#(see slapstick with abuse victims)

[yamujiburo]

Some of this might sound intentionally hostile in text and I apologize.

I'm saying this as an abuse survivor mind you - don't throw "abusive ships" under the bus so easily - at least, so long as they're not actually glamorizing the abuse. I lived that irl and I personally find someone overcoming it, slowly having enough of that bullshit and getting out over time, and the other person having to wipe their own butt for once after they've made the damn mess, very refreshing. Maybe that's not a ship in the traditional sense. It's no happily ever after bc it shouldn't be, but I find stories like mine shyed away from so often because even the portrayal gets considered a "canon ship". ... that's just how media works now, I guess? I very rarely See a fictional relationship not called a ship in literally any context now so that's the definition I'm running on.

I wish more people were willing to portray the hardships of finding acceptance outside of "whoever you can find will accept you" very much, and finding the better things after. I wish people weren't terrified out of portrayimg situations like mine.

Jessie.. is not a good person in canon. You expect me to believe she moved into to hanamusa seamlessly, without falling on her ass? I never see you talk about Jessie's abusive tendencies in canon. You never talk about the inherent meanness she needed to get over to get there. She's quite aml lot like my ex in canon, actually.

What do you mean you're going to just remove from the character that she is abusive to those around her. Jessie hits people. She takes her own junk out on others all the time. Do you even like the character then, are you actually invested in her growing, or are you just making an OC at this point?

Idk. Do you, boo. But you are posting about a character who, whether you like it or not, is canonically abusive. I just don't buy that dating Ash's mom alone fixed her. That isn't... How that works. It would be excellent if it did. Part of my love of hanamusa is that it signals Jessie's change - but she could have changed for anyone before now.

What makes Delia different? How is she specifically a turning point for Jessie? Because Jessie's flaws go well beyond just bossing people around.

I would love if my abuser had the same outcome as your Jessie. I adore your portayals of hanamusa, where she's still flawed but still strives to do better. That's all I ever wanted from my ex.

What the fuck got her there tho.

Anyways I've been watching a lot of Bojack Horseman lately -

I agree with you! I don't think abusive relationships (or any tough subject matter in general) should be shied away from in media. It can be powerful when executed well and written by folks who are equipped to tell those kinds of stories. I do think it's sad when people treat it as off limits. But the ask I got was definitely more about which ships I have where I actually like the relationship between the characters. I think the semantics of the word "ship" are kind of vague or rather, over time, got so specific to only mean "absolutely love together and want them as endgame" (for most people anyways). So that's usually what I take the word to mean when people ask me about it.

I can 100% appreciate how an abusive relationship is written and handled, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna ship an abuser with their victim (that falls into the glorifying you're talking about). Love Bojack Horseman! Big fan! I think the way they handled Bojack and Sarah Lynn was beautifully and tragically well written. But does that mean I ship Bojack and Sarah Lynn? Absolutely fucking not.

I've talked about Jessie's character plenty on this blog and the way she's handled in earlier seasons specifically. This is kind of a summary: If we look at it on surface level, yes we can say she was abusive. But I think it's important to acknowledge and take into account the medium, time period and culture. Slapstick and cartoon violence was HUGE in anime and animation in the 90s (and prior to that too). Characters were always cartoonishly slapping each other around with giant mallets, folding fans, etc. Looney Tunes style. These slapstick bits were always distinct from real abuse and hurt (for Pokémon, Jessiebelle comes to mind). Mean slapstick wasn't a character trait exclusive to Jessie either. We saw it in Misty, James, Meowth, characters of the day and pretty much any character who got mad. It was a visual shortcut to show anger.

This type of slapstick has since (thankfully) died out and it hasn't really been a part of the Pokémon franchise since the early 2000s. However, Jessie was a notably special case. One of my favorite fun facts about the Pokémon anime is that there was a point in the series where Megumi Hayashibara (Jessie/Musashi's seiyuu) told the writers that moving forward, she no longer wanted Jessie to be violent or to be shown hitting James or Meowth (source: her memoir "The Characters Taught Me Everything"). She thought it directly went against the vision Takeshi Shudo had for Jessie, James and Meowth, when he created them, which was that they are good natured villains. If you watch from DP and on, Jessie never lays a hand on either of them. I think it was a such a good move on Pokémon's part to change her character like that and I'm forever grateful that Hayashibara said something! Whenever I write Jessie now, I always keep that in mind. She's mean, shouty and stupid but would never genuinely hurt those she cares about.

From then, her character becomes much more bearable. She's still bossy, mean and vain (typical cartoon villainess attributes) but I'd hesitate to say abusive. She'll still yell at James and Meowth, they all yell at each other, but in more of a sibling way (imo) rather than a "i'm actively trying to hurt your feelings way". The show makes a point especially in later seasons to show that Jessie, James and Meowth are not beyond being redeemed. From conception the whole POINT of the Team Rocket trio was that they are redeemable but their persistence and obsession keeps getting in the way of them seeing that there's a better life for them out there.

I won't deny that Jessie was unsavory in earlier seasons, but when I write her, I choose to write the version that Takeshi Shudo and Megumi Hayashibara had envisioned from the get go. She's still incredibly flawed and makes plenty missteps but wants to be better as you stated! My favorite part about Jessie is that she's a piece of shit LOL and I enjoy writing the changes she goes through to be better (but then still showing her default so some of her evil tendencies). In this AU, Delia doesn't fix Jessie. Jessie fixes Jessie because she is with someone makes her want to be a better person. She's already in the middle of turning over a new leaf before even meeting Delia, after leaving Team Rocket. Writing Jessie as legitimately abusive I think could work, but that's not my story to tell and if someone who were more equipped to tell that story did, I'd be very interested to take a listen!

I hope this doesn't come off as trying to deny or invalidate your experience. If you see that in Jessie, I hear you! This is just how I've interpreted her character over the years, having watched every episode of Pokémon and reading Japanese interviews from the cast and crew. She's such a compelling character and I love how messy she is

[starstriix]

is it just me or do some people exaggerate or misinterpret jo's interactions with brick. I've seen jock being called "physically abusive"???? the ONLY violent thing jo has done out of malicious intent towards brick was crush his hand to assert dominance. That is absolutely nothing to how jo treats other people (throwing cameron like a ragdoll, using lightning as shark bait, hell she was about to beat the shit out of dawn), or how canon couples have treated each other in the show (cartoon slapstick, guys. I’m not saying they’re physically abusive).

I don't even count the slapping thing because it was in a "snap out of it, man!" way and it was def out of concern judging by the look on her face. The most jo does to brick is call him mean names or strategize against him which she does to literally everyone. Even brick sees it as her trying to annoy him. He literally takes part in their competition as well; it's not jo harassing him, it's a RIVALRY. She just teases him the most because she interacts with him the most (because she LIKES competing with him).

Idk i don't like basing how she'd act in a relationship on how she acts in a competition to win a million dollars, and I don't like when people portray their relationship as if brick's some poor defenseless victim to jo's antics. It's a rivalry.

[aobabes]

I've noticed that Clear gets beat up a lot in his route. Aside from the Clearao slapstick comedy and the android/human love story + angst, the rest of it was Toue indirectly abusing Clear; he allowed his associates to beat up Clear and to pour sulfuric acid on his face and programed the alphas to beat up Clear multiple times and each time it's just uncomfortably long? And he's incapable of fighting back every time unless Aoba is in immediate danger. And it's only when he destroys his key lock, which directly leads to his death, that he's able to defend himself. I love Clear's route, but I have to always skip those parts because it just gives me the ick. Speaking of things that give me the ick, I don't think anyone has talked about this throughout my time being in the dmmd fandom. In his bad end, Clear is enforcing the trauma Toue gave him onto Aoba as a means to make them more alike.

When you put into perspective the way Clear is talking about how Toue makes him feel and how he can't fight back against him, you start to realize that Clear is basically treating Aoba like how Toue impliedly treats him and his brothers. You can tell because the way Aoba feels about Clear's treatment of him is exactly how Clear feels about Toue.

Clear wants to make Aoba like him, like how he sees himself, like how Toue's abuse has made him perceive himself. He takes Aoba's sight to remove his window to the outside world and to deny him of any unnecessary knowledge because all Aoba needs to know is Clear. He removes Aoba's limbs to take away his sense of freedom, his free will, and to make it impossible for him to escape. He removes Aoba's vocal cords because, to Clear, he doesn't need something that allows him to make any choices and he's quite literally silencing him. Since being reprogrammed, for two months all Clear knew was Toue and the inner walls of Oval Tower before he finally granted him permission to see Aoba. Clear, being a machine created by Toue, has no freedom, no free will, and cannot escape considering he's physically incapable of defying Toue. Clear was never allowed a choice, given a say in anything, nor allowed to voice what he wanted, unless Toue approved of it first. Clear is taking Toue's place whilst Aoba has taken Clear's place.

Clear wants to make Aoba share the same pain he's endured, and more than anything he wants Aoba to be a "living doll" like he is. He wants to turn Aoba into a mirrored image of his trauma so that he doesn't feel completely alone.

Even Clear begging Aoba to say his name and wanting to hear his voice in the r-word scene mirrors Toue being so obsessed with Clear denying him as his master and wanting to know why. Clear knew that if he applied enough force/pain onto Aoba that he'd eventually give him what he wanted in that scene. That always stood out to me because Clear is an android and androids are learning ais given human-looking models. Clear's grandpa and Aoba taught him how to be human and what it means to have emotions, to be alive. Toue reprogramming him, taking all of that away from him, what does he have left to learn anything from other than Toue's abuse? How else would he know that denying Aoba the hope of ever escaping, the freedom of choice, and the free will to fight back would eventually make him give up and submit to him after being reunited with him after two whole months of being separated? Who else would teach him that, if not his master, Toue?

I know this isn't my usual dmmd rambling post, but I can't only talk about the positives of dmmd without bringing up the bad ends sometimes. Because they're unfortunately just as beautifully written as the good ends. Taking a character like Clear, who's entire character arc was about claiming free will, the freedom of choice, and what it means to live only to witness all of that taken away from him in the form of watching him victimize his lover the same way he was victimized really portrays abusive power dynamics, Stockholm syndrome, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and trauma responses so perfectly.

[jalebi-weds-bluetooth]

IPKKND thought i would love your take on:

I think when it comes to Shyam's revelation scene the only disappointment i felt was in Arnav's reaction which we can chalk upto Barun's unavailability but its honestly not surprising that other members didnt respond very strongly. We have a bias as viewers since we are witness to everything so we are aggressively countering Shyam's arguments from our screen. But for everyone else its a massive shock and they dont wanna jump the gun about a decision which will possibly break the family. Even with Khushi, she was a victim and its very unfair for us to expect her to counter this logically like a debate. This took a heavy emotional toll on her which is why its understandable why she is mumbling even if she is in the right. Same with her confrontation scene with Arnav. For Khushi, these moments are too overwhelming to be able to answer the questions thrown at her with logical. Maybe once her emotions are settled down a bit but in the moment i totally understand it and i dont feel its OOC like many claim. I would've loved to see her actually sit through it and talk it out with someone who has the emotional bandwidth to help her or atleast listen to her. But yeah I don't understand when people expect her to be bold and bindass when she is confronting (kind of) her abuser.

Hi Anon,

This is an absolutely valid point. You see my issue with these scenes is actually not the characters but the INTENT of these scenes and the tightness of the writing and how well it delivers a payoff.

As you’ve aptly put out - expecting rationality from Khushi from either situations is unfair cause she’s in deep stress and there’s a HUGE shock for most characters when they come to hear what Shyam and Khushi have to say.

But the INTENT is what ruins both of these scenes.

During the final showdown between Arnav and Khushi on the terrace - the very fact that Khushi’s attempt to unalive herself is treated with comedy is disgusting and disparaging.

Out of everything that could’ve been a trigger for Khushi to demand the truth, for her to go with Arnav has married her to get rid of his fault on his astronomical birth chart is so stupid. The makers are going “lol, Khushi so crazy she can think anything!”

The show keeps branding Khushi as “crazy”, which, to be honest, after a point is offensive because Khushi’s inability to rationalize is a serious problem if it’s leading to her justification on unaliving herself over things that don’t exist at all.

She needs help, serious help.

It’s not even played for dark humour. Rather slapstick humor.

And when I talk about her and Arnav’s conversation - the dialogues aren’t veered towards an angst or angry conversation! In fact a few things are kept in mind for their showdown.

1. Arnav needs to insult Khushi’s character as much as possible (right after she tried to unalive herself for his happiness - WTF?)

2. Khushi has to be fulfill the necessity of a good bahu. That is, her motivation to hide Shyam’s truth is never the honest threat it posed to Payal’s impending marriage. Rather Khushi is such a nice bahu that she wants to preserve Anjali’s ideals of marriage and happiness. This is very very ITV sanskaar coded because Shyam has harassed Khushi at multiple points by this time and it’s never shown that she’s bound to preserve Anjali’s marriage by no choice but that she truly believes Anjali should be kept happy (because Arnav won’t be able to take the truth?) and that Khushi is perfectly fine with Anjali staying married with a harasser.

3. No acknowledgement of Khushi being harassed and absolutely nothing to show Khushi being at fault and nothing to indicate to Arnav he might be mistaken. This is critical. The show keeps wanting to maintain that Arnav’s terrible opinion of Khushi is unchanged! Arnav’s PTSD is conveniently forgotten (which they remember every other time) and Khushi will absolutely not clear anything that can give Arnav another perspective. The show, despite showing harassment multiple times, sidesteps from acknowledging Khushi is being harassed. So Khushi obviously has no “idea” of the terrace. And it’s not written that she’s so traumatized she has suppressed it.

4. Khushi needs to prove herself to Arnav. Arnav has emotionally and verbally abused Khushi multiple times in this marriage and they had to ensure that this is all about Khushi proving her character to a man who never believed she had one. It’s terrible because Khushi needs to prove that she’s not having a relationship with the man who has been sexually harassing her. No justification is expected from Shyam and he’s pretty much Scot free for sexually harassing Khushi.

This showdown was everything. We needed a PAYOFF. A payoff for why Arnav was quiet for three months. A payoff for the whole misunderstanding.

You realize this would’ve been perfectly angsty if Arnav came to the conclusion that Khushi ultimately chose to condemn Anjali in a terrible marriage because it would protect Payal’s marriage. This was a valid reason to be upset on Khushi that is non sexist.

And Arnav makes far more sense in these episodes than Khushi does. And this is important because for the show Arnav has to maintain his misunderstanding of Khushi.

Khushi dissociates in traumatic situations - again this is not addressed and this is a grave situation.

And now coming to the Shyam revelation scene. I feel this was a perfect situation to give the other characters dialogues to explain their utter confusion.

Because the intent of this episode was to show “oh Arnav believes her over everything” and the whole family needs to have doubts over Khushi’s character and I was just personally DONE with a female lead’s character come up in question multiple times.

And the intent is to make Arnav feel heroic for slapping Shyam.

That’s why it makes no sense why Khushi admits she said she hated Arnav and wanted his property to lure Shyam out. What is the intent of this?

To show Arnav still believes her and he’s hero?

Shyam had the best dialogues and Arnav had the least impactful. They needed to give Arnav dialogues (everyone else could have had more valid follow up questions). Arnav’s dialogue is so bleh and the things is Arnav KNOWS.

He isn’t blindly choosing Khushi - he just saw Shyam switch narratives because Shyam himself told Arnav that HE is obsessed with Khushi and he’ll do anything to get Khushi back!!

And it’s again to really horn in that “oh Arnav has defected towards his wife who we can’t quite trust,”

So you see these cause an issues.

It’s not a payoff to Arnav having misunderstood her so grossly. They tried to do it but it came out flat as best barring Shyam - man what amazing dialogues and it’s so in character because he IS a lawyer.

And like what was with NK behaving like as if he was going to flip on Khushi?

See moments like these heighten my issue with these scenes. Neither gives a payoff to the misunderstanding of the terrace night.

So these are my point of views.

Thank you and take care,

- JWB

[bluerambling]

People appear to like my first unhinged Renfield post so here’s another one:

The scene where Bobert Montague Renfield talks about his wife and kid. This is a scene that feels really out of place because it’s right between two high energy action scenes and a lot of people on first watch will be like “why do we care about this?” In a lesser movie, this scene would have an explicitly romantic overtone, an “I failed my wife and kid but I won’t fail you, love interest.” We don’t get that and the movie is BETTER FOR IT (but that’s a post for later.) People might especially be confused by this scene because when we see Dracu-Cage doing his best manipulate mansplain manslaughter earlier in the movie, he pulled this exact piece of information: (paraphrasing) “you abandoned your wife and kids because you wanted my power, you’re the evil one who took advantage of me!!” And the instinct is of course to say that’s not true!! That’s just Dracu-Cage manipulating the facts!! It’s Drac’s fault Renfield left, not his!!

And I personally (personal taste alert) really like that this movie didn’t go there. Instead, there is a grain of truth there. Renfield did have a choice, he had agency then to turn down the power and he has agency now to walk away. That is something a lot of stories of abuse overlook because it’s VERY hard to do it without looking like you’re blaming the victim for their abuse. “Oh if it’s so bad why don’t you just leave?” type shit, not a fan, I don’t have to explain that. But this movie has motherfuckin DRACULA as its antagonist!! We see this guy literally commit mass murder to punish Renfield for exercising his agency, we see why it’s not as simple as “just walk away.”

This scene establishes that there is a reason that Renfield was drawn to him in the first place, there is a vulnerability that Dracula exploited, and it’s not altruistic, it’s a little selfish!! And that’s okay!! Renfield still isn’t shown as deserving the abuse because of it, and it’s clear that his own lack of self esteem and subsequent lust for power is a FLAW that he needs to OVERCOME in order to be FREE and JOYFUL. Giving up his power to Dracula and BEING a poor little meow meow who can’t do anything is PART OF what started the cycle of abuse in the first place, allowed Dracula to take advantage of him, and perpetuates the cycle. In taking his power back, acknowledging his own weakness but affirming his own strength, Renfield can leave, move on, and find joy.

It preserves Renfield’s agency in a way I don’t know if I’ve seen before!!!! That’s pretty fucking nuanced for a slapstick gore comedy!!!!!!

[cherrysmokesaconha]

About the reblog

Well, after my last few reblogs on that topic, I think I owe you some explanation.

First of all, I apologize for that reblog, it was a bad idea and I shouldn't have done it. But I also thank op for being respectful and showing me their thoughts, it changed my mind and opened my eyes.

I finally realized that I shouldn't take Eddsworld seriously. It's a comedy series after all.

But well, I have to explain that a lot of my opinions (including the one I mentioned about "unhealthy" stuff) are based on what I see in the fandom/internet.

i've always seen people saying "dni with me if you ship tomtord, it's abusive" or "dni with me if you ship tomtord, it's a proship", and i've even been victimized by a favorite artist of mine for shipping this couple. so i got that one "all the ships are abusive" opinion to myself so i could protect myself (really hope i wrote that right)

people taking the series seriously made me take the series seriously too. and as an autistic person, it affected me a lot since txt was my comfort ship

but you know, i'm always here to learn new things and change my opinions. and i must admit that today i learned something.

i literally learned the word "slapstick" which i had never heard of since my first days in the fandom /srs. so i kind of learned it a little late, but well, at least now i'm aware of it and my opinion is better i think.

i apologize for that post, and i also apologize to op (@lubotomies sorry for tagging!!) for bothering them with that silly opinion. i hope this can be resolved and i can get back to posting normally.

[greywindys]

Some people don’t like 2Doc because it hits too close to home in terms of abuse they’ve suffered from and they’ve seen too many stans defend or downplay the abuse, much like people have in their own lives, which is valid, although it’s worth thinking about how the early depictions of it were meant to be slapstick and funny, not something that would slide by today. However, others still are guilty of seeing 2D as nothing but a sweet, innocent boy who is nothing but a victim, not helped by recent canon depictions…in reality, I think you can point to character flaws and traits that have nothing to do with Murdoc, especially before D-Day. Not that that excuses Murdoc, of course! And not helping matters is a lack of a consistent trajectory for Murdoc, even after he claims to have changed…

And it should go without saying that your portrayal of 2Doc is absolutely marvellous. I enjoy seeing more of your writing, when you’re able to, of course!

There's a lot to unpack here, but I'll start by saying thank you! I think I underestimated my ability to juggle multiple projects at once. But I'm happy with my current pace.

As to you previous paragraph, yeah. There are many valid reasons for someone to dislike and scrutinize 2Doc. I blame the slapstick point on Gorillaz, honestly, because they've never done a good job at making a distinction between what's slapstick and what's meant to be taken seriously. I might even argue that one shouldn't depict any slapstick when one of the characters is an abuser and the other character is the person they're abusing, but I also think most situations can be depicted effectively when the writer is competent. And Gorillaz isn't.

And you're right, some fans can go from one extreme to another. There are people who completely downplay the concerns other fans have about the unhealthy elements of 2Doc. Then there are other fans who have trouble depicting or acknowledging any flaws in 2D's character because they worry that doing so might make others think they're excusing Murdoc which is... kind of myopic. 2D can be a flawed person while also being an abuse victim. Murdoc can also be a flawed person while also being an abuse victim. Their layers are what make them so interesting.

IMO there are two major elements at play - the shift towards more watered down, people-pleasing media and to a lesser extent, Gorillaz' shitty writing that's also trying to be as palatable as possible. The former worsens the latter. Gorillaz writing has always been mostly shitty, but since companies realized that they could profit off of really familiar, formulaic stories (I'm thinking Marvel, all the re-boots, etc). It's become what a significant number of people are used to and want, and it worsens people's ability to consider nuance. And this is the group that Gorillaz writing tries to appeal to these days despite their history.

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Ok music spill the tea, I want to know if your opinions of 1-b I am very curious and I always love your thoughts on canon!

Okay so I love Monoma. I think that his character is what people want Bakugou’s to be. He’s very much a protective person to his friends even if he’s a jackass to others. He believes in his friends fully. He also had a bad childhood due to bullying that made him the way he is.

It’s the rest… well…

I don’t like Kendo to much. I think I discussed it before but her smacking Monoma all the time and her treatment of him makes me upset because it’s not portrayed as slapstick all the time. It’s more like a real in canon thing and frankly: I can see her having BIG issues professionally down the line because if I was a sidekick seeing that shit I’d be reporting it as abuse of a coworker. Kendo to me feels like a character who should get a harsh reality check but will also realize how fucked her actions are so she will adapt herself. Or she’ll get shocked in the real world.

Side note: Vlad King is supposedly a good teacher but let’s Monoma be an asshole to villain victims and Kendo smack her classmates. I have… the feeling he’s not as good as we get told.

Tetsutetsu is a character I also like. I find him amusing and I would love to explore his and Kirishima’s friendship more.

Pony is as I said a dumb character.

The rest though…

I’m interested in these characters but frankly we never see enough of them. @thenarator I believe brought up how they keep letting Kendo smack around Monoma and how they treat him and it’s a good point, but I usually put that on Vlad King for his fuck ups in teaching. He’s showing them it’s okay what she’s doing. And it’s not. I would love to explore them slowly getting to know each other and how the relationships between them form and how 1A could become their friends to.

The girls though… I tend to find that I avoid any fic where any 1B girl takes centre stage because I just know that the homophobia is going to kill me. These girls are so interesting and I would love to know more about them but good god I find that writers tend to use them more for harems and not as actual characters. Like it’s homophobia and sexism galore.

So my feelings about 1B are complicated because they all have potential but the canon writing fails them or the fanon writing does.

[primussavethesemechs]

So since I think one of the biggest topics in tmnt crossovers is how to handle 2012 Raph and Mikey’s dynamic, I’m gonna go ahead throw my opinion out there

1. Yes it IS unhealthy- I don’t know how else to explain to you that Raph slapping Mikey at the slightest annoyance and even decking him in the face hard enough to momentarily knock him out for tapping a beat for 3 seconds in an elevator without so much as a verbal warning is bad (not to mention his verbal abuse). I have a sister and I can tell you that we don’t do that shit even when we’re PISSED at each other and actively fighting, we never go for the head, we just wrestle it out- And more importantly WE TALK ABOUT IT LATER AND APOLOGIZE. If you have the exact same relationship as them with your siblings and think it’s fine, you should probably reflect on things (especially if you’re the Raph)

2. No I don’t think Raph should be demonized or reduced down to an uncaring abusive asshole- a lot of people have taken to portraying Raph as more villainous than the actual villains, and having the Rise brothers adopt Mikey bcuz “none his actual brothers care about him and wouldn’t miss him” which is nonsense. Raph has his own character flaws that need to be addressed, namely his massive anger issues, but they show time and time again that when the cards are down he truly does care about his brothers, and so do the rest of them. I can understand people who relate to Mikey and see their own toxic relationships in the abuse and take it a step up in writing as a way to vent, but you shouldn’t insist that it’s exactly what’s happening in canon, especially to those who haven’t seen the show

3. Raph and Mikey both are victims of the shows flawed writing (most characters are tbh but I’m focusing on them for rn) Raph is shown to have anger issues and they even address the need to control it in an episode, and you know what happens to the character development as soon as the episode is over? Gone, and they never speak of it again. Same with Mikey who, as much I dearly love him, is outrageously unobservant and immature. He, like Raph, is reduced to his stereotype, in this case the funny dumb one, and whenever they introduce deeper thought to his character- like the episodes where he runs away after his brothers call him useless or dumb or just ignore him, show his awareness of their treatment being harsh and his own self worth issues- they’ll focus on it for exactly an episode and maybe have the situation momentarily resolved by the end and then never spoken about again. They use Mikey’s abuse as a punchline excessively and have Raph cross lines I don’t think his character would naturally do because “haha he’s angry all the time and kids like physical slapstick”. Rise occasionally has issues with this type of lazy joke writing too, and it also impacts how people view the characters- I’ll make a post about splinter and how their propensity for using him for lazy bum jokes (to the point of being contradictory to what we’ve seen of him) has actively negatively impacted how fans see him.

Basically please don’t bash Rise or 2012 in their entirety, both have flaws that can be critiqued and joked about but neither need to be dragged through the mud to make one look better than the other. It’s a bad look for everyone and I hope in a few years both Rise and 2012 fans can be pretty much entirely at peace with each other.

[miraculousalt]

The way Marinette fans or jus general ml fans really will use feminist movements like #metoo or the uprising of female abuse victims speaking up against misogynistic prejudice they face an suffer under to explain why Marinette has every right to reject Chat Noir the way she does is all really great an progressive unril the very same people will 80% of the time then turn round an honest to God explain or even DEMAND that Marinette doesn NEED to stop hitting Adrien, tying him up or otherwise physically restrain or use him and doesn't NEED to ask for consent in anything including KISSING or other sexual activities (you people aren't even attempting to hold Marinette to somewhat of the same healthy standards you make sure Adrien never EVER gets to break, under no circumstances) - even when they are DEPICTED IN A LOVING Relationship - because "its nothing serious.", "she isn't actually hurting him", "he deserved it he annoyed her!" and "that's slapstick comedy, it's FUNNY" is outright one of the most disgusting double standards this fandom glorifies into all heavens.

The way people will show ZERO self-awareness of what they're doin and excusing here an that this is EXACTLY how our real society treats (domestic) violence against men by women would be almost hilarious hypocrisy to point out if it wasn actually as downright depressing as it truly is.

Don't bring feminist movements into the conversation regarding Chats behavior towards Ladybug when you straight up support the characterisation of Marinette Ladybug bein seemingly incapable of NOT physically violating her boyfriend/husband/partner who has suffered under excessive abuse for all his life the moment she sees him transformed (or evn worse as CIVILIANS). Because therefore his "protective suit" can be used to all max as justification as for why Marinette apparently isn being abusive or treatin him badly, including taking advantage of him and his non existent boundaries thanks to his abusive home and the established Ladynoir dynamic that sometimes hardly let's Chat be more than Ladybugs tool to use so she can look cool and strong.

Don't bring up feminist movements when yall think the appropriate way for Adrien to react when he made Marinette angry is submitting and cowering in fear bc you somehow have convinced yourself that boys and men (even the ones, or ESPECIALLY the ones, you are in a romantic relationship with) getting scared of you when you're in a bad mood is you being EMPOWERED instead of you actively refusing to stop being outright abusive.

Canon Marinette is a flawed person but in the end of the day that still remains in at least some sort of limitations to not cross every line, but FANON Marinette Ladybug? That's so fucking often a glorified domestic abuser yall romanticize in a relationship with an abuse victim. But sure. That's alright for you, cuz yall don't truly believe that women can be abusers of people they love once you LIKE them as "strong, empowered women". And men can't truly be abused by women bc they just "respectfully drink respect women juice" in each an every conflict they have cuz men NOT havin to follow a women's every dominatin lead or dare to even expect of HER to do better and stand accountable for her hurtful behavior n be TRUTHFUL is toxic for you people.

I feel so fucking sorry for every male domestic abuse victim of their female abuser, who had to endure their pain an suffering getting invalidated, spit on and even JUSTIFIED as a womans natural unproblematic right by this fandom bc yall are really out here not thinking twice about the horrible implications of making Marinette Ladybug "lovingly" physically assault Adrien Chat for girlboss points or shits n giggles at every turn. No matter how fucking unnecessarily violently executed or even entirely unwarranted in the first place. You just don't fucking care.

The way this fandom has Marinette physically and emotionally violate Adrien Chat however extreme and even unwarranted as she pleases and then you people have the nerve to romanticize that abusive shit by having Adrien be INTO THAT and LIKE IT in a loving relationship while he never once gets to defend himself - bc now that would glorify domestic abuse right? - is the most backwards and hypocritical "feminist" characterisation teh show has to offer but yall truly make it into glorified abuse bc "woman strooooong and in control, its PROGRESSIVE! 💅🏼He respects and admires her strength an authority, he doesn mind getting put in his place à bit rougher by her bc he supports her as the powerful woman leader she is 😌."

Even the Marinette fans who claim to feel for Adrien in his abuse (or even ADRIEN FANS) turn around and laugh at or completely write it off when Marinette gets characterized in Canon and ESPECIALLY in fanon to basically just violate, assault, humiliate, insult and dehumanizes her male love interest for her "empowerment". Because yall claim to be so feminist and progressive but it's so fucking obvious that you only care about how WOMEN can benefit the best from everything. You want revenge porn that's all.

Adrien, his abuse and male abuse victims of any kind are a mere afterthought for you (sometimes not even that) in the feminism you believe in and s4 made that so fucking clear. 95% of this "progressive" Fandom wouldn't hold a female abuser accountable for her actions, even if it were to save the male victims life, the moment the woman isn't a 1 dimensional, obvious monster. If a woman has ONE sympathetic emotion in her portrayal yall will excuse and justify her getting the male victim served to her obedient an perfect an pretty on a silver plate.

95% of the miraculous Fandom has lost their fucking right to claim they care about abuse victims, because no you fucking don't. Not when it's a man and the scenario is coincidentally layed out perfectly to have the woman benefit on every level from the man getting abused, neglected and taken advantage of to 17 hells. Then youll look for n max out every excuse an justification on every meta level available to belittle the disgusting treatment the men went through.

YOU don't give a FUCK about abuse victims and their life's and pain the moment they are male, and s4 has an still IS now in s5 having you publicly blog that into the open internet because THAT'S how little you truly think of male abuse victims. Miraculous is a girl power show, so you will not think twice about dehumanizing and victim blaming boys for woke and even TOXIC feminist points, cuz the last thing you would ever do is hold women girls to healthy standards too in their dynamics an relationships with men boys under a feminist narrative.

"Feminism" for you is an excuse and Marinette fans in s4 proofed that in every way possible.

[ojamayellow]

I hope this doesn't make me picky

since I only ship Starscream with Skyfire and my self insert but.

I hate the ship with him and Megatron so much!!!!!!!!! Like despite the slapstick comedy of him getting beaten up by Megatron in like, G1, I hate the ship in every canon. Armada/Micron Legend makes the beat ups genuinely uncomfortable too.

Like to me it is genuine abuser x victim. I love both characters mind you (Starscream most) but it's like.....you see where my issue is.....

that being said I think I only ship megatron with optimus with the divorce they got going on in different universes. (Shout out though to my friend because I just remembered I ship Megatron with their self insert. Love wins.)

[transfemstarscream]

which do you think was worse: aligned cont or cyb's final scene with star? aligned was waaaaay more gratuitous and crappy but cyb felt more victim blame-y.

aligned was needlessly graphic in its depiction, however i give the benefit of the doubt that (most of) it was just attempts at translating slapstick humor to 3D, which just didn’t work for the animation style nor the theme of the show. i think the last scene of her in predacons rising is unnecessary and rather brutal (especially considering the fascination certain people have with it) but given how she as a character was just unbearable to me, i kind of don’t take it as hard. i don’t think it’s good and will never think it’s good but at least we got confirmation she was fine.

cbv, however, was written by people who knew the abuse victim narrative starscream displayed and doubled down on the victim blaming. they knew that a lot of people viewed her as one. they knew what they were doing with the lingering shots and face of pure fear they gave her when she was being hurt by you-know-who. and they knew what they were doing when characters were pointing out that he was the reason she’d gone insane starting mid season two. and instead of handling it with respect they decided to have her endure a psychotic break and victim blame her for what happened to her and have her abuser respond to her in a catty “you’re welcome” and frame it as him in the right. you wonder why they didn’t kill her in season 2 when you see what they did to her in season 3. it’s like they wanted to do “dark star” (the comic) but didn’t know what made it good.

aligned may be graphic but at least it wasn’t the victim blaming shitfest cbv was.

[mistblaze]

LakeClan

LakeClan is a story about survivors, escapists and friends, of taking pieces of the culture you were raised in and building something new, of laying a new picture out of mosaic stones.

It´s grappling with legacy, and wether or not it´s something you want to pass onto your kids. It´s confronting the mistakes of your elders, and your own, to make a better future.

It´s a story of facing uncomfortable realizations and living with them. Of cultural loss and filling the holes without loosing who you are, and asking the question if who you are is really a good thing.

Well, at least that´s what I´m trying to do. You tell me if I stick the landing.

Main Arc

The main Arc is contained in Stand Together and Out of the Woods. The first is about the cats finding together, a mix of street cats looking for community and clan cats looking for acceptance. The second is the way to the lake and refugees from all three - yes, three - clans finding common ground.

Protagonists: Mist, later Hopelight; Shadow, later Shadowstalk; Rusty, later Fireheart

Mist is our main POV, a cult escapist barely scraping by getting caught up in Thistle Law, a sister forced to mourn her brother before he´s death, losing her two closest friends to said brother, confronting her mother´s legacy and her father´s choices. She left ThunderClan because the leadership couldn´t clear the low, low bar of condeming the killing of tresspassing children, and now has to raise Shadow in a way that doesn´t impart harmful views in him.

Shadow is our second POV, son of Quince and Jake, curious by nature but bullied. He grew up in a family where might made right among his siblings, and it´s difficult to let go of that mindset. He´s trying, confronting the fact that what happend to him wasn´t right and that he´s not weak for being less of a fighter.

Rusty is our last. An idealist, a dreamer, someone with light in his heart (heh) and wanting to see the good in people. He struggles to keep that outlook while being best friends with Ravenpaw, Tigerclaw´s youngest abuse victim. Taught as Mist´s second apprentice, he confronts the fact that while people are complex, that doesn´t make their actions any less evil.

Guest speakers in Stand Together:

Longtail. Confronting Redtail and Runningwind, the ideology his mentor taught him nearly kills his apprentice, whom he deeply cares for. He´ll make a 180 and confront Darkstripe about it. Loudly.

Dustpaw/Sandpaw Again, confronting Redtail and Tigerclaw´s influence on ThunderClan, as well as the chasm it created between Dust and Raven AND the xenophobia against outsiders.

Goldenflower Confronting the realization that your mate will send your children to die, and that your only way to safe them is to leave. Also, towards the end, dealing with Sasha and Tiger´s abuse of her vulnerability.

Redtail Haunting slapstick and aggressive DEVINE SIGN to help people. Accidental patronship. Deals with his coping mechanisms

Guest speakers in Out of the Woods:

Deadfoot WindClan survivor. Mate died, his siblings died, two kits died. He´s traumatized as hell and struggled with it.

Swiftpaw Recovering from his traumatic injury and finding himself and his name. Also touches on Brightpaw and Longtail, who is also getting mauled.

Somebody from RiverClan, dealing with hopes and regrets connected to that.

Either Crowstorm or Lizardtail of ShadowClan

The Beaver Quest

A deep look into the cats managing their environment. They are now send by their ancestors to retrieve beavers, to help restore the natural wetland area around the lake.

Cast: Bramblestorm, Tawnylight, Stormpelt, Featherflight, Dewpelt, Rootstripe, Crowflight, Hillrunner

Narrativly, the next generation that somewhat grew up with seperate cultures having a nice little trip to finally melt into one big, chaotic unit. There´s shenanigans, there´s a lot of "why is your Clan doing that?" that nobody can really answer, and there´s beaver children robbery.

Guest speakers:

Human researchers baffled at the whole thing

To the Sky

SkyClan rescue! Grappling with what being a Clan truly means, building a unique Clan from a unique foundation, showing the further downwards spiral of the Forest Four, Millie introduction.

The least plotted out, honestly.

[cl0verlemon]

Original Molo's story wasn't always happy. Never was, knowing me. (WARNING!! Following content includes the talk of consent, mentions of rape and sexual assault, and abuse.)

---

In his character guide, kids don't ever see the innuendo of something terribly wrong with the character. Just a fun loving British moth who transferred all the way from the UK with a masters degree in dancing. But parents as they watched the show found something else.

Molo was a character of confidence, grace, beauty, and kindness. He was cocky, flirty, a bit of an asshole but nothing too serious. He was kind to his neighbors and that's all parents really cared for. A character that could role model their children.

But, unknowingly, he resided with older audiences a little too heavily.

Teens who had went through traumatic experiences resided with him, and eventually, there was a deleted episode that rolled out. It was a special episode that only lasted a week on air before being cut short, and DVDs of the episode were scarce, but thankfully one person got ahold of one. Now we will share it to the world.

---

The episode started in normal fashion, the big 'Welcome Home' title in front before fading to the front of Home. The building's window shutters abruptly flapping open and closing, before adverting it's pupils elsewhere. Usually Wally Darling, the most beloved neighbour to all the children would have come out by now. But as the camera panned it showed that the episode wasn't about Wally. Not today.

It panned to the pink rosy maple moth from the old cartoon, 'Silky Moth', a comedy slapstick that was canceled just a few months after Welcome Home aired. His smile as big as ever, blue pupils expanding in the center of black sclera. Then, he motioned to a blank paper chart next to him, turning it around to reveal the word. "Consent."

"Today's episode may be too sensitive for littluns, I reckon it would be best if they were to leave the room."

His accent, adored by many, was more serious than the rest of the light-hearted episodes he's been apart in. The scene waited minutes, as if waiting for parents and teens to usher kids and younger siblings out of the room before Molo spoke again.

When he did, he pointed to the white paper.

"Assuming the children are out, parents. This topic is also incredibly sensitive. It is about consent, and is meant for older kids such as fourteen to fifteen years of age. If you can not handle the talk of assault, non-consented actions, and adult topics, I absolutely recommend you turn off the telly and spend the day with your kin. Otherwise, parents and teens alike, if you are alright with the topic. We shall proceed."

Another few minutes pass, aswell as a disclaimer at the bottom in bright, bold text, "VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!"

"We will talk about consent." He repeated, wings fluttering behind him as the scenery around him turned pure white. "Consent, if you do not know, is asking for permission. If someone does not give you permission, or says no, you are not allowed to proceed with your actions. Even if you so desperately crave to."

He took steps away from the paper, and towards the TV screen.

"Some of you could have been victims of non-consented actions, whether sexual, physical, mental, you all have a voice and have a valid reason to speak your mind against it."

He faded, yet his face was still there as images of simply drawn sandwiches appeared in front of the screen, drawn in crayon. It was obviously Wally who was drawing it, his art style recognizable to many adults and teens who watched the show.

"Take consent as, someone is asking you for a sandwich. Your answer depends on their actions. If you say yes to the sandwich, they may give you the sandwich."

The camera clipped and showed a new picture of someone eating a sandwich, then changed again to a half eaten sandwich.

"You do not have to eat the whole sandwich, you can say 'no thank you' even when you've accepted the sandwich."

The camera panned to a drawing of Molo refusing the sandwich.

"If someone says no to the offer of a sandwich, that is okay. You cannot force the person to eat the sandwich." The camera clicked to someone force feeding a childishly drawn Molo a sandwich. "You cannot unconsciously feed a person a sandwich." Another one of Molo being forced to eat the sandwich whilst unconscious. "Even if the person isn't feeling well, er-, we'll just say they drank a bit too much. They cannot accept your sandwich."

The camera panned back to Molo.

"Consent is important during relationships, romantic, platonic, familial. Somebody needs consent to go through your things, somebody needs consent to see something personal to you."

His eyes went blank.

"They need consent when touching you."

Then the background faded back to the simple background everyone was accustomed to, showing Julie walking down the sidewalk and Sally stopping her.

"My, Julie! This extravagant day has been becoming even more marvelous every second that passes!"

Sally twirled, holding a flower in her grasp before outstretching her hands.

"You must smell this flower dear!"

"Oh, no thank you!"

"But you must! It has such a beautiful fragrance!"

"I'm alright Sally, I don't want to smell the flower!"

"Just once?"

The scene stopped and panned back to Molo.

"Sally is not accepting Julie's 'No', like the sandwiches, Sally has to ask if Julie wants to smell the flower. Julie can say no to that matter, and it be left at that."

He turned to the camera.

"Let me show you a way that is better."

The camera panned back to Julie and Sally.

"My, Julie! This extravagant day has been becoming even more marvelous every second that passes!"

Sally twirled around once again like she did before, then lifting her arms to put the flower in Julie's view. Not directly in her face, nothing like that.

"Would you like to smell a beautiful flower I found?"

"No thank you, Sally!"

"Oh!" Sally paused, lowering the flower. "Alright! You said no, I can't force you darling!" Then she walked away.

The camera faded back to white, and Molo stood in the center.

"Now, Sally is listening to Julie's 'no'. And has left the topic alone. She did not force it upon Julie, she did not go against Julie's wishes. She was polite about it."

Molo paused, seemingly staring at the camera for a long moment. His face fell from a smile and his hands quickly reached to grab his arms. You could see Wally's hand reach into frame before Molo pipped up again.

"You can say no for simple things, or for big things."

He stopped again, eyes casting downwards as he gripped onto his arms tighter.

I told myself I was ready for this.

He glanced back up at the camera with a more strained smile.

"No matter what, you have a say. If you feel uncomfortable, if you do not want whatever is being offered, if you do not accept their plea. You can always say no. Not give them your consent."

Molo looked like he was going to pass out, having to take a step back as he tried to get oxygen rushing to his head again. He couldn't. He collapsed onto his knees after minutes of silence, and quickly did the little neighborhood darling come running to sit next to Molo. Nothing he could say would make it better, nothing he could say would erase the past of his dear friend.

Molo turned his eyes to Wally slowly, staring at him for a moment before holding onto the plush man as tightly as possible.

The screen faded to black with the words 'Tell an adult if you experience anything that makes you uncomfortable. Call your local police department if you've been assaulted.'

----

The episode was taken off air for being too serious for children, and too serious for the TV show. Aswell as giving major hints of a character that had been sexually assaulted and possibly even had been raped. However, Molo was kept in the show due to being a fan favourite, and artists put a small Easter egg and glimmer of hope for victims alike.

Inside of Molo's house, which was only shown for a few episodes called 'nightlight fun' and 'Mary-Go-Round', there was a big hanging picture of a woman with snakes as hair. A sign of Medusa. A symbol of a survivor.

---

For people who love Molo as a character, an oc, he was in fact assaulted many times. He was pressured into sending images, intoxication that lead to something incredibly dangerous, and was never listened to. He wanted to share his experience nonchalantly, and tell teens of all kinds that it is alright to speak up. That he supports it, and encourages victims to speak out and scream to the world, even when he never got to.

I'm a victim of SA, and had resonated that within my OC and told a small part of my story with his.

Molo Moth is 26 years old, when his case started, he was only 16. He's still trying to heal. He has a voice, and wanted to share it.

[ultraericthered]

Unpopular Opinion Re: Your Lie In April

A lot of people would classify Your Lie In April as a sentimental romantic dramedy, with the core “romance” part of it being in the relationship that develops between Kousei and Kaori, and the feelings they share, made especially clear by the end where Kaori umabiguously confesses her love to Kousei via a posthumous letter and reveals that it was this love for him that drove her actions.

And I just find the whole idea of that romance to be fucking vile.

‘Cause when you really think about everything Kaori ever said to, did to, or did in relation to Kousei - she was a complete stranger to him when she stalked him around in school and planned out exactly how her scheme to help him back on his feet and return to the world of music-making would go starting with the lie that she liked Watari, tried to beat him to a pulp with her instrument in their first “meeting” and threatened him with physical assault with verbal abuse piled on top several other occasions, constantly withheld information from him, lied to his face, or emotionally manipulated and even straight up strong-armed or blackmailed him, played the victim at times in order to turn Kousei’s friends to her side and against him. and repeatedly demonstrated a lack of empathy or consideration for his needs placed against her own selfish wants - you realize that Kaori displays all the hallmarks of a toxic, needy, self-absorbed, domineering, abusive romantic partner. The red flags are there, yet it’s all prettified and romanticized by the work itself as a heartfelt, beautiful and poignant love story between two adolescents, with the worst of it being played as “comedy.”  And given that Kousei, lest you need be reminded, is canonically a victim of horrific child abuse at the hands of a woman - his own mother -, with that abuse even extending to being physically beaten by her ‘til he bled, turning around and playing the opposite sex beating up on Kousei to the point of blood as a slapstick gag we should all laugh at is a whole universe of tone deaf.

I fairly recently talked to another Tumblr user on this subject and stand by what I said: Kaori only truly cared about herself and Kousei was simply a convenient outlet/extension of that self-centeredness. I always found myself thinking "this could've been an AMAZING work of fiction if Kaori's narrative framing through Kousei's POV was kept in-tact for the first half of the series, but then in the second half the shoe drops, we get more into Kaori's head, and we along with Kousei have the romanticized image shattered." And admittedly part of it was knowing the ending twist was coming and how it really doesn't reflect as well on Kaori as the story thinks and wants to pretend it does. 

The parallels between Kaori and Saki is the main reason I don’t care to see Kousei and Kaori as lovers, but let it not be said that Kaori is the exact same as or anywhere near as bad as Saki; she’s not. Aside from being a kid rather than a full grown adult and parent, Kaori had similar tendencies to Saki and even a similar illness but her heart, mind, outlook on life and music, and approach to how she’d usually interact with and guide Kousei were completely different. And in spite of everything, I *could* and *did* still root for Kaori to die happy and fulfilled, and don't see her as irredeemable like the adult characters. But the way it was all done just leaves a bad taste when it leaves Kousei still hurting from it, and I just cannot buy that he'd be totally A-OK now after yet another traumatic loss tied to his musician career.

Lastly, yes the whole abuse and violence factor is also why I don’t ship Kousei with Tsubaki. Kousei/Emi/Takeshi OT3 all the way, baby!

[yusuke-of-valla]

Lol the thing here is people will give headcanon reasons for why the Okumura thing isn't bad or a sign of P5's bad politics, but they're not framing it in the real world way. The game is literally just "because Okumura is Haru's dad it's sad". Why have the choice to not give a voice to any workers fucked over? it's a deliberate choice of the game to not show this or humanize them to make the capitalist look good and forgiven, and that's worth criticizing.

I don’t think there’s a problem with people having more complex headcanons for how Haru feels or how society at large feels about Okumura, and I’m not gonna pretend I’ve looked at all the fluff or incidental dialogue or stuff like that so maybe it is mentioned somewhere, and I don’t think a game has to spoon feed the audience everything, but at the same time

We KNOW the game can portray the child of an abuser having complicated feelings about their father despite the bad things they did with Yusuke

We KNOW the game can portray multiple people having different feelings about someone who harmed others but still suffered a terrible fate because that’s how they handle the Phantom Thieves reacting to Akechi in the third semester

So like, while this game has a lot of problems that overshadow the writing as a whole, the fact that it doesn’t touch on these ideas with Haru is kind of notable. And chances are there’s a Thieves Den conversation that touches on this but I also feel in a game about giving voices to people without it IS notable that we never hear from any workers directly. And part of that might be the plot is happening and we don’t have time to stop and discuss this because the Phantom Thieves are wanted for murder, but at the same time that could have been the focus of Haru’s confidant. She mentions not knowing who in the company to trust and that idea could have been expanded on while also focusing on Haru’s feelings about her father

I’ve gone on too long again but basically, while there is a lot of good meta and annalysis and stuff expanding on how Haru feels and the effects of Okumura’s death, that doesn’t change the fact that you don’t have to do that much digging for similar situations so it’s more notable.

Though I will say it may not be entirely a capitalism thing, Persona 5 as a whole doesn’t really seem to like having their female characters be anywhere near as emotionally messy as their male characters so keeping Haru as the “dutiful daughter” might be a result of that