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beggars-opera · 5 months

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Hey, so we don't talk enough about A Christmas Carol as being at least a little bit about not continuing a cycle of abuse and neglect, both against others and yourself.

In the book little Scrooge is left languishing over the holidays in a boarding school for some never-explained reason, but it is made very clear that this is miserable and unfair, and that his father is doing this on purpose. His sister specifically comes to tell him that "father is so much kinder now than he used to be, that home's like heaven." This also reflects a bit of Dickens's own childhood when his father went into debtor's prison and little Charlie was forced to support his family working full time in a shoe-blacking factory at the age of 12 (which is also why so many of his books seem to have a moral of "hey, kids are people too and maybe we shouldn't make them work in the mines.")

Whatever family reunion happened after didn't work out, because Scrooge continues believing that no one is coming to save him and pulling himself up by his bootstraps at the detriment of all other social relationships is the only way forward. And the more he lives by that philosophy, the more miserable he gets, because obviously he pushes away anyone who has that hope that he lost. They threaten to break down the walls he's built and teach him that a big pile of money doesn't have to be the only thing that he can rely on, if he'd just let himself be vulnerable and have a relationship with people who care about him, because they're out there even if he's ignoring them.

There is a certain type of person still very much out there who thinks this way. "I've never been happy in my life, so no one else has a right to be either. I was abused in my childhood so it's only fair that everyone else suffer as well." We see this in parents who still try to use corporal punishment, and in wealthy people who ignore the social factors keeping others down and scream that everyone else is just entitled, that only those who suffer and scrape deserve happiness. And they especially hate the people like Fred who represent the past that could have been, who have maintained hope for the future, and seem to be rubbing their optimism in your face, when in reality they're just maintaining hope because it's the only way you can survive.

It's so important for Scrooge to actually see the impact this thinking has on both himself and multiple generations. Rich people have this weird hangup about this story because they think Scrooge is bad because he's rich. He's not, he's bad because he's a horrible person and a miser - he doesn't use his money to better anything, including himself. Salting the earth, everyone suffers here, including him. And he learns that he's going to die old and alone without ever having spent or enjoyed his money, and that his family feels sorry for him, and that the nameless masses of poor people out there that he decries so much are in fact living, breathing people, including tiny disabled kids who don't deserve to suffer just because you decided life isn't fair.

In the end he takes responsibility for actually uplifting the people in the next generation who are trying to make the world a better place and no longer punching down, because it doesn't have to be this way. So many people out there just give up hope because things are hard and they think trying to improve things is a pointless exercise that makes them look dumb. How dare you grow a year older and not an hour richer! How dare you marry for love! That's the only thing more ridiculous than a Merry Christmas! When in reality, there are plenty of people who would love to see them happy if they just had a chance.

It's really sad that, while the language used to describe it has changed, these problems still persist. That people feel so wronged and isolated that they spend their days ensuring everyone else will be as well. That they fail to see their fellow humans as fellow humans who are just as deserving of love and kindness and a roof over their heads. I don't care what time of year it is, we should all be lifting each other up rather than tearing each other down.

#long post #rant #a christmas carol #charles dickens #history #books #literature #christmas #who hurt elon musk

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flintoaster · 5 months

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Let's talk about Branches trauma for a hot second-

*I know it was like all silly goofy because he's a cute baby in a boy band and they didn't plan three movies ahead, but that doesn't change the fact that they were still using their baby brother, I'm guessing 3 to 5 years old, to make money and fame. I don't care if your 3-year-old has the most angelic voice on the planet, but you can't be putting all that work on a child so young. That is a child. That's child exploitation!

*Then on top of that, there's the toxic work environment and the toxic family environment. His brother was being bossy and perfectionist, which is harmful to everyone, but especially the child in his formative years. He's a little baby! He grew up to internalize what he said which manifested as severe anxiety and OCD tendencies. That's potential child abuse. That's one reason he has such severe anxiety because he felt like he needed to be perfect. He blamed the family's breakup on himself.

* even before his brother's abandoned him, he was clearly not being treated like an actual kid. They were babying him sure, but they didn't seem to give him enough emotional support except his pep talk before the show. They still treated him like a colleague which is inappropriate if he's a literal baby.

*And then they left after blaming him for the breakup, and leaving him to take care of his grandma! Yes she did watch over him and was his guardian, but he still felt responsible for taking care of her. He felt alone and like he had to be a grown up from that point on. Before she was even eaten, he had to be his own parent and his own support. I don't know where his parents fit in all this, but clearly they're out of the picture enough for his brothers to know that they are the ones responsible for Branch. I know he loves Floyd the most because he saw him for who he was but he still left him. You can't leave a kid and say "I'll be back eventually like bye take care of your grandma." That's child neglect and child abandonment.

* he thought he was the reason his family broke up, and the reason his grandma died. He probably made the bunker not only to hide from the world, but to protect the world from himself.

*Later in the movie he thinks that Poppy is going to abandon him too, and she's like "I can see why you're afraid of that but I'm not going anywhere" and that's why I love them.

Get this boy a therapist. (I love him your honor)

#broppy #trolls #trolls band together #Branch x poppy #John dory #floyd #Trolls 3 #Trolls 3 spoilers

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selfaware-bungou-stray-dogs · 1 month

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Congratulations on 1k followers! Your works are amazing, and you deserve it!

Can you do SAGAU, Ranpo (60) with Nahida and Furina (if you don't do both, Nahida is okay)? Plus a child!Reader still recovering from the trauma/abuse prior to the appearance of the BSD cast.

Take care, and keep up your good work!

🎉🎉🎉

Thank you :)

If you were not alone

Part V

Bungou stray dogs character: Self-Aware! Platonic! Ranpo Edogawa

Genshin Impact characters: Platonic! Nahida, Platonic! Furina. Aranaras. Melusines. Small Elynas Cameo.

Reader: Child! GN! Reader

Warning: English is my second language. Mentions of child abuse, terrible parents.

🕵🏻 Vanarana was quiet tonight. Araja was letting you two stay in his house. Ranpo was thinking about past few days, while you was trying to get dome sleep. You were whimpering in your sleep from time to time, so Ranpo gave you head pats, to ease your fear just for a moment. Ranpo let out a growl. This forsaken Teyvat did everything, to break you completely.

When almost a year ago, back in their old world, he and others learned, that you were a child, they were worried, that "their manga" will scare you. Oh, how they wish, that the manga's events would be the scariest thing in your life.

Ranpo had great memory. And he despised every memory about meeting with your "parents".

Ranpo hated, how, in the eyes of neighbors, they were a normal family. How no one would suspect, that they abuse their own flesh and blood.

Ranpo hated, how they couldn't just get rid of your parents, without raising a suspicion. Without having police on their back.

Ranpo still recall, how you looked when you first met. Scared, thin child, who were hiding behind the door, trembling, at the sight of adults arguing.

Ranpo still recall, when your parents asked for a tidy sum, when they realized that he and others are ready to do anything for you.

Ranpo had never seen such rotten people before. They literally traded you like a commodity...

Bless Karma for taking you and other kids outside, so you didn't witness that scene.

But Ranpo especially hated, the words, your "parents" said to them, after Fitzgerald paid and all of them were ready to leave with you.

"Last piece of advice. Don't expect anything from [Y/N]. Your job in making something out of them will a waste of time. Just bashed them with a shovel. Fertilizers are always will be useful."

In a two month they would prove their statement, when Chuuya and Verlaine would use their abilities to bury that "parents" alive.

🕵🏻 For a year Ranpo and others were taking care of you. They loved you, spoiled you, were kind towards you. They found you a therapist and support you. Small step by small step, you start recovering.

And Teyvat threw almost all of you progress away.

Nightmares, fear and tears have returned.

And Ranpo hated, that he can't completely take them away from you.

He wasn't powerful in terms of raw strength. He was genius and had Poe's book. You two can hide, you two can escape.

But this dumb religious fanatics were ruthless. They followed you and followed you two.

Sometimes, Ranpo wished, that Ayatsuji was with you two. Fellow detective was as protective over you, as every one of them, and "Another" would be a very useful in this world.

If wishes were horses...

There is no need in wishing for something.

Ranpo knew, that you need to return home as soon as possible. He must protect your little sibling.

🕵🏻 When you two reached Sumeru, Ranpo almost lost all hope. You two were hunted, and, despite having some helpers (whose help saved your lives), it doesn't change the fact, that powerful of this world hated you. They hated a child, Ranpo's little sibling.

They were trying to KILL a CHILD by the order of ANOTHER CHILD!

Ranpo's thought were interrupted by a jingle. A little sphere, that Nahida gave him, glow. Soon he heard Dendro Archon's voice.

"Ranpo? Is everything alright?"

Ranpo didn't recognize his voice, when he spat.

"[Y/N], before going to bed, asked if I can deduct, why they deserved to suffer."

Nahida wasn't answering for some time. When she spoke, her voice was soft.

"Ranpo... They are trying to find meaning in suffering. I think, for all their live, they heard, that bad things happens to bad people. And they knew, that they are good. So why..."

Nahida didn't finish the sentence. She doesn't need to.

Ranpo was quiet. He pet your head, when you whimpered in your sleep again.

Nahida spoke again.

"I asked Aranaras to help [Y/N] with nightmares... They will enter her dreams any moment now. Before that, let's discuss, what I have learned today about Alice's whereabouts."

🕵🏻 In Sumeru, Ranpo's hope bloomed again. Nahida was really helpful. And, thanks for Aranaras' help, your nightmares disappeared. Maybe, you two could peacefully stay in Sumeru, until Alice's next visit?

Ranpo hopped, that it would be the case.

This hopped disappeared in flames, that destroyed Vanarana.

🕵🏻 Merusea Village reminds you and Ranpo about Vanarana. Place, where some strange creatures lived, who were helping hiding you, and local (former) archon, who was helping them.

Ranpo was really grateful for that. Melusines were guarding you two, making sure, that you two are safe. Ranpo heard, how one melusine mentioned, that "father" also wanted to keep you safe.

Furina wasn't a master fighter, but something in her made you feel less afraid. She console you and bring sweets for you and Ranpo.

🕵🏻 Ranpo and Furina were eating their cakes, while you were playing with melusines. Ranpo can't help, but smile through tears. You looked happy. Furina spoke.

"I am glad, that [Y/N] are happy again. Even for a moment..."

Furina's gaze harden.

"And people are asking why I wish, that this creature on the Ivory Throne just rot away. For "The Holiness" sake, people lose every bit of empathy and mind."

Ranpo nodded.

"When we found a way to our world... Our friends might visit this place again. To have a small "talk" about kindness and kids..."

Furina nodded in return.

"Don't forget to punch someone of the Holy Guard for me."

🕵🏻 In a few days, Neuvillette found you. Dragon was ready to destroy the village. Melusines, he was found of. Furina, whose sacrifice saved Fontaine. Ranpo, who wanted to protect you. And you. A simple child, who already had enough violence in your life.

But, some power hold him down.

You were hiding. You wanted to protect Ranpo, Furina and melusines. You wanted to save Nahida and Aranaras.

You wanted to go home.

Your emotions and powers reached their peak.

And The Great Beast Elynas gave you all his powers, so you could reach Nahida's and Aranaras' prisons.

Portal was open.

______

👘🗡️ Fukuzawa expect, that he will find you and Ranpo tied up in some criminals' lair.

Not in their barn, after small earthquake and surrounded by a bunch of vegetable things, faun people, kid with white hair and girl dressed in blue and with a top hat.

🕵🏻 There is a lot of work to do. Nahida, Aranaras, Furina and Melusines heed help adjusting to new world. You need even more support and kindness. But Ranpo wasn't afraid of it. He will help you. He will make sure, that his little sibling will never cry or suffer ever again.

______

Tag list: @withered-blossoms , @myluckymoon @cocodrilofeliz @c4xcocoa @vvyeislazzy @whisperingwinters

#self-awarebsd #self-awareau #bungou stray dogs au #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd anime #bsd x gender neutral reader #gender neutral reader #platonic #Self-Aware Ranpo Edogawa #sagau impostor au #imposter sagau #genshin impact sagau #genshin sagau #sagau #imposter au

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furiousgoldfish · 2 months

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If you're often wondering why do abusers do this to kids, and why they don't change their behaviour even when it's pointed out, I have a few insights to share.

I believe abuse is an easy way for people to get out of parenting their own kids, while still getting credit as if they're doing it. And even more, they get special privileges and resources that normal parents wouldn't try to get, because the price of them is too high for the children to pay.

For instance, in order to take care of a child, you have to deal with their development needs; meaning you need to be educated enough about human development to know why the child is acting the way they do, you need to know if they need guidance, support, boundaries, stability, schedules, or entertainment, fun, play-time, attention, comforting, more resources, more interaction. You also need to deal with their random behaviours, like children will sometimes get loud and careless, break stuff, cause damage, turn against you, get sick, get into bad moods, get sulky, throw tantrums, get stuck in bad groups of people or be predated upon, have trouble at school, wander off, develop mental illness, and as a parent, you are expected and required to be there for all of that, on top of regularly caring that they're well-fed, bathed, that they have fitting and functional clothing, that they're well socialized, and that their living condition is clean and functional enough for them to be happy and safe.

Now, if you're an abuser, and your child is struggling or giving you any of the random behaviours that annoy you, and you lash out at them, tell them nobody is ever going to love them, threaten to 'give them a reason to cry', yell at them until they get frozen in shock and pain, they're not going to come to you next time for help. In fact, it's unlikely they'll feel safe around you to exhibit half of their normal behaviour, instead they'll be sheepish and too scared they'll accidentally annoy you, so you won't have to hear about their day, their bad moods, their worries, their loudness, them making any trouble for you; in fact, your mental energy will be yours only and you will effectively not have to emotionally raise a child anymore, it will be just another human who is too scared of you to ask you to fulfill any of your parental duties.

What about when your child is sick? You know you have to care for your sick child. Except, you're an abuser, so to you this is a drain on your energy and you'd rather not have to deal with it, because a child to you is not a real person but an object that is in your way. So, you yell at your child that they got sick on purpose because they hate you, you tell them it because they did 'x' and 'y' (which they maybe did because you failed to watch out for them) and inform them that you will not be taking them to the hospital. Now your child will not expect any care while they're sick, and in fact, they'll be too scared to even come to you next time they're sick. Again, you got out of childcare and have all of your energy for yourself, at the expense of your child's health.

If you continually call your child a financial burden, ask them when they're going to pay rent, force them to work in order to deserve to eat and sleep at your house, complain about how 'money doesn't grow on trees', then your child will be too scared and ashamed to confess when their things are broken, clothes no longer fitting or torn, their shoes too small or breaking apart, their hygiene products at their end, or for anything they might like or want from the store. Now your child will try to make ends meet on their own, and you can financially save up and buy yourself what you like, and then buy the kid something when it's convenient for you, maybe for like a birthday present. Maybe at this point you are starting to see that if your child runs around looking very rugged, people are going to notice the visible lack of care, so you either make sure the kid does have some new-looking clothes, or, you tell the kid explicitly what they're allowed to wear outside, to not bring shame on you and the entire family, once again putting the responsibility on the child to look 'cared for', while you do almost absolutely nothing to make it a reality.

Now you're having a child who is, out of deep-seated fear of you, acting politely and socialized in company, giving you ever chance to pretend that you care for them daily, while you're effectively living as if you didn't have a child at all. But maybe that's not enough for you. Maybe, you also want to use that child to earn money as well; after all, they're scared of you and will do as you say. You can put them up to any kind of labour and call it 'chores', and tell them you're just 'teaching them work habits', while they're doing your part of household chores, heavy physical labour, maybe even your job, if they're good at it.

But maybe this is not the area where you need assistance, but you're looking for a free, non-judgmental therapist who will be on your side completely and never dare to call you out or confront you - and voila, this child is so desperate to make any sort of connection to you, they'll carefully listen to all of your woes and trauma, even when it's deeply inappropriate for them to hear it, and they'll of course, be on your side as you're the only person in the story they care about, so you can cry to them as much as you want and even encourage them to fix you, to run around looking for ways to cheer you up, make your life easier to you, influence other people to give you what you want. And if they ever dare to stand up to you or defy you, you can just snap at them and call them something that makes their blood freeze in shock and they'll back down and become even more obedient.

Neat, isn't it? Not only you don't need to parent this child anymore, but you can draw any kind of benefit out of them, groom them into any kind of behaviour, extract physical and emotional labour from them, take their anger out of them, control their life so it benefits you and not them, all while convincing them it's their duty to give it to you.

As a result, you will be untouched by the chore of parenting, and your child will grow into a terrified, deeply insecure, always wondering why they're not enough, never feeling good enough, neglected but not aware of it, hyper-independent, ashamed, desperate, unloved, depressed, traumatized, engulfed by grief and loneliness, never understanding why their own parent didn't want them, care-deprived adult. Because it's all that effort, all that responding to child's needs, all that attention and care and warmth and energy put into a child, that is necessary for them to have proof that they're a worthwhile human being, that they're not only alive to be filled with emptiness and serve others.

But that's also why the abusive parents will never stop what they're doing. The benefits they get by abuse far outweigh the cost (the cost being the well being of their child, to them cost is zero), so they will not suddenly become willing to do the job of parenting, after they've spent so much time successfully avoiding it, and only put the energy into gaslighting the child into believing this is normal.

This is also why they put so much effort into making the child dependent on them, and sabotaging the potential escape - they're benefiting from having that child around, they're actively extracting what ever they want from this young person that they barely have to cover the living cost for, who doesn't know or understand how many of their human rights are being violated. There's truly no easier way to isolate, trap, groom, brainwash and then control a person.

#benefits of abuse #child abuse #abusive parents #why abusers do it #what do abusers gain by abusing #psychological abuse #emotional abuse #why do they do that #why abusers abuse #benefits of abusive behaviour #consequences of abuse

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gothhabiba · 9 months

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can i ask for you to elaborate on your issue(s) with those 'male positivity' posts? is it with the whole sentiment, or just with the "you're allowed to be angry" part? i agree w "you're allowed to be angry" being an oblivious at best statement. but i don't see any issue with the first two statements themselves (the "OP says..." and "commenter says...")

yeah so I already talked about some of this in the tags to those posts but sure, let's get into it.

OP says "if you’re a boy with a mental illness, a boy with a disability, a boy with a history of abuse, a boy who has an eating disorder, a boy with trauma, I need you to know that you are not a burden, that you don’t need to 'harden up', that you shouldn’t just have to 'get over it,' and that you are very brave" commenter says "once I transitioned I saw the change in people being like ‘Oh you poor thing I hope you’re coping alright’ to ‘Just get over it and man up’. Men, you’re allowed to suffer."

the implication of the original post is that men with these issues are told to 'toughen up' or 'get over it,' and conversely that women are not. the commenter then makes this subtext explicit by outright saying that people reacted more sympathetically to his trauma when they read him as a woman than when they read him as a man (at which point they switched to "just get over it"). the OP responds favourably to this addition, proving that the subtext "women don't experience this" was in fact subtext that they intended to be there.

I hope I don't have to explain how utterly absurd it is to claim that women have it easier in this regard, or that their emotions are granted more leeway or sympathy in any meaningfully systematic way. that is just MRA logic.

of course people's ideas about suffering, endurance, trauma, & emotion are gendered! people really do say things about how boys and men should just toughen up and not cry, &c. &c. MRAs, like a lot of other reactionary groups (like TERFs and SWERFs, or antisemites / white supremacists / conspiracy theorists who understand that something's not right with the economy but end up blaming 'minorities' instead of capitalists), take an idea with some truth in it somewhere, but twist it around into a conclusion that the idea in question does not entail on its own (here, "women are allowed to express emotion and garner sympathy by doing so") in a way that leads to resentment, disdain, & hatred for a marginalised group.

so, if it's true that (negative) emotion is thought of as a feminine weakness, why doesn't that translate to women being "allowed" to experience and express emotion, while men are not? for one thing, race has a lot to do with this—the myth of the Black "superwoman," for example, praises Black women for being (read: expects them to be) "tough," "strong," "brave," endless wellsprings of emotional / physical / financial support for others while requiring and receiving no support themselves. the assertion that women receive sympathy for their suffering thus reveals a serious ignorance of Black feminist thought on the part of the person making it.

for another thing, displays of emotion (mostly "negative" emotion, such as sadness) being thought of as primarily feminine means that women have to take especial care to avoid them in many circumstances, not that they're able to freely indulge in them! women's supposed heightened emotionality means that they're less likely to be thought of as capable of serious work, less likely to be promoted or hired, more likely to be financially and professionally penalised for any time they do display any negative emotion (or, rather, the other way around—the myth of women's heightened emotionality is used as an excuse to suppress women's earning potential & make them financially dependent on, and thus exploitable by, men).

on an interpersonal level, you're highly likely as a woman (and especially as a woman of colour) to have fairly mild displays of emotion be interpreted as hysteria, extreme anger, irrationality, volatility. you're highly likely to have your allegations of abuse disbelieved.

on an institutional level, you're highly likely to receive disdain and contempt if you engage in disordered eating habits or try to seek help for them, to have a request for help denied or neglected (disordered eating is just, sort of, what women do). you're also more likely to have a request for help turn into involuntary institutionalisation or psychiatric abuse (a lot of work has been done on the relationship between psychiatry and gender).

also on an institutional level, you are less likely to be believed about the pain you are in as a disabled, chronically ill, or otherwise sick woman (again, especially a woman of colour). you are less likely to receive medical care. you are less likely to have anyone give a shit about the pain you're in, since women are so emotional and melodramatic that you are probably exaggerating, and anyway, being in pain is just sort of women's natural state. you are certainly very unlikely to get any kind of medical care if you're a middle-class cisgender white (read: desirable) woman of 'childbearing age' & the extreme pain that you're in would require risk to your fertility to treat.

there's so much more I could go into here. the basic idea is that properly analysing the relationship between emotion, communication, trauma, abuse, race, class, gender, and the uses of rhetoric that references any of the above (e.g. "boys don't cry") is an enormous undertaking. any claim that implies that women (which women?) wholesale receive more sympathy than men (which men?) do for abuse or other pain that they experience, or that they are more free to express that pain, is both inconsistent with reality on a base level, and incredibly irresponsible. the fact (if it's even true) that "girls" are punished less for crying than "boys" does not a whole picture make.

and, like, think about it. we're living in a patriarchy wherein women are expected to care for and sympathise with men, to forgive men for varied wrongdoings in the family & in romantic relationships, to coddle them in order to avoid or appease their anger, to perform (depending on their class position) various kinds of domestic labour and social / planning work for men without recompense, acknowledgement, or thanks (because knowing how to do and plan housework is just, like, women's natural state of being)—a system where the family and the home faciliate and cover for mass amounts of traumatisation and abuse, including sexual abuse, of girls and women—a system wherein trans women are highly likely to be traumatised and yet disciplined out of expressions of anger or upset under threat of social exile—a system wherein cisgender women cannot be allowed to become too wary of or angry at men (read: too unwilling to continue marrying them and performing a significant role in the social reproduction of their class). how on earth could such a system also enable (rather than allowing for occasional escape valves for, but mostly seeking to supress or transform) women's free expression of upset, sadness, trauma, anger...?

this is the same kind of logic that leads people to believe and spread nonsense such as "people believe women who come forward about being abused and not men," which is just demonstrably inconsistent with everything that we can observe about reality.

#Anonymous #questions #gender

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fandomxpreferences · 1 year

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Living In A Moment You Would Die For (Part 2 of Dirty Little Secret)

Masterlist

Pairing:Rafe Cameron x pogue!reader

TW:angst, violence, mild abuse (fuck you, Ward), I think thats all

Summary: Rafe hashes it out with Ward, and luckily you show up to save the day.

Word Count:2.2k

A/N:Dark Rafe AND soft Rafe? we love the duality

"Have you lost your fucking mind? Do you have any idea what this is going to do to our image?"

Rafe is standing stoically, an unmoving force as his father's rage whips around him like a hurricane. You both decided it's best for him to address it alone; who knows what Ward would do if you were there.

On any given day, you could find Rafe cowering before his father; no more than the scared child that has always tried to get out as unscathed as possible.

However, it seems Rafe's protective instincts over you are the only thing stronger than his fear, and for the first time, he's confronting his father as a man.

Rafe shrugs casually, his hands slotted in his front pockets, as his mouth turns downwards to express disinterest.

"I don't care."

Rose places her head in her hands, stress consuming her while Ward looks like he's about to explode.

"What do you mean you don't care? Rafe, you're jeopardizing our position as the most powerful family in Outer Banks. You're threatening our life that I busted my ass to build!"

Ward nearly hits him when he has the gall to smile, Rafe's hand coming up to wipe at the corner of his mouth as he turns away.

"Your life and position. Not mine. She is my life and future, not you."

Ward is shaking with anger, and for once the tables are turned as Rafe holds control over the situation. He's been at his father's mercy his entire life, completely powerless and unable to make his own choices.

Now, it's his father that is left floundering, unable to do anything to change the outcome.

"Rafe, so help me God I will-"

At this Rafe whips around and stalks forward, now mere inches from his father as he glowers down at him.

"You'll what? The next words out of your mouth better not even resemble a threat or you'll see just how much of a monster you created, Ward. Isn't so fun when you're the one helpless, is it?"

The darkness that he tries so hard to keep at bay is starting to consume him, overtaking his senses and muddling his decision-making skills. He's dangerous when he's like this, but this time he doesn't fight it.

He lets it take over, his ocean blue irises just a thin rim around his blown-out pupils as he takes ragged breaths. He silently hopes that his father chooses his next words carefully because he's fairly certain if there's even the slightest threat to your safety he'll strangle him.

He knows for a fact he wouldn't feel the slightest bit of remorse.

"Son-"

Rafe cuts him off, the beast that sleeps inside him wide awake and looking for blood.

"Don't call me that!"

His voice booms, so deep it's barely recognizable, and bounces off the walls. Whatever demons lurk under the surface of Ward's practiced composure were passed onto him, and grew tenfold.

He is his father's son, a new and improved lethal force. He inherited Ward's psychotic tendencies, and the patriarch left one thing unaccounted for.

His son was born with a storm brewing inside of him, yet lacked the love and support to calm it. Years of neglect and mounting pressure amplified the damage, feeding the devil that resides deep in his chest until it ripped its way to freedom.

A lifetime of corruption and inadequacy is enough to drive someone mad, and Ward has been living inside a guarded bubble, blissfully ignorant to what his only son is capable of.

It's all crashing down on him now, no longer allowing him the comfort of turning the other cheek.

"I've begged for help for years. You are not going to take away and ruin the one thing that makes me feel like I'm not a waste of space! I pissed away a year with the love of my life because of you. If it's between you and her, fucking trust me when I say that I will choose her."

His voice is unnervingly quiet now, more akin to a growling animal than a human. Ward swallows, desperately trying to appear unbothered. Deep down he knows the only thing more alarming than a screaming Rafe is a quiet Rafe.

"Try all you want, Rafe. I'm not afraid of you."

Rafe laughs, and Ward would be lying if he said it didn't send a shiver up his spine.

"You should be. You painted me as the villain before I even knew what the word meant. Maybe it's time I fill those shoes."

Ward blinks a few times, taken aback at the sincerity in his son's voice.

"I'm your father, Rafe."

The younger Cameron purses his lips and nods, taking a step back.

"Why do you think you're still alive?"

Ward is struck silent; genuinely at a loss for words as Rafe licks his lips and places a bruising hand on his shoulder.

"Here's what's going to happen. You're going to give us your blessing and stay the fuck out of our relationship. You will be nice to her and welcome her to the family because whether you like it or not, she's going to carry the Cameron name one day."

Against his better judgment, Ward scoffs and shoves his son back.

"Or what?"

Rafe doesn't retaliate, instead crossing his arms over his chest and shrugging.

"Or I'll tell Shoupe that you killed Big John."

Ward blanches at the promise and takes a menacing step forward.

"You wouldn't do that. You're still my child, and you wouldn't dare put me behind bars."

Rafe's gaze is unwavering as he stares directly into his father's eyes, and he nods.

"Is that gamble you're willing to make?"

Ward's eyes are nearly black now, bearing a striking resemblance to the man in front of him. Like father like son.

"He wouldn't believe you. No one would."

Normally the statement would cause Rafe to back down; erase any fight he had left in him. He's too far gone now, images of you flashing through his mind. Before he fell in love with you, his family and the promise of inheriting the business were all he had.

Rafe always thought there was nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose. Now he's intimately aware of the truth; there's nothing more dangerous than a man with something to lose.

A man with someone to live for, and to protect. That someone is you.

A man that doesn't fear death will play fast and loose with his life; he'll lie down and accept defeat when backed into a corner because he has no reason to keep going.

But a man that wants to live? He'll do anything to keep breathing; he'll fight until his knuckles are bloody and bruised, until every fiber of his being begs him to succumb, and then he'll fight some more.

"Then I'll tell John B. How do you think he and his friends will react to finding out Ward Cameron murdered his father in cold blood? Personally, I think they'll want an eye for an eye."

Ward's hand flies up to Rafe's throat, an unrelenting grip restricting his airflow. Glass shatters on the hardwood floor when Rafe shoves him back against the table, his father's neatly pressed cashmere button down crushed between his fingers.

He's a split second away from connecting his fist to his father's jaw when everything stops. Your saccharine voice floats to his ears and all the chaos, all the violence that has been clawing at his throat and making his knuckles tingle with the desire to be let out, dissipates.

In an instant, the storm clears and sunshine beams within his soul. The raging wildfire is snuffed out and in its place something even brighter; A love and airy lightness that sets him ablaze in an entirely different way, and fills his lungs with desperately needed oxygen.

"Baby? What are you doing here?"

Rafe releases his punishing grip and turns to face you, his hands that are capable of such devastating destruction and usually stained crimson now aching to pull you close.

Ward's eyebrows pinch together, a look of sheer bewilderment taking over his features as he observes his son's jarring change in demeanor. Rafe's voice is soft as summer rain, a stark contrast to the venom dripping off his tongue just a few seconds ago.

Your eyes flit between him and his father, taking in the situation as the wheels turn in your head. You figure out what's going on almost immediately; your concerned expression turning to one of understanding.

You take a tentative step forward, locking eyes with your boyfriend. He knows that you know; his gaze has been set on you since the moment he registered your presence.

That's one thing Rafe has never fully understood; the way you capture his attention in such an alluring manner that he couldn't look away even if the world was exploding around him.

"You were supposed to meet me twenty minutes ago and you weren't answering your phone. I was worried so I wanted to check on you."

Your voice is calm as you explain, bringing Rafe a comfort only you can provide that he can't quite wrap his head around.

"I'm sorry, angel. I didn't mean to worry you. We were just wrapping up."

You nod slowly, still inching forward until you're close enough for Rafe to inhale your intoxicating scent. You stop just short of him and stare up into his eyes, the unwavering adoration ever present in your gaze.

One of your hands comes up to lay flat on his chest, the other one finding purchase on his cheek; grounding him like an anchor.

It's such a simple action, and yet it brings his nervous system out of fight or flight and into stability. It never fails to amaze him; the way he never knew what home felt like until he found you.

It's as if your very existence wraps him in a warm blanket, beckoning him to unclench his taut muscles and lay down his sword.

Being with you disarms him and it's like your soul reaches out and whispers ' It's okay now. Kick off your shoes, grab a cup of coffee, and come tell me your burdens. Stay a while."

His hand comes up to his face to cover yours and the demon on his shoulder breathes a sigh of relief, exhaling slowly and muttering 'Ah yes, there she is. Our north star on a pitch black night'.

"It's alright, my love."

Your voice is tender, an underlying question lingering that you don't verbalize but rather ask with your eyes.

Are you okay?

Rafe peers down at you, and you find your answer in the way his cerulean irises twinkle.

I am now.

You give him a reassuring smile, and he resists the urge to kiss the sides of your mouth where the skin wrinkles so adorably or the corners of your eyes where the muscles crinkle endearingly.

He's almost certain that you shine so bright it casts a glow on him, the warmth and beauty enough to make him fall to his knees and weep.

He resigned himself to his fate a long time ago; made peace with the fact he's probably going to hell. He figures that's okay because he's never been more sure that he's already experienced heaven here on Earth with you.

He had told you as such one night, wrapped in your embrace under the twilight.

"I think it's just my fate to be evil."

The statement had ripped through you like a shockwave, and you sat up to look at him with such intensity he felt like he had done something wrong.

"It's not your fate, Rafe. It was circumstance. You're not evil, you're hurt and scared. You don't want to be that way, and that's how I know that deep down you're good. Bad people don't care that they're bad."

That was the night he knew he loved you, and the words have echoed in the back of his mind ever since. They come rushing to the forefront at this exact moment, flashing like a neon sign.

"Since you're done, why don't we go get ice cream?"

He nods eagerly, not paying his father or Rose any mind as he takes your hand and leads you out of the house. You don't press for details; the fine print doesn't really matter anyway. You're here now, the last year of sneaking around and heartache long forgotten.

Rafe watches out of the corner of his eye as your hair whips around your face and you perform a mini concert in his passenger seat, lost in your own little world. His hand squeezes your thigh periodically, a reminder to himself that you're real and you're his.

He lets himself exist in the moment, committing the smell of salty sea air and the sound of your singing to memory.

He feels electrified, acutely aware of the air conditioning blowing on his face and the leather steering wheel gripped in his hand. Being with you makes him feel alive, and he silently wonders what the hell he thought living was before.

And as he watches you eat your ice cream cone with the cold treat dripping down your chin, he smiles so big that his cheeks ache. Yes, this is what it feels like to live and not just survive.

#rafe cameron imagine #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron fic #rafe cameron angst #rafe cameron #rafe imagine #outer banks #outer banks fic #outer banks imagine #outer banks angst

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uninformedartist · 6 months

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I really don't like going through Viv's likes or anyone's for that matter but for evidence purposes I do. Viv liking this tweet is so... I can't describe it just wow (second tweets is more context).

Viv there is lots of valid reasons (yeah some not) that people dislike you and subsequently don't want to support/dog on your projects. You're a shitty person in many ways from transphobia, employee abuse, having a toxic work environment and not changing it at all, allowing your fans to run as your protection hounds (not once you stepping in to call out their behavior) from silencing your victims in multiple egregious ways, harassing critics/critical fans. Your show helluva boss is ableist, it fetishises queer people/relationships, inconsistent in its storytelling/identity, has staff members working on it thats problematic yet you never address the multiple call outs against them, heck Viv interacts with said problematic people regularly on twitter showing she doesn't care. Hazbin hotel has the worst poc representation I've seen in recent animation from Velvette being a black woman but looks ashey thus erasure, Alastor being creole but looks how he looks, basing him on a native American creature you been told by many native Americans to remove that aspect of him, making Alastor use Haitian Vodou when many said its used incorrectly/used in an aesthetic manner which is insensitive/wrong to use, basically making a mockery of these people's beliefs/religion. And I can go on.

Even your own staff/die hard fans shit on other idie shows in private (and some of such sentiments seep out in public social media spaces)

And lets not forget you making such a big deal on your lackadaisy donation, posting the amount & tier of executive producer credit you selected. Then when your donation was rejected you subsequently posted its rejection, which triggered your fandom to boycott lackadaisy. Also the fact Viv posted that donation rejection on the same day when lackadaisy hit an astronomical donation goal, which resulted in many of her fans pulling their donations because their "queen" feelings got hurt.

Remind, is was totally valid for lackadaisy to do, whatever the reason for the rejection they can deny/accept whatever donation, that is their production's private decision. Lackadaisy had to come out with reasonings on their rejection because of the dogpiling they received, and they even replied to Viv rejection tweet they sent a message in private/the matter could've been talked about in private.

Also this liked by viv: sorry on the gif can't post more images.

And this is all the tip of the iceberg. So yeah don't cry/like tweets of your bootlickers pitying yourself in the process Viv when people don't like you/want to support you. Play the victim all you like Viv, you're a shitty person through & through and people are starting to see it.

#vivziepop critical #spindlehorse critical #helluva boss critical #my post

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qweerhet · 10 months

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i do think that the abolitionists who cling to the "it's simple, just kick abusers/assaulters/rapists/murderers out of the community" line are just... usually people who have never had the experience of someone they deeply, deeply care for, someone they have committed their life to, committing serious and egregious harm. (that, or they have, and like anti-abortion folks who get abortions for themselves when push comes to shove, they come up with narratives about how their situation was the most singular and special situation in the entire world, and nothing else like that could ever happen to anyone else.)

but like... when you run into that situation IRL, you generally find it's not ever as simple as kicking someone out, or rolling up with your crew and beating them until they promise to move somewhere else. they have complex relationships within the community, some of which aren't going to be willing to cut them off entirely no matter what they did. family relationships--regardless of biology, "family" in the broader sense of "chosen bonds of unconditional love and lifelong commitment"--are notably often capable of weathering severe strain, and that can include shit like "you're still my sister even if you murdered someone."

and people who commit harm IRL have complex and multifaceted reasons for committing that harm, some of which can be systemic in nature. this isn't to say that the harm doesn't exist, or that their actions are excused or justified by those reasons, but when you have an intimate relationship with someone and are privy to the complexities of the situation, those reasons do often materially complicate situations beyond just "beat the villain up and save the victims." if the serious harm someone is enacting is materially pressured by systemic factors, it's incredibly unlikely that it will change or stop if they're forced to move cities and cut off from their former relationships. in fact, when we're talking about abuse and trauma that's partially enacted due to material systemic pressure, it's more likely that someone will become even more unstable and volatile when forced to rebuild their life, and continue to enact even worse harm due to their decreased supports and increased vulnerability.

like... we're all damn well aware that when we, as abolitionists, talk about this shit, we're not talking about jeff bezos. we're not even talking about joe smith two neighborhoods over with a six-figure salaried position and a 401k that he started in the 70s. we're talking about the people in our abolitionist communities, who are victim to generational poverty, who are usually disabled, trans, nonwhite. we're people who don't have the option to just find a new job and start over in a new city one day. and we're people who exist at the nexus of intense, violent societal pressures pushing us to harm one another, to use what little hierarchical power we can get against each other, to commit real and lasting violent harm. that shit is complex in reality. that shit isn't addressed by a pithy "kill your local rapist" patch or a tweet questioning why anyone's still talking to [insert transfem who abused someone here].

and like. it's hard! it's upsetting and difficult and miserable to get into the weeds of "why did someone do what awful thing they did and how do we actually materially reduce the likelihood of that happening." because the answers usually don't involve forcing them to move or forcing everyone who speaks to them to cut them off or beating them, in reality, and even though those answers feel good and feel like real solutions, they're not only unrealistic, they also usually actually make future harm of the same kind more likely. and it's hard to wrap our heads around the fact that people will continue to hurt each other in profoundly horrific ways until we learn to dismantle the systems enabling that harm and heal the dysfunction within individuals that makes them feel like that harm was justifiable and necessary. that sucks. but in the end, i think it's the only... realistic way forward? because the ~just kick em out~ ~just kill em~ line is so, so ungrounded in reality.

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discowingneckline · 3 months

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How do you think Dick reacts to be mistaken for Damian’s father? How would Damian react if Dick didn’t correct someone making the mistake?

Okay, so before I get into that, I want to talk about how I personally see the dynamics between Damian with Bruce, Talia, and Dick. I don't accept the idea that Talia al Ghul is a bad parent or that the al Ghuls are super abusive in the way comics has portrayed them from Morrison's run and after. I think it's racist, and I think it's overall shitty writing. Damian Wayne had said he is proud of both Talia and Bruce, don't ask me where that happened. It's a miracle I even remember it happened. There's also the one thing of Dick and Damian that my pookie @confusedhummingbird reblogged one of my things with, and I'll just steal that delightful panel for your convenience.

Anyway, so basically what I'm saying is that I don't particularly enjoy when Dick is hailed as a great parent compared to Bruce and Talia. Bruce and Talia definitely have some horrible fuck-ups (with Talia's being very racist in nature, and I swear to gods if someone fucking tries arguing her character wasn't treated in a racist manner, you're getting blocked so fucking fast). Like Bruce definitely did some fucked up shit too, but in general, I don't necessarily think he does a completely shit job at being a dad. In fact, when Batman is written in a halfway decent way, he is a pretty good dad in my opinion.

While Dick definitely did a good job with Damian, I think it would be pretty out of character for Dick to just discount Bruce and Talia's role as parents for Damian unless it was something pretty big and bad for Damian, in which case Bruce and Talia are probably being written fucking weirdly.

So onto your actual question! I think Dick would be...not bashful, but somewhere in there. I also think he'd just take it in stride and not correct them unless Damian wanted him to. He definitely doesn't want to overstep those kinds of boundaries with Damian if he has them. I also think depending on where they are at/what they are doing definitely contributes to how he'd react. Like when they were out as Batman and Robin, definitely was fine with the dad-son thing there. Out as Nightwing and Robin, doesn't bother to correct them. I don't think they'd get mistaken for being father-son in Gotham or in Blüdhaven, and I don't think any hero would mistake them for being father-son unless they were like new, new. But yeah, just depends.

I don't think Damian would really correct someone now. When Bruce died, in the period he was really learning from Stephanie, Dick, and Alfred, he probably would've corrected them. I don't think so now. I think family dynamics are a lot more fluid than people like to claim they are. Personally, I have a lot of people I see in parental roles, and one of them (which I don't see anymore because they are racist) were in a similar age range that Dick and Damian are. I didn't get mad or correct people when they thought I was their kid. I was either 1) embarrassed, 2) didn't care to make the effort to correct them, and 3) happy to be seen as such close family to them. That, and all the changes going on in his life at that time, and Dick's pretty much unwavering support for Damian leads me to believe that Damian wouldn't mind being seen as Dick's kid. I think he understands that Dick took on a parental role for him, and he can understand that he still has his biological parents to rely on.

SO! Basically, Dick doesn't correct people because I don't think a lot of people in their life would get it confused, and Damian doesn't mind because Dick is a parental figure in his life, and it isn't some sort of replacement figure for his biological parents.

#op #dick grayson #dc #dc comics #nightwing #batman #robin damian #damian wayne #damian wayne al ghul #talia al ghul #bruce wayne #family dynamics #batfamily #ant's daily hot takes #ant answers

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aleksanderscult · 4 months

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Why do you hate Mal?

(TW!: verbal abuse! slut shaming! alcoholism!)

Well, long story short, he's a huge dick.

I could write three long metas about his toxicity and why I dislike him but I don't want to tire my fingers for him. 😑

Maybe because of his slut-shaming behaviour?

Oh and what is this? Ah yes, Mal being angry that Alina found happiness away from him:

I'm so sorry Mal that Alina wasn't tortured so you could feel okay. I'm so sorry that she didn't feel insecure enough to run back in your arms, needing you and depending on you like you always wanted for her.

You know, that's the thing with Mal. He did nothing to Alina.

Not when his "friend" was mocking her appearance (and yes this is serious for me because I too have a very thin body and people from my own family have mocked me for it. So it's no joke).

Not when she was apparently sad that he fucked around girls knowing that she knew.

He did literally nothing until Alina wanted to fuck the Darkling and showed interest for him.

(slut shaming her even here)

From then on he ✨magically✨ noticed her out of nowhere and he said that "now I see you".

BULLSHIT!!

According to Mal, it's okay if he fucks girls every other night but it's not okay when Alina wants to do it with a man that....I don't know. Supported her power and abilities maybe?

And he seems constantly so concerned that she has fucked him that he apparently doesn't care if she's truly okay.

What a normal person would say to Alina: "Are you okay? Did he hurt you? I'm sorry you had to go through this."

What Mal said to Alina: "FUCK TORTURE! DID HE FUCK YOU BY ANY CHANCE?!?!"

He's so unserious FR

That's his only concern. If Alina likes or fucked the Darkling (sometimes I wish she had done the latter just so I could see Mal's face after it).

Also! He's an extraordinary bad influence for Alina and her confidence! 😍

A few minutes ago, Alina decided to return to the Little Palace to lead. To do the right thing and stand in this war.

And now we have Mal threaten her: "If you go, I might not follow!!"

And that shattered Alina's confidence. Now she feels ashamed ("maybe he doesn't want me", "maybe he'll leave me") and after that passage when Mal exits the tent, Alina starts thinking "What am I doing? I'm no soldier, or Saint. How will I make it?"

Mal is an influence that constantly wears her down emotionally by making her doubt herself, making her have guilts and making her thoughts come back to him constantly ('cause he's always "What about me?? Think of me!! Look at how shit I feel!!").

Again, he makes the whole matter revolve around him.

There is a civil war ongoing and Mal is like "Okay, but what about me, Alina??!!?!"

LIKE BRO NOBODY GIVES TWO SHITS ABOUT YOU!! THERE ARE PEOPLE DYING HERE!!

And another toxic trait of his. Apparently, if a woman says "no" to him, it's unacceptable:

(The first passage is when Mal tried to kiss her but Alina saw the Darkling behind his back and the second one is when Alina saw Mal kissing Zoya, btw)

He gets angry for the fact that Alina withdrew from his attempted kiss. And apparently he "knows what that means" because every girl he had ever kissed was willing to him.

I'm sorry, Mal, for the fact that a girl changed her mind at the last minute.

If a girl changes her mind, then you must respect that. Not shout at her. NO MEANS NO, MAL.

Mal is that type of guy that throws you in bed, you kiss him and all, and at the last minute when you change your mind and don't want to go for it (for whatever reason the girl might have of course) he gets angry and says "BUT YOU SAID "YES" TWO MINUTES AGO!!!"

He gives me the ick for real, guys.

And, of course, his fury for Alina's power and status. Because, since she gained them, she's no longer depended on him.

Yes, people. Mal wanted to take out a piece of her soul essentially, so he could have her! Romantic!! 🤩🤩

Also, the fact that he was constantly looking like shit in S&S because he was drunk every night is also selfish of him. Mal was Alina's personal guard and protector. One of her three closest ones. By doing this, by having this behaviour, he gives a VERY bad image to Alina.

Imagine what the nobles would think if they saw him this way. The power of image is everything. Nikolai knew it. The Darkling knew it. Even Alina came to know it. By having one of your protectors drinking heavily all night, get into fights and look like shit makes Alina feel embarrassed for the image she gives to the other people. And she was actually in a very delicate position at that time, because she had to gain the trust of the King, his counselors and nobles. Mal should know better than embarrassing her.

Imagine if you were in a high position for the first time in your life, trying to make an impression so everything could go alright and, in the meanwhile, your guardian walks around drunk.

This is not good. In today's world, they fire such people from their work.

And all these bullshit from him in R&R saying "I told stories of you from your childhood so they could see the real Alina" is also bullshit. Bitch, if you wanted to do something good, look respectable for the part. If you want to cry and drink kvas 24/7 then resign, lock yourself up and do it. Don't embarrass your boss.

Also, Bardugo had said that after S&S she received a lot of negative comments about Mal's character. So it's no wonder she made him suddenly all "good" in R&R. She wanted to give reasons to the readers to like him and support his eventual marriage with Alina.

Anyways, I know people will say that the Darkling was no better but, guys...

This is not a competition. Of who is better or worse.

And just like another person had once said in this fandom "The Darkling represents a fairytale character while Mal reminds you of every jerk you've met in your life"

And it's a perfect quote to describe them.

The Darkling is the type of guy we all fall in love in fiction. A fantastical character that does bad deeds but still you swoon over.

While Mal is that asshole you met in high school treating you like shit. That boy you were seeing in corridors flirting with every girl he saw and being a fuckboy. That relationship you had that undermined your value.

Mal is a character that hits very close at home for the readers (with his actions and personality).

This post about him and M*lina explains my thoughts perfectly.

Go read it when you can, guys. It's an incredible mini meta.

#fuck that man #reminds me of a relationship my sister had with an asshole #so his character really hits close at home for me too #FUCK! HIM!#the Darkling should be redeemed by the very fact that he wanted to kill M*l #Aleksander + the readers 🤝 wanting to obliterate M*l's ass #anti mal oretsev #anti mal #anti malina #grishaverse #shadow and bone #siege and storm #ruin and rising #grishaverse trilogy #alina starkov #the darkling #pro darkling #aleksander morozova #pro aleksander morozova

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nothingtherefornow · 4 months

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About Evil teenagers antagonists in Miraculous

I currently wonder how can some fans still want a redemption for somoene like Chloé who willingly hurt people just because that's was her definition of "fun".

Why not accept Chloé as somoene evil ? Just because she's 14 years old ? Just because Gabriel was worst than her doesn't take away the fact that Chloé is a truly bad person who has the potential to become as evil, if not worse than Gabriel while growing up.

Even in real life, adults are not the only ones who are capable of cruelty and crimes. If only adults were capable of monstrosity, I wouldn't have 14-year-olds killing each other with callache nikoffs in the drug trafficking districts of my city. we wouldn't have young people beating up little ones and pushing others to suicide and absolutely not regretting their actions. And we wouldn't have stories to raise eyebrows about kids capable of committing murder and acts of torture without necessarily having been abused in their lives.

To me, anyone who loves to make others suffer for their own sick pleasure (and their victims are people who objectively don't deserve such cruelty) has serious mental issues and can be a danger to others.

Both Chloé and Lila love to make others people suffer or don't care about hurting innocents, and they certainly don't feel any empathy for anyone, or in Chloé's case, no longer feel any empathy (she may have felt sympathy and empathy for Adrien at some point, like during the episode Felix in season 3, but that's definitly no longer the case as soon as Adrien asked her to stop being a biatch). Maybe Lila may feel a form of attachment toward her mothers, yet that doesn't stop her from manipulating them and fooling them in a way that's pretty cruel if you dig deeper in Lila's scale of truancy and imposterization.

I know that technically when a 14 year old kid behaves like Lila and Chloé we could say to ourselves that it is unfair to give them no chance and to condemn them when they are only 14-15 years old and could change for the better if they could be guided on the right path.

But Miraculouse is a show in which the superheroes with the fate of the world in their hands are 14 year old kids. And as such in this fictitious reality, other 14 year olds are perfectly likely to become real cruel and threatening villains i without any scruples, especialy if they are influenced by the wickedness of an adult supervillain.

And I believe that Gabriel's evilness only made Chloé's and Lila's wickedness worse.

He put those two girls in positions of power where they could hurt others and act according to their darkest and Manichean impulses. And Lila and Chloé would only want more taste of that power to crush others. And you know how power easilly corrupt the most greedy hearts.

On several occasions, Gabriel even approved of Lila and Chloe's horrible plans and actions. He has encouraged Lila on numerous occasions to "get rid of" Marinette, thus giving the impression that he supports Lila's jealousy, and during collusion he will have the nerve to say that Chloé's ideas, which consist literally ruining the academic future of your classmates and putting your pregnant teacher in jail for no good reason are good ideas. Having a rich adult in a position to approve of their actions in this way will only have given Lila and Chloe the feeling that their acts of cruelty and malice are justified, and thus reinforced their evil nature.

On several occasions we have seen Chloe and Lila voluntarily let themselves be akumatized, and worse than that, we have seen them plan to be akumatized (Chloe in Penalteam, and Lila in Revelation) and not for understandable reasons like that of a desperate Jalil brainwashed by lies on social media. Because Lila and Chloe have only ever been motivated by their narcicism, their ego, and their desire to get revenge on people they hate for the most pettiest, vain and selfish reasons possible.

Lila and Chloé may be kids, but they are evil teenagers, because they would gladly become supervillain if that means getting what they want. And what they want is anything but noble. For their selfish goals, Lila and Chloé were willing to endanger the city they live in and all its inhabitants. I don't even know if I can still call Lila and Chloé kids or teenagers, with how far they're willing to go and hurt people for the sake of their ambitions.

Although there's still the possibility that Lila may be an adult with a youngfull appearance or a hormonal abnormality making her look like a teenager when she could be an adult. But that would risk making her a pedophile so I don't think the show will go that far ^^ At most they could give her the same as Théo Barbot

But an antagonist adult would be needed then to balance an antagonist teenager supervillain.

Good thing we still have Tomoe Tsurugi then

It's tragic that Chloé and Lila wickedness and evilness could be due to serious mental issues or Chloé's bad upbringing, and the show may have decided that it's more important to protect others from the harm Chloé and Lila can cause rather than to prioritize "helping" them with their issues. Both Marinette and Adrien proposed another path for Chloé to chose, one that could have helped her heal from the emotional and mental wounds her mother's abandonment and neglect. Chloé instead chose Hawkmoth's/Monarch

Ladybug offered Lila her friendship, and Adrien also offered Lila to be there for her as long as she didn't hurt those he loved. Yet both Lila and Chloe voluntarily chose to continue committing bad deeds and hurting others, regardless of the fact that someone reached out to them and offered them another path to get love, acknowledgement and recognition from people. Adrien and Marinette don't have to sacrifice their mental health for people who wish them harm, so I understand very well that it wasn't and won't be their priority to help Chloé and Lila find potential redemption. And especially when Lila and Chloe seem determined to refuse to change and continue to cling to their wickedness.

It should be the adults responsabilities to deal with Chloé and Lila issues, and unfortunatelly the adults in Miraculous are pretty lousy and incompetents. It's very tragic when we don't know that one kid is a psychopath, and if another has always gotten away with his narcissistic behavior disorder and nothing had ever been done to help them deal with that issue, that only leaves the opportunity for the seed of evil in these kids to germinate and flourish, and then reach the level of nastiness that is more often found in adults.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous thoughs #chloé bourgeois #lila rossi #gabriel agreste #tomoe tsurugi #This show seems to like evil teenagers antagonists in Miraculous #and the fact that the influence of an evil adult antagonist only facilitates their premature fall towards the path of evil #We had Garbage Agreste giving Chloé and Lila opportunities to be villains and supervillains who would antagonize and oppose the heroes #then in season 6 we may have Tomoe Tsurugi becoming one of chrysalis's ally #That sure would be better than the whole miraculous team having a lot of trouble against just one villain teenager

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lovelybrooke · 1 year

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Hi just wanna say love your last of us series that you write.And I was wondering if you could write this request.It’s kinda like the one you just did.To some up the request. platonic yandere Joel, Ellie, x reader get into an argument.Which leads to reader running away, and only for them to run into each other after a couple of years or month later.

This could be head cannons, or a story it’s up to you

Thank you for reading this and hopefully writing this if not, let me know and have a good one

Running away from Yandere Joel and Ellie

A/n: I decided to go with headcanons if that okay.

So, I think there is a low chance of this happening. Joel and Ellie keep a tight leash on you, so the chance of you leaving and leaving for that long is low. You also have to take in to account the fact that you are living in a fucking apocalypse, to the point where leaving Jackson is basically a death sentence.

I also think that the reader wouldn't really see a point in leaving. While yes, Joel and Ellie are overprotective and a bit psychotic, they love you and take care of you, and because they've prevented you from interacting with other people, you don't have any other support systems. So, they've conditioned you to rely on them for emotional support, presenting the outside world as dangerous and them being the only ones to protect you.

However, let's say you did run away.

They would be distraught. You are all they have, and you left them. There would be a day or two where they can't really do anything. They wallow in their own self-pity, understanding that they were likely the reason for why you left. After that though, they are focusing all their time on finding you. They don't care about where they have to go, who they have to kill, they will find you.

Ellie blames Joel, and Joel blames himself. Their relationship becomes sour with your absence, neither of them believing it will be the same again until your back with them. Ellie truly believes that Joel abused his power, and it drove you to the edge. She hates how much he didn't allow you to do, how you became a shell of yourself the days before you ran away.

Joel doesn't feel himself anymore. He wants to be there for Ellie, but Ellie hates him right now, and he feels as though he truly has no one to go to. Tommy and Maria are his only lifelines, and even they offer no real solutions. Joels guilt is what motivates his need to find you. He takes patrol every single night, trying to find any sign of you. When he gets home, he goes on the radio and asks anyone who is willing to listen about anything relating to you, taking any help he can get. He doesn't sleep or eat unless its absolutely necessary, believing that if he takes a break, even for a second, you'll be gone forever.

You being gone for so long destroys the two. They don't want to think about it, but they know there is a likelihood you've died. They don't know what they'd do if it was confirmed. They don't believe they would ever be the same.

If Joel is the one to find you first, he's immediately taking you home. He doesn't care if you have a life at your new home, you are coming back with him and you're never leaving again. He keeps you at home, changing the locks constantly o you can't get out. He uses drugs to keep you sedated while he's away so that you don't have enough power to try and leave. He'll even ask the people watching the gates to forbid you from leaving without his direct permission. He's not taking any chances.

Ellie will be a little bit more sympathetic. She'll try to relate with you, understanding that their protectiveness is suffocating. However, the moment you start seriously mentioning leaving them, she takes you and runs. She might be more aware of her toxic traits, but that doesn't mean she wants to change them. She starts teaming back up with Joel and will rat you out to Joel whenever she believes you're thinking about leaving.

#yandere x reader #platonic yandere #soft yandere #yandere joel miller #joel miller #joel miller x reader #joel miller x platonic!reader #platonic joel miller #ellie williams #yandere ellie williams #ellie williams x reader #x reader #fanfic #fanfiction #ask #answer #request

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missvioletvillainess · 1 month

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🇵🇸 Can we talk about the fact that I keep getting asked out by hot dykes at Pro-Palestine protests and it's so affirming and wholesome?? 🇵🇸

Because there's no queer liberation without the liberation of Palestinians. Because there's no freedom from oppression until Palestinians are free from Israeli occupation and if you're actively involved in that, I know you're a safe space. If I see you can create an ounce of discomfort in your life and disrupt it to one small degree to try and create comfort for those less privileged, I know you're someone I can trust.

I need to know you care about making change. I need to know you care not in an abstract, intangible way, but in a very real, disrupting your work schedule, cutting off friends, risking opportunities, put-your-ass-on-the-line, kind of way. If you care about change,you have to be actively involved, talking about it is not enough, it's never enough. It's easy to be woke and speak out about social issues until you actually have to be inconvenienced, unsafe or economically disadvantaged for doing so. Then it's hard. Thats why so many people agree with these political views but so few actually take out the time to get involved. Trust me, I know exactly how hard it is. I did it when I had no job, no home, no visa; I did it when I was triggered, when I was unsafe, when I was overworked and overwhelmed. I have been doing it since the bombing started, and I do it consistently every week.

Personally, I don't think I could be with a partner who isn't involved in activism to some degree. It's been a part of my life for years, and I've only been more radicalised as time goes on. I'm attending 2-3 Pro-Palestine events every week, I can't date you if you have a 🇵🇸 in your bio and that's the full extent of your contribution to the cause. Thank you, but no thank you, I'm going to move on. Palestine isn't the latest war or invasion or conflict, it isn't a sad tragic story for people to donate to out of sympathy, it is a systematic ethnic cleansing and a televised genocide. I don't have capacity to deal with someone who is lukewarm about this.

More importantly, I don't have capacity to to deal with someone who talks about social issues but isn't prepared to disrupt their lives to even a small, inconsequential degree to fight for a cause they believe in. You doesn't have to just support Palestine, you could be supporting Ukraine, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan, Congo. You could be supporting ethnic minorities in your community, you could be supporting refugees, abuse survivors, homeless people, trans people, anyone at all, but if you don't show up and get involved in the cause you believe in, if you don't put in the work, if you don't put in the effort; if you can't attend protests, demonstrations, teach ins, seminars, charity events; if you're not fundraising, boycotting, spreading awareness; if you can't give something of yourself to the community you want to support, I really don't know if I can be romantically involved with you.

That's why I think people at the protests have such a strong tight knit community, and that's why some people actually find safety and security in the people they meet and that's why they might want to pursue something romantic with the people they feel comfortable exploring with. It's hard showing up when you're overwhelmed and you're going to be late to work the next day. It's hard showing up when you have to miss your iftars, your hang outs, your social gatherings. It's hard showing up when you're broke and stressed, and it's hard showing up when you're late on assignments and meetings with your supervisor. It's hard as fuck, honestly. But if I see you're doing that, I know I can trust you to a certain degree, at least. I know you have your priorities straight, I know where your morals are aligned, I know where you're going to put your energy, and I want to be part of that.

Lets go to protests together, lets make banners together, lets attend fundraisers and political teach in sessions, let's have a date at an occupied space (actually did that last week) Lets romanticise the activism we do, because it's fucking powerful and we should celebrate it.

The sexiest thing a sapphic can do is be an activist, fucking fight me.

If you're not Pro Palestine, please unfollow. Or let me know, so I can block you. Kthanksbye.

🇵🇸 Dykes for Palestine

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torturedpoetemotions · 6 months

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Stede Bonnet Deep Dive

(aka repository for all the fucks I refuse to give to all the terrible takes on this hellsite after season 2)

I decided to do a deep dive into Stede's character finally, because I keep seeing the absolute WORST takes about him since season two aired.

I'll preface this by saying I don't agree with the majority of the negative or critical takes I've seen about season 2. I don't think the harsh readings of Stede's character are based in a good faith or often even in a sensible reading of the source material. And I don't have the time or inclination to spend all my time refuting bad Stede takes on tumblr, so this one meta in explanation and defense of my goofy little guy will have to suffice.

This is not a carefully crafted piece of creative writing. This is basic five paragraph essay shit, but with way more paragraphs. Claim, supports, transition, repeat to conclusion. Don't say I didn't warn you!

First off, no, Stede is not the villain of this story.

Yes, that's a take someone actually put into my notifications with their full chest. By no definition of the word is Stede positioned as a villain in this story, and he isn't even a compelling case for an accidental villain. This show has done a wonderful job of setting down clear and specific criteria for what makes a character villainous or not in a fictional world operating on a very different moral and ethical framework from our own. And while you could maybe argue Stede would be a pretty bad guy by real world standards, to be this is a moot point. By that measure every character in the show is a pretty bad guy. It's a nearly useless metric.

Within the show, villains are people with privilege and power who use that power to harm others and refuse to change for the better. Stede begins the story with an immense amount of privilege and power and gives all which is in his power to give up at the end of season 1. He gains a different kind of power in season 2 and by the end of season 2, he's relinquished that as well. He rarely uses his power to hurt people, and never does he intentionally seek to hurt innocent people for no reason. That isn't to say no innocent people GET hurt. But he's never trying to hurt people unless they've hurt or threatened the people he cares about. He in fact uses the power he has to stand up for the people he loves, repeatedly.

From the very beginning, he uses his wealth and power to create a space where he, and by extension everyone on his crew, has the space to be themselves. In 1x05 he uses his class privilege and knowledge to punish the partygoers who denigrated Ed simply for not being "one of them." In 1x08 he uses his power as captain to stand up for Buttons against Jack's callous cruelty and remove him from the ship after Karl is killed.

In 2x03 he uses his relative familiarity with Zheng Yi Sao (second only to Olu in terms of members of his crew who have any such familiarity) to plead mercy for Ed's crew. In 2x05 he uses his position as Captain to convince the crew to give Ed a second chance, while also hearing and working to address and mitigate their concerns as much as possible. In 2x06 he takes the responsibility for rescuing his own crew from Ned Low, negotiates a peaceful resolution with his crew, and punishes only Ned as the admitted and obvious orchestrator of the attack and torture of his crew. In 2x07, he doesn't start picking fights to show how big and bad he is. The only two people he shows any violence toward at all are someone walking toward him with the stated intention to kill him and someone poaching a third of his crew right before his eyes.

These aren't the wanton abuses of power characteristic of a villain. These are the understandable actions of someone who feels a lot of attachment and responsibility for the people around him.

No, Stede is not a cruel person who likes hurting people.

Jesus fucking Christ. Like I get that we all have our favorites, but I swear to god some of y'all think that means that you need to turn every other character into pure evil just to justify your character's existence. This isn't even remotely true.

Stede does NOT like hurting people. He hates hurting people, in fact, often even when they kind of deserve it. He really hates it when they obviously don't deserve it! Nothing he does in all of season one is motivated by a desire to harm other people. Yes, even piracy.

Stede enters the show with a very romanticized view of piracy. The violence isn't the point for him, the point is adventure and wanderlust, and possibly primarily, escape. Escape from the confines of a life he didn't ask for and has never wanted. Escape from a marriage he didn't choose and didn't want to be part of. Escape from the rigid strictures of a social structure that doesn't make room for people like him (whether we're talking about his queerness or his neurodivergence). The point is to create a space where he can be himself, and then extend that to others as well. If I wanted to get real sad, I'd say the point is the hope that by creating such a space, he will finally find people willing to tolerate him, or even be his friends.

He also doesn't leave Mary or his children to hurt them. He leaves them because Mary makes it clear they won't be going with him, and he knows he can't bear to stay. And he's riddled with guilt about it, it's not something he looks back on with pride or with glee.

And let's get real dark for a second and acknowledge: for a man in Stede's time and position, if he was actually a cruel person who enjoyed hurting people and he wanted to hurt his wife and children? There would be very little if anything to stop him from doing exactly that. If he wanted his children and his wife to live in fear of his cruelty, he could do that without consequences. But the one instance where he does something that does make Mary afraid--attacking Doug in 1x10--is something he does on instinct and immediately regrets, apologizes for, and feels awful about. He then goes a step further to continue making amends with both Doug and Mary for the rest of the episode.

And that's another thing: Stede's reaction to finding out he's hurt someone is to be upset by that, and then to try and rectify it immediately. When Lucius calls him out for not asking how he is, Stede immediately re-engages with him and starts looking after his well-being, encouraging him to talk about what's bothering him and not to shut out the people who love him. When Ed tells him how much Stede leaving without a word hurt him, Stede accepts that and tries to correct Ed's assumption that it's because he, Ed, wasn't enough or wasn't cared about. When Ed voices uncertainty and regrets about the pace of their relationship, Stede--though quite obviously hurt by what he thinks Ed is saying--immediately puts his focus on making Ed feel secure again, telling him this relationship can be whatever they want it to be.

Now, Stede gets a lot of flak for his reaction to Ed's fishing job news, but let's be real here: it IS incredibly random. It comes out of nowhere and genuinely makes not a lick of damn sense. And it's a wild thing to drop on someone you've been building a relationship with, a wild thing to have decided in a single afternoon before you've even talked to them about it. I'm not going to take Stede too harshly to task for not reacting perfectly seflessly there. It doesn't erase all the times when he DID react by immediately putting the other person's feelings in focus. And those aren't the actions of someone who enjoys hurting people and revels in cruelty to those around him.

Hell, Stede doesn't even revel in hurting people who've actually done something to warrant it, most of the time. Stede isn't excited or gloating about killing one of his childhood bullies in 1x01. He's horrified by what he's done. He wasn't even trying to kill him! He was going for the "stun move." He's so racked with guilt for it the entire season that he hallucinates the man berating him. He takes clear pleasure in manipulating the French partygoers and turning their own game against them, but he's still primarily motivated by making Ed feel better (and fine, that's his one time out of ten, I guess). He also takes no joy in Chauncy's death, in fact he's horrified and traumatized by it. The Badmintons are two people who tormented him throughout his childhood, but he shows an incredible amount of regret and guilt about both their deaths, especially considering Chauncy's really wasn't his fault in any possible way.

The final scene with Chauncy on its own would counter the idea that Stede likes hurting people! Stede is distraught by the thought that he hurts people, sobbing about it in fact. He doesn't leave Ed to hurt him! He leaves Ed because he thinks that is IS hurting him, and wants to stop.

Even Ned Low in 2x06 is not something Stede savors or revels in. Sure, he enjoys the fame it brings, later on. But he doesn't kill Ned in service of that, and he doesn't revel in killing Ned. He isn't smiling, gloating, or smug when he does it. He's deadly serious, and protective of the people he loves, in a pretty blatant mirror of his confrontation with Jack in 1x08. And even once it's done, he doesn't derive satisfaction from it. He's blatantly and obviously distraught by it, flashing back to one of his most traumatic childhood memories. It's the rest of the crew that cheer when he pushes Ned overboard. Stede is silent except for excusing himself to go to his quarters. When he pulls Ed into the room a few minutes later, there are tears in his eyes and his expression is well...agonized, frankly.

Stede's also quick to forgive even pretty serious transgressions against himself, like Ed plotting to burn his face off in 1x06 or Izzy selling him out to the navy in 1x09 (yes, there was a time gap there, but Stede began acting friendlier toward Izzy and showing concern for him basically as soon as he realized Ed wasn't actually dead). That's not the behavior of someone cruel who enjoys hurting people, either.

Yeah, Stede revels in piracy and doesn't have big compunctions about hurting people who threaten him or hurt the people he loves. I'd say the latter, at least, is true for a lot of people even in real life. And as for the former, well. If we're going to say Stede is cruel for enjoying being a pirate, I think we'd have to throw a lot of other characters into the cruel pile, too. Like almost all of them.

Stede is not lacking in care for the members of his crew.

I've already written an entire meta on this, so I'll just link that here and reiterate that if this were true, at minimum, Jim, Frenchie, Izzy, Fang, and Archie would all be dead.

So he's not a villain, or cruel on purpose, or careless.

So who is Stede Bonnet, actually?

Stede at his worst is somewhat thoughtless and oblivious. We see this throughout both seasons, but it's far more prominent in season one. Stede at his best is generous and gracious and forgiving and kind. Stede when provoked acts to protect himself and those he loves without hesitation or pulling any punches, as already referenced several times in this meta.

Stede is, textually, canonically, a gay man forced into marriage with someone he couldn't love who also couldn't love him. Stede is a survivor of a childhood filled with emotional abuse at the hands of his father and physical abuse at the hands of his peers. He does not know how to reach out to people, both because nobody ever reached out to him and because any attempts at all that he did make were met with the kind of shit we saw from Nigel, Chauncey, and his father.

But Stede wants, so very much and so obviously, to have people to be kind to and generous and loving with. Look at how eagerly and excitedly he opens up to Ed, when he sees Ed meeting him with interest instead of mockery or scorn in 1x04. Look how readily he shares his things with Ed and with the crew throughout season 1. In fact he voluntarily left an economic system where it was acceptable for him to hoard wealth for himself, and entered into a system where it was expected for him to share any and all spoils among his crewmates. He loves to share things with people! He loves to try new things with them and show them new things. He's so eager to have any kind of friend.

Stede also begins learning almost immediately how to reach out to people, once he has an environment where he feels secure doing it. And he loves doing it! He'll even do things he doesn't like to make someone else happy, like take Ed to a party he really, really wants to go to even though Stede knows it will be awful (1x05).

He is quick to take feedback and course correct when someone points out to him that he's been hurtful to them or wronged them, like with Lucius in 2x02. Arguably this would also apply to Izzy egging him on to do the fuckery in 1x06. Izzy appealed to his sense of obligation ("I stuck my neck out for you") and his affection for Ed ("he adores you") and it worked! It worked because Stede cares about other people, about their feelings and their needs and wants, and what they think of him. He cares so, so much.

He has flaws, too, of course. As stated, he can be thoughtless and oblivious. He's new to having friends, and new to love, and he makes a lot of mistakes. But he also corrects those mistakes, once he realizes them or they're pointed out to him. And it rarely takes much urging. If anything, Stede's more stubborn when he knows he's right in a situation, but even when he's technically right, he ultimately prioritize other people's feelings (as with the probably-not-actually-cursed suit in 2x05).

He's a goof. And he loves beautiful things. But he's not the entitled, lazy shit his father accuses him of being. He doesn't have a lot of physical or combat skills, but he can learn those skills simply by doing it enough. We see this in season one with how he gets better at getting on and off the ship over time. He's also great at putting a positive spin or an optimistic face on difficult things. We see this with how he treats the patrons who come into Jackie's in 2x01, and also with how he approaches challenges throughout the season. He's someone who, nine times out of ten, looks on the bright side and tries to problem solve, rather than despairing.

He's much more skilled when it comes to coming up with and executing plans, even on the fly...something we see throughout the show. First with getting into piracy in the first place. Then with his first defeat of Izzy in 1x03. Then there's the quickly thought up and delightfully executed revenge on the French partygoers in 1x05, the quite ridiculous but ultimately successful fuckery in 1x06. The fuckery to fake his death in 1x10!

This characterization carries over into season 2, with Stede's nearly successful execution of a robbery at Jackie's in 2x01. In fact that likely would have gone off without a hitch if it hadn't been for Ricky's nonsense, and ultimately did put Stede and his crew in a much better position than they were before regardless. Then in 2x03, he planned the escape of his and Ed's crews and it went off beautifully!

He came up with the plan to escape Ned Low and his crew in 2x06 literally second to second, improvising on the fly as the situation developed until he and his crew were safe again. He successfully got the drop on the two British soldiers in 2x08, he just couldn't actually fight two well-trained men on his own. And it was his plan, ultimately, that got his crew and ship out of an entirely besieged and surrounded Republic of Pirates.

(That plan did not go off without a hitch, to tragic results. But I don't think that overrides Stede's skills in this area. Many of his plans do not end perfectly, but they end remarkably well given the odds. And given the odds he was presented with, the numbers they were up against? One single casualty is wildly successful (even if I'm wailing and gnashing my teeth about it and will be unless and until David and Co. fix it in season 3).)

And finally--and this is the one single gripe I have with the season, that Stede and Ed both said this and seem to actually believe it--this man is not fucking whim-proned. Ed. Ed is fucking whim-proned. That's a pretty core element of his personality, actually. And it's not always a bad thing, and sometimes it's quite fun. But Stede? No. Stede isn't whim-proned. Stede is motivated. Stede is decisive. Stede is tunnel-visioned, perhaps. But he actually doesn't just change up his entire life on a whim. He makes a decision about what he wants, once he realizes he can actually do that, and then he fucking sticks to it like a mosquito in tree sap.

He decided he wanted to become a pirate, so he took the time, expense, and effort required to commission a ship, have it built, outfit it with supplies, and hire a crew. He realized he was in love with Ed and rowed a dinghy from Barbados to wherever the fuck (if you go with history it was Topsail Island, which is nearly three thousand fucking miles away), rejoined his crew, and set about working in a place he was miserable, trying to slowly save enough scraps of money to buy a ship to get back to his beloved. He wrote Ed letters, it's implied every day while they were at Jackie's. He had his goal, and he didn't stop working toward his goal until it was met and they were back together. And once they were back together, he didn't quit just because Ed didn't "melt back into his arms," and--*gesticulates wildly at all of season 2*.

Where Stede thinks he's whim-prone has less to do with caprice and more to do with trauma responses. Every single time we see him do something impulsive, it's as a response to something traumatic. Braining Nigel with the paperweight? Impulse in response to Nigel triggering memories of his childhood bullying. Running back home? Impulse in response to being dragged out of bed at gunpoint, having every single one of your deepest fears and insecurities thrown at you, and then watching the person throwing them basically prove them true by shooting himself in the face trying to kill you. Pulling Ed into his room? Impulse in response to the trauma of being invaded, tortured, watching Ed and all their friends be tortured, and thinking they were going to die (and yeah killing Ned too).

All of this to say...Stede has layers, y'all. He's got good and bad points. He's got strengths and many, many weaknesses. But he is in no way the one-dimensional mustache-twirling villain or bumbling total incompetent id-driven asshat people are trying to paint him as for whatever ridiculous reason.

#ofmd #our flag means death #stede bonnet #ofmd meta #my meta

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ircn-dad · 2 years

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One thing I love about Irondad is that Tony -despite his past with Howard- is not cold with Peter, and is not ashamed to admit how much he cares for the kid (in his way, ofc).

People always judge Tony's character is Homecoming because "Hah!! Stark doesn't care about him! He ignored for two months!! He's the worst!"

Can I Start saying that that man right here wasn't in the right mood to mentor a kid right after civil war? He saw his parents die, he saw his friend almost killing him in rage and then had to deal with the breakup of the Avengers and the whole Rhodey's situation. He probably thought it would be better for both to not be in contact, because while Tony wants to heal, he also want Peter to not be like him.

Think about it: After civil war, Tony was a disaster and all of this because he was an Avenger. Of course the man wouldn't want Peter to be like him, not when Tony's life went down hill since the first day as Iron Man. He doesn't want that life for a fifteen years old kid, so he leaves Peter with Happy and everyone is safe.

Not because he doesn't want the kid around, but because he thinks it's the best for the kid to not be around a billionaire with severe anxiety and a little bit narcissistic.

Tony never showed any discomfort around Peter, since their first scene together. He has always been interested in the kid, and was the one one who understood Peter, as Peter said him self in the infinity War novelization.

(I won't start saying how everyone blames Tony for "manipulating" Peter and bringing him into a war. Just know that is incorrect, and Tony would never bring a kid in a war, because that wasn't meant to be a fight. Tony brought Peter so that -his words, not mine- he could web them up if they tried to escape. He never thought about ending up with a broken arm and with Rhodey who can't walk anymore)

Anyway, returning to the subject, I think we can all agree on one thing: Peter is not aware of how Tony actually cares about him. But not because Tony is an asshole and hates him, but because of one reason:

1. Peter in homecoming only wanted to prove himself. He desperately wanted Tony to see the potential in him, so during all the movie he he acted so that Tony could be proud of him, but at the same time when Tony complimented him he didn't even showed gratitude. He was blinded by wanting to show the man what he was worth for that he didn't notice Tony was always proud until the very end.

I don't think the main problem is in fact Tony because as we see, and Peter can't, he actually already invested in Peter's life.

He listens to the voicemails, remembers them and always kept an eye on him, even during his journey to India (TO RECOVER HIM SELF FROM CIVIL WAR Y'ALL).

And can I say something more? Tony isn't afraid to think Peter as his son. Often, in the Fanfics, we always see Tony panics because him and Peter became closer and he's scared how he could be like Howard to the kid. The second part is right, but he would never panic about thinking Peter as his son. Actually, he doesn't mind and already thinks the kid as his responsibility.

It's actually funny and cute how he says "My father never really gave me a lot of support and I'm just trying to break the cycle of shame" because all I see is a man who was neglected and abused by his father, and hated the idea of having a child because of this (remember that scene in IM3 where he flinches at the only thought of having one) until he met Peter. He decided to be better because of him, he wanted to change because of him.

When he says "I sound like my father" my heart broke because no, YOU DON'T YOU SILLY.

These two phrases demonstrate how he's not afraid to tell the kid he sees himself like a father for him. Ofc he's scared because he doesn't want to end up as his own father, but he is ready to be a good role for Peter when he will finally be healed from civil war.

He's not cold, he's not distant towards Peter and even though he's afraid of ruining the kid and his childhood, he already loves him.

Homecoming was a new start for both of them and I believe that in the two years between Infinity war and Homecoming they were not afraid to tell each other how much they cared (again, on their way because even I think it's pretty weird imagining tony saying "I love you you're my son" to Peter or Peter saying "Yes you're my dad adopt me" because that's so out of character).

Every interaction they had in infinity war screamed that. You can clearly see how much the kid is now comfortable with the man, is not shy around him, and is not scared to talk to him; you can also see how Tony has become more protective of Peter. Literally everything he says or does screams "don't touch this kid or I will kill everyone in this room and then my self" (I mean, that's what he did in endgame, no?)

at last, I want to appreciate this scene because it's not appreciated enough:

Strange is literally assuming Tony is Peter's guardian, and the way Tony crosses his arm, assuming this defensive pose to protect him self when he said "I'm confused as to the relationship here" because he wants to know what Strange has to say about them, ready to answer and to kick his ass out of the flying donut if he says something bad about Peter or about their relationship. Or the fact he always has something to answer to Strange, but this time he stays silent and doesn't even try to explain who is Peter when he asks he is his ward because that's his kid and so many other things he doesn't know how to explain.

Also, Peter saying an awkward and quick no while staring at Tony will never not be cute for me. It's like this already happened before and someone already pointed out how they look father and son together, and Peter is not even that embarrassed. He's just confused why everyone keeps thinking they are father and son (but not unhappy)

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