#you just want a reason to say dream is horrible and abuses children

[inamindfarfaraway]

It's so cool that the Viren-Claudia-Callum foil triangle each have a different approach to the "I would do anything for you" sentiment that they all define themselves by.

Pre-coma Viren doesn't fully mean it even when he believes he does. He says that his loyalty is to the best interests of his family and humanity, but as K'ppar points out in his dream, he keeps putting his own ambition and self-importance before anything else. He doesn't consider sacrificing his life for Harrow until Harrow brings it up. Even after that, he never once thinks of giving up the dragon prince's egg; the belief that the prince was killed is part of the reason the assassins are here and returning him to them might appease them, might at least make them spare Harrow's son, which the man Viren loves as a brother would obviously want. He orders Soren to kill the princes to guarantee Viren the throne. He orders Claudia to save the egg instead of Soren if she had to choose. Harrow, Ezran, Callum and his own child are not worth losing the power of Zym to his enemies for. He isn't willing to sacrifice his power or vision, his selfish interests, but is instead willing to sacrifice the people he loves, which is why he's evil. The promise is conditional. But what lets him redeem himself is that the love at the base of it really is unconditional. He still loves Harrow and genuinely expresses this in his dream, overwhelmed with relief when he appears to be alive. He still loves his children, even after all the horrible things he does to them and the lack of remorse he shows for those actions until his death. The coma reminds him of that enduring love, and makes him reevaluate how he dismissed it.

Claudia is the opposite. When she says she'll do anything for someone, she means it with everything she has. Herself, her moral integrity, other people's lives, the fate of the world - nothing is more important to her than her perceived responsibility to her loved ones. Including what her loved ones themselves want. But she can also change her mind about who she loves, at least enough to see them as against her rather than with her. Callum is her friend, until he isn't. Soren is her family, until he isn't and only Viren is worth protecting. Like her father’s did before her, her value of Soren’s wellbeing has been slipping from “That’s all that matters” to “That doesn’t matter!” People can be disqualified by opposing her desires and ideology. The promise is unconditional, but the love isn't.

And then you have Callum, who seems to have the best approach of the three. He means his promise when he says it and will never rescind it later on. His devotion is both absolute and everlasting. He will do anything for Ezran and Rayla, putting them before his own interests; and he would never consider them expendable. That's great! After all, having conditions of worth in relationships they don't belong in is bad. It leads to Viren and Claudia hurting, manipulating and betraying their family and friends, and such behaviour feels viscerally wrong. They're traitors. They're abusers. Those are serious crimes. Those labels are grievous insults meaning ‘Bad Person’. But unlike both Viren and Claudia, Callum doesn't have the arrogant belief that he always know best to warp his love into something self-serving. His genuine selflessness prevents him from ever becoming that kind of person. He does cut ties with Claudia, but only after she proves to be untrustworthy and have enduring harmful intent toward him, his brother and Rayla, so it's a perfectly reasonable boundary to set. His version of "I would do anything for you" just makes him caring and heroic. Right?

Until you realize that technically, if he had to kill everyone else on the continent in order to save Ezran and Rayla, all evidence from canon suggests that he would.

[mermaidsirennikita]

I hate any of the interview fans' arguing over "who's worse" because there's actually a lot that you can discuss re: how Lestat and Armand are both terrible for Louis in very different ways, but one thing I've noticed is that all of these arguments and discussions re: abuse nearly always ignore Claudia being a victim at the hands of both her parents. Not saying that Louis isn't a victim, but he's far from perfect when it comes to how he treats the people around him, especially his daughter whom he knows will never be able to be independent because of his own actions

Yeah, I personally *get* why the issues with Louis's relationship with Claudia were somewhat overlooked in s1, because it is also such a heartfelt relationship and Jacob sells us his love for her so clearly...

But Louis can love Claudia and be a bad parent, and I think this season is going to get into that more. Claudia is the biggest victim in this story--which isn't to say that Louis hasn't been victimized as well (and not just by Lestat, I would add; rewatching s1 reminded me of how homophobic and emotinally abusive Louis's mother was as well). And Lestat! And probably Armand, though I know less about the show version of him as of now. I think that the show is very much about the cycles of abuse and how there can be love within these horrible relationships.

And I fele that there's this strong need within people to believe that relationships are either loving or loveless, when that's just not true. Louis can love Claudia and fail her, and CHOOSE to fail her at points. It's absolutely true that he chose Lestat over her time and time again (.... and I wouldn't be surprised if he does it again this season; and it certainly looks like he's going to choose Armand over her). It's also true that Louis essentially condemned Claudia to an existence that does torment her, however good she is at being a vampire.

Lestat did his part, of course. But he wasn't going to do it until Louis begged, and I think Louis, even if it was only subconscious, was very much aware that Lestat would give him that if it meant keeping Louis. I don't think that Louis was entirely unaware of the emotional imbalance in that relationship. I think that the true triggering force in Claudia's transformation was absolutely Louis, however much we may joke about Lestat baby trapping him. Lestat didn't have that idea, at least not in the show. Louis wanted it. And by the way, Louis could've tried to turn Claudia before he took her to Lestat; it may have been fruitless, but I don't think that's the only reason why he didn't try. I think he very much wanted Lestat to be the person who'd take the blame for that.

And like, Lestat did become this common enemy that created this codependent bond between Louis and Claudia. Some of that is due to his own (horrible) actions, as well as the social inequalities that he was incapable of fully understanding. It's no wonder, and kind of inevitable, but I do think that Louis kind of fed off that bond in the way that real parents often do. To me, Claudia and Lestat have always played off as a very classic toxic mother/daughter relationship, while Louis and Claudia play as a very classic father/daughter toxic relationship. Lestat saw himself in Claudia and hated her and felt the need to compete for Louis's affection against her. Louis put Claudia on a pedestal and refused to see her as a real, flawed person and fell into this imbalance confidante relationship with her... And when Claudia fell off her pedestal, which I think only FULLY happened when Lestat was "killed", he reacted so negatively. Like, he loves her, but you can tell in the s2 premiere that the bond is broken. He hesitated when dream!Lestat asked if it was worth it. If SHE was worth it.

To me, Louis and Claudia's relationship is so reminiscent of this sort of... emotionally incestuous relationship that can happen with toxic parents and their children, but especially with mothers and sons and fathers and daughters. You can see her chafing at the restraint of it, and he responds by trying to "seal" it through these intense vows of love and loyalty, even though he KNOWS that there is a flaw in his thinking, a level of untruth to it. Even if he doesn't MEAN for it to be manipulative, it is absolutely manipulative and smothering. He smothers her and he then puts someone else above her, continuously. He isolates her, and then he puts her aside (close to him, but not THE CLOSEST) when someone else earns his love and dazzles him. She is a reliant source of love, or a reliant person onto which he can project his love, but she is not the FIRST choice. And she knows that. But she loves him, and so, like so many daughters, she keeps returning to him.

Louis absolutely loves her. And I think that her death will be what completely breaks him. I think he'll want to die. But I also think that part of that will be because of a broken heart, and part of it will be because of guilt. To paraphrase Succession, another show with toxic parents and kids who just can't fully kick 'em, Louis loves Claudia, but sometimes I think it's the wrong kind of love expression.

(And for the record, I also think that Lestat loved Claudia in his own twisted way, and possibly still does. But lol, it's an EVEN WORSE kind of love expression.)

[sugarywishes]

Presuming all the Afton Family had survived, what was their ambitions for when they were older? In terms of jobs, goals, things they want to do, etc... And same goes for the Emily Family as well, I'm quite curious to see what you have to say given the direction you have taken these characters in your AU.

God, I'm super pumped up to answer this one, sorry for the late response! (I assume you mean if they had all survived, that the Bite incident never occurred, so I'll be basing the answers off of that idea!) Also, the answers are insanely long 😭😭

Okay we're going back to the regular formula and starting off with William. No dead son = no reason to kill children, which means THE MCI AND KCI KIDS LIVEDDD!! Although his violent urges would still manifest in him abusing the kids and his wife. And also because of no dead son, he kept working with Henry. (Although he'd get more and more sick of him as years go by) I honestly think he wouldn't mind continuing the way his life used to be for a very long while, as long as he kept control of everything, and of course, control of Evan. In the universe where the Bite never happened, his dreams did come true.

Onto Clara, I definitely do not see her staying for long with William any longer, he's broken her down for years and essentially ruined her life. I can see 4 possible futures she could've had, either A. She'd flee Utah and reluctantly go back with her horrible family, seeing as they are the only ones who she thinks William wouldn't consider her going with (As if he'd bother going after her) B. She'd leave and move to a city, probably to finish her schooling and maybe she'll get to become a ballet teacher! (Too bad she never accomplished her original dreams...) C. She'd leave and maybe take the remaining kids with her (I'm not sure if she'd even want to take care of William's spawns, but I'm also not sure she'd just ditch them at an orphanage) or D. Leave the family and have a new one, promptly abandoning her children. I think between her and William, she was more likely to want better romance for herself (in my original rewrite for FNAF, I considered having her in an affair with another man in the midst of Pre-FNAF 4, but I thought it seemed really melodramatic, not sure if I'd bring it back though)

So with Mike, the Bite incident is what gave way to his redemption arc and what made him become a better human being, but because it didn't happen, he never grew past being a total piece of shit. His biggest goal would be however, to get away from his family as soon as possible, so I think he'd run away at 18 (maybe he asked Jeremy to run away with him too /hj) and I think he'd want to make it to California or New York or Chicago (cause yk they're the cool places of the time, do you think he'd want go to Wyoming or something?? HELL NO) I always headcanoned Mike as wanting to be a Rockstar when he grew up, or at least some kind of musician. I don't know if he would've accomplished that. It's up to ones imagination. I can see him becoming kinda sleazy. Maybe he'd get into the party scene and become totally unleashed. Would he have want a normal settled lifestyle? Not sure. Another goal is to try and save his mom from William (he didn't consider saving his siblings, because he thought they'd be fine with him)

For Elizabeth, she'd want to try harder and harder to win her dad's affection, and it probably will never work. I'm honestly skeptical if she would ever be interested in romantic relationships, I think if she would, she'd just do it to fill the hole in her heart. For jobs, she'd probably try and inherit her dad's job. Her efforts wouldn't work. For other job ideas, she probably wouldn't really have many careers she'd want, she'd probably settle for a mundane and 'simple' job like nursing or teaching, or even working as a cashier. She preferred being home than actually working. Maybe she would've become a caretaker for her parents when they got older. I don't think she would've ever been disillusioned from the idea of her father being the best, no one would've stayed to help free her.

Finally, Evan, boy oh boy, did he dream. His biggest goal was to just- make real friends. At least one. But that can never happen to him, his father said so himself! (Yeah, because Evan still lived, William further exploiting and abused him 😔) but hey, I can imagine Evan eventually escaping his family! Maybe he can become an artist, or an inventor, or a toy maker, or maybe he can become a depressed recluse. (I think if Evan had lived, bite or not, he could've basically become the Boo Radley of FNAF). I don't think he would ever develop any romances with anyone (how could he??) I see Evan's future as being very uncertain. Maybe he will get a happy ending, but he doesn't think he's worthy of one :(

Okay moving on from that depress sesh, it's Henry's time! I think he'd be open to the idea of getting a new wife, although Charlie would absolutely hate that idea, (okay Lydia Deetz). Someone to give his Charlotte a sense of femininity she so lacks. Best case scenario, it's some random woman he knows, worst case it's Jeremy's horrible mom 😭😭 Anyways, besides getting a new wife, he'd still try and swerve Charlie into a more girly lifestyle like how his wife wanted. Moving onto business, he'd probably still keep Fredbear's up and running, he probably would've become ambitious enough to sell it off and try to become the next 'Disney' (it won't really work, but selling it off did give him tons of cash!) Maybe he'd still try to cut off the Aftons? Besides that, I dunno how else life would go for him, I'll think abt it more eventually.

And finally for Charlie, she wants to become independent and free and all that stuff. So her first course of action is to do whatever she wants with no limits and judgements from her dad! (That would be a very hard task to do...she could probably end up cutting contact with him) and I can see her getting a career in something that helps people, doesn't matter what it is as long as she can assist people and make them feel better. I don't think she'd become romantically involved w/ anyone either. I'm not sure if she'd stay friends with the Aftons either.

Suffice to say, everyone has a kind of negative or uncertain fate. Probably because I haven't thought of anything good that could happen to them without completely changing everything. Hope this was a sufficient response!

[fratricideknight]

hello sweetie!! i wanted to ask you if you could give us your take on john winchester ? people have very different opinions on him and i’d love to hear yours.

hi!!! thanks so much for this ask. it took me a while to gather my thoughts, so there's a relatively long post ahead.

i think that people in fandom tend to go the route of woobifying a character until they can do no wrong in their eyes, or demonising a character until everything they do is wrong. this not only doesn't allow for nuanced takes, which should be possible to make for any well-written, complex character, but also leads to attempts to push blame onto characters instead of just... accepting that the circumstances themselves are shit.

maybe john and sam are similar after all, considering the way that neither of them are extended any due sympathy whatsoever by certain individuals. john, who knew nothing of the supernatural, on an otherwise normal night during which he fell peacefully asleep in front of the television, witnessed his wife be psychically pinned to the ceiling of his baby's nursery and explode in front of both him and his six-month-old. that's bound to change anyone. blaming john entirely for becoming incredibly paranoid over and controlling of his children, and not acknowledging the role of, i don't know, azazel? prince of hell? who engineered all of this?? is so ridiculous i can't even comprehend it. the circumstances are absolutely dreadful, and john wasn't left with much of a choice in the ways he could respond to it. not only would he most likely be driven partially insane by what he witnessed happen to his wife, he would also be led to worry about the safety of his children. killing azazel wasn't just about avenging mary, it was about extinguishing the threat that, for all john knew, could be out to kill his infant sons! what do you want him to do?? shrug it off and go on like nothing happened? cut his losses and get another mother for the boys?

as for how john specifically responded to this: he became a controlling douchebag, yeah. i have someone in my life who can be the same brand of peremptory dick as john, and there are times when i want nothing more than to punch john winchester in the face. it's one of the reasons i relate to sam so much. however, not once in my viewing of season 1 before i entered fandom spaces, did it occur to me that john might be an irredeemable monster and abuser. john trained his boys like soldiers rather than treating them like the children they were, but it's not like he did it for the hell of it. he thought they would literally die if they weren't prepared to fight off the supernatural threats which he was suddenly, in the worst possible way, made aware of. john was an ex-marine, which would of course influence how he would go about this. i'm not saying that john didn't do horrible things at times and that sam and dean's upbringing wasn't awful. he did, and it was. telling sam to not come back if he went to college, trying to punish him for having dreams of his own? making tween dean feel bad for not staying in a motel room 24/7 to take care of his younger brother? dick moves. the boys' childhood was claustrophobic, toxic, and miserable, and i do not blame either of them in the slightest for wanting to get out. however, it comes down to the matter of circumstance again: it's not like john did any of this for the hell of it! let me repeat myself: he thought. they were going. to be murdered. moving frequently probably wasn't just for the sake of cases, it might also have been because he was scared that they were being pursued by something.

as for some of the abuse claims that people make. ugh. please stop just making stuff up. if you want to take the idea that john was a monster and run with it, whatever. i don't care. but acting like that's actually canon? you're just shouldering your way into spaces where people who actually want to discuss canon can do so, and that's incredibly annoying. there is no canon evidence in the seasons which actually involved john as a character that he beat his children or was homophobic. they literally go out of their way in the episode 'Nightmare' to show that sam and dean know their childhood wasn't like max miller's. as some people have said, he doesn't need to have hit his kids for their childhood to have sucked; it was bad enough already! as for the homophobia claims. ughhhhhhhh. i feel like they come from a... specific sector of the fandom, who want to take any reprehensible trait of dean's and make it someone else's fault. like i said earlier, woobifying a character until they can do no wrong. "oh, dean can be a misogynistic and homophobic douchebag at times? clearly, this is all john's influence. oh, he treats sam badly at times? actually, sam is the one who abuses him!" i can somewhat get behind the idea of john expecting the boys to repress their emotions on some level; he was literally a marine in the vietnam war, and he raised his kids in the eighties and nineties. he expected them to put aside any issues they might have had about giving up an ordinary life and hunting azazel and just follow his orders. but the idea that he's some queerphobic monster who would beat dean upside the head for shedding a single tear is hilarious.

look at this fucking fruit. he never stops tearing up.

as a final point, let me just address that jdm is incredibly sexy. if you have a problem with me liking john, take it up with whichever higher power or force of nature made him so <3

[vampirehizzies]

What do you think about Mother's role in characters' life of The Hunger Games series?

Do you think there is correlation of their situation with their action?

Thank you :)

@curiousthg

you know i was thinking about this ask and then realised that literally most of the characters either just don't get information about their families or have dead mothers. that's rough!

so i assume this is about the Main Three (although i barely consider gale a main character) and their moms. and maybe snow's mom since we technically did hear about her as well, so she counts. i doubt i could say anything very nuanced about the role of the moms since i don't really think about them as much as the other characters and there's actually relatively little said about them and their personalities/lives, but here goes.

if we start with the obvious main character, katniss, her relationship with her mom is obviously complicated because of the neglect and abandonment. i think those are strong words especially since mrs everdeen was grieving her dead husband, and i sympathise with that since i never went through that pain. regardless, katniss does have a point: yes, mrs everdeen is entitled to a mourning period and was in unimaginable pain, but she had an obligation to her children that she unfortunately wasn't capable of fulfilling.

i don't blame or condemn her for how she acted, i think she's a good, kind, and lovely lady, but katniss was correct in believing she was in the wrong for not being there for her children. i think she was representative of katniss's fears about falling in love - losing a husband to the horrible cruel world that snow created, being left incapacitated and utterly broken, being weak enough (katniss's words, not mine) to abandon her own children. katniss carried the generational trauma of her mother's pain with her, and her mother was the reason she blocked herself from others so thoroughly and wanted to remain guarded and defend herself from emotional intruders. her mother wasn't the source of strength and dependability that katniss needed in her life, which was why katniss so often chooses to be alone rather than lean on others, especially her own mother who has broken her trust. her mother perpetuates katniss's greatest fears, and it was only with distance away from her and time in that relationship (since mrs everdeen didn't go back to twelve and we don't hear from her in the epilogue) that katniss could move on and be with someone who was willing to provide that emotional support and hope.

then we have peeta's mom, who is by far worse than mrs everdeen ever will he because of her abusive and generally terrible behavior towards others. she's mean, unkind to katniss, and physically hurts her own son. because we know so little about her situation, it's easy to assume she's just a Dragon Bitch Monster Lady since she wasn't relevant enough to katniss's story to go into more detail with, but like mrs everdeen she probably had her own struggles and human trauma and her own dreams and feelings of love. there's no excuse for her behavior but i doubt that she's just an emotionless monster. as for her role, she's an example to peeta of what not to be, and he became gentle and morally principled despite having a terrible role model for a mother.

hazelle's the only one with an actual name, and katniss definitely seems to respect her a lot - going off of what i remember from the book. katniss acknowledges hazelle's hard work for her family and her attitude of always taking care of her children. while mrs everdeen does love her children and even katniss knows that,i think hazelle was more of a role model of how a mother should behave in the face of grief according to katniss.

if you're asking about how the moms act, then there's definitely a huge correlation of their situation with how they behave. that's true for any character or real person - how we act depends on the situation and how we ourselves see fit to respond. the women, while maybe being from different socioeconomic backgrounds within the bounds of district twelve, are all in the same poor system of oppression and poverty, and their different personality types defines how they respond to that fact.

i don't remember much from tbosas, but snow's mother was supposedly a better person than him or his father. he clearly felt a great emotional attachment of love for her, and she was the only woman who made sure he felt as if he was loved. that did make a heavy impact on him, as we can see from his thing with the handkerchief. honestly, i couldn't say much more than that since i don't remember anything else from the book or the movie about the mom.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

...Someone Get Me Back on the Ice

Ok, for a lot of reasons, I was never a competetive athlete. That said...I am Canadian and I was probably 3 or 4 years old when my grandparents bought me my first pair of skates and my parents took me to the (manmade) kiddie rink in the park to teach me to skate. My middle sister and I had skating lessons for a few years, our parents took us skating pretty often growing up, and when we moved into the big house in Alaska, we had a pond out back that we skated (and burned christmas trees--yes, it was always awesome) on every winter until I left the state. And even when I moved back to Canada, I brought my skates with me and still use the arenas and outdoor town square rink in the winter. All this to say that while I'm never going to be an Olympian, I deeply love skating, so when there was a cozy college skating romance between a figure skater and a hockey team captain...it was not a hard sell. And then I was absolutely delighted by this cozy, fluffy, very skate-y book. Let's talk Icebreaker.

CONTENT WARNING: I'm not going to cover much of this here, but if anyone wants to pick up this book, please be aware that it does contain disordered eating, a super controlling/abusive relationship, and a near-death experience, so take care of you when choosing your books!

The very last thing Anastasia Allen wants to do right before sectionals is be forced to share her rink with a hockey team. Then she gets adopted by a bunch of overgrown man-children with hearts of gold who enjoy body-slamming other overgrown man-children into the boards over a puck. It is possibly the most adorable thing I have ever seen, and it is the best possible embodiment of the healthy, non-toxic version of "boys will be boys" insofar as the team just genuinely love and support each other and make space for Anastasia and Lola in that world with care, respect, and joy. I love it so, so much.

Of course, Anastasia is not here just to be adopted by a hockey team. She's also very much in danger of falling deeply in love with Nate Hawkins, captain of said hockey team. Nate and Anastasia are a genuinely darling, adorable couple, and watching them together was just FUN.

Particularly in contrast to Anastasia's relationship with her skating partner, Aaron. Who is--to put it mildly--the biggest most manipulative toxic douchebag I have ever seen. There's something about his and Anastasia's relationship that managed to embody everything that can go horribly toxic with athletic partnerships and how difficult it can be when your dream relies on someone who is actively trying to drag you down.

The super nice thing though, is that Aaron is absolutely the bad guy in this book. Neither Nate nor Ryan (the adorable himbo basketball player she begins the book in a friends-with-benefits arrangement with) descend to Aaron's level. They are there to support Anaastasia. That doesn't mean they don't get angry or jealous--they're human men in their late teens/early 20s, of COURSE they get angry and jealous--but they deal with those emotions pretty freaking healthily, and they don't descend into petty ego-based bullshit. Add that to Anastasia's therapy-honed communication skills, and the relationships in this book are just so well done. Sometimes relationships in romances can get weirdly toxic for drama, but that's not the case here, which made this cozy romance GENUINELY delightful to read.

The side characters are also super well-developed and full of personality, so everyone in this book feels well-rounded, real, and delightful. From Lola to Henry, Robbie, Russ, and JJ, you get to know an ensemble of strong secondary characters in the context of the main romantic relationship, and Anastasia and Henry's platonic love for each other might be the best platonic relationship I've seen in FOREVER. I would 100% read a spinoff novel about those two buddy-ing around.

Author Hannah Grace is a self-proclaimed "fluffy comfort book writer," and if Icebreaker is any example, then ACCURATE. And I cannot recommend this book enough, it was a delight to read from start to finish.

[paceypeternathanslawyer]

I'm just thinking about how Jamie Scott had the most stable childhood on One Tree Hill. It is One Tree Hill so the writers did put Jamie through a lot of trauma unfortunately but I mean in terms of what his parental situation was like.

Nathan had two parents but his mother was seemingly absent for a good portion of his first 16 years of life. His father was emotionally, verbally, and physically abusive to him growing up.

Brooke's parents were emotionally absent and almost entirely physically absent. Her father continually cheated on her mother and they constantly fought so Brooke's life was very tumultuous.

Peyton had a biological mother who died of cancer and adoptive mother who died in a car crash both before Peyton graduated high school. When she did finally meet her biological father he tried his damndest to keep her from even finding out that he was her dad and he's also an alcoholic. Her adoptive father works on dredging boats. I believe they're dredging boats but either way his job takes him away from Peyton almost constantly so she lives in their house alone for the majority of any given year except for the occasional visit on his off time.

Lucas had a loving mother which is amazing but his biological father was a horrible evil person. He had the same dad as Nathan so as you can see from the section talking about Nathan's childhood... Dan was very abusive. With Lucas it was a very different situation. Dan was completely absent and then when Lucas joined the basketball team, he started to see more of Dan and started to see more of the abusive tendencies aimed his way.

Haley had loving and present parents but she does allude to them maybe not being the most stable like when she says "Besides, I just really don't want to be one of those moms that's, like, completely overwhelmed and unprepared and always screaming at her kids the way my mom used to be. Oh, it was crazy."

Then you have Jamie. Jamie is the child of Nathan and Haley. Nathan ended the cycle of abuse that had been going on for generations. Royal seemingly verbally abused Dan and Dan verbally and/or physically abused both of his sons. But Nathan made the choice to be a good man, a loving faithful husband, and a present wise and loving father. He encouraged his son to live up to his potential but he didn't put unreasonable expectations on him. He found a way to live his dreams but also put his wife and children above his career goals. He made time for his son and daughter. He's dependable, solid, and wise. Haley is a sweet, loving, and protective mother who would do anything for her children. It's really touching and beautiful to see Nathan and Haley give their son and daughter a life that none of the other main characters got. There's a reason that when Peyton thinks there's a chance that she could die during child birth she makes a video for her daughter and has this to say about Nathan and Haley "But if you ever need a mom-and-dad fix, you have Nathan and Haley for that." Everyone deserves parents like Naley. They are funny, they love each other and they love their children, they love and care for their friends. They are truly special people 💜💜

And, yes, Brooke, Peyton, and Lucas also gave their children great lives. The only difference is that with Jamie/Lydia we really got to see this played out and exemplified for many years. Lucas and Peyton left the show right after Peyton gave birth and with Brooke, we only saw one season of her and Julian with their twins and i'm not sure that year is a good example of how those children will grow up. Julian accidentally left one child in the car for hours (thankfully the baby lived) and also a lot of other shit was going on in S9. But I know that Brooke is amazing mother and Julian despite that horrible mistake has learned from it and will be an amazing father.

In summation Jamie and Lydia's childhood is such a unique dynamic that is not usually shown on One Tree Hill and it's such a beautiful thing 💗💗💜💜

[dmclemblems]

Another thing worth mentioning about Claude's relationship with his parents: despite his feelings of admiration for his mother and despite remembering the bedtime stories his father told him, he still never writes to them. He can contact Nader no problemo (can even have him IN FODLAN, and for extended periods of time!), but his supports with Hilda also show off that he's so disconnected from his parents he's actually not even sure they're still alive.

Claude: Well, that's a fine thing to do, regardless of your reasons. As for me, it's been far too long since I've written to my parents...

Hilda: Oh? I thought your father had died.

Claude: Not quite. He's still alive and kicking...as far as I know. 

So on top of the Horse Incident... the "deal with the assassins yourself tiny child" thing... the fact that Claude ran away without telling his dad (if we go by Hopes) and without his mom seeming to give a shit that he's leaving all by himself... the act that going by Hopes Daddy-o is doing Literally Nothing about his children trying to violently invade his lover's homeland, and nothing about his children trying to murder each other for his throne... yeah these two are incredibly shitty parents, Gilbert could never dream of being this bad lmao.

But like, I also kinda like how... real? I guess? Claude's reaction to this is. He loves his parents, and he'll have open admiration for at least his mother, but then he starts talking about the other stuff and it's like "oh, that sounds like an abuse victim." Hearing him talk about how he "deserved" to either be dragged around by a horse or helplessly tied to its saddle as it runs around (depending on which version) shocked me when I first heard it, because "I was being bad I deserved to get hit by my parents" is such a huge red flag hearing someone say.

Plus how fondly he looks back on that memory - like you said, he was probably so elated to have his parents pay attention to him that the means in what they did so literally meant nothing to him (and could also tie into why he remembered those bedtime stories so well; another rare moment of his parent's attention being given to him) And him making the active effort to not talk to his parents once he ran away makes it so much worse, and hearing him still hold such fondness for them anyway in his A support with Byleth is almost more sad than it is endearing.

I'm honestly also surprised that the fandom just never acknowledges this? They act like Claude's parents are so cool for the most part, when his are legit some of the worst 3H has to offer and he's such a clear case of an abused child it's not even funny.

For real lol. People bash Gilbert for leaving his family while completely ignoring all the context about why. Meanwhile they celebrate badass Almyran king and queen despite that they’re horrible to Claude and probably all of their children as far as the king goes.

I also appreciate how Claude’s situation is complicated regarding his parents. Even abused children can still love their parents and it’s a very difficult situation. It’s a cycle of being abused then the parents will do something nice for the child, and that child believes they love them now and will be nice to them going forward. When that doesn’t happen, they remember the good things and try to tell themselves that their parents aren’t all bad and that there’s good in there. They love them for the nice things they do and tend to want more of it, so they stick around hoping to see that more.

Once Claude got old enough I’d imagine he probably realized it wasn’t normal and decided enough was enough. Even if he just wanted attention from his parents, I’m sure he could only take so much of what he went through between the assassinations and nobody really caring about him. Hilda was right to be shocked and horrified at what Claude went through, because that’s just... not normal. Also, if a child comes to believe they deserved the treatment, it’s because the parents made them think they deserved it and the child starts to accept it even if the punishment is reprehensible.

Even though Claude tends to brush this stuff off like it’s all in the past, it’s clearly affected him and his ability to trust people and form emotional connections. Like I said above, he remembers the good things fondly because it was the only positive attention he could get. He doesn’t fondly remember being punished and just speaks casually of it, but he shows no happiness for it. I’m sure Tiana does love him, but it also sounds like she either is afraid to go against her husband’s ways or just changed for the worse. Maybe the king does also love Claude, but it doesn’t excuse how terribly he treated him. Fact is, you’re only a child once and once you’re scarred from your childhood, you can’t just fix that.

Him not talking to his parents after leaving is a good step forward for him tbh. Cutting off contact regardless of how “sad” they might be is what you have to do in that situation. It’s like when toxic parents want their children to live with them to use them for selfish reasons, and they gaslight their kids so they can get what they want and be controlling. In that situation all you can really do is cut them out of your life. Of course, there’s always the whole giving them another chance in the future kind of thing, but if they continue acting like that then you cut them out permanently.

In Claude’s case I think he did the right thing to leave his father hanging like that, because boo hoo the king is so sad he can’t rule properly, but how do we not know that wasn’t intentional acting so that hopefully the information would reach Claude that he was acting like that? Maybe he could make Claude feel bad and come home... and the cycle would just continue. When parents act sad like that and “miss” their child despite having previously abused them in any form, it’s usually meant to manipulate the child’s emotions and make them come back. If your kids are trying to kill each other for whatever reason, how does that not make you more depressed than your most abused and bullied child running away from home and getting away from all that?

Personally I never found his stories about his life to be endearing. I found all of it to be depressing and upsetting. He may be older in the time of the game and know how to better manage that stuff, but it’s always worth noting that he was just a little boy when all this happened to him. Kids can get scared so easily and yet he acts like none of it actually really affected him, despite that any child being put through all that would traumatize them. All of that shows in his personality through his relationships and his inability to notice he’s pressing too hard on someone’s emotions until after it’s already done. He’s literally still in the learning process of how to understand other people’s emotions at the age of 18.

Having any fond memories of his abusers is exactly what a lot of abuse victims go through. I’m honestly shocked most of the fandom doesn’t look at his experiences as being legitimately terrible. His parents aren’t cool or badass. They’re terrible parents and not people who even deserve to call him their child. They certainly didn’t treat him like parents should treat their children. No child should be growing up in those circumstances.

The funny thing about the whole “bad parent” thing with Fodlan’s parents is that with Faerghus, they’re not only pretty decent parents, but then you get Matthias, who, well, more or less neglected his children (rather than abused them). Difference being, in Hopes he actually admits to knowing he was a bad father to Sylvain (and presumably Miklan who is still alive and well in that timeline as it’s GW he says this to Sylvain in). Then you have Lambert, who Rodrigue believes Dimitri losing would be horrible for Dimitri. Lambert decides that if he does die, he can safely leave Dimitri to Rodrigue. He had an idea, some sort of plan, if he were to die where his child would be safely in the care of someone who loved him. Rodrigue loved Glenn so much that he never stopped looking for answers about Duscur, coming across all kinds of valuable information about things that didn’t concern Glenn simply because he was distraught and had to know why his son had to die that day (and no, it wasn’t because he was a true knight. That was Rodrigue’s distressed way of coping. When he was in a better state of mind, he investigated the situation to get real answers. That’s the proof he wasn’t satisfied with the idea of leaving it at “Glenn was just doing his job”). Regarding Felix, Felix was the one who didn’t want to talk to Rodrigue, so Rodrigue backed off and let his son have space, but always looked out for him and tried to get closer to him. There was only so much he could do, but he did what little he could because he cared about Felix, even if Felix would walk away mad. Rodrigue just wanted his son in good hands.

That’s a pretty massive contrast to leaving your child vulnerable to assassins who are also partially your other children by not protecting him. Faerghus’ fathers would 110% absolutely have someone’s head for trying to harm their child, much less kill their child. No child deserves to have to fight their own battles, and no child deserves to have to rely on themselves to survive. Even with animals, you see the mother raise her young until they’re old enough to leave their home. Birds, cats, rabbits, you name it. They take care of their babies and keep them safe at home until they’re old enough to wander and get their own food and live outside of a confined area for their safety. It’s pretty much instinctual.

If Claude were real, all the stuff he went through would be such a big deal. I wish more people saw that because it’s good writing as far as Claude is concerned, but it also means his parents weren’t as amazing as other people say they are. Notice how it’s always other characters talking about how great they are, but Claude never has very good things to say about them that extend beyond basically “look they gave me attention once or twice every half a year”.

[petrovawitch]

Parental Wounds

Viktoria sighs as she ponders this subject, taking a pull of a martini. Her parents have always been a horrible topic of conversation, more so her father. Her mother wasn’t without sin, of course, but she was a victim of her father, too.

“My father was a vile beast of a man. If I were a better woman, I would pretend to be the least bit saddened by his passing- I am not. I wish I could have seen his bloody corpse.” Her eyes glazed over in a violent haze as she spoke. She did not really mean that. The mask spoke, not the woman beneath it. No, there was still love there. The stories her mother would share of his family were reason enough for his disgusting behavior, right? Violence was just in him, her mother would say. Cursed by a magical lineage that he protected us from. The abuse, in his eyes, was how you treated children. How he was treated. But that was no excuse, Viktoria thought. If she could procreate, which even as a human she vowed never to do, there was nothing they could do that could inspire her to lay a finger on them. To ever accost them or play a game of twisted mental chess with their hearts.

Her thoughts drifted towards her mother. It pained her to think of her for too long. She adored her mother as a child, but in her adolescence slowly grew resentful. How dare she marry that horrific man and bear children with him. How dare she take his side over hers, time and time again. Coward, she thought viciously. Viktoria’s eyes stung a bit, tears forming. After all, she was permanently stuck at 22. Forever a brand new false adult. A brat. She blinked away the wetness, taking a long sip from her drink again.

Focusing on the good in her mother, she softened a bit in her tone, “My mother was exactly the type of mother you wanted when you were a child. Playful, wise, and kindhearted. Never had a bad word to say about anyone.” While staring down into her liquor, she almost whispered, “I miss her. I miss her more than I ever dreamed possible. It builds every day.” and so does the guilt, she added in her head.

Her eyes filled again as she whispered to her mother, “I miss you, mama. I’m sorry I let you down. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for my sisters- for you. I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.” she reached down to her mother’s necklace, silver plated amethyst home. “Please, forgive me.”

[taleoftruthsandlies]

TW: mention if csa, mention of violence and abuse.

Tonight I had this dream, it's so vivid in my head.

There was a woman cooking in a huge pot, smiling children ran over to her, calling her name. She had really short hair, and from behind, you couldn’t see her face. She turned slightly to smile at the children, her face was horribly scarred, though I only caught a glimpse for a second.

Then the scene shifted. There was a scruffy-looking boy, maybe around 10 years old. He was overweight, with greasy long hair, square glasses, and dirty, sweaty clothes. Despite his appearance, he formed a close friendship with a neat, well-kept girl with a bob haircut and bangs. The girl felt sorry for him and tried to help him clean up, though his appearance never changed throughout the dream. For some reason, the boy insisted that their friendship had to be kept secret, even from other kids. He told her that something bad would happen to both of them if anyone found out, and she nodded in agreement.

It then became clear that the girl was an orphan, adopted by a cruel old woman who lived alone with her unemployed son. The woman exploited her small hands for sewing and often locked her in a dark closet or refused to feed her. The girl frequently ran away to an abandoned warehouse, where she met the boy. Despite his mildly creepy appearance, the boy was always affectionate toward her, giving her gentle kisses on the forehead and holding her hand whenever she needed comfort.

One day, news broke out about children disappearing, leading to a curfew. But the girl still sneaked out at night to see the boy. In a whisper, she asked him, "Did you do it?" He didn’t answer. "Do you know where they are? You love everyone so much, you’d want to keep them with you forever,I can understand it. " she said. The boy became furious, suddenly letting out a horrifying scream, and ran away.

After that, the girl grew more fearful and barely left the house. However, one day the old woman demanded she make a delivery, threatening not to let her back inside until she completed the task. As the girl walked, she encountered the boy. Terrified, she started to run, but he was much faster, like he had longer legs. She barely made it back to the house and screamed for the old woman to let her in, begging and saying she was scared. The old woman dismissed her, claiming she was only saying that because she didn’t want to make the delivery.

Seeing the boy getting closer, the girl chose to keep running. She came across two other children and shouted for them to play hide-and-seek with her to save them. They all ended up in the abandoned warehouse where she used to meet the boy. The three of them hid in a small, closed-off area, but eventually, the boy found his way in. The two other children didn’t escape, though the dream didn’t show what happened to them.

The girl kept running but soon found herself trapped in a dead-end alley. The boy appeared in front of her, holding a broken iron pipe. He SAd her and then hit her face with the iron pipe repeatedly. When he finished, he picked up a big shard of glass from the ground and began stabbing himself. With each strike, he grew older and older, transforming into an adult. His appearance was the same, just bigger. I guess it fit better this way. I think he had never been an innocent child, but the little girl had always seen him as one so I did too.

I don't recall every single detail, it was much more impactful while I was dreaming, I ended up waking up with a huge headache.

(Also English isn't my first language so, sorry if anything was confusing lol)

[brittanyautumn333]

This is a long one, friends

Tw:Child Abuse

I talked to my dad today for the first time in months. Because of what he does for “work”, he jumps around a lot and always calls from a different number. We talked about my mom a bit. He asked how she was. She’s fine, same as the last 26 years. She is the only person I know that has never changed or developed in my entire life. Textbook Covert narcissist. Why does she have to change? Everyone else is the problem, clearly 🙄.

I’ve been feeling a lot of resentment towards him in my spirit lately. Not for him leaving me. But for him leaving me with HER. She has never been mentally stable. She was horribly abused by her stepfather. He locked her in a room. She had to use the bathroom in a bucket in the room. One time, she told him that she didn’t want mayonnaise on a sandwich. He made her eat the entire jar. She was 7 years old. She will have an actual panic attack if she tastes a smidge of it on a sandwich. I know every single story of her abuses, because she would tell me after she was done hurting me. I didn’t have any reason to be upset, she had it worse.

My dad took care of her, and was her “hero” in a way. He’s 4 years older than her. He bought her school supplies, her first car, and even her feminine products. He went to prison when I was 3. He got out briefly on parole when I was about 8-9. Then went back until I was 17. Most of my pictures from my first 3 years of life show him holding me. He has always been a kind soul - I don’t think he could be mean to me if he had to save his own life. He’s patient, and soft spoken. Certainly doesn’t look like the type of guy to commit the crimes that he did. When I was little, he repeatedly cheated on my mom. He said it was to “get back at her for cheating first”..what in the fuck?? I can not understand how a 30 year old man had the perception that 2 wrongs make a right. I don’t remember much from then, obviously. When he went to prison, my mom immediately filed for divorce. 3 months later my stepdad moved in with us. I don’t even think she had mentioned him to me. All I remember is being on the way to the bus station, and her saying “I’m going to pick someone up, and he is going to be living with us now”. I’m thankful that my stepdad was and is a nice man.

Back to my dad, I asked him today why he chose to have a child with my mom. He knew he couldn’t remain faithful, he knew that she had extremely violent tendencies and mental health issues. I can’t help but to get so frustrated when I think about it. So much so to where I get angry and frustrated when I see couples who have horrible relationships, who already walk on eggshells, having children. I’m going to call it what it is and say it is incredibly irresponsible. I have 0 children at 26 years old because i understand the gravity of my decision if I choose who to have children with incorrectly. My judgement is imperative.

When my dad went to prison, my mom got her happy little family with my stepdad. They had a son. He is 5 years younger than me. My mom hated him as a baby. She didn’t hold him or even change his diapers. I don’t think she likes kids at all. I think she likes a dress up doll. Once the doll needs attention, or has anything to say, she is just not available. My entire life, she was glued to the TV. Talking wasn’t allowed when she watched TV. Even now. All day and all night. She would roll her eyes at me, and say “I know you love to talk” and “I can’t wait until you get married so you can get out of my face” (I was 9 years old). I never watched tv. I prefer music. It drowns the screaming out from when she scolds my stepdad for not doing 100% of the houses chores, while she sits in a recliner. My brother was and is no friend to me, even though I took pain and hurt myself to keep him from being abused like I was. It didn’t happen often though. He was the golden child - everything she had ever wanted. I was just remnants of a failed “white picket fence” dream. I spent a lot of time in my room alone. My brother got older and noticed the power dynamic, mostly my lack of power. He would do things and lie purposefully to make my mom angry. He knew she showed no mercy, and he enjoyed it from a young age. He would laugh when she smacked me across the face for dropping a pencil while I was doing my homework - I was making noise and interrupting her show. I spent a good majority of my childhood and adolescence alone. Not because I wanted to, but because I was safest alone. If no one can see me, they won’t criticize me. She won’t hit me if she can’t see me. I love to talk. Just like my dad.

He told me today that the reason he had a child with her is “we were getting older”. I literally could feel myself about to cry. What is wrong with these people? It’s like so many people don’t realize the implications of recklessness with their private parts. Married or not. You KNEW you couldn’t stay faithful. You KNEW that the nature of your “work” meant that you risked spending your life behind bars. You KNEW that your wife was not fit to be a mother. She has no patience, any kind bone in her body expects a 250% return on any kind act she gives to others. Even at 50 years old, she still blames her lack of kindness on her abuse from a man who is now dead. I had glass candles thrown at my head at 6 years old. Any time I try to bring up anything, it’s “get over it, you didn’t have it nearly as tough as me”.

Part of my healing journey is learning that just because someone else’s mistakes look different than mine, doesn’t make them any less worthy of kindness and forgiveness. It’s just so hard when it comes to my parents. I KNEW at 21 years old how to be a better parent than they did at 24 and 28 years old. Why didn’t they know better?? If your husband can’t keep his dick in his pants purely out of spite, or if your wife can’t even care for a cat without killing it, why have a child?

I get so frustrated when I see women my age popping out kids left and right with men that wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire. Then they’re giving crocodile tears when he up and leaves. Only after dogging her out in the presence of their children. You have no clue what you are doing. You’re not only breeding a child into a home that will inevitably be broken, but breeding pain and suffering for an innocent being who didn’t ask to be here. Making a mistake is allowed as an adult. It happens. But a mistake that was preventable involving a child is unacceptable. Does it make someone a bad person? Not necessarily. I try not to judge, but I do think that as a society we need to emphasize the importance of discernment when having a child. If he is on baby mom number 3, and you somehow think you are different or special, you are dangerously delusional. I witnessed the realization of “mommy’s baby, daddy’s maybe” x100 + abuse and neglect of all kinds. THE MOST important job for me as a woman is to ensure that if I have a child, I am prepared to do it alone. Mentally, physically, financially. My child would never be made to feel like a burden to me.

I’ve always felt like I had to anticipate being alone with a child. Not a single soul in my life is in a happy marriage. No one in my family hugs each other. None of that. My mom sits in a separate recliner from all of us and barks commands at my stepdad. She doesn’t lift a finger to even get a drink. I want to help my partner with anything they need. Do my part in the house. Feel close to them. I have never witnessed that. I guess that’s why I expect that emotionally distant life for me too sometimes. That’s why I attract the most physically and emotionally unavailable humans on the planet. Love stories are shit that mom watches on TV. Mom told me when I was little that true love is for skinny, pretty women. Fat women are just used until they’re dried up. Then he’s on to someone younger and thinner. This is the conditioning that is ingrained within the depths of me. That I am inherently less than. Because it never happened to anyone i know, it will never happen for me. What makes me so special?

I’m thankful for the lessons. I’m thankful for the opportunity to break the generational cycle of abuse in my family that has lasted at least 4 generations. I have all the tools that I need. I’m so grateful for my hopeful spirit and inquisitive mind. I know my fate is wonderful.

If you’re one of the 5 folx I linked to this page and you read this all the way through, thank you for coming to my TED talk. Spirituality isn’t all love and light. It’s confronting pain, pinpointing the cause, and venting when necessary. Thank you for hearing me.

[lumoonescent]

Okay I’ll admit to not knowing much about Ace Attorney but I think Ciel wasn’t really done any justice with this explanation and the 12 year old me obsessed with this hot mess of a story is rioting so I’m going to do my best to explain a few things that come to mind with this sickly little Victorian child. MAJOR trigger warning for mentions of sexual abuse, grooming, murder, gore, the list goes on. Major MAJOR Spoilers for Kuroshitsuji

I think my one major point here is that the ENTIRE story for Black Butler revolves around Ciel’s tragedy. His ACTIVE tragedy. He doesn’t get a good ending. He made his Faustian bargain and we are constantly reminded that the end result of all this is having his soul eaten by some guy who’s basically grooming him to do the worst things possible to make his soul taste better. Ciel knows this. The only adult he can trust is a literal demon who is not allowed by contract to do anything bad to him. The only adult he allows to have physical contact with him is a supernatural killing machine who has a legal obligation to protect him no matter what. He’s supposed to protect him and do whatever Ciel says. Sebastian (demon) is still pretty sus and weird about it anyways and looks like Ciel’s dead father while he’s doing it. Ciel makes Sebastian stand in his room when he goes to bed until he falls asleep like a human nightlight just so he can be certain nobody is going to hurt him while he’s asleep.

At 10 years old this sheltered asthmatic child witnessed the murder of his entire home only to be kidnapped and physically and sexually abused by a cult deliberately trying to make things as horrible and depraved as possible for him and his twin brother for a month straight. His brother is murdered in front of him. He has to dig through his dead brothers guts to get a family heirloom he swallowed for safe keeping. This cult summons a demon by sacrificing his brother and he STILL has to offer his own soul as payment for getting his revenge. He cannot look at himself or live in any sense without being reminded of his brother and his death after stealing his identity. He’s left with the survivors guilt of knowing that everyone who’s still alive in his life will BE DISAPPOINTED HE WAS THE ONE TO SURVIVE AND NOT HIS BROTHER. Much much later into the story this is outright admitted to be true by his fiancé, the only person he still cares about, after she learns he had been lying about being the other twin this entire time.

The queen of England decided it was a good idea to let this kid be her go-to guy for doing murderous dirty work.

His aunt, one of his only surviving family members, resents his existence and is murdered after admitting this (not by him, but still).

One guy gets so worked up over not being able to go to that cult gathering three years ago that he physically recreates the entire scenario like yes hello Ciel big fan wish I was also there when everyone else got to assault you :) lets do it all again :) I’m killing all of these children in your honor :)

Naturally he has a panic attack at this and throws up before murdering the guy. He has to mercy kill a dozen kidnapped lobotomized children that remind him of himself.

This happens in the first 8 volumes. At the time of writing this there are 33 volumes. Ciel at present in the manga IS THIRTEEN. This all happened relatively recently for him and half of the cast wants him dead for one reason or another. The only people on his side are his demon and his three servants. None of them are a system of support for bettering himself because they are all killing machines with only a vague semblance of what normal life is supposed to be. He commits atrocities and climbs the ranks and sacrifices anyone he needs to along the way to get his revenge all so that immediately after he can die knowing the people who hurt him and his family got what they deserved. He likes tea with milk and honey but doesn’t get to have it often because cavities.

His childhood dream was to own a toy store.

PROPAGANDA UNDER THE CUT: [SPOILERS AND POSSIBLE TRIGGERS AHEAD]

MAYA FEY:

CIEL PHANTOMHIVE:

[nightmaremybeloved]

no but actually why do we have to keep doing this.

they dont even KNOW what a c!dream apologist is. now its just become a term for “someone who doesn’t think c!dream is the antichrist, evil incarnate for hurting my wooby snooby baby twommyinnit” shut up. shut up !! i hate you. realize for once that c!tommy is NOT the main character. yknow ? like how they’ve been saying he isnt for years ?

not everything revolves around tommy. just fucking leave if thats the only way you’re going to watch the content. you obviously arent enjoying yourself anymore

[doppopoppo]

Bundle of Feelings

|| Uramichi Daily Headcanon ||

|| Warnings: married, minor cussing, angst, argument ||

|| Uramichi • F!Reader || 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*💙

Silence.

Everything was silent. 

The only thing that could be heard were the trees rustling outside. The curtains swaying softly and hitting the glass door. The fridge is running in the background. And the heavy breathing of two adults. Hearts pounding in their chests. Both afraid the other may hear their heart wanting to explode into a volcanic mess. 

Otherwise, silence. 

Y/N hasn’t seen her husband this mad since she last saw him interact with his father. Uramichi was red in the face, a scowl permanently settled atop his facial features. The way he was holding her hand, squeezing it tightly for mental support. She doesn’t even remember what they were even arguing about, as her father-in-law bickered about the most minuscule of things. 

Today, however, Uramichi’s anger was directed at her. She had thrown out all of his beer and cigarettes. His wife was tired of having to deal with a drunk husband more nights than she wanted. Only sleeping when he was wasted and slurring out cuss words. The heavy smell of tobacco following his trail, making her scrunch up her nose in disgust. Coughing whenever she walks by as he puffs out smoke. None of these were healthy coping mechanisms. She genuinely wanted to help her husband figure out and find better alternatives. Healthier options. One that wouldn’t harm his health. 

As a gymnast, shouldn’t he know better? 

Little did she know, her actions would cause Uramichi to have an outburst. The most the two fought over what to eat for dinner, junk food or protein filled. He began the argument by yelling at her. Then proceeded to belittle her, what can she know? How stupid can she be? 

She cried and tried to calm him down, but he wouldn’t listen. “It's for your own good!” Y/N sniffled, “why can’t you see that?” She was hugging her own body. Unsure if it was for comfort or out of fear; maybe both? 

Uramichi sighed and rubbed his forehead, “I’m a grown man. I can make my own fucking choices for fucks sake, Y/N!” He’s never used such vulgar vocabularies with her before, this was a first. 

She didn’t want to change Uramichi, instead help diminish the fire inside of him. The one his father lit and kept throwing gasoline at it. 

“You won’t grow like this, dear. If you want a brighter future and to help your depression, we need to start fixing your bad habits.” She emphasized ‘we’. Because they were in this together. 

Uramichi had yet another strenuous day at work, all he wanted was to drink beer until he passed out. His wife’s cuddles no longer lulled him to sleep. Her sweet whispers felt meaningless. Only cigarettes could help him calm his mind down. Yet, she still tried to reason with him. Saying bullshit about seeing a therapist, hanging out with friends more often, or going outside that’s not the gym. 

“I know your fathers did horrible things to you. Such as forcing you into something you didn’t want to do. But you have to stop living in the past. Stop blaming your father for your future, which is your present now.” His wife tried to get close to him to bring him into a hug. 

Enraged at her words, “Oh my god, I could just hit you right now!” Uramichi threw the nearest dumbbell to him across the room. She heard a vase shatter, the one that was a hand me down from her mother. 

“What the hell do you know!? You’ve lived a nice and spoiled life, no inch of worries. No wonder you’re such a stubborn brat half the time.” His words were like a sharp knife cutting through her heart. 

She bent down over the broken pieces of vase. Shattered just like her heart. Uramichi’s eyes and mind were clouded in red rage. He hasn’t realized he broke an important item. One that was personally given to them by his mother-in-law. The woman who entrusted her daughters happiness to him. 

“Stop.” Y/N whispered. “Stop this right now!” She shouted at him. New, hot tears fell from Y/N’s eyes as she held into the broken vase pieces. She was in shock that her husband was willing to get physical over beers and cigarettes. This wasn’t what he promised to her on the day of their wedding vows. 

“You’re no different from your father, Uramichi.” She stood up. “An abuser raised another abuser. I can’t have this cycle continue.” Y/N went to put on her coat. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Uramichi was irritated that she had the audacity to leave in the middle of an argument. 

“Our child doesn’t need to witness what you witnessed your father do to you.” His wife glared at him. 

Those words flipped a switch inside Uramichi. Child? But they didn’t have any children. Then it clicked, his wife was pregnant. Was that the real reason she wanted him to stop? Why didn’t she say so in a better way then? It was too late to ask her these though, because she already left the apartment. 

The small apartment that used to be lovely thanks to his wife, now felt cold and lonely. The way it was before she came into his life. He took a look around the room and saw the mess he made. It might’ve been minor, but it left a big impact. Uramichi noticed the important vase he broke and ran out the door to catch up to his wife. Though she was nowhere to be seen. He sighed and went back inside and laid down on the couch. He screwed up big time. 

When morning came, it was raining but the smell of food tickled his senses and woke him up. He slowly got up from the couch and went towards the kitchen. He found his wife in her favorite apron cooking breakfast. 

“Morning.” She chirped. “I’m making American style sausage with scrambled eggs! Go sit at the table in the living room, I’ll be there in a minute.” 

Questions ran through his head as he sat at the table on the floor. The broken vase pieces are gone, but so is the vase. Y/N’s eyes looked empty, betraying the big smile she displayed. He saw his wife bring the food to the table. He quickly got up and helped her. Likewise, he went to grab some additional items to set up the table for breakfast. Was last night a dream? No it couldn’t be. 

The question was itching in Uramichi’s throat, he had to ask. “Why?” 

Y/N looked up from her place, “why what?” 

“Why'd you come back? I even broke your mother’s case.” He thought she walked out for good. He threatened to hit her. He vowed to never be like his father, and that’s exactly who he became last night. His nightmare coming to reality. 

Y/N put her fork down, “Listen, we are married, way passed the dating phase. On our wedding day we vowed to love each other until death do’s us apart. It is both of our responsibilities to make sure the other is doing okay. Physically and mentally. You’re always there for me, dear. I want to be here for you this time, in what I think will help you. I’m sorry I threw out your beer and cigarettes without discussing it with you. I just want  to see you make healthier choices for yourself.” she put her hand over his. “I found out about the baby after I made the decision a while back. It’s another reason now why I would like for you to stop, but the main reason here is you. This is about you and us helping you.” she stared at his eyes. “I don’t wish to change you, but help you. As for the vase, you can buy me another one.” She winked and giggled. “As long as we’re fine, it’s all that matters.”

It was a big change she was asking him to make. But he can take small steps. That’s what the couple decided on. To limit his alcoholic intake to certain days of the week. Same with his smoking. He didn’t have to quit, but he was trying not to be dependent on it. He has the strongest support laying next to him at night. Holding him tightly. Uramichi was truly excited to know he’ll become a father! He’s nervous, but he knew he’s not alone. He thinks about what he can do to be a better father than his was.

Author’s Note:

He needs a hug. And a raise.

Remember, who your parents are don’t define you. If something happened in the past, don’t let it define you and who you are today. It might hold you back from growing. Just remember to take care of your mental health! 💜

Enjoy!

[forestlingincorporated]

I wanna talk about Janet Drake

I’m not against exaggeratedly evil versions of Tim’s parents, tbh. It’s fanfiction, if we can depict an Exaggeratedly Good version of Bruce (which we can, and I do, and I love) then we can depict the Drakes as Exaggeratedly Bad. As someone who personally identifies with Tim, and his brand of complicated parental abuse in particular, I find it cathartic to uncomplicate that abuse and rescue him from the Obviously Evil Bad People. 

That said, since much of comics lore is passed down word of mouth, the oral tradition surrounding Tim has developed this idea of Janet as The Worse Parent between her and Jack that was never really present in the comics. We see much LESS of Janet, and we have 20 years worth of comics depicting Jack as a neglectful hotheaded idiot who ultimate does love his son. More importantly, Jack isn’t very much LIKE Tim, so there is a habit to attribute Tim’s traits to his mother... and, as someone who really really identifies with Tim, Tim has... some negative traits. Tim can be a bitch sometimes. He’s fiercely intelligent and sweet and kind, with a strong sense of justice, but he can be cold and judgmental and unthinking - he fights those traits, but he does have them. 

And it is perfectly fine to depict Janet that way. I’ve enjoyed depictions of Cold Calculating Janet Drake, but it’s not the ONLY option, and I want to challenge fans to consider different avenues. Tim could pick up these traits from anywhere: a nanny, Mrs. Mc Ilvaine (”Mrs. Mac”), a teacher, tv, Sherlock Holmes novels, Bruce Wayne himself. Tim is capable of not being like EITHER parent. 

So, what do we KNOW about Janet? (I’ll also touch on Jack, but only in scenes he appears with Janet.) 

When Janet was first introduced she was depicted as a gentle but “modern” woman. This was written in 1989, told by a 13 year old Tim, so this theoretically was meant to take place in 1979. I’m not here to give a lecture on the history of sex discrimination in the united states, but much of the legislation protecting women in the workforce or surrounding women’s bodily autonomy would have been very very new in this initial depiction. 

Here, Janet is shown to be encouraging, emotional, maternal, and projects her own feelings onto Tim. Jack is shown to be slightly sexist, possibly discouraging, but not overbearing. And the artist is shown not to know how to draw children. 

To insert some speculation, I think it’s important to note all the Drakes witnessed a terrible murder/accident that day. I point this out, because this is the last time Jack and Janet are depicted this way. It’s possible they changed as a result of this event specifically. 

However, this is also a story being told by Tim. It’s also possible these events aren’t really “real” at all, and Tim is misremembering what his parents were like as a three-year-old, possibly projecting a more palatable version of his parents into the narrative. This is entirely up to personal interpretation. 

In fact, the Drakes are shown in Legend of the Dark Knight attending Haly’s Circus, and the artist knows what a toddler looks like and they’re depicted as already having a slightly strained relationship. Jack is clearly on the defensive, and Janet seems to be passive-aggressive, though she could just be attempting to explain the situation to her toddler honestly. The intended tone isn’t especially clear. 

I do want to point out, in this depiction, Tim isn’t being carried like he was in the previous one. He’s walking ahead of his parents, which isn’t a terrible horrible crime, but could be dangerous in a crowded place like the circus. Might be a subtle hint to his parents overall neglect. 

Back to A Lonely Place of Dying, in Tim’s memories of the night he discovered Robin and Dick Grayson were the same person at nine-years-old, his parents are home, and watching TV together while Tim played... trucks, idk, in the living room with them. (This is semi-interesting, because you could say “oh, Tim liked vehicle toys as a kid” or you could extrapolate that this is another subtle indication of Jack’s sexism, providing Tim with appropriately “boy toys.” Either interpretation is valid. If Tim was assigned female at birth, would they have been given “girl toys,” or allowed to play with whatever they wanted?) 

This is, to my knowledge, the only panel of the Drakes when Tim is between ages 3 and 13. They’re all together, which might indicate that the Drakes were home more often when Tim was 9, only later going on business trips when Tim was “old enough” but... 

This is Tim’s boarding school when he’s 13. While most boarding schools in the US are for grades 9-12, Tim is clearly not a freshman at age 13; look how much younger the other kids in this panel are. In the US, the youngest you can attend most boarding schools is 7. 

That means Tim could have begun going to boarding school anytime between 7 and 13. He most likely spent all of middle school in boarding school, at least. There are an almost infinite number of possible ways the Drakes handled having a business that required lots of international travel, an archeology hobby, AND a very young child. Janet staying home until Tim was 7, 11, 13, is equally possible as the Drakes having a nanny until 7, 11, 13. Tim just doesn’t talk about that period of his life very much.

(”What about Mrs. Mac?” - it is unclear when Mrs. Mac begins working for the Drakes. We only see her when Jack comes out of his coma. She could either be a long standing staff member, or a recent hire.) 

Note: I’ve seen it said that it’s canon that “According to Tim, when his parents were home, they made a point to try and include him in their activities, bringing him along to events that were normally adults only.” I have never seen this panel, or I don’t remember it, so I cannot confirm, but I also cannot debunk this because... comics. 

By the time Tim is 13, Jack and Janet are away on business trips a lot, with limited communication, and no firm return date. If I’m feeling generous, I’d say it was harder to communicate internationally in 1990 than it is today. If I’m not feeling generous, I’d say the Drakes are extremely wealthy, and international communication was easier than ever before in the 80s and 90s. They’re not even going home to see Tim in a week or two, they’re going home and calling Tim at boarding school in a week or two. 

Even Bruce thinks its weird, though he doesn’t say so to Tim’s face. It’s written almost as if Tim’s parents’ neglect was meant to be a plot point that just got forgotten about. 

Tim’s parents are fighting at this point (their poor assistant), but Janet still goes with Jack on these business trips. And she’s clearly involved in the business, somehow, but the comics never SAY what Janet’s JOB is. We’re told Jack is the exec, but Janet is ONLY ever referred to as Jack’s wife, though they’re later described as the “heads” of the company, plural. 

Just to be clear, this is Jack’s business. There’s a perception that Jack is a bad business man because he and Janet fight over company decisions, and Jack looses the business after Janet dies, but Jack looses the company YEARS after Janet dies, and maintains it for about a year after No Man’s Land at that. We’re not told how Jack looses the business, but he’s got to be doing something right. Janet isn’t necessarily the “real brains” of Drake Industries. 

And I’m not... gonna... touch the... exploitation and racism because... I’m not qualified to do that. But, here’s the panel. The Drakes sure seem exploitative and racist in their business decisions. Someone else can... analyze that with more nuance. 

Regardless how how long they’ve been fighting, when their lives are in danger, the Drakes fall back into a loving husband and wife. Their marriage may be falling apart, but they do care about each other. 

I want to show these panels because it shows that Tim and Jack do have things in common. They’re both level headed in a crisis and can be somewhat cold in their practicality. Janet meanwhile and silent. Jack is later willing rant and rave at their captors, but Janet remains silent. 

That is, until they’re alone, and she finally lets herself fall apart. 

God, Jack can be obnoxious. Janet just looks miserable and resigned. I actually think Tim takes after his parents in this respect in equal measure. Tim can have a temper, but he can also be fairly melancholy and defeatist. 

Jack keeps reminding Janet to be strong and in control, which could be period typical sexism? But Jack seems so practiced and ready with the words of encouragement, and with Tim’s history with depression, I wonder if Janet has an inclination towards it as well. 

As the end approaches, when Jack brings up Tim, Janet seems to have a lot of regret. She talks about “wasting” the good things, and I don’t think it’s too big of a stretch to assume she’s talking about time spent with her only child. 

From this point on, Janet is at times spoken of, but not seen. Like here, when Jack says Janet wouldn’t approve of him and Tim being so “far apart.” He says this after he tells him he takes back his threat to send him back to boarding school, which might imply Janet was against the idea of boarding school? Though she obviously lost that argument when she was alive. 

Jack will of course renege on this later, but that’s Jack Drake for you. 

Or here in Tim’s illness induced dream, where he gets everything he wants. Though, since this is a fantasy of Tim’s, where his father and girlfriend are both more accepting and understanding than they are in real life, I would take this depiction of Janet with a grain of salt. 

After loosing Drake Industries, Jack thinks about Janet (though, they call her Catherine/Cathy for some fucking reason) during his depressive episode. And... uh... 

Hallucinates a Valkyrie???? Is this symbolic of suicidal thoughts, or is she... real? Or is he seriously hallucinating? 

Anyway, we’re not here to discuss Jack’s mental state, the fact that he forgot Tim’s birthday, or that concerning “I was going to knock some sense into you but you’re still bigger than me” statement from Tim, we’re here to talk about Janet. And even though this entire arc is about Jack mourning his first wife, they don’t SAY anything about Janet herself at all. I mean, they don’t even get her name right, so I guess what was I expecting. 

Then there’s Origins and Omens, which also doesn’t say anything about Janet, except that Tim’s memory of her is faulty - Janet was poisoned, her assistant Jeremy’s throat was slit on television, but Tim seems to have conflated the death he did see with the death he didn’t. 

The only piece of canon to suggest that Janet might be cold, is Tim compares her to Thalia. And even then, he’s really just saying Janet was protective of him. It’s kind of a scary look to make at your kid, but Bruce does the same thing, so. 

I do want to say... it’s not 100% clear if Tim is even talking about Janet. He could be talking about Dana. Dana was observably protective of Tim, though I don’t think he’s ever called her mom. He PROBABLY means Janet. 

And finally we have Tim visiting his mother’s grave (in a duel Christian/Jewish cemetery, make of that what you will), where Tim says she was “a little religious.”

And that’s it! That is all we know about Janet Drake in New Earth. Hardly the Mom From Hell, but she isn’t perfect. I’d be interested in seeing some alternate depictions of her within the fandom. 

I’m still gonna eat up Terrible Parents From Hell like a starving puppy dog, though. Just some food for creative thought. 

[snifflesthemouse]

There's a sense of freedom that comes with anonymity of online interactions. This sense of freedom only exists because of the fact it's difficult for the real world to catch up with you in your real life. Unless of course, you go after the wrong one.

When a person goes after someone else solely because they think differently or have a strong opposing opinion, they often do so with a false gusto and bravery that only exists in the virtual realm. Like many say online, "You'd never say that to my face." And that's true for most people... but not all people.

And because of this anonymity, that affords all internet users the freedom to say whatever, a real life concern spawns from a virtual world. This real life concern is often referred to as "doxxing" where one internet user uses what clues and resources they have available to "expose" another internet user's real life. This has happened to many people I watch on YouTube. Some have even had to involve the real life police, as well as uproot their entire lives and move because of doxxing.

For example, Murky Meg has been doxxed a couple times now. She's had her real life threatened by doxxing. Terrifyingly, she wasn't the only target threatened because the douche flutes also brought her children into it. Yes, the same people who worship the Montecito Madam and preach the mantras of "compassion and kindness" and "leave children out of this" have gone so far as to go after Murky Meg's real life and real life children. And sadly, the threats and attacks never really stop. Especially when articles like the one I wrote about make the rounds. But Murky Meg doesn't allow this all to silence her; she keeps calm and carries on regardless.

Another example involves Yankee Wally. She was targeted repeatedly over copyright infringement on her YouTube channel, as well as having her social media accounts suspended repeatedly over the last few years. And even though Yankee Wally has never pretended to be anything or anyone else than who she is in real life, people have attempted to use her past as a weapon to discredit her. Those attempts are futile, though, because Yankee Wally has always been open and honest about her life. She's also been very clear to the people watching her that she will fight back if need be.

Then there's According2Taz. While Taz has gone through the same ringer that so many others have gone through (from doxxing to threats, harassment, and verbal abuse), she has also been attacked financially. Especially when it comes to her supporting good causes. Some twat waffles have sent her £0.01 via PayPal with notes attached. Notes that are grossly abusive, calling her fat and ugly, and saying her husband is cheating on her. Others have sent requests asking her to pay them £100 with notes attacking HRH Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge and her book. Murky Meg got a similar request, as well. But the most heinous impediment coming from the Montecito Madam's extremists, involved charity. Once, when Taz was raising money for Australian wildlife affected by the wildfires; someone reported her PayPal account and those funds were held up for some time before getting released for the cause. Then, again, Taz was targeted when she was raising funds to help an elderly woman who got robbed. Yes, the very same people, who stand on custom-made soap boxes emblazoned with the Sussex monogram, did everything they possibly could to marginally disrupt charity. Yet Taz does not waiver; she keeps going.

As bad as Murky Meg, Yankee Wally, and Taz have had it, they're sadly not alone. No, they are only three examples from a plethora of examples. Of that plethora, one more example comes to mind. That example involves DanjaZone (Ashli).

Ashli, who started her YouTube channel before the whole Megxit ordeal as a way to keep in touch with family, was even the subject of a blind item from CDAN (crazy days and nights). You see, Ashli and her family lost everything they had in a horrible house fire. Rumors swirled around the fire, but the most heinous comments came from the Sussex Squad's more prominent loudmouths. Some accused Ashli of lying about the fire in an attempt to scam people for money. Others called her white trash and trailer trash. So while Ashli was going through the loss of her home and everything she owned... while she was grieving the loss of family pets and irreplaceable family mementos... while she was down and out on her luck and trying to cope with all the pain and loss... while she was going through all of the attacks from doubters saying she faked the fire or was lying, that she was trailer trash... the disciples of the Duchess were laughing and celebrating her pain as a win. Never once considering the fact that Ashli has been in recovery for years now, and the stress from the fire coupled with the heartless, feckless attacks, could in fact push her over the edge.

No, the very same people, who scream via CAPS lock on social media that critics of Meghan should "leave her alone", that her critics drove the Montecito Madam to "suicidal ideation while pregnant" could care less about Ashli's mental health. Yes, the very same people, who lodged over 50,000 OFCOM complaints against Piers Morgan because he questioned their beloved's outlandish attacks during the Oprah interview, previously found no issues with attacking Ashli during one of the hardest times in her life. Yet, Ashli picked up the pieces and never gave up or gave into their attacks.

Again, these four examples are just the tip of the hypocritical iceberg. There are countless more examples out there. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people who criticize Meghan's and Harry's behaviors can all relate. Nobody is safe or off limits from this iceberg; from Royal Rota reporters, celebrities, and politicians to regular people who aren't rich, famous, or in possession of a global platform.

Yet nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody, in the media or in journalism ever cover any of this. You can find articles galore written with the intentions of exposing "Meghan Markle Haters". Articles like the one I wrote about attacking critics and reducing us all to the stereotypes of racist, misogynist, bigot, envious, etc.

What that does is send a clear, prominent message to the people who cling to every word of the Montecito Madam. The people who cling to the wind coming from her mouth, her "close friends" or fake "palace insiders" hear those dog whistles loud and clear. The dog whistles that say "It's okay, keep attacking and hurting people. They're evil, hateful racists. They deserve the abuse. You're on the side of good. Go harder!"

When in truth, the wind they cling to coming from their beloved's mouth or mouthpieces is actually falsehoods, lies, and manifestations of grandeur that is no more real than Netflix's The Crown. No, the wind they cling to really comes from the south mouth of their beloved. But God forbid anyone hold their little cult accountable.

We cannot have a society where sensationalism trumps truth. We cannot weaponize the press and use it against people simply because they criticize the Meghan Markles of the world. It is unacceptable for the press, media platforms, or anyone with a prominent influence on society, to celebrate defenders of the Meghan Markle faith without first acknowledging the truth.

The truth, which is often dream dashing and harsh, is that "Meghan Markle Lovers" could care less about compassion, kindness, charity, children, or community. The truth is, they could care less about forgiveness or loving thy neighbors. We don't have to look to their savior figurehead to prove this to be true. We only have to look at the comments section or Twitter.

Those of us who criticize or dislike Meghan and Harry because of their behavior know all too well the truth will never be written up on the front page of the Sun, the Daily Mail, or People Magazine. The mirage of us being the racists, misogynists, or detesting haters sells papers. And the papers don't want to be in that same category.

Maybe one day the press will tell the stories of people like Murky Meg, Yankee Wally, Taz, Ashli, and countless others in an effective way that exposes the real haters in the relationship. Maybe one day, the victims of the Montecito Madam's cult following will be doxxed, exposed, and sent a new message. A message that says, "We see you for the hypocrites you are. You may repeat the preachings of your Madam like it's the new woke gospel, but you don't practice it. You're a big reason why people loathe your beloved. You make her look worse. You aren't defending her, you are condemning her. Keep it up, because we see you and we will expose you!"

If only...