a comfortable status quo than anything, and he really poorly deflected away from a lot of the (accurate) accusations of his character that Evil Morty brought up. I think people are just seeing Rick's very tragic backstory and acting like this retroactively redeems him / makes him forgivable compared to other Ricks, when in my opinion it just... doesn't really change much about our understanding of his character? Like, our Rick is still observably as horrible as most Ricks to begin with, based on how he treats countless others (especially on adventures) and how cruel and manipulative he can be, and the context of him being genuinely attached to his loved ones and suffering trauma from his original wife+daughter dying just makes his possessive, abusive, and negligent treatment of his current loved ones even worse to me. This brand of cruelty comes specifically from the fact he "cares" in his own toxic way, like many abusers-- it's not an inherently redemptive quality that makes him worth coddling, and nothing implies he was a great person before his tragedy, either.

Our Rick's clearly starting to lean towards redeeming himself after all this time, and I want him to be better, but it's going to be a long-ass road to come off as convincing, and it shouldn't involve downplaying his actions or being "rewarded" or "healed" with forgiveness from his victims, especially from those who he's outright manipulated the kindness of in the past. It's frankly just disturbing to imply he's owed those things regardless of context, anyway. (TBH, the finale's treatment of Rick and Morty's relationship and acting like they're somehow healthier now is enough for any future redemption arc built off of these episodes to put a really, really bad taste in my mouth regardless, but that's another topic.)

And yeah, Evil Morty might definitely be, well, evil, but he hasn't really done anything much worse than the average Rick. And at least Evil Morty's atrocities are a means to an end (him finally freeing himself from the multiversal cycle of abuse+enslavement) rather than a cyclic way to stave off boredom and wallow in traumatic self-pity like most Ricks. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Evil Morty mostly mellows out now that he's finally free and got what he wanted.

[only-johnny-deppp]

“Whatever I’ve gone through, I’ve gone through. But, ultimately, this particular arena of my life has been so absurd...” 

 Johnny Depp’s NEW INTERVIEW!

Last saturday, August 14, The UK Times, released a new interview with Johnny for the Sunday Times section. It was realized sometime earlier this month, in London, probably on the same day he and Andrew Levitas were recording for the Q&A for the “Minamata” release in UK. This is Johnny’s first interview since the UK trials in London last year, and released three years after Johnny’s major interview for the British GQ Magazine. Here Johnny and Andrew Levitas speaks about “Minamata”, his future as actor and a thing or two about his personal life, although he cannot talk about the court case.

For those who couldn’t read yet, here is the FULL interview:  Enjoy.

***

“I’M BEING BOYCOTTED BY HOLLYWOOD”

Johnny Depp has a new film out this week. In the opening scene his character, the real-life photographer W Eugene Smith, says, “I’m done. I’m tired. My body is older than I am. I’m always in goddam pain. I can’t trust my f***ing dick any more. Constantly in a foul mood. Even the drugs bore me.”

I ask Depp if Smith’s despair resonated with him. Depp stops. Rocks back and forth. “That’s interesting,” he replies with painful hesitation.

“I didn’t approach playing Smith in that way… Although you bring your toolbox to work and use what is available. Having experienced...” He stops again. Depp takes any questions that might refer to his calamitous libel case last year slowly, in a mumbly, croaking drawl. “A surreal five years…”

In the film Smith needs to revive his reputation. In real life Depp’s task is even more daunting. Thanks to the judgment, everyone can call him a “wife-beater”. Now he must convince a Hollywood still convulsed by #MeToo that he’s not toxic — and that any attempt to rebuild his career is a risk worth taking. This is Depp’s first interview since the case.

We are speaking over Zoom, Depp in his London home, in front of a gold-framed painting. The 58-year-old is wearing a lot of clothes. Earrings. Floppy hat. Sunglasses. Bandana. Scarf. Checked shirt over a T-shirt with an indiscernible slogan. If you saw him on the Tube*, you might think he was off to work at the London Dungeon*, to play most of the characters.

PS. For those who are not familiar with British words: * Tube = British slang for London Underground, the subway trains. * London Dungeon = is a walk-through experience that recreates scenes from London's scary history in a mixture of live actors, special effects and rides.

Depp resumes, talking in broken sentences about the new film, Minamata, in which Smith, via Life magazine, exposes the brutal mercury poisoning of Japanese villagers in the early 1970s.

“How do we do this?” he asks rhetorically, meaning how to speak about the elephant in the Zoom. “Well, there’s no way one can’t recognise the absurdity of the mathematics.” He grins. “If you know what I mean?” No. “Absurdity of media mathematics.” He talks in riddles. “Whatever I’ve gone through, I’ve gone through. But, ultimately, this particular arena of my life has been so absurd...”

He trails off again. He is holding a big brown roll-up of some sort. “What the people in Minamata dealt with? People who suffered with Covid? A lot of people lost lives. Children sick...Ill. Ultimately, in answer to your question? Yeah, you use what you’ve got. But what I’ve been through? That’s like getting scratched by a kitten. Comparatively.”

Last July, I went to the High Court in London to watch Depp on another screen — a video from the socially distanced court where the Hollywood star was losing a libel action against The Sun after it called him a “wife-beater”. It was the grottiest showbiz trial of the century. There were photos of the actor passed out in a foetal slump, socks on show. One lengthy exchange involved faeces. Another urination, inside or outside a house, after a violent night with his ex-wife Amber Heard.

This had all been going on for a while. In 2016 Heard applied for a temporary restraining order against him. The couple had long endured a narcotic, booze-filled, childish relationship, but that does not matter — 12 incidents levelled against Depp were proved, said the judge, and abuse is abuse, regardless of how badly they both behaved. Depp wanted to appeal, but the court said no. Next April in the US he has a $50 million defamation case against Heard relating to an opinion piece she wrote about being the victim of domestic abuse. It may be his last roll of the dice.

In the 1990s Depp was a sensitive heart-throb. Cooler than DiCaprio, edgier than Pitt. In this past year he has been stripped of his status and dignity. On day three of the trial Sasha Wass QC, representing The Sun, asked Depp about daubing a penis on a painting. He could not remember. “That would be quite a big thing, painting a penis on a picture?”  Wass asked. “Quite a big thing?” Depp asked.

It was a well-delivered line, but Depp was on show. Performing. Now he is more timid, less lucid. His people say he cannot talk about the court case given the looming US trial, yet it hangs over everything. The director of Minamata, Andrew Levitas, is also on our call — as a pub trivia aside, Levitas is married to the Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins.

The two men clearly get on. “With regards to journalism, it was important for us to put across in the film the power of truth,” Levitas says. Depp nods. “The responsibility of journalists to look after citizens of the world. [Our film] coincided with the moment important publications had to put Raquel Welch on a cover to get enough eyeballs to sell enough ads in order to put something meaningful inside. A result of that is clickbait — it’s destroying the purpose of journalism,” Levitas continues.

“You said it beautifully,” says Depp, one of the world’s most pinned-up men, who built a career on magazine covers. “I couldn’t say it better than that.”

Last month Levitas wrote to MGM, which bought Minamata for the US market but decided not to release it. He accused MGM of being concerned that “the personal issues of an actor in the film could reflect negatively upon them”. Then the letter got really strong. Levitas accused MGM of failing in its “moral obligation” to release the film and said it needed to explain to the victims “why you think an actor’s personal life is more important than their dead children”. He then attached Smith’s photos of ghastly deformities that shocked the world 50 years ago.

“It’s important that the movie gets seen and supported,” Levitas says. “And if I get an inkling it’s not going to be, it’s my responsibility to say so. Where it goes from there? I don’t know. But we have responsibility to these victims . . .”

You can see why he’s passionate. The film is good. MGM bought the film because it is good. Depp is good too. He disappears into the role, far from his more recent pantomime parts. It’s being released worldwide, just not in the actor’s homeland.

Depp, who also produced the film, interrupts. “We looked these people in the eyeballs and promised we would not be exploitative. That the film would be respectful. I believe that we’ve kept our end of the bargain, but those who came in later should also maintain theirs.”

“Some films touch people,” he adds. “And this affects those in Minamata and people who experience similar things. And for anything…” He pauses, as he does. “For Hollywood’s boycott of, erm, me? One man, one actor in an unpleasant and messy situation, over the last number of years?” He trails off. “But, you know, I’m moving towards where I need to go to make all that…” Again, he trails off. “To bring things to light.”

The fact, as I think Depp knows, is that for his career, the court that matters is not one of law, but public opinion. On social media, where a lot of minds are made up, Depp’s good reputation will always outweigh the bad, thanks to his frequently blinkered fans.

Outside the High Court, as Heard arrived, I saw Natasha, 30, yell: “Get hit by a truck, Amber!” She is extreme, but the persistent way his fans demand that others think their idol is a saint shows a career revival will happen. After all, most filmgoers do not follow his private life at all. To them, he is Jack Sparrow, Edward Scissorhands. To them, he is a star — and a star can take an awful lot of heat before it burns out.

“They have always been my employers,” Depp says of his fans. “They are all our employers. They buy tickets, merchandise. They made all of those studios rich, but they forgot that a long time ago. I certainly haven’t. I’m proud of these people, because of what they are trying to say, which is the truth. The truth they’re trying to get out since it doesn’t in more mainstream publications. It’s a long road that sometimes gets clunky. Sometimes just plain stupid. But they stayed on the ride with me and it’s for them I will fight. Always, to the end. Whatever it may be.”

Depp will talk like this for ever — about his “truth”. Minamata is the last film Depp has listed on the industry site IMDb, where actors usually have half a dozen in development. So, yes, fans of the actor can see Depp in a new role now — it is a return, but is it a relaunch? The film was finished in 2019, way before last year’s court case. Is that it? His last film? He thinks and looks off to his bookshelves, at biographies of Betjeman and Olivier.

“Er...no,” he says, eventually. “No. No. Actually, I look forward to the next few films I make to be my first films, in a way. Because once you’ve...Well, look. The way they wrote it in The Wizard of Oz is that when you see behind the curtain, it’s not him. When you see behind the curtain, there’s a whole lot of motherf***ers squished into one spot. All praying that you don’t look at them. And notice them.”

I would ask him to explain, but I am not sure he is an explainer. Watch this space, I guess, but he is already taking a first step back. After we speak, it is announced Depp is getting the coveted Donostia award at the San Sebastian Film Festival next month. Some people are just too famous to fail.

~ Interview by Jonathan Dean, in London, for The Times UK (released on August 14, 2021)

[noobsomeexagerjunk]

fear purpled bedwars: a dream smp character analysis

(spoilers from Antfrost’s stream, 01/31/2021-02/1/2021)

I’ve been waiting for this guy to finally get lore, and I feel very well fed. It’s lore I expected from Purpled’s character so so bad I’ve been hearing people fearing for Purpled’s safety, but I’m of the opinion that Purpled is more of a potential threat than a potential victim Let’s go through what we know of the character

Purpled first established himself as a fairly independent and neutral force who makes sure he has the agency to do literally whatever the hell he wants. He puts his own needs first before the needs of other people. If you look at it, besides Dream, he’s one of the few members of the server with very little attachment to people, to other characters. The only person he trusts well enough is Ponk, a character chaotic and gray enough to do scams with Purpled, but a character that is nice and innocent enough (to an extent) as to be fairly below Purpled in regards to their relationship dynamic.

We know this is how their dynamic is, based not only on this Egg stream, but also on the stream about the Estate Conflict (as named by the Wiki)/the Dream SMP Fire Scam (as named by Purpled on his video about it).

Purpled’s one of the many people in the server who are upset for being ignored or being treated inconsiderately. (Like the rest of them, it’s usually due to not being in lore or barely logging into the server. They are motivated to get the server’s attention.) While Jack Manifold and Nihachu started their respective villain arcs, Purpled’s way of coping with this is starting a real estate business. He chose Ponk as his partner, and throughout their attempts to start the business, Ponk has functioned as a yes man to Purpled. Their relationship is based on business, not an established friendship. These two could easily scam each other but saw instead more potential in a partnership.

Knowing Purpled, what fuels him to keep the business going is his desire for money and rewards. Coupled with his property getting tampered with all the time, it’s not hard to see why he’d become so materialistic to the point of scamming people. 

Keep in mind that he’s not just willing to settle with battles, but has the experience to win settlements via battles. Purpled is equipped as a player. Asserting his power this way makes him a threat to other members of the server.

Something that Purpled said to Ponk concerning the Real Estate Business is:

Purpled: Ponk, listen. We have to have good business with these people...and if we make a good deal? If we make a good deal, think about what this means for us. Antfrost is just the beginning, right? Listen, think about how many unpaid houses are there on the server. Think about the land. Think about the land on this server. Think about the Prime path. Think about all... Ponk:...the real estate?

Like, this child’s ambition is absolutely terrifying. It reminds me of whenever Quackity gets serious about something.

If Purpled genuinely wanted to, and like, had the energy for it, he could claim the entire server by profitting off of the land, exploiting anyone with property over it.

This real estate thing was established within December. The blood vine growths were already present. 

We know that the Crimson wants to take over the server, covering the lands in red, right? Y’all seeing this? Ponk saw it. He saw opportunity, and to think he saw it while trying to get out of a sticky situation he had made for himself concerning the Eggpire!

In the Skull Cave, Ponk and Purpled take themselves aside. Purpled is wisely distrusting of Bad, Ant, and Punz. Ponk insisted that the real estate business, or least Purpled himself personally, can mutually benefit with the Eggpire should they work together. Ponk used his experiences with the 3, particularly how accomodating they were of him when he was trapped in the Egg Box-thing, as a reason to convince Purpled the Eggpire was worth their time.

Ponk: This payday right here will set us for life! Real estate to the moon, okay? To the moon! Purpled: Okay? Ponk: Trust me, trust me.

Purpled clearly likes the power he got from the Eggpire of all people, as the deal to kill Captain Puffy went well.

Ponk: Ask for more money! Purpled: Ponk, from what I can tell, they...they can grant me, really, anything that I want. BadBoyHalo: Anything! Purpled: They seem to have a lot of financial backing here. BadBoyHalo: We do. Antfrost: We do, we do! Purpled: Assuming you trust them Ponk, I trust them. And anything I ask for can be mine.

Keep in mind that at this time, Ponk being infected by the Crimson is still in question. (Hell, that’s why he got trapped by the Eggpire again] He has spent significant amounts of time with the Egg, and his eyes may or may have become red (he totally isn’t wearing red contacts, at least according to him). The way the Crimson beckons to people varies but it’s clear to us that it uses attachments and deep desires as its hook. Ponk, based on his period of exposure, whether immune or not, should have deduced this. He knows he made Purpled and himself a powerful ally. The Eggpire knows it’s made a potentially powerful ally in Purpled.

However, I feel that Purpled might become a thorn for the Crimson should it come to it. There’s a reason he trusts Ponk, and there’s a reason as to why Ponk’s level of Crimson influence is difficult to determine.

It’s easy to conclude that Purpled and the Crimson have a common goal: take over and claim the entire server. 

Purpled’s future can go against the Crimson and function as a competitive force. I’m not keen on this as it seems that Quackity is fulfilling this role. Would Purpled team with Quackity? I doubt it, as Purpled has nothing to go with on trusting him + Quackity is allied with Sam on Las Vegas. Sam destroyed Ponk’s lemon tree AND the Real Estate building Purpled owns. If anything, Purpled has many reasons to go against Quackity, who is associated with a person that has offended him and Ponk personally.

Now, if Purpled joined the Crimson, I theorize that this would be out of genuine willingness, and not being forced into its influence. Today he saw the Eggpire as useful--not trustworthy! Useful.

Purpled: Ponk, you can return anytime. As for these three, I do not extend the same offer.

Purpled is confident that he can one up the Eggpire/Crimson with his own ambition, and personally, I see that too. If Purpled joins this group and allows himself to become infected, I don’t think I would see that strong a change in character motivation. I see Purpled proclaiming that he and the Egg share the same interests. If the Crimson acknowledges this desire of his properly, the Eggpire’s power dynamic is subject to change. Think about it. 

Bad’s the main mouthpiece due to the fact that he’s the de-facto head of the Badlands. His motivations don’t quite line up with the Crimson though. He’s tragically serving the Egg for Skeppy’s safety. The Crimson knows this.

The Crimson would be more content to speak through someone who shares its exact goals! Purpled wants the server and so does the Crimson. It may force the group to acknowledge this 17 year old boy as the head and voice of the Eggpire once this is recognized to all of them, as beckoned by the Crimson Egg. The scariest thing is that Purpled doesn’t need to corrupt himself much. The scariest thing is that Purpled is smart and a capable salesman. Purpled has what BadBoyHalo does not: what exactly the Eggpire needs in order to assert itself as a convincing yet threatening force. 

I mean, he’s already willing to do malicious things for profit, what more with a supernatural force that will only goad this ambition on?

[celestialmango]

What would scp Sun and Moon do if one of the d-class is clearly trying to put an effort in to protect one or two more behind them?

Like not approaching them or being antagonistic but defensive and trying to keep the other(s) behind them out of sight and away from harm, even if maybe in vain....

That really depends on who that person is trying to protect Sun and Moon Immediately notice what that d-class it doing, both of them would be curious about this difference in behavior, if it's a bunch of the type of d-class that were timid, kind or anything along those lines that are terrified, that defensive d-class is going to get inspected and poked at till Sun and Moon decide what to do with them. As none of those d-class are acting like the usual ones, not even a single insult from cowering ones being protected.

If all of those d-class around the age of kids or teens or a mix of the two, Sun would think it's cute and Moon would be extremely amused.. either way the protective d-class is getting nommed just like the ones that d-class is protecting.

Now if who they were protecting were some of the d-class that are recognized for what they are(criminals because Moon overhears how those ones look, and notifying Sun through their link of said description or researchers they don't like who Sun hears the voices of through the com speaker in his room and sends clips of those voices to Moon) then they're just another d-class that will be eaten just like the rest.

Added note, the innocent(as seen by Sun and Moon because staff never talked about them or discussed them doing criminal activities) d-class like kidnapping victims, people who were tricked by false job applications, teens, or kids don't get discussed in this island facility as their info isn't need by the guards because they're not seen important to the staff or that they would be able to cause a breach, which they're wrong about when it comes to Sun and Moon and their own protective natures. Still if all of them are adults there is a piece possibility Moon may eat them anyway unless they're lucky enough to convince Moon otherwise.

Pulling a donkey meets a dragon (yes that's a Shrek reference) would work. SCP Moon enjoys having his ego stroked so that's a good weakness to exploit if your background is unknown to him.(like if you manage to call him beautiful before he's had the chance to do anything to you) there is a lot more criminals than innocents in the island facility and they're were just starting to mix those innocent subjects with the criminal ones when reader encounters Sun, reader being the first innocent that's Sun entered his cell.

[padawanlost]

What do you think of ObI Wan's forgiving Maul in rebels? To me- I dunno, it just seems too easy and a little inconsistent. I get that what Vader did was worse and his betrayal in some ways more personal, but he really struggled to forgive Anakin, also his identifying with Maul as a victim since childhood makes no sense, as he should've known Anakin was groomed by Palpatine from childhood, but he didn't even try to find out what caused his fall.

Before I say anything else, please keep in mind that I never watched Rebels (I only watched a couple of scenes/episodes) so I might not have all the details.

Now, that being said, I don’t think Obi-wan ‘forgave’ Maul.

Obi-wan’s ‘kindness’ when killing Maul wasn’t the result of any personal bond between them. it was the expected behavior of any wise Jedi: never start a fight and don’t be cruel. Those are basic Jedi precepts.

If I remember correctly, Obi-wan only ignited his blade after Maul realized he was protecting someone important (Luke) so his actions were motivated by his committed to the greater good (the galaxy and Luke), not his personal feelings towards Maul.

Besides, that was nothing to forgive because Obi-wan wouldn’t keep any (personal) ill feeling towards Maul – beyond him being a threat to the galaxy – because that’s not the Jedi way. Obi-wan, on paper, doesn’t hold grudges. He mourns Satine but he doesn’t hate Maul for killing her.

I think people are mistaking Obi-wan with Anakin, especially Obi-wan’s relationship with Anakin. Now that was a personal relationship that turned violent and bitter because of it. Unlike Maul, Obi-wan couldn’t ‘let go’ of Anakin, whom he loved.

If that final duel had been personal to Obi-wan, it would have gone very differently. It’s the difference between Obi-wan vs Maul in TPM and Obi-wan vs Maul in Rebels. One is fulled by personal, emotional responses. The one isn’t.

As for Obi-wan idifitying Maul was a victim, I don’t know where that comes from. Obi-wan knew nothing about Maul’s past and what he endured growing up. and even if he had, I don’t see that making much of a difference. Obi-wan KNEW Anakin was manipulated by Palpatine and it had no influence on his behavior towards Anakin. we have to keep in mind that until Vader’s redemption, the Jedi believed the dark side was a one way street. Once you took that path you’re lost, regardless of who you *used* to be.

Why had he turned to the dark side? When did it happen? The Anakin he knew and loved couldn't have done it. Something had twisted in him, and Palpatine had exploited it somehow. Obi-Wan knew it wouldn't change anything to know, but he couldn't help going over the same events, again and again. The chances he'd missed, the things he'd seen, the things he hadn't. [Jude Watson – The Last One Standing]

That was where Obi-Wan kept returning. That vision of hatred. Because no matter how Palpatine had corrupted Anakin, no matter how the dark side had taken him over, no matter what decisions he'd made in his heat and his fury, he was Obi-Wan's apprentice and he ended by hating his Master. And that was a Master's failing. [Jude Watson – The Last One Standing]

Obi-Wan said, “I should have let them shoot me …” 

“What?”

 “No. That was already too late—it was already too late at Geonosis. The Zabrak, on Naboo—I should have died there … before I ever brought him here—” 

“Stop this, you will!” Yoda gave him a stick-jab in the ribs sharp enough to straighten him up. “Make a Jedi fall, one cannot; beyond even Lord Sidious, this is. Chose this, Skywalker did.” 

Obi-Wan lowered his head. “And I’m afraid I might know why.” 

“Why? Why matters not. There is no why. There is only a Lord of the Sith, and his apprentice. Two Sith.” Yoda leaned close. “And two Jedi.” [Matthew Stover. Revenge of the Sith]

Obi-wan was completely aware of Anakin’s traumatic past and further manipulation by Palpatine and yet there was little sympathy for him once he became Vader. Now, why would he show such sympathy for someone he knew very little about? For someone who, unlike Anakin, he only knew as a Sith? It doesn’t make sense, imo

The man he faced was everything Obi-Wan had devoted his life to destroying: Murderer. Traitor. Fallen Jedi. Lord of the Sith. And here, and now, despite it all … Obi-Wan still loved him.[Matthew Stover. Revenge of the Sith]

Obi-wan knew Anakin, LOVED him and still, Anakin’s tragic past made very little difference when it came to Obi-wan’s reaction to his most evil and cruel actions. that’s why I don’t see him going all kind and soft on Maul, whom he knew very little of beyond his ability to destroy innocents and commit crimes.

I’ve talked about this before but the gist is Jedi don’t forgive Sith, they kill them. that’s why the wanted Luke to kill his own father and tried their best to convince him that there was not good left in Vader. It’s not because they were evil, manipulative pricks who wanted Anakin dead. It’s because the truly didn’t believe that it was possible for a Sith to redeem themselves. So for Obi-wan to go all ‘aww poor Maul’ would be out of character, borderline on plot hole.

It’s not like Obi-wan wanted Maul to suffer or anything like that. Clearly, that was not the case at all. But it’s a pretty big leap from ��I don’t want my enemy to suffer’ to ‘I totally understand why he’s like that and forgive him for it’.

I mean, if Obi-wan didn’t let Maul suffer because he understood his past how does one explain Mustafar and Anakin’s immolation?

[nastyatticman]

like a midnight snack

A family of killers is discovered - blackmailed, and tasked with finding and trapping the man who may or may not be haunting the Heelshire manor after all these years. At first it seems nothing is working, until their son makes an accidental discovery.

Brahms Heelshire X Sidney Jade Leong, an OC. Not sfw.

Warnings- dubious consent. child abuse (mentioned), past/implied sexual assault / exploitation , misgendering/transphobia (mentioned). Canon typical Brahms being a creep. Trans male character with female coded language to refer to his body sometimes.

Of all the places Sidney expected to spend his summer, an old British country house that may or not be hiding a murderous pervert was not one of them.

None of his family expected that, either. That a potential victim would catch them on camera, hauling someone into their basement. Much less that he’d find them, and rather than going to the authorities… he’d dangle that possibility over their heads, and make them do him a favor in exchange for not being reported.

How were any of them supposed to know some overgrown white boy would be piloting a drone all around the woods at night? Or that he’d use the footage to blackmail them rather than try to actually help the person he saw them grab. They, begrudgingly, had to respect that. He had dedication to his cause.

His cause involved a number of properties his family wanted to take over, that were supposedly haunted. He had his sights set on a rural house in the UK, one that had been mostly abandoned since the last servants hired by the family fled, claiming some madman was hiding inside the walls.

Nowadays the family that owned the property still ordered food to be delivered, even if no one answered the doors. They still visited, every once in a while, but the visits were dwindling over time.

The Leongs were to contact the family and ask to stay in the house for a while, part vacation and partially to clean the place up. They were given a handsome sum to convince them to let them stay. It’s not like they needed the money - being old money and all- but they did need people to take care of the place. Everyone they hired to clean refused to come back, claiming something was wrong with the house.

And that’s how Sidney’s family ended up booked for a mandatory two week vacation in the middle of nowhere. Trying to figure out if there really was a crazed man living inside the walls, and if so, could they lure him out?

They tried all sorts of things to get him out… it was like the whole family was performing. They were used to that during their other vacations, taking turns playing bait or offering travelers a “safe” place to stay… but two weeks? It was exhausting.

Talking extra loudly and listening to any sound they heard, just in case. Not to mention all the extra work Sidney and his sister had to put in...

Despite their best efforts… Their first contact was a mistake.

Sidney woke up with a dry mouth. He was too hot under the covers and slowly peeled them back. Checked his phone - it was 3:46.

He got up and crept to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water, careful not to wake anyone. If he made too much noise they may think he’s the shut in they’re hunting, or that he found him, and they’d all be so disappointed when they found nothing but Sidney in his robe and bunny slippers sneaking off for some water.

The bunny slippers and the robe were a compromise. Make him look more casual, a little cutesy. Part of the intel they had received implied that the man in hiding reacted better to young, pretty women and that he loved to spy on them and watch them change. Classy.

So as an extra effort Sidney and his sister were expected to… loosen up a bit. Walk around in a towel more. Wear skimpy pajamas around the house. That kind of thing. Tori didn’t really mind doing that in her own home - in fact, Sidney sometimes complained about her walking into his room in shorts so short he could see her underwear. But it was different knowing a fully grown pervert with a child’s voice could be watching them from within the walls at any moment.

It honestly pissed Sidney off the most. He could hardly stand to be around his parents sometimes, especially when they pulled this shit. After his father’s injury Sidney took over the role of masked killer with relish, loving that he had more power in their dynamic. But that didn’t mean they stopped making harsh demands of him, risking his body for their gain.

He could only hope they wouldn’t do the same to Tori. They were always much softer to her, and he was grateful and resentful about it at the same time. Still… the winter nights he spent freezing when they wanted him to lure travelers. His fingers so cold he couldn’t feel them at all, his nose burning. They’d stopped it, luckily, when an old man offered him a jacket to cover up and then exposed his … true intentions to him.

Sidney didn’t see anything, luckily, but he did see the rage on his mother’s face as she beat the man to a bloody pulp.

After that, they let him wear a jacket.

They wouldn’t make Tori suffer the same way, would they? They didn’t push her as far. But how far would they be willing to go to catch this man? Sidney shivered reflexively, not sure whether it was because of the memory of the cold, or his next intrusive thought about how far they’d make Tori go.

She was a sophomore in college, for fuck’s sake. The guy’s tombstone showed he’d be in his 30s by now. If he was still around. That was the other thing - Sidney was only half sure that the guy was even there in the first place. There were some strange things that happened since they arrived, but it was nothing too major.

Sidney sighed and went to refill his mug in the kitchen. There were some noises… the house settling, probably. You couldn’t turn at every creak in the old country home. He passed the window and stopped, pretending to look for something on the counter.

Was that a reflection of…?

He studied the window, seeing the silhouette of a figure behind him. Wild hair and a baggy sweater. Tall. Maybe six feet. His father, the tallest in his family, was 5’8”.

He waited to see if he’d do something. It looked like the figure did, too. The guesses were right, then, he was 6 feet or so…

If it really was the guy they were looking for. Then again, what, would he have left and another creepy hermit moved in and took his place? Sidney remembered hearing the loose description of where he’d been staying all that time - a fully stocked room inside the walls, with a bed and a basin to wash up in, a ton of weird shit he’d been making, and porno mags stapled to the wall. He was sure it would be in high demand on the horny serial killer real estate market. After all, Sidney was there.

He snorted a laugh, and turned away from the window. Shit, if Sidney could see him then he could see -

A hand clamped down on his mouth before he knew it. He was pulled in closer to the man’s body, warm and smelling of mothballs. That was the first thing he got, other than the sweaty hand over his mouth and his other hand, stroking his hair.

It was weirdly… tender. Like he hadn’t held someone before. Sidney didn’t dare move an inch.

He was clearly a grown adult, judging by his strong grip and his size and everything about him… Was he smelling Sidney’s hair? The fuck?

He weighed his options here, as he felt himself be pushed against the counter. Almost caged in under his body. He could probably throw him off, but he’d have to get to the other end of the house immediately. What was it he did to the other people?

One he killed in the game room, for breaking his doll… Sidney had been nothing but respectful to that doll, he should be spared that fate.

Another he knocked out, and the last one - so young and pretty - he’d tried to pull into the walls with him. Is that what he’d do to Sidney? Maybe, since he’d probably seen Sidney wandering around in shorts and low cut shirts for at least a week now…

His parents found that part very funny when it came to Sidney’s involvement. It was worth a shot, sure, since Sidney was much closer to the guy’s age than Tori was. But they remembered when he’d come home from school and tell them about the boys who would ask him out… only for him to find out the next day it was all a dare from the other kids. Why would anyone, even a freak hiding in his own home, want Sidney?

But it seemed like he did, despite all that. Well, judging by the way that something hard was digging into Sidney’s back as he pinned him to the counter. His breathing getting heavy, his grip on his mouth loosening up a little, his other hand stroking Sidney’s hair. Savoring him like a midnight snack. He leaned in and murmured something soft to Sidney in a voice that was much too high to be coming from someone so large.

He could… he could work with this.

Sidney let out a needy little moan under his hand, and ground himself against him. It made the man completely freeze up. Shit, did I go too far? Sidney wondered. He didn’t need to wonder for long though, once the man realized what that meant. Again, he leaned in and spoke softly to Sidney, but this time he could just make out what he said.

“Good boy,” he said, barely more than a whisper.

Shit. Fuck. Damn it all to hell. This meant he’d been paying attention, but it implied so many things about what he’d seen.

Firstly that he knew Sidney was trans - and respected it? Despite seeing his tits a million times.

Ally of the fucking year, Sidney thought, as the man ground up against him this time, on purpose. He let out a shuddery little sigh above Sidney, leaned in and pressed the lips of his mask against his cheek. Did that part make him gay then? Or queer?

Secondly did he - did he hear the way Sidney’s parents talked to him, about him? Of course he did. He must’ve heard them say something rude, or … Call him a girl, of course. Little girl. Stupid girl. Bad girl.

Again, ally of the fucking year. If only they’d known the best trans ally alive was hiding in an English country house and spying on people this whole time.

He giggled and it made the man freeze up again. Sidney nodded, and nuzzled into his body, letting him continue.

He couldn’t deny that this was kind of… nice. Better than the hugs he’d be forced into by his parents when they were angry at him but wanted him to shut up and stop arguing. That was a low bar, but there were so few people he could get physical affection from that he didn’t at least partially despise.

Sure, he kind of hated that he’d been dressing so uncomfortably for a week in hopes of getting this guy to come out... and try something with him. But it worked, judging from the way he was holding him, so needy.

It was really tempting, honestly. Sidney hadn’t had sex in… a really long time. With a friend of his, who was sort of interested in him and knew he wanted to have some more experience. Her partners wouldn’t mind that they hooked up, she told them about it. Still, Sidney was much more monogamous by nature and so it took him a while to get used to being normal around her again. Even if it was mind blowing trans4trans sex with one of his best friends.

He wondered how Eris was doing right now. It was probably early night in the US, and he hoped she was having dinner with her girlfriends. Her lucky, lucky girlfriends…

It wasn’t that lecherous of him to appreciate how good his friend was at getting him off, was it? Not when she’d demonstrated for him a few times. She was good at it, she had experience and good communication, finding what Sidney liked and keeping at it until he was a horny mess under her. And then he’d pay her back, much less precisely, but she still appreciated it.

The shut-in - he supposed his name was Brahms - had neither of those things but he still intrigued Sidney. Maybe he could figure out something they’d both like.

He tapped the man’s hand, and pulled it off his mouth gently. It took him a second to gather his words again.

“Can I- can you put me on the counter?”

“What?” he asked, just sounding confused.

“I want to sit on the counter,” Sidney explained. “You can still - you know.”

The man - Brahms? - nodded and stepped back, let him climb up and sit down facing towards him. He could only see from the moonlight streaming through the window, but this confirmed it.

This was their guy.

He matched the description perfectly. Unkempt hair, broad shoulders and chest, wearing a mask like the porcelain doll they’d found in the parlor the first day they were there. His eyes were blown wide, watching Sidney beckon him closer, putting a hand on his shoulder and pulling him in.

He shakily pulled Sidney closer to himself, his hips right next to the counter. But didn’t move, as if waiting for… permission? Sidney leaned in, feeling his beard brush against his cheek.

“Go ahead.”

The man nodded, and gripped Sidney’s hips, pulling him closer still, and humped against him. Just a couple times, softly, experimentally. Sidney gave him a breathy little moan in encouragement and he picked up the pace.

He felt the full hardness of his length brush against him, hard. If they weren’t both still clothed he was sure the man could feel how soaked he was. Then he hit a part a little lower down that made Sidney shake for a second, suddenly sensitive.

“Fuck,” he breathed. “I think that was my hole…”

He just nodded and tried whatever he did again, until Sidney swore he could feel his cock head through their clothes, teasing at his needy cunt. The extra attention made him flushed, almost overwhelmed, and without realizing he wrapped his legs around his hips to keep him in place.

Sidney moved his hips to help him, desperately chasing the feeling. It was almost silly… he was holding the guy in place with his arms and legs, moaning for him, and he wasn’t quite sure what his name was.

“Brahms?” he asked.

“Yes?” His voice was little more than a whisper, deep and rich. Like he’d forgotten the higher voice earlier. “Sidney?”

He wasn’t expecting an answer, much less for Brahms to know his name. Of course he would, but… it’s strange, considering how much care and attention he must have for him. Sidney swallowed and softly stroked his hair.

“Good boy.”

Brahms let out a strangled moan, leaning into his touch. His movement was frantic, and he had Sidney up at kind of an angle so it was like every push of his hips shoved his cock up into him. Sidney’s grip on him tightened without him meaning to. They both ground against each other, just chasing their pleasure.

“Pull my hair,” Sidney asked. Brahms - yes, that’s his name - just looked at him. “Please.”

He hesitated a moment, and then complied. His large hand cupping the back of his head gently, before he pulled ever so slightly.

“Harder,” Sidney begged him. He hoped that he wasn’t overwhelming the poor guy on what must be his first time. “If you - if you want. I really, really like it.”

This convinced him, he could tell from the way he grabbed more hair, and pulled him back more tightly, until Sidney’s head jerked up to the ceiling and he moaned. His response was barely audible. “Thank you.”

They continued, Sidney overwhelmed from the way he kept grabbing him - groping his thighs and pulling his hair just hard enough to hurt. Brahms picked up speed suddenly, until finally he made one last thrust and collapsed, his full weight making Sidney fall back, against the cabinets.

They were both breathing heavy, and Sidney wondered for a second why he stopped - until he felt his cock twitching against him through their clothes, and warmth spread between their thighs. Oh.

He held him closer then, let him bury his head in the crook of his neck as he came down from his high. The porcelain dug into his neck but Sidney ignored it, just holding him and stroking his hair softly.

“Good?” Brahms asked, softly. He’s not letting go either.

“Yes,” Sidney said. “Yes, you were.”

[kali-writes-meta]

Old Habits Die Hard With a Vengeance: Faulty Behavior Patterns in "Fault"

Just as the first two episodes were all about setting plans in motion,

"Fault" was all about people's old behavior patterns failing them under the increasingly desperate circumstances. In just under 20 minutes most of the characters were shown needing to rethink their typical way of doing things and level up.

We start with Qrow, in jail as a result of a fiasco that ended with Tyrian murdering Clover with Qrow's weapon. He's processed what happened enough to realize that this failure had many fathers, including both Clover and himself.

Qrow confesses to exploiting Clover, using his Semblance to neutralize Qrow's Semblance. He's once again convinced that his Semblance makes him a social pariah. Robyn points out that her Semblance doesn't make other people comfortable around her either. (Can confirm. Being really good at spotting lies is not exactly a popular party trick.) Qrow starts to realize that something has to change.

(I hope he will work on truly mastering his Semblance. All he's ever done with it is try to suppress it or push it in a certain direction. If he can learn to flip the probability at will and direct it with pinpoint accuracy he would possess a formidable advantage.)

Harriet and Marrow deposit Watts back in the cellblock, and Harriet has a face-off with Robyn. Robyn points out that if Harriet wants the truth Robyn will provide it, but Harriet rejects the opportunity, in essence rejecting the truth. Both Harriet and Marrow seem shaken by Harriet's rejection of the truth, and with good reason. The Ace-Ops are a highly honored unit. Once Truth leaves the building, Honor follows not long after. If obeying Ironwood leads them to reject Truth, Honor won't be theirs for much longer. Like it or not, something is going to change.

Then we go to Yang, Jaune, and Ren trying to rescue Oscar from the Hound. Unfortunately for them the Hound keeps changing it's behavior. They can't keep up with the changes and lose. The Hound has changed the rules for what to expect from the Grimm. If they are ever going to beat the Hound, they must change their strategy.

Back on Atlas Ruby's team arrives at Schnee Manor with a severely injured Nora, who coincidentally in the last episode passed on the opportunity to try something new and instead doubled down on what she's done before, with disastrous effects to her health. (Not judging, just pointing out.) They are met by a decidedly out of sorts Whitley, who tells them the only other person there is Willow.

Of all the characters whose lives have been turned upside down in the last 24 hours, probably no one was less prepared for it than Whitley. Sure, having to deal with Jacques has made him used to instability, but as long as he could cling to and fawn over Jacques, he had a greater measure of safety than the others in the family. (Not judging, just pointing out.). Now that one stabilizer is gone and he is truly alone. Things have changed.

Whitley tries the supercilious behavior that Jacques approved of, but it cuts no ice with this crowd. He falls back on the passive-agressive behavior he's previously used with ice. It works just as badly.

"Fine. (dramatic sigh) What do you expect ME to do then?"

Some people thought that meant he was asking how he could help. Nope. That is passive-agressive sibling-speak for, "How are you going to inconvenience me THIS time?"

Weiss pulls out her inner Jacques. "Go to your room!"

Where did that come from? Well, Jacques. Weiss was under enormous stress and back where she had been abused for years. She reverted to acting like her abuser.

This is a GOOD thing in the long run. The myth is that simply getting away from a child abuser ends the abuse, when in real life the victim has to root out the tendency to act like their former abuser under stress. But victims also have a tendency to deny that they would ever do such a horrible thing -- until they do it. Weiss has done it in front of witnesses. That's the first step to rooting out the behavior in her psyche and truly ending the cycle of abuse.

Whitley acting like Jacques' flunky is probably not going to work for him anymore. Weiss acting like Jacques is probably not something she wants to repeat. Both of them are due for a change.

Meanwhile back on the tundra Ren is having the breakdown he's been repressing ever since learning Salem is immortal. I'll post more on Ren in a separate post, but right now it's enough to say that what he's been doing to cope isn't working. Jaune tries to tell him he needs to change his outlook, but Ren prefers to sulk. He knows something needs to change, but he is too depressed to see any change for the better happening.

Oscar is brought before Salem. Ozpin tries to reassure Oscar by repeating the line Salem told Ozma when he's reborn in the realm of Darkness, "It's going to be okay." Now I cut Ozpin a lot of slack, but not this time. It would be convenient for Salem to have Oscar alive and relatively sane, but that's an inexcusably low bar for "okay". Ozpin needs to change how he works with Oscar.

Salem interrogates Oscar. Oscar tries to act first like Ozpin, then like Ruby. Neither act cuts any ice with Salem, who leaves Hazel to beat a change of attitude into Oscar.

Upon leaving Salem runs into Cinder, who wants to chase after Penny. Salem, brings up Cinder's previous fiasco and orders her to stay her and do nothing without orders. Cinder acquiesces, repeating the line from the first episode, "Without you I am nothing."

Where did that line come from? None of the rest of Salem's Lot say it, so it probably comes from Cinder's earlier life. In all likelihood what Cinder does next probably comes from the same time and place -- sneak out behind the back of her boss to do what Cinder wants to do. That behavior may have worked in her last life, but I doubt it will work this time.

Neo clearly wants several changes, starting with a change of continent. Emerald is eager to regain Cinder's favor and go back to the way things used to be with Cinder. In her first appearance she was willing to break Cinder's rules and kill an informant to win Cinder's respect. Now she's willing to break Salem's rules for Cinder's regard. I doubt the second attempt is going to end any better than the first one did. The only question is, when will Emerald realize she needs to change her ways?

[ethrenisnotthehero]

@hogwartsmystory is a predator (part 2)

If you haven’t read the first part of the callout, I encourage you to do so here. As before, the normal tags are not included in this post in order to allow this to reach as many people as possible. Potential triggers are listed below, and the main content is hidden to keep sensitive individuals from being unintentionally exposed. TW: Pedophilia, Abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual Assault, Self Harm, Suicide, NSFW Topics, Faked Illness, Faked Mental Illness, Faked Death, Victim Blaming

Ren met Jill sometime between December of 2013 and January of 2014. At the time, he was dating another staff member of the website who will be referred to as Buttercup from now on. Jill was vulnerable in some of the most classic ways a CSA survivor often is. Her home life was chaotic and difficult. She was just finishing middle school. Depression had started to surface, and, worst of all, she had just been diagnosed with a life-altering chronic disease that would require her to change significant aspects of her daily life just to survive. She just wanted a place to fit in and be welcomed, and fell into Ren’s lures without ever considering the danger that lurked behind the screen.

Up until now, it could be understandable to argue that Ren may not have been purposely grooming young girls. Creating a mature themed website might be creepy and inappropriate, but that doesn’t necessarily make someone a predator. No, what made Ren a predator were his motives, his goals, and his solicitation of vulnerable youth into grossly exploitative relationships. What remains the most disturbing to me is that his behavior consistently fits with the profile of an egomaniac desperate to have power over someone dependent on him, fitting textbook descriptions of the methods abusers employ in order to coax their victims in and trap them there.

The Act of Grooming, Part Two: Approach

Even though common luring methods of child predators are well-known within advocate and legal communities, the average person typically has neither heard of them nor is likely to recognize them as they happen. Some behaviors attached to common lures are easily identifiable: a stranger somehow uses a young child’s name to create familiarity and abducts them, or convinces a child that there are prizes to be had if they come along. Methods like these have names, and Ren is guilty of utilizing at least four to his advantage.

The Authority Lure

When Jill first told me about her first interactions with Ren, she was quick to note how starstruck she was with that fact that he wanted to talk to her at all. “I was surprised that admins even RPed down with their peasants on this site,” she told me. Interacting with staff on the site made her feel special and seen, and Ren was quick to start chatting with her. He had a particular interest in her character. Someone of great importance and authority on the site, going out of his way to interact with her out of all people. He held power over her (over most users on the site) and that was something he was keenly aware of. More sinisterly, not only did Ren himself have power over younger users, but he increased his reach and control through the creation of alternative identities. Ren’s main identities were Aaron, Seth, Carter, and Lauren, all of whom he used to form relationships with and manipulate different individuals on the site.

Seth and Carter’s accounts have since been deleted, so unfortunately I was not able to see what kind of people Ren made them out to be. However, he clearly made users believe that these were all existing people, and used their identities to build his authority. When everyone on staff is the same person, it doesn’t leave very much room for dissent.

As for Lauren? Lauren was Ren’s real identity, and the mastermind behind all of it.

As you can see in this post, as of November 11, 2013, Ren was 17 years old. Not only that, but he was in a position of power over children in real life, too. There’s no reason that Ren would not have known better; no one in that position would be able to have a relationship with a small child as a “mistake.” Frequently, Ren claimed to be a babysitter for kids as old as 14, which means that children were fully exposed to him on all fronts. Ignorance is not a viable excuse for him; there’s no way he didn’t realize what he was doing was wrong.

A person might argue that there’s no substantial proof that these identities are fake. That would be a valid question at this point. One of Ren’s supporters (and self-proclaimed partner) has admitted themselves that these “alternate personalities” did not exist. In an attempt to explain away Ren’s toxic behaviors, they offered up a Dissociative Identity Disorder diagnosis as a defense:

However, there’s one glaring issue with this claim. According to the DSM-5 classification of mental disorders by the American Psychiatric Association, amnesia must occur for a diagnosis of DID. Amnesia is defined by the DSM-5 as gaps in the recall of everyday events, important personal information, and/or traumatic events. Ren never experienced amnesia associated with the “switch” of an alter; in fact, he claimed that he and his friends would regularly do activities together, and would even communicate back and forth online with each other during the same lengths of time on AS as he switched between accounts.

I understand that everyone has different experiences with mental illness, and that illness does not have the same symptoms for every person. Regardless, Ren was clearly aware of his actions and the way he used his other accounts to lure/hurt users. Mental illness is not an excuse for hurting children, ever. Ren knew it then, and I can guarantee you he knows it now.

The Affection Lure

Another way predators appeal to their victims is with affection. Pedophiles take advantage of rocky home situations or difficult experiences to abuse the trust a child has placed in them. Jill came to know Ren well through their role-plays. They talked often. Ren made himself available to her, gave her comfort that she desperately needed, and even offered other friends who could be an ear or a shoulder to her. When Ren learned of Jill’s chronic illness, he connected her with Seth, another of his personalities. He coaxed Jill into trusting him, and their relationship became inappropriately intense. Most children are exploited by people that are close to them, by people who they trust and rely on.

At the time, Jill may not have realized how difficult her situation was for her. To her, the chaos of her family life may have seemed normal. Having to compete with siblings and neighborhood kids may have seemed normal. Falling into severe, deep depression may have seemed normal. The truth of the situation is that a vulnerable young woman was falling through the cracks, and Ren saw an opportunity to place himself as the most important person in her life. She needed to belong, so he made sure that she felt like she belonged with him. She needed to be heard, so he made sure that she felt like he was the only one who heard her. She needed friends, so he made sure that all her friends were him. 

Not only did he use her trust in him to groom her for a relationship, but he used it to isolate her. If everyone she knew was him, then he would be the only positive feature in her life. If everyone else was an enemy, then she would have nowhere to turn to but him. If he convinced her that she was his world, and that he was hers, she would never believe anyone trying to warn her about him and his behavior. Ren took advantage of a 14 year old child’s insecurities and sickness to insert himself as the most important aspect of her life.

There’s plenty of evidence that this wasn't the first time he’d thought of something like this, either. Ren had an obsession with themes of abuse, torture, and child slavery in his stories and role-plays. Much of his content centered around taking advantage of vulnerable people.

It wasn’t just his role-play ideas that crossed the line. His behavior toward other members of the site was hair-raising at best. His supporters try to paint him as someone affectionate and well-meaning, but he had habits of talking to young users in a manner that borders on profiling.

These aren’t things that someone a few months short of their eighteenth birthday should be saying to children on the internet. His behavior also delved into the realm of victim blaming, too; when a minor on the site was posting about their father going out of his way to make custody as complicated and as disruptive as possible, Ren had this to say:

A man, who would have been 18 at the time, with the audacity to imply that a child was to blame for the controlling behavior of their father. That their father only loved them, and that they might have done something to make a grown man act like a petty child during a divorce.

Ren’s idea of love was as toxic as his need for power.

The Hero Lure

This is, perhaps, the lure that Ren is mostly guilty of. An egomaniac soothed by his own words, Ren saw himself as a hero. In his own mind, he was a faultless deity who deserved no less than the complete and undivided affections of his subjects, but who fabricated false identities at every opportunity. In Ren’s mind, he is the hero. The survivors of his abuse are turned to abusers, those who dare question him are nothing but petty liars, and anyone not completely enthralled by him is nothing but an extra in his story. That’s what Ethren was created to emulate.

Ren has not grown. Someone who has grown would take ownership of their mistakes and apologize for the pain they had caused. Someone truly sorry, truly changed, wouldn’t dare to trample on the feelings of people they had hurt. Ren is no different now than he was six years ago, when he made the decision to change Jill’s life. Instead, he’s turned a survivor into the villain of his world. Instead, he faked his own death so that he could start over with his reputation on AS intact. He never accepted what he did, and instead continues to paint Jill as someone who needed to be “fixed.”

Wanting to be with someone because it feeds a need to “fix” or “help” someone isn’t love. It’s an adult man putting the weight of the world on the shoulders of a little girl. A girl already struggling to adapt. A girl already struggling to fit in. A girl who spent her second week of high school hospitalized because of a sickness that would change her life forever. Jill is a person; she’s a person who’s had to learn to live with restrictions that mean the difference between life and death. She’s a person who’s had to walk alone through the past six years battling depression and trauma completely unheard and unseen. She’s not a character in Ren’s world. She’s not some fixation to help him feel better about himself. 

Jill is a real, living, breathing human being with thoughts and feelings and a future: a future that Ren has done him damn best to make about himself for the past six years.

Ren never wanted to help anyone. Ren needed to feel important to other people to have some kind of meaning to himself. His obsession with playing hero went so far that he would torment his victims just so that he could swoop in and be what they needed. He would pretend to be sick or injured. He would go from having a cold, to strep, to pneumonia in under a day.

He would suddenly need a nebulizer for breathing treatments for his false illnesses.

His friends and loved ones would suddenly have life-threatening medical conditions and need to be taken to the hospital.

He pretended to have cancer.

He would use his identities to threaten self harm or death. He used Seth to tell Jill that he was going to send someone to kill her, making her scared for her own life. He made her a part of a world where he was the only one who could help her to satisfy his own sick need to be the most important thing to someone else.

When life caught up to him, he pretended to die.

He knew what he was doing was wrong. He asked Jill to lie about her age and told her that if anyone ever found out about them, he would get in trouble. He used his status as her hero to solicit sexual content online. He knew her age, knew how vulnerable she was, and knew how desperately she needed to fit in. He took advantage of that to fill his own desperate need to be the hero.

The legal age where a person can consent in Jill’s country is 16. When they officially began dating, she was 14. Ren was 18. He was an adult four years older than her, who would have faced charges of child abuse in his own state for their relationship. They had a sexual relationship online, which would be equivalent to soliciting child porn in his state. She never cheated on him; he was her world, because he made every effort to make sure that he was.

She never even saw his face.

She never even knew his real name.

She grappled for years afterwards with trauma, and he wouldn’t even give her the decency of having peace when they finally split. Instead, he came here with his stories. He wrote up fantasies where he was the hero, and she was the one who abused him. Jill was still a minor at the end of her relationship. When I asked her if she’s gotten help, she didn’t think a therapist would take her seriously. Ren took her ability to trust her own voice from her. He took her ability to believe that her own problems were valid. He took six years of her life and made it hell for the sake of his own ego and vanity. Pedophiles will often lie about their age, but most of them make it clear that they’re adults. Their true age might vary by four to five years (like in Ren’s case of claiming to be 21 at 17), but they always make it very clear that they’re adults. Predators know what they’re doing. They’re master manipulators. They’re adept at communication. They seem innocent on the surface, until everything they’ve done is laid out where it can be seen for what it is. Predators rely on persuasion, not coercion (Abrams 2016).

Someone I know asked me if I ever considered, even briefly, that Jill wasn’t telling the truth. I answered back without hesitation that I never did, not even once, because I hadn’t even touched one of the most important parts of my research.

Like other predators, Ren had a type. Buttercup was his first victim. When she and Ren met she was only 13-- Just like Jill.

Continue to Part 3