#to be like 'hey even if we may sympathize with why you chose to abuse your power it's a systemic failure that you're just able to do that'

[emma-d-klutz]

You know I really do not need Jeremiah Arkham to be Black Mask at any time ever. Someone’s gotta fill the niche of mental health professional who is 100% not a supervillain. A guy whose evildoing comes only as an example of what a psych ward can do to you if they just choose. 

The tension of knowing he started out extremely dedicated and genuinely wanting to help people, seeing him victimized and bullied by rogues in his care until even the last shreds of professionalism that held place of his already run down empathy wear out, and despite being sympathetic to this hopeless state being nonetheless nauseatingly horrified when he turns to abusing his patients because in his position he can just do that and hypothetically could have chosen to do that over anything,

is way better to have in there to work with Batman’s exploratory themes of power, justice, corruption and institution, mental illness, and ‘Society’ ect ect

than just saying “and then he snapped too much so now he’s in a legacy costume and a straight jacket too.” 

No hate to my other villains who have lost their licenses. Some of those guys are some of my favorite rogues, and I love them dearly, but we need one uncostumed one. 

(Yes, I am arguing that something from a giant superhero franchise should not have another costumed villain because themes, as if costumed villains is not the whole genre. I am also the sort of person who gave up on No Game, No Life after reading more volumes than I’d care to admit, because I got sick of wading through the gross parts waiting for them to tackle the subjects of debilitating phobias, isolation, codependency, and family that I thought were promised to me before realizing that was never gonna happen. So. Take me however you will. Please pretend reblogs are disabled bc tumblr isnt giving me the option rn)

[shadows-twilight]

RWBY Volume 8 Chapter 6

My various thoughts and opinions on Chapter 6 of RWBY Volume 8, “Midnight”

SPOILERS BELOW:

Oh wow, getting straight into the backstory, I see, I can dig it.

The rythmetic cycle of Cinder’s scrubbing, Cinder getting beat up, and the Madame’s heels is quite the effective opening. Tells us right from the start the good time we will not be having.

Yes, yes, you made the Rooster on the wind vane the same as the Rooster Teeth logo. Don’t worry, we noticed.

So Cinder did indeed grow up in Atlas. I must say, that is one fancy hotel. Clearly the kind of place that only the richest and scummiest attend.

I wonder what the societal implications are that the decorations of this lobby are almost exclusively Grimm. I almost want to say that it’s a sign of just how removed from real-world problem the patrons are here, that these beasts of nightmares and despair are nothing but novelties to them, that they see them as interesting rather than fearing them, but later we see a huntsman here, so I’m not so sure.

God, how mistreated was Cinder before she even came here? That “Food?” line just broke my heart.

NEW SONG!!!

Damn, why do they have to give all of these one-off backstory characters such wonderful designs? This Rhodes guy looks awesome!

So the thing that triggered Cinder’s semblance was intense anger. That tracks.

Jesus Christ, the Madame has a literal shock collar on her? I’d ask how this kind of thing was legal, but then this is the same kingdom where Jacques was able to operate his slave-like business practices with impunity, so I guess I’m not too surprised.

Wait, the “without you” mantra was forced upon her BEFORE Salem? That just got even darker.

Metal skin, huh? Rhodes’s rocking that Ultimate Shield, me likey

Ok, I think I see what Rhodes was trying to do with Cinder here. I can’t say I agree with it, he definitely should have just said “Hey kid, I’m just gonna take that inhumane piece of garbage off your neck and get you the hell out of here, okay?” but think I understand his thought process. As we established earlier, this arrangement between the Madame and Cinder is legal. It isn’t right, and it’s the farthest thing from kind, but it is legal. Cinder is just a ten year old girl, and the Madame is her legal guardian. That means if she were to run, she’d be a runaway, and if Rhodes were to take her, he’d be a kidnapper. They’d have to spend the rest of their lives on the run, even moreso if Cinder had hurt them. Alternatively, she could grin and bear it until she was old enough to get out legally, allowing her to be truly free. The problem is that she would have to grin and bear it for SEVEN YEARS, during her frikkin’ FORMATIVE YEARS! What’s more, while he was there to give her companionship and hope for the future, he got to come and go at his leisure, and probably be gone for extended periods of time (I’m assuming he still performed his Huntsman duties during this time) while she was stuck in the same traumatic, abusive environment 24/7. I understand where his mindspace was, but he did not think this through.

I’m mildly disappointed that the weapon he gifted her wasn’t Midnight. It would have made her destroying it in Volume 3 take on a much greater meaning. Also slightly disappointed that Cinder is indeed her real name. I guess she simply chose the Fall part.

Yeah, I’m not going to spare much sympathy for those bitches. I mean, one could argue that this was straight up self defense (at least with the Madame), and while I know the stock lessons from these shows is “no one deserves death” and “revenge blackens the soul” and yada yada yada, defending abusers isn’t exactly a hill I’m gonna fight on.

That being said, carrying on from my word vomit above, I understand Rhodes’s reaction as well, even if I don’t agree with it. While we can make the argument for abuse and self defense, an yada yada, we also know that in the eyes of the law, this was a cold-blooded murder, and Rhodes clearly seems to be the kind of huntsman that sees it as his duty to uphold the law. Even if he didn’t, and he let her go now or helped her run, they’d be once again in the situation he was trying to avoid, on the run. Personally, I say worth it, and if he had managed to get her to Vale, Ozpin probably would have been understanding enough to help her out, but that’s my opinion.

Oh shit, it’s an Ok Goodnight song. ... OH SHIT IT’S AN OK GOODNIGHT SONG! THAT IS AWESOME!!! Nice choice of song, too, the lyrics work very well for this scenario and Cinder’s story.

I find it incredibly sad that Rhodes immediately stopped fighting the moment Cinder’s aura broke, and even after she stabs him, all he does is give her the same headpat gesture he did earlier. For all his aforementioned faults, he really did care.

I will echo a statement I made towards Adam when we learned about his scar. I sympathize for the girl who went through all of that abuse, she didn’t deserve it. I spare none for the woman she grew into.

And we’re back in the present where we see that modern Cinder is still a sore loser and Emerald is still an overly dependent yes-woman. I feel for her sometimes.

Anyone who watched Infinity Train, is Mercury’s behavior reminding anyone else of Simon? I’m getting some serious Simon vibes from that smugness.

Oscar’s more of a clever little boy than many might have given him credit for. He’s here getting the ass whoopin’ of his life, and he’s strategizing ways to turn them against each other. Far more than just a farmhand, now.

Oh boy, Hypocrite Hazel strikes again! “You let him suffer!” Quite the riot coming from the guy dishing out the suffering.

Ooh, is that...doubt...I saw in Hazel’s eyes? All this time I figured he was so tunnel visioned by his quest for vengeance that he simply didn’t care who he served, but it turns out he’s just following the same logic Roman and Lionheart did. We can’t stop her, so we may as well help her. I wonder if Hazel’s mind might be changed if he knew what the relics really did. Sadly, Salem knew what was up and said NOPE to that train of thought. For now.

I almost want to say it was a little too on the nose for them to flashback to Cinder getting shock collared as Salem hurt her through the Grimm arm, but for some reason it really worked here.

Dear god, can you get even more manipulative than what Salem’s doing right here? Talking about giving Cinder what she wants when it’s convenient for her RIGHT AFTER TORTURING HER!? Cinder really did trade out one abusive step-mother for another, didn’t she?

I’m sorry, Elm, did you just refer to Penny as broken junk? I’mma be honest, the list of Ace-Ops I’m hoping to see survive this is really starting to dwindle. At least Winter’s not having any of it.

Wow, Harriet. You just got informed that there is a massive river of Grimm heading straight for your kingdom, and your first move is to start the blame game. How were we ever fans of these assholes?

The river is now a geyser. What a fun day.

Wow, those defenses didn’t hold for shit, did they? Good thing there’s all those ships are there for extra defense. I’m sure they’ll be helping out any second now. Any...second...

I don’t know if the middle of farmland is the most courteous place to park your world destroying god whale, but at least it’s out of the way.

God, if this is the note they’re leaving us on for the penultimate episode before the hiatus, what the hell are they leaving us with next week? For once, I’m almost glad for the week-long wait in between episodes. We need time breathe at some point!

[jadewritings]

You’re More Than That Part 13

SUMMARY: An ex of yours drives you away. But, in doing so, you’ve stumbled upon something much more dangerous. You must decide whether to be on the streets and on the run or with the most dangerous of them all.

PAIRING: Sam Winchester x Reader, Dean Winchester x reader

WORD COUNT: 1k

WARNINGS: Mentions of abuse, blood and language, angst

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Hey! So this story has been on hiatus for a while and I’m sorry to everyone who was waiting all this time. I’ve gotten a little inspiration and it seems like I’ve been in a permanent state of writers block. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen again for a while, again I’m sorry everyone! Hope you enjoy!

Follows the story Bad Boy Blues on the Chapters: Interactive app! (I changed up some of the choices to my liking)

You had been sitting there trying to wiggle free or find something sharp near you so you could cut yourself free for a while now. An hour? Maybe?

You had to stop though because you hear the door knob turn and someone walked in. It was Meg and she had a look of fury on her face as she pressed a gun against your head.

“You must think you’re clever.” She hissed.

“Please, Meg. I just want to live.”

She laughed, there was amusement in it but you could hear the hatred she held, “Oh please, you just want to run back to Sam, destroy us and live a happy ever after with him.”

“No! No, I swear. I want to be with Sam, truthfully, but I value my life more.” You panicked. “I know if I die, he’ll wage a war and he’ll get killed in the process. If I have to leave and never see him again...” tears filled your vision, “then so be it.”

Meg seemed genuinely surprised at your confession, her eyes wide as she spoke, “You really do love him don’t you?”

“I do.” Your lip began to quiver.

“Why?” She seemed conflicted. Torn between pain and anger.

“I’m not entirely sure. Is there really ever a reason?” You replied.

Meg lowers the gun.

“Didn’t he kidnap you?” She had a point. “Never really understood the whole beauty and the beast Stockholm syndrome thing.” She said with disdain.

“Honestly? He’s a lot better than my ex. He’s a major step up.”

Her brows furrowed, “What do you mean?”

You noticed her look and thought maybe this was your chance to make her feel sorry for you enough to let you go. It would help and it was the truth.

“My ex-boyfriend. He was sweet and nice at first. But.. then he start to get controlling and beat me if I didn’t do what he wanted. I was confused. I was trapped. He said he would kill me if I tried to leave him. And when I finally worked up the courage to do it, I get kidnapped.” You chuckled, “Just my luck.”

Meg was silent for a moment, taking in your words. She looked like she was in another world.

“You remind me of my childhood friend.”

“Did she get kidnapped a lot too?” You asked, half joking, half not.

Her expression turned pained, “No, she chose dangerous men who hurt her.” She no longer looked in pain, “She tried to change them. But that was her mistake. Every time her husband knocked her down, her dumb ass would get right back up. She made excuses for him. That is until she could no longer get back up.”

It surprised you that she was opening up to you, “What happened to her husband?”

“Nothing.” She spat looking angrily at the ground.

You scoffed, “They never get the justice they deserve, so they?”

“He will get his. Believe me. I will make sure of it and take care of him myself if I have too.”

“Maybe you can take care of my ex as well.”

She smiled softly, “Maybe I will. But these kinds of things are better if you do it yourself.”

You could feel her starting to trust you, to sympathize you. But some part of you started to like her as well.

“I may have misread you, Meg. You’re a strong and compassionate woman.”

Her expression changed, “Are you trying to be my friend?” Whelp so much for liking her.

“No, I just thought we were connecting.” What a shame.

“I can’t believe you used domestic violence to trick me into liking you!” She was very angry. “You know I was starting to like you. Then you had to go and do something stupid like that.”

“I’m sorry Meg, you have to understand-“

“I have to understand nothing!”

You frowned, “Don’t you see what you’re doing by keeping me here? It’s no better than my ex Danny, or your friend’s abusive husband. You’re inflicting violence on me just like they did!”

“No, sweetheart, that was male inferiority acting out.” She smirked. “Me killing you right now? That’s me being good at my job. Being thorough.” She raised the gun and cocked it.

The muzzle felt cold against your temple.

“I hope you know this isn’t personal. I actually kind of like you now.”

Your breath came out slow and shallow as fear gripped at your entire existence.

“You don’t have to kill me, Meg.”

“Sorry sweets, this is business.”

“Y/N.” You said suddenly.

Her face contorted in confusion, “Excuse me?”

“My name is Y/N.”

“I don’t understand why you seem to think I’d care about that.” You rolled your eyes, she obviously wasn’t very bright.

“I’ve spent the better part of my life with stupid nicknames.” You began listing, “Honey, Doll face, Shortcake, Sugar, Sweet Buns.... I don��t want to be patronized the last few moments of my life.”

She laughed. She actually laughed, a genuine smile spreading across her face, “You’ve got a lot of spunk. No wonder Sam likes you so much.”

“I’m starting to like you in a strange sort of way actually.”

Meg sighed, “Tell you what. I’ll give you a chance to save yourself. Go ahead and convince me not to kill you.”

You wondered if she was saying that to mess with you. To give you a sense of hope all to take it away with the click of the trigger.

“What’s it even matter? You’re just going to kill me anyway.”

“You don’t want to even try?” She asked.

You laid your head back on the chair, “I know I won’t change your mind. So just get it over with.”

“Not good enough. Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance.”

Fear. The last emotion you would ever feel coursed through your veins, “Go ahead, then. Do it.”

You closed your eyes, waiting for your inevitable demise. Again, you felt the coldness of the muzzle and just like that, you heard the click as she released the trigger.

•Part 14•

MASTERLIST

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[sparklyjojos]

(under the cut because long angry vent/rant about how I absolutely loathe what the BT narration does with stroheim and other characters, obvious content warning for na//zis and for stroheim fucking existing)

once again I saw someone on the net stanning Stroheim because they take every glorifying sentence the biased narration spoonfeeds them as gospel and I sgajhgaejARGH

listen I may love Battle Tendency for some themes and symbolism and the Pillar Men and be a die-hard watsonian theorist when it comes to these things but at the same time it’s also the one jojo part that makes me extremely upset and awakens my pissed off doylist who starts to yell WHAT THE FUCK, ARAKI

I fucking hate how some time after Stroheim and his cohort get introduced as a bunch of assholes spending their time being grandiose sadistic bastards, having that whole tounge-and-blade fixation trope to them, manhandling women with sexual abuse either present or strongly implied (not to mention, you know, killing and torturing people and overall being na//zis), they happen to mysteriously lose these behaviours around the time they start getting treated as heroes by the narration.

...the behaviours which at the same time mysteriously start showing up in Kars resulting in what looks like a jarring personality change. (there’s only so much you can explain with “he lost it after everyone he loved died”)

...Kars who just happens to act like this almost exclusively at times when Stroheim is in the vicinity - or, to be more accurate, after revealing his return from the dead Stroheim is only ever present in the plot when Kars is also there, most likely so he can look good in comparison.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out Araki only realized halfway through BT that he wanted to make Stroheim an ally (which seems likely, what with that sudden cyborg ressurection and shit) but had already written himself into a corner with characterization, so he just went “lol whatever” and swapped character sheet info around to manipulate the audience’s favour. Because god forbid we accidentally start sympathizing with Kars (an irredeemable bastard, yeah, but a fully fictional bastard who has his loved ones and motivations that aren’t just “for fuehrer”) more than with a literal fucking n//azi.

Wrote a complete monster? Don’t worry! Just show him standing as a hero next to smiling Speedwagon and Smokey, this will surely make people forget about how he kidnapped and tortured the first one and drove him to a suicide attempt, or about how he ordered the fellow civilian villagers of that one Mexican boy to be killed which is what men like Stroheim tend to do to people who aren’t white! Nobody will notice!

Fucking shit, I’d be less upset (which still means VERY upset fyi) about it if I didn’t witness my share of people on the Internet talking about how Kars was a flat evil character who has never cared about anyone ever (which is def not true but it’s not the important thing rn so I’m not going into it here) but somehow at the same time insisting that Stroheim was cool and heroic and Definitely Not Evil and praising him for being “not as racist as he could be” (an actual opinion I saw with my own two eyes, what the fuck, what the actual fuck, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE SS ON HIS COLLAR MEANS)

like why. Why the fuck, Araki. Listen, bro, if you make your (poc, queer-coded) main villain a monster whose evilness in the plot proper comes mainly from him regarding people as an animal-like lower race, and you simultaneously choose an unabashedly na//zi character to be treated as an honorable ally, then I’m sorry but there’s something really fucking wrong with your story.

The attempts to make us like Stroheim are shit. Forcing Stroheim into the final fight just to have him look like a hero is shit (and I do mean forcing, you could write him out with minimal changes, even him catching Joseph is not needed because Joseph was already explicitly shown in a flashback to know the trick to jump out off a falling plane unharmed).

The epilogue is goddamn awful and it honestly works best for me if i read it as being meant to be extremely bittersweet. Hurray, the Pillar Men are gone!... but the War is coming, Suzi and Joseph have to marry very very fast and flee Europe, and Stroheim goes on to probably merrily gun down civilians while Germany marches forth because oops, turns out the biggest, cruelest and most consistent threat to humans are not ancient supernatural Pillar Men, but other humans that we the Great Heroes chose to turn our judging sight away from because while they’re a threat they’re not a personal threat like Kars was and hey, they made us this cool prosthetic arm, how nice of them!

And our protagonist, Joseph Joestar, the son of a war hero RAF pilot, the man who in the face of grave danger still chose honorable battle against an equal opponent, the man who in his very first scene rescued Smokey from police brutality, spends his last scene in part 2 physically assaulting a Japanese man half his size because his daughter’s (chosen, non-abusive) husband who “took her from him” happens to be Japanese. Sorry, I don’t care if you yell at me about how oldseph has more to him, this isn’t SDC yet, it���s still BT and this should NOT be the scene you try to achieve closure for BT plot with, for fucks sake.

If Araki really wanted to make a commentary about the ‘spirit of humanity’, then he sure fucking did, but not in the way he meant to.

[transcriptroopers]

I've seen it in a lot of things, from real life pictures to movies, and they've all made me wonder one thing: what's up with the military's use of the Punisher skull? I've seen it spray painted on gear and walls, and given its popularity I feel as if it's something that would be interesting to put in a story. I'd just need to know its history of use in the military, its current use, and any personal feelings you have regarding it. Thank you so much!

It might not necessarily be the Punisher skull you’re seeing. Here’s a thing: soldiers love skulls. I don’t know whether it’s because they think they’re cool or they remind them or pirates or something or they have a morbid sense of humor or they just love skulls because soldiers love skulls, but soldiers love skulls. Likely that’s why the Punisher chose to go with a skull motif in the first place.

If you’re quite sure it’s the right skull, (those long “teeth” are kinda unmistakable) another thing: a ton of soldiers are goddamned nerds. You wouldn’t think it, but soldiers love comics and video games and tabletop games and trading card games and all kinds of nonsense that people usually attribute as hobbies of the geeky. Soldiers probably decided to start using the Punisher skull because they made the connection of, “Hey; Frank Castle is a soldier, I am a soldier, wouldn’t it be cool if I use the Punisher logo?” That would be a bit of a boring reason, but it’s probably a very common one.Another thing worth keeping in mind is that the Punisher was initially released around the Vietnam era, and as I’ve said in the past, the military was not very well liked during that era. Frank Castle came home from war and was probably abused and ridiculed by the public for the role he played in the war. When he appeared in comics as an antihero, other soldiers probably sympathize with his background as a traumatized and unappreciated soldier, so they adopted the logo, as they themselves were traumatized and unappreciated. Use may have merely drifted down over the years without realizing where the skull originated.One last cool idea for the logo might be the conscious acknowledgement that they are acting in a morally gray area. You’d be surprised how many soldiers aren’t in favor of most or any of the military activity the U.S. is responsible for. A lot of us have the impression that we’re some kind of inspiring, heart-wrenching heroes; a lot of us are very aware that in the story of war, soldiers are more often the villain. Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, is NOT a hero. He’s not a good person in general. At best he’s an antihero. To take his symbol would mean either you admire the Punisher (you admire a killer) or you view yourself with the same moral taint that exists in Frank, aka you view yourself as a morally gray antihero. 

Personally I always took our obsession with skulls as our acceptance that our jobs often mean we must flirt with death, and yet even in death we’re still dedicated to our service. Honestly, just google “army skull” or “soldier skull.” We fucking love skulls. We will put skulls and skeletons into everything. 

These are a few reasons I can think of people using the Punisher skull. I hope at least some of them were helpful!

-Spc. Kingsley

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