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bonefall · 5 months

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⭕️Hey Bones! Is it ok if you explain and/or elaborate how Crowfeather is abusive to Breezepelt if please?⭕️

I do KNOW that crowfeather is indeed, abusive to Breezepelt, due to the fact that he emotionally and/or physically neglected him - with child neglect being known to BE a form of child abuse - and I also heard that he slashed and/or hit him within one of the books, which I believe is in the book Outcast, in chapter 16.

But I also wish people would talk and be informed about it more within the fandom, because in the parts of the fandom I’ve known portrayed Crowfeather’s neglect on Breezepelt as negative and bad, but not in a way that made me think and/or feel: “Wow, that’s pretty bad. That’s…actually abusive.” I suppose? So I hope more people will talk about it more in that type of way.

Also, please be aware that I have NOT read PoT, OoTS, etc. or barely any warrior cats books, since the majority of the information I got from the series is from the wiki and the fandom, so that probably explains why I didn’t know this part of Crowfeather’s character is as bad as it actually is until now. Also, feel free to talk about Crowfeather’s abuse on Breezepelt I haven’t mentioned and/or don’t know right now as well if you want.

I’m SO sorry that if this ask is unintentionally quite long, and feel free to make sure to take all the time you need to answer it. Thank you!

OH LET'S GOOOO

Breezepelt is both physically and emotionally abused by Crowfeather. I'm not talking about only child neglect; he is screamed at, belittled, and even once hit on-screen.

The fact that Crowfeather both neglected and abused him is very important to the canonical story of Breezepaw. There's actually a lot more to this character than people remember! Even from his first appearances he displays good qualities, a strained relationship with his father and adult clanmates, and is clearly shown to be troubled before we understand why.

As many problems as I have with the direction of Breezepelt's arc (especially Crowfeather's Trial), his setup is legitimately a praiseworthy bit of writing from Po3 which carries over into OotS. To say that Breezepelt was not abused is to completely miss two arcs worth of books SCREAMING it.

BIG POST. Glossary;

INTRO TO BREEZEPELT: The Sight and Dark River

ABUSE: Outcast, Social Alienation, the Tribe Journey.

DARK FOREST: How these factors push him towards radicalization.

For "brevity," I'm not getting into anything post-OotS. I'm just showing that Breezepelt was abused, the narrative wants you to know that he was abused, and that his status as a victim of child abuse is CENTRAL to understanding why he is training in the Dark Forest.

INTRO TO BREEZEPELT: The Sight and Dark River

Our very first introduction to Breeze is when Jaypaw walks off a cliff in the first book of Po3 and is rescued by a WindClan patrol. He's making snarky remarks, and Whitetail and Crowfeather are not happy about it. Whitetail snaps for Crow to teach his son some manners, and Crow growls for Breezepaw to be quiet.

But our proper introduction to him is at his announcement gathering, when Heatherpaw playfully introduces him as a friend,

From the offset something's not entirely right here between Breezepaw and his father. He's cut off by Heatherpaw here, but he's touchy whenever his father is involved, and we're not entirely sure why.

Throughout Book 1, he's just rude, with a notable xenophobic streak. He's a bit of a mean rival character for Lionpaw, as they're both interested in the affections of Heatherpaw and make bids to get her attention, but nothing particularly violent yet.

He participates in the beloved Kitty Olympics and gets buried in liquid dirt with Lionpaw, basically a rite of passage for any arc.

(And Nightcloud has a cute moment where she watches over them until they fall asleep)

As the books progress, the relationship between Crow and Breeze visibly deteriorates. They start from being simply tense with each other in The Sight, to the open shouting and hitting we see in Outcast.

In the very first chapter of Dark River, we learn where his behavioral issues are really coming from;

Crowfeather.

Breezepelt is getting xenophobia from his father. Occasionally he says something bigoted and his dad will agree and chime in, and those are the only positive moments they have together.

(Note: In contrast, Nightcloud explicitly pushes back against xenophobia, chiding Breezepelt for his rudeness to Lionpaw in back in The Sight, Chapter 21. The Sight is the book where a lot of "evidence" that the Evil Overbearing Woman is actually responsible for the rift between father and son but. No. She's not. Though she can be overprotective; Crow and Breeze have a bad relationship when she's not even around in Breeze's first appearance and even his Crowfeather's Trial Epiphany refutes it. Anyway this post isn't about Nightcloud.)

So he starts acting on his bigotry, accusing cats in other Clans of stealing, running really close to the border. What's interesting though, is that this is not entirely his doing. The first time we get physical trouble from Breezepaw, DUSTPELT aggressed it. Breezepaw and Harepaw were just chasing a squirrel and hadn't yet gone over the border at all.

We learn that WindClan is teaching its apprentices how to hunt in woodland, and tensions between the two Clans is starting to escalate as ThunderClan isn't entirely trusting of their intentions.

The second time, fighting breaks out over him and Harepaw actually crossing the border and catching a squirrel. WindClan is adamant that because it came from their land, it's their squirrel. So it's as if Breezepaw is modelling the aggression around him, learning how to behave from the older warriors and his father.

When he joins Heatherpaw and The Three to go find Gorsetail's kits in the tunnels, he's grouchy towards the ThunderClan cats, but very gentle with the kittens. Notably so. When Thistlekit is dangerously cold, he cuddles up next to her, and even assures Swallowkit when she's scared,

Through this entire excursion, he's the one in the comforting roles for the kittens. Breezepaw is the one who is taking time to tell the kits they'll be okay, that he'll protect them, and physically supporting them when they're weak, even when he's terrified.

And it's always contrasted to Heatherpaw who's way more 'disciplined,' as a side note. It's a detail I'm just fond of.

All this to point out,

Breezepelt displays his best qualities when he's away from the older warriors of WindClan, and he's at his worst whenever he's near Crowfeather. Even while he's essentially just a bully character for The Three to deal with. He's gruff but cooperative when it's just him and Heatherpaw interacting with The Three, but mean when there is an adult to please.

We're getting to the on-screen abuse now, but Po3 actually sets up Breezepaw's troubles and dynamics well before it's finally confirmed that he is a victim of child abuse.

ABUSE: Outcast, the Tribe Journey.

In Outcast, Breezepaw's problems have escalated into open aggression towards cats of other Clans, and is now a legitimate concern for his own safety. Yet, he's spoken over by older warriors, and reprimanded at nearly every opportunity, right in front of the warrior of another Clan.

Squilf just asked the poor kid how his training was going, and then Whitetail JUMPS to talk over him so she can complain, RIGHT in front of his face.

They can't even wait until they're alone to grumble something rude about Breezepaw, who is still just a teenager here;

They taught him already that a bit of prey that runs off their own territory still belongs to WindClan, encourage him to blow past borders in pursuit, and started a battle with ThunderClan over this. And then they're pissed off at him for being aggressive, thinking it's deserved to scold him in public.

When Onestar announces that he wants Breezepaw to go on the Tribe Journey, he's devastated by it...

Because he thinks WindClan doesn't like him, and he's right. He's gossiped about, torn into in front of a ThunderClan warrior, and even his own dad doesn't want to be around him. It's clear that Breezepaw's impulsive "codebreaking" behaviors are a desire to prove himself, and once you realize that, the way that he's being alienated is heartbreaking.

But Wait!! Hold on a minute! Where did he get a "patrol of apprentices" from to confront the dogs with, exactly?

Simple. Breezepaw CAN make friends! He actually values them a lot! So much that it's the first thing Crowfeather snaps at him over, out of frustration that his son is also being forced on this journey with him. It's an angry response to his child having emotional and physical needs, resentment that will continue all journey long.

Note that it's plural, friends. Breezepelt has multiple friends, at least one who is not Heatherpaw, and she promises to say goodbye to them.

Up next, they state over and over, Crowfeather and Breezepaw do not like each other. Crowfeather resents being around him and dealing with his rudeness, embarrassed and angry, and Breezepaw is absolutely miserable being sent on a journey to the mountains with a man who hates his guts.

The whole while, Crowfeather is brooding longingly about Feathertail, already thinking about her as soon as he kitty-kisses Nightcloud goodbye, his eyes looking somewhere distant. He makes a jab about loyalty when Breezepaw doesn't understand why they're helping the Tribe.

Breezepaw gets smacked after he's "shoved" at Purdy and acts rude to him, while the other three manage to be polite (while still having internal dialogue about how stinky he is).

Without so much as a, "cut that out," Crowfeather raises his paw and hits him. Breeze is quiet after that.

I don't give a shit how rude your teenager is being. Do not hit kids. Being throttled on the head is not okay.

In spite of the Three not liking Breezepaw, or even Crowfeather, they're constantly noting that their arguments are not normal, and that Crow is a cold, unsupportive father who digs into his kid constantly, and the only time he ever DOES "discipline" his child it's through immediately smacking him.

At one point, the apprentices get hungry, and decide to foolishly hunt in a barn that they know has dogs in it against Purdy's warnings. Once again, JUST like the first two books, Breezepaw is more friendly when Crowfeather is not around.

EVERY time he is alone with cats his own age, he's grumpy but cooperative. Even enthusiastic at times! The minute Crowfeather is in the picture, he's nasty.

Naturally, the dogs show up, but Purdy rescues them. Though Brambleclaw also chews his kids out (and i have strong opinions about bramble's parenting style for another time), Hollypaw is taken aback by the contrast of what a scolding from Brambleclaw looks like vs how Crowfeather reacts.

The narrative is desperately trying to tell you that the way Crowfeather treats his son is not normal.

And then Crowfeather is pissed off that Breezepaw is exhausted from running for his life from hungry dogs,

And he's constantly losing his shit whenever Breezepaw says something as innocuous as "dad im hungry"

Then, Breezepaw is made to watch his dad pine over the grave of a woman who died long before Crowfeather was even considering his mother for a mate. What he feels is jealousy, because he knows his own father doesn't love him anywhere near as much as he loves the memory of Feathertail.

This really goes on and on and on. The ENTIRE trip is like this, with Crowfeather treating Breezepelt poorly, giving him a smack before even verbally warning him, pushing him past his limits and blowing up on him when he asks simple questions about eating or resting.

It all comes to a head in this one exchange, towards the end. Hollypaw ends up snapping at Breezepaw for his rudeness, before having an epiphany.

It's explicit. Crowfeather's emotional abuse, his "scorn" for Breezepelt, is what is driving a wedge between him and all of his older Clanmates. Between EVERYONE in Breezepelt's life who wasn't already his friend. This awful treatment is only making him worse and worse.

Realizing this, she has more sympathy for him, but it's too late. He continues to be rude to her because he feels insulted, and her patience completely runs out. She's just a kid. They're both just kids. She's not responsible for fixing him when he's pushing everyone away at this point.

That's the end of Breezepelt in Outcast. It can't be helped anymore. Any spark of friendship they had together in the barn, or in the tunnels, is gone.

As the series progresses, Crowfeather continues to refuse any personal responsibility for the mistreatment of his son, even pinning all of Breezepelt's behavioral problems on Nightcloud. He is a cold, selfish father who only ever thinks about his own pain and reputation.

DARK FOREST: How these factors push him towards radicalization.

Everyone talks about the Attack on Poppyfrost, which happens in the first book of OotS, in oversimplified terms. YES he is going after a nun and a pregnant woman. I've never said that's not Bad.

But no one talks about "WHY", and that reason is NOT just that he desires power like so many other WC villains. Breezepelt makes his motivation very clear on the page.

Escalating to violence was about making Jayfeather feel the way that he does.

When Breezepelt says that he wants Jay to be surrounded by "lies, hatred, and things that should never have happened," he's talking about the way HE grew up, knowing his father never wanted him, and that his Clan HATES him as a result. Killing Poppyfrost is about trying to frame Jayfeather for her murder, so ThunderClan won't trust him anymore.

When Jayfeather points out the simple truth that what Breezepelt is saying doesn't make any goddamn sense, his hatred "falters." He's blaming his half-clan half-brother for his own treatment because of the reveal, but totally failed to consider that JAYFEATHER'S ALREADY GOING THROUGH IT... so his response is just this pitiful, "s-shut up, man."

Then the ghost of Brokenstar and Breezepelt bounce him back and forth between them like a beach ball for a bit until Honeyfern's spirit shows up.

Breezepelt's childhood abuse and social alienation was a hook that the Dark Forest latched onto, to reel him in. His anger at his half-brother is so obviously misplaced that its absurdity was something Jayfeather pointed out.

We soon learn that it's the Dark Forest who's planting that ridiculous idea in his head;

The narration is SCREAMING, "The Dark Forest is validating the anger he feels towards his father, and redirecting it towards The Three." He's described as 'kitlike,' Tigerstar's eyes are compared to a hypnotizing snake.

This prose could not make it more obvious if it drove to your house, beat you with it, and then spoon fed you the point while you were hospitalized.

At the end of this scene, Tigerstar sends Hawkfrost to recruit Ivypaw. This scene where Breezepelt is being lovebombed, and the command to start grooming Ivypaw, ARE LINKED. That was a choice.

A VERY GOOD choice! Again, as many issues as I have with OotS, its handling of indoctrination is unironically fantastic, and it owes a good amount of that to the outstanding setup of Breezepelt that was done back in Po3. And that setup doesn't work if Crowfeather was merely distant.

Breezepelt was abused by his father, both verbally and physically. It drove him to be more aggressive to prove himself, modeling the battle culture around him. The adults of WindClan judged him based off Crowfeather's responses, shunning and belittling the 'problem' teenager, which eventually drove Breezepelt to the only group that he felt "understood" him.

In a book series that is RIFE with abuse apologia, this is one of the few times that there's any behavioral consequences for abuse and the narrative holds the perpetrator accountable for it.

But people hear Crowfeather's deflective excuse in The Last Hope where he says he never hated him, blames Nightcloud for everything, and just lick it up uncritically.

Gee whiz, I wonder why the guy who never blames himself for any of his problems would suddenly say it was his ex-wife's fault. Real headscratcher!

(Crowfeather's Trial then goes onto, for all my own problems with it, also hold Crow accountable as the reason why Breezepelt turned out like he did. But that's a topic for another day.)

#This is headcanon territory here. But one day I realized I can read Breezy-P with BPD and he became a blorbo.#Never been able to unsee it and it massively endears him to me... Breeze Pelt Disorder...#I actually REALLY hate how his arc was resolved and strongly feel that he should have progressed into a bigger problem #But I equally strongly feel that being redeemed is the ideal ending for him #so if it was between him being pure evil/redemption death or the awful halting we got at the end of oots....#I'd pick the halting over him being pure evil or a redemption death.#I think BB made me REALLY fall in love with him. He's my sweet cheese. My good time boy.#Bones when he sees an angry black cat: ''i can fix you. first i must break you. but then i can fix you''#Like. what i dislike about where he went is that even if your anger issues came from abuse. you STILL are responsible for your actions #but in the end getting that Shitty Dad Approval fixes him. Not his own growth or self-reflection.#it feels like BREEZE gets his agency stripped away for HIS ABUSIVE DAD'S character arc #It retcons in a reason why Breezepelt is not still a problem and then he faded into the background.#while Crowfeather continues to get supporting roles and every now and then Breeze now looks at him fondly #BLECH.#Crowfeather #Breezepelt #Abuse #Child Abuse #Warrior Cats Analysis #And now you know anon!!

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poppy5991 · 6 months

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I think why Endhawks is so cathartic for me is that you have two people who have been through a bunch of trauma and made fucked up choices because of it and are both terrified that deep down that they aren’t worthy of love, that they’ll end up alone, that they are inherently bad.

And they are trying, trying so hard to change, to be good, to be lovable.

And they accept each other so easily. Like yes I see you. I see you trying so hard. You’re not hard to love at all. You are a good person at heart and that’s why you try so hard. I won’t flinch away at the hard, sharp edges of you because mine fit together with yours.

And it hits me right in my trauma core.

I just love them. Anyway…

#endhawks #mini rant of the day #hawks x endeavor #endeavor x hawks #it’s rotten work #not to me #Enji terrified of losing people because he believes that he is not strong enough to protect anyone #and Hawks who believes that he is only lovable when he is useful and charming and putting up a mask #ahhhhhh #and why I love Enji’s arc where he’s like this is it #it’s all stripped away I’m weak and terrible #and his family is like shut up you fucked up but we’re still here to support you #and Hawks who never wavers in his support #Horikoshi just stabbing me with emotions

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xannerz · 10 months

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#overwatch #seeing them yo-yo between taking away and replacing well-received and basic-ass features has been so bizarre #like you strip the game of the most basic features like on fire. after match cards and chat.#and then have the gall to nickel and dime the player base for everything after like lmfaooo #i wrinkle my nose every time i see a paid battlepass/store skin in a match now #dont !!! enable !!!! them !!!!#its a shame too bc you know artists put TLC into designing those skins. i think a lot of them are cool.#but why would i feel like im supporting a game when you cant even respect me as a consumer #ovw is like tts to me do i partake yes would i recommend it mmmmnoprobablynot #let me yell at clouds its how i cope <3

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northern-passage · 2 years

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hey. have you all heard about this. they’re making a squid game reality tv show. like an actual squid games. have you heard about that. did you hear about amazon also planning a disco elysium tv series, and a life is strange tv series? of course we already have rings of power and then over on HBO we have the last of us and then wherever that shit halo show is streaming. and don’t forget all the star wars spin offs whose taglines are “the revolution will be televised” while being streamed by one of the worst media companies of all time who uses their billions of dollars to support bigots in the government and create military propaganda. have you heard about the booktok industry plant? have you heard about that author who gets their agent to spoon-feed them tropes so they can write the most soulless, bland fanfic that they can then repackage as a YA novel (she’s a new york times best-selling author btw) have you heard about all of that?

the creative industry is so discouraging right now. sometimes i really struggle to find any motivation at all when i see the way certain stories are treated - completely bastardized, milked for all their worth (and then beaten like a dead horse just for good measure) or otherwise you have creators that clearly could not care less, nothing but a cash grab with a pretty coat of paint, usually piggybacking off of trends or just using a pre-existing media (because then you already have a pre-existing fanbase. easy money!) and i’m not going to pretend like i understand how all of it works, what the process is from book/game to movie deal to netflix show but i will say i hate that this is the “goal” now, that this seems to be the expectation with so much art these days, whether the creator wants it or not.

it’s all just so... bleak.

#anyways. sorry i saw the squid games thing this morning and snapped i guess #obviously im under no delusion that any of this would ever apply to tnp or anything i write at all #but it's still really discouraging. it's still hard to find the motivation to create in this kind of grim capitalist environment...#especially when it comes to games which are already underappreciated #and i really dislike the games to movies/shows trend #the level design the mechanics the music the art style all of that is just as integral to the story as the dialogue and narrative itself #games are a way to experience a story it's a different way of telling a story. it loses meaning when you strip that away. imo #as someone who 'makes games' i guess.#like with IF the whole POINT is the player interaction #the choices #and there are so many games out there (literally disco elysium and life is strange) where that's a core mechanic #the last of us it's the opposite #the lack of choice and the railroading of the player is a core mechanic #it's not the same when it's just some actor in a costume. the player is part of the narrative. it's important #sigh. anyways support indie creators i guess #personal

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devilsskettle · 11 days

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i feel like i’ve been WAITING for the other shoe to drop wrt people’s opinions about watcher for this very reason. not that i think the reaction is completely not understandable but the greater the parasocial relationship, the greater the fallout as soon as public opinion shifts. you don’t have a relationship with these people they’re just content creators, chill

#ready to see all the people coming out of the woodwork to say how they’ve never liked watcher/unsolved/etc #and act like it’s ‘cringe’ now that their fanbase feels ‘betrayed’#it’s great to have a fanbase but parasocial relationships will bite you in the ass every single time #it’s interesting too though because i’ve seen watcher have a LOT of support as they’ve tried to build something separate from buzzfeed #so this is the first time they’re getting real pushback about a decision they’ve made wrt shifting their platform/expanding their brand #so ig we’ll have to see how they react moving forward #but it’s soooo interesting to see how enthusiastically people dump on buzzfeed #AND how many people dump on youtube and how over the years so much of its functionality has been stripped away #how many ads you have to sit through. how much sponsored content there is now. etc #but when they try to do the same thing with youtube that they did with buzzfeed it’s like how dare you not lick their boots #because if you lick their boots and we lick their boots we can watch stuff for free #anyway.#even if you don’t any to say it’s a bad business decision. it’s not like there’s not precedent for it #1) the move away from buzzfeed was successful and 2) what about the dnd shows or whatever #don’t you guys watch those dnd shows that are ‘behind a paywall’#don’t you guys have netflix hulu disney hbo amazon etc ad nauseum that are actually owned by billion dollar corporations #don’t you guys get on your high horses about supporting independent artists all the time #it’s interesting that people will profess to be such big fans!!! and feel like they’re friends!!!!#but how dare they think their work might be worth paying for #idk. idk. it’s entitlement though #sorry for the rant i’m ALSO not trying to blindly defend a bunch of people i don’t know #but you guys are being soooo fucking annoying about it lol #anyway i’m still waiting to see what their response is going to be from here before jumping to conclusions #also to be fair i am biased to be lenient about decisions made by independent filmmakers vs big studios etc #like everybody freaking out about the ai art used in late night with the devil. who cares honestly #‘they should’ve paid a real artist!!’ idk maybe their budget didn’t cover that #i don’t want it to become the industry norm but at the end of the day i would rather see indie shit getting made then only seeing #the big studios (who don’t have equitable practices anyway!!) making shit #but that’s another conversation. just to be transparent about my viewpoint on this kind of thing #maybe controversial but also can’t we have nuance. for once.

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i-am-kind-of-lost · 4 months

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Shame on Britishers and Muslims for teaching us patriarchy and discrimination

#did you know that in ancient india whenever that was everyone was sexually liberated and there was an open society where when you came out #your parents gave you a party and the king would visit you and donate to you a piece of land #and nobody was ever oppressed and the adivasis were never stripped of their land they willingly gave it up for the Hindu brothers and siste #and there was no such thing as caste system and inter caste marriage was totally supported... NO NO NO don't look at the manusmriti... and #women were never married off at the age of 14 I TOLD YOU DO NOT LOOK AT THE MANUSMRITI #sorry this all sounded hilarious in my head tumblr is dead and not going to lie the pride in forseeing all of this fades away when you #so yeah

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guyoftheego · 6 months

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If you support the deaths of *any* civillians, no matter who they are or who you are, you're a horrible person. That's the end all and be all. The amount of celebrating the deaths of innocnents I've seen since the Ukraine war started has been disgusting itself, but its reached new levels now that the occupation of Gaza is happening.

Stop supporting the fucking deaths of innocent people you fucking scumbags.

#war in ukraine #israel palestine conflict #gaza strip #palestine #israel #ukraine #russia #everytime i see someone cheer on the deaths of ukrainians or russians or palestinians or israelis #a blood vessel gets closer to popping #its actually disgusting that people are allowed to get away with that shit #i dont say this often but if you're ok or supportive of innocents dying because they live under a certain government #you should fucking kill yourself and make some room for the good people of the world

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ask-the-void-child · 3 months

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*holds up bouquet made entirely of cool ranch doritos to annalise* M'LADY, YOU ARE THE SPICY NACHO DORITO I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR ALL MY LIFE. would you like to go to the chicago rat hole with me?

Well, that’s certainly an… original idea! I’ve… never seen somebody try to interact with an unregistered user through a Somebody get rid of this French bastard before I send in the baguetteallion

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merlinssaggyyfronts · 4 months

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on todays episode of ‘wow, merlin is literally this song’. yk what is horrifically merlin coded? waiting room by phoebe bridgars. “if you were a waiting room, i’d never see the doctor. i would sit with my first aid kit and bleed.” arthur is his waiting room. and merlin WAITS THERE. never free, always scared and in hiding, always lying, he never fulfills his destiny- he STAYS with arthur, in their little waiting room til its forcibly taken from him.

also the “know its for the better” over and over and OVER AGAIN, all of merlins sacrifices being for the better of destiny and all of albion. him keeping quiet about his magic, about all the things hes done (nearly letting mordred die, nimuehs death, poisoning morgana) because its for the better. because it was for destiny.

and all the people hes lost (will saying hes a sorcerer in his place before dying himself, freyas death, balinors death, lancelots sacrifice in his place) was all for the better. freya had to die to become the lady of the lake (and like what i think with wills death, so he wouldnt have anyone distracting him away from his destiny with arthur), balinor had to die so merlin would inherit his dragonlord abilities, lancelot had to die in merlins place so he could stay at arthurs side. merlin losing everyone was for the better. and personally i am not okay with that

#id like to argue and say that merlin drifting from everyone (particularly gwen) was also ‘for the better’ because without friends #without any strings attached to anyone. he can focus solely on arthur #which is fucked up btw i hate this show why cant i move on #its like every ‘know its for the better’ and it pans to each and every know its forr the bettterr of merlins life :(#actually why did will even die #what was the reason huh #its like destiny is a manipulative partner or sumn istfg #the isolation tactic yk? stripping away the victims social life and support system so all they can rely on is their partner #but the partner is like… a prophecy. and merlin relies on arthur/on his destiny instead of anyone else #merlin #bbc merlin #arthur pendragon #waiting room #phoebe bridgars #lancelot #balinor #freya #lady of the lake #will merlin #nimueh #morgana #mordred #morgana pendragon

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redrobin-detective · 1 year

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Duke Reminder for when you get back from your run or whatever you’re doing (probably actually running but idk 🤷‍♂️)

Im sorry friend this is so late, it got buried in my ask and I forgot.

I've obviously lost most of the energy of the rant but I'll sum it up with: Duke's origin with the We Are Robin (WAR) movement marked DC doing something different with the Robin title. These weren't specially picked Chosen Ones. These are kids of Gotham trying to take back the city, being inspired by the heroes to do what they can to spread their own light in the darkness.

Duke being a leader of that movement, having met Batman early on (Zero Year) and making his own way apart of but still adjacent to the Batfam. In my mind, Duke would be like cousin Kate, in that he's absolutely a Bat, but he's not like beholden to Bruce and he kinda does his own thing. The idea of the WAR being almost like Baker Street Irregulars, like street level heroes to do good and if it gets too big, you call in the OG Bats. This is the perfect space for characters like Harper/Cullen Row, Maps Mizoguchi etc to fit in. They could have their own separate stories that occasionally link up with the Bats.

Duke is serving as a leader/Oracle like figure watching out for and organizing the Robins. When Bruce realizes he can't stop Duke or the others, he ropes Duke in and gives him equipment, training and generally helps the kids. Because Bruce is looking to the future, the future he won't always be able to save but if he can save these kids and empower them... then they can save themselves and Gotham. So Duke is a Bat, no questions. Its a joke amongst the WAR that Duke knows the Bats personally, sees them outside of costume. He and Jason vibe really well and Dami respects him for the good hard work he's doing.

Idk, I like Duke as a character but I will admit it eats at me that this kind of exciting, bold, progressive new character was kind of tosses aside for the same old 'nice kid, dead/unavailable parents, becomes Bruce's ward, slap him in a costume and fight crime'. It doesn't matter that oh! He's dayshift or Oh! He has powers!!! It's still the same formula. I love making jokes about Bruce's revolving door of kids but at some point it's gotta stop. Duke being his own dude, alongside the Bats making real change in Gotham. God that would have been So interesting guys and I'll forever be upset about it.

#like the we are robin stories are themselves bad #but the concept guys #do you KNOW how weepy eyed I got at the idea of gotham kids looking up to Robin and saying 'that could be me?'#and not waiting for Batman to magic them away and Choose them #they ARE Robin #even if theyre only Robin for a block of Gotham #they're filling in the cracks the big guns miss #and form a cohesive network of kids who are sick of the city failing them #Duke being charming charismatic bold and decisive as a leader #like hes a Bat but he has the freedom of not being a son #Bruce tells him No at something and Duke is like whatever #He has his own people! his own responsibility! Bruce and co are just there as support and backup!#Im sorry thats one reason I cant get into canon Duke #because they stripped him of his parents and his home built community #and threw him at bruce as a sad orphan who Chose him and made him a hero #its just............ its just the same thing #and sometimes god bless I want something different

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julibernardo · 2 years

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#this is a good one!#even now most ukrainians give away most of their savings to support our army #the savings they have been making for years to buy an apartment or a car or something like that #because we all agree that there's no point in any of this if we don't have free ukraine #and our army risking their lifes and health to defend our country #because yet again #there's no point in life without ukraine #that's what 'ukraine above all else' means #it's all the things WE are ready to give up for ukraine #not something we're stripping others off

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machiot · 1 month

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@ruinakete asked:

THE HOUND RECOGNIZED HER DOG'S BARKING AND SHOUTING THE MOMENT IT REACHED HER EARS, drawing her focus from the needlessly worrying attendant at her side to the exposed entrance of the medical tent she currently idled within, heels crossed at the ankles and sidelong gaze nearly dull with a lingering boredom. so, dearly granted, the commotion that caught the eye of most nearby curiosities was, too, the catalyst that pulled her from her seat in the front corner of the tent.

had marni participated in a battle far lost? yes, as there could be little doubt in the reality of the dog's silly whining; and, after all, fell dragon had not been the only bearer of her diverted attention. ignoring the existence of both marni and mauvier would be a feat not even she could accomplish without time, lest she be reminded of how long it took to forcibly dull the impact her family's lasting breaths had on her own.

a strange emotion tugged at her heart, coiling uncomfortably around the useless, unbeating organ at the sight of marni seething and growling before a healer. and almost, suddenly despite herself, her lips deemed it wise to twitch into the cracks of a smile once given only to the hounds beneath her.

it was a mistake she swiftly met with disdain; the difference between dogs and hounds was merely the hand that guided them, and that, in its simplest form, was what zephia had forfeited the very moment she turned her blade onto the hilt of marni's axe.

their eyes met once the healer turned on their heel to tend elsewhere. mage dragon had not hesitated to fill in the space they once occupied, unsheathed claws on her thighs as she leaned closer to where the dog sat. a purr scratched her throat, "predictable, i fear. . . fodlan has weakened your axe grip, darling."

then came the disappointed curl of her frown; the inquisitive mock of her arched brow. "your performance was as pathetic as your last had been. hm, even in spite of all you learned. i even took the time to watch you amid battle!" a pause was taken, two - toned eyes searching marni's face for retaliation, before she offered a smile, "are you not ashamed of your lacking efforts? i would be, if i were in your shoes. barking to get back into battle though you can hardly perform a proper bite. . ."

and softer, in a croon, she sighed, "silly, silly girl."

Marni hadn't even been that injured when she had been unceremoniously hauled off of the field. No one had breathed a word to her about any sort of time limit. What was the point in a mock battle if no one even collapsed to the ground? She could still go further, last longer than either of her idle teammates, but they wouldn't let her back out onto the field.

It was something about her being eliminated, but she very clearly could still fight. Were these people stupid? Didn't they want to win? Wasn't that why they sent her out there in the first place?

It was quite busy in the medical tent and the healer in charge of Marni had no time to spare for her after patching up her wounds. There were many others limping in to the tent in various degrees of injury and no time to waste on a girl who kept foolishly insisting to be let back out onto the field.

The dragon who took the healer's place silenced Marni's yapping far faster than anything anyone else could have tried. Only moments prior, the cleric had needed the help of a staff to get Marni to stop moving, but now she sat still as a statue. Her gaze dropped to where Zephia's claws rested, sweat beading on her forehead.

If there was one thing she feared above all else, it was lectures from Zephia.

"You were watching me?"

Marni's throat constricted. Shame, at having performed so poorly, and that stupid, stubborn thrill of happiness that Zephia had looked for her. If she had known that she was being watched, maybe the fear would've inspired her to hit better.

...No, maybe she really had just gotten worse after that day. Without a firm hand to guide her, she had gotten sloppy, her bite directionless. It wasn't until the blond man had goaded her into attacking that she managed to land a single hit.

"It's not my fault, okay? If they let me go longer, I would've been just as good as I used to be! I'm used to longer battles with lots of people!" Frayed nerves loosened her lips, words spilling out one after the other. "It's not like you're out there fighting right now, either!"

Marni clamped her mouth shut after that last line. Impulsive or not, it had been a bad idea to say it aloud and she knew it.

#🎀 ic #toaboel2024 #🎀 support: zephia #ruinakete #engage spoilers //#//uououough zephia stripping away marni's hound identity to demote her to just a dog check how hard i can cry #//pov failing a test and ur mom hits you with the “i know you can do better than that” :weary:

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butwhatifidothis · 1 year

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What don't you like about Manuela's A support with Edelgard?

I don't strictly dislike the support (though there are some parts I do in fact not like about it), but when I "ass-sucking" I meant more that Manuela is sucking Edelgard's ass for a good bit of it lmao. To go a bit into what I think about the support-

This is the only place ever, in the entire game, that Edelgard acknowledges the possibility of the Church having anything good about it, and she says it to a believer. Literally everywhere else - and I do mean, literally everywhere else - she has nothing but negative things to say about the Church. So it doesn't really come off as her actually acknowledging anything good the Church has done, but more her trying to play up to Manuela's beliefs. I doubt that was the intention, but that's just how it ends up coming across to me given how Edelgard acts and talks like regarding the Church in every single other instance. This also isn't exactly helped by the fact that it's through Hanneman and Manuela's paired ending that the Church becomes under Edelgard's domain entirely, which very well could just be a coincidence but certainly doesn't send me good vibes when thinking about exactly what Edelgard thinks the Church is good for, if you catch my drift.

Even being generous and leaving that more speculative feeling about the support behind - Edelgard acknowledges the good of the Church, never once actually proves what she thinks is bad about it, and in the same breath says that she can't overlook the bad she says is there with no proof just because the tangible, visible good is there. She is being blatantly willfully ignorant, refusing to acknowledge what is it she's doing because she has to be right about how horrible the Church is.

Edelgard then says that she's conflicted about destroying believers like Manuela's emotional and spiritual support. She still very much does not give a shit to the believers who, in her (derogatory) words, "leav[e] everything in the hands of a higher power." She only cares about believers who are strong like Manuela, not like the ones who believe in ways different from Manuela - the """weak""" believers who actually believe the goddess will come help them aren't a blip in her radar.

Those two things I don't dislike too much - it's a good showcasing of Edelgard's flaws imo. Yeah, she's willfully ignorant, and yeah she's pretty uncaring about the weak - this support ties up those two things about her pretty well. What I don't like about it is Manuela's response to that.

She just kinda... doesn't give a shit about the believers who aren't like her either. "The goddess is our silent foundation" and if that foundation is completely uprooted and destroyed because Edelgard destroyed the Church? Nothing. "It takes strength to do what you're doing" oh you mean killing innocent people? And again, destroying people's religion? Well, fuck, sure, I guess (in Claude's words) it does take a certain """resolve""" to pull that kind of shit, but I don't think it's something exactly worthy of praise ffs.

And then Manuela says that because of that strength of Edelgard's, she's an inspiration, she's the ~reason some people get out of bed in the morning~, Edelgard gives Manuela emotional support like the goddess does, and it's. Like. That's what I mean by this support being ass-sucking.

Like, on one hand I do still like this part of the support just because it builds onto the idea of Edelgard setting herself up as a new godly figure for the people of Fodlan to follow, which is an idea that gets cropped up a good few times in 3H. And going back to how Manuela and Hanneman's paired ending has Edelgard be in charge of the Church, the idea that followers are starting to see Edelgard the same way they saw the goddess - a being that pushes them forward and that is to be inspirational in their strength - holds hands very nicely with the idea that Edelgard is making herself a god in her own right. She's not strictly immortal, but she's viewed in the exact same way by her people otherwise, and Manuela propelling that concept forward isn't completely unappreciated.

But, like, fuck dude. It sure is convenient that the one believer Edelgard talks to about religion, that believer happens to be the exact kind of believer that aligns perfectly with Edelgard. Manuela is a good believer who is strong, not like those other believers who ~rely on the goddess.~ I'm conflicted because yes, I like the propelling of ideas Manuela does, but I also would've liked to see how Edelgard would've reacted to Manuela showing more empathy to believers who aren't like herself.

I think it would've been interesting to see what would happen if Manuela had told Edelgard some shit like "you know, it might do you some good to think about why you only care about hurting believers 'like me,' dear. The believers who, oh, what did you say? 'Leave everything in the hands of a higher power'? They're people too. You had better be sure you know what you're doing before you hurt them more than you already have." Like, just a little pushback? Just a smidge? Please?

#ask #anon #edelgard critical #edelgard discourse #anti edelgard #anti-edelgard #just to be safe #basically: while i appreciate what this support does to some degree #i wish it could have actually had Edelgard either think about what all she's doing #or more blatantly show off how she doesn't take actual criticism that well #or just SOMETHING more than having Manuela go on about how great Edelgard is while the girly is literally destroying her religion #this is also why i said that The Fic doesn't have to actually change much about it #strip it away from the context of ''yeah Edelgard is definitely - intentionally or not - setting herself up as god''#and it really does come off as the game saying Edelgard is Totally Rad for destroying people's religion lmao

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