I think what I want to get into with the "Anyone can do harm." thing that I keep beating yall over the head with is that literally anyone, anyone at all can do harm it's not "in your DNA" to be an abuser or written in the stars that you'll be a predator.
Whatever image you have of an abuser in your head, drop it and replace it with your favorite person in the world and you'll probably be closer to the truth than you realize.
It's easy to address harm when it's coming from someone you already hate.
I see it happen all the time. Someone you couldn't stand for no real reason does something heinous then all of a sudden here comes the avalanche of "I always knew they were a fucked up individual."
No, you didn't.
There is no possible way you could have known, you just already didn't fuck with them before they started doing something you could use to justify your hatred of them. I'm guilty of it too! I'm petty, mean, vindictive, and yes! I'm way quicker to believe something bad about someone I hate versus someone I love because I'm human. Still, y all gotta learn to move past that initial "Well, they were always nice to me!" gut feeling and understand that nobody truly knows anyone and anyone can be capable of anything. Even victims. Even you.
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That whole ‘violent heart’ thing pissed me off so much. Was it even in the game?
I remember listening to the official podcast after that episode aired and it made me so mad.
They toned down on the violence for season 1, so it seems they’re looking for ways to explain why Ellie is so violent in the future seasons, and it irritates me.
They can just easily pin it on the post-apocalyptic world and Ellie’s grief, but for some reason they had to say her assaulter was right?? Ugh it’s just so gross
it pisses me off so much. I don't think it's in the game? they just added that to make him Worse.
I listened to the podcast afterwards, but that one specifically made me mad, too. there's just so many things to this. I think it's the fact they were able to get into David's head? so the whole podcast for the episode just feels like an extension of it, if that makes sense?
I agree! and also never thought of that being why they toned down the violence. I hate it. they don't really need to explain why Ellie is so violent in the next seasons. you don't need to do that! her father figure was brutally murdered right in front of her! and in this post-apocalyptic world, what else is she meant to do? I think violence has a very different meaning in this setting cause you have to be violent sometimes. we can clearly see that Ellie doesn't want to be violent - Bethany started that fight. yes, Ellie turned it physical, but Bethany started that. with Riley, she did what she had to and we're leaving it at that. with Bryan, it was between him and Joel. she doesn't know Bryan, and, obviously, he's a threat. if she didn't shoot him, Joel could've been seriously injured. but even with her shooting him, it wasn't to kill. it was in his back, he maybe could've survived that. with David, she was completely in the right. he was a complete and utter threat to everything about her, she did what she needed. but with all of this, not all of them were that violent. like, only one of these things was deadly. she doesn't have a violent heart and I hate hate hate that they're trying to say that she does, in order to set up the next seasons. what she did and what she ends up doing isn't because she has a violent heart. it's because she's trying to avenge her father figure, but you can clearly see the effects it's having on her. if she did have a violent heart, she wouldn't be taken aback like she is
exactly! trying to say her assaulter was right??? so fucking disgusting and why would they even say that?? she grew up in a post-apocalyptic world, but she's still affected by what she's done. that isn't a violent heart.
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POV: You’re a merchant ship captain and you’re making your crew stay in a relatively small seaside town for just a bit too long (FOR BUSINESS REASONS, DEFINITELY NOT BECAUSE you’ve met a rather attractive sea monster who has just started warming up to you) and you swear the odd girl who’s always too bundled up for the summer heat keeps staring at you whenever you walk past… and are you losing your mind or are her eyes glowing?
Or: Midori has noticed that unlike her crew, who walk around town and chat up locals, Kuvira spends all her free time running off to secluded caves and beaches and the abandoned pier, and she knows exactly what (or who) the reason behind that is since she spent all of her childhood doing the exact same thing
Some design and story notes, because I love talking about this AU~
Like in SotRl, starting from age 4 Midori grew up in Haya’s ‘care’, and while I don’t think she beat her, Midori still ended up with insane self esteem issues, mostly stemming from her being half-mermaid. Haya knew about her brother’s infatuation with the sea serpent and chose to ignore it, which she managed rather successfully right up until one of the products of said infatuation was dropped off at her door. She has no idea Suiren exists though, even as a young child Midori decided keeping her sister a secret would be safer for both of them
She’s human passing enough, but inherited plenty of things from her mother – scales along her shoulders, sides and thighs (though they’re green instead of blue), sharper teeth, ears that morph into fins at the ends, glowing eyes and fully functional gills. The siren song, however, passed her over. Haya, of course, made her hide all of it, along with making her internalise that she’s a freak, a half fish monster who will never fit in with human society, but spirits help her if she refuses to try to conform
The clothes she wears serve no purpose but to hide her differences. As a child she was much more drawn to more open and lighter clothing, shorts and tank tops and the like, but Haya didn’t care. The long skirt and sleeves conceal her scales, long enough that she can safely roll up her sleeves while she works or that gusts of wind won’t ruffle her skirt too high. The scarf goes over top of the already high collar to make extra sure no one will see her gills – she has gotten used to it over the years, but at first the pressure on her gills made her feel like she was constantly choking. Her hair is styled in a certain way that keeps her ears from view, and she was taught not to smile so her fangs wouldn’t be as visible
Mermaid eyes don’t always glow, it’s actually an evolutionary intimidation tactic that can’t really be controlled, and Midori isn’t even aware she’s doing it. With her eye colour it’s easy to write off as tricks of the light, which everyone who notices it always does… apart from Kuvira
Midori and Suiren haven’t talked in a while, both thinking it’d be better for the other this way, and Midori’s current goal is remain as integrated with humans as possible. It’s often hard for her to see the point, she’s too socially awkward to make friends and it’s not like she will ever have a husband or wife, not with her defects. The people in town like her just fine, she’s nice and hardworking, but she knows she will never truly fit in. As a child she used to beg Suiren to let her leave humans behind and take her into the ocean, but they both knew it wasn’t possible. Midori can breathe underwater just fine, but her lack of a tail will make her even more of an outcast among merpeople than she is among humans, and even though her swimming is better than the average person’s, she won’t ever be fast enough to survive the dangers of the ocean. That’s how Midori lives, born into two worlds but never being enough, never truly belonging to any of them, so she can do nothing else but go about her day doing her chores, consciously stop herself from gazing wistfully at the ocean, and keep an eye on that ship captain that seems to have taken a keen interest in her sister.
Oh, and I was messing around with the light pen so here’s a version that highlights exactly what Midori is desperately trying to hide:
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