You know what nobody talks about? The awkwardness of not knowing how to react as an audience member at a musical after an extremely impressive performance of a song with disturbing subject matter. For instance, when a character sings a song that ends in their death, you don't know if your enthusiasm will sound like 'sending the performer off with gratitude' or 'boy am I glad that loser died!'

Like, I recently saw a musical full of real emotional whiplash. It begins with a big splashy opening number featuring the entire company and big brassy harmonies, and after that, the whole audience was like "WOOOO!" So it established the environment as one where you "WOOOO!" after an impressive performance.

Then a few songs later, this one incredibly gifted actress sings a haunting ballad about BURYING A BABY ALIVE. This was the best performance of the night in my opinion. When the song was over, you could hear a pin drop.

Nobody wanted to be the one to be like, "WOOOO! YEAH! YOU BURY THAT BABY!" You could feel the discomfort in the air. Obviously we didn't want her virtuoso to go unacknowledged, but 'WOOO!' implies a kind of levity and fun, carefree attitude at best that just wasn't gonna work here. Like, we've all heard this exchange at concerts and comedy shows: "Hey folks, how you all feeling tonight?" "WOOOO!" With 'wooo' implying, "I'm having a delightful time and am in a great mood!" as opposed to, "I've been emotionally devastated and had my heart stomped all over by this gut-wrenchingly raw portrayal of the darkest human impulses!"

And heaven forbid you be the ONE person that goes "WOOOO!" and ruins the emotional impact for everyone.

So instead I applauded extravagantly and with an intense face like that gif of Citizen Kane.

"The World According to Narcissus" by Teresa Leo / Narcissus by Johann Heinrich Tischbein the Elder / Interview with the Vampire

there are a lot of reasons i'm really, really impressed by how well sdmi portrayed the dynamic of an abusive relationship with pericles and ricky, and one of the big ones is how accurately they show what it looks like when abuse starts to escalate.

the extent of that is yet another thing that'll take a longpost of its own to go into, because it spans like.... the entire arc of their relationship in the show. but one thing that stands out to me in particular is their portrayal of the massive red flag that is a partner trotting out bigoted behavior against a group you're in. especially insults, and especially directed right at you.

this show has a LOT of fatphobia, jesus christ does it ever, and there are certainly some fatphobic tropes going on with ricky; but i've always been surprised and impressed by how many of the nastier ones they avoided, especially considering his role in the story and what his arc is about.

he is a major, nuanced character whose trauma is treated with full weight and sincerity. it's implied that his body type changed the way it did due to the trauma he went through when he was younger, and the ensuing mental illness, which is a pretty realistic experience for a lot of people. the things that happen to him are played for full tragedy and horror, when it would have been so, so easy for them to make light of it because Tee Hee Fat Guy and Tee Hee Male Abuse Victims Funnee. despite how his whole thing involves corporate greed, they don't go the route of portraying him as Gluttonous and Hedonistic; if anything he is very obviously not using all that money for even basic physical self-care, and the only time we ever see him eating anything it's when he's drinking wine grape juice with pericles. which, like, there's issues to be unpacked with that too, but jesus christ it's an improvement over what usually happens with characters like him.

he's a fat queer man who isn't degendered or made feminine in a mocking and/or predatory way. (there's nothing wrong with feminine fat queer men and they need more non-shitty rep, please and thank you god, but there is a lot of nastiness in the tropes they're often used for in mainstream media, and one of those tropes is when people consider 'fat queer man' and 'masc' to be oxymorons.) no one ever once calls him ugly; if anything multiple people in his life think he's attractive and desirable, for better or for worse. no one body-shames him. and no one ever mentions his weight.

except pericles.

'The Horrible Herd' and 'The Devouring' are two halves of a whole here, re: escalation of abuse. 'Devouring' is when the abuser goes full mask off and shit hits the fan; 'Horrible Herd' is the wind-up before the punch. HH is when ricky realizes things are getting Bad and he needs to put a stop to this now, and Devouring shows what happens when he tries, because by the point where it's gotten bad enough to give him a wakeup call it's already too late. it's how abusive relationships tend to go, and it's chillingly accurate.

and what's one of the things pericles says during Horrible Herd when that punch is winding up? something no one's ever said before now, including him? 'you pudding-faced dummkopf.'

he body-shames him. he insults his weight, and that's a major turning point. bigotry is something that's often there to some degree from the start, but not always, because some abusers are good at hiding things like that until they're confident they've got you where they want you. the message with ricky and pericles is loud and clear: when this happens, the walls are dripping blood. get out.

(if you can. and be careful when you try.)

when this show is good, it is really, truly good. god damn.

violence is its own mother. mother breast feeds fists. violence is a girl backed up against herself   everything about her   ghost   everything   bed.

when I leave home, it follows me.

— Joelle Taylor, from "the Unbelong," C+nto

An abusive piece of shit got what was coming for them today. Escaped an abusive relationship back in February, even though I did so safely it was still scary. I feel validated, but I don't feel any happier either- this person is hoarding weapons now and is showing signs of being a danger to society (it's being dealt with and reported to police as I type this). However I am worried about the safety of friends who also broke up with this abuser. Statistically speaking the most dangerous time is when the survivor is leaving and I am dealing with so much anxiety over the fact that I don't want to see my cherished friends in my polycule turn into a local news story. Wish I lived closer to them so I could provide safe harbor.

Definitley going to pray tonight for protection. I need my deities around me for comfort right now.

Send good vibes my way if you can, I really need it😞

Wait what??? Wdym you got into a fight???

Heres the scoop-

I was coming out of target and there was a man pacing around the parking lot with a 4-6 year old child with him screaming his fucking head off - calling his gf every insult he could because he didnt know where she parked the car. some customers were getting concerned, I went in and told security that I was worried that someone was going to get hurt, they sent someone out, etc. But the situation seems to wind down, theres no more screaming, then cae and I get in our car and start to head out.

We stop because someone is pulling out of a parking space, and guess whos behind us laying on the horn. Thats right! The same jackass! I open the door to signal that its gunna be a second, but also cause I start to notice its him and dont want to be caught sitting down. He immediately gets out of his car to start a fight, and his fuckin girlfriend too.

Thankfully for me, he hit like a third grader taking his first ever shot at bullying. Gave me a body weight shove and a clumsy, poorly placed hit to the upper left side of my head. His girl seems to be intending to do the same, til I returned the favor. Clocked him in the side of the head, grabbed him by the neck, and next thing i knew he was pinned to our car and when his girl yanked me back they both ran to their car and peeled out of there cause getting punched fucking hurts and getting your ass beat by a 5'5 dude is humiliating. Captain domestic violence probably thought I looked a lil small and fruity so he wasnt expecting me to know what I was doing in a fight. Expected me to get scared cause he was taller and older like this was fuckin middle school.

He got arrested, i had to get greyson and his mom to come up and help us get home cause i cant drive and cae was panicking really bad (and for good reason) and I almost missed my stream.

but yeah lesson learned: if someones road raging just lock your doors and wait that shit out or you'll be talking with the cops in a target office for almost two hours.

It bothers me so much that people love mario, I know he's so popular but I just can't stand him. This man has ruined my marriage too many times by taking me away from my husband and son.

I have been happily married to Bowser for so long I can't imagine my life without him. Yet Mario always thinks he's in the right to take me away from him because he believes I'm forced into marrying him.

I'm sure there are lovely Mario's out there but I just am so upset at my own. He always thought he was meant to marry me and he deserves my hand but I couldn't think of anything worse. I love my Bowie and Bowser Jr. So much.

- Princess Peach

x

agree with you 100% about ted not confronting jamie’s dad in the season 1 finale. narratively, it makes sense, because like you said: jamie is always going to end up in manchester alone after that night. and we see that ted is still thinking about jamie in the locker room speech when he mentions “…being alone and sad. ain’t no one in this room alone” or something like that. but the truth is that jamie is alone, and even though ted’s new to premier league football, he’s probably had his fair share of dealing with aggressive parents while coaching american college football. ted knows he’ll make it worse for jamie if he steps in, but still, they see each other. and maybe a small part of jamie wants ted to storm in there, but what are the chances this is the very first time someone’s witnessed jamie being abused? jamie’s face is so interesting during the scene, and it seems like he already knows ted won’t do anything. and he looks almost resigned to his fate. the crown and anchor speech was still a bit odd to me though. i don’t like how ted implies jamie’s tough dad made him a better player, but then again, ted’s own issues seem to always muddle his view of jamie.

sorry for rambling! the ted lasso brain rot won’t leave

Yes, exactly, Ted is definitely moved by what he witnessed. His speech and his note to Jamie with the Army guy show it. Which is why the next time we see them together it’s so baffling that Ted gives the “tough Dads” speech. We know Jamie’s Dad was abusive, and Ted, for whatever reason, can’t see that. (I’m sure Doctor Sharon would have a lot to say on the matter).

I don’t like how Ted implies it either. But, did you watch the David Beckham documentary? There’s a moment where he talks about all the hatred he received post World Cup and how he could handle it because of the way his father treated him. It immediately made me think of Jamie and the Man City match. He’s not bothered by the hatred, he’s bothered by not knowing where his Dad is. The fans aren’t saying anything that his own father hasn’t said to him.

Obviously, this doesn’t necessarily make him a better player but I think it contributes to the player he is. He’s a combination of talent, hard work, becoming a team player, etc etc etc. There’s so much that’s gone into making Jamie the player he is. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence he’s playing the best he has while he hasn’t spoken to his father.

Jamie’s face in the scene makes it even more heartbreaking. Because he’s not surprised. Not by his father’s outburst and not by Ted walking away.

I’m sure Jamie feels both ways. A small part of him would love Ted to storm in and stop his Dad, but like you said, even if it would make things worse eventually. And it’s probably not the first time someone has turned a blind eye to James Tartt’s treatment of his son.

Sorry for my rambling haha but never apologize to rambling to me! I’m deep in the brain rot too.

Could I trouble you for an extended take on Kory and Dick's NTT relationship?👉👈 Curious after seeing one of your posts.

hmm so I was debating whether to re-read any comics and initially i was gonna say I wasn't, then I did anyway so :P re-read 2 scenes for panels and the whole NTT 28-34/NTT annual 2 b/c I had the scenes where they start dating less in my memory, and have screencaps for it.

Short version: Dick and Kory clearly love each other, but Dick is prioritized by the narrative as the only one Marv is interested in exploring the internal strife of, and often by the fandom as well. Kory is viewed as Dick's gf before she is viewed as a person. In terms of their actual relationship, they are not super great for each other, and have incompatible needs -- Kory is pretty needy, Dick is BAD at dealing with this I see people be like 'oh she taught him to be emotionally free' or w/e but a) she didn't, not really, all she did was take his repression and jerkyness when he was dishing it out and b) not your job to fix your BF. Especially since in canon like I said she doesn't really 'fix' or change him, she just... deals with him being condescending to her and locking her out when he gets mad or angsty, she deals with him telling her she's too much and too bloodthirsty, then she lashes out sometimes as he does.

Long version:

anyway. So. Narratively, Dick is treated as the focal character in the DickKory ship. Marv is obviously way more into Dick's internal strife than Kory's. An especially egregrious example is when after Kory has been kidnapped and tortured for 5 days by the people who enslaved her as a child, the main focus of Dick and Kory's dialogue after that is... Dick saying he's not emotionally open because of Batman, and where their relationship is going. And for disclaimers: this is not a criticism of Dick's character, because it's clearly intended to be read as something Kory's fine with here... it's a criticism of the way Marv frames the two (though there will be some criticisms of Dick in this post :P This one is not)

The New Teen Titans #26

Anyway so :P there's a reason I did this scene different when I wrote it in my fic (link) and I was like huh I like these two dorks so much better together now.

Anyway, so let's fast forward a minute. There are 2 issues Dick and Kory are dating for during which not much happens, then like.. literally. the next issue, first scene:

The new Teen Titans #28

anyway, so dick's isolating himself more, wearing himself down, we see an angsty scene in which he is working out DETERMINEDLY to try to get as good as batman (if you believe donna) and she is trying to get him to talk but he doesn't. which again - this (not wanting to talk about his feelings) isn't really a flaw on dick's part; I think part of the frustration of Dick and Kory's relationship is that I relate a lot to Dick and see lots of what i do in him XD like he wants to be alone, kory thinks this means she did something wrong.

like I am sorry kory i love you but HOW did you get "you'd rather I awsn't here" out of "I like to be alone sometimes"

Anyway, Donna is worried about Kory because Kory is very hung up on Dick pushing himself and not being as available now. Like. Right after the characters start dating, there is a lot of focus on Kory being miserable because of Dick* and I'm like. why is there such a focus on that if the writers want us to actually like seeing these characters together? and like. the writer marv clearly does care a lot more about kory being dick's GF than about her outside of that. There's some good analysis on her character and their relationship here (link)

NTT Annual 2

anyway so dick is acting emotionally distant and kory is taking it personally, he also gets possessive when Roy hits on her**

New Teen Titans #29

Like yes, Kory is insecure and thinks Dick is mad at her because of her issues... but he also does sometimes act mad at her!

Dick also may love kory, but he does not really trust her

NTT #30

NTT 31

he's also generally pretty dismissive of her. like... how is kory asking aout raven any different from you doing so dick? get over yourself. and why does he leap to assuming she'll do something stupid in the crowd situation? like he in general later in the comics is consistently un-easy with her 'lust for blood' or w/e even though she never kills anyone

anyway, he kind of apologizes but not really - which characterize dicks apologies here. first we had 'i've been acting like an ass but you don't understand what it was like being raised by batman' now it's 'i've been treating you wrong but you don't get this earth custom'. like the apology is always followed by an excuse.

NTT 31

like yeah i prefer to be left alone when things are going bad too dick! That doesn't make it OK to condescend your girlfriend and get possessive of her!

(also his apology does not result in changed behavior. right after this he ignores kory again)

anyway. so that is the very first full plotline where Dick and Kory are dating, and the issues do go on the back burner but they resurface eventually. the closer we get to terror of trigon the more dick seems wary of kory's 'bloodlust' and she feels as if he is asking her to change who she is. She feels constrained in their relationship.

We get more issues pop up later on after this. Dick is EXTREMELY condescending and bitter and xenophobic to Kory during the Tamaran wedding plotline, where Kory is being pressured into a political marriage to save her planet from civil war. He takes it as a personal affront. And later, it's revealed that Dick was acting bitchy because Brother Blood Brainwashing*** but like... he doesn't really act all that different with kory after he's unbrainwashed? I guess maybe he's less overtly aggressive, but he still has clear resentments towards the situation she was forced into, no perspective.

New Teen Titans (1984) #34

Dick and Kory are broken up at this time, which is honestly pretty good for them. Dick clearly has a ton of resentments for Kory, and she is giving him no space and thinks if she can just love him enough she can restart the relationship. But like. Kory. He doesn't want to be in a relationship with you at the moment take a hint.

However, since Marv wants the two to get back together, we have this scene (still in the second NTT series #34)

Anyway, Then Dick goes out thinking about how he still loves Kory and sees a man committing domestic violence

This is how Dick perceives the domestic violence

a "Dispute"????? Really dick?

Anyway, the guy is blabbering about how his GF made him hurt her because she cheated on him, Dick is like "You know that's bullshit", but then this is the resolution:

So just as a recap: Dick saw a man who was going to kill his girlfriend for cheating on him, and thought "Well he loves his GF and seems to regret it, so I'll leave him here with her after I take his gun, surely this will end happily".

(Also he clearly relates to the man and projects his and Kory's problems on them -- where do you even start with this. Do you want to kill Kory, Dick? Do you perceive her being pressured into an arranged marriage to stop her planet from civil war as cheating on you?)

Anyway. I'm not saying people have to perceive this as IC for Dick. I think it's stupid, and if Marv wasn't clearly assuming this situation was conveying a "love conquers all" thing, then Dick probably would've arrested the guy.

So recap:

I perceive their relationship as being a not-super-healthy one in which Kory gives more than Dick, though Dick doesn't ask her to give as much as she does. It makes Kory feel bad, like she's being restrained and useless and she did something wrong. It's that way straight from the get-go, and when Dick is brainwashed and when he is not brainwashed. Dick acts selfishly, and does not understand Kory's situation with her planet (the complex political situation, doesn't like her having tamaranean morals even though she doesn't kill people on earth, her just saying she would be OK with it is something he hates) and generally focuses on himself when he apologizes rather than on her, and it does not result in changed behavior. He is not initially willing to break up with her when a dealbreaker situation arises (her marrying Karras politically), he just acts angrier and angrier at first then I guess eventually they break up. Kory doesn't accept the breakup, she wants to get back together even though he doesn't want to, because she wants love to solve everything and she still loves him and he still loves her. I see people blame bad writing and the wedding being aborted by demon raven crashing it for the dickkory breakup, but like... they were broken up before Dick proposed. They only got back together when Dick proposed. Their relationship was petering out since kory married Karras, they had a brief renaissance spurred on by Dick realizing he still loved Kory via seeing a man want to commit domestic violence on his gf.

I'm not sure if this gave you the recap of their relationship you were thinking about but ... yeah those are my thoughts as far as I can condense-ify them. I think they have the potential to be a cute couple, and they clearly are very important to each other, but that Kory gets the short end of the stick writing wise and from Dick and she does better without him.

*notice I said because of Dick, not that it's his fault - I think some of this is due to Kory's own issues. Some of it is due to his actions, as we'll see later tho.

**which I don't think is OOC to previous stuff, because when she was in another relationship and he was not jealous, they weren't dating and hadn't been dating so... that doesn't really prove that he wouldn't be possessive/jealous

***1 of the most frustrating parts of NTT is Dick's ambiguous brainwashing, which is retconned to be like. 'he was brainwashed since issue 20 something and nothing bad he ever did is his fault'. it's terrible terrible writing.

Hi, all. This is Leila Sleiman and Lauren Spagna, and we are hoping to raise at least $25,000 for our friend and Pittsburgh VegFest co-founder, Natalie Fristick.

On November 8th, Natalie narrowly and miraculously survived an attempted homicide and nightmarish acts of domestic violence. Among other injuries endured that night, every bone in both of Natalie's heels were shattered in her escape.

Natalie spent one month in the hospital, underwent 2 major surgeries, 3 months of being completely non-weight bearing, and has recently begun to walk short distances again, though in extreme pain.

Throughout this time, Natalie has been completely without income while mortgage and car payments, medical bills, credit card bills and daily living costs have continued to roll in.

Natalie attempted to go back to work this week because she has almost depleted her savings while unable to work and is facing losing everything. Unfortunately, 2 days of modified work, mostly seated, left her completely unable to walk and in agony. She is not able to return to work yet. It's too soon. Natalie is so strong and tried to do this on her own, but she needs more time to heal.

grief turns into violence Aquaman vol 3 #1-3

Sorry if you don't want to hear about this anymore, I do respect that and will understand if you don't want to answer this ask, but while I want to believe Amber there's one thing I'm stuck on that you seem the best person to ask about. I do understand that victims can be violent in self defence, but in the leaked tapes she gets angry at him for leaving arguments when they get physical, and tells him he should still come talk to her when she's throwing things. I'm struggling to understand how this could be self defence or not abusive in context.

cw for rape and domestic violence.

i’m actually happy to talk about this issue if people are willing to discuss it as politely and rationally as you are.

first i want to talk about perfect victims. the perfect victim myth has its roots back in the victorian era, when much of our modern understanding of gender and sexuality developed. at this period, women were were seen as essentially impotent, with no active sexual desire. a woman who exhibited a desire for sex was viewed as having a psychological disturbance. resistance to sex was not only considered normal, but actively encouraged. this meant that issues like spousal rape were not only legal, but completely normalized. if a woman was sexually assaulted in the 19th century and she did not obviously fight back- if she did not scratch, bite, scream, thrash, or otherwise have physical evidence of a struggle- it was generally assumed that she was complicit. this made sexual assault incredibly difficult, and i would venture to say generally impossible, to prove, especially if a woman was poor or a sex worker, or if a woman was raped within a marriage. physical violence against the spouse was also essentially legal: she was seen as her husband’s property, and her husband could do what he wanted to her. a “perfect” woman was meek, mild, submissive, and did not want sex, but she also submitted readily to to the will of her husband. you might ask how spousal submission fit with the standards for proving rape, since to be seen as rape a woman needed to actively fight back, something at odds with being a submissive wife. that’s where our modern issue starts to emerge: they are at odds. they are not meant to correspond, because a woman viewed as her husband’s property could not be raped by him. this brings us to the myth of the perfect victim. 

the five traits of the “perfect victim” were developed by jason b whiting. they include:

being weak/vulnerable

being involved in a respectable activity at the time of victimization

being blameless in all aspects of the interaction

being victimized by an obvious offender

being someone who doesn’t know the offender

the myth of the perfect victim is incredibly pervasive in our society. the issue of being see as weak and vulnerable is frequently what prevents men from reporting that they’ve been sexually assaulted, and that is an issue that is very important to me: my research as a theologian primarily deals with sex abuse within the catholic church, which overwhelmingly affects men and young boys, something i include to make it clear that i am not predisposed towards assuming that only women can experience assault. and such an area of interest does not even begin to touch on the overrepresentation of trans, gnc, and nonbinary people who experience assault (of which i am one) who are unable to report because they are not perfect victims. and this continues all the way down to being gay, or being a lesbian, or being bisexual. in that case we might also be able to broaden the myth of the perfect victim to a few other criteria: being cis, being straight, being white. 

i’m sure if you’ve followed how rape and domestic violence cases are treated in the justice system, or if you’ve had the misfortune of being involved in one, you’ll see some similarity between the standards of the 19th century and now. an article i read about the perfect victim summed it up very well: “you cannot be human:”

We are horrified when we hear the story of sexual violence, intimate partner violence or human trafficking — but when faced with the aftermath, we ostracize, marginalize and create an environment ripe for further abuse. (x)

a new problem i have noticed develop in a post-metoo society is that the myth of the perfect victim is being weaponized against victims, which is why i included the history of how it developed. you cannot apply the traits of the perfect victim to someone who is already a standard citizen who functions as dominant in their society. i’m not sure how i can make this clearer. maybe statistics will help:

1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence

1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner

1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been victims of severe physical violence

1 in 10 women have been raped by an intimate partner

1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men in the United States has been raped in their lifetime (x)

in order to be victimized for not being the perfect victim, you must first be victimized by the society in which your victimization takes place. 

so let’s talk about amber heard and johnny depp.

johnny drop is twenty years older and twenty pounds heavier than amber heard. they met on the set of the rum diaries, which filmed in 2008, when amber heard had only recently arrived in hollywood. amber heard was born in 1986. johnny depp had, by in 1986, already starred in slasher hit a nightmare on elm street. he was just about to begin starring in 21 jump street. amber heard began being physically abused by him as early as 2012. their marriage did not end until 2016. and i believe those tapes are from 2015. i also want to use this opportunity to state explicitly that heard and depp divorced before the metoo movement around harvey weinstein developed, in 2017, which was the initiation of women being able to speak out against being raped and victimized by powerful men in hollywood. depp had already built a hollywood dynasty of famous friends and supports: heard is not so fortunate. there was not a climate safe enough for heard to have publicly accused depp of raping her prior to the metoo movement, and arguably current trends have shown that there is still no climate safe enough for victims of powerful men.

so after four years of abuse, which is now alleged to be have been extraordinarily violent, a relationship within which amber heard now says she was raped, you’re telling me that amber heard, in order to be the perfect victim, should have done nothing to defend herself? if a man who is 20 years older and 20 pounds heavier than you, who you know has physically beaten you in the past, is angry and coming towards you, what are you going to do? allow him to continue hitting you? or are you going to fight back? are you going to throw something to keep him off of you? reasonably yes. ah, but you love him! so you want him to not be violent with you. but in order to stem the violence, he needs to be in the same room- but he’s attacked you in the past. and here we have a situation where someone is throwing things while also asking someone to stay in the room with them.

perhaps it would be better if amber heard had simply allowed herself to get beaten black and blue by johnny depp so there would be more “evidence” that he was violent. as an actress whose career stems on her physical appearance it would have been perfectly reasonable for her to simply cower and not fight back while a man twenty years her senior punched and slapped her so there would be physical evidence. maybe if she was covered in bruises and physically injured, she wouldnt have been able to go to work in the first place, since heard alleges depp frequently became violent when she had jobs or an audition. maybe if she’d just given him what he wanted and stopped working altogether, she wouldn’t have been hit. 

but wait a minute, we actually do have physical evidence of depp hitting her! we have pictures of her leaving the la courthouse where she got her restraining order with a black eye (x), to say nothing of the evidence now being shown in court. but that’s not enough evidence, she clearly doctored those with makeup to look worse than they were. so i guess photographic evidence of his violence isn’t enough either. its his word against hers. and in a world where the white, cishet man is king, i wonder who people believe? 

of every 1000 sexual assaults, 975 perpetrators will walk free. of 1000 assault and battery cases, only 33 perpetrators will be imprisoned (x).

so everyone supporting johnny depp and calling amber heard a liar, i’d like to know: when it is enough? what needs to be done for people to believe a woman is being violently assaulted by a man? if she can’t fight back, if she’s accused of doctoring her bruises, if she’s accused of lying- what does she need to do to believed? because this is not longer just about amber heard. johnny depp’s friend, marilyn manson, who viciously abuse evan rachel wood during their relationship, is now suing her for libel as well. was evan rachel wood also lying? 

three women a day are murdered by their spouses in america. maybe a dead woman is the one telling the truth.

Previous | Chapter Start | Beginning | Next

author's note: I was not kidding about those content warnings we are already in the shit.

transcript below the cut!

Blackwell Palace, August 1994

ANDRE | [looking at a portrait of his deceased parents, sighs] FOOTMAN | [offscreen] Your Highness? FOORMAN | [offscreen] Your grandfather is ready to see you, now. ANDRE | [sighs] Okay. EVERARD III | ...I'll get right down to it: I need you on Thursday night. ANDRE | Er...at the ambassador's dinner? EVERARD III | What? No, don't be stupid. At the Daytime Broadcasting Awards. ANDRE | ...you want me on a red carpet? Can't you send Olly? EVERARD III | And you let her? EVERARD III | [scoffs] Watch your tone, boy. D'you think I'm too old to knock some manners into you? I will not argue with you. Olivia's not going, you are. ANDRE | [unhappily] Yes, sir? EVERARD III | [offscreen] Quit feeling sorry for yourself. It's one night, you'll live. ANDRE | Yes, sir. EVERARD III | Lighten up, Andre. You're so morose all the damn time. People think you're a cold fish, nobody wants you for King. It'd be good for your image... [rant continues, indistinct] ANDRE | [sighs] Damn it, Olly. [phone ringing] OLIVIA | [groaning] OLIVIA | Hello? ANDRE | [over the phone] Olly? It's Andre. OLIVIA | [resigned] Oh. Hi. ANDRE | "Hi?" Is that really all you have to say to me? OLIVIA | [over the phone] Listen, I know you're mad at me, but— ANDRE | Who do you think has to pick up your slack, Olly? ANDRE | [over the phone] When you cancel appearances for no reason— OLIVIA | Andre, I can't go. ANDRE | [over the phone] When you cancel for no reason, he sends me or Elise. OLIVIA | [offscreen] I told you! I can't go, I can't even leave the house. ANDRE | [offscreen] Why not? OLIVIA | [offscreen] ...that's none of your business. ANDRE | It is when it's costing me time with my family! OLIVIA | [scoffs] Oh, so you're the only one with a family now? ANDRE | That is not what I said. ANDRE | [looking at a portrait of his deceased parents, sighs] FOOTMAN | [offscreen] Your Highness? FOORMAN | [offscreen] Your grandfather is ready to see you, now. ANDRE | [sighs] Okay. EVERARD III | ...I'll get right down to it: I need you on Thursday night. ANDRE | Er...at the ambassador's dinner? EVERARD III | What? No, don't be stupid. At the Daytime Broadcasting Awards. ANDRE | ...you want me on a red carpet? Can't you send Olly? EVERARD III | And you let her? EVERARD III | [scoffs] Watch your tone, boy. D'you think I'm too old to knock some manners into you? I will not argue with you. Olivia's not going, you are. ANDRE | [unhappily] Yes, sir? EVERARD III | [offscreen] Quit feeling sorry for yourself. It's one night, you'll live. ANDRE | Yes, sir. EVERARD III | Lighten up, Andre. You're so morose all the damn time. People think you're a cold fish, nobody wants you for King. It'd be good for your image... [rant continues, indistinct] ANDRE | [sighs] Damn it, Olly. [phone ringing] OLIVIA | [groaning] OLIVIA | Hello? ANDRE | [over the phone] Olly? It's Andre. OLIVIA | [resigned] Oh. Hi. ANDRE | "Hi?" Is that really all you have to say to me? OLIVIA | [over the phone] Listen, I know you're mad at me, but— ANDRE | Who do you think has to pick up your slack, Olly? ANDRE | [over the phone] When you cancel appearances for no reason— OLIVIA | Andre, I can't go. ANDRE | [over the phone] When you cancel for no reason, he sends me or Elise. OLIVIA | [offscreen] I told you! I can't go, I can't even leave the house. ANDRE | [offscreen] Why not? OLIVIA | [offscreen] ...that's none of your business. ANDRE | It is when it's costing me time with my family! OLIVIA | [scoffs] Oh, so you're the only one with a family now? ANDRE | That is not what I said. OLIVIA | Oh, but that's you meant isn't it? ANDRE | [over the phone] Olly— OLIVIA | Don't "Olly" me. God, you are so fucking full of yourself! ANDRE | Oh, I'm full of myself? Excuse me, who is cancelling engagements? Who is hiding out at Morley? Who is hiding behind Grandfather? OLIVIA | Oh— fuck you, Andre. Go fuck yourself, you sanctimonious piece of shit— [call disconnects] [dialtone] ANDRE | ...damn it, Olly. [dialtone continues] OLIVIA | [sighs] FLORENCE | [from outside the room] Mom? FLORENCE | Mom? Are you still in there? FLORE

———

C. A. Singh • Headlines Read: Loneliness Epidemic, Poses Risks to Health

11-13-23

i have a lot of complicated feelings about sdmi and its portrayals of SA and domestic violence--which is many posts' worth of a subject, and i'll probably end up properly drafting out at least some of them sooner or later--and one of them is that ricky and pericles are a surprisingly good and chillingly accurate depiction of financial abuse.

this show spikes the ball right into the center of the earth on its other SA/IPV dynamics, but every time i come back to pericky with more life experience and uncover more layers to it, i am genuinely shocked by how consistently they get it right. and not only that, but it's representation for a demographic of survivors that you just do not see in fiction, ever, played fully for tragedy and horror when it would have been so, so easy for them to make light of it or victim-blame.

and just, yeah, the financial abuse is honestly a big one. that's not something you see pretty much ever, let alone in kid's media and let alone with accuracy or respect. this show swings wildly back and forth between 'hats off' and 'what the fuck is wrong with you,' and pericky (as opposed to both romance subplots with the gang 🙃) falls pretty squarely into the first one.

(mostly. boy that sure is some homophobia going on lmfao)

are you seriously on amber heard's side of this court case? yes, obviously depp is at fault also, but there seems to be a huge difference between between the severity of their actions. all of depp's exes have come forward saying that they never witnessed most of the stuff heard is talking about, and there are recordings that show heard physically and verbally abusing depp to shocking extents. take your #girlboss glasses off for one second and realise that just because she's a woman does not mean she's in the right

My opinions on this case are based entirely on evidence, not on gender.

In fact I was initially swayed by the heavy media bias in favour of Depp until I took a closer look at the evidence and changed my mind.

I have shared several posts breaking down this evidence, which in my opinion aligns much more closely with Heard's version of events.

All of the recordings, photos and other evidence I have seen so far align with Heard's claim that Depp abused her and she was eventually violent towards him in reaction to his prolonged abuse.

I am genuinely curious what you mean when you say there is a huge difference in the severity in their actions with the implication that Heard's actions were worse. From what I have seen that claim simply is not backed up by evidence.

Please link me to these recordings showing Heard physically and verbally abusing Depp because I have seen no such thing.

As I said before, I have already shared several posts compiling the evidence but here's a non exhaustive list:

Depp's claims

JD's claims that AH severed the tip of his finger are not supported by evidence.

In texts and audio recordings from that time and afterwards JD consistently said that he hurt his own finger. This is also what he told medical staff at the ER.

Yes it is possible that this was a figure of speech and/or he was lying to protect Heard. However:

His medical records align much more closely with Heard's claim that he injured his finger when smashing a phone against a wall than his claim that it happened when she threw a glass bottle at him.

Even if you disregard all of the above, there is nothing to support his claim that the injury was caused by Heard. It's his word against hers.

JD's claims that Heard defecated in his bed are not supported by evidence.

There is absolutely no evidence that it was even human feces.

Heard's dog has documented bowel issues (see page 100)

There is no record of Heard ever doing or suggesting anything like this previously. Depp however literally texted an employee suggesting they defecate outside Heard's bedroom door as a prank.

Depp's claims that Heard caused him bruises don't contradict Heard's claims, because she has been open about the fact that she hit him in self defence, but even so his claim is not supported by evidence. The metadata of those photos shows they were taken a year prior to the alleged assault (see page 99).

Heard's claims

Heard's claims that Depp assaulted her are supported by evidence.

Texts from Depp talk about smacking Heard around.

In other texts he says he "pounded and displayed ugly colours" on Heard.

Audio recordings show Depp admitting to headbutting her (though I acknowledge this may have been accidental as Depp claims)

Heard's claims that she was left with bruises after fighting with Depp are supported by evidence. The metadata of the photos confirm the dates (see pages 88 and 107) and her makeup artist testified to seeing and covering up Heard's bruises (see page 89 of same document)

Heard's injuries are also documented in therapy notes and medical records going back several years.

Heard's claims that Depp frequently expressed anger by destroying property, smashing and breaking things is supported by evidence.

There is video footage of him doing this.

There are multiple reported instances of him doing this.

You mentioned that none of Depp's exes have said he abused them (though this does not mean he was not abusive to Heard) but while he may not have been violent towards former partners, he does have a history of violence against paparazzi, security guards, crew etc.

This is not the full extent of the evidence I have seen and reviewed (I simply do not have the time to list and discuss all of it) but the overall pattern is consistent: Heard's claims hold up to scrutiny and Depp's claims do not.

I am continuing to review evidence and am entirely open to changing my mind if new information comes to light. Because the truth is important to me. But in my view the evidence released so far speaks loudly in Heard's favour.

If you have further evidence you would like to show me proving Heard's guilt or Depp's innocence I will absolutely review it.

In the meantime this is my position.