#i don't blames him for how he treats roy

[marvelling-at-marvel-blog]

Another Ted Lasso, Jamirle Tartt obersvation. And there might be a few as I rewatch and blog my thoughts out there, because I love Jamie and his arc.

In season 2, when he comes back, it is his first time back in the locker room. He steps up and apologises, and the team pretty much tell him all that he needs to apologise for and why they dont like him pr want him back. And to be fair, most of them were valid reasons and things he should apologize for cause he was a prick. Like calling Colin a worm, or hitting on Bumbercatch's mum in front of his dad (even if that is a little funny And he probs meant nothing by as flirting and shwoing off, that's just his personality).

But the part that seems really unfair to me is that Issac blames him for getting them regulated, and the whole team jumps in to agree. And shout at him for it.

Yeah, Jamie didn't do anything wrong in that scenario, and he doesn't owe any apology to anyone for that. His a professional football player, and his job is to play the best he can for his team. His team was Manchester City at that time. He owed it to his team mates, coaches and the fans to give a 100%. He didn't get you regulated. Your season performance did.

I get it felt personal and maybe he took some joy in it. (I don't blame him for that eithier, from Jamie's perspective, (which is a separate post I want to make as I think his season 1 storyline is a completly differnt story in his eyes.) He got pubically benched for not being a team player, told to man up and get over himself, he did that and shared personal information and tried to buy into the Lasso way, only to get told the next morning he was getting sent back to Man City. We know it wasn't Ted who did that, but he doesn't. To him, he did what was asked and then got sent away anyway. If I was him I would want some instant caramel too.) and I mean my team I go for has lost a final in over time, after the siren to a free kick and I don't have a lot of love for the player from the other team who did it cause that hurt to watch but I don't blame the player.

So yeah, Jamie owes apologies, and I get the 5eam aint thrilled to have him back at the beginning, but no one should have made him feel bad for the Manchester City game. Jamie also didn't hurt Roy in that game. Roy hurt himself in a legal tackle. Jamie did nothing wrong that game.

#jamie tartt #ted lasso #blaming someone for literally doing thier job #he was a prick for many other reason though #jamie is such an interesting charchter #richmond #regulation still a werid idea to me #the little smug kiss he blows to roy was so prattish #i don't blames him for how he treats roy #they are both mean to each other

[the-arkhamwolf]

Current lay out for my random reverse robins Au

-Damian getting dropped off at Bruces's step and forcing Bruce to take him on as a sidekick; Wing (yeah that's the best I got)

-Bruce becomes a more lighthearted Batman for Damian's sake. After all the kid's been through.

-Wally and Damian meet and eventually become friends (They most likely will have a friendship similar to my Falling in Reverse AU)

-Bruce and Damian grow pretty close until a bad fight over the Joker, which causes Damian to move out

-One day he walking home he sees a woman being attacked. He saves her but ends up getting shot by the Joker (All this happens while he's a civilian)

-Bruce finds his son lying unconscious in the middle of the street bleeding heavily

-Damian wakes up in the hospital unable to move his legs

-Damian becomes bitter toward Bruce and the two have an even bigger falling out (he blames Bruce for not killing Joker)

-Bruce becomes a harsher Batman

-Tim appears on Bruce's doorstep with his Batman needs a Robin propaganda

-Tim comes in to stop Bruce and somehow gets pushed into taking Damian's mantel

-For a good while, he spends most of his time trying to get Bruce and Damian to talk to each other

-Damian treats Tim harshly believing he hates Tim for taking his place

-Damian really hates himself because he thinks he's broken and see what he could have been in Tim

-Tim eventually does break through to him and Damian comes back taking up an oracle-type role

-Damians starts to see Tim as a little brother and enjoys having him around

-Tim meets Stephine one night on patrol and through a series of events gets her to join the bats

-Tim works on a secret project called Titan that only Steph and Damian know about

-he plans to leave Gotham to work on Titan so He trains steph to take his place

-Angst coming up

-Tim gets shot in a scene similar to Batman Beyond; he goes to save a woman only for the woman to shoot him in the stomach. Tim gets away but he's bleeding heavily.

-Damian's on the comms trying to help him

-Everyone is to far away

-Tim stumbles through the street before sliding down against a pole

-Damian is on the comms the entire time helpless as his brother dies

-Steph and Bruce fight/She leaves

-Jason steals tires and Bruce adopts him because no one said he couldn't

-Jason trains

-Damian disapproves but comes around for Jason's sake not Bruce

-Steph hates Jason but they become friends later

-Ra's brings Tim back and Tim Scares the heck out of him then destroys his league (This is going to be a what the heck moment as it is revealed Tim was playing Ra's the whole time and I am so excited for it)

-Tim saves Cass from her father and then trains her

extra

-Tim has trouble sleeping due to nightmares. He also has the episode called freeze outs (Yeah I suck at names) where the pit takes over making him very cold and withdrawn (and dangerous to everyone)

-Barbra becomes Cassandra's little shadow and Cass has no idea how to deal with a child (Which just leads to a lot of adorable Cass moments)

-Tim's living room is always cluttered with projects he and Roy are working on

-Rose is like Casse's big sister

-Damian gets conned into taking Jason to the fair and ends up coming home with an extra kid

-another pairing Wally and Jinx not really a big part of the story but may be of use

-Dick is a little monster who will disappear every chance he gets

I know this makes no sense but I love it

.

.

So either Wally will be there for Daian when Tim dies or Damian will push him away for two years (around when Tim comes back) then the two will reconnect and Damian will be shocked because Wally has a kid.

Reason I want the second one

1- I love the angst of Damian feeling guilty as he relises his best friend has a Daughter and he never knew about it

2-I love the fluff of Damian getting to be like an uncle and interacting with a baby

but also I don't want Damian to push away everyone because that is a lot of angst since steph leaves for a while Idk

.

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Original Post

any thoughts? also what should I name this Au?

#batfam #reverse batfam #fanfic #damian wayne #reverse robins #batman #tim drake #jason todd #cassandra cain #stephanie brown

[utilitycaster]

I've been thinking about this since I started getting tags on this post (which was initially in part about Imogen, but also to an extent Laudna; see the end of this post) about Shiv Roy of Succession, and it was solidified in the incredibly apt comparison of Imogen's powers and the trauma they cause to generational trauma. I initially wanted to cover Shiv too in this, since I agree that in a much more grounded way the same thing often happens to her in fandom, but I think it made the too long post even longer and required a lot of context about Succession, and the fact is that while they share many similarities, Shiv and Imogen are sufficiently different people that an extended comparison weakens the argument. That said, if you are familiar...keep it in mind.

Part of what makes Imogen such a unique character and apt metaphor is that her "privilege" and the harm done to her are even more definitively from the same source than the generational trauma inflicted by a wealthy parent. The fact that the source is a cosmic horror further complicates things, as it's hard to adequately blame the unknowable. It is further complicated by the fact that her mother, at least, believes the way to end the cycle is to free that cosmic horror, and we as the audience do not know for sure if that's true.

Imogen has magical powers beyond what her humble upbringing could have provided her, but, until she receives her circlet, they require immense effort to control. These powers are initially unwanted both by her and those around her, as they represent a profound, if unintended, invasion of privacy. Her isolation is implied to be itself a vicious cycle: she doesn't want to be overwhelmed by the thoughts of others, and so withdraws, and they don't want her to know their thoughts, so they do the same. She says this of father: "No, no, no, my dad's great! He tried, you know, when things started happening, and it wasn't like that growing up, you know, I didn't have all of this. I don't know why it started. It was hard for him, you know? Because I didn't want to be around very many people, and... he just kind of - distanced himself because he knew it made me more comfortable, and...you know, the people in town started talking, and I think he tried to distance himself socially as well for a while to try to, you know. Not his fault, totally." (episode 3x06, 37:35) She later wonders (correctly) if Relvin were partially motivated by not wanting her to learn some of his secrets. She also muses (as we later learn, incorrectly) that his life is probably easier and better without her there. And, most notably, she asks herself why she didn't leave Gelvaan prior to Laudna's arrival.

While the psychic powers are both the cause of Imogen's own harm, physical and psychological; and the damage that invasion of privacy, while again severe, is unintentional; Imogen's departure from Gelvaan is marked by her nearly killing several townspeople. When she returns and speaks to her father, it's revealed that she was aware that she might have killed them. The precise details of why she attacked in that way are not made clear, so it's difficult to judge her level of control and intent in that situation, but the material facts are that she could have killed several people, and does not seem to have considered what this means with regards to how others might see her.

Imogen is justifiably cynical, because she hears everyone's worst thoughts. But as a result she judges people on those thoughts more so than their actions. The problem, of course, is that she focuses on intent and ideology more so than outcome. As Ashton puts it when Imogen considers whether the Vanguard might be good, "There's a bunch of people who are treating other people like they're fucking nothing, like they're fucking pawns. It doesn't matter what the fuck they want. They are doing it wrong." It's why Imogen sees no issue floating the idea of siding with Laudna's murderer: their vision is compelling and she (Imogen) knows that she (Imogen) does not intend harm. But it is a harmful statement nonetheless. That's the problem: one is not always the most objective judge of one's own intent; and that it's very easy to always see the nuance in one's own actions while ignoring how good the reasoning behind other people's actions may be. Imogen knows surface thoughts, but does she know the entire history of everyone whose mind she reads? Are those judgments fair?

Imogen thinks those surface thoughts are enough, and, notably, she will use those powers against people's will to do so, as witnessed with FCG: "I've been trying my damndest to not look into all y'all's minds all the fucking time because it felt like an invasion of privacy. But I will if I have to!" It is a sympathetic statement, since it takes place immediately after FCG's attack...but on the other hand, Imogen has herself (reasonably) scolded FCG for similarly reading her mind without permission, and this is still a surveillance tactic that denies FCG their privacy. To Imogen, the intent is to protect; but that doesn't mean it's not invasive.

Imogen's destruction in Bassuras is very much her being pushed to the limit, and to her immense credit, no one in Bells Hells is injured by it. But we don't know if that's true of any NPCs. [as an aside, if Imogen is not responsible, then Laudna's claim that this is a display of how incredible Imogen is (3x65 at 3:19:34) is no longer valid]. Is this power intentional, in which case under Imogen's system of morality, which is entirely about intent, she is culpable? Is it unintentional, in which case she is still the cause of the damage? If she bears no responsibility, doesn't that make her a simple tool of Otohan? Wouldn't that be worth confiscating or rendering inoperable if that were the case? (to be clear: I don't think that is the case. I think Imogen's agency is, in fact, her saving grace: denying it makes her a tool of mindless destruction, whereas validating it allows her to use these powers for good.)

I would even go so far as to say that this is the running theme of the campaign. Bells Hells can, in a way, be split into two groups: those grappling with both the legacies and the trauma inflicted by one's parents (Fearne, Ashton; Orym serving as a counterexample of someone who follows in good footsteps) and those exploring whether you are the monstrous loss of control or the one who controls it (Chetney, Laudna) with FCG and Imogen - especially Imogen - standing in the overlap of these circles. They have suffered immense loss and pain from these powers and from the ones who made them like this. They have also done great damage themselves. Perhaps they will break that cycle; because this is D&D and they are the heroes, and because I like them, I hope they will.

I will say, because this is within the context of people pushing back against even the most milquetoast criticisms of Imogen, that I recall the gnarlrock fight. In that, Imogen was, among a segment of the fandom - a segment I suspect overlaps with the one now vehemently defending her against each perceived slight - the villain. Because Laudna didn't mean it! Delilah controlled her! And yet, there's Imogen's gnarlrock, and what it represented - she thought it could be what the circlet was - broken. There's Orym and Fearne and Laudna, told to their faces that the person who murdered them might be right. There's the Verdict, nearly burnt to death. There's two people nearly dead in Gelvaan; there's a swath of people whose secrets have been revealed against their will.

You can be a person, who is capable of good and bad and for whom good is an effort and a credit and something you choose, who is responsible for the harm they do even if the intent was to do good; or you can be a mindless object wielded by the controller. Those are the options. I like Imogen too much to reduce her to the latter.

As a final thought, I'd like to share a tweet, which, as you may have heard, Matt Mercer himself liked (well - the first one):

I do not think she is kind, as the above meta hopefully illustrates, but I also don't particularly value "kind" in D&D characters; I am a massive fan of good is not nice as a trope so that doesn't really weigh on my opinion of Imogen. I do agree she is, on the whole, consistently choosing to be good. And I agree with those villain comparisons:

Delilah's love is self-centered in intent, and she is aware of it; "I broke the world for you" is an admission of how profoundly she has upset the cosmic balance. She sees the world, and she sees Sylas's body, and she makes her choice. Lucien too would destroy Exandria for power; he would destroy the source of the power itself for power. Selfish. Liliana and Otohan sell out those who tried to help them, leaving their minds to be destroyed by Ludinus; they, as Imogen states, could be putting at risk everyone who relies on divine magic; they are making choices for Imogen herself without Imogen's input. She is capable of the same self-centeredness, and frequently shows it, but unlike them, does not follow it to the logical extreme.

For Imogen's good to mean anything - for it to be a choice, for it to be intentional rather than automatic, and therefore, of her own admission, good - it must be pushing back against something. And that something is a deep self-centeredness. She is fighting it, but it is there, and to deny it denies the goodness as well. And if she at times stumbles in that fight? Well, as they say, we love a girlfailure.

#ngl did not intend to draw imogen and fcg parallels BUT #critical role #imogen temult

[scoobydoodean]

do you think Dean has survivor's guilt? I'm thinking mostly of 01×12, but I'm also wondering if there's a running theme there that I don't remember

Yes, I do. In fact, I think Dean blaming himself for the outcome of traumatic experiences he couldn't have changed or that aren't his fault is something that happens very frequently, because Dean has a very overactive sense of responsibility—primarily resulting from his parentification (and the people in his life don't always help—sometimes they do, but they also sometimes feed into it).

1.12 "Faith" sets the stage for the entire theme. Dean struggles to deal with Layla not being healed when he is, and how horrible it is that a man died in exchange for his life. At the end of the episode, Dean stops running from the reaper, planning to let it kill him so Layla can be healed, but it doesn't happen because Sam disrupts the ritual before Sue Ann can complete it. (Kya has a great gifset here). What tends to co-occur with Dean struggling with survivor's guilt is the idea that Dean has a job—a responsibility, even—to the rest of the world. This is both why he must survive, and also something that weighs him down with even more guilt in a vicious cycle.

DEAN Why? Why me? Out of all the sick people, why save me? ROY Well, like I said before, the Lord guides me. I looked into your heart, and you just stood out from all the rest. DEAN What did you see in my heart? ROY A young man with an important purpose. A job to do. And it isn't finished.

I've written about Dean's survivor's guilt in the context of season 2—how 1.12 and John's sacrifice in 2.01 are primary motivations for Dean making the demon deal in 2.22. We get dialogue from Dean in 2.04 actually apologizing to Sam for John's death, because he blames himself even though it wasn't his fault and none of this was his choice.

He also blames himself for Sam's death in 2.22, even though that also isn't his fault. The parentification aspect of all of this is screaming loud in the following dialogue from Dean in 2.22:

You know, when we were little— and you couldn't been more than 5— you just started asking questions. How come we didn't have a mom? Why do we always have to move around? Where'd Dad go when he'd take off for days at a time? I remember I begged you, "Quit asking, Sammy. Man, you don't want to know." I just wanted you to be a kid... Just for a little while longer. I always tried to protect you... Keep you safe... Dad didn't even have to tell me. It was just always my responsibility, you know? It's like I had one job... I had one job... And I screwed it up. I blew it. And for that, I'm sorry. I guess that's what I do. I let down the people I love. I let Dad down. And now I guess I'm just supposed to let you down, too. How can I? How am I supposed to live with that?

Dean even as a child felt responsible for Sam, and even for John. We see John blame Dean for his own failures as a father in episodes like 1.18 "Something Wicked" and 1.21 "Salvation", and we see the impact of that tendency reflected in how Sam sometimes treats Dean as well. Hell—we have indication that even before Mary died, Dean was "cleaning up [John's] messes" according to Sam (5.16). We see John apologize for Dean having to take care of him in 2.01 instead of the other way around—an acknowledgement that he knows this has been a source of harm to Dean for a long time... but it's too little too late—and ultimately is ruined by John's next actions, leaving Dean seething with resentment toward John for seasons to come even as he grieves and blames himself for John's death.

Dean's guilt for things that aren't his fault is further explored in episodes like 1.18 "Something Wicked", 5.11 "Sam, Interrupted" and 7.04 "Defending Your Life", where Dean is confronted by his guilt over Jo's death, and feeling responsible for Sam being a hunter, which is absolute horse shit despite the fandom also trying to insist this is the case frequently (see my tags #sam the hunter for a start). He blames himself for Kevin even getting involved with hunting to begin with. Dean blames himself for the havoc Michael is wreaking (14.03, 14.06, 14.14). Dean also blames himself and feels horrible guilt for torturing souls in hell, despite the fact that this happened under extreme duress and literal decades of torture and psychological conditioning—i.e., Dean had no actual choice—he's just presented with the horror of being made to feel that it was his choice when it was deeply and torturously coerced. The very worst part of Hell for him was that he tortured other souls, and I don't think he ever recovers from the guilt of that. He clams up about it after being called weak and pathetic for being guilty about it and then he never speaks about it ever again.

Dean certainly isn't the only one with these issues. Sam, Dean, and Bobby's survivors guilt is all explored simultaneously in 4.02 "Are You There God? It's Me, Dean Winchester" when people they couldn't save like Meg Masters and Victor are brought back by a curse.

DEAN It's my fault you're dead. I left you [Victor] behind. And the minute I heard about that explosion, I thought, "I should have known." I should have protected you.

This whole episode implicates hunters as a whole with serious survivor's guilt for the people they can't/don't manage to save. Multiple hunters die in the beginning of the episode, killed by the people they're haunted by not saving. This is a natural and understandable result of the work itself. You just barely don't get to someone in time, or you make a choice with an outcome you didn't forsee at the time, or you weren't fast enough or strong enough, or you dodged left when you should have dodged right, or you should have stayed, or you "let" the monster get away and it killed again. You are in a line of work where you are probably always left thinking, "If only I had done [insert hindsight judgement here]". Bobby blames himself for the deaths of two kids in 4.02. He blames himself for his wife Karen's death (3.10). Sam blames himself for Ava (2.11) and they all accept blame for the Devil's Gate even though that wasn't their fault either (and other hunters throw the blame on all of them too) (3.01).

The thing about being a parentified child is that you are, by definition, held responsible for things you are not equipped or qualified to handle—things that are too much for you, that are not actually your responsibility, and that are/were entirely out of your control. Combine growing up being blamed for things you did not actually have the power or authority to make happen or prevent from happening, with the overall tendency within the line of work hunters are in to feel survivor's guilt, and you get Dean. Add in that Dean cares deeply for other people—even strangers—and therefore feels an extra empathy when people are harmed for these things he thinks he could have prevented. You get someone whose moments of suicidal ideation are usually deeply connected to survivor's guilt or guilt more generally.

#1.12 #2.01 #2.04 #2.22 #1.18 #5.11 #7.04 #5.16 #parentification #1.21 #14.03 #14.06 #14.14 #spn revisionisms #projecting displaced aggression and scapegoating in spn #do i look like a ditchable prom date to you? #victor #ava #meg masters #cw suicidal ideation #mail #dean the narrative heart #the very touch of you corrupts #john #i dont deserve what he put on me #dean and guilt

[lunar-years]

everyone has different interpretations of scenes, but for real that scene with jamie and roy was just plain sexist. roy seriously said "i don't know if we're getting back together because she's a woman and you never know". like what the absolute fuck was that line? they showed up to her house condescending, completely unapologetic about their behaviour, and treated her like a trophy prize. she deserved to beat them up. jamie and roy have always been troubled characters, but they were never (not even in season one) sexist assholes. the show went out of its way multiple times to establish that even when they made mistakes it was due to personal insecurity and not misogyny.

and whenever it was something misogynistic, it was heavily criticised as such, which, in this episode, it was not. a lot of people did seriously not catch the blatant sexism of it at all and went "that's how these men act" (again, what the fuck?). jamie spent season three being respectful of roy and keeley's breakup and not making a move on her, out of consideration of roy's feelings. roy, who knows how abusive jamie's father is, probably better than any other male character on the show, physically assaulted him. despite the fact that throughout the season roy has been approaching jamie with affection, realizing that's what he needs to feel secure (complete disrespect to 2x08 too, one of the best episodes of the series). and while we're on the topic of violence, roy and jamie were never this violent with each other, even when they hated each other's guts. jamie, who gave keeley a truly heartfelt apology about the leaked video, making a point to not victim-blame or engage in literally ANY other sexist behaviour, just brings it up to upset roy in a dick-measuring contest. and one episode ago, one fucking episode ago, they were all getting along, keeley and roy were obviously trying to get back together, and jamie wasn't one bit bothered by it. they were holding hands on his bed and he saw them and smiled! regardless of whether you think the roykeeley arc was rushed (i do), jamie might have been heartbroken or sad, but he wasn't, not once, established as jealous of them. and this entire season was devoted to roy and jamie becoming friends by slowly growing comfortable around each other and actually trusting each other. every single one of those things was thrown into the trash. and yeah, sure, progress isn't linear and perfection isn't possible for people, but that WAS NOT regression. roy and jamie were never sexist dicks. those were two completely different characters.

ALSO, this scene normalizes the idea that it's perfectly forgivable to revert back to sexism whenever emotionally distressed, even if you are generally not like that in your life. it's not. in reality, you're either sexist or you're not, and doing this in one scenario will absolutely mean that you will be sexist in different scenarios too. nobody in real life will be sexist in some areas of their life and feminist in others. implying that this isn't the case shows a very poor understanding of feminist theory and ted lasso has more or less done a good job at not being sexist. i feel like this really excuses unacceptable behaviour that the show itself tells us, with rupert particularly, has very real consequences that perpetuate violence against women. to me, the light-hearted resolution of that whole scene was terrible and poorly written at best. people in the writers' room typed that scene, read through it, and did not find it weird at all. though it's not the first time in the third season, see: forgiving jamie's dad and far-right bigots (???).

and lastly, when people were asking for a love triangle resolution, they meant something fitting for the year of our lord 2023. healthy communication and conversations, mutual respect and love between the charactets, maybe even polyamory (3x11 had a great ot3 set up, too). nobody meant we wanted something from the fucking 1950s. literally the only worse way this could have played out would have been if keeley ended up with the one that caused the other more damage. legit disgraceful ending for roy and jamie as characters, and for the show as well. considering everything it has stood for so far.

(i'm sorry if this reads like i'm calling people out, i'm not, really, i'm just very mad. and also really sad, because i did not go into the ted lasso finale expecting unaddressed sexism. like that was Really Very Bad. for this show especially).

woahhh there's a lot going on here, anon. For anyone wondering, I'm assuming this is a response to this post of mine. While I don't mind discussion or being called out... this does feel like something that could've very well been your own post or an open response to mine instead of an anon note. Because if you've read my meta, you'll probably already know I'm not going to agree with you on this.

Just gonna drop a few short thoughts because I don't have energy to write a think piece when my broader thoughts are already contained in my original post:

I'm not sure where you think I was trying to excuse their words or pretending they weren't being sexist or like they weren't treating Keeley as a weapon in their own games or a prize to be won. I think there's a difference between excusing someone's actions versus trying to understand where they were coming from for the characters and where they are at now.

"while we're on the topic of violence, roy and jamie were never this violent with each other, even when they hated each other's guts" Roy & Jamie were literally beating each other up in the locker room and brawling right out there on the pitch in season 1, anon.

"Keeley and Roy were obviously trying to get back together, and Jamie wasn't one bit bothered by it." this is just not true. Roy was trying to get back together with Keeley. Keeley wasn't shown to be reciprocal (beyond sleeping with him, which is a repeated pattern of behavior for her on the show, and something she in fact did with Jamie in season one), and Roy misinterprets it, as Jamie misinterpreted it. In fact, I'd argue Roy deciding it was a good idea to try and make him and Keeley happen right there in Jamie's bedroom with Jamie crying to his mum one room over, shows he wasn't thinking about Jamie, not when it comes to Keeley. Roy wants what Roy wants and he assumed he was going to get it. And Jamie went through a whole journey of expressions when he opened that bedroom door, so I don't think it's fair to say he "wasn't one bit bothered." I think we've established at this point Roy and Jamie both love Keeley and have always been weird and jealous about it with the other.

"this scene normalizes the idea that it's perfectly forgivable to revert back to sexism whenever emotionally distressed" this scene didn't normalize anything, because the show immediately acknowledged that Jamie and Roy were both in the wrong and had Keeley rightfully kick them to the curb for it. The narrative was not that this is okay or acceptable behavior. I definitely didn't see the scene as light-hearted

"nobody in real life will be sexist in some areas of their life and feminist in others." i am a woman who considers herself very much a feminist. That doesn't mean I've never had moments of internalized misogyny or made harmful comments that buy into a patriarchal narrative, despite myself. Well-intentioned people make mistakes. We are all works in prog-mess trying to get through life as the best people we can be. Jamie and Roy, in my opinion, are fictional iterations of the same principle. I don't think this comes even close to destroying their entire characters in the way you are implying.

All the best x

#asks #roy kent #jamie tartt #keeley jones #ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers

[ineffablecolors]

hey just wondering why you think Roy reuniting w Keeley post s3 would’ve been bad for him? I sort of agree but also don’t want to bash keeley in anyway so I haven’t talked about it

Heya! Thanks for the ask and sorry you feel like you can't discuss something though I do understand why. I'll preface this by repeating something I've said before - canon did such a horrible job of holding Keeley accountable for anything and wrote her as if she could do no wrong and fandom seems to have picked that up and totally ran with it.

I do love that when reading RoyJamie fanfic, I never see Keeley bashing, as you call it, because vilifying female chatacters is such common practice in fandoms. But Ted Lasso fandom seems to swing to the other extreme where I've never even read a fic where Keeley apologises for something? And you can't even quite blame the fans, they just picked what canon put down - Keeley can do no wrong.

So, first of all, I think simply judging Keeley's actions is not bashing at all, it's just treating her the way every character BUT her is treated in both fandom and show. I think Keeley, like almost every other character, has made plenty of bad decisions and mistakes and, personally, how I react to them is a mix of how well I can relate to her and something else. Jack, for example, was a very professionally questionable decision but I completely sympathise with Keeley for it because 1) she faced consequences for her mistake even if it's never acknowledged that she made one and 2) I can relate to it! Hiring Shandy on the other hand was such a monumentally stupid decision that I could never relate to, so it just makes me annoyed with Keeley and the fact that the show treated it as her just being too sweet and wanting to give another horribly unqualified woman a chance rather than as a point towards her lack of professional skills.

Anyway!! The something else is important for my answer. As much as I love discussing my favourite shows and try to be objective, I very rarely am. Once I pick a favourite character, my opinion of almost every other character is informed by how they treat my favouriteTM. Is that fair? No. Do I do it without fail? Yes. Do I feel bad for it? Umm, no, that's my baby, nobody is allowed to be mean to them xD

And this is how we get to the Roy Kent of it all (finally! christ, this is gonna be long, sorry but also thanks!). Roy's my favourite, my baby, my grumpy, old, emotionally constipated and physically aching romantic. Roy can and has done wrong, I'd never claim otherwise. But I'd still claim he's the best chatacter and one of the best people on the show. And he's always gonna put himself last on his list of priorities.

Which is why I fully admit that I judge Keeley extra harshly when it comes to her and Roy. For brief context - I totally shipped Roy and Keeley and think they were good for each other, for the most part, in s1, I was ecstatic they were together in s2 and still shipped them like hell on my first watch (which was binged with s1!) and less and less on every consequent rewatch, part of me still wanted them to be together and then to get back together in s3 until I actually watched it all and completely changed my mind.

Shall I finally answer your question? I don't think Roy should reunite with Keeley because he gives too much of himself and she gives too little. I don't believe they are well balanced and I dont believe he'd feel loved with her again.

That WAS brief! But if you'd like more detail...

I think as sweet and good-hearted as she's portraited, Keeley is inherently a selfish person. Now, we circle back to bashing and judging. I'm doing neither. I'm myself a selfish person in many ways, that's not the worst thing to be in some regards. But I think Keeley is especially selfish in her romantic relationships and that simply does not suit someone like Roy. When paired with a selfish partner, Roy would just give and give and blame himself for not getting as much back.

I'm not saying there haven't been some great moments between Roy and Keeley, full of affection and care from Keeley, such as the scene at the end of s1. That's probably my favourite moment of theirs. But there have been some pretty shit ones too that for me outweigh the good and, more importantly, came once they settle into the relationship.

As early as their first kiss, Keeley got so annoyed and impatient, she immediately slept with Jamie. I know the show took it as an opportunity to have a kinda feminist moment but can you picture that turned around? Roy and Keeley kiss after tons of flirting and build up, and the day after Roy sleeps with a girl Keeley has a proper (however childish) feud with just cuz she told him she was busy that night. That would've never been fine. Again, I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm saying it's the response of a person who only cares about what they want and doesn't plan for the future.

Then, we have the infamous "Roy is a fridge magnet" episode which I still can't wrap my mind around so gimme a sec here. Your boyfriend is too into you, is perfect (by Keeley's own words) but not giving you the space you haven't asked for. So, instead of talking to him - don't even get me started on people writing Keeley as a character who's good as communicating - girl, where?? - you talk about it to his boss, a bunch of his coworkers and your ex who has an antagonistic relationship with him, and eventually as you're spending time together and he's trying to share one of his interests with you, you start screaming bloody murder at him about how clingy he is. Do I have that all correct? All of this would have been forgivable ofc, miscommunication happens, people aren't perfect, etc, etc, expect... forgiveness was asked by the wrong person. What on earth did Roy have to apologise for? This is the #1 example for me of that show trying so hard to make Keeley a perfect sunshine girl boss that they made 0 narrative or even logical sense. Honestly I hate that whole episode with a fiery passion.

Then we have the funeral shenanigans, which I won't even get into because I think Roy was 100% hilarious in that and Keeley was 100% overreacting (and yes, that's a heavy term to use towards a woman but here's the thing... she was). I guess this would be a good place to talk about their ILYs as well. Roy's ILYs always come with an acknowledgement of Keeley's feelings and his own fault for hurting them in anyway. Keeley's first ILY though has absolutely nothing to do with Roy. She's happy about her own success and he's celebrating her. That's it. That's the first time we see her say I love you. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Roy's aren't better but I think that just proves why he couldn't be happy with Keeley. Every time he's said ILY, it's been tinged with sadness and guilt and self-incrimination. Why would I want him to be with someone who constantly inspires those feelings in him?

This is now definitely too long so I'll try to wrap up with s3 very quickly and mainly the fact that the episode Keeley is drinking alone in the pub is one of the only ones where Keeley faces consequence for her actions (in this case, sleeping with her boss - again, not something I blame or begrudge her for but also something she should've probably considered can get her funding pulled when it ends, see: never thinking about the future (and why I don't see Keeley being successful without people like Barbara or Rebecca but thats a different topic)). Keeley responds to being made to face the music by using Roy to make herself feel better. I'm sorry but there's no other interpretation of their hook up for me. He's just read her a very heartfelt apology, ending with another guilt ridden ILY and then he was leaving. Except she chased him down, not to say it back ofc, but to use him for sex.

Thanks, I hate it.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to the fact that I think Roy was right to break up with Keeley. Not because she's not a great catch and not because there was anything wrong with her being successful or needing time for herself but because they're not right for each other. Roy is too selfless and ready to blame himself for everything and Keeley is too focused on herself and ready to take advantage of that.

Roy is the kind of romantic that would tell his cabbie to date his wife and compose a playlist for the girlfriend who treated him horribly yesterday. He's the kind of guy that's had to bottle up all his emotions forever and never talks about himself with people and has had his fucking watch stolen by his fucking hook ups. He deserves someone *cough*Jamie*cough* who is absolutely obsessed with him! Who will appreciate the things he does for them and the time he spends with them rather than take them for granted at best and be annoyed at worst. Who will make him feel like he's been struck by lightning! He deserve someone who cares about his feeling and frankly, in season 3 at least, I don't think that's Keeley or should be again.

#roy kent #ted lasso #anti-roykeeley #and i guess #anti keeley jones #just to be safe though it isnt really #gods and this is not even half of my issues with them

[totally-not-a-tickle-blog]

Enjoy a free pass to infodump about Roy and his parents 🎫

I am v curious about your thoughts :]

You heard them guys I got a free pass :D

ALSO I'M SORRY I TOOK SO LONG I FORGOT I PUT THIS IN DRAFTSS

Roy's parents

Uhh tw for family issues and a brief mention of S/A

Imma be honest, I feel like people see their relationship as either black or white when it's definitely NOT the case.

Black = Carmen and Richard are awful beings, they hate Roy, they won't let him do anything and would easily abandon him for money, I EVEN SAW SOME SAYING THAT THEY WOULDN'T CARE ABOUT ROY'S UNCLE. I'M SORRY I KNOW IT'S AU AND STUFF BUT,,, it makes me so so uncomfortable AAAAA

White = They're just quite arrogant and that's it, normal life and communication, nothing changes from a basic family besides the fact that Carmen and Richard are "ughh poor people". Also makes me uncomfy ngl, even tho it can be cute sometimes.

Both are ENTIRELY WRONG in my view.

First of all, (most of the cases, not all of them) no matter how much your parents suck, how much they treat you awfully or just are JERKS to you, if they did "the bare minimum", you'll stay attached to them no matter how much you don't want to. In Roy's case, I can see that they already spent a LOT of money on him and pretty sure that it already gave him good time and moments (plus gave him a nice childhood since when he was born his parents are pretty happy), so they're not 100% evil or bad. Plus, as much as he's scared, I can see that he also respects them in a way, otherwise he wouldn't even go through the "Can I say bye? You know, ehh?" scene, if he actually felt FEAR he wouldn't even open his mouth and much less sound that dry to them (personal experience cough cough)

Not to mention that Roy gets angry with people calling his mom a lady of the night, he wouldn't give 2 shits if he truly hated her 🫠

But they're definitely not oh so good either. They wouldn't communicate that easily if not at all, y'know those scenes where you have dinner with your parents and gets nothing but silence or, idk, the most boring conversations ever? Something like that, not to mention the obvious problem with accepting Roy's personality

AND TOWARDS ROY'S UNCLE. MY GOOOODDDDDDD AAAAAAAAAAAA IT MAKES ME GO CRAZY,, /NEG

I explained it before but saying it again, ROY'S PARENTS WOULDN'T JUST??? IGNORE???? OR VICTIM BLAME HIM EITHER?? PLEASE. The most realistic option here is having their support, and even there it wouldn't be all rainbows and such since they're not close. It would get a bit better between them? Definitely. 100%? Nuh-uh.

Carmen and Richard want the best for their son, a good future, a good life, a good job, good school, but they have an issue of not thinking about his emotional state and own personal tastes. Roy obviously get mad at them, get upset, but not now not today that he would say something like "I hope they die", and if he does he wouldn't mean it or would regret. Basically "I don't hate them, but I don't love love them either"

I feel like this sounds more like a rant than anything?? Sorry if it does, but I'm a bit tired to see people trying to explain their relationship in a black or white view when it's clearly not

#spooky month #sm roy #sm carmen #sm richard

[cleromancy]

still thinking about (always fucking thinking about) what i posted here, on mia's explicit on-page murder vs. jason and felipe and how it's treated both by ollie and bruce respectively, and also by their respective *narratives*.

one of the things i loved about winicks ga/ga&bc run in general was like. it was so uninterested in punishment. when someone did something harmful the emphasis was on the consequences--material and emotional--rather than issues of Right vs Wrong. it focused on who was hurt, where to go from there, how to fix it, and i found that especially 🥺 when it came to mia killing.

because the reaction is so compassionate to her. like, no one is like shaking their finger at mia like You Did A Bad Thing, it's like ollie and dinah *both* immediately are horrified by the fact that she's going to have to live with this for the rest of her life and moreover that ollie put her in that position in the first place.

i already posted these panels but. look again.

and mia and jason as characters were in conversation with each other from the instant mia started being built up to be the 2nd speedy--the same way roy and dick were always in conversation with each other (because everyone knows the REAL second robin was the first speedy). and doubly so when winick took over and tweaked her backstory so she was also homeless. (gonna make a post on the HIV development at some point and how starlin openly talked about wanting to give robin AIDS...)

but like. look

vs

*Jason* couldn't handle it so now *i* can't keep him as my partner compared to. the blame falling directly, and rightly, on ollie for putting mia in that position in the first place... *and* this is the arc preceding the one where mia actually takes the speedy mantle! she wasn't speedy yet! she killed someone on her test run! and she still becomes speedy! and she does a fucking phenomenal job as speedy! tied for first fucking place if you ask me and roys my most favoritest and specialest guy!

and like. god. they don't linger on whether or not mia was wrong to kill that man. ollie clearly thinks there was another way, but he's not going to drill that into mias head, unlike someone else we could name, *bruce.*

"consequences, robin, such as me accidentally crushing a man to death by climbing a teetering stack of cars like a moron. for some reason i am heavily implying that this is your fault."

like ... come *on.*

and yknow. a lot of this is just that starlin was a fucking hack. but what we have here is still that bruce would rather bash jason over the head with moral lessons than ever give more than a cursory consideration to how hes fucking feeling.

(which is also, btw, such a stark change from how bruce still was in the contemporaneous tec run or even the batman run directly preceding it where when bruce screws up by not telling jason willis was (probably) dead, he admits he screwed up and apologizes. like, its such a tangible, jarring shift from bruce being a flawed but loving dad into whatever the hell this is. --lets not start on wolfman here because he did a better job than starlin, not that thats a high bar. im not opposed to the bad mentor/dad bruce character development *in principle*, its about the execution.)

but yeah, like, just the way like... its about who put mia in that situation. its about how jason just wasn't good enough. its about how mia gets to keep trying to be a hero. its about how jason is benched (<- he was supposed to stay home in 425; officially benched in 426). its about how it didn't matter whether or not jason killed felipe, because jason "couldn't handle it." its about how it mattered that mia killed someone, because she shouldn't have ever been put in a situation where she felt like she had to.

the discourse about ga 69-72 is always so tedious and always so thoroughly misses the damb point. but putting aside the whole like yes yes naughty jason he shouldn't have done it or at least shouldn't have done it like he did it--namely scaring the ever-loving crap out of her--what happened was jason came to her while she was in uniform (<- NOT EVEN KNOWING ABOUT THE MURDER!! HE DIDNT EVEN KNOW!!!) and among other things that was him going, i'm like you, what happened to me could happen to you, and she said i'm nothing like you and it won't, and he said, are you sure.

but when it comes down to it if mia died and came back and set up an elaborate murderous rube goldberg machine scheme to get to ollie it wouldn't work because the first damn thing ollie would do when he saw her would be to give her a famous arrowfam hug and blubber all over her. and. i mean. come on, the jokers ass would be grass, you know it i know it, ollie would have rather caused a diplomatic incident or whatever the fuck than let the man who killed his kid live. (<- i say kid over daughter deliberately btw. genuinely don't think mia was in the market for another dad after the first one. ollies still her family, shes still his kid, thats how it is. i probably wouldn't be so inflexible about this if fandom wasnt fucking obnoxious about insisting that she *is* and *must be* his daughter, but they are so i am.)

anywayyyyyyyy speedy sweep! wahoo

#dc #text #this was unrebloggable at first but i changed my mind. dont make me regret this 👍 #meta #mia #jason and mia

[jasontoddssuper]

I genuinely don't understand how so many,much less most Jason stans have Jayr*y as their otp for him.I know that there's bucket loads of romantic subtext to his and Roy's dynamic but he was mutually in love with Artemis and Rose in canon yet Jaytemis gets so much hate and Jayrose is a rarepair despite being objectively better ships for him.I don't mean 'they were canon so you can't not ship them!',i mean 'Artemis and Rose make better romantic matches for Jason than Roy do from a writing standpoint'.Yes there's definitely problems with them like how Jason and Rose's past history has still yet to be expanded on but Artemis and Rose are good for Jason and he treats them well while Roy isn't and their dynamic in unequal with Roy always getting short end of the stick.Artemis never tolerates Jason's shit while Rose matches his energy and that leads to them having good balances in their relathionships while Roy just.....takes Jason being mean to him constantly because they retconned him to be too nice to stand up to him

And this isn't meant to victim blame Roy-In fact,my very next point is that Jason's not a good love interest for Roy either.He had DECADES of his character taken away-Including his fucking daughter!!-to reduce him down to a dopey and pervy best friend character to a guy who treats him like shit.They should've either kept Jaderoy or just given him a new romance entierly.Jason deserves an s/o who's a positive influence on him and that's actually a part of his cast instead of getting used as a replacement for his older brother.Roy deserves to have people be kind to him and to be his own person.They deserve better than eachother

#antijayroy #jason todd #roy harper #pro jason todd #roy harper deserves better #robin #red hood #star sapphire jason #spider mutant jason #speedy #arsenal #red arrow #batfam #arrowfam #rhato #the outlaws #anti rhato #teen titans #tt #ntt #artemis grace #artemis of bana-mighdall #rose wilson #jaytemis #jayrose #jade nguyen #jaderoy #lian harper #dc critical #letters from summer

[floralovebot]

Do you think it’d be an interesting side story if Teenage Garth and Donna became real close but started to drift apart after Garth found out she was dating Roy? And of course it’d contribute to him leaving the titans but also adding some internal conflict about how he feels betrayed in a way.

Well... if Garth and Donna have a strictly platonic relationship, then yes, absolutely! The other titans being closer to each other is something that he absolutely feels self-conscious about. And while he's often shown "not understanding" Roy's (and occasionally Wally's) attraction to Donna, I think that also retroactively adds to the problem of feeling like an outsider on the team. Garth often feels like he's out of the loop on things so being close to Donna and then finding out that she might be closer to Roy would absolutely work.

If you mean Garth and Donna being romantically close, then honestly, no. Absolutely no hate to the people who do ship them, but I really hate Garth/Donna..... I mean first just the whole forcing Donna to be with every male friend in her vicinity thing, but it also just,, doesn't make sense from a character or narrative perspective. I mentioned recently that the fab five treat Garth like he's their inexperienced younger brother, and Donna is consistently one of the first people to do that. They have some similarities with being from Different places and wanting to fit in, but instead of bonding over that in a "we're the same let's kiss" kind of way, Donna just understands him and feels protective of him because of it. This is really important to her characterization! She's not nice to him because she thinks he's cute, she's nice because she understands how he feels and doesn't want him to have a hard time, especially when people like Roy and Wally occasionally insult him for it.

And Garth... listen, I don't like killing female characters off just so the male character has a special arc thing. That being said, Tula is so intrinsically tied to Garth's identity that trying to take her away is... it doesn't work the way they think it works. I'm not saying that Garth having crushes or relationships before Tula would diminish their relationship, but I am saying that Tula being Garth's first love is Very important to him as a character. The idea of love and loss of love is fundamental to his narrative. Donna is absolutely important to him, but she's also his cool friend who kicks ass with him, not the love of his life.

ANYWAY, yeah,,, i really enjoy Garth and Donna's friendship!! And I'd love it if we could get back to them being besties and siblings!! While I do think it's important for Garth to focus on how he feels left out by all of the titans, having little mini arcs about specific members wouldn't be a bad thing at all.

However! I don't think Garth would feel betrayed by Donna or Roy (I mean why would he feel betrayed by Roy...), at least,,, not in the classical sense. He would kind of feel betrayed, but betrayal does partially imply that it's their fault or at least that he's blaming them, and Garth wouldn't do that. Instead, Garth would just use this as an example of not belonging with them. He'd turn it into a self-hate "I don't belong here and this is more proof of that" campaign, not a "they hurt my feelings" thing.

#i honestly dont know if you were talking about garth liking her romantically #again absolutely no hate if you do i just wanted to clarify why its not my cup of tea #garth... he is so splorky <3 #answered

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things Runaway Max Review (3/3)

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out my other Stranger Things Reviews. Like, Reblog, and let me know what your thoughts are regarding the show or the upcoming season! :)

Stranger Things Comics/Graphic Novels:

Stranger Things Six

Stranger Things Halloween Special

Stranger Things The Other Side

Stranger Things Zombie Boys

Stranger Things The Bully

Stranger Things Winter Special

Stranger Things Tomb of Ybwen

Stranger Things Into The Fire

Stranger Things Science Camp

Stranger Things “The Game Master” and “Erica’s Quest”

Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons

Stranger Things Kamchatka

Stranger Things Erica The Great

Stranger Things “Creature Feature” and “Summer Special”

Stranger Things Tie-In Books:

Stranger Things Suspicious Minds

Part 4: Billy Hargrove

Those of you who've followed my blog know I've never liked Billy as a character. I loathed him back in 2017 when he was first introduced to the show, and the following years since have done nothing to improve my opinion about him. If anything, I've continued to despise him not just because of how repulsive he is as a person, but because of the never-ending parade of excuses and abuse apologies I've seen this fandom make for every shitty thing he's ever done.

As a general rule of thumb, I don't like abusers. I especially don't like bullies. In the past, I've been forced to put up with people who've behaved like Billy does. People who constantly projected their issues onto me and others because they needed an outlet for whatever the hell their problem was, and didn't give a damn about how hurtful they were being. These were the kind of people who were snide, cruel, rude, unpleasant, and unkind because they could get away with it, and who enjoyed getting a rise out of others because their lives were so miserable that they could only get satisfaction by putting others down. Whatever empathy I initially might have had for them has been replaced with cold contempt, and I want nothing to do with them anymore.

I want to be clear that I recognize Billy as an abuse survivor, and that the way Neil raised him played a major role in turning him into an abuser. To the book's credit, it does not shy away from depicting the abuse in all of its ugliness, or how Neil's twisted values rubbed off on Billy in the worst possible way. I can understand why Billy became the way he did, and even pity him to some extent.

What I am NOT sympathetic towards, however, is Billy taking his rage out on everyone to the point they become collateral damage, and inflicting abuse on Max to the point her life became a living hell. I have no patience for fans who either victim-blame Max for the way Billy treated her, or victim-blame others characters (like Steve and Lucas) for the way Billy treated them. I also don't have the time or patience for people who want to act like Billy's history gives him carte blanche to be vile and hateful to others. It's the same feeling I have for other characters outside of Stranger Things, including the Roy Family from Succession and Henry Bowers from Stephen King's IT: Even if the writers gave valid backstories to these characters to explain why they are as messed up as they are, it still doesn't make their behavior excusable, and trying to act like it is does not make those characters endearing in any way.

But even with all this context, none of it makes Billy look better in the book or on the show. If anything, he comes out looking worse.

He's still belittling and nasty to Max when he can get away with it:

He intentionally goes out of his way to isolate Max from others, including driving away the friends she initially had in San Diego (Ben and Eddie), and later tries to do the same thing with Lucas and his group:

At one point, he goes out of his way to break the arm of Max's best friend, Nate, in order to drive him away (and it works):

This event btw (Billy breaking Nate's arm) is the reason for why Neil and Susan decide to move to Hawkins. Billy, of course, doesn't take any responsibility for his behavior, and instead tries to blame Max for what happened:

At one point, Billy sets a dead cat on fire as a means for getting under the skin of his so-called friend Sid, which succeeds in driving Sid away when it becomes clear just how unhinged Billy truly is:

Multiple times, Billy either abandons Max to skateboard home on her own, or threatens to:

He repeatedly treats girls like shit, with the big difference being he's more open about being a sleazebag compared to Neil (which doesn't make him a better person by any means):

Notably, from the show, he speeds up his car the moment he sees Mike and his friends on the road, and Max is genuinely scared that Billy is going to hit them. It gets to the point she grabs the wheel in order to stop Billy. And the moment Max does this, she is TERRIFIED that Billy is going to hurt her for it:

He also breaks Max's skateboard as punishment for her hanging around Lucas:

When Billy finds Lucas later at Joyce's house in the season 2 finale, Max is genuinely scared for Lucas's safety in that moment:

And finally, when Billy starts beating Steve to a bloody pulp, Max is genuinely scared that Billy is going to kill him:

What really gets under my skin is how Billy knows that what he's doing to Max (and to others) is wrong, and still does it anyways. He likes getting a rise out of people. He likes being vicious to others when he can get away with it.

For as much as some fans like to wax poetic about Billy being a complex character...........he really isn't. His character, and the way he carries himself through life, can be summed up as "I'm miserable, so everyone else gets to be miserable with me." He isn't even unique in terms of that kind of character. I can point to other shows and movies (True Blood, Star Wars, Breaking Bad, Succession, Stephen King's IT, etc) where the type of character Billy represents has been done to death before.

To put it bluntly: I'm tired of characters like Billy. It's easy to be a bully. It's easy to be cruel. Nothing about that makes me remotely interested in him.

There's a rich hypocrisy in how people in this fandom will direct their bile at Susan for turning a blind eye to the abuse Neil dishes out to Billy while simultaneously turning a blind eye to the abuse Billy dishes out to Max. I cannot begin to describe how many times I've seen fans either downplay/whitewash the worst of Billy's behavior, make excuses and abuse apologies for him, or else victim-blame every other character for the way Billy treats them. There is clear-cut, irrefutable evidence that Billy is an abuser, and fans still want to pretend that he wasn't.

In a way, a lot of these excuses/apologies are so reminiscent of the ones made for real life abusers that it makes me wonder if the stans who project themselves hard onto Billy (and become vicious towards anyone who dares to say anything negative about him) are going through something awful in their personal lives to make them behave like this. Otherwise, why are they pretending that a character's actions aren't abusive? There's no other satisfying explanation.

And if it sounds like I'm unsympathetic, it's because I am. I have seen so many Billy stans over the years who have gone out of their way to bully and harass anyone who is slightly critical of Billy, or else deliberately go into the #anti billy hargrove/ #anti harringrove tags to pick fights with Billy antis and then play victim when those people (rightfully) get irritated with them. It's gotten to the point my sympathy for them is non-existent.

You guys know damn well why there are out people out there who don't like Billy. Own up to it. If you want to sit there and headcanon Billy being a woobie soft boi who's secretly a sweetie-pie that truly loved his sister and wasn't abusive to her, that's your business. Don't come trying to shove that headcanon down our throats, and then act upset because we reject it.

And last, but not least........let's talk about Billy's *ahem* behavior towards Lucas on the show.

Part 5: Billy and Lucas

When I first saw season 2 back in 2017, even before the Duffer Brothers gave their interview about Billy, I pegged the guy as a racist. Everything about his behavior towards Lucas, to his comments to Max about how "there's a certain type of people in this world you stay away from" and how Lucas was one of those kids, was a big indicator for me at the time about Billy's bigotry. When the Duffer Brothers later came out in an interview and confirmed he was racist, I wasn't shocked:

Last year, Caleb McLaughlin (who plays Lucas) also came out and confirmed this in an interview:

Now Jason is a whole different character that I will talk more about when I review Lucas on the Line, but it's important to note that Caleb was firm in pointing out that Billy was racist, and that Billy specifically targeted Lucas because he was a black kid. Both Billy and Neil were bigots, and Max even acknowledges this in the book:

There is a whole on-going discussion these days about fandom racism, how characters of color in movies and TV shows get the most bile and contempt directed at them, and how there's a tendency to have their pain and traumas dismissed in favor of white characters, and Stranger Things is no different. In fact, this is arguably one of the first shows where I became aware of how prevalent fandom racism is, and it all had to do with how many people were determined to erase Billy's racism towards Lucas and deny that it ever was a thing. Disgusting isn't a good enough word to describe this.

As for the tiresome, pathetic excuse Billy stans offer about how Billy was really being protective of Max...............Seriously? That's what your going with?

We're talking about a guy who drove away Max's friends, sadistically broke her best friends arm, blamed her for things that weren't her fault, repeatedly abandoned Max to skateboard home either because he didn't want to wait for her or because he wanted to shag the next girl he laid eyes on, made it clear to Max that he hated her and wanted nothing to do with her, was repeatedly abusive to her and worked to isolate her from everyone and everything she loved. But now he suddenly cares for her safety?

I know I'm being sharp here, but the constant mental gymnastics people do to make Billy seem less awful than he really is has caused me to lose a lot of respect for this fandom.

As for the people who will inevitably bring up Dacre's take on Billy........... @scoopertroopers put it best in the post I reblogged from them last year: 1.) The Duffer Brothers are the ones who wrote Billy to be racist (and said as much in the interview they gave), and 2.) Caleb McLaughin, a black actor who has been subjected to racism from this very fandom, has a better claim to say whether a white character's actions on a show constitute racism.

Billy was a racist. His treatment of Lucas was racist. Period.

Final Thoughts:

This is defiantly a tie-in book I recommend buying and reading. It's faithful to the show, and it gives more insight into Max's character. There are parts of this book that may be hard to get through because of the subject matter, but it is worth it to see Max come out on the other side and begin to find a place where she can belong and feel safe.

#stranger things #max mayfield #stranger things runaway max #lucas sinclair #caleb mclaughlin #anti billy hargrove #tgh opinions #tgh reviews #neil hargrove #the duffer brothers

[satsuha]

hiiii i really love your temehika art, this is probably a rly silly question but do you have any thoughts on where there relationship is around stormhail and their reactions to what happens to the other there? idk i rly enjoyed their stormhail chapters and think a lot about how they would handle each others

anway have a nice day c:

hello! thank you so much!! i'll put it under the cut since it's still technicallyyy spoilers also i wrote too much. hope you have a nice day too! and i hope my answer is satisfactory gjfhjka

personally, i like to believe that temehika had more of a slowburn relationship progression and i don't think they had anything interesting going on when their stormhail chapters happen... i do like to think of that as a turning point for their relationship though.

but first of all, i'll always link MakiFigaro's fic about their stormhail chapters intersecting because i think about it a lot... i think that even without temenos having any kind of particular interest in hikari, the thought of being unable to save another companion so soon after losing crick would just be too much for him...

i like to think that in crick's case, temenos was so strongly reminded of roi (also because of his relation to the church) that he was drawn to him immediately, almost too much and realizing too late that he was inadvertently dragging him into danger which wasn't something crick was prepared for unlike roi and jorg... you can see that temenos sort of pieces everything together during the stormhail chapter irt crick's similarity with roi and his little attempts to stop crick from investigating on his own but it's too late at that point o<-<

but when it comes to hikari, i think the realization comes slower for temenos... there are several similarities between the three (roi, crick, hikari) but i like that their earlier travel banters just sort of touch on it with temenos' chapter 2 calling hikari and crick his two trustworthy blades and i like to think that temenos is thinking of roi when he talks to hikari about ritsu in his chapter 2 banter... i think it's at hikari's chapter 4 banter when we begin to see how the way temenos treats hikari is different however, because he cautions hikari about trusting too easily but ultimately trusts him to make the right decision. with both roi and crick, it's like temenos almost feels obligated to be the one who keeps pushing them to doubt more often, but it's surprising (nice...) that he doesn't see hikari as someone who needs his guidance. (listen i know it's because the travelers can't make significant impacts on each other's stories but 1) i'm delusional and 2) i still think despite that, the fact that temenos doesn't even attempt to change hikari's mind and only offers a word of caution means a lot)

temenos' chapter 4 banter is where their connection really shines because they're the only two who talk so directly about how their losses affect themselves together? most likely because the banters have to assume that you haven't seen the other traveler's entire story yet, but since hikari already experiences so much loss in his chapter 1... 🥹 i think it's really nice that the game gave them that moment to talk about it a bit.

ok i got really sidetracked but that's only the first part of your question 😭 UH i'll try to keep the next part short... in terms of their reactions to each other's stormhail chapters, i think it makes the most sense for them to have split up after arriving in the city, and since hikari's banter in temenos' story takes place before crick's death, i feel like he would've been absent for it... (it feels like throne is the only one who was definitely near him at the time) so temenos is uh Distraught after hearing that hikari might've died at the castle mei bridge and especially after losing crick, he'd probably blame himself for not warning hikari more about rai mei's possible betrayal...

once hikari's returned to the group though, i think castti and hikari would try to comfort temenos since they have the most experience with grief. castti already tells him to take his time grieving in his chapter 2 and hikari would mostly just listen and stay by his side, i think...

anyway as per my first temehika fic (desert nights) i prefer to think of their relationship as only turning romantic after the events of the final chapter and epilogue. i think after losing kazan and with rai mei remaining in stormhail, as well as ascending the throne, he'd feel more isolated than ever and temenos similarly loses a real sense of purpose after repaying his debts to the dead and no longer having anyone to protect. that isn't to say i don't think their relationship can't start at any point tho ghjafdjk 20984903 temehikas existing in my head. simultaneously. anyway i seriously did write too much sorry about that hope it was enjoyable to read at least <3

#Anonymous #answered #temehika #girl (me) what is wrong with you #ermm i got sidetracked a lot and its mostly stuff ive already talked about in Someplace or another but ah well

[scienceoftheidiot]

You know what I'm going to say. x)

1923!

Oh do I know ? Do I ? 🤣 What do you want to know this fic is as much yours as it's mine with all the joint brainstorming we did ! You know everything 🤣

I'll reply to you as if you didn't know then

So @qs63 and I (you ARE getting blamed again yes) discussed who Roy would be and what would have happened to him in the CoS alternate world that is basically our real world.

And really... We went a little insane about it, while keeping key points. I don't know what's interesting to reveal there so if anyone wants to know more please ask again - and you can be very specific, we have attributed a role and a nationality to every character (based on their name, or for convoluted reasons in Roy's case).

For those who might not know I'm also a little insane about WW1 (not my fault!) so of course I was going to write this one day or another.

This fic is a collection of scenes following along the life of this alternate Roy AND alternate Riza, from 1894 to, you guessed it, 1923 - where they finally meet the Elrics, the real ones, the ones who are stuck there because of alchemy.

There's a lot more to say but I think I'll stop there and try to find a good excerpt.

The man in the blue uniform is turning his back to her, and he looks small in front of fat old Hicks. The old Major's moustache is trembling in indignation, and he's red as a brick. The man in the blue uniform has very black, short yet unruly hair. He's swearing, a long litany of French and English cursewords. He's gesticulating towards another blue form, lying in the mud next to him. All the nurses that don't have immediate work have gathered behind Hicks, unsure if they can take care of the fallen French man or not. They should. "We're the same rank, Major." "And? Last time I checked, we didn't have joint armies." "Take me in with the German boy, hell, send me to the firing squad, I don't care! Just treat the man here!" Hicks is ready to spit fire at the small Frenchman, when the sea of nurses splits to reveal Doctor Knox. Riza doesn't know what to think about that tall man with his mouth always upside down and his small, sad eyes. His hands and his apron are covered in gore – shiny, fresh – and Riza wonders the number of limbs he has had to cut off today. Knox never yells. He eyes the man on the ground first, and the soldier who is still with his back turned towards Riza. He pushes his glasses back up on his nose, and bends to whisper something to Hicks. The Major becomes redder yet, and looking like a kettle ready to explode. But he only nods. "Alright. Doctor Knox here will treat your man. Now, Major, piss off, before I order my men to shoot you." The Frenchman salutes, his move spreading mud on the ground between him and Hicks, and Riza wonders if it's accidental. Then he helps Knox put the injured man on a stretcher, and turns around to leave. She knew it. She knew it, yet it's still a punch in the gut. It's him. He's covered in mud and blood, and she hopes it's not his, and it's probably not his, but still, her stomach churns. He's alive. He's here in front of her.

Adress all complaints about Roy being French to @qs63 she's the one who allowed me to be lazy (but. Blue uniform, ok? Swearing? That *French class*? Tell me it's not a good fit I dare you)

You have no idea how hard it was to find an excerpt to share 🤣 one that didn't need pages of explanations... This fic will need damned end page notes to explain the history behind it all and the choices we made !!!

List of WIPs, if you feel like sending an ask !

#wip #royai #ask game #qs63 #i'm dragging you with me here sorry not sorry it wouldn't be half as fun without you lol

[shadowqueen402]

Prim And Proper Origins: Part 25

Part 20 is here:

Part 21 is here:

Part 22 is here:

Part 23 is here:

Part 24 is here:

To a normal person, Primrose was no doubt a terrible parent to her infant daughter, Dolly. But in Primrose's eyes, she was 'doing the right thing' by 'teaching' Dolly that she couldn't always get what she wanted.

Ever since the day that she was born, Primrose couldn't be bothered to spend at least one hour with Dolly. Every time Dolly cried for her mother, all Primrose would do was glare bitterly at the tiny infant that lay in her crib before she walked out of the nursery, leaving Roland to deal with Dolly's crying.

Roland loved his daughter from the moment that she was born. But he would frown whenever Primrose would let Dolly cry. As soon as Dolly was brought home from the hospital, Roland soon found himself mainly in charge of taking care of Dolly. He never really noticed that Primrose never bothered to help.

At first.

Time went by and Roland started to notice his wife's not-so-good behavior. First, he recalled how Primrose made him quit his job as a waiter of an expensive restaurant. Then, he recalled seeing Primrose either on the phone talking to a 'coworker' of hers or heading out without saying goodbye at odd periods of time.

Roland was getting really concerned. He had tried calling Mrs. Gaillot, asking her what she thought. But the middle-aged woman to told him 'not to worry about it' as it 'wasn't any of his business'. Then she hung up on him.

This left Roland with more questions than answers. Maybe this is just a phase. He thought. I'm sure that, within time, it will pass and Primrose will give her daughter some motherly love, right?

Wrong.

Years went by. Primrose's behavior showed no signs of approvement. Roland started to lose his love for Primrose little by little. What broke his heart the most was seeing how Primrose would treat Dolly.

One time, for her sixth birthday, Dolly wanted to go to the carnival to celebrate. Roland, of course, found that idea fun. But Primrose aggressively scolded Dolly for wanting something 'unladylike' and sent her to her room.

The final straw was when he accidentally read Primrose's diary. There, he spotted an entry where it revealed the real reason why Primrose married him: to make a certain man named Roy Montgomery jealous.

Betrayal, anger, and heartbreak filled Roland. Tears fell from his eyes. "I thought she loved me…" He said to himself. "I thought I was the love of her life…" He steeled himself to preventing taking his anger out on anything.

That was when he had no other choice. After realizing this so-called perfect life was nothing more than a lie, who could blame him?

In a cold but serious tone, he said the exact seven words that he thought he would never say. "I have to ask for a divorce."

I don't own Madame Prim or her family.

Roy belongs to me.

#balan wonderworld #fanfic #ocs

[brightblessed]

@tenuuchlegch (continued.)

⸻ ⚔

Roi wondered if any would recognize him as someone working with the Garleans. He tried to push it out of his mind, but he had heard things. Stories about how much worse those in Eorzea would treat him if captured. Though, he wasn't sure if that was true or possible. This woman had been kind to him so far. Still, he couldn't deny that he was afraid.

He couldn't imagine her carrying him. He was utterly taken aback by the idea. Honestly, he wonders how pathetic he must look for her to offer such a thing. Despite his body wanting to lie down and rest, he pushed himself to stand beside her.

"I... I don't think it would be for the best for you to carry me." He didn't want her to hurt herself or something for his sake. He didn't really want the one person that had treated him with anything but scorn and contempt for as long as he could remember to end up harmed because of him. "I would prefer to attempt to walk if that's alright."

He took slow steps and he would not blame her for abandoning him to his fate. He saw no reason why she would honestly want to help him. Maybe it was a trap. Maybe they thought he had information. He couldn't get his mind to stop racing.

"Is it far...?" He asked.

#roi at the prospect of someone touching him: no thank you #tenuuchlegch #⌈ ♞ ⌉ ic. || ˟ –––– crawling in the dark #⌈ ♞ ⌉ alt i.⁽ᵇ⁾ || ˟ –––– lightless ⁽ ᵗʰᵉ ᵇᵒʸ ʷᶤᵗʰ ᵗʰᵉ ᵇʳᵒᵏᵉᶰ ʰᵃˡᵒ ⁾

[livv-baby]

{ CIERRA RAMIREZ, 20, CISGENDER FEMALE, SHE/HER } Is that OLIVIA WALTON ? A JUNIOR originally from MANHATTAN, NY, they decided to come to Ogden College to study BUSINESS. They’re THE NEPO BABY on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance. 

“`「  CHARACTER BASICS  」”`

>**NAME:** olivia carlota walton gomez >**NICKNAMES:** family allowed: oli, carly friends allowed: liv acquaintances: olivia > **GENDER:** cisgender female > **PRONOUNS:** she/her > **AGE:** 20 > **STAR SIGN:** libra > **BIRTHPLACE:** manhattan, new york > **RESIDENCE:** new hampshire > **HOBBIES:** shopping, traveling, dancing, reading business books > **SEXUALITY:** straight to the public, privately bisexual

“`「  PERSONALITY  」 ”`

> **( + ) TRAITS** charming, bold, sophisticated > **( - ) TRAITS** materialistic, tactless, fickle > **MORAL ALIGNMENT:** chaotic neutral > **LIKES:** any mexican home cooked meal by her mom, perfect fitting bras, neutral colors, the smell of rain, sky line views, silence, music with experimental beats, second day hair, getting her nails done, sweet smelling burning candles, low lightning... > **DISLIKES:** rowdiness, people that do not know how to handle utensils, things that don't align perfectly, people using or touching her stuff, people touching her hair, PDA, complaints, the rain, loosing an earring, her feet getting wet...

“` 「  PHYSICAL  」”` 

> **HEIGHT:** 5ft > **BUILD:** curvy, fit. > **ATHLETICISM:** keeps active by doing pilates and yoga > **HAIR:** always done, smells like roses > **EYES:** dark brown > **IDENTIFYING MARKS:** none > **STYLE:** sleek, minimalistic, neutral colors, pop of color here and there, expensive > **TATTOOS:** none

“` 「  MISCELLANEOUS  」”`

> **CHARACTER INSPO:** veronica lodge (riverdale), shiv roy (succession), gretchen weiners (mean girls), monet de haan (gossip girl), santana lopez (glee), gabrielle solis (desperate houswives) > **THEME SONG:** oh no! - marina & the diamonds > **MOTIVATIONS:** elevating the family business, keeping her wealth by working for it, making her mother happy and proud > **CURRENT GOAL:** graduate college with perfect marks > **LIFE GOAL:** successful succession of the family business to her, land a spot on Fortune's list for "most successful business women" > **BEST QUALITY:** loyal > **WORST QUALITY:** selfish > **FEARS:** failure, not being able to prove her father that she's worthy > **HIDDEN TALENTS:** she can singgggg. > **SECRET:** come and find out.

all i ever wanted was the world...

Nepo babies are hot commodities; everyone loves to know them, hang out with them, but everyone agrees they might be some of the worst people to be around. Olivia's mother struggled all through her childhood and up until the moment she met her now husband. Mr. Walton came from a long line of business people and he had made a name for himself when he started rebuilding hotels and turning them into luxurious places for those who could afford it. Mr. Walton adored his wife, treated her almost as an equal business partner, something basically unheard in the circle of people they rubbed elbows with. This often made people look at him differently but this was of no concern to him. He had basically rescued her from the misery she lived in; coming from Mexico in order to live a better life is the American dream everyone talks about, but the reality of achieving that dream was basically impossible. Mr. Walton understood and thus, when Olivia was born, her parents made sure the little girl would never know any hardship. Though her parents were always present, there were times where they had to leave for business. Baby Olivia spent time with her au pair, having fun in the many hotels her family owned, meeting many people along the way. It wasn't long before she was grown and was popular in the inner circle of Manhattan's elite. Everyone knew her, but she barely knew anybody. This was her choice -- getting close to people only served the purpose of furthering whatever was important to her at the moment. She had tried modeling, singing and dancing, but nothing really stuck. Her friends were "connections", and she only cared about her family. She had everything she needed with them, why look for anything else outside of them?

Graduated from high school with excellent grades, though not by her own merit. If there's one thing in life that Olivia had learned, is why do the work someone else can do for her. As college approached she had decided to pursue Business to be able to have a part in the family business and finally do things right. After the almost-scandal of her parents losing everything for playing dirty, she figured if she were to keep the money coming and their name clean, she had to step in and make a chance. She felt relief it wasn't something of general knowledge to the public, and it wasn't something she'd be disclosing to anyone, ever. What she chose to ignore was her father's resistance to the succession. But how could it be? Her mother was almost an equal partner. Almost. So she had to prove herself. But who has time to study for tests when there's so much going on? So many new people to know? Old habits die hard.

#ogdenintro #about liv .｡.✰