#topic: empathy

[tayfabe75]

"You have to pride everything on its own merits. I think that to have an almost like a moral position, or like a freedom-of-speech-esque kind of position on interpersonal relationships which are so dynamic and kind of emotional, which is a realm that isn't, you know, that objective, and I don't think should be kind of judged in the way that you could legislate. So for me, yeah, I think that art is great - like this great, this is all fucking cool - but if it hurts people… It's like the Burroughs thing, you know, like when he shot his wife. Like yeah, the lore is great and it makes Burroughs more interesting, but I'd rather her have lived than had cool books for me to read. And I'd rather people and children be like, happy."

March 2023: Matty expresses his disinterest in pushing moral boundaries for the sake of art. (published July 30) (source)

[roryfrommybabysittersavampire]

I think one of my favorite little details about spike's character is how he treated drusilla. he wasn't just "patient" with her disability, he actively treated it as just another thing about her to love. he verry rarely coddled her or tried to get her to be more present in a situation when she wasn't capable. (I can't think of a single time that he did but i feel like there were some when he was already upset at other people?). he learned to understand what she was saying even when it sounded like nonsense. when she was upset he comforted her, no matter how often it happened. when she started dancing he danced with her.

and we see in buffy 5x20 that it wasn't just his love for dru that made him act like that. when tara was incoherent and opened the window in the van, he didn't just immediately forgive her for burning him, he never got upset in the first place. he yelled, of course, because he was hurt, but as soon as willow started apologizing and trying to explain he just nodded. because it's no biggie! he already understands. some people are just like that, and he doesn't see accommodating that as the big deal that the people around him are making it out to be.

[literallymikewheeler]

if one more FUCKING person mischaracterizes katniss everdeen or gale hawthorne in front of me, i may just die. so.

[ed3lsgard]

it’s seriously wild to me how so many people think mark s should have ended his life right there, accepting to live his outies life with a woman he doesn’t love. i was heartbroken watching gemma pound on the door too, but it’s very hypocritical of people to not lend the same empathy they lent gemma to mark s. it’s not even a matter of helly vs gemma, it’s mark s wanting to keep his life, a life he was given without his permission, yet managed to build and make something out of. he has people he cares about too, a life down there too. but suddenly none of that matters because his outie and his wife matters more? mark s is a person too!

it’s not a black and white thing, you can be upset for gemma and be happy for mark s, for regaining whatever small amount of autonomy and agency he can. he knows he’s going to die either way, whether he stays or leaves. so why wouldn’t he turn around to hold the hand of the woman he loves, to spend whatever amount of time he has left with her? it was a selfish choice yes, leaving gemma there, but that’s the point of the scene. for once in his life, mark s did something for himself, without regard for his outie. the show has always been about the innies, it was always going to be THEM.

[teeth-cable]

I don't know how to feel about Viv not mentioning historical events in Hazbin.

On one hand, I can respect that she probably had the foresight to realize she isn't responsible enough to write those topics, but on the other hand, it feels off.

Beside still referencing time periods through the character designs (Vox's retro TV head and Val's 70s pimp uniform) and Helluva Boss referencing modern pop culture memes, there's the fact that the majority of HH cast are POC characters who lived during the 20th century.

It's strange not to mentioned what those community went though during those times, seeing how those events were big historical moments that changed and shaped many POC communities forever. Ex: Niffty would realistically grown up in an incarceration camp during her teen years, or how the Harlem Renaissance would have helped Alastor as it did for many black entrepreneurs at the time, etc.

It feels like an erasure of history, as well as, the characters' identities. It's just weird not to even acknowledge what struggles or victories these POC characters would have goes through for a show trying to be "serious" and "deep".

Also, HB explores (albeit badly) themes of racism, discrimination, classism, cultural taboos of interracial relationships, inequity, prosecutorial misconduct, and other systemic and social issues that people of color faced and fought against or for during the 20th century. If Viv felt comfortable enough to explore these themes in HB, I don't know why they couldn't be explored in HH too, especially since they're more applicable in HH than HB.

[holyshit]

.

[pseudomonaslisa]

inappropriately angry about fictional property under the cut

saw a really unfortunate 19 paragraph take by someone just now that was like. 'u guys don't like the mb show because you think the preservation aux crew are CRINGE! get over ur capitalist bias. they don't have to be hypercompetent all the time to have value <3"

like yeah okay i get that we have to let go of the notion that success is what gives a life value. but. this is beyond fun hippie characterization. some of the pres aux leaders "think [they] should join the corporation rim"? why? because they don't have enough corporation rim money? they have an entire terraformed planet. like how irresponsible of a hippie collective do u have to be to fuck up an entire planet in a handful of generations?

[the-smiling-doodler]

i fw aroace harley heavy. however what i dont fw is when some people try to reason that hc by saying he lacks empathy. as if lacking empathy somehow correlates with feeling romantic/sexual attraction.

[tayfabe75]

"I've been thinking about addiction and I've been thinking about people who if they're either suffering through mental illness or they're suffering through addiction or they have an everyday struggle, no one pats them on the back every day, but every day they are actively fighting something. But there are so many days that nobody gives them credit for that, and so, how often must somebody who's in that sort of internal struggle must want to say to everyone in the room, 'You have no idea how close I am to going back to a dark place'."

November 25, 2020: Taylor chats with Jack Antonoff about the everyday struggle of things like addiction and mental illness. (source)

[xxplastic-cubexx]

Oh man. Snap, idk if you saw issue #5 of rogue: the savage land. BUt apparently magneto's powers have been wonky for this entire miniseries because rogue is "a being of pure empathy" and being around her "infects" him. Before, magneto was just a cold-hearted killer who never felt any remorse for his actions, but now that he sees rogue caring about other people, he's "questioning all that he is." She infected him with empathy, so being around her messes up his powers.

I can't. Like... WHAT. I am so glad this is the last issue of this stupid shit. Thank god I don't have to read this anymore

chat is this real say sike right now

[temilyrights]

someone needs to ban me from looking at tiktok comment sections because they fill me with the most intense rage

[anistarrose]

I love being aromantic. Hate having my posts about it blow up on Tumblr though.

[jrueships]

zesty lowkey just another way for str8 ppl to say faggot / faggy and get away with it

[buttercupshands]

My emotionally immature ass still doesn't understand a thing of how people can pity characters

Not like I don't try to understand it! I just... Can't? Understand that??? At all???

Like why would you pity a character for their sad backstory or whatever, and poof suddenly a character is pitiful as hell, and suddenly they're understandable because a person can call them a wet kitten under their care

And that's something I can't do for some reason

And again, not like I didn't *try*, it's just a thing I can't understand at any capacity other than 'some people do that to show their affection of that character, that's their way of caring

Granted talking to more people makes you understand them better! Doesn't help much! But it's something!!

[zenshigarakilover]

I'm interested to know your opinion about this https://www.tumblr.com/sad-outsider/745487303531692032/while-everyone-is-wondering-how-two-babies-could?source=share

it is an interesting question, how did AFO become such a skilled manipulator if he grew up feral on the streets? here's my thoughts:

so I don't think from the beginning AFO was all that interested in other humans. we're told that those who didn't give him anything he viewed with distrust and disdain, and the two times we see him coming across some people as a child it's just him killing them. maybe he watched them warily when they passed by, but ultimately he didn't engage with any of them to talk directly (as far as we know). BUT it's been pointed out by others that they had a radio with them as is shown with the circle below

well it does looks like a radio to me and it would make sense that was one of their connections to the outside world (though they wouldn't understand a lot of what was being talked about) and to me it makes sense if a radio was later how afo found out about what the glowing baby was up to. so he was at the very least a little interested in hearing what the others were doing, perhaps to analyze any potential threats and maybe he was a tiny bit curious deep down about the society that rejects them, but evidently AFO wasn't interested in trying to make direct contact with them or try to involve himself in their society and none of them bothered with him either.

that is until he read that one comic book. see the thing afo admired about the villain was how people feared and revered him and so he decided he wanted that for himself. after a lifetime of being ignored by people who passed by him on the street he wanted to become something they feared so they'll follow him and never have their eyes off him. and in order to become that he needed power. he already has an extremely powerful quirk, but he needs to obtain loyal followers to help him enact his will of becoming the ultimate evil who rules over everything. I'm sure AFO realized that in order to make his dream become a reality he was going to need to use other people and I think that's when he decided to begin studying the way other humans act to get a better sense in how to get them to do what he wants.

and I would say he did this by studying various media he came across at first. whether it's looking through books or magazines (remember twins were barely learning how to read when they were small and by the time afo declares his dream they look more like teenagers so I think afo was able to read better by this time), and later maybe he found tvs where he can watch shows that were airing and see the news. so through that he studied the culture, what is deemed acceptable and unacceptable, how to present himself in a way to get others to respect him. overall he would be far more interested in the world that he had no interest in before as he sees there are things he could take for himself there and get people to give him things. I also think after he's done going through media he would've stalked some people to see how they live and act, there are some things you can't learn through media so afo would want to learn more through observing those he comes across.

I like to headcanon that he would see one person passing him by on the street then stalk them for the whole day until they fell asleep. then the next day he would choose a different person who passes by him and stalks them for the rest of the day and does that until he feels like he's learned enough. then later on he would engage in small talk with people he sees to get a better feel of interacting with others and see what they respond well to and what they don't. the more he learns about the nature of people the more he learns how to use their emotions against them and predict their reactions to certain actions.

side note I would also like to point out that afo presents himself more masculine and wears business professional attire all the time. this is important to note because afo grew up without gender socialization, which tells me he saw how business men are typically seen by society as people to be respected and hardworking. so he chooses presents himself as someone who gives off the vibe that he's someone powerful and should be taken seriously by wearing the suit and tie. trying to manipulate people isn't just something you do with words, but also with the way you present yourself to others. you want to carefully craft an image of yourself that makes others view you as what you want them to view you as so you can gain their trust easier which is what I think afo did there.

I think once he feels confident enough though he would begin practicing his manipulation skills on others.

now look here:

afo intervenes with these group of people fighting in the streets and brings peace. I feel like he would do this often, bring order among the chaos he comes across and presents a choice. "if you feel powerless and scared then join me and I'll give you everything you want and more, or don't and remain as you are. all I really want to do is help you out :)"and many did choose to join! look at all those people around afo, those are probably all the people who chose to follow him.

I think afo would've seen how badly metas were treated by society and saw how desperate people were for order and someone to turn to. people can be manipulated more easily if they're scared and looking for anyone to help them, and afo would've seen this as a great way to begin building his empire by preying on the desperate. he crafted this image of himself that not only embodies power but also generosity. he took quirks away from the unworthy and gave them to those who wanted power. makes people think things like look how good he is to those who please him! he presented himself as a savior to the people, and manipulated them by taking advantage of their own vulnerability.

all he really had to do was lend a sympathetic ear and show them hey I was an outcast like you to appear relatable and demonstrate the power he had to those are were scared and felt like they couldn't protect themselves. they saw him as a personal savior who seemed to genuinely care about their plights. of course afo doesn't care about the plights of his fellow meta humans, he just wants to use them for his own purposes then tosses them out once he's done (as yoichi points out). but he seemed so genuine in his words that many fell for it which allowed him to manipulate them further. and so many became so entranced by him that they began to attack his enemies in his name without him ordering them to do so.

of course I don't think afo was always a successful manipulator in the beginning, maybe there was a social custom he overlooked and it made him look bad in someones eyes. maybe he said the wrong thing and it made someone distrust him more. there would be a lot of trial and error on his part when trying to learn to manipulate, but as he interacts with people more and learns from his past mistakes he would get much better until he becomes the excellent manipulator he is today.

and to me afo would have multiple personas he puts on when interacting with different people. two people could meet him but comes out with very different impressions about who he is as a person. he hides his true nature (which is said to feel unsettling to be around) so they would trust him more. I think he would enjoy this game really, stringing people along and making them feel he cares so they can give him what he wants. as I said before no one gave him anything as a child so he feels he has to take it for himself, and manipulation would be one of those tools he uses to get what he wants so he would take time to develop that skill through the things I've said before.

[lesbianfakir]

See my thing with vengeful spirit/entity revenge horror is I just… don’t get why they can’t be friends?? I always feel really bad for the monsters like wow I’m sorry you had a horrific life and death that really sucks. And I get that they’re angry and want revenge but it’s always on innocent people. Why is it never enough to find someone who empathizes with their pain and tries to help them/lay them to rest? WHY DO WE HAVE TO MURDER THE NICE PEOPLE???

Anyways I would die in a horror movie because I would be like I’m gonna befriend the creepy haunted murder doll and this will horrifically backfire on me