#cw rape

[paper-mario-wiki]

genuine question coming from someone who is trying their best to support palestine but can't stomach condoning hamas's actions. how can you justify the murder of civilians and sexual violence that happened on october 7th? i know the fight for palestinian liberation is more important but they said orders to rape israeli women came from higher up in hamas. how can we support these people?

I will not be debating people in the notes of this post or in followup asks. I am not an authority on this subject, I am an individual giving commentary as I see it.

Do not attempt to follow this discourse up with intent to own me. You will waste your time and look stupid, I promise. Just unfollow and block me.

If your intent is genuine, and you are sincerely confused, then I will tell you that the first thing you must do is understand that your perspective of what happened on October 7th was not your own. It was made by a committee of communications officials and sold to you by news organizations to implant within you a version of what happened so that you would feel this precise feeling of hesitation, discomfort, and desire to withdraw yourself from the discussion. And that version is often full of blatant, contradictory, and easily fact-checkable lies. Israel knows that it doesn't have to make everyone support its cause to get away with it: if they can make enough people look away while they commit genocide, this too is a victory.

The sexual violence against Israeli women by Hamas has been vastly unsubstantiated, especially in comparison to the verifiable claims of IDF soldiers using sexual violence against Palestinian women. Go to any news articles and you will see "Claims of [number] of Israeli women raped by Hamas". You don't see firsthand reports, and you don't see consistent numbers, just people speaking for this group of unnamed and uncounted women. Further, many of the photos and videos of violence happening to women you see typically attached to these articles have turned out to be verified as Israeli soldiers assaulting Palestinian women during previous conflicts.

And that's another important note: previous conflicts. The date on everyone's mind has been October 7th, because that's when Hamas made an attack on the concert. Make no mistake, this was not the beginning of this conflict. And Palestine was not the aggressor.

Here is a graph of people killed as a result of the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine from 2002 to 2014. Notice, if you will, the yellow vs the pale blue. Can you guess which color represents which group? Just kidding you don't have to guess, the graph tells you.

After WW2, the European-Jewish population (which was 90% of the Jewish population at the time) emigrated to their holy land after over 1000 years. This land, now Palestine, had been under control by Muslim kingdoms since around 640 AD. The UN created a proposition following the Holocaust, submitted to create 2 states within Palestine: 54% would go to the Jewish population, and 46% would go to the Arab population. The Palestinian representatives rejected this proposal, but the Jewish representatives agreed, and over the next few years there would be a massive displacement of Muslims during what was called the Nakba; a cataclysmic event that saw 700,000 Palestinians (80% of them) displaced from the territory that the Israeli occupying force had claimed.

Since then there has been an ongoing pushing and cleansing of Palestinians over time. The remaining land that was not stolen during the 1948 mandate has been shrinking as Israel tightens its grip on the land and the people, exerting the force given to it by the United States to completely absorb the area. The process of which has been torturous and extraordinarily traumatic on the Palestinian population.

This map represents generations of murder, rape, and torture of Palestinians. A people who had their land forcefully taken from them, and have been made to be unwilling neighbors with their aggressors ever since. There are countless articles of IDF soldiers and Israeli citizens alike abusing Palestinians. Stealing their homes, starving their children, mocking their faith. This form of violent nationalism is born from Zionism, which was created by secular men, and has existed for less than a single century. The ideals of Zionism can only be seen out with the COMPLETE annihilation of the Palestinian people, something the terroristic Israeli force sees to go through with.

Hamas, at the moment, is fighting for the unconditional freedom of Palestine from their colonizers. We are seeing, in real time, the furious spirit of Palestine resisting what some of the worlds strongest military forces are trying to make to be their final death. In that impossible fight, they are seeing victories in urban warfare, and extreme coordination in guerilla tactics that we haven't seen since the Vietnam war. And during all of that, it has still been verifiably reported that they've been treating hostages well, many of them speaking positively about their time in captivity and expressing extreme dissatisfaction with Netanyahu's cabinet, something reflected in the staggering lack of direct interviews with hostages released.

Let's not mince words here, Hamas is absolutely killing people. Hamas is killing as many IDF soldiers as they possibly can, and yes, even some Israeli civilians have died. While it's true that these number significantly fewer than Palestinian civilian casualties, I'm not bold as to claim that that is not horrible. But this too is the fault of purposeful abuse of civilian population centers by the Israeli government. Ask yourself for a moment:

Why would Israel, being so aware of the horrifying whims of the savage Palestinians, allow a massive open-air concert to happen DIRECTLY on an unpatrolled border between Israel and Palestine? Why too does Israel insist on housing Civilian populations as close to Palestine as possible? They've already showed us: the military uses the deaths of their civilians as warrant to punish Palestinians in any way and to any extent they see fit.

Even if we're discounting the murderous occupier civilians shooting at Palestinian families and forcing them out of their life-long homes, it's still horrible to see otherwise incidentally innocent Israeli civilians die. Innocent death is inherently horrible. But even in a world where what happened on October 7th didn't happen, Israel intended to ensure the death, innocent or not, of all Palestinians who resist giving up their land. Hamas, Palestinian resistance groups, and now other Arab states have chosen to fight against this. Millions of people around the globe have chosen to unite and fight for them for this reason as well. It is why I support Palestine.

When a society lets mass atrocities happen in slow motion over decades, those atrocities become normal. And when those experiencing these atrocities fight back with economical blows of violence, it becomes a shocking disruption to the normal for those who haven't been paying attention, or were born into it; something the west relies on, and has packaged and sold as "terrorism" in the past few decades.

The modern Zionistic body of Israel has been a terroristic, murderous entity since its inception less than 100 years ago.

Do not let yourself be swayed into believing that murder, if done slowly enough, is not murder.

[charlietheepicwriter7]

Thinking about Danny being reincarnated into Jason and Talia's child (since she canonically slept with teenaged Jason after his resurrection *blech*)

Talia getting pregnant the natural way but moving the embryo to an artificial womb so it wouldn't hinder her (because she would have hated her child more if she'd been forced to carry him to term, she already doesn't like him, this is not the child of her beloved, if her father hadn't thought the boy as useful leverage)

Jason having no idea this kid even exists until Talia informs him he's missing (of course Danny ran, he's surrounded by monsters, but with the few years of training he's gained and his powers that are starting to manifest again, he escapes to find his own way, not to find his father and burden him with his existence)

Bruce struck with horror that his son and grandson share a mother (he has a grandson, talia assaulted his boy, damian is a brother and an uncle to the same child, a child that is missing, a child that may be dead-)

[notaplaceofhonour]

FUCK

I can’t fucking take this timeline

Brian David Gilbert is reposting content from a Pro-Hamas, Pro-Houthi, Pro-Putin tankie now

We have day-after atrocity apologia, we have blood libel, we have baby Jesus deicide, we have ethnic cleansing slogans, we have Putin’s anti-Ukraine “denazification” propaganda, we have statements from the Houthis turned into propaganda posters! What don’t we have? I think I got BINGO

[ilynpilled]

it frankly pisses me off that what is essentially “rapists and abusers should be depicted as monstrous caricatures because humanizing them is inappropriate” is considered a very moral and enlightened position to have on art by so many people. a rapist can feel pain, have moments of vulnerability, be amiable and charming, express remorse and compassion at times, be a victim themselves, and so on in real life. they are even capable of doing good things. they can have different sides to them and have individuals in their lives that they are kind to or have a decent relationship with. they will be a human being, and that fact encompasses a lot. conflating that with the claim that they deserve forgiveness or absolution is an issue. nurturing a mindset that believes they need to be one note and uncomplicated to be a correct and tasteful depiction of a rapist inadvertently falls in line with the logic of “how could they have possibly raped you? they are so normal and kind to me. they did all these good things here and there.” ok that doesn’t change that they are a rapist.

[bunnyreaper]

a highland warrior of the mactavish clan is there when you need him most.

(18+/MDNI, attempted noncon)

one minute, everything was fine, just a part of your normal routine foraging in the woods--the next, your world was turned upside down. 

you should've known better than to wander further than usual, beyond the glade which the alderman had warned you several times not to go past. 

you're leaning over, inspecting the pretty little flowers on the ground, when your face is pushed into the dirt, your arse forced into the air as your skirts are forced up and over your mound. 

"and what do we have here but the finest flower of spring?" 

you scream as you kick and squirm, desperately scrambling to find purchase on the ground in a way that will allow you to wiggle free--but the man above you, his accent familiar, is so much stronger. your shift is up as you scream yourself hoarse, fat tears ripping from your eyes in anticipation of what's to come. 

"it'll be much easier if you don't fight me, sweetness." 

time freezes as you hear a metallic clink--what your fear-addled mind assumes to be a belt buckle, until a strong, scottish accent cuts through the forest. 

"this'd be much easier if i cut ye wee english prick right awf." "off 'er, did nae one teach ye manners? and ye say we're the savages." 

"don't kill me." 

you dare to glance over your shoulder, slowly turning until you see your assailant, head tilted back with a sword right to the column of his throat--and behind him, a crazed scotsman, baring his teeth just as he bares his sword. 

the man atop of you slowly pulls off of you, moving so slowly as to not catch his throat on the sharp blade. the highlander pulls him to his full height, almost dangling by his feet as he balances in the brawny arms of the much bigger, stronger warrior. 

the sword slides along the rogue's throat, enough to draw a trickle of blood but not much more, before it falls to the side of both men's bodies.

"now, i suggest ye run before i cut ye down proper." he growls, kicking the man away as his scrambling figure almost collapses into the dirt, much like you had. the highlander lurches forward, swiping the tip of his sword expertly to lash down the other man's back--a precision strike just to wound, not enough to stop his mad dash away and out of the clearing.

you try everything within you to steady your breathing as you lay, exposed, watching your saviour watch the other man's retreating figure.  

"i willnae turn round until ye decent, lassie." he announces, his gaze unwavering from the faraway treeline. 

your limbs move shakily as you reach behind you, desperate to pull your skirts back over your rear and regain some sense of your dignity. when you're covered, you cough softly, trying to indicate that you're decent enough for the man to turn back around. 

his first order of business is helping you to your feet, brushing off as much dirt as he can from your dress, and trying to offer you his most reassuring smile.  

you gaze upon him--admiring his fine, strong arms, inked with celtic knots, and surely thick thighs hidden beneath the drape of his tartan. what most strikes you is the kindness in his deep blue eyes, despite being obscured by a jet black warpaint. 

the sense of safety that washes over you is... strange.

"name's mavtavish, john mactavish. yer safe now, bonnie girl."

[odinsblog]

🗣️ tw rape mention

In U.S. history the Red Coats were the bad guys, literally coming to oppress American freedom, so it is perfectly apropos for Republicans. Oh, and the reference to The Handmaid’s Tale is also spot on.

[gatheringbones]

["I don't want the nitty-gritty of S/M for me to be some dark & hidden thing, & I want lesbians to understand that anything you want is alright as long as you don't coerce or abuse anyone to get it. S/M is very cathartic & healing for me. A lot of nonspecific anxiety is gone from my life, especially anxiety around sex. One benefit I'd not looked for came in my fantasies. All my life I'd tried not to have fantasies 'cause they were almost always about rape & mutilation & death. Sometimes I’d feel like I couldn't push them out of my mind, like I'd been permanently invaded. Well those fantasies are almost all gone. Instead I have a constant supply of wonderful sensual erotic fantasies about lesbians, myself, this earth, anything I want. That just happened by itself, & I love it. I find a strengthening & confidence in myself that I really like, & the emotional S/M I'd still participated in happens less & less. I find that pattern sometimes but can recognize it sooner & get out of abusive & potentially abusive situations easier. Being bottom comes so smoothly to me it's like diving into warm water. & at first that was the only role I'd let myself explore. We are trained young & deep to be passive, receptive, accepting, & so it was easier for me to reclaim the strength in that side of the power flow. Sometimes as bottom when it's being really good I feel myself open psychically so much I could take in the whole universe & I can feel spirit enter me like a lover. Being top came harder to me. Power & cruelty have so often gone hand in hand in my life & I feared that in myself, feared my own power & taking it so openly. But as I've pushed past this barrier I've found myself claiming power with more honesty & courage than ever before in my life. The fine high feeling of pushing a womon who will trust herself to my will past barriers in herself into orgasm after orgasm is indescribable. It's important to me that I can explore both sides of eroticism, the giving & the receiving. I am & have been both a sadist & a masochist, in all the meanings of those words, & I want to know & work with all of who I am. S/M can bring one very close to the edge. Sometimes when making love the horror & memory of past experiences floods me with no warning & I need to know that the one I'm with will be very loving to me 'till the storm passes. This is why I know that good tops are the most compassionate & sensitive beings on earth."]

Juicy Lucy, from If I Ask You To Tie Me Up, Would You Still Want Me?, from Coming To Power: Writings And Graphics On Lesbian S/M, 1987

[ephemerasnape]

➔ A Bone To Pick - Victor Rookwood discovers who's behind all the smutty audios about him - and he's pissed. (Also can be considered a sort of disclaimer for my audios in general.)

➔ Bait & Switch - Ominis and Sebastian discuss a serious problem they're having in this Public Service Announcement to the fandom.

I've created quite a bit of Hogwarts Legacy material (most of which is adult-oriented). The following stories and audios are predominantly 18+, explicit, and x female!reader or listener where you are MC (with a few exceptions). Although much of my stuff is x reader I do not use Y/N or MC by default as I personally find both distracting.

Listing of all audios with links to ao3

All my Daddy Rookwood AUDIOS!

Chatbots!

My ao3

Socials / RookwoodGroup.org

Discord: Unrestricted Section

My Commissions

Rules & Disclaimers! There are no fucking rules, are you kidding me? This is fanfiction, it's a no man's land of degeneracy. Exercise a modicum of independent thought and live a little.

Victor Rookwood Headcanons!

List of all Victor Rookwood Audios!

Fanfiction (there are a few more on ao3 that are not my favorite)

🌟 = recommended!

🌟 A Quick Word - (Rookwood x You - 5,000 words.) Explicit - What could transpire if you would only allow Rookwood to have a word with you at the Three Broomsticks as he requested.

A Wicked, Wicked Man - (Rookwood x You - 3,300 words.) Explicit, Rape, Violence - “Perhaps you long to be treated like the disobedient little whore you are.”

🌟 Rough Night - (Ashwinders x You, Rookwood & You - 6,600 words.) Explicit, Gang Rape, Violence - You lose the battle with Rookwood and his cronies that takes place during Wand Mastery. Includes a version with a female reader, and one with a male reader.

🌟Under the Hog's Head - (Rookwood x You - 2,800 words.) Explicit, Rape - "I don't think you're in any position to bargain, little one."

How Dunstan Trinity Lost His Eye (Dunstan Trinity & Victor Rookwood - 1,100 words.) Gen, Violence, Gore

🌟 Devoutly to be Wished (Anne Sallow x Victor Rookwood) - Explicit - Anne Sallow is dying. When she receives word from Sebastian regarding the likely progenitor of the curse that's killing her, she feels she must uncover the truth.

Micro Smut: Upstairs at the Three Broomsticks (Rookwood x You) Explicit

Micro Fic with Fanart: Ephemera Snape's Revenge (Rookwood x Me)

Audios:

↱ Daddy Rookwood audios now live here! There were just too many!

Fanfiction (more on ao3)

🌟 A Change of Heart - (Poacher x You - 2,500 words.) Explicit - You encounter a Poacher camped in a remote area all by his lonesome. Easy kill, right? Wrong.

🌟 Last Man Standing - (Poacher Executioner x You - 2,000 words.) Explicit, Rape, Violence - “You're lucky you're not a wizard... I would have snapped your neck already if you were."

🌟 Rough Night - (Ashwinders x You, Rookwood & You - 6,600 words.) Explicit, Gang Rape, Violence - You lose the battle with Rookwood and his cronies that takes place during Wand Mastery. Includes a version with a female reader, and one with a male reader.

How Dunstan Trinity Lost His Eye (Dunstan Trinity & Victor Rookwood - 1,100 words.) Gen, Violence, Gore

Encounter on Phoenix Mountain - (Poacher Stalker x You - 1,300 words.) Explicit - A solitary Poacher Stalker corners you in Phoenix Mountain Cave. What's a girl to do?

Under the Hog's Head - (Ashwinders & Rookwood x You - 2,800 words.) Explicit, Gang Rape - "I don't think you're in any position to bargain, little one."

🌟 Paying the Piper (Ashwinder Scout x OFC - WIP) Explicit - The newest shopkeeper in Hogsmeade is met with an unpleasant surprise when a handsome young Ashwinder shows up at her door demanding payment. COMIC!

Masked Man (Ashwinder Scout x OFC - 1,100) Explicit, Quickie, CNC - "This is what happens to pretty little shopkeepers who don't pay their due."

The Poacher's Prize (Poppy Sweeting x Poachers - 1,800 words) Explicit, Rape, Violence - Poppy pays the price for her betrayals!

Audios:

The Pledge (Rookwood & Selwyn x You - 4:50min) - Explicit, Gang Rape - Silvanus Selwyn catches you, but Rookwood gets first dibs...

Comeuppance (Ashwinders x You, Rookwood & You - 5:55min) - Explicit, Gang Rape, Lesbian, Violence - You are subjugated by Ashwinders and Poachers..

Rookwood's Revenge 2 - The Ashwinders (Ashwinders x You, Rookwood & You - 4:55min) - Explicit, Gang Rape, Violence - The Ashwinders take their revenge on you under Rookwood's watchful eye.

Executioner Monologue (2:43min) - Biographical monologue by Poacher Executioner - SFW

🌟At the Mercy of Macnair (Poacher Stalker x You, 4:12min) - Explicit, Rape - You've been caught in a bandit camp. You're bound, gagged, and helpless, but where's the fun in just leaving you be?

Battle Royal at Horntail Hall (Poppy Sweeting x Poacher Stalker, 2.23min) - SFW - You and Poppy get caught sneaking into Horntail Hall and are immediately recognized.

All in a Day's Work (Rookwood x Ashwinder!You - 2min) - Explicit, Dubcon - "The boss wants to see you."

Paying the Piper Excerpt (Ashwinder Scout x OFC - 1:19min) SFW

Lip Service (Ashwinder Scout x OFC - 1:46min) Explicit

Fanfiction:

The Dark Sacrifice - (Ominis & Sebastian x You - 1,800 words.) Explicit, Noncon - Sebastian asks you to meet him and Ominis at the catacomb to make a dark sacrifice. Little do you know it's going to be you.

Another Secret for the Undercroft - (Ominis & Sebastian x You - 5,200 words.) Explicit - "I know I’m not as good as Sebastian,” Ominis hisses, “I’m better.”

Talk to Me - (Ominis x Reader - 1,685 words) Explicit - After visiting the Scriptorium, you can't stop thinking about Ominis speaking parseltongue. Smut ensues.

Audios:

Today's the Day (Ominis & Sebastian x You/MC - 2:18min) - Explicit, Gang Rape, Violence - Sebastian and Ominis make you pay the price after learning of your alliance with Victor Rookwood..

Bait and Switch (Ominis & Sebastian & ? - 2:15min) SFW - The boys discuss a serious problem they're having. Fortunately, Victor Rookwood has a solution.

Talk to Me (Ominis x You/MC - 2:44min) - Explicit - After leaving the Scriptorium, you pull Ominis aside, having been entranced by his use of parseltongue. (God, I hate this audio so much!)

A Moment Alone (Sebastian x ? - 1:10min) - Explicit - Sebastian thinks he's alone in the Undercroft..

Sebastian's Pleasure (Sebastian x You - 0:40min) - Explicit - Just Sebastian finishing inside of you...

Pigtails' Revenge (Piers Pemberton x You - 2:09min) - Explicit, GN!Listener, Violence, Dubcon - Piers Pemberton punishes you for stealing his Demiguise statues.

Goblin Supremacy (Ranrok & Rookwood x You - 4:59min) - Explicit, Rape - "Prepare to be conquered for goblinkind, little witch."

A Moment Alone (Sebastian Sallow x Peeves - 1:10min) - Explicit - Sebastian thinks he's alone in the Undercroft..

Listing of all audios with links to ao3

All my Daddy Rookwood AUDIOS!

Chatbots!

My ao3

Socials / RookwoodGroup.org

Discord: Unrestricted Section

My Commissions

[ftmtoyboy]

I've always loved fucking desperate little sluts like you. You're so damn easy to please and submissive, you'll let us do anything to you, won't you? Yes, I said us. My gf and I are both bi and whatever I get, she gets too.

I'd fuck your ass deep and fast while she rides your face. She may even take pity on you and suck your cute little boy clit for you. Or maybe she'll ride your pussy with her strapon while I'm under you thrusting up into your tight ass. I'd be choking you out hard while she sucks your nipples.

We'd just hotbox the room and rape your body until we're all too high to think straight. My girl would pull her strapon out and take a turn with your ass while I fuck your throat, grabbing onto your hair and forcing you down my length to take it all while she spanks you and scratches at your back.

My girl is a squirter, so when we're finished with you, we'll both stand above you and cum all over your face and chest. Barely able to breathe, shaking, sore, stoned and cockdrunk as fuck, we'll leave you in a mess like the rape meat you are. Maybe we won't lock your room door on the way out so anyone can see how easy it is to have you begging for more. Turning you into the street's cumdump whore seems like it'd be too damn easy. Just tie you to the bed and let anyone who wants a piece of you have you all to themselves until they cum. It wouldn't take long until it's all you know how to do and all you want to do.

We'd lock you up in our apartment and whore you out to anyone willing to pay what you're worth, and we'll even use you to film porn so you're always being fucking useful to us, even when we're not the ones fucking you. Everything about your sad new life is sex. The rape becomes so normal to you that you stop recognising it as rape at all. You're just a set of holes to be stuffed and cum in.

We'll have you walk around naked for easy free use. Whenever we want some stress relief we can just call for you to service us like the slave you're so good at being. I could bend you over any surface in our place and you'd thank me. My girl could force you to the ground and ride your face, and after you've woken back up from being passed out from lack of air, you'd happily ask her if she wants more.

We'd tattoo our initials onto you so we'd own you. Every time you look in the mirror, there it is, right above your collarbone. You'd be collard and leashed at all times when walking freely, and have your arms locked behind your back whenever we pimp you out. Blindfolded when we want to move you, so you never know where you're about to be fucked within an inch of your life. Leaking cum from an asshole that can barely close anymore and a pussy so tender and overestimated, that even wearing panties causes an intense mix of pleasure and pain.

You belong on your knees with cocks and pussies all around you, using you as the worthless toy you are.

Fuck, I wanna wake up tomorrow tied down for you and your gf. You two should be allowed to rape my holes however and whenever you want, use my body for fun or money as you like. Keep me overstimulated to the point even brushing against my pussy makes me cry, and then pound into it anyway. Pass me between the two of you so you’re always satisfied and I never get a break, and sell me to others when you get bored of that

[chaifootsteps]

I just saw a video of hazbin rant and the video has this line about Sir Pentious's death scene :

"Everyone starts to cry acting very emotional like their best friend has just died even though nobody treated Sir Pentious with any sort of respect"

And I'm %100 agree with everything has said in this line because they treated him badly but after he died, they started to cry like they gave 2 shits about him while he was alive.

They didn't care enough about him to even attempt to stop this from happening.

[ayeforscotland]

So a campaign has been announced to change the laws regarding consent to sex in the UK to an affirmative consent model which is great.

And I get there's an element of wanting to get as many people's attention as possible but more than a few people have winced at the campaign's title.

Now if that's the campaign's initial goal, get people sharing and discussing it, sure, mission accomplished.

But 'asking for it' carries a very specific connotations for survivors of sexual assault. I don't feel like it needs to be 'reclaimed' in any way.

[alpaca-clouds]

Rape, Abuse, Trauma and the Need for Power

This topic has been sneaking around in my brain for days now. Because I find it quite interesting to see this depicted in now multiple franchises. And I really want to talk about it. Partly, because I see some people struggling to understand it. So, let me, an abuse victim, explain.

You see these three characters? Yeah, they actually have a lot in common. Let me explain.

Spoilers vor Castlevania, Stray Gods and Baldur's Gate, obviously.

All three of them were victims of abuse and (probably) also rape. It should be noted that with both Carmilla and Persephone it is never outright said that they were raped, but it is heavily implied. With Astarion, obviously, it is outright stated.

More than that, we do know about all three of them that they were also abused. Both Carmilla and Astarion by their respective sires. Persephone by Hades.

And they also have one other thing in common: Their character arc features them trying to get some sort of power. Let me go through with them.

Carmilla was abused by her sire. We do know very little about the details, only that he was very cruel. There is some heavy implication that the abuse involved rape. At some point she killed her sire. Her entire character story is about her trying to get power for herself. First by trying to get control over Dracula's Castle. Then she tries to build her own empire. With her mental health getting worse, she ends up fantasizing about world domination.

Persephone in Stray Gods was kidnapped, raped and abused by Hades. She had everything taken from her during this, until she finally could not take it any longer and killed Hades. But the other gods denied her to take control over the underworld. Her basic conflict stems from her wanting to regain control over the underworld again.

Astarion is of course the odd one out, given we learn a lot more about his abuse. But like the two women, he was abused, raped and tortured. Due to the DnD vampire rules, he had no way of actually fighting back against his sire, with him escaping just through what amounts to sheer luck. When he learns that his sire wanted to sacrifice him (and many others) to gain a lot of power, Astarion wants to finish the ritual for himself, gaining the power.

The outcome of course is different for all three.

Carmilla gets killed, once she goes down the "world domination" thing. While with Persephone and Astarion it depends on player choice. I would argue though, that the happy end for them both is them giving up the power. That is Persephone giving up the throne and Astarion not finishing the ritual.

What is the interesting thing about this... Or, well, interesting might be the wrong world. But it is well written. Because this is very, very realistic for their backstories.

See, both abuse and especially rape are a lot about power. The abuser/rapist takes full control over the victim's body and life. (Which is also why rape rarely has to do with sexual enjoyment, and more with the rapist wanting to assert power.) Or, from the perspective of the survivor: It is all about having the power taken away from them.

This is bad enough if it is something that is a one time occurance. But if the survivor is in the situation for a long time, they experience a prolonged period of powerlessness and fear. The survivor is constantly afraid, constantly in survival mode, constantly trying to just get through it.

In my life I have seen too many bad takes along the lines of: "Rape survivors should stop whining. How bad can one rape be?" And those people do once again not understand: Rape is not about the sex. It is about having control and power over your own body taken away from you. It is about you being turned into a thing to be used by someone else. Which does not even mention the feeling of fear most people experience during a rape, as they do not know what kind of other violence might follow.

And this is something that leads the survivors to even after escaping the abuse, the trauma often leaves them feeling powerless. They might objectively not have less power than they had before the abuse happened, but to the traumatized nervous system it feels like that. And the traumatized brain does not work logically or objectively. All it knows is: The survivor has not enough power to prevent this situation from occuring again. But here is the thing: No amount of power will make them feel like they have enough power, like they can meaningfully protect themselves from further abuse.

This is why Carmilla is escalating so much in season 4 of Castlevania. Because no matter how much control and power she gets, she does not feel like it is enough to protect herself.

This is also why I do feel like the happy end for both Persephone and Astarion is them giving up their symbol of power. Because the thing is, that them gaining the power will just push them along into a spiral of needing more power to keep themselves in a feeling of being safe. Which is why the good ending for them needs to involve them being convinced to basically trust people again. Because that is a path that given enough time can lead to healing. Them gaining the power won't. In terms of their trauma the power they might gain is just a bandaid on an infected wound.

I have seen a lot of people argue that you should let Astarion finish the ritual, because it "is what he wants". But the thing is... it isn't. All he wants is to feel safe. And he thinks if he gains that power, he can feel safe. But he can't. To feel safe he needs to heal.

[melrosing]

reddit user has posted outtakes from ASOS (as well as AGOT & ACOK) they discovered in the Cushing library drafts and I am so glad he cut this?? big content warning for the below bc it’s grim as hell

I can imagine him wondering how the hell he was going to prevent the bloody mummers from doing this to Brienne and I’m glad he found a way bc I think this is just the kind of senseless trauma that makes a story grimdark

edit: link to the Reddit post concerned!!