#and also have opinions that are arguably invalid but who cares?

[soo-won]

do you think soowon is sociopath? i saw some fans saying he lacks empathy and i don't think he does.

Hey Anon! Thank you for the ask :) I didn't expect to receive that kind of question that was the heart of debates years ago, but I'm more than happy to reply!

Very long answer below the cut. Sorry for being unable to be brief, there's nothing that I love more than talking about Suwon and his emotions!

Short answer is no I don't think Suwon is a sociopath, at all.

I've read people say that many times, especially in response to chapter 196, I don't know if that's what you have in mind. From personal experience, I've never seen anyone call him a sociopath know what that word really means or not being a Suwon-anti and I think most of the time people say this in the pejorative "cold and emotionless" way. The manga has shown countless times the range of Suwon's emotions, and to imply he doesn't feel anything is just, wrong (Kusanagi stated it explicitely too). I guess it's understandable for series going on for years like akayona, but I feel like it's a common mistake to read a chapter as a standalone and not something that adds to what was established before. Like, it's not because the diary and castle arc showed new sides of Suwon (through the eyes of other characters on top of that) and in specific circumstances that it invalidates everything shown to us about him before. It's one piece of the puzzle for sure, but nothing less nothing more. I'm no psychiatrist and I'm not qualified to give anyone any kind of diagnostic, but Suwon feels very much, and he feels guilt, is even paralyzed by it at times and it is sometimes an obstacle to him. Suwon is all about discarding feelings, and for that to be a thing, feelings have to be there to begin with. From what I know about sociopathy, this isn't it. And even if he was, that wouldn't make him any less lovable and deserving of compassion to me.

Now on empathy specifically, it's more arguable, but I don't see lacking empathy as something inherently wrong that makes someone broken or cold. What you feel or not doesn't matter in my opinion, it's what you do to care for others. So like, yeah, if you compare with Yona I guess you could say Yona is more empathic than Suwon, but in no way that alone would make her a better person than him(I don't want to make this about Suwon vs Yona, she was just the first character to come to mind).

Lack of empathy is also not exclusively a sociopath thing. Like, everyone feels it to a different degree and there is a lot factors that can be at play.

Suwon feels and thinks differently, his differences with characters like Meinyan, Yona and Hak being the most obvious examples of that, and it's one of the many things that make me see him as neurodivergent in some way. But in the end, whether he feels empathy or not is not important. Or like, yeah, it can be interesting to explore, but it isn't relevant to define him in the slightest.

That being said, let's talk about what we know. First, what we know for sure, is that he cares! And even if you admit he doesn't have the same level of empathy as others, he tries to help when he can and if it's not in the way of his goals. Whether it's when he was a child comforting Yona and his mother, or reassuring an insecure Lili, or again, trying to comfort a trembling Yona in the way he knows best. It's something that comes naturally to him, something that very much makes him, him. Suwon is someone who wants to help, and who finds joy in making others happy.

He is also intelligent, can understand how people think and feel, and why people act the way they do. He is able to sense very young that Il doesn't like him. He was able to give Yona exactly what she needed when she was mourning her mother. In the present, Suwon understands why Yona or Hak would want to kill him, or how his words would only upset them because he is able to put himself in their shoes. (This, is different than empathy imo. Putting yourself in someone else' shoes is an effort you make to understand others, whether you feel what they feel) It's because he understands how people feels that he was able to come this far and unite the country like he did. He is able to play with how people perceive him to get the upper hand over them too. And he is very aware of the consequences of his colder decisions. Everytime he discards someone, he very much expects their hostility towards him and doesn't ask anything of them again. In my opinion Suwon just doesn't think in term of good vs bad. He can tell between the two in like how it matters to others, but it's not relevant to him, and he rather thinks in term of "is that thing on my way or not". (I think he does struggle to understand the extent of how people feel about him, though. He thinks logically, so it's hard for him to understand things that go against all logic, like Hak and Yona helping him after everything.)

Then I think it's important to mention the part of Suwon that shows a discardment of emotions and empathy, and Yuhon.

Actually, how much of that comes from how Yuhon raised him, the environment he grew up in, or from how he is inherently as a person is interesting sure, but not that relevant either. Whatever the roots of it, he is able to put his feelings on the side and stay composed in dire situations. But again, it doesn't mean he doesn't feel anything. And what the war against Kai shows is that his ability to not be affected by the deaths of his people is the reverse of the determination-turned-desperation to not lose against Kai. "Even death is acceptable"(his own included) he says to himself. The fact this is a thing he had to tell himself to begin with says a lot in my opinion. He was struggling, and had to remind himself repeatedly to not look back, to think about nothing but the war. Suwon has limits, even if he is more composed and determined than most, and when he reaches these limits he needs to cling onto his father's words, because otherwise he would falter and stop being able to think clearly.

Thanksfully this desperation turned back into his usual determination(still kinda fueled by the urgency of his situation) after the events of this battle. But like, Suwon is not at all a character that is a complete facade when he acts as a King and whose cold decisions go completely against his heart all the time. He really is the King not hesitating to take harsh decisions and make sacrifices to achieve his goals. He really is the King not unfazed in the slightest about losing his own castle and capital, and people dying in war for his cause. That's also what makes him, him, and something more than helpful in war where you have to deal with losses and unpredictable events all the time.

Going back to chapter 196, when Yonhi thinks to herself "How can he be so detached?" or when Yuhon's faction is impressed by how unfazed he was about investigating his own father's corpse, in no way it is that Suwon doesn't feel anything about his father or Yona. He so does. He is shown burning with anger, and he is shown not looking the least enthousiastic about killing Il. The situations and ways in which he expresses these emotions are simply not what you would usually expect from a child, but why should there be any rule about how someone is supposed to react and feel? There's nothing scary about that. When you stop to think about 2 seconds, is it that fearsome for someone to cope by taking the lead and prioritizing dealing with the problems at hand first, and being unable to process things emotionally? Like, isn't that pretty common? I can relate a lot to that personally. I guess what is surprising in this case is how Suwon is able to do it so young and to this extent, but it's nothing more than that. When Suwon asks Yonhi if she wants Il to die, and she gets scared of that, Suwon is genuinely asking too. Is that this far-fetched for him to assume Yonhi would want that when everyone else around him does? When revenge seems to be the very reason Il, supposed to be peace-loving, killed his father?

People might say that Suwon lacks empathy and maybe they wouldn't be wrong, but he constantly tries to understand what people want and answer to their expectations anyway. And I think that's what matters the most, even if he fails at it sometimes. He couldn't understand how Yonhi felt about Il in chapter 196, but he still tried hard to be what he thought she wanted from him: a replacement of Yuhon (Again, logical conclusion when that's what everyone else around him encourage). He still did all he could to comfort her, and he gave her strength.

He became the ideal King most of the generals and Yuhon faction wanted, and a lot of the issues in his relationship with Yona and Hak come from the fact he behaved in front of them as the Suwon they (used to think they) wanted. He cared for them genuinely, but he couldn't show the rest of him because it would go against the idealized image they had of him. Just like he can't show all of himself in front of his supporters either, because what they want is for him is a perfect, never faltering King, following Yuhon's footsteps. When it became impossible to be these two ideals at the same time, he discarded one. Suwon cares and loves, and this has nothing to do with empathy. He is both the caring friend and the pragmatic king and can't discard either.

Suwon might have less empathy than others, yet he is the one who acted to better the lives of his country's citizens, in contrast to Il, that sure, might be more empathic (except when it comes to Suwon visibly) yet barely acted on it.

I'm gonna stop here but I could go on forever. I hope it's not too much all over the place. Sorry I can't help it.

TDLR : no I don't think he is a sociopath, mainly because he feels guilt and regards what people think a lot, and all he does is never for his own personal benefit. But empathy or not, he cares and does his best. There is so much to explore about him, and basing the morality of a character on empathy is just not it. I think the fact he has such a different way of thinking compared to the rest of the main cast is what makes him so fresh and interesting and I wouldn't want him any other way. He doesn't give a fuck and idk it's funny and so cathartic sometimes. We should embrace that.

[game-boy-pocket]

Today, I beat Super Mario Wonder

I'll do my best not to mention any spoilers.

I just don't know what to say. You know how I say I complain a lot because it's easier to voice what I wish was better than to explain why I already like something? Well that's what's going on here. This game has very little to complain about. At least in my eyes. I already see a lot of people being contrarian about this game. Far be it from me to say anyone's opinion is invalid but I just don't know what these people want.

The most ridiculous things I hear is that it's still just more of the same, both visually and mechanically, and to those people, I frankly think they don't actually want a Mario game. There's wanting things to be more creative and shaken up, and then there are people who want things to be too different, they don't even want it to be recognizable as Mario anymore and like... I get that indie platformers are doing a lot of crazy cool things with mechanics and art styles, but I just don't know where we got to this point of brain rot where platformers need to have very weird and experimental art styles to be considered worth a damn, as if Mario Wonder's art style isn't already fantastic, these people won't be happy until the game looks like Ori and the Blind Forest or Hollow Knight or Baba is You or some shit. As for it being "more of the same", again, what do they want? A story heavy survival horror game? No more power ups? I just don't get it.

This is probably the only 2D Mario that could go toe to toe with the NES and SNES games in terms of quality, NSMB games were good but very much "paint by numbers Mario" that not only didnt' do anything new or interesting, but cut out good things from past games or brought those things back but in a worse form. This legit could compete with some of the 3D Mario games, imo. I just don't know what the hell people could possibly want that this game doesn't do.

To me, there's not much I can think of.

Here are my biggest complaints that I would have liked to be done different....

!!SPOILER WARNING!!

The bosses. There are only two bosses in the whole game (arguably three but it's difficult to count what you find on airships as a boss ).... isn't the lack of boss variety one of the main things people don't like about the Koopalings? Ironically the Koopalings would have added aw whole lot of variety here. They also would have got some dialogue, since this is the first 2D Mario game that actually has dialogue. Koopalings being in Wonder would have fixed a huge issue with Wonder, and with the Koopalings themselves, as not only would they be able to display a little more personality through dialogue, but the Wonder power would have made their battles a lot more interesting than what we're used to. Mario has never had strong bosses but this feels like it was their chance to change that. I'll say this, the Boss battles in this game are pretty good, even though they re-use Junior over and over.

Yoshi being baby mode doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would but I still would have preferred and option to just ride a Yoshi without having it tied to multiplayer. The only way you'll experience Yoshi, is if somebody plays as him, there are no yoshi eggs out there like in Super Mario World for you to find and ride on a Yoshi who runs away if you get hit. Seems unfair to lock one of Yoshi's features to multi player, especially to people like me that enjoys playing alone more.

Nabbit still sucks and feels like a forced character. I swear they better have a pay off in mind for Nabbit if they're going to insist on him sticking around

That's all I got... level designs are solid, music is mostly good, ideas are great, I guess a flying power up would be cool but I don't care that much. There are a few enemies I wish I saw more often but I also wouldn't want them to be less special and oversaturated. This really is the best Mario game in a long time, I would probably even say it's the best one on Switch.

I have not yet 100 percent completed the game, I missed a few wonder seeds and badges in the second world. But I got everything in every other world, including the Special one. That's another point in this game's favor, they didn't lock anything behind post game as far as I can tell. You could challenge the harder levels in the game before you fight Bowser, and I appreciated that, though it did spoil some of the wonder flower events in the final act of the game, but it's no big deal.

I don't like giving number ratings but this really is as close to 10/10 as a Mario game gets. I'd call it 9.5 outta 10, if the things I listed in my bulleted complaint list were different, I'd maybe give it a perfect 10.

The game is wonderful. If you like Mario, don't sit on the fence.

This might be my last post about the game for a while, I'm gonna try and get the few wonder seeds I missed and all the standees ( even tho I don't use them ), if anything significant changes, I'll come back, but for now, consider these my final thoughts. Great fuckin' game.

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

I posted 1,251 times in 2022

That's 1,251 more posts than 2021!

1,230 posts created (98%)

21 posts reblogged (2%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@anti-bakugou-memes

@baku-fessionals

Third is some BakuStan who tried arguing against me regarding whether I care or not about if people ship BkDk. They then proceeded to try to tell me that I didn’t separate what makes a fan or a Stan DESPITE me doing so, and then when I showed proof that I did, they then said that they “had better things to do” despite constantly lurking in the anti Katsuki tags. Haven’t seen this person under any anti post since then so they might’ve turned tail and ran. Folks, if you’re going to start a debate/argument, please read about the other side before bothering to engage. Otherwise you’ve lost the argument and have proven yourself to be dumb. Censored their name as so no one bothers them, and if you find their post, don’t do so.

I tagged 1,016 of my posts in 2022

Only 19% of my posts had no tags

#anti bakugo - 893 posts

#anti katsuki bakugou - 893 posts

#anti bakugou - 891 posts

#anti bakugo katsuki - 889 posts

#mha critical - 484 posts

#anti bkdk - 428 posts

#anti bakudeku - 426 posts

#bad memes - 75 posts

#anti aizawa shota - 56 posts

#anti eraserhead - 45 posts

Longest Tag: 25 characters

#norm of the north twitter

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Stans: BaKuBoO iS a ViCtIm Of SoCiEtY aNd gOt HiS vIeWs FrOm ThE aDulTs.

Katsuki after receiving the most generic ass compliment ever:

Fucker was practicing Social Darwinism at four just cause some lady said he had a neat quirk 😂

136 notes - Posted April 6, 2022

#4

He really is a bitch 😭. Easily the biggest bitch in MHA and the bitchiest rival in all of Shonan.

143 notes - Posted May 17, 2022

#3

Any opinions on Fuyumi? I want to like her but... she just keeps pushing for "being a nice family" and I dunno, it seems like she's always invalidating her brothers feelings/experinces?

Fuyumi’s an interesting character to me. I always felt that her “being a nice family” mindset was her dealing with her trauma in her own way. Whereas Dabi, Shoto, and Natsuo react to Endeavor with anger and Rei reacts with fear, Fuyumi reacts with a sort of desperation that feels realistic to me. She wants to keep her family together but doesn’t have a healthy mindset as to what that means. She’s the type that thinks that if everyone talks things out, everything will be resolved and she can have a normal life she was unfairly robbed of. Problem is that Endeavor was an abuser, no matter what you think of him, and the best way to deal with an abuser is to leave them. Fuyumi however seems to feel that Endeavor is necessary to help live out her ideal family as he is her father, which shows an unhealthy sense of reality yet one that a lot of abuse victims who never receive proper help develop. It’s also interesting when you realize that she’s seen as the nurturing one and is a teacher. Hori probably didn’t think this far when writing her, but Fuyumi being an elementary school teacher could be her wanting to care for a family of her own in some way and/or living vicariously through the kids, as none of the Todoroki children had childhoods to begin with.

Her ideals however clash with that of her three brothers, her desperation to keep her family together and rebuild it going against Natsuo and Shoto’s desires to simply leave Endeavor behind and have nothing to do with him (and Dabi trying to kill Endeavor, but she didn’t even know he was alive until recently). To me, it’s pretty realistic as to how an abused family will sometimes clash with one another.

The problem I have with Fuyumi though is a problem I have with MHA as a whole and that’s the fact Hori never really dives deep into any of this. He sets up such themes and introduces characters integral to these themes, but we hardly get any insight into the Todoroki siblings’ mindsets with the arguable exceptions of Shoto and Dabi, so we barely see this side of Fuyumi and are left with some surface level stuff that makes it seem like she’s being selfish at times “just cuz” when it’s far more than that. It’s a problem with a lot of things in MHA. Now I’m not expecting masterful writing here, but if you’re going to introduce such themes and advertise them as integral to the story you’re trying to tell, I expect to see them being handled with at least some care. Instead everything’s so lackluster to the point where it feels like it’s offensive at times. Just look at Izuku’s relationship with Katsuki. The bullying is never addressed nor is Izuku allowed to feel anything about it except for blind admiration for Katsuki.

In conclusion, Fuyumi’s a complicated and interesting character that Hori once again fails to explore thoroughly and with the care needed to explore such a character. Under a better writer she’s the kind of character that would really flourish but what we got was missed potential, like with the majority of MHA.

182 notes - Posted May 26, 2022

#2

Should be common sense. Don’t know why it’s not 🤷‍♂️

213 notes - Posted August 21, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

bruh please get into why you don't like shota I'm genuinely interested 🙏

Reasons why I don’t like Shota:

- Is easily the worst teacher in MHA: we never actually see him do his job. Every time we see him in a school setting, he’s either asleep or he pawns off his work to other teachers. He doesn’t give his students any advice except “do better” and he’s shown to be willing to drop students on THE FIRST FUCKING DAY OF CLASSES if they don’t suddenly improve. Izuku’s the biggest example of this. If Shota was good at his damn job, he’d read about his students ahead of time and learned that Izuku only had his quirk for a few months so it’s obvious that he won’t know how to use it properly. A real teacher would see this and offer aid, only expelling Izuku if he shows absolutely no improvements after a month or two. He managed to pass the entrance exam which means he’s more than worthy of being given a chance compared to the Gen-Ed students who failed to get into the hero course (looking at you Hitoshi). Meanwhile, Katsuki attacks Izuku on the first day and even sabotages his score yet Mr. “Logical” here doesn’t expel him. Adding to this, when Katsuki nearly kills Izuku, all he tells him is to “grow up”. These instances show him as outright neglectful and lazy. It gets even worse when you realize that the only time he actually tried doing his job, he fucked up big time by forcing an abuse victim to work with his abuser. Oh, and don’t get me started on him using Eri to further Katsuki’s growth in one of the light novels. Shota, it’s not the responsibility of those abused to help an abuser grow. People love to rag on All Might for his teaching, but while All Might sucks at his job, he at least tries. Shota is neglectful, abusive, and just an outright asshole at this point.

- Is a mouthpiece for Katsuki: despite Katsuki being a student Shota should’ve expelled right off the bat based on what we’re told about him, he instead praises Katsuki and is used by Hori to wank him off. He tells the people rightfully booing him during the Sports Festival that he was “giving it his all” against Ochako when all he was doing is just standing there and swatting her away when he could’ve easily took her out in one or two blows. Katsuki even says that it’s “time to get serious” after Ochako’s final attack, which meant he wasn’t taking her seriously to begin with. When people rightfully question Katsuki’s behavior after his kidnapping, Shota says that “Katsuki deserves to be a hero because he tries hard”. Bruh, just because you try hard doesn’t mean you deserve shit, especially when you’ve repeatedly proven that you can’t handle the responsibilities that come with being a hero.

- Doesn’t care about the mental health or the future of his students: One of the first things he does in the series is tell Ochako that knowledge of the school’s various facilities, including the guidance counselor, isn’t important. He then proceeds to use his little “logical rouses” which all that does is make sure none of his students can trust him with anything. He singles out Izuku and calls him a liability in front of his classmates instead of taking him to the side. His little “expulsion game” is also very harmful. In Japan, grades and academic records are highly valued. Any blemish can fuck up a kid’s future. By suspending his students, he screwed them over in the long run, especially since they’re in an “elite school” like U.A. Any kid who’d rather take a different path in life is fucked because Shota suspended them on the FIRST DAY of school. And for what? Not being at the level of a sidekick or pro hero? Except for those who had to take quirk counseling due to uncontrollable quirks, none of them had formal training, so who is he to say they can’t be heroes on the first day? All they had is one day to prove themselves on some shitty fitness exam that doesn’t even test their character or willingness to learn. Shota preaches about life being unfair but he’s actively making things unfair just because he’s got a God Complex.

- Is a hypocrite: Shota hates people who spam their quirks and only rely on them, so what does he do? Takes in a kid who does exactly that as his mentee just because he reminds him of himself and of his dead friend (Hitoshi’s my third least favorite MHA character in case you were wondering). He dislikes All Might for supposedly playing favorites but he does exactly that. We actually see him training this kid over his class, said kid who hasn’t done anything to achieve his dream.

-Narrative wanks him off: Never is Shota’s actions called out. He’s never made to be in the wrong. Every character loves him and those who don’t (like his previous class) are made to be in the wrong or are made to be assholes. However, unlike Katsuki, he at least isn’t completely covered by plot armor, having lost his leg and part of his eyesight due to battles he’s taken part in.

- He dropped a FUCKING BUILDING on his students during one of the OVA’s. Enough said. Somehow he’s been more successful nearly killing his students than the villains have at killing 1-A.

At the end of the day, Shota’s an abusive, neglectful, hypocritical, and egotistical asshole with a God complex who never gets called out on his bullshit. He may be a decent hero, but that’s really not something that overrides all his shitty traits. I see what Hori was going for, but like with a lot of things, Hori misses the mark and forgets what makes characters of Shota’s archetypes work in the first place.

271 notes - Posted May 23, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[scriptfree]

A little fanart of a cat!Chloe inspiration that struck me scrolling through the Duchess Noir and Chartreux tag. VERY heavy inspiration from @zoe-oneesama ’s Chartreux design, though I’m partial to the name Duchess Noire.

Doesn’t matter. It’s all fanart anyway for a show that I don’t even really watch.

Along with the post, I also want to add that I will start doing commissions. My portfolio is a little dry and I’ve wanted to begin doing this for a long time so I feel like it’s better to start now than later. 

Here’s the link if you’re interested!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf4x7zR7eVIstJncGtPYsyk9yR9ISTmvUTIAivYogM2oc9oBA/viewform?usp=sf_link

[tundrainafrica]

i know i sent the same ask to other blogs but it bothers me that people claim levihan is an abusive ship. this is because levi used to knock out hange to bathe them. which is def not ok, don’t get me wrong.

but they also gloss over the ass beating he gave eren and the fact that he threatened to break both of erwins legs in order for him to not go to shiganshina. it’s like they are insinuating that levi is abusive. and while he is too rough, he definitely did not do any of these things to cause harm at all.

he wants to take care of them. he saved eren, he knew erwin was in no position to fight. hange is often too busy or deep in their research. forgetting to eat sleep and bathe isn’t healthy for them. or probably refusing to do any of those things because that’s time they could be spending in their lab. so levi does some cleaning up. i’m in no way justifying the way in which he does things, but i’m pretty sure levi cares for hange enough to keep them clean.

if he found hange repulsive he would not spend so much time with them even. and levi was forced to be violent in his youth from living in the slums. he lived in filth so he probably has some sort of ptsd from that. he wants to keep the environment clean and healthy. i’m sure with time he will learn to be more gentle. we have seen him become softer in the manga.

but it makes me angry that they throw around the word abusive so easily when levi is one of the kindest people in the snk universe.

Hello Anon!

Sorry for only getting to this now. 

Here’s one thing I noticed about the people who actually go all the way as to point all these flaws of Levihan --- they point it out because they’re shipping Levi with someone else or they’re shipping Hange with someone else.

Sure, I mentioned it before, I have lots of friends and family who watch AOT and don’t ship Levihan but none of them have ever mentioned the ‘abusiveness’ of the ship. Like literally I get everything from ‘Hange is ugly’ to ‘their height difference is just blah.’ 

(And antis, if you just don’t like Levihan’s relationship and you feel like it’s attacking your ship, instead of screaming ‘homophobic’ or ‘abuse enablers,’ just say ‘Hange is ugly’ or ‘their height difference is ugly’ and just go. Stop turning every attack on our ship to a social issue? Cause like literally there are way more problematic ships out there like wah people actually ship Sam and Dean Winchester together.)

But to bring virtue signaling into the equation? Antis must have some hidden agenda (aka another ship) and which non Levihan Levi ships are the most vocal? I’ll leave you to go to twitter and to do the research yourself. .

Anyway...

From what I know, an argument of a lot of the antis who actually bitch about the abusiveness of Levihan bring up the ‘Levi knocks out Hange to bathe her’ thing. 

Honestly for me, sure knocking someone out to bathe them in real life is one thing. And in real life, I personally cannot see any situation where the absolutely right thing to do is to hurt someone physically (except maybe self defense) but I recognize that people hurt others in anger, people break stuff in anger and does that automatically make those people bad? No.

Every single one of us has been an asshole once, whether physically, emotionally or verbally or in any other sense. Every single one of us has done something others would have considered inexcusable and because of that, close minded virtue signalling will never fly for me, regardless of what background the person who is doing ti comes from.

Because the most authentic and purposeful type of preaching doesn’t come from a place of ‘You’re wrong’ it comes from a place of ‘tell me why you did that so we can discuss this together.’ If the person isn’t listening to you or your side then they’re not preaching right. The world is too complex for any side to be completely in the right.

And I digress. 

But I’m sure as an audience, we have suspended disbelief multiple times while watching TV shows already, most of us have actually seen someone slap their boyfriend or have seen someone punch someone out of anger but instead of screaming ‘AH ABUSE’ most of us would actually go ‘OOOOOOOOHHHH’ and if we think the guy or the girl deserved it, sometimes we wouldn’t even call it abuse.  

And that’s how naturally inclined people are to making double standards.

And if these same people who are calling Levihan an abusive ship are shipping Levi with other people….

You’re right to point out that Levi did give Eren a worse beating and Levi actually threatened to break Erwin’s legs before they left for Shiganshina and that does not count as abuse?

Or if those same people who are calling Levihan an abusive ship are the same people who would cheer just watching anyone get hurt....

So that means that the antis are so conveniently taking whatever they can, virtue signalling their way into invalidating our ship. Which doesn’t hold if they can’t really practice what they preach or keep it consistent in all grounds. 

Besides Levi and Hange are both battle hardened soldiers. They’re both incredibly healthy human beings. And I’m sure they actually don’t think too much about getting bruised up here and there knowing were Levi grew up and knowing they go into expeditions and they experience much worse things there. 

And on top of that, I’m sure the knocks her out to bathe her thing was played for lolz. 

And if Hange hated it, if she herself had considered it abuse for Levi to do it, I’m sure Hange would have acted on it long ago. Arguably, Hange is Levi’s superior after all. And if the antis are gonna scream ‘It’s stockholm syndrome. Hange just accepts it and it’s unhealthy’ 

Really? If anyone was a sub in their relationship, I’d put it at Levi tbh.  

The point is I don’t think any argument to the ‘abusiveness’ of Levihan actually holds if the shippers are so easily going to dismiss Levi threatening to break Erwin’s legs or Levi beating up Eren. At the same time, I don’t think it holds either if these same people who are criticizing abuse in this type of setting are cheering for violence and abuse in any other type of setting.

People bring up social issues and accuse people of being assholes all the time and if they’re not going out of their way to research what other sides exist to a problem, I’m convinced that more than half the time they’re conveniently pointing things out to fuel some other hidden agenda inside them. 

This is common practice in ship wars. People find anything bad to say about any ship. And I just hate seeing people bring up shit like social issues into the shipping war. 

“If you don’t ship them you’re homophobic.” “If you don’t ship them, you’re transphobic.” “If you ship them, you’re an enabler.” 

Because when has shipping preferences ever determined whether someone is a good person or not? People ship for different reasons? Not everyone ships with a ‘THIS IS MY DREAM RELATIONSHIP’ scenario in mind. Like people ship because they like enemies to lovers dynamics. People ship because they like contemplating the complexities of relationships. Peoples ship and they celebrate their problematic ships because they want to explore the complexities of the issues that govern such material. 

People forget that in the end, what we ship is really just preferences. And I do not think it reflects much on how the person is. People can have the most problematic kinks and still be the kindest people. 

Because in the end it’s awareness of one’s surroundings, it’s empathy, discipline, good control of emotions, openness and the ability to discern whatever information comes our way which makes us good people. And in the end, it’s our own efforts everyday to be a better and kinder person which makes us good people, not the opinion of some stranger on the internet who decided that we were bad just because we ship a ship they don’t like. 

Anyway, I think I went overboard with this answer anon but I hope this makes you realize things about antis.

[baejax-the-great]

Listen op... What about rivalmances á lá Dragon Age 2... But it's Mass Effect instead? How'd you think it'd go?

Ohh, this is an interesting question.

So definitely some of the romantic interests favor a renegade or paragon path, right? Like, Garrus, Ash, and Miranda are arguably renegade choices, Kaidan generally argues in favor of paragon choices. But there's no approval system (beyond some ME1 stuff). Everyone is always willing to bone down if you ask.

The truth is, I didn’t love rivalmances in DA2. It’s an interesting concept, being in a toxic relationship with someone who doesn’t share any of your beliefs and possibly doesn’t believe in your humanity, but I don’t know man. Like Merrill deserves better actually. I’ve never actually seen the Isabela rivalmance but just those words together put a bad taste in my mouth.

While I find it odd sometimes that your decisions in ME don’t affect how your companions respond to you (you can say some seriously anti-alien shit in ME1 for example, with your alien companions standing behind you just shrugging), I think the context for the major decisions is pretty different.

Most of the paragon/renegade decisions early on don’t directly affect your companions. They are frequently ethical, but not political. Killing the rachni queen doesn't invalidate biotics as people or even speak of Shep’s beliefs regarding other species. Everyone agrees the rachni are a dangerous unknown who almost wiped out the other races. Kaidan might disagree with killing her, but if you go against his advice, you aren't indicating you think he should be imprisoned for his abilities (as a templar-aligned Hawke might when making their decisions).

The decisions that I think the companions would have the most emotional response to (the genophage? Rannoch?) occur in ME3, when everyone is at all-out war with the Reapers. And you can, uh, utterly destroy relationships with the people directly involved in those quests. For everyone else, Shepard is making decisions on the fly about how to defeat the Reapers, and frankly any fallout from those decisions would probably happen after the dust had settled.

And honestly, I think some of that would be great to explore. Can Shepard live with themself with the consequences of the destroy ending? With the consequences of their genophage cure? If they side with the geth on Rannoch and then choose destroy? Like... the war was won, but as Kaidan says, you have to live with how it went down. I would not be shocked to find out Shepard and their LI break up in peace time.

At some point in Mass Effect, everyone is just maxed-out emotionwise, and they aren’t in a place to judge wtf Shepard is doing. Companions and other NPCs routinely admit to Shepard they have no idea what they would do in their position. And again, I think the fact that Shepard is a (very successful) leader in a war against a specific enemy vs just some very sexy hick from Lothering fucking up Kirkwall for the hell of it changes how the companions are going to see their decisions. Doing something because it’s strategically the right call in the fate of the galaxy even if it’s fucked up is not the same as dicking around Lowtown trying to scrounge up cash.

For my own personal preference, I’m glad there isn’t a rivalmance, though I think I wouldn’t be opposed to some sort of approval system (some of these thirsty companions come on a LITTLE strong in ME1 like wow cool your jets). The ME romances are built on respect (mostly). In DA2? It's like, okay, your very actions go against my core beliefs as a person and threaten my safety/autonomy, but you're so sexy aha.

But hey that’s just me.

Okay nonnie I wrote this whole thing and then thought about your  actual question-- how would it go?

So now I’m trying to imagine Liara who like, despises Shep but still wants to embrace eternity and like... how does that go? “You’re so stupid, please let me see into your mind. Goddess, it’s so empty, I have never felt such peace.”

It’s harder with Garrus because he is SO amenable to being swayed by paragon Shep. He’s practically begging to be realigned, and we know he likes it when women are a little bit mean to him. I don’t know that it’s possible to rivalmance this cricket.

Kaidan frankly seems like the one most possible to rivalmance. Like, fuck, you go against every moral value I hold, but you are so stupidly sexy and somehow everything always works out anyway and I’m angry about it. Eat this steak you absolute monster.

I have no idea how you would rivalmance Sam without just being mean to her. Hard pass.

I also think rivalmancing Tali would... be ugly. I don’t like the idea. Like getting her to face the very warped history her people taught her, sure, but siding with the Geth every time, or witholding the things she needs to succeed, or breaking her trust on her loyalty mission... idk man. That just seems toxic. And I am pretty sure if you fail Thane’s loyalty mission, you can’t romance him, so I’m guessing that’s true of Tali, too.

The ME2 companions don’t... totally give a shit what you are up to? Like Jack, Jacob and Thane come to mind as not having a very strong stance on most of what you are doing. You’d have to completely retool their characters to suddenly have very strong opinions on a lot of random shit. (and like, why *would* Jack care if you rewrite or destroy the geth hub? Also don’t rivalmance Jack????)

So... I dunno, there is potential there for sure, but I think having so many romanceable characters and a game that doesn’t revolve around a single moral issue makes it harder.

[char-lotteral]

I agree with Kishimoto never trying to use the girls. The hate they get is not fair. I used to defend Sakura back in the days because I hoped kishi would do her justice. When shippuden started I WAS SO HAPPY because I thought this was the start of something great for Sakura and the girls but NOOOOO. Every time, Sasuke showed kishi turned her brainless. If you compare Naruto's actions and Sakura's actions to sasuke, you'd see they're completely different. What's up with that weird fake love confession scene 😭? It makes her look like she was manipulating Naru. JEEZ.

Also he literally had badass Tenten and Temari with cool useful abilities and he didn't use them ?! TF ?! Thank god for modern authors who treat their characters with respect :)

okay2 you know how i am with these longass rants so click readmore and brace yourselves

The way I see it, Sakura's character development in shippuden was always one step forward, two steps back. She gets this really badass scene (like her fight with Sasori and those cool ass medical skills) but is then regressed back into a pining girl in love every time Sauce is on screen or Kishi just throws her in the background YET AGAIN.

I love Sakura's abilities actually. Her brute strength, intelligence, vast knowledge and skill as a medic nin. But what I dislike about her character is how kishi handled her feelings for Sasuke. Naruto and Sakura's obsession with Sasuke was so???? huh??? it was so damn toxic and i never once understood why both Nardo and Sak were so obsessed with him. They were a team for one year???? I mean its great that they care about him alot but Sauce's feelings were kinda valid. His freakin clan died. Id go batshit crazy against my own village too. BUT BESIDES THAT. Both Nart and Sakura's Sasuke obsession was so annoying. 80% of shippuden was literally Keeping up with the Uchihas or Naruto yelling SASUKEH. BUT what irks me so much is the fandom's double standards with both Naruto and Sakura. "Oh Sakura shouldve gotten over her Sasuke obsession" but then turn around and call Naruto's obsession cute and gush about how he's so in love with him!!

Hot take but the only reason why sasunaru is "the most developed ship with the most chemistry" is because theyre both male characters.

I guarantee you if Naruto was a girl and SHE would be the one to have this unhealthy obsession who was chasing around Sasuke, the fandom would shit on Naruto just as much. And if Sasuke were a girl, Sauce would be sidelined like the rest of the female cast and Naruto would have another male character to have a "brotherly bond" with, because thats the only bond Kishimoto is actually good at developing. Yey for male characters having all the screentime and cool assets <333

And about that confession scene, I get her intentions. I really do. I understand that she did that in order to bring him home and that she cares about him but honey, w-why?? Why lie to him about your feelings?? Supposed he DID believe her, then what? then what kishi???? huh??? Some of her fans point the blame on Sai or whatever but I personally dont see why that scene was at all necessary. Maybe to establish Naruto's feelings for her wasnt all that serious? or his maturity? idk man. That scene was such a clusterfuck.

In the end her development in The Last and in Boruto was immaculate. She had one of the best glow ups in the old gen and ironically enough, her character wasn't butchered in Boruto. She got badass scenes she was cheated from in shippuden. I also love how she's finally getting the spotlight she deserves. Unlike the other konoha 12 :,)))

Okay onto the next female character that Kishi completely wasted. My baby. My light. 🙈 AAAHHH HINATAA.

I DONT EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN OKAY2 DEEP BREATHS.

Let me just establish this real quick. Hinata's goal was to get stronger because of Naruto, her goal was never to be with Naruto. She wanted to become someone who is worthy enough to stand beside him, someone whom he can consider as an equal, as a partner. She NEVER once said "marrying Naruto-kun is my all time goal UwU" (if youre one of those weirdos who interpret her character that way, youre immediately invalid, go take a hike)

I personally dont have anything against their crushes but to the point of making their personalities revolve around these guys every time theyre onscreen is so fucking frustrating. And with the way he writes their dialogues is so.damn.cringey. Like that one scene in the war arc with Tsunade and Madara

"I mAy bE a WomAn but I aM nOt WeAAKKKK"

BAAHAHAAHHA WHAT?? Everyone else gets coolass monologues and one liners but thats the best you can come up with Kishi?????? Hilarious.

If im being honest. Hinata's character is actually kinda well written. Not well executed. Dear God no. But with the way he set her story, her personality, her chracterization. She's honestly one of the best written female characters on the show. IMO. By Kishi's standards of writing women ofc. She's hands down one of the most complex characters. Her shy personality wasnt out of the blue, it wasnt a cutesy waifu trait. Her abusive upbringing made her that way. Her trauma turned her that way. So yeah, sue her if she looked up to Naruto as an inspiration when everyone else in her family treated her like dust. Shit on her for having Naruto's love light in her dark when her own damn father wouldnt even look her in the eye and her entire clan shunned her because she was "weak." She doesnt owe her family shit so idgaf what they do with the Hyuga clan. Neji and Hanabi aren't included btw

Im not gonna deny that her role in the show was only as the love interest but tbh for a love interest, Im glad her character wasnt so one dimensional. It just pains me SO MUCHHH how fucking wasted she is. Every time she's with Naruto, they always make her into a damsel in distress. They always feel the need to turn Naruto into the heroic prince. How cute.

LIKE THAT ONE SCENE IN THE LAST WHERE SHE'S THROWN IN THE CAGE?? WHY??? LET NARUTO AND HINA FIGHT THAT FREAKING ALIEN GOD TOGETHER. QUIT WITH THE TOXIC MASCULINITY. WE GET IT. NARUTO'S STRONG. GOOD FOR HIM. NOW LETS SEE HINATA THROW HANDS AND PUT NARUTO IN THE CAGE GODAMMIT

Hnggggg dont get me started with her role in Boruto. She's as relevant as a damn houseplant in the manga. They made her into an invisible trophy wife and "the mc's mother" and we all KNOW what happens to the shounen mc's mother once mc is in need of character development :) Quit putting her in the background. Give us that scene where she won against Hanabi DESPITE being retired for years. Give us that scene where she trains Boruto. GIVE US ANY FIGHT SCENE OF HER WHERE HER POTENTIAL ISNT WASTED WTF?¿

Now if you say that Hinata didnt have development. YOURE INVALID. She came from an abusive household, the shyest girl in her class, her insecurities got in the way of her own confidence, had difficulty of standing up for herself now became a loving mother of two, has the guts to kick her husband out of the house(with whom she couldnt even keep eye contact with when she was a kid) became the strongest hyuga, most supportive wife and mother, and has given her kids the comforting childhood she never had as a kid.

She has one of the most beautiful stories in the show and if you think her personality is only Naruto-kun and big boobs, then im sorry that you cant appreciate such a heartwarming story.

And I agree, killing her would honestly make me feel more at ease than continue to see her suffer because of godawful misogynistic writers. But at least let her die in an epic fight. Please. PLEASEE. She got nerfed so bad, i feel a physical pain every time i think about it

Okay what else. I think Ino got pretty good development. Another wasted potential in shippuden but she's doing good for herself in Boruto. I dont know what Temari is up to. They basically made her into another classic angry mom who beats up her husband for comedy trope. Haha very funny and original! Im not sure with her career, im not that invested in the anime.

Tenten??

oh G O D Tenten. The dirtiest of all. Her jokes about her screentime is so mean and i hate that its true ahsjhs. She was the only female character in OG who's goal wanted to be as strong as Tsunade but what did Kishi do to her?? Sidelined. Forgotten. Irrelevant. Like every damn female on the show :D

Konan shouldnt have died. I blame plot armor. I know in my heart that Konan wouldve kicked Obito's ass if it weren't for Kishi's boomer mindset.

Tsunade had so much hype when she was introduced but died down in the war arc. Madara wiped the floor with the kages. Holy shit. Not only that, but yipee! Naruto is there to save the day AGAIN!!!!

AND UGHHHH If the female characters were given proper treatment then maybe MAYBE all the endgame couples wouldve made fucking sense????¿¿¿

I think that ends my rant. Im not sure how the female characters in Boruto are handled. Except maybe Sarada (she's pretty well executed in the manga imo). But arguably they are sooo much better handled in Boruto than how the old gen girls were. And thats because Kishi isnt anywhere near the new gen female cast. I cant formulate a solid opinion with the other new gen female cast since im not entirely invested in the anime. Not ashamed to admit that I only watch it for the sunshine moments and for Hinata :DD

[patiencetaught]

1. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚?

She uses a rose perfume, so that’s one of the most prevalent scents when you’re standing near her. If you’re close enough, you might get a whiff of her rosemary and mint shampoo. She also tends to have the general scent of freshly baked bread and cinnamon that’s somehow ended up imbedded in her clothes from baking. If you catch her after work there’s a very high chance that she’ll smell a little bit like play-doh, elmer’s glue, and hand sanitizer because she was around children all day.

2. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚’𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚?

Cold to the touch and more calloused than you’d think. All the manual labor from her childhood and young adulthood, in addition to her gardening and cooking, gave her hands a roughness that she can’t totally fix. She wears lotion to try to mitigate it a bit, but they’re still not quite as soft and “ladylike” as she thinks they should be. 

3. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙪𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙙𝙖𝙮?

On a weekday, breakfast is usually eggs, toast, and tea. If it’s a weekend, she might get a little bit more wild and crazy and make she and Matilda waffles or pancakes. For lunch, it’s usually pretty straightforward and balanced because she just packs herself the same thing she makes for Matilda. So, sandwich (either peanut butter and jelly or turkey and cheese, both on homemade bread), fruit of some kind, a vegetable and an appropriate dip (usually carrots with hummus), and some kind of cracker or chip. There are the occasional deviations for things like soup or hard-boiled eggs or yogurt, but it tends to follow that formula. Dinner is the most variable meal because Jenny has collected quite the collection of recipes. Her baked chicken, stir fry, and enchiladas are all in heavy rotation but she definitely tries something new every few weeks. For dessert, there’s usually some leftover goodies that she made or a little piece of chocolate from the bowl Jenny keeps out for guests.

Jenny will snack throughout the day sometimes, but not often. Her students usually keep her busy during the day and she usually gets started on dinner as soon as she gets home. But on the weekends or on days off, she might have some tea and crackers or something between lunch and dinner. 

4. 𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚?

Arguably, yes. It’s fairly soft and sweet, sort of what you’d probably expect by looking at her. I sort of imagine her sounding a bit like Laura Osnes or Katie Hall? But without so much power behind her voice. Maybe a sort of Emmy Rossum in Phantom? I’m not describing this well and it’s all in the context of Broadway which is probably not helpful for most people...but basically, a sort of old school type Broadway mixed with a little bit of opera and Disney princess. 

5. 𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙨?

She has tons, tbh. She bites her lip a lot when she’s anxious and will bite off pieces of loose or dry skin, which can make her lips bleed. It’s not a good look. She also fidgets with her hands a lot, either rubbing the pad of one thumb over the thumbnail of the other hand or knitting her fingers together and sort of twisting them back and forth. She also used to bite her nails pretty incessantly, but largely stopped once she started painting them, but it is a bad habit that will pop up occasionally if she’s under a lot of stress. And if she’s not fidgeting with her hands, she’s fidgeting with her hair or clothes. She twirls her hair around her index finger constantly or pulls on loose threads dangling from the hem of her blouse sleeve or skirt. 

Jenny is also generally really bad about eye contact. She was raised to just keep her head down and not look adults in the eye, so that’s translated to all adults. She’ll look a kid in the eye, but she very rarely makes direct eye contact with other adults, she prefers to look at her feet or just to the side of their face or their nose. 

As for non-physical bad habits, she backpedals on things constantly, before its even warranted. Like, she’ll soften/invalidate her opinions or feelings for pretty much anything. Like, if she admits that she would prefer one restaurant over another, she would probably pair it with “Not that there’s anything bad about Restaurant A. I don’t mind going there if you’d prefer.” She’s working on it, but its a massive bad habit (read: trauma response) that is glaringly apparent to pretty much anyone who knows her. 

6. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙪𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 / 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙧?

Very stereotypically feminine. Lots of knee length skirts and dresses. Cardigans in neutral colors. Blouses with bows or ruffles or Peter Pan collars. Low heels or ballerina flats. She loves neutral and pastel colors, as well as floral patterns. Vintage silhouettes and designs are some of her favorites and she will frequently take inspiration from the first half of the 20th century. She will occasionally wear pants and quite likes cigarette pants and higher waisted 1940s styled trousers, usually in khaki or gray. She’ll wear overalls, a oversized tee shirt, and sneakers when she’s doing home renovations work or gardening, but that’s about as dressed down as she gets. 

7. 𝙄𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚?  𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝?  𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙤?

She does, but I don’t feel like it’s always in a way that other people would understand or recognize? Like, Jenny is generally fairly sparing with physical touch. She’s not much of a hugger outside of her partner and Matilda. But she shows affection verbally much more frequently, either telling someone how much she cares about them or something she admires about them. And even more frequent are the little, unspoken ways she shows her love to others. She is a really good listener and will bring up things you mentioned in a conversation weeks ago. She’ll bring in extra cookies to share with her coworkers in the middle of the week. She shovel’s her elderly neighbor’s sidewalk in the winter without being asked. Jenny loves people easily and expresses frequently, even if it’s in small, mundane ways. 

8. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙞𝙣?

Fetal position, but with one arm tucked under her pillow and her knees not quite pulled up to her chest. 

9. 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢?

Probably not. Jenny does not believe in yelling, for pretty much any reason other than an emergency, and her natural voice is quite soft. She’s not a whisperer or anything, but she’s not someone you’d be able to hear from the other side of the room if something else was going on around her. 

Tagged by: @dxspereaux

Tagging: @arachnofille @melandreia-aa @vorcotec @isyancialtan and anyone else who would like to!

[orionsangel86]

.

You know when I first joined Twitter I had many reservations. I had always heard that Twitter fandom was pretty toxic and for that reason I tried to avoid it as long as possible. Eventually with Tumblr slowly dying I just went for it. I was... pretty damn naive when I joined up.

I have always said, over and over again, that my main reason for even being in fandom was to meet new people and make new friendships that would outlast Supernatural. At this point in time I feel I have accomplished this, though I am always open to making new friends. I like to think, that this being my primary reason for being here, it makes me a genuine person. I am not altogether that interested in popularity, getting the most followers, making my opinion the one everyone MUST believe in, and I never had much interest in “fighting” antis first hand. Sure I liked writing meta and would defend myself if I was attacked, but seeking out drama and forcing my opinion on others were never things that I cared about.

Twitter changed me. I said I was naive, and I was particularly naive to people seeking me out, being super nice to me, inviting me into lots of various fandom GCs and welcoming me with open arms. When people do that, you feel loved, you feel like you are a part of something, and very quickly it can become addictive. You very easily start feeling like those people are your friends, and you get protective of them. You support them, stand up for them, and turn a blind eye when their behaviour gives you pause.

The other thing you should know about me is that I am an empath. Sometimes this is a strength, and sometimes it is a weakness. I hate the idea of upsetting people, and I feel strongly towards those who are upset. I always try to see different points of view in a situation, and I am very consciencous of offending people - When I have offended others, I tend to dwell on it for a long time afterwards, wanting to make things right. But I also think that being empathic can make me prone to manipulation. Especially of the emotional kind. When that happens I can get defensive myself, when I suspect emotional manipulation I shut down very quickly, and I can get spiteful towards it. It’s a defense mechanism. I often regret my actions later. I feel like Twitter fandom has brought out some of my nastier qualities, but I feel that I need to explain where I think this has come from.

I was invited into a GC that in hindsight, was a bad place. It was supposedly a place created to vent about things that upset us, and to keep an eye on that “other” side of fandom - the bronlys. It was a secret place, you must never talk about this GC, I was told. This GC didn’t exist. I’m going to talk about this GC, and in doing so will probably get attacked, subtweeted, called out directly, called a liar, exposed for being this that and whatever, probably have my private DMs shared, and yeah... a whole bunch of shit probably. I’m altogether not prepared for any of that, but since I have that whole bunch blocked now, I’m hoping any shit they say about me will blow over. Anyone who truly knows me, knows I am not the person they make me out to be anyway.

When I first joined that GC the point was to call out hate towards the cast and the writers. To find tagged tweets and bullying and harassment and make sure that the wider fandom knew exactly who the problem people were. I believed in that process. I believed that we were doing good for the fandom in making newer fans aware of who needed to be avoided, as I had heard stories first hand of people who had come into fandom reached out to bigger fandom accounts and immediately been shut down and bullied just for saying they liked Castiel or shipped Dean and Cas. I was angry at those hateful people and wanted some kind of justice for them, so yeah, I joined in happily with the call outs.

But over the past year, things have changed. First, it was not just calling out bronlies, it was calling out extreme stans, who also tagged the writers in their hate. Sure, I wasn’t happy that anyone was tagging the writers in hate, so fuck those people. They can go to hell. I’ll support the calling out of those names too. Then, when people started turning on meta writers like me and taking the piss out of our meta, calling it bullshit and mocking us, it was hurtful, so when that GC rallied together to support me and my fellow meta writers and call out those assholes I was all for it. They were screencapping my meta and calling me deluded after all, why shouldn’t I defend myself and get my friends to help? People in fandom can be dicks when they want to be. But then again, so can we all.

Then it got weird. I think people in fandom started getting nervous about the final season announcement and how the show would end. Cas stans started getting extremely negative about his chances for survival. Destiel shippers started complaining about Destiel being queerbaiting and planning on going after the writers if it didn’t go canon. These were people who I was mutuals with, whose accounts I followed, and whose opinions, whilst they were kind of upsetting for me as a positive fan, were untagged personal opinions and not hate. Those people weren’t attacking positive fans, though sometimes discussions got heated, arguably it got heated on both sides. When the GC started going after those people I started feeling uncomfortable. But I kept quiet. This, I have come to realise, was a huge mistake.

Suddenly other fans were fighting against the GC people. They (we) were called “the fandom police” and “the bully squad” by so many others. I started noticing how other fans, fellow Destiel shippers, were blocking me and avoiding me for my associations with this group. I watched as the GC people started slagging off accounts that were my long time mutuals, my close friends, people I had met in real life and knew to be good people all because they had voiced a slightly negative opinion about the show. If you are relatively well known in Supernatural fandom, chances are this GC has slagged you off.

At the same time, I had watched how some of my friends within the GC “clique” had started changing, how their behaviour online was becoming aggressive and mean. How they were antagonistic and bullyish. My friends. People who I knew were good people before. The dog piling, the condescending tones, the entitled sense of righteousness, it all added up. I started trying to voice my concerns, both to people I was close to within the GC privately, and timidly within the GC itself - for which I was shut down. I started reconsidering my own behaviour online. Had I too acted like this? Had I also aggressively gone after people for simply voicing a negative opinion? Had I also shown myself to be exactly what this GC was supposed to be fighting against?

Some of the others privately admitted to feeling the same way. Some of us backed off and stopped associating with the main GC accounts. We kept our distance from them, some I know muted them. But none of us left the GC. I wish I had back then rather than letting it escalate further.

It had once again got worse from just going after people with negative opinions, now they were going after anyone who disagreed with their specific opinions. Either you agree with us, or you are an idiot. I couldn’t stomach it anymore. My friend, who was also in the GC, decided to query this new line of thinking because she disagreed with the “big opinion”. This is what kicked off all the drama. I’m not going to go into detail about it because otherwise it’ll get too obvious and personal and I want to keep this vague because whilst these people have hurt me and spread lies about me I actually don’t intend to call them out personally or reveal whose who in the group.

Just know this. By the time I eventually spoke up it was apparantly too late. My admittence of my discomfort was seen as a betrayal. There were private DMs in which I got defensive and snapped back whilst emotional about basically losing all my closest Twitter friends, and some messages I sent which I am not proud of. If they get out, fair enough. Judge me all you like. Just understand that I was extremely upset and confused how no one else apparantly saw the issues I was seeing; that this GC was indeed bullying and policing fandom, and that these people were intimidating, threatening, and manipulating everyone into believing they were victims.

I tried to let it drop, I tried to ignore it. I wanted to keep quiet. But my quitting the GC, my request to those who were calmer and less inclined towards bad behaviour to at least keep the ones who were bullying fandom in line, didn’t stop them. Their behaviour has only escalated further and Twitter fandom right now is an awful place because of it. The bronlys must be laughing at us, because Destiel fandom has turned cannabalistic.

I spoke out recently. I tried to keep it vague in a tweet about the recent drama in general. But one thing I said gets pulled out separately and suddenly I’m the big bad wolf invalidating people and I’m a horrible person who is clearly fetishising destiel as I want them to fuck on the map table apparantly?!?! I mean, this is what these people do. They take something and blow it up. They twist your words, they basically throw a dictionary of large complex words at you claiming you are x,y,and z. they use terms like gaslighting and strawmanning aimed at you and in the confusion it takes you forever to actually realise that they are doing those things themselves. Constantly. To everyone.

Look I took it too far. I subtweeted too. I exhibited those bad behaviours as well. Hell, I learned from the best after all. I was in that GC for a year. Of course I am still trying to unlearn those behaviours. I am not proud of my behaviour on Twitter. After this post, I will try to do be better. Everyday. I will be better. I apologise to anyone I may have hurt by supporting and encouraging that behaviour.

I have had mutual friends tell me privately that I need to stop. What upsets me, is that those mutuals aren’t exactly telling the others to stop too. No. Those were the mutuals who stayed quiet whilst those particular people just constantly attacked and bullied everyone. So I’m sorry, but this is me not stopping, this is me making one last post on the topic. This is me telling my story as I see it. This is me pouring my heart out and getting it off my chest. This is my truth. I’m not spinning lies here, I’m not trying to twist anything, because I think I also come across quite badly. But the recent accusations against me, claiming I don’t care for anyone else in fandom, that my calling out “so called bullying” is just my personal vendetta against people who used to be my friends. Well, yes. Technically you’d be right there, they did used to be my friends, but no. Where you are wrong, is saying I don’t care. Because if I didn’t care about the bullying that I am STILL seeing on my timeline via upset mutuals reacting to the hurtful tweets of those I have blocked, I would just ignore it and not cause myself further drama. If I didn’t 100% believe those people were bullies, they’d still be my friends. I wouldn’t have called them out. Why would I put myself through all this if I didn’t 100% believe what I’ve been saying? That’s just madness.

Because here’s the thing, I HATE bullies. I have been bullied my whole fucking life, and what I hate MORE than that, was that through that GC I also became something that I hated. Because by associating with them for that year, I might as well have called myself a bully too. And that I just can’t forgive.

So my reason for writing this post is twofold.

1. Yes, it’s to defend the lies spread against me. So that those wondering if I am actually a fake bitch with a vendetta against certain people can make up their own minds. Perhaps this post exasperates that, or in your minds confirms their accusations about me. Maybe it does. I would argue that I am not fake. This isn’t fake. This is my personal truth and a very personal account of things that have greatly hurt me and caused me much internal conflict over the past few months. Those people who I am accusing (whose names I have left out to stupidly protect their privacy because believe it or not I’m not a bitch who encourages harassment against anyone even people I consider bullies) will never admit that their behaviour is wrong. They will continue to attempt to convince anyone who asks that I turned on them for no reason, or because I blindly follow my friend who they are also attacking and exposing right now for getting emotional and taking a DM convo too far. If you choose to believe them that is your right, clearly you and I were never close enough for you to trust my word over the words of people whose behaviour is clearly and proudly splashed all over their own social media accounts. Frankly, if you see all that, and still believe that behaviour is okay, you are no friend of mine.

2. It’s because I want people to know that actually, through all the pain and drama and emotion and loss of friendship, and conflict and struggle with my mental health, I do care. I care too damn much. If I didn’t I wouldn’t have spent an hour of my Sunday writing this out. Because this has been toiling and whirling inside me painfully for months and I am fed up of it. I had to write it down. I had to get it out of me. I want these people out of my life for good, but I can’t sit by and let bullies continue to manipulate my fandom, my mutuals, my friends who I see encouraged by their behaviour to imitate it. They are unfortunately very good at encouraging others to also partake in their behaviour. Please do not fall for it. Please consider your tone when tweeting or replying to someone with an opposing opinion. Please don’t feed bad behaviour by liking it and tweeting it just because you agree with the specific opinion buried within the condescension. Please don’t throw around strong accusations like homophobia against your fellow queer fans just because they have different desires from this dumb show that we all love.

If you can all do that for me, then I will promise to do it for you too.

I am terrified to post this post. I know that in doing so I am burning quite a few bridges. I know that those I accuse will do everything in their power to make out that I am insane, that I am a psycho. I know that I am exposing myself to more attacks, more harassment. I am sure there will be plenty of twitter threads dragging my name through the mud. They’ll dismiss all of this, call it bullshit, once again claim its just my personal vendetta against certain people. I guess I’m hoping that by anticipating all this and writing it down, it might give those people pause to just stop and leave me be. Stop the cycle of bad behaviour that has caused all this escalation and go back to enjoying the show without policing everyone else.

At this point I just want everyone to know the truth. Whether you believe it or not is your prerogative. This show ends in a few months time and I just want to enjoy it without seeing bullying in my timeline. That’s what this has always been about.

We must stand up to bullying. We must not let it ruin the final few months of this show. This post is my final word on the topic. I won’t respond to anything else. I won’t respond to any threats, any subtweets against me going forward. Hateful anons will be blocked. I won’t respond to anyone asking me for more info and I have no intention of naming people personally or giving more clues as to the GC or the people who were in it. So please don’t ask. Just keep an eye out for bad behaviour in fandom and if you see it, block or mute the source, only call it out if you know you have the mental capabilities to tackle the gaslighting. But absolutely do not support it. Do not feed the bullies as attention is what they want most of all, that and making their words the only words fandom follows.

I am done with this now. I won’t discuss this more.

[sixqueendom]

New Fanfic: If Only You Would Listen, Chapter 1

So, after having a few requests to, I’ve decided to post my new fic on here as well as AO3. If you would prefer to read on AO3, I have included the link below! No real warnings for this one. Just the usual angst I'm sure you've grown accustomed to with my fics if you’ve read any of my previous work!

A huge thank you to Phoebe (@theatergirl06), Lilac (@timetoriseabove) and Blue (@pen-and-a-microphone) for beta-reading this fic! You guys are the best!

AO3 Link

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Kitty decided she had had enough.  Everything was becoming overwhelming. The home she shared with the five other Queens suddenly felt overbearing and overly dominated by the others, so much so that she felt like she didn’t belong there anymore. Like she was an outcast. Sidelined. She didn’t feel like a priority to any of them, more a burden. An afterthought.

The truth was, Kitty was fed up with being mollycoddled by Jane. She was fed up of being treated like she was a child. But most of all, she was fed up of walking into a room, only for the lively chatter to descend into quietness, the other women refraining from talking openly for fear the topic might upset or offend her. They’d never told her that, but she knew. She was, after all, the vulnerable one in their eyes. The liability.

She appreciated Jane’s love and care towards her, she really did. It was nice to finally feel like someone genuinely cared about her, after a childhood with inattentive parents and ultimately being raised by her father’s negligent stepmother, the Dowager Duchess. For once, she felt wanted and loved. But as much as she appreciated it, Jane’s motherly care was smothering. Suffocating. Jane had always had a desperate longing to be a mother, having been robbed of the chance with her own son. So, naturally, with Kitty being the youngest, she projected all that energy onto her. But for Kitty, it was all too much. She didn’t feel she had any real independence. 

Eventually, she started to realise she was being excluded from conversations.

She’d accepted it at first. Perhaps she didn’t want to hear it. The conversations would just stir up old memories and rip off the superficial plaster she’d put on those wounds. That was, until she realised she was slowly losing her voice within the group, her right to speak for herself. Instead, the Queens were doing it on her behalf, assuming they knew what was best. Assuming they knew what she would say.

Last week, the Queens had all been invited to a podcast interview with an up and coming theatre critic, who had recently seen the show. The critic had analysed and dissected each of their individual songs and probed them for more details. When it came to Kitty’s song, she immediately saw the concerned faces of the others, like they anticipated a breakdown. Much to her annoyance, Anne butted in halfway through her response to a question. After that, Kitty noticed the subtle actions of the others: the critic saw it as casual banter, but it was really just a cover-up for the tougher questions regarding her past, an effort to keep things light-hearted in an attempt to stop it being so upsetting. What they didn’t realise was that Kitty had recounted her previous life so many times that, although still arguably painful to recall, it didn’t provoke the heightened emotions the Queens were probably expecting. She was tougher than that. Yet, by the end of the interview, Kitty felt like she hadn’t really contributed anything. 

A couple of nights later, there was a small incident at stage door when Kitty was approached by two young girls. As she happily signed their programmes, one of the girls piped up excitedly.

“I can’t wait to hear your next interview on Saturday! I’m going to send a question in for you to answer!”

Kitty frowned, but quickly concealed her confusion with a laugh. “Yeah, you should totally do that! I’ll try my best to answer as many as i can!”

On the Tube home, Kitty queried the conversation. “What’s this about an interview this weekend?”

Anne gasped. “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you! We’ve got an interview with a theatre magazine on Saturday. They are also hosting a little Q&A session with the fans. Should be fun.”

Kitty leant back in her seat, going quiet. When were they actually going to tell her if she hadn’t prompted?

The next evening, when Kitty came downstairs to find the Queens huddled around the kitchen, seemingly in a deep conversation without her, it was the final straw. Right on cue, as soon as she walked in, the mood immediately changed and, like a flick of a switch, a hush fell over the room as the discussion dropped away. It always felt like she was disrupting them. Like she was gatecrashing a party. Uninvited and unwanted.

Kitty glanced from one Queen to another. 

“What are you all talking about?” It was an innocuous enough question. She kept her voice light, casual. There was no need at this point to get tense and uptight. 

Anna, in one corner, gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “Nothing important. Just about that silly interview we have tomorrow.”

The interview with the magazine. The interview that she was also involved in.

Kitty blinked. “What about it?”

She caught Cathy giving a nervous glance across the room to Anna, her hands firmly cupped around her coffee mug as she leant against the kitchen counter. Kitty could sense the atmosphere in the room growing tense. After all, they weren’t stupid. They could tell where this was heading. 

Anne gave a shrug. “Just about what kind of questions we think they’ll ask. Just...boring stuff really.”

Here we go. Trying to assure her she wasn’t missing out on anything. That it wasn’t important enough for her voice to be included.

“It didn’t sound boring,” Kitty leant against the doorframe. “Sounds like a good idea, actually. Always best to be prepared for whatever they throw our way.” She was still maintaining her casual tone, but she could feel her patience being tested.

Jane, as always, was the first to get flustered, sensing that things were starting to head south and wanting to avoid confrontation. “Look,” she held up her hands. “Why don’t we just talk about this later when-”

“When what?” Kitty snapped. “When I’m back upstairs in my bedroom? When I’m out of earshot and can’t hear what you’re really talking about?”

Jane blinked. She didn’t know how to respond. Catherine bowed her head, staring at the lines of her hands. Across the table, Anne visibly squirmed in discomfort.

Kitty smirked. She’d caught them red-handed and now they didn’t know what to say. There was nowhere to hide. She raised an eyebrow expectantly, looking around the room for a response.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Have I made things a bit uncomfortable?”

This tense confrontation had come as a surprise for them. Out of them all, Kitty was largely overlooked, usually the quietest and the most reserved of the group. Sweet in nature and often quick to comply, she was the last one they’d expect to be interrogated by. But it was becoming clear that she was on the offence. Quite frankly, Kitty had reached the end of her tether. She wouldn’t tolerate being made to feel like a child, like an inconvenience, any longer. Whether it was the Queens’ intention or not, it still hurt. She still felt like she didn’t matter, that her words were worthless.

Finally, Cathy took a deep breath. “What is this all about, Kit?” Her words sounded so feeble. She wasn’t stupid - she knew exactly what was going on here - but she felt the need to break the awkward silence.

Her attempt only made Kitty scoff. “You all know exactly what this is about. I’m sick of this!” She yelled, her voice increasing in volume.

Jane bit her lip, the harsh tone of Kitty’s voice packing a sting that she really wasn’t accustomed to. Not from her sweet Kitty. She was trying to hold back tears, startled by this sudden outburst and hostility. Realising her discomfort, Catherine squeezed her hand under the table.

“Do I really not matter?” Kitty lowered her voice again, trying to keep composed. “Because sometimes I wonder if you’d all be better off without me!”

Anne looked up at that comment, hurt and panic in her eyes. “That’s not true! Of course you matter! Of course we want you here!”

“Then why don’t you ever include me?!” she cried, unable to conceal her trembling voice, despite her resolve not to cry. Crying would prove to them that she was volatile. It would justify their actions. “Why am I always the one treated like a child and left out of everything?”

“Kit, we’re not doing this to hurt you. We’re doing this to protect you and to stop you getting upset-” Anna started. 

“See, that’s just it, isn’t it? You all treat me like I’m some kind of porcelain doll that might fall and break. Don’t think I don’t notice you acting like you’re walking on eggshells when I’m around and pandering to my wishes like I’m a kid! I hate it!” Her frustration mounting, Kitty slammed her hand against the doorframe, making Jane visibly jump.

Catherine, remaining as composed as ever, thought quickly, trying to desperately diffuse the situation before it got the chance to escalate any further. “Kitty, why don’t you sit down and we can talk about this rationally?”

The suggestion only made Kitty laugh. “Oh, so now you want me to sit down and talk?”

She shook her head. “I’m sick and tired of being made to feel insignificant. Like I don’t matter. Because isn’t that what you say in the show? I think she’s the least relevant Katherine.” She changed her tone, trying to mimic the other Queens. ‘Oh, we can’t talk about that in front of Katherine, it’ll only make her upset’ Well, guess what? I want you to stop invalidating my opinions and my words, just because the topic of discussion might hurt me!”

“Kit, you know we don’t really mean that when we say that line in the show!” Cathy insisted.

“Well, it certainly feels like it!”

“We didn’t realise you felt like this…” Anna mumbled.

“Because you never thought to ask!” erupted Kitty, exasperated. “You were all so busy trying to keep me sheltered away that you never once thought to ask! You don’t want my opinion on anything! Precious little Katherine can’t think for herself and make her own choices and decisions! Why don’t you let me make up my own mind on whether a topic is too sensitive or not? I can always walk away, can’t I?”

“Like that other night at stage door. I was made to look so stupid because I was oblivious! I can’t believe a fan knew before I did! So, when were you all going to decide to tell me about the interview, hm? If it wasn’t for that girl mentioning it, I’d probably still be in the dark!”

“That was my fault!” Anne admitted, putting her hands up in surrender. “I genuinely forgot to tell you! Anna even mentioned it in the morning and I still forgot. I’m sorry.”

This admission from Anne seemed to soften Kitty slightly, her shoulders relaxing. It put the tiniest doubt in her head: maybe she was overthinking this all? Seeing Kitty relax a little and contemplate what Anne had said, Jane took the opportunity to try and reason with her and further dampen her anger. “Look, maybe you’re right. We’ve been unfair not including you. But none of us have done this to intentionally hurt you, love. You must know that. Neither do any of us see you less of an adult-”

“But Jane, you make me feel like a kid all the time! The constant prompting of what time I’ll be home when I go out, the constant fussing, it’s just too much! I’m constantly made to feel like I am incapable of doing anything for myself. I’m just as capable of being independent as Anne is, and you certainly don’t hover over her shoulder all the time!”

“I just like to make sure you’re okay…” Jane’s voice had gone quiet, almost a whisper.

“Well, you know what, Jane? It’s suffocating! You need to face up to the fact that trying to mother me isn’t going to bring back Edward!”

The words cut through Jane like a knife right to the heart. The others watched as the woman crumpled in front of them, before fleeing upstairs to the confines of her bedroom. Catherine  pushed her chair back and marched up to Kitty like a protective lioness, pinning her against the fridge.

“That is quite enough! Jane has done nothing but show you love and care, which is much more than any of your true family did for you. And this is how you repay her? You don’t deserve it. If you want to stop being treated like a child, you need to buck up your ideas and try and show some respect and gratitude. You should be ashamed of yourself, Katherine.” At that, she stormed off to console her friend.

Although Kitty had to admit that she’d regretted the words as soon as they’d come out of her mouth, she was determined to stand her ground. If she crumbled now, this whole confrontation was pointless. She looked to the three remaining Queens. 

After a long pause, Anna approached her, her jaw clenched, stone-faced. “You know, maybe you’re right, Kitty. Maybe we would be better off without you.” She grabbed her jacket from the back of a kitchen chair and stormed out of the house, slamming the front door behind her. Anne and Cathy flinched.

Having long abandoned her mug of coffee, Cathy folded her arms. “If you wanted to be treated more like an adult, perhaps you should have thought about approaching this like one. We could have had a civilised talk, instead of this mess.” With a disappointed shake of her head, she too strode out. As she passed the table to leave, she cast an apologetic look to Anne.

Now, it was just the two of them. The two cousins. Sitting there at the table, Anne was bewildered. She hadn’t expected such an outburst, especially not from Kitty. She’d never thought her capable of causing so much upset, to get so angry. She suddenly felt like she’d lost a good friend. As quiet once again fell over the room, Anne wondered if she’d ever really known Kitty at all.

She was also consumed with guilt. They were so close, and yet, she hadn’t realised that what they’d been doing had proved so hurtful to her own cousin. What’s more, Kitty had never confided in her. There had never been any hint that she was feeling this way.

“Why didn’t you say something?” Anne mumbled, finally lifting her head to look at her cousin in disbelief. “Why didn’t you tell me you felt like this?” 

Kitty turned her face away. She was just so disappointed in them all. She felt utterly let down by the very people she trusted the most. 

“Anna didn’t mean what she said…” Anne made a pitiful attempt to show Kitty she was on her side. “She just upset-”

Tears pricking at her eyes, Kitty clenched her fists. But all the fight had gone out of her.

“Well, now you all know how I feel.”

Kitty whirled around and sought the refuge of her bedroom, throwing herself onto her bed as the sobs overcame her. Suddenly, all the fire in her belly was extinguished, replaced by a hollow emptiness. Now she realised the enormity of what she’d done, the potential consequences of her actions. Things had spiraled out of control, her words had become ammunition created by her pent-up frustration. She had just been so desperate for change. How long was she expected to tolerate it all? She feared if she’d waited much longer, her voice would be silenced altogether. She might as well just walk out the door. Now, consumed with the horrible dark thoughts that shrouded her as she cried into her pillow, she started to take the thought seriously. She didn’t fit here and the Queens now despised her. Seeing the disgust in Aragon’s face and Anna’s clear contempt said it all. Maybe she needed to prove it to herself, not them. To prove that she was capable of looking after herself, like she insisted? Being independent. 

She lifted herself from the bed, grabbed her rucksack from the wardrobe and blindly stuffed some clothes in, her vision still blurry with tears. She checked the contents of her purse: her bank card and £60 - it would be enough for now. As she fumbled for some essential items she thought she’d need, her hand fell on a polaroid photo - a black and white picture, taken of them all on stage after their first performance together. They all looked so happy, so united. Now, she’d ruined all of that. Yet, something made her take it with her, slipping it into the zip pocket of her bag. Just because they hated her, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t miss them. Lastly, she picked up her phone, staring at the lockscreen photo of her and Anne for a second before putting it back onto her bedside table. She didn’t really have a use for it now. 

You know, maybe you’re right, Kitty. Maybe we would be better off without you. 

After all, she was of course, the least relevant Katherine. They wouldn’t want to talk to her now.

At that, she tiptoed downstairs. She was relieved to see the kitchen was empty. Helping herself to a few biscuits, pieces of fruit, and granola bars, she took one last look as she slipped out of the back door.

And, just like that, Kitty disappeared into the night.

[adrienaline-rushed-art]

(For the character ask) Adrien Agreste!!

YOU CHOSE MY SON! you’d better prepare your noodles because I’ve got a lot to gush about my favorite boy

Why I like them: From the beginning, he was my very favorite character because he was a weird combination of someone I was close to as well as myself. Although, over time it’s been more and more about relating to him as opposed to seeing someone else in him. At the time that he first became a reminder of someone special, he got me out of a depressive state, and continues to do so!

I love what a genuinely good listener he is. He’s very considerate and respectful, he puts others before himself— though, Ladybug can tell you why that is also a flaw. 

I like to think about the scenes in Horrificator when his classmates kept fighting, but he— one of the leads —didn’t make any input to take sides. Not even for Nino, his best friend! But he did look really upset to see his friends arguing

He’s also very forgiving and patient, I mean… as annoying as Lila can be, he actually tries to understand and help her. And what he said in onichan is implied to be correct based on the beginning of the episode.

He got it on the head, and not only for the sake of excusing bad behavior, he can relate. He knows he’s gone out of line because of his loneliness and abandonment issues. He excused Lila for the same reason in season 1

Defending Lila for lying about her relationship with Ladybug (See ‘Copycat’) 

He definitely understands what’s bad behavior (as opposed to Lila and Chloe, he does remain selfless and kind) and when he doesn’t he gets to use this sympathy as an opportunity for learning. But he also knows a cry for help when he sees one, he doesn’t want anyone to feel the way he does. 

The only real downside is it makes him a doormat for Lila, Chloe, and most importantly his father. But he’s learning and I’m so happy for him. 

he’ll accept a rough relationship for the sake of helping you be better through kindness until it hurts his loved-ones, where he absolutely has to cut you off. That’s one thing he doesn’t relate to or believe in. When he knows he messed up and hurt someone, he didn’t mean it, so he apologizes. 

But you can see in his face that he doesn’t feel good doing it, because although it doesn’t excuse toxicity, he knows that the person’s pain is why they act that way. 

It’s still for his friends more than himself, but I’ll take it for now. The biggest flaw he has is also one of his sweetest traits, believing in the best out of everyone. He’s at least learning that you can’t always assume someone doesn’t mean any harm.

Also:

fcKing suPERB adrien

I also like his sensitivity. He isn’t trying to be the cool and mysterious type, he’s emotional, passionate, and caring. This vulnerability can also be his downfall at times, but he carries his weight and makes himself responsible for his mistakes, so he’s an excellent example to kids. He’s a good boy in a world of romanticized “bad boys”.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): I can’t really say, I’m bad at choosing favorites. Really any scene he’s in— especially as Chat Noir —immediately makes me happy. Scenes of his that are sad or frustrating don’t make me happy in the sense that I like what’s happening, but the rush of emotions I get when I get to watch him interact with other characters and just be.. him… brings a certain type of joy? The fact that when he’s sad, I’m really sad… I don’t know, it’s a nice feeling. Don’t @ me but 2 years ago in my baby project, I named the baby Adrien, because I’ve adopted him and he is my son.

I guess I really like him in riposte? He was very soft in that episode, he was all giggly and blushy. Also, Gigantitan, Chris Master, and Sapotis? He’s so good with kids! Chat Noir got a lot of lines in Silencer (hA) and I thoroughly enjoyed that, he was such a dork. Weredad was just a masterpiece, we got to explore his thoughts toward Marinette too so that was cool. So it really comes down to any episode that he shines the brightest, the more screen time and dialogue the better. I WANT to learn MORE about him.

None of these are favorite episodes of all time I don’t think? It’s just my favorite moments for him I guess. Gigantitan might be a good example for an episode that fits on both lists, though. We saw a lot of different sides to him. We got to see Marinette comfort Chat Noir when he finally admitted his heartache, he finally admitted his frustrations with Gabriel to Nathalie (although she would have known without him saying), and I actually liked seeing Chat Noir’s petty side directed to Ladybug. No, I didn’t like that he was being unfair, but everyone has this type of moment in their life because we’re human, which is why it was SO great to see him like this.

He’s messing up? Fantastic! And it was so intriguing to see how he behaved when he finally snaps, particularly toward Ladybug. We hadn’t seen him lash out toward a friend— let alone a romantic interest —at this point. He really needed to unleash those emotions, and I’m glad he didn’t keep them bottled up any longer. He was having a garbage day to begin with, I wouldn’t be able to stand watching him brush it off.

It wasn’t fair to Ladybug, but it was perfectly fair to himself. Ladybug said she couldn’t hang out because she was with friends, sure! From his perspective, what does that look like? Well, we got to understand it thanks to this episode. Think to what happens to him later in the episode, he’s unable to spend time with his friends. There might be a tinge of jealousy toward that. Or maybe it’s that the phrasing made it sound like Chat Noir wasn’t a friend, which adds up to his relief at the end of the episode when Ladybug calls him a best friend. But also, the excuse wasn’t satisfying to him because clearly, he had intended to put both friends and Ladybug in his schedule, why couldn’t she do the same? I’m not saying this is logical thinking, but it’s interesting to step back and realize that it’s entirely likely he thought this way. And it all makes sense that he cherishes being with her more than any romantic future with her, because the fact he didn’t get angry when he heard about her “boy”, but he did when it came to her friends.

And, a little Ladybug appreciation, she didn’t invalidate those feelings. He’s not allowed to act up and ruin an akuma fight, but he is allowed to feel that way. I mean, it was a little mean to suggest fake dating right after brushing off a real one. But he realized how inappropriate the timing was, and apologized for it. And taking his humility a step further, he went with Ladybug’s original (arguably tortuous) plan, and disciplined himself during it. He didn’t try to take advantage and get all smoochie and cuddly on her. He offered his hand, but she’s the one who came to him and kissed him on the cheek. He let her create the boundaries. Later, he kissed her on the cheek for the first time.

Anyway sorry for that entire essay, but as you can tell I really loved that episode front and back.

Favorite season/movie: I think since we only have two and a half seasons, I can only say season 2 for now. I say season 2 because it’s where we first uncover more of Adrichat, not only to ourselves but to Marinette. He’s been really cute in S3 so far though, so my opinion could always change.

Favorite line: Any of his laughs. Ok fine, an actual line… uhh.. you know what, he’s said a lot of very profound and sweet things… so how about something stupid and random 

“Wanna hear a secret? I love chouquettes.” You sure do, you little dork. 

Favorite outfit: That purple/maroonish and green one on one of his magazine covers. 

OTP: Marichat, always. Ladynoir close second. If we’re talking outside of canon, probs Alyadrien. 

Brotp: Nino, obviously, they’re phenomenal. 

Head Canon: Maybe this is less of a headcanon, and more of an excuse for the writing.. but I don’t think Adrien is that oblivious. But as someone who’s forgiving, it would make sense that he also doesn’t assume things that could hurt them. For one, he denies Marinette likes him simply because she seems to have implied she doesn’t. He takes her word for it. 

Notice that almost every time it comes up, it’s not denying his own feelings, and he’s not even denying the “signs”. He just doesn’t want to put words in her mouth or ruin their friendship by jumping to conclusions that could put distance between them. It makes sense that he would want to protect their friendship because of how they met. 

Unpopular opinion Adrien is not a mary sue. First, I’ve already mentioned plenty of flaws in this post. Having no flaws is one side of a mary sue, the other side is being overpowered. So what if he’s in a bunch of clubs and has essentially mastered all of them. Stress on essentially, so far we know he can play one(1) classical piece on the piano and he messed up on it (it was a small mistake because of skipping practice, but a True™ mary sue wouldn’t have). Also… I’m sure he’s fluent in Chinese and Japanese, but he could be pronouncing better. Actually, that’s unfair, the French dub did pretty well for Japanese pronunciation and everyone knows French is more canon. I don’t know enough about Chinese to judge his pronunciation of it. We don’t know much about his sports except that he’s good at them, but we know Kagami kicks his ass at fencing apparently, so still not overpowered. Anyhow, these are just talents and skills. Not only can anyone learn them with effort (because he isn’t a prodigy at any of them), but it’s realistic that the famous model son of the strict CEO and founder to the prestigious fashion company Gabriel would be forced to have a full tool belt. Not to mention he’s a model in the acting business (Animaestro) actors legit have to know how to do EVERYTHing to even compete with others. None of the above has to do with power though.

  If anything, he’s underpowered. He’s not treated very well for a teammate who isn’t a sidekick. Often his intellect, wisdom, rationale, skills, and agility have been compromised for the sake of making ✦Ladybug✦ look good. Which, is sort of counter-intuitive if you think about it. We know this from the inconsistencies between episodes. One episode he’s decoding morse, giving Ladybug advice, making detailed plans, or showing off his expert-level martial arts… the next he’s… accidentally grabbing an ice cream cone while Cataclysm is activated? hmmm. ALso, as stated before, Adrien’s intelligence is suppressed for the advancement of the plot.

A wish: I want more Ladynoir discussions outside of akuma battles. Regarding things like the Dark Cupid kiss.. there are a lot of things I want them to straighten out and grow on. 

And, I think this is going to happen anyhow… but like,,, he needs to find out about the scarf, I’m sorry. I know it’ll be bittersweet but,,ghhhgk

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: *INHALES* pleASe, Emilie, be a good person!! ALSo, NO FIGHTS WITH NINO. EVER. 

5 words to best describe them: Patient, dorky, loving, childlike (not childish), brave

My nickname for them: heeheh, it’s my blog name title, Paw Prince.

I wrote you a whole book, my bad. I don’t regret it though. Now you know why it took me so long to answer.

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

Any opinions on Fuyumi? I want to like her but... she just keeps pushing for "being a nice family" and I dunno, it seems like she's always invalidating her brothers feelings/experinces?

Fuyumi’s an interesting character to me. I always felt that her “being a nice family” mindset was her dealing with her trauma in her own way. Whereas Dabi, Shoto, and Natsuo react to Endeavor with anger and Rei reacts with fear, Fuyumi reacts with a sort of desperation that feels realistic to me. She wants to keep her family together but doesn’t have a healthy mindset as to what that means. She’s the type that thinks that if everyone talks things out, everything will be resolved and she can have a normal life she was unfairly robbed of. Problem is that Endeavor was an abuser, no matter what you think of him, and the best way to deal with an abuser is to leave them. Fuyumi however seems to feel that Endeavor is necessary to help live out her ideal family as he is her father, which shows an unhealthy sense of reality yet one that a lot of abuse victims who never receive proper help develop. It’s also interesting when you realize that she’s seen as the nurturing one and is a teacher. Hori probably didn’t think this far when writing her, but Fuyumi being an elementary school teacher could be her wanting to care for a family of her own in some way and/or living vicariously through the kids, as none of the Todoroki children had childhoods to begin with.

Her ideals however clash with that of her three brothers, her desperation to keep her family together and rebuild it going against Natsuo and Shoto’s desires to simply leave Endeavor behind and have nothing to do with him (and Dabi trying to kill Endeavor, but she didn’t even know he was alive until recently). To me, it’s pretty realistic as to how an abused family will sometimes clash with one another.

The problem I have with Fuyumi though is a problem I have with MHA as a whole and that’s the fact Hori never really dives deep into any of this. He sets up such themes and introduces characters integral to these themes, but we hardly get any insight into the Todoroki siblings’ mindsets with the arguable exceptions of Shoto and Dabi, so we barely see this side of Fuyumi and are left with some surface level stuff that makes it seem like she’s being selfish at times “just cuz” when it’s far more than that. It’s a problem with a lot of things in MHA. Now I’m not expecting masterful writing here, but if you’re going to introduce such themes and advertise them as integral to the story you’re trying to tell, I expect to see them being handled with at least some care. Instead everything’s so lackluster to the point where it feels like it’s offensive at times. Just look at Izuku’s relationship with Katsuki. The bullying is never addressed nor is Izuku allowed to feel anything about it except for blind admiration for Katsuki.

In conclusion, Fuyumi’s a complicated and interesting character that Hori once again fails to explore thoroughly and with the care needed to explore such a character. Under a better writer she’s the kind of character that would really flourish but what we got was missed potential, like with the majority of MHA.

[littlepurinsesu]

Saeran or Unknown?

Let me just begin by saying that I am not an expert on psychology. I’m just your average mystic mess of a fan who loves Saeran to bits, so this is all just my personal interpretation. But I’m not here to analyse Saeran’s mental disorder anyway, so hopefully my point won’t be considered completely invalid (and maybe I’ll still be taken somewhat seriously hehe). You’re also free to disagree with me; I’m not trying to dictate how you should or shouldn’t interpret him. Saeran is a very complex character after all, and that’s one of the reasons why it’s so fascinating to analyse him! ^^

*Not sure if it’s still necessary at this point, but just in case, SPOILERS FOR RAY’S ROUTE AND SECRET ENDINGS!

I personally become quite skeptical whenever I see people refer to Dark Saeran as being exactly the same as Unknown. Because in my humble opinion, the two are similar, but they are not one and the same.

For the purpose of this discussion, I’m just gonna clarify that by “Dark Saeran,” I am referring to the one in the black suit that harasses MC during Days 8-9 of the Ray Route, and by “Unknown,” I mean the one in the main routes with the red tank top, tattoo, and jacket falling off his shoulder (see image above).

There are reasons why I insist on using the clunky and unofficial “Dark Saeran” name rather than defaulting to “Unknown” for any dark version of Saeran. Because from what I see, Dark Saeran may be terrifying, but Unknown is worse. And we’re not just talking about a simple change in outfit, here. They’re dressed differently because they’re not the same.

The key in this argument is the repetition of the words “actual” and “actually.” 

Dark Saeran will scream at you, taunt you, and verbally abuse you, but he never actually does the things he threatens to do. I’m pretty sure the worst he’s done (physically) is bite MC on the neck, but he never really resorts to actual violence or goes through with his threats. It’s also pretty obvious that deep down he does care about MC a lot, like when he threatens to have her take part in the cleansing ceremony but brings up excuses to stop Rika from actually doing it, or threatens to throw MC away but won’t actually let it happen for real. All those explanations about how she doesn’t deserve to be cleansed or that only he can throw her away because she’s his toy? Who are you fooling, Saeran. Just admit that you care for MC lol. I’ve seen someone describe Dark Saeran as “a dog that barks but doesn’t bite,” and if we ignore his literal bite on MC, I think it’s a perfect description.

Unknown doesn’t seem as intimidating or overwhelming as Dark Saeran is in person, since he mostly talks pretty calmly and isn’t screaming at the top of his lungs every few seconds. But here’s the catch: Unknown would actually torture, kill, or press switches to blow up people without much thought, while Dark Saeran has not and arguably will not. Unknown is actually destructive, while Dark Saeran is not.

While Dark Saeran enjoys watching people cower in fear before him to feed his twisted desire to be seen as the strongest, unless I’ve remembered incorrectly, I don’t recall him ever actually carrying out any of his threats. Unknown, on the other hand, doesn’t even bother threatening things all the time - he just gets straight down to it. Arguably, the only person both Dark Saeran and Unknown would actually hurt is V, since we know that every version of Saeran hated V (yes, even sweet marshmallow Ray). But on Ray’s route, V is still able to reach the humanity in Dark Saeran’s heart to bring about that one moment of hesitation. In the Secret Endings, though? BAM, V’s dead. I honestly don’t believe that Dark Saeran could have actually pulled the trigger during his confrontation with V. But Unknown? He wouldn’t have hesitated at all.

My interpretation is that Unknown is Dark Saeran but past the point of no return. He’s an “upgraded” version of Dark Saeran, if you will.

With Dark Saeran, you can still get through to his humanity and have a heart-to-heart conversation with him. But without MC and with even more influence from Rika and the elixir, he will eventually become Unknown, who is so far gone that only his brother might still be able to reach him (as seen in the Secret Endings, and we all know how difficult that was).

MC can reach Dark Saeran’s heart with love and patience (yes, I know it’s unrealistic, but this is an otome game we’re talking about), but I doubt she could have reached Unknown’s. She played a major role in Ray’s/Dark Saeran’s story, but couldn’t really do anything for Unknown, except maybe be there to support Saeyoung since he’s obviously the only one who can save him by that point. All versions of Saeran need to find reconciliation and closure with Saeyoung before he can fully heal, but unlike Ray/Dark Saeran, there is no way that Unknown could have a romantic route with MC that would actually work. There’s a reason why it’s the “Ray Route,” and not the “Unknown Route.”

And that’s precisely why Dark Saeran is in Another Story, which takes place prior to the events of the main routes, while Unknown only appears in the “present timeline.” So MC in Another Story literally saves Saeran before he can become Unknown. When he’s at his Dark Saeran stage, you can still go back to Ray and achieve Good Ending Saeran under the right circumstances. But once he’s reached the Unknown stage, Ray has either completely disappeared or is so firmly repressed that the switching doesn’t even occur anymore (though this could just be because his two personas was a thing that was created for Another Story lol). Once he’s become Unknown, even if you heal him, you can only get Secret Ending Saeran, not Good Ending Saeran, who is arguably more or less the same person as Ray - the true Saeran before Rika came along.

Not that Secret Ending Saeran is not “the true Saeran,” but there’s a certain sense of a threshold being crossed. There aren’t really any traces of Ray left in the more passive Secret Ending Saeran, and although Good Ending Saeran may not be exactly the same as Ray either, that version of him in the white shirt is a Saeran who is now ready to take on an active role in saving and reconciling with his brother and living the life he deserves.

TL;DR

Therefore,

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[elite-guard-hardygal]

Most Favourite Characters Ever of All Time! GO!

Smokescreen (Transformers Prime) - He’s such a dork and I love him so much! Sure, he’s cocky, overconfident, and inexperienced, but he’s also well-read, sincere, loyal, and he’s trying so damn hard...! Despite his shortcomings, he still tries to get better as both a person and a soldier. He’s insecure and I just want to give this kid the validation he craves! Not that popular in the fandom unfortunately, but this rookie has remained one of my most favourite characters of all time. also hes voiced by nolan north

Makoto Naegi (Danganronpa) - When you get down to it, this boy is the entire reason I fell in love with Danganronpa. He’s an all around normal and average person - he’s nice and friendly, but his optimism is the only thing that really sets him apart. It’s one of those things that people would say is “nice but not useful.” And yet it’s that optimism that ends up saving the day in the end!! That, to me, was one of the biggest twists in the entire series, and it meant more to me than one would imagine... also his dub voice is bryce papenbrook

Izuku Midoriya (My Hero Academia) - So bright, so emotional, always moving forward. How could I not fall for this child?! Like Makoto with Danganronpa, he is pretty much the whole reason I got into this wonderful series. His happiness, his sadness, his determination, it’s all very contagious! He’s so openly emotional, and as an extremely wonderful added bonus, that’s never once seen as a bad thing or put down...! Again, that means more to me than one can imagine. Keep it up, Deku! I’ll be there to laugh and cry right along with you! also his dub voice is justin briner

Honourable Mentions - I love these guys but not as much as the three boys above

Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012) - So it’s been actual years since I’ve seen this show, but I loved this guy. He was just so relatable, what with his struggles of being the leader/oldest child. I also appreciated that the show would depict him as a dorky and excitable fanboy whenever he’s in a situation that doesn’t require him to be responsible - believe it or not, guys, the oldest child wants to have fun too.

Nathan Drake (Uncharted) - A bit unlike most characters I tend to like, buuut I like to think this guy was made to be a fairly likable protagonist. Sure he can be an asshole, but he’s also a dork and he genuinely cares about people. also hes voiced and mocap’d by nolan north who frankly added a lot to what makes this character so likable and enjoyable

Mike Munroe (Until Dawn) - VERY different from most characters I like. He starts the game as a womanizer and an asshole, but ends it - assuming you don’t kill him along the way - as a badass with a wolf for a friend trying his best to keep everyone safe. Out of all the characters to like in this game, for some reason this one stands out to me. Congrats, Mike - you’re my one problematic fav.

Rory Williams (Doctor Who) - This man... Quiet, nervous, and realistic, but also courageous, badass, and adaptable. His largely grounded personality ironically makes him the odd-one-out, which is honestly pretty relatable to me. also he dies a lot But most importantly, this man loves his wife more than anything else in the universe. He’s died for her, fought for her, and waited thousands of years for her. Way to set my husband standards ridiculously high, Rory.

Agent Washington (Red vs. Blue) - Arguably one of the more complex characters in the series, but to put it frankly, this guy is a dork. Yeah, he’s grown rather cynical after all the crap he’s been put through, and leading a group of people he used to not give a shit about certainly hasn’t helped his stress levels, but even after giving up on himself several times, this guy has still managed to move forward. And yes, he has still remained a massive dork.

Hajime Hinata (Danganronpa 2) - Most everyone can agree that this guy is one of the most relatable protagonists in the series, and I’m the same way. He’s more cynical and sarcastic than most, and he’s frequently fed up with the world, but he also wants to be more than he is. I love this boy and his story, as sad as both of them are. also his dub voice is johnny yong bosch

Shuichi Saihara (Danganronpa V3) - Surprised? Shuichi is a lot more insecure than other protagonists in the series and that just makes me relate to him want to help him and encourage him. The fact that he eventually does get friends who help him grow stronger just makes it even better. It’s rather amazing to see him slowly overcome his inhibitions and make his decisions with confidence while also not invalidating his own feelings.

Vash the Stampede (Trigun) - Oh my word what an unexpected dork. And somehow that dorkiness never takes away from his moments of absolute badassery! He is, in my opinion, probably one of the best pacifist characters ever written - I’ve never before seen a pacifist who has literally never taken a life. It ramps up the tension whenever he’s forced into a situation where that may change. His whole story is just... amazing. also his dub voice is johnny yong bosch

[nancydhooper]

Can Liberals Win in a Conservative Court?

This piece originally ran in The New York Review of Books. President Trump is on his way out the door, even if he goes kicking and screaming. The Biden-Harris administration will have its hands full picking up the pieces. Trump has left the federal government a kind of environmental disaster area, desperately in need of a massive cleanup. No president in US history has done more to degrade the presidency, constitutional norms, or American politics. The good news is that Trump did most of his damage unilaterally, through executive action, and therefore Biden can unilaterally reverse those actions.  On one matter, however, changing course will be far more challenging. With the support of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Federalist Society, Trump has appointed more than three hundred new federal judges. He has named fully 30 percent of federal court of appeals judges, and three Supreme Court justices: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. They all serve for life. And unless Democrats win both runoff Senate races in Georgia, Biden will require the assent of a Republican-controlled Senate to appoint any new judges or justices. What does this landscape mean for the future of the federal courts, and the Supreme Court in particular?  To find a Supreme Court as conservative as today’s, you have to go back to the Progressive Era and the early days of the New Deal, when practically the only constitutional rights the Supreme Court recognized were the rights of big business owners to be free of regulation designed to protect consumers and workers. Today’s court has six Republican appointees and only three Democratic ones, and the Republican appointees all came with burnished conservative credentials. Trump’s last-minute appointment of Justice Barrett saw a civil rights hero, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, replaced by a deeply Catholic abortion opponent and acolyte of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice Kavanaugh has thus far shown himself to be more conservative than Anthony Kennedy, whose seat he has assumed. And Justice Gorsuch, while less predictable, has many very conservative views, including a fundamental distrust of the administrative state.  So, what is a civil libertarian to do? When preelection opinion polls appeared to promise that Democrats could win not only the presidency but also the Senate, some talked of “court reform.” The reformers argued that the Republicans had effectively “packed” the Supreme Court through a series of technically legal but unprecedented maneuvers, from the refusal to give Merrick Garland a hearing almost a year out from one general election to the ramming through of Justice Barrett’s confirmation just days before another. But absent Democratic control of the Senate, court reform is illusory. And even if reform had been possible, it risks further politicizing the court, and that, in turn, would carry its own substantial costs. Constitutional rights and civil liberties, by definition, protect those who cannot protect themselves through the political process: members of minority groups, dissidents, the vulnerable and powerless. Their protection requires an institution that does not answer directly to the democratic polity. Indeed, that’s the best argument for life tenure, as a guarantee of independence. If the court becomes just another political arena, constitutional rights will cease to function as a check on majority power.  We are stuck, therefore, with the hand that has been dealt us. What then? When one considers how many important cases have been decided in the last couple decades by 5–4 votes, with Justice Ginsburg in the majority, it is easy to despair. The right to marriage equality, and recent decisions upholding the right to abortion, were decided by a single vote. Privacy rights to cell phone location data, Guantánamo detainees’ access to court, and juveniles’ right not to be executed similarly were all decided by a single vote. So, too, was the court’s recent protection of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, and its invalidation of Trump’s attempt to skew the 2020 census by asking about citizenship. The Affordable Care Act survived its first and most significant challenge by a single vote as well. (As ACLU National Legal Director, I was counsel in the census and cellphone privacy cases, and filed an amicus brief in the DACA case.) If the liberal side in these cases had had to attract not just one conservative vote, but two, we might have lost them all. But there is reason not to give up hope. A conservative-dominated Supreme Court is actually nothing new. The bench has been comprised of a majority of conservative and Republican appointees ever since 1971. Yet, in that time span, the court has ruled that discrimination on the basis of sex violates equal protection, recognized the right to abortion, and rebuffed a concerted effort by the Reagan administration to overturn that right. It invalidated laws making same-sex sexual relations a crime and recognized marriage equality. It expanded the jury trial rights of criminal defendants and the First Amendment rights of anonymous pamphleteers, flag-burners, proponents of unpopular and even hateful views, and Internet users. It limited the application of the death penalty, upheld affirmative action, and ruled that ostensibly neutral housing practices that have a disparate effect on racial minorities violate federal law. And most recently, the court ruled that laws that prohibit discrimination “because of sex” also prohibit discrimination on the basis of transgender status or sexual orientation (I was counsel in this last case as well).  Last term alone, the court reached “liberal” results in virtually all of its most controversial cases — including abortion, LGBT rights, DACA, and Trump’s claim that he could not be required to turn over private financial records to a grand jury or congressional committees. Whatever else one might say, the court has not been the unremittingly conservative body that some predicted and many feared.    Why would a conservative court have reached all of these liberal decisions? One reason is that constitutional cases are decided by the application of precedent, so justices are not free to vote their party line, as are members of Congress. The law is not, of course, divorced from politics, but it is different from politics in this sense. Precedents do not dictate results, but they provide more direction and constraint than cynics are generally inclined to acknowledge. One reason the conservative court has reached liberal results is because that was actually the best reading of the law. Second, the court’s legitimacy rests on its remaining open to argument. If the court decided every controversial issue on partisan ideological lines, it would lose its ability to resolve disputes in a way that people by and large accept. Consider, for example, Trump’s current attack on the results of the presidential election. The federal courts are hearing — and rejecting — those claims, and are virtually certain to reject Trump’s effort to reverse the election’s outcome. Once that happens, at least some people will be more likely to accept the results of the election than if we did not have an institution removed from politics to decide the dispute. But the courts’ ability to play that part requires that they are perceived as open to both sides, and guided by law, not pure politics.  Third, the court’s standing with the public also depends on its not diverging too far from where the country is on matters of constitutional principle. Political scientists who have studied the court over time have found that, while it may not literally “follow the election returns,” its decisions generally reflect contemporary public values. A conservative-majority court reached all the liberal outcomes listed above in part because public opinion, over time, increasingly recognized the equality claims of women and LGBT persons, questioned the death penalty, supported affirmative action, and the like.   A caveat is important here. The forces outlined above tend to operate in those cases in which the court knows that it is being watched. But every year, the Supreme Court decides many significant cases that draw relatively little attention — and in those cases, the conservative justices tend to vote much more consistently along conservative lines. Thus, in important cases pitting employees’ or consumers’ rights against businesses, the court has rarely ruled against business. Because the results in these cases are often below the radar, the conservatives may feel less incentive to restrain their ideological biases. Republicans have long lamented the tendency of their appointees to move to the center once appointed to the court. This was arguably true of Justices Harry Blackmun, David Souter, John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy, and appears to be true of John Roberts. But if I am right that the court’s reputation turns on its being perceived as fair — as deciding cases based on principle rather than political ideology, as open to argument, and as in tune with the nation’s evolving fundamental values — there will be incentives on any conservative-majority court for one or more justices on the right side of the court to move left, at least in some significant cases. On a liberal-majority court, by the same token, the incentive would be for one or more of the liberals to move right. (Because the Supreme Court has so rarely been dominated by liberals, we don’t have as much evidence for that transformation, but there are certainly examples of Democratic appointees who voted more conservatively than expected once appointed, including Felix Frankfurter and Byron White.) All of this suggests that it is too early for civil libertarians to give up on the Supreme Court. But it also underscores that the battle for civil liberties must be waged not only, or even mostly, before the court. The Supreme Court did not deliver us equal protection for women or marriage equality. The feminist and LGBT movements did that, through painstaking political and legal work in a variety of forums, including corporate boardrooms, university faculties, city councils, state courts and legislatures, governors’ and mayors’ offices, dinner-table conversations, Congress, and the executive branch. The court then recognized the advances that had been won outside its four walls.  There are some areas of legal dispute in which one simply has no choice but to sue in federal court, so one cannot give up on the judiciary even when it is dominated by conservatives. When a red state passes a law banning abortion, the very politics that made the state law possible are likely to infect the state’s courts — in particular, as most state court judges have to run for election. When the Department of Homeland Security targets immigrants for enforcement actions that deny due process, the only recourse is federal, and neither the president nor Congress have shown much sympathy for immigrants. Criminal defendants often lose through every phase of the state criminal process, only to prevail when, after completing the state appeals process, they are allowed to seek relief from a federal court through a claim of habeas corpus. One of the surest ways for a state judge to lose his seat is to vindicate a criminal defendant’s constitutional rights; federal courts, with their judges’ life tenure, have proved more receptive.  So the work of civil libertarians will continue apace, inside and outside the federal courts. We may increasingly turn to more sympathetic forums to make initial inroads, as advocates for marriage equality so effectively did. But in the end, if the country supports civil liberties and civil rights, the Supreme Court is unlikely to get in the way. This means all of us can and must do our part to defend liberty. As one of the United States’ greatest judges, Learned Hand, said:

Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8247012 https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/can-liberals-win-in-a-conservative-court via http://www.rssmix.com/

[northcarolinaprelawland-blog]

Challenging Vermont’s ‘Revenge Porn’ Statute: State V. VanBuren

By Patrick Duan, Duke University Class of 2023

July 1, 2020

Four percent of U.S. internet users, around ten million Americans, have been “threatened with or experienced the posting of explicit images without their consent.”[i]Currently, 46 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws combating this issue.[ii]Yet courts have had trouble determining which of these acts of nonconsensual pornography, popularly known as “revenge porn,”[iii] are truly criminal privacy violations. In State v. VanBuren, Rebekah VanBuren was charged with violating Vermont’s revenge porn statute but argued that the law violated the First Amendment for restricting free speech. The state’s superior court agreed, ruling the statute as facially unconstitutional under the First Amendment and dismissed the case. However, the Vermont Supreme Court ultimately upheld the disputed rule after reviewing it under strict scrutiny.

Facts

In October 2015, a Vermont woman (“complainant”)sent photos of her naked body to her ex-boyfriend Anthony Coon over Facebook Messenger. At that time, Coon was in a relationship with another woman, Rebekah VanBuren, who accessed Coon’s Facebook account and saw the images. Soon, VanBuren publicly posted the photos on Coon’s Facebook and tagged complainant, which multiple people viewed. Complainant left a voicemail for Coon requesting that those photos be deleted, but she was met with a responding call from VanBuren via Coon’s phone, saying she was going to ruin complainant. Furthermore, she called complainant a “moraless pig” and claimed she would inform her employer, a child-care facility.[iv]

After complainant reported this incident to the police,Vermont charged VanBuren with a misdemeanor under the state’s revenge porn statute, section 2606. One violates this statute if one “knowingly discloses a visual image of an identifiable person who is nude or who is engaged in sexual conduct, without his or her consent” and “with the intent to harm, harass, intimidate, threaten, or coerce the person depicted, and the disclosure would cause a reasonable person to suffer harm.”[v]

However, this section lists out several exceptions, most notably including “images involving voluntary nudity or sexual conduct” that are “in a place where a person does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy.”[vi]In February 2016, VanBuren filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that section 2606 violated the First Amendment “because it restricted protected speech and it could not survive strict scrutiny.”[vii] VanBuren also asserted that according to the terms of the statue, her disclosure was exempt since complainant had “no reasonable expectation of privacy” as she personally took the pictures and sent them to Coon “without any promise on his part” to not publicize the photos.[viii]

Vermont Superior Court

In July 2016, the Vermont Superior Court in Bennington dismissed the charge and invalidated the statute as “facially unconstitutional under the First Amendment” and “an impermissible content-based regulation of protected speech.”[ix] The court reasoned that section 2606 regulates content since it applies to images based on their depictions of sexual conduct or nudity. Since the statute failed to qualify for the categorical exclusion from full First Amendment protection for obscenity, the court proclaimed, it was thereby subject to strict scrutiny, which requires that the law be “narrowly tailored to achieve compelling State interests.”[x] The court, without even reaching VanBuren’s statutory arguments, ruled the statute unconstitutional and dismissed the case.

Vermont Supreme Court

Subsequently, the State appealed this decision to the Vermont Supreme Court, which upheld the statute in August 2018. Justice Robinson, writing for the majority, argued that even though the statute did not qualify as a regulation of obscenity according to existing First Amendment doctrine, revenge porn would be a strong candidate for a new categorical exemption. She stated three reasons for this: First, revenge porn, a private matter, “does not enjoy the same degree of First Amendment protection” as does speech on pubic matters;second, state laws that protect individual privacy rights are longstanding and “are not necessarily subordinate” to the free speech protections of the First Amendment;third, the court is cautious of categorical holdings or broad rules “framing the relationship” between the First Amendment and laws that protect individual privacy.[xi]But ultimately, Justice Robinson concluded that the U.S. Supreme Court’s reluctance to adopting new categorical exemptions meant the court should “decline to predict that the Supreme Court will add nonconsensual pornography” as a new exception.[xii]Therefore, the court reviewed the statute under strict scrutiny.

Strict Scrutiny

The government’s interest was concluded as compelling and the statute narrowly tailored, so the statute survived strict scrutiny. Justice Robinson stated, regarding revenge porn, that the government’s interest in protecting privacy is “at its highest,” due to the severe emotional and professional consequences that typically follow disclosure.[xiii] Furthermore, Justice Robinson saw little difference between section 2606 and commonplace restrictions on disclosures of health and financial information as“both types of limits govern speech conveyed in the context of private relationships.”[xiv] And since the statute covered a restricted set of images while containing intent and objective harm requirements, it was therefore narrowly tailored. To ensure this, the court provided a “narrowing construction” of the statute, noting all of its exceptionsin order to exclude any images that individuals either distributed or recorded “in a manner that undermines any reasonable expectation of privacy,” despite the statute not clearly addressing distribution.[xv]

Dissenting Opinion

However, Justice Skoglund dissented, agreeing with the trial court’s ruling that the statute was unconstitutional for curtailing freedom of speech. Arguing that section 2606 could not withstand strict scrutiny because the State did not have a compelling interest, Skoglund believed that “in this day and age of the internet,” the State cannot honestlytake on a role of“protecting people from their own folly” and “trump First Amendment protections for speech.”[xvi]Moreover, he held that the statute cannot survive strict scrutiny, maintaining that it is not narrowly tailored. Furthermore, Skoglund claimed that it does not “provide the least restrictive means of dealing with the perceived problem,”[xvii] given that the state of Vermont can protect its citizens against invasion of their privacy through less restrictive means, such as civil remedies, instead of “subjecting a violator to a criminal penalty.”[xviii]

The Second Issue

In June 2019, the court ruled on the statutory application’s second issue, after additional briefing. Holding that the prosecution failed to allege that complainant“had a reasonable expectation of privacy,” it dismissed the claim.[xix]Justice Robinson maintained that since the State stipulated that complainantand Coon were not in a relationship during the time the photos were sent, in addition to the lack of any other evidence of a relationship that could suggest a reasonable expectation of privacy, the State had not met its burden. After deciding that a reasonable expectation of privacy was not a defense but rather a prima facie element of the offense, the court further defined what a reasonable expectation of privacy necessitated. Despite failing to provide a precise definition, the court asserted that it required “the exclusion of everyone but a trusted other or few.”[xx] However, the court also concluded that the privacy expectations of the Fourth Amendment were not relevant since revenge porn did not require any balancing of the interests of law enforcement.  

Conclusion

Thus, Vermont’s “revenge porn” law survived a constitutional challenge as the state’s Supreme Court essentially ruled that unapproved revealing of private, intimate images that do not involve matters of public concern, presumably does not qualify as free speech protected by the First Amendment. Although this ruling can be viewed as a crucial victory for victims of revenge porn, Vermont’s law is still arguably flawed: The statute is significantly limited by its “intent to cause harm” provision since it only applies to offenders who reveal private images with “the intent to harass, intimidate, threaten, or coerce the person depicted.”[xxi]Moreover, having intent to harm as an element of the offense categorizes the crime as a form of harassment rather than of privacy invasion. Aware of this, the Vermont Supreme Court de-emphasized the law’s intent to harm provision, clarifying that its ruling was founded upon viewing the statute as a privacy regulation. Ultimately, the court held that its state’s revenge porn statute, section 2606, is narrowly tailored, does not restrict more speech than necessary to achieve its aim, and does not “chill speech on matters of public concern.”[xxii]But most significantly, Vermont’s decision presents a notable recognition that revenge porn is “an invasion of privacy that can be regulated consistent with the First Amendment.”[xxiii]

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[i] “New Report Shows That 4% of U.S. Internet Users Have Been a Victim of ‘Revenge Porn.’” Innovative Public Health, Center for Innovative Public Health Research, 13 Dec. 2016, https://innovativepublichealth.org/press-releases/revenge-porn-report-findings/.

[ii] “46 States + DC + One Territory Now Have Revenge Porn Laws.” Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, www.cybercivilrights.org/revenge-porn-laws/.

[iii]VanBuren, 2018 VT 95, ¶ 2, p. 1.

[iv] Ibid, ¶ 9, p. 5.

[v] 13 V.S.A. § 2606.

[vi] Ibid.

[vii]VanBuren, 2018 VT 95, ¶ 12, p. 5.

[viii] Ibid.

[ix] Prescott, J.J., and Sonja B. Starr. “State v. VanBuren.” Harvard Law Review, 10 May 2020, harvardlawreview.org/2020/05/state-v-vanburen/.

[x]VanBuren, 2018 VT 95, ¶ 13, p. 6.

[xi] Ibid, ¶ 38, p. 18.

[xii] Ibid, ¶ 44, p. 20.

[xiii] Ibid, ¶ 57, p. 26.

[xiv] Prescott, J.J., and Sonja B. Starr. “State v. VanBuren.” Harvard Law Review, 10 May 2020, harvardlawreview.org/2020/05/state-v-vanburen/.

[xv]VanBuren, 2018 VT 95, ¶ 66, p. 30.

[xvi] Ibid, ¶ 81, p. 35.

[xvii] Ibid, ¶ 82, p. 35.

[xviii] Ibid, ¶ 83, p. 36.

[xix] Ibid, ¶ 86, p. 37.

[xx] Ibid, ¶ 105, p. 45.

[xxi] 13 V.S.A. § 2606.

[xxii] McLemore, Nicole. “‘Revenge Porn’ Law Survives Constitutional Challenge in Vermont.” Race & Social Justice Review, University of Miami School of Law, race-and-social-justice-review.law.miami.edu/revenge-porn-law-survives-constitutional-challenge-vermont/.

[xxiii] Ibid.

Picture Credit: TVJ News.