#frederik anderson fanfiction | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

miracleonice87 · 2 years

Note

Freddie Andersen, number 3? 😊

Spending Christmas at the other’s childhood home with their family (3) - with Freddie Andersen 🎄

from m’s winter prompt list 2021

a/n: yay, my first-ever Fred fic! 🤗 three more holiday blurbs to come after this.

word count: 1,800ish

warnings: mention of a parent leaving a child, divorce, alcohol

_____

You’d seen Freddie nervous for games, sure. Particularly when he was coming back from injury or in the thick of the playoffs. But never had you seen him this nervous – and what had him in such a tizzy was meeting his significant other’s family at the holidays.

The two of you were set to spend the short NHL holiday break with your dad and stepmom at your childhood home in Asheville, North Carolina. Your mom hadn’t been in the picture since you were a toddler, and you shared a close relationship with your dad, being his only child – you, for one, were excited for the two most important men in your life to meet. The prospect of which had Fred absolutely terrified.

Of all things this big, strong NHL player had to be concerned about, like pucks flying a hundred miles an hour at his face on a nightly basis, you were shocked that this was one of them.

The past couple of days, he’d been quiet – too quiet. He wasn’t the most talkative guy, of course. But it just wasn’t Freddie to be so sullen, lost in his own head, where he tortured himself with the idea of your family not believing he was good enough for you. Not trusting his lifestyle. Not being accepting of the traveling and training he had to do, taking him away from you. If Fred had said it once, he had said it a thousand times – he couldn’t imagine having to accept his own child putting up with such a life (hell, he hated that he had to put you through it at all). He was certain your family would feel the same.

Finally, after a few tension-laden days of silence, Fred had voiced all of this to you when you pressed him once more about what was on his mind and how you could help.

And after he did, near panting as he rushed out his every anxious thought, you cocked your head a bit, frowning. You hated seeing him so unsure of himself, especially when he had no reason to be.

“Baby…” you cooed, perching yourself on his knee and slinging your arms around his neck. “I don’t want you to be worried about what my family thinks of you, okay?” you said, smoothing a hand over his cheek before settling your thumb against his perfectly dimpled chin. “They’re going to love you. Besides… if anything, they’re gonna be on my case more than yours, what with my recently becoming a hockey player-chasing gold-digger and all,” you joked with a wink.

But Fred barely cracked a smile, totally unusual for how he normally always laughed at your jokes, at the very least beaming at you with an amused expression as you tried to make him laugh.

“Promise me you’ll try to stop worrying? Please?” you begged, mouthing softly at the hinge of his jaw as you made your way to his ear lobe. “For me?” you added tenderly, sending a shiver down Fred’s spine.

He shifted your hips so that you had to look at him again and he gave a solemn nod before cupping your cheek in his hand and capturing your lips in the sort of kiss that completely stole your breath away and made him forget what he was so worried about in the first place.

But in the blink of an eye, it was 24 hours later – Christmas Eve – and as he pulled up in front of your childhood home, your dad already waiting outside, Freddie most definitely remembered what he was so worried about in the first place.

Fred didn’t come literally face-to-face with many people, due to his tall frame. But your dad… of course, your dad not only met him at eye level, but even appeared to be just an inch or so taller, a state champion high school basketball player back in his day. Fred couldn’t help but gulp as he toted the bags and followed you up the driveway, feeling his palms begin to sweat simply by being in the man’s presence.

And then, you nearly knocked the formidable figure over, arms thrown around his waist, your cheek pressed as close against his sweater as possible, your eyes drawn shut and a contented smile on your face. And with your simple, syrupy sweet, “hi, Dad,” the commanding, authoritative man melted before Fred’s eyes, folding his arms around you and pressing a reverent kiss atop the crown of your head, his eyes sparkling before closing in joy, and as he watched, Fred could clearly see that your father was holding his entire world in his grasp.

“Hi, sweetheart,” he spoke, his voice booming. “Merry Christmas,” he said as he smiled down at you. Then, he met Fred’s gaze.

“Hi, son,” he greeted, extending a hand which Fred accepted, making a mental note to shake firmly. “Nice to finally meet you.”

Fred nodded as you smiled encouragingly at him, though he could still hear his nervous heartbeat pounding within his chest. “It’s nice to meet you, too, sir,” he commented. “Thanks for having us here for the holiday. You have a beautiful home,” he added, vaguely gesturing to the exterior of the stately old house.

“We like it alright,” your dad replied. “Surprised this one here still wants to be seen here considering the mansion she has access to now, thanks to you,” he said sarcastically, nudging your shoulder.

You rolled your eyes. “Dad,” you protested through gritted teeth.

Freddie shook his head humbly. “No, no, it’s alright,” he said with a nervous laugh. “I’ve been lucky, no doubt, but I didn’t grow up with much, so I certainly haven’t forgotten where I came from. Big house or not.” He stopped himself before he came off too defensive, aiming to put on an air that told your dad he was ready for anything he threw Fred’s way.

Your dad nodded slowly, eyeing Freddie carefully. “Well, I’m glad, and I hear you’re a hard worker, so I’m sure you deserve all you have,” he noted, tying a bow on the topic, to your relief. He nodded his head toward the door, motioning for the two of you to enter the house. “Now, come on in and get settled,” he encouraged, Fred following behind with the bags as you curled your hands around his bicep, pushing yourself up to kiss his cheek. He took comfort in the gesture, hopeful that the rest of your stay would entail only a few further shots at his character.

And it did – over the next three days, your dad kept the jabs relatively innocuous and certainly manageable from Fred’s perspective. Once again, he put himself in your dad’s shoes and reminded himself that he, too, would probably be giving his only child’s suitor a difficult time upon their first meeting. You were pleased and proud that he took it in stride, as you knew he would – offering to help your dad and stepmom with meal prep and cleanup without coming off as a kissass, always having you within his protective arm’s reach while respectfully limiting your PDA, and alternating between politely listening to your family stories and inside jokes and asking questions to better understand the dynamic among you.

On your last night with your family, you and your stepmom had cleared the table and then lingered in the kitchen, having a lengthy conversation over glasses of wine, and your dad, left in the dining room with Freddie and their glasses of whiskey, saw his opportunity to conduct his final test of the visit.

“Fred, I appreciate the way you’ve handled yourself throughout this trip,” your dad spoke, rolling his knuckles along the table. “I know I’m maybe not the most easygoing person, but I love my daughter more than anything, and so I hope you understand where I’m coming from.”

Fred nodded, twisting his glass against his palm.

“I do, sir,” he said. “I’d like to think I’d be somewhat similar to you, when put in the same situation. You want what’s best for your daughter, and I want nothing more than to be that for her. And to give that to her.”

Your dad attempted to keep his pleasure at Fred’s response from showing on his face, but Fred noticed the way the corners of his mouth turned upward as he shifted in his seat.

“Speaking of which,” he began, “since you came here with her, I assume things are serious. So… what do you think your future holds?”

It was Freddie’s turn to attempt to hide his smile, at which he failed miserably. He cleared his throat, holding his chin high.

“Well, to be perfectly honest, I can see myself spending the rest of my life with your daughter,” he leveled, meeting your dad’s eyes. “If she’ll have me,” he added, making both men chuckle.

“Well, that’ll be up to her, but, uh…” your dad ran a hand along his jaw in thought. “But if that’s what she wants, then I for one would be thrilled to have you as part of this family.”

Fred’s heart fluttered in his chest as he broke into a full-fledged grin.

“Thank you,” he said soberly. “That means more to me than I can say.”

Your dad offered a wink and a nod before patting Fred’s shoulder.

“Now, come on, let’s make sure those girls aren’t talking about us out there,” he joked as Fred laughed.

_____

That night after your parents had retired for the evening, you lay on Fred’s chest, settled on the couch between his legs, basking in the glow of the lighted tree as you listened to piano Christmas music over the sound system.

“Are you awake?” Freddie whispered, his hands giving just the slightest squeeze for where his arms were looped around you, resting on your stomach.

“Mmm, yeah,” you half-lied, blinking your bleary eyes to glance up at your boyfriend. “What’s wrong?”

Freddie shook his head. “Nothing,” he soothed, smoothing his hand over the side of your head. “I just wanted to say you were right.”

A sleepy smile spread across your face, and you moved your head just slightly to look into Fred’s eyes.

“Was I now?” you asked, nuzzling your head against the soft fleece of his sweatshirt.

“Mmhm,” Fred’s voice rumbled in his chest. “You told me I have nothing to worry about, meeting your family. And you were right. I loved it. I love them.”

You beamed, reaching up to cup Freddie’s neck gently, pressing a kiss to his stubbly jaw.

“I love you,” you whispered, knowing this was the perfect opportunity for such an admission – one you had been certain of long ago. “And they love you. It was the best Christmas, baby. Thank you.”

70 notes · View notes

writtenbyhappynerds · 4 years

Text

Unit 8: Romance

Welcome to the romance chapter! If you haven’t taken Exam 2 for Fanfiction 101 go do that! It covers the last 3 units, so cliches, crossovers, and realism. If you have taken the exam and want the key to check your answers, DM me. Moving on, romance is a lot of writers’ bread and butter. It is an easy subplot, it can be fun to write, and it allows for both internal and external conflict. Romance can reveal a lot about a character’s personality, and it can be done extremely well where the romance between one set of characters is a hard-earned commitment and partnership between two people. However, more often than not, romance is done very, very poorly. We don’t mean bad grammar or unrealistic standards like we’ve discussed in prior chapters. We mean romance that is not romance and is instead the glorification of abusive and/or underage relationships. Strap in! This is our PSA to the world.

First things first, lots of stories introduce romance as the hook. It’s Harry Potter x [Blank] or Jason Todd x Reader. Romance is usually what gets readers to click because they want to read a story about a specific character. What writers have to be careful of is to not make two characters falling in love the entire plot. A storyline where characters fall in love is a lot more natural if it is a subplot to a narrative; it should appear second to the actual plot. In Unit 6: Making It Real, we talked about how Mary Sues have storylines where they themselves are the entire plot. Lots of romance stories suffer from this as well, and I know you want to care about and center everything about your characters, but you have to give them something to do. The audience gets bored reading it otherwise because they don’t have the same emotional attachment to your characters that you do, and you can’t force them to. So, make romance a subplot. Make it an internal conflict that becomes external with time, and if you write a slow burn, we should not be able to infer that two characters are going to end up together from the first chapter. The Editor and I have seen stories where characters get together in the first 3 or so chapters and then break up repeatedly. That is not a slow burn, which is a slow gradual incline to infatuation. That is an on and off relationship. It also removes the incentive to read because we as the reader have seen the title. We know they’re going to get back together, and then we stop reading.

We’d like to say that this chapter is our love letter to romance fanfic. However, as the Editor and I discussed more and more of the errors we find in fanfiction, it’s become a PSA. More often than not we see fanfiction writers glamorize and romanticize abusive tendencies and abusive relationships in their fanfiction as if it is “goals” or “adorable.” If we may remind you all, Twilight was not an example of a good relationship. It actually hit off all 14 nationally recognized signs for being in an abusive relationship. What this means, is that having a love interest who is overly possessive re: doesn’t let the OC hang out with people of the opposite sex, wants to constantly know where they are, is surprise popping-in to check on the OC, etc. That is not healthy because it represents a breakdown of trust in a relationship and less of a, “He’s so cute and caring that he wants to know where I am all the time.” You see this a lot in werewolf fanfiction. Usually, the Alpha is overly possessive, isolates the OC, and then wifes her up. Sometimes it’s against her will. This isn’t cute, and it isn’t charming. It’s dangerous habits and we as writers and readers should not see this kind of dynamic. I’m about to heavily spoil Frederik Backman’s Beartown for my next point. Beartown is an important book. It is my favorite book of all time. If you haven’t read Beartown there is a break in the paragraph here so you can skip ahead of the spoilers. Beneath it will be a spoiler-free summary of my point but using Beartown as an example gives me more context. There is also a blanket trigger warning. If you are easily triggered skip ahead.

*****************************************************************************************

We as writers and readers usually write abusive fanfiction because we see it as “not bad because he isn’t doing XYZ.” So long as the character isn’t getting assaulted, or isn’t being physically hurt, it’s okay that they did what they did. In Frederik Backman’s Beartown, Maya Anderson is in love with Kevin Erdahl. They have small moments, tiny little slivers of interaction that are cute and warm, and make you smile. In the background, the character Amat is also in love with Maya, but she only has eyes for Kevin. Kevin and Maya are seen as acceptable up until Kevin rapes her and then gets away with it because of the conspiracy of silence and shame that surrounds the hockey town they both grew up in. Kevin is the star hockey player. He’s untouchable, and if we equate it to werewolf fanfic, he’s the alpha. In fanfiction, the audience would never support the relationship between two characters if one sexually assaulted the other because it’s the worst thing you can do to another person. However, just because Kevin rapes Maya that doesn’t mean the other things he does are any less horrible. Kevin is still a piece of shit for gaslighting, manipulating, and lying to the entire town, but those actions are seen as less terrible if Maya is not raped. Abuse takes many forms, and a love interest can still be abusive without ever physically or sexually touching their partner. Look at James Saroka.

Now, the brilliance of Beartown is that it completely subverts our expectations as readers. It surprises us. Up until the point where Kevin rapes Maya, it is a hazy, charming story of a little town trying to make it. After the action, the entire tone shifts, and the silence that this girl is forced to endure, which is so true-to-life for victims of sexual assault, change the perspective of the audience who don’t care if the town dies in a ditch so long as they let Kevin get away with what he did. Beartown shows us that love is messy and shows us a different form of love. It is not always two teenagers slow-dancing in a kitchen. It is not the shy bumbling boy asking a girl to the dance. It is a pining that sometimes never yields, and sometimes in the case of Beartown, it is a boy walking into the middle of a town hall meeting and breaking the team picket line to say, “My name is Amat. Kevin Erdhal raped Maya Anderson, and I saw it. I was drunk, and I’m in love with her, and I’m telling you that so you don’t say it behind my back when I leave.” Amat and Maya are a great example of a love story that doesn’t work out but is still someone caring passionately for another without any sense of entitlement. Amat never expects anything back from Maya, and he gives up everything to do what he does. It is an example of surprising the reader away from what would’ve been an obvious narrative.

************************************************************************

Ok, you’ve skipped the spoilers. Anyway, as I was saying, a character is not less of a piece of shit because they do not physically or sexually abuse their romantic partner. In lots of fanfiction, not just werewolf fanfiction, we see romantic interests that are abusive. However, even the writer considers them not that bad because they aren’t doing XYZ. There is a difference between a bad boy and an abuser. The bad boy doesn’t follow the rules because he finds them harmful or stifling. If you’re doing a High School AU or setting, the bad boy wouldn’t want to sit in a classroom with a bunch of teachers who don’t care about whether he learns or not or what they’re teaching. They’re passionate. They oppose injustice, and they don’t go for petty revenge. A bad boy would be on some Gryffindor shit. An abuser doesn’t follow the rules because they see themselves as above the law or better than the rules. In that same High School AU, they wouldn’t sit in the same classroom because they’ve already learned everything they need to know and school is a waste of time. They get mad when things don't go their way. They do their best to keep what they consider their property close to them. An abusive boyfriend would fight just to prove he’s better than others. A bad boy would fight to defend someone. If your character is overly possessive, manipulative, or controlling towards their significant other that is still abusive and it is not okay. You as writers do not have any obligation to follow the mold of what the rest of your genre does. Alpha werewolves do not have to be overly-dominant and controlling: you can be assertive and be a leader without being a shitbag. Loki characters do not have to be abrasive and play mind-games with their OC. You can be mischievous without gaslighting your partner. A definition of gaslighting is putting doubt or messing with someone’s memory by convincing them something did or didn’t happen. That person might think they’re going crazy, that something’s wrong with them, and the person who is gaslighting them will convince them everything is fine and this is the way it’s always been. In Twilight, Edward gaslights Bella after saving her from the car. It’s an example of this manipulative tendency. “Bella, I was standing right next to you. I pulled you out of the way.” Bella tells him he stopped the van (the truth) and he does his best to convince her that she hit her head really hard and isn’t remembering things properly.

Another sign of an abusive relationship is when a character changes their personality completely to fit the personality of their love interest. Again, this is evident in Twilight, and it’s also evident in the Joker and Harley Quinn in DC Comics. Harley is a very different person and was a different person before meeting the Joker. However, she changed who she was to become something he’d like. You see this in fanfic usually when characters who are written and depicted as “strong” crumble and become weak after meeting their love interest. You also see characters who drop their hobbies, the things they enjoy doing, or their other friends. This happens in writing because the author believes that the plot has shifted from the main character to the main character’s interaction with their love interest. To avoid this, romance should be kept as a subplot. If you have an overarching goal or destination, the romantic interest’s involvement will not interfere with the things that make the main character who they are because they are not the overarching goal or destination. Don’t force your characters to become someone else to better fit the person you want them to fall in love with. Two people can have different hobbies or different personalities. They don’t have to think on the same wavelength.

Relationships don’t experience outward harm and aggression nearly as much as it is written. Lots of very unrealistic fanfics put this in to add conflict to their story, but fail to understand if a character was getting hurt on a weekly or almost daily occurrence, each instance where the character gets hurt loses its value because the act itself is normalized. Accidents happen, and in some lines of work accidents happen a lot. You see that in spies, criminals, or superheroes where injuries are huge problems, yet their line of work is an open door to injuries, and injuries are expected as part of the job. I had a friend lose an eye because someone smashed a pint glass in his face. I had a family member lose a finger because he cut it off chopping wood. Neither of these accidents was at their places of work, and both are living their best lives unbothered. Normal, everyday injuries occur, and accidents are normal. They should never divulge into a conversation about “protection” because that just takes three years off my lifespan every time I read it. Shit happens. My friend’s girlfriend didn’t wax on about being unable to protect him from the pint glass. My cousin’s wife didn’t try to throw herself in front of the ax to save his finger. Mistakes can be made, and you deal with the consequences. You take a workman's comp, you veg on the couch for a couple of weeks, and you get over it. An injury in either of these contexts would never lead to a conversation about protection, and it’s more realistic if you have a character who gets frequently stabbed, shot, scratched, or punched, for their significant other to say something like, “Oh, damn, again? Sit down, and don’t you dare get blood on the carpets I just paid to have them cleaned from last time.” This happens a lot in Supernatural fanfic. Usually with Dean Winchester, where after an injury that is usually a glorified scratch the character who has been written as capable and badass caves to Dean and becomes a backup dancer to his and Sam’s show. If the character was as capable and badass as written, they wouldn’t let Dean talk to them like that, and they wouldn’t have a relationship dynamic like that. Don’t sacrifice your character’s personality just so it fits better with a member of the cast. That’s not what healthy relationships are like.

Speaking of healthy relationships, part two of this PSA. A 15-year old or underage OC (meaning someone younger than 18 years old) can have a crush on an older person: a teacher, an Avenger, etc. They can have romantic feelings for said person. Said person CAN NOT PURSUE THE UNDERAGE PERSON. It is illegal. It is immoral. It is unhealthy. Tony Stark’s daughter or son is not going to end up with Hawkeye, Captain America, the Winter Soldier, Natasha Romanoff, Loki, the Hulk, or Thor. Having a huge age gap like this creates a power dynamic where one side of the relationship has less of a voice than the other because of their much younger age. It creates an unhealthy division within the dynamic where one voice is less important than the other because one voice has less knowledge of the world and is less mature than the other. On top of that, Loki, The Winter Soldier, Captain America, Black Widow, the Hulk, Hawkeye, and Thor would never pursue an underage child because they are all grown, mature, adult men and women. They would not want to sleep with and marry a teenager because a teenager is not emotionally mature or available to these men and women. That’s why the age of consent, at least in the US, is 18. I cannot drive this point home enough. If you have to lower the age of the cast to make the age gap less uncomfortable, you already know it’s wrong and it won’t work. You need to pick a different love interest or raise the age of the OC because as we’ve discussed in Rules of the Universe, this is not a good enough reason to change the canon of the cast. Even if the child is “mature,” a mature underage child is still a child. A child being in a relationship with a 30-year old adult is super creepy, and no 30-year-olds other than the ones who creep after underage girls are going to really pursue those relationships. If you are writing members of the cast to pursue underage girls, you’re writing terrible Onision fanfic. If the characters are say, 30 and 45, those are two consenting adults. The age gap is less important because both are older and mature and have the life experience to make these decisions for themselves that a 15-year old does not have. If you are writing teenage romance, keep them within two years of each other. They should be able to go to high school together for at least two years. Even looking at student-teacher relationships. This ain’t Riverdale. Even Riverdale was weird and cringy and no one liked it. Everyone thought she was the worst because she took advantage of a student and sexually assaulted a minor. That is what happened on Riverdale because when you sleep with a minor, that minor is incapable of giving consent, and what you have just done is commit sexual assault. If a minor sends nudes to an adult that is child pornography. If the adult is caught with that they are charged with possession of child pornography. Underage relationships are inherently unhealthy. Do not write them. Do not romanticize them. An underage OC can have feelings or a crush on an adult, but it will always and must always be a relationship that is never fulfilled. A relationship that does not work out.

Love triangles are another aspect of romance that we see all the time. We talked about love triangles from a plot perspective in Realism. In that unit, they were a bad thing because your OCs deserve a much better story than choosing one person over another. Now, we’re going to examine love triangles from a romantic perspective. They’re tired. They’re old. They’re unrealistic because a girl or boy can be interested in multiple people, and need time to think about which one they’d like to end up with. Remember that we talk about abusive people who would fight to prove they’re superior to someone else. If two boys are fighting to try and prove to the world that they’re a better candidate for the OC, neither of them deserve the OC. If that’s how they treat her potential partner how will they treat her?

In addition to abusive relationships, stop glorifying and romanticizing self-harm and eating disorders in fanfiction to build angst and give the character “flaws.” Going back to Unit 6: Realism, self-harm, and/or depression and/or eating disorders are not character quirks, flaws, or tools to build angst. They are ugly. They are terrible conditions that hurt so many people, and that people all around the world struggle with without getting help. It isn’t cute to write that a character cuts themselves but stops because their love interest tells them to. Not only is that insensitive, but it’s unrealistic. That’s not how that disorder works. There are many cliches that writers fall back on to build angst in a story, but they are often so poorly executed that they never work at making the audience feel the emotion you as a writer want them to feel. These cliches include depression, bullying, self-harm, homelessness, abusive parents, and/or dead parents. Sometimes these cliches dogpile on top of each other. That is unrealistic as well. If you are going to talk about mental disorders and mental health, the burden of proof is on you the writer to make the audience believe it. You have to research these topics heavily and make sure you understand them in their entirety. Then you have to use them as a conflict of the character, not as a plot to push or challenge two characters in a relationship. You can have a healthy romance without having ridiculous plots happen to main characters. Brooklyn 99’s Jake and Amy are a great example of two characters existing sans toxicity. They don’t need outward harm or threats to their relationship, they just need each other.

This is a large information dump. We’re aware of that. To close out, we’re going to give and explain good and bad examples of relationships from TV and media. These are the cream of the crop. If you need examples of what to write or what not to write, look here.

Sokka and Suki are a great example of a good relationship. Neither one ever discounted the other’s ability to be a badass. They respected each other's cultures as well, Sokka going as far as to learn and train with the Kyoshi warriors for the short while he was there. He never tried to “protect” Suki when he knew she could protect herself. In vice versa, Suki was the same way.

Jake and Amy from Brooklyn 99 are a great example. Their relationship is peak good slow burn. They start off as rivals, become friends, and then realize at different times that they like each other. These realizations hit at different times and Jake is able to set aside his feelings for Amy to support her. A healthy relationship is someone who is happy for the person they love whether they are with them or not. If you compare this to something like Twilight, Edward Cullen was so arrogant that Bella would never be interested in anyone but him that it didn’t matter when he told her she could kiss Jacob if she wanted to. Both Jake and Amy retained the original cores of who they are as people while growing. Amy still color-coordinates, but she’s learned to relax and let go of the uptight attitude she once had. Jake still pulls pranks but has grown up a bit and become less immature. When this couple does face conflict, they confront it together and work out their problems as a team. When a couple finally gets together, their relationship usually flatlines because the author doesn’t know what to do anymore (often because the romance is the entire plot and once you accomplish the plot.. Then what?) but because their relationship was a subplot, it stayed alive even after they got together.

Hal and Lois from Malcolm in the Middle are a great example of a good relationship. They knew each other so well, despite being very different people. There was respect. They were a team, and no one loved Lois like Hal did. That was always obvious. The scene where Hal and the boys go against Hal’s family because they made Lois cry is forever iconic, and they are a great example of a relationship.

Ben and Leslie from Parks and Rec are a good relationship. They both respected the other’s career goals, and never forced one into an uncompromising position. They learned to have a balance of love and careers.

Also, read but not explained: Rapunzel and Flynn Rider (Tangled), Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable (Kim Possible), Pam and Jim (The Office), Shrek and Fiona (Shrek), Percy and Annabeth (Percy Jackson), Gomez and Morticia (The Addams Family), and Santana and Brittany (Glee).

Allison and Luther from Umbrella Academy are a bad example of a healthy relationship. They are not goals. They should not be romanticized. If you have to say, “it isn’t technically incest,” you already know it’s wrong. Even Gerard Way himself has said that he regrets putting them together. He himself called it incest. It ain’t PG. Don’t use them as an example.

Allison and her ex-husband from Umbrella Academy are a great example of one person gaslighting and manipulating the other. We know from the show it’s implied she convinced and tricked him into falling in love with her. He created for him an entire world where nothing was real. It’s not a healthy relationship.

Literally, every relationship in Riverdale is a bad relationship. There is not one relationship that did not have abusive tendencies, manipulation, or one person whining about “protection.” None of them are it. Avoid all of them.

We have to talk about Twilight. Twilight’s Edward and Bella big mood bad relationship goals. Edward is overly controlling, obsessive, and needs a healthier coping mechanism. Bella herself changed her entire world to revolve around Edward to the point that New Moon has Bella equating her reason to live and self-worth as a person to Edward’s absence. She’s a great example of a character dropping everything they have for a boy.

Gossip Girl is also filled with unhealthy relationships. According to the Editor, who has seen Gossip Girl many times over, Chuck and Blair are a good example of a couple that can’t exist without some kind of drama. They break up other relationships, cheat on each other, and use other people to make their significant other jealous. If it isn’t something you would expect anyone to put up with in real life, don’t expect your characters to put up with it either. They both were incredibly possessive, Chuck actually attacking Blair for being with a different person (Louis) and ruins a perfectly good mirror. Dan and Serena from Gossip Girl are another example. Dan makes Serena feel guilty and like a lesser person as time goes on. He slut-shames her, talks about her, and when it’s revealed that he is Gossip Girl, we realize as an audience that he’s been saying terrible things about her for years. Leave the, “if a boy is mean to you it’s because he likes you.” crap behind. If a boy likes you, he’s going to be nice to you so you like him back.

Our final bad example is Jade and Beck from Victorious. Jade West deserved so much better. She was toxic and controlling, and Beck is a great example of gaslighting your significant other. He never claimed to have a girlfriend while many women would flirt with him. He never did anything to make her feel more secure in the relationship, and when Jade expressed concerns, he would tell her she was crazy or controlling when really she had every right to be (Beck x Tori). Jade knew the score and was belittled for it, and Beck let her get herself worked up and played directly into her insecurities.

Dictated, but not explained bad examples: Pam and Roy (the Office), Princess Bubblegum and Finn (Adventure Time), Matt and Karen (Daredevil), Joker, and Harley Quinn (DC Comics).

Next week is our last unit. Unit 9: Don’t Like, Don’t Read. We’re going to talk about constructive criticism, and why it is a wonderful thing that you should be open towards. Peer reviews are due in the comments in two weeks’ time. Xoxo, Gossip Girl.

3 notes · View notes