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crooked-wasteland · 5 months

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The rapresentation of abusers in helluva boss is something that particularly frustrates me, Stella in particular, it seems to be done just to victimaze certain characters not to show the complex dynamics of those relationships. It seems to me the writers aren't mature enough to handle these topics properly.

Abuse: The Heart of Vivienne Medrano

Christmas 1962, a man renowned the western world over for his revolutionary approach to animation sat in a withering melancholy as he watched what could only be called a cinematic masterpiece based on a novel classic. Walt Disney, now in the twilight years of his life, saw the walls closing in and his legacy coming to a close. This man, who pioneered the animated feature film, saw his greatest accomplishment as his greatest obstacle. The man responsible for the tales brought to life of Cinderella, Snow White, Pinocchio, and Dumbo felt trapped in his achievement. “I wish,” Walt lamented, “I could make a picture like that.”

To Kill a Mockingbird was a piece that challenged its audience. The discussion of a white man defending a black man in southern America, decades before the civil rights movement. The movement that, at the time the movie hit cinemas, was in its infancy. Released during the height of the historically revisionist counter movement taking place to combat the rising push of African Americans towards their human rights. The last film Walt Disney ever saw the production of before his death in 1966 was The Jungle Book, a movie that was the epitome of “Safe” and a message that upheld the status quo of segregation.

It wasn’t until 1972 that the media of animation became raucously adult with those political and challenging concepts Disney felt were unattainable. Fritz the Cat was an X-rated animated film composed of vignettes that were unapologetically perverse, violent, and aggressively political. Critical of politicians and the police with a sympathetic if exploitative lens towards the LGBT and racial minority communities Brooklyn-based director Ralph Bakshi grew up around. Bakshi proved that animation was not strictly a child-friendly media and that adult animation could be financially and critically successful.

(For more on Ralph Bakshi's career and animation history)

If one has ever had the opportunity to listen to a Brad Bird (director of Ratatouille and The Incredibles) interview, it is clear to see that the success of Bakshi was generally quite limited. That animation is considered a genre and not a medium of art has resulted in animated films being knee-capped in the box office. There is far more potential to animation, highlighted by Howard Ashton in his collaboration with Disney studios during the Renaissance. Responsible for resurrecting the feature-length animated movie through The Little Mermaid and credited for the monumental success of Best Picture Award winner Beauty and the Beast, Ashton once said that the potential animation was ideal for musical theatre. The limitless possibilities given the medium gave the possibility of introducing Broadway to the common folk who didn’t live in New York and otherwise couldn’t afford the theater. He was quoted saying that live action musical films were “an exercise in stupidity,” highlighting the freedom that comes with a blank page.

However, the success of animation, and media in general, comes down to the message the media wishes to send. The reason the Disney Renaissance films have enjoyed their position as cornerstones of pop culture and creativity was because it did introduce the artform of musical theater into homes and made them readily accessible to everyone with an even heightened sense of fantasy that revitalized Walt’s ethos of making films for the child in everyone.

With Bakshi, it was the loud and violently political message of a revolution taking place. This continues in adult animation with the Simpsons, a series critical of hyper-capitalist America and the fallout of Reagan’s economic disaster that the effects of which are still being felt today and a satire of toxic masculinity and abusive family dynamics.

So, ultimately, the value of a piece of media is a cross between its social artistic influence and the message the creators are intending to make. While Medrano’s influence on the field of indie animation is often mischaracterized as a “pioneer”, the fact is that indie animation and pilots have existed and been funded before Spindlehorse existed. It is simply that Medrano has had the spotlight handed to her for the myth surrounding the production and subsequent success of his indie projects. Artistically, her influence can be summarized as a double-edged sword. For some, she is the motivation for inspiring artists to connect with the community to one day, hopefully, create their own work. On the other hand, she is the cautionary tale of why investing in an indie project is a financial risk for an audience member and a risk to the community as a whole that poses a real danger of making the indie sphere financially cannibalistic, as her public persona is off-putting to “normies” and her show is simply not good.

Much like Disney, the man in 1962, and Disney the company circa 2023, the revolution of animating "because you can" loses its luster very quickly. Without something profound to say, an entire company, regardless of its social influence, can fade into irrelevance despite still being "successful". The story of Disney is a cautionary tale for Indie animation as a whole and Spindlehorse in specific.

And that is the other axis on this chart. Her narrative lacks a message worth telling, and that’s very much due to her not having anything worthwhile to say.

“I really liked when things and shows and stories allow the characters to be flawed, and allow them to grow and to change. And I think that’s something that’s, you know, the world is not black and white. And I like things that explore the gray and that and the complexity, of life and mistakes and of things like that.” - Vivienne Medrano

It is not for want of mockery that I carefully transcribe Medrano’s words in her interview. To read the words aloud tells the story just as clearly as I have set out to do here. This is someone who is highly inspired by better media, who has ideas and a belief that she has something to say. But that is where the belief ends. There is no conclusion to that thought any more than there is one in the unfocused and run-on sentences she rambles along throughout the interview. She talks of “Things” without clarity, because she herself is a fundamentally incurious individual who has never once spent the time critically analyzing herself, let alone the work of others to better grasp what about it resonated with her. She merely consumes art insatiably and without any substance. Like a diet of fruit, it has a superficial veneer of positive value. Fruit would be considered healthy as it is “natural”. However, it is the nutritional equivalent of candy, lacking vital components that are necessary to sustain basic life, it is pure sugar. Her work, similarly, lacks any value of depth that would qualify as meaning.

Which comes back to what the message is in her work.

When it comes to others in the field of indie animation, Medrano does not have many friends. In response to the Lackadaisy situation, creator Tracy explained why she returned Medrano’s donation. For one, the donation was not Medrano’s money, but money she crowd sourced from her employees. While the $5k for the producer spot of the fundraiser would have not been a dent in her personal wallet, Medrano is so uninterested in supporting fellow creators while presenting an impression of camaraderie that she instead took money from the people she is in charge of the paychecks for to get her name in the credits of another creator’s work. In regards to why Medrano was declined her support, it was due to numerous individuals who had such an awful experience working for Medrano that they did not want her involvement associated with the project to any extent. When the money was returned, she made the situation extremely public and encouraged harassment by liking tweets attacking Tracy and the Iron Circus team.

A well-known member of Medrano’s crew, Hunter B, was leaked speaking crassly of other animation projects that were still in the process of production, met with support from other members in the discord. One of these creators being Ashley Nicoles from Far-Fetched. A former friend and creative partner on the Hazbin Pilot whose podcast streams featuring Edward Bosco and Michael Kovach single-handedly maintained interest in the show until the winter of 2021, free of charge. Ashley once spoke of how Medrano would speak disparagingly of an employee to her, saying that this individual was “Too unstable to work with”. Which, regardless of whether or not that is Medrano’s honest opinion, counts as defamation by an employer. It is the exact reason why most previous employers will not give a negative, detailed review of a former employee, maintaining instead to verify facts of the employment. If Erin Frost was more experienced and less involved in social media exposed culture, they could have easily sued Medrano and Spindlehorse for damaging their reputation in their field of employment.

Which circles back to Medrano’s self-assigned message of her show:

“Abusers rely on your silence. They rely on knowing you can’t retaliate without consequence. That they can tell any lies and vague around without getting called out. But we see you, and you don’t have the power you think you do anymore. A message I put into my work. “Fuck you!” - Vivienne Medrano

Medrano, who has vague and sub tweeted individuals like Lackadaisy Tracy, The Diregentlemen, Michael Kovach, and Ashley Nicoles. Medrano who has instigated and incited harassment campaigns knowing that no one can call her out without severe and relentless backlash from her cultish fanbase that she personally encourages through positive reinforcement of liking the tweets of fans. Medrano who relies on the silence of other creators in the field due to the fear of her ire collapsing their projects before they even have a chance to begin.

Vivienne Medrano with an extensive abusive history that continues to this day, has something to say about abuse.

What Medrano has to say about abuse comes from someone who has the position of superiority in all of her relationships, but feels like she’s the outcast and bullied loser. Her self insert that is repeatedly expressed in every character at one point or another is how easily they abuse those around them just because they can, but that the narrative justifies their “acting out” because they are sad. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “An abuser externalizes the causes of their behavior. They blame their violence on circumstances.”

Indeed, the lists of abusive characteristics and traits, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, overwhelmingly encompasses the characteristics shown by characters like Loona, Blitz and Stolas that Medrano repeatedly has attempted to rationalize, justify and minimize. Which, “An abuser often denies the existence or minimizes the seriousness of the violence [including emotional and mental abuse] and its effect on the victim and other family members.”

It is not surprising, then, that the conversation of abuse in Helluva Boss is often infuriating. The narrative underplays the harm done by characters we are supposed to see as “good”. Not allowing for them to grow or change, but ignoring and minimizing the behavior, justifying it through circumstances and perpetuating the false belief that victims are not, themselves, abusers.

One of the first blog post rants I ever made about mental health and abuse was the affirmation that not all victims of abuse are survivors. I wholly stand by that. Victims of abuse perpetuate abuse. A victim and an abuser are one in the same, whereas a survivor is someone who has actually done the difficult work of being self-critical. And the one thing we all are very aware of is how much Vivienne Medrano rejects criticism.

#helluva boss critical #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss critique #vivienne medrano #vivziepop #vivziepop critical #spindlehorse critical #spindlehorse criticism #vivziepop criticism #helluva boss #perpetuating abuse #narcissistic abuse #abuse breeds abuse #essay writing

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the-silver-ratio · 5 months

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By ascending Astarion, y'all are just perpetuating the cycle of abuse that he'd experienced

#bg3 #Baldurs gate 3 #Astarion spawn #astarion ascended #perpetuating abuse #am I posting right?#astarion ancunin

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mxfrodo · 1 month

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y'all for fucking real. don't fucking write slave fics or x reader fics of aventurine's slavery??? are you guys out of your goddamn minds???

#i swear half of you don't fucking think.#what makes you think it's okay or “angsty” to write fics about suffering like that #especially without nuance?? or any understanding of the ramifications #its one thing to write about it being integrated into his past #but it's another thing to write it as an *in the moment* thing #especially if you're writing it to portray him being bought again -- who gives a shit if the reader “saves” him or “treats him nicely”#that's still a perpetuation of the cycle of abuses #like it's still already brain dead of hoyoverse to write about the suffering of POC by using a fair skinned blonde man #but come on #i thought we were better than this??#like yeahh #dont get me wrong - i love aventurine and his development. the writing is amazing despite how bad form using very white features #to portray a real race of color and it's suffering (the romani)#but you guys. come the fuck on #hsr aventurine #aventurine honkai star rail #aventurine x reader #honkai star rail #hsr #hsr x reader #i know it's “NOT THAT SEROUS” because it's a fictional game but im still putting tags for racism and slavery bro. wtf y'all #tw racism #tw slavery #random talk

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insertsomthinawesome · 10 months

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Vibrates intensely in emotional reunion.

Look I know this is now how it went 😔 but I really wanted to use this quote for these two (its from How to Train your Dragon 2), imagine Dainsleif feeling so much joy and relief upon finding the Lost Prince alive and well, him showing more vulnerability than Paimon and Lumine have ever seen. ITS NOT CANON, BUT IT COMPELS ME!!! xD

-NO ROMANCE INCLUDED-

#genshin impact #Kaeya alberich #dainsleif #dainsleif the bough keeper #kaeya genshin impact #dainsleif genshin impact #Isa's fanart #insertsomethinawesome #June2023 #The shading on this got so wildly out of control SDFLJSDLKGJSDLGSD #I told myself it would be simple. Then I didn't make it simple #tis my curse. I let these things get out of hand xD #Sometimes its good and fine!!! But other times i need to. Not #So I actually finish projects and don't keep perpetuating my perfectionism #THAT BEING SAID THO I LOVE HOW THIS TURNED OUT #Httyd 2 my beloved #I love this quote in the original context ;;v;;#and I like getting to abuse it for other contexts >:3c #Let dainsleif be soft. and also force him to take a break and a nap asdlfJSDLGKJSDGLKJSD

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the-badger-mole · 5 months

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Listen....I don't care how old the person is, or how they're related to me, if someone tried- and nearly succeeded in killing me, I no longer feel an obligation to care about their humanity. It is madness to me that people insist that Iroh owed Azula anything after that, and to say that he was even a little wrong for saying she was "crazy and needed to go down" is mind boggling to me. I don't care that Ehaz was a writer- one of the best writers on the show. He is WRONG about Azula.

#atla #what the crap???#iroh didn't do anything wrong here #he was not out of line for this #after azula had tried to kill him AND zuko #no #i don't accept ehasz' azula apologism #it just doesn't gel with anything we see of her in the show #she's not a wounded lil fawn #she's an abuse victim who has chosen to perpetuate the cycle of abuse for her own ambitions #yes she should get some sympathy #but only to a point #attempted murder is absolutely a reasonable point #sorry not sorry

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demeterdefence · 3 months

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i have a lot of bones to pick this chapter and i will get to that but i'm still really pressed by how rachel depicts kronos apparently grieving having to kill hera in her vision

rachel does this really gross thing where at some point in the narrative, she'll have the male abuser depict some kind of sadness in regards to his female victim, but it is not remorse. it really reads like whitewashing the abuse itself because "can't you see how upset the abuser is that he has to do this :("

apollo got that really disgusting pov chapter talking about his perspective on persephone after raping her and that was bad enough, but then you also see kronos and his relationship with hera being sanitized or even shipped, when hera said verbatim that he abused her and she did not want to sleep with him, she had hoped she could just charm him. the narrative explicitly points out that kronos is a chronic abuser - he kills or severely injures rhea in a fit of rage after using all her powers, he frequently drives away any nymph or consort who approaches him, and he spends who knows how long mentally torturing hera.

there's another essay tucked into that but i just find it so fucking egregious that rachel wants to portray kronos as being upset he has to kill hera because of his own feelings for her, when the fact of the matter is he is choosing to kill her, just like he chose to kill rhea, and swallow his sons, and tear hera in half. depicting an abuser (a serial abuser, in this case) as being upset over an action he's choosing to do for his own benefit is ... a choice, and a disturbing one. why are we centering the abuser in a sympathetic light when he is still ultimately abusing someone???

#anti lo #anti lore olympus #abuse ment /#just to be safe #it just strikes me as so ... backwards isn't strong enough it really disturbs me #esp considering the random ass sex scene in the next chapter and THOSE implications #but lo constantly just ... focuses time and energy on the male perpetuators of violence #and not on like ... their female victims lol #and if focus IS given to them it's handwaved away #demeter being tricked into having sex with zeus??? her frequent abuse from hades? nada #also hera saying ''i love you'' to a monster who is capable of killing her and everyone she loves #whom she is sleeping with in order to stop him from destroying everything #and people saying ''yeah that's a ship right there''#nothing in this rant is coherent these tags are a mess lmao

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nerves-nebula · 8 months

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The thing about being kept in a test tube and tortured is that it gives you a main antagonist (the person torturing you) and something to focus on (escaping) and resolves you all the petty issues that come with having free will and being responsible for your actions or choosing what to do with your life.

It is, in some ways, a relief. To no longer have to prove yourself useful or strong. You’ve already been beaten and captured, but you can still FEEL strong and resilient by struggling and resisting in any way you can get away with.

Meanwhile for Donnie, he finally feels like he’s in control. He can toy with someone and neglect them the way he’s always felt people have done to him. He’s finally the manipulator, the Warden, the God, of some pathetic sniveling creature who is at his complete mercy. He can indulge in all the awful things he’s secretly wished he could do to feel powerful and in control, without feeling too guilty about it because after all- Krang was the one who invaded HIS planet and tried to take over. Krang is an attempted slaver and world dominator. Plus, it was abandoned by its own people. Who would ever come looking for it? Who would CARE?

What I’m trying to say is that Krang and Donnie’s relationship had an inherently erotic undertone from the very start because their traumas and neurosis made them intensely and unhealthy compatable in a few key ways such as *a red dot appears on my forehead*

#nnstuff #rambling #tmnt krang #teenage mutant neglected turtles #abuse tw #Donnie in his perpetuating the cycle of abuse era :)#tmnt donnie

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popiellart · 6 months

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#vtm #vampire the masquerade #tzimisce #old art. from the good old days when i actually had time to do goretober. take me back country roads #cw gore #cw blood #cw body horror #i have decided to be very nice and censor it #myart #saints & sinners #oc shrike #not breaking the cycles of abuse not perpetuating the cycles of abuse but a secret third thing

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elrieldreamer · 1 month

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Why the HELL do so many people think that Tamlin should be Elain’s second mate?! Or that she needs to save Spring?!

This fandom is a cesspool.

#pro elain archeron #elriel #azriel and elain #azriel x elain #elain archeron #My girl deserves better than Feyre’s sloppy seconds #she likes to garden #she doesn’t want perpetual magic spring #he’s an abuser y’all

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crooked-wasteland · 1 year

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Not all Victims are Survivors.

Hot take, but I truly believe this. To be a victim is to be at the mercy of others. To be a ship on the sea tossed about by the raging storm in your life. No direction or future in sight. You can survive the storm, and still be at its mercy. The mere act of breathing does not make you a survivor. Too often the victim stays a victim, taking the storm with them everywhere they go. Holding no accountability to their actions because of the storm they endured. They are at the mercy if the storm even as they unleash one on others.

Abusers are victims more often than not. They have a history of terrible storms the same as anyone else. Abusers are not survivors no matter the tribulations they endured. I refuse to acknowledge the perpetuation of abuse as an act of survival. They are just victims I their own minds, continuously reliving their pain to force those around them to understand how they feel by unleashing the same abuse onto others. Friends, family, lovers, children. Continuing the cycle of trauma and making victims of others as they were made to feel, to violently rip apart their sense of hope and goodness and reality. I denounce them. They are not survivors as they are still within the storm. They are perpetual victims.

It takes actual work to be a survivor. It takes work to break out of the storm and rectify the ship. It's not easy. It will never happen one day. No one will ever come to save you from the likes of yourself. Abuse is a poison that must painfully be purged from the body if you ever hope to truly live.

And that's the part of the discussion that gets left out. Mantras of self love with good intentions of strengthening self esteem and self worth, but devoid of criticality result in masses claiming the championship of mental health while being the same narcissists they rail against. They scream at their reflections of how they are worthy while claiming everyone else must be against them. And in a world full of enemies you end up with a pit of vipers, lashing out in terror at every shadow. Using their victim hood as a shield to reprimand and reproach. Any breeze of a negative emotion wrecks their fortitude. Their castle of self love made of sand.

Narcissism is rooted in a deep-seated sense of insecurity.

And so I reject the notion all victims are survivors. I reject the wolves in sheepskin devouring the hurting souls around them, leeching off them. Destroying them, and using the guise of their mental health to gaslight the damage they do.

You are no survivor.

#mental health #mental wellbeing #toxic behavior #abuse survivor #narcissistic abuse #abuse breeds abuse #surviving narcissism #perpetuating abuse #abusers are abuse victims #covert narcissism #narcissim #self healing #self growth #its not easy #not all victims are survivors

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eirichele · 3 months

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not to be mean but i wish Those astarion fans would just admit they are attracted to him as an evil ao3-bait booktok top instead of trying to subject us to a million thinkpieces on why perpetuating the cycle of abuse is Empowering, actually 💀

#t #like idk wish people would stop calling themselves fans of a Certain astarion when ur supposed to see the both endings complimenting #each other bc the abuse metaphor requires that u see his potential for either healing Painfully or taking the easy way out of #stagnating in hatred #its very pertinent bc healing from abuse is HARD while deciding to keep perpetuating the hurt is ez and what most ppl do #really cool arc that i wish wasnt so blemished by annoying fans

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okapiandpaste · 1 year

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I think more shows should yaoibait to distract from the overt anticapitalist and antipolice messages happening in the background. sarazanmai was hilarious for that. hey look at the gay policemen stripping there are no murders happening in the amazon warehouse

#me posting crud #sarazanmai #plus reo/mabu were forced to perpetuate abuse in order to survive #I wonder what that could mean

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dictee · 4 months

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The way people in the west talk about gay asian media is so awful and demeaning like yeah the norm is unrealistic porn and there is a lot of abuse apologism . This is also true of western media 👍

#Also betrays a really weird attitude towards gay sex in general in real life. like People in real life have preferences about topping or #bottoming. it’s actually quite common.#It’s not some kind of political betrayal…#i feel like this is #actually very similar to the dynamic between bourgeois second wave feminists and working class butch femme culture #like not that GL manhwa or 60s lesbian bar culture is immune to criticism for perpetuating abuse racism and misogyny #but the condescension and revulsion and equivocating it fundamentally to a straight gaze

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nobodymitskigabriel · 28 days

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Angels are "dicks" but demons are a vile disease which the Winchesters would eagerly genocide or bury in the ground for eternity. Not like every angel isn't actively or passively complicit in the system which causes demons to exist through immense human suffering.

#we can talk about gabriel being a hobby murderer or cas being a war criminal but those are just squabbles compared to the real moral issue #and this is why lucifer IS the bad guy #also why turning jack into god did not do it for me bc obviously god is the most complicit here #spn is a show about perpetuating the cycle of abuse and the futility of denying your destiny #supernatural

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ladyofthebears · 2 months

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Boundaries for my page:

PLEASE READ BEFORE FOLLOWING AND INTERACTING

ASOIAF:

I fully believe that the first men are meant to be representative of indigenous people. If you dont agree with my thoughts, thats fine but do not insult what i believe or come onto my page to say any form of racist comment about it. I will block you immediately.

I fancast my fic and cast in the same way that the Brandy Cinderella casting director operated meaning, if a characters race is important to that characters story and experience, they will specifically be that race, otherwise, I cast whomever i believe fits the image in my head, no matter what race or ethnic background they may have. If you say hateful things about this or who I cast due to their culture or background, you will be blocked.

I also think this fandom is horribly anti- black and I will call you on it and block you if i believe you are stating said hateful views. (I mean anti black as in anti black people and using characters like Laena, Baela, and Rhaena as torture porn or pawns because of their blackness and being women.)

I am team Black but I am anti abuser in everyway, meaning not only am I anti Aegon ii, Aemond, Daeron, Otto, and Viserys, I am also staunchly anti Daemon. I am willing to have civilised discourse about the dance, but will block you if you try to justify any abuse performed by any characters or celebrate said abuse. This includes people who rejoice at the “Bastard blood” line or think the Velayron boys death was justified. This includes people who fantasise about torturing or assualting any characters but specifically the children in HOTD. This ESPECIALLY includes people who rejoice at Blood and Cheese. You will be blocked and I will not be sorry for it.

I know a lot of asoif lore but have not read the books due to my own CPTSS diagnosis and due to the triggering material in said books. If i make a mistake lore wise, please kindly let me know and I will fix it post haste.

I am not here to fight with people on my take of the book or shows. I will tell you my opinion, and if you wish to discuss yours and why you think that way, and can do so kindly, i will gladly talk to you. But at the end of the day, when i post my opinion, I am merely doing so to have an outlet on which to voice my thoughts in a way I am not able to in real life due to my not having many irl friends who have seen hotd or got.

Not Fandom related:

I am pro Palestine and find the unneeded killing of any innocent life deplorable. I am not here to argue about my political views. If you post any kind of hateful, islamphobic, or palestinian phobic comments under my posts, I will block you.

Overall:

If you post or reply with any Homophobic, Racist, Misogynistic, or any generally hateful thing under my posts, I will block you.

This is not up for discussion. My views are my own and if you find them to be harsh and unreasonable, feel free to block me and never interact with me again. I am here on Tumblr to interact with people from the fandom and to get my fanfic out there. I am not here to validate that people deserve to live even if they are different because that should go without saying. If you cannot respect my outlined boundaries, if you cannot be respectful to other people under my posts, if you cannot allow others to have different opinions then you on such trivial things as a made up world- please do not interact with me.

I know i have very few followers and most people rarely see my posts, but i do not care. These are things that are important to me and I feel if I am unable to speak them, I would be a hypocrite of the highest order. I hope to create a safe space on my page where peaceful and kind discussions can be had.

Much love

O’Leigh Fredericke

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findafight · 1 year

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Me, lying face down on the carpet: I don't know how many times I have to explain that people love characters like Steve Harrington and Zuko, is that they have done things that are bad. They have said things that are bad. Possibly reprehensible. Possibly violent.

But then. And this is THE fundamental aspect of them that you must understand, they realized they were wrong. They realized that what they did and who they were were not things they were proud of. Were not things they liked doing or wanted to continue doing. Were things that hurt people. They realized that they didn't want to be that person anymore.

And then they changed. They went and tried to apologize to those they wronged. They worked to fix what they had done or helped do. They made strides to be different from what they once were.

Zuko stood up to his father, he apologized to the Gang, admitted to them he and his people were wrong, and taught Aang Fire bending. He changed and he helped and he apologized.

Steve helped clean up graffiti, he went to Jonathan's house to apologize for the terrible things he said and their fight(and got dragged into monster fighting and saved Jonathan and Nancy's lives), he replaced the camera he broke.

They owned up to their mistakes and apologized and did their best to remedy them. The apology and the changed behaviour make these characters likeable. They have flaws that have glared but they have accepted those things, tried to do better than them.

I need you to understand that there are characters out there that do the same things but never apologize. When you question why someone likes character a but not character b, when character a has also done bad things, I need you to think about whether or not that character has apologized and since changed that behaviour and thus been sincere in their apology. That is why. No excuse or justification. Did the character apologize and change? Did the other not? There you go.

Me, sitting up with the imprint of the carpet on my face: Woah haha where'd that come from?

#steve harrington #zuko #atla #stranger things #meta #redemption #finda's rambles #listen im not trying to actually compare them im just saying people always question why the love for them #and its like ?? they changed??#frustrated when ppl act as though other charscters who also did bad but never changed are more deserving of love because #because canon gives them abuse but it never has them apologize for the abusing they do #like realizing you are perpetuating the cycle of abuse and ending it and trying apologize or mend things is powerful #but do not act like your blorbo did that when they never did. they were abused. that is sad. they did terrible things. that is bad.#they never tried to change away from foing horrible things. that is also bad #just because!! a charscter is abused!! does not mean they are not culpable for their shitty actions!!!#zuko was abused and he did shitty things!! the fact he was abused isnt the reason he was redeemed #he was redeemed because he worked for it. he broke out of the mindset that caused him to be violent and cruel #he apologized directly to those he hurt most directly. and he changed #azula didnt do that!! yes she was abused and deserves compassion but she was also murderous and would have killed her brother!#she had not decided to break the cycle!!#Billy was abused. and then he abused his sister. he was violent.#he would have attacked and potentially killed a thirteen year old black boy for being friends with his sister.#at no point does he realize those actions are unacceptable. at no point does he apologize. at no point does he change #just because he was abused and abandoned does not mean he was not responsible.

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