#if it's too badly ooc i'll rewrite it

[simplysedusa]

In Defense of Elmer

Le sigh.

I didn't want to make a separate post to this, but my response was too long to reblog it with the original post. This post is a response to the "I Hate Elmer" post made by @puffskeeter , linked here.

This isn't a post made to attack OP,  to cancel them, and/or to call them out. I'm not even asking OP to delete it. This is just me critiquing their post and the problems I have with it.

So I'll start by saying, I completely disagree with a majority of it. Originally, I was not gonna say anything and just go on about my merry way, but this post is just completely unfair and it leaves nasty implications that I feel need to be addressed.

"Yeah i really hate this kid ngl... I despise that his only real personality traits are being autistic coded and eating glue."

1. Does anyone know why kids eat glue? Or more specifically, why Elmer eats glue? FUN FACT: kids usually don't eat glue because they can. He could've been curious, he could be addicted to it, he could see eating glue as a way to rebel or seek attention, he could have other issues like pica. While I don't condone eating glue, there are plenty of reasons why kids could potentially eat glue. Any one of these reasons could be used to build off of Elmer's character. It's a weird talking point, I know, but it's a place to start.

2. What gives off the impression that Elmer is "autistic coded"? What traits have Elmer shown the audience to hint that he could be portrayed as someone with autism? He doesn't seem to struggle with social cues. He has no problem maintaining eye contact. We don't see him struggle to understand emotions. We don't ever see him get over-stimulated over "mundane things". And he doesn't seem to have any special interests. I understand that autism is a spectrum and not a "one size fits all", but the only traits I could maybe see Elmer having to be considered autistic would be his trouble communicating/shyness and his weird eating habits. But the reason he's quiet and shy and hesitant to speak in "Paste Makes Waste" isn't because he's autistic; it's because he's being BULLIED. He's trying not to be perceived by Mitch and the rest of the class, and because he's being bullied, he's struggling with self-esteem. The fact that he eats glue in ONE EPISODE, as I've stated previously, could be for a number of reasons other than autism. There's nothing wrong with headcanoning that Elmer is autistic, but the only reason OP seems to think Elmer is autistic coded is because he's "weird" and "alone". And that's not okay.

3. The episode, "Paste Makes Waste" is around 15-20 minutes long, there's only so much they could do with Elmer to make some random kid "the one-off villain of the day" and have it make sense.

"... But its also just a complete rewrite of his character while keeping his design similar. IDK i just think it would serve a better purpose if ppl used a different character as the "Nerdy friend" instead of Elmer because of how badly "Paste makes Waste" handled his character.

4. You stated earlier that you despised Elmer because he had no personality. But here, you're stating that you don't like when the small handful writers (because let's be honest, not many people tend to include Elmer in their fics to begin with) try to make him more than the paste eater from kindergarten. See how hypocritical that sounds? He was five years old, is anyone the same person they were when they were five? Would it be more realistic if he just sat around eating glue for the entirety of the fic so he'd "stay in character"? Should Mitch continue torturing small animals for the hell of it? Should the Powerpuff Girls only wear their signature colors and similar dresses for the rest of their lives? Is no one allowed to change who they are and grow as a person? There is a discussion to be had about writing characters OOC, but the post said earlier that Elmer had no personality to begin with, so how could he be OOC if he isn't much of a character to begin with?

5. Why police how people write certain characters? Am I saying Elmer was the best written character in the entire franchise? Of course not. But that doesn't mean people can't try to write fresh interpretations of him, or attempt to fix him if someone has the same problems with Elmer's character like this post does.

"... But i hate Elmer's episode because "imaginary Fiend" (the Episode about Mike Believe) has the exact same message with a similar character idea (Autistic coded and socially awkward/ excluded) but actually manages to NOT present mike as dangerous or disgusting like "Paste makes Waste" does with Elmer."

6. To say that "Imaginary Fiend" and "Paste Makes Waste" have the exact same message is such a fallacy. And to compare Mike to Elmer in this manner is so unfair.

For starters, Mike was never bullied. Alienated, sure, but for a very different reason. Mike was the new kid, and he chose to isolate himself from the rest of the class. He was laughed at for "talking to himself" and having an "imaginary friend", yes, but being laughed at and bullied are not the same. There's no evidence to suggest that any of the students dislike Mike for any particular reason. In fact, on multiple occasions, Mike's peers have been portrayed to be open-minded and accepting of new students/people in their classroom  They welcomed the Powerpuff Girls in open arms in the movie, several students invited Princess Morbucks to play with them on multiple occasions in "Stuck Up, Up and Away" despite her snooty rejections, and they (with the exception of the Powerpuff Girls) didn't bat an eye at Mr. Green when he substituted for Ms. Keane in "Substitute Creature". Initially, Mike has no reason to resent his peers or hold any sort of grudge against them, he's just shy. Mike also doesn't have an antagonistic role (or an active role tbh) in his episode like Elmer does in his, so it's evident to see that Mike is potrayed in a much better light than Elmer was.

Once again, the term "autistic coded" is used to describe Elmer and now, Mike. And once again, the only real trait Mike has to suggest he might be autistic would be his trouble with communicating with others. Once again, just because someone has trouble communicating with others does not mean they are autistic. It's not uncommon for any five year old kid to be nervous in a new setting where they don't know anyone. And to suggest he has trouble communicating with others is a stretch in itself, he had no problems talking to Patches, or telling Ms. Keane who Patches was, and how Patches was disrupting the classroom and essentially framed by him.

The lessons learned at the end of Elmer's episode were that bullying is wrong, don't fall into peer pressure, and learn when to apologize. There isn't much of a lesson to Mike's episode.

Mike's episode looks better on paper, as well, but they do not have the same message. "Imaginary Fiends" is about a guy who's too shy to make friends, so he makes his own imaginary friend come to life, who causes trouble for his classmates. Meanwhile, "Paste Makes Waste" is about a boy who's being bullied, who mutates into a glue monster and uses his new found power to retaliate against the bullies and takes his anger out against other innocent bystanders. There is something to be said about Elmer's episode and the parallels you can draw about this episode and the current political climate in regards to school shootings. But to reiterate, Elmer is 5 or 6 years old at best. It's their first year of schooling ever, these kids are just learning how to read, write, and arithmetic. He doesn't know how to properly process his emotions, nor does he have the life experience needed to know how to handle being bullied for what likely is his first time. And Elmer's shown to be remorseful at the end of the fight and toward the end of the episode, to be quite honest, you could just chalk it up to a kindergarten having a temper tantrum.

Speaking of dangerous, no one saw Elmer as such until he attacked the students, which to be honest, is fair enough. He attached the twins to a plane mid-flight, stuck Mitch on the top of the school flagpole, and wrecked havoc all throughout Townsville. Once he calmed down from hearing Buttercup's apology, the threat was eliminated. If we were still supposed to see Elmer as dangerous afterwards, they wouldn't have bothered showing us a scene of a monstrous Elmer helping rebuild the city. Townsville has no qualms with arresting five year olds, if Elmer was as dangerous as you claim, he'd be behind bars.

And while eating glue is gross, it's rather tame compared to the other, more disgusting moments in the show. Buttercup doesn't bathe for days in "Down 'N Dirty", the Rowdyruff Boys were created in a prison toilet and used their Chemical X enhanced flatulence to knock out the girls in their debut episode, there's the nightmare fuel that is "Cootie Gras", Bubbles eats a roach in "Bubble Boy", and the army of roaches in "Insect Inside".

I could keep going, but I won't because this is long enough. In conclusion, this wasn't made to suddenly make anyone like Elmer. It's completely fine if people don't like him or anyone else (assuming it's not discriminatory), just be honest as to why. To claim that Elmer (and to a lesser extent, Mike) is "autistic coded" because he's ostracized and weird (and for you to say that you don't like him because you believe he is that way), is very harmful to people with autism. Had this post just been OP stating their opinions and beliefs as to why they don't like Elmer, I wouldn't have been bothered by it. But to attempt to hide personal, biased thoughts behind the notion that the show forces us to think of Elmer this way is deceitful. And to put Mike on a pedestal, who's objectively seen as a better character morally, just to shit on Elmer is cheap.

[ijwrff]

Maybe a Yandere Head engineer Mark x Captain reader?

I looked in your master list and saw no engineer Mark I hope it okay if I ask for one. 

Soooo I made the ending a choice. I'm not saying I'll continue this, I'm just trying to mirror the choose-your-own adventure aspect that the original series involved. (Also I am such a fake fan but I haven't finished all of ISWM so this may be really ooc but I did my best. I had motivation to write this and I promise I will finish it soon and maybe write more ISWM fics <3)

Tw; violence mentioned but never described.

Word Count: 1,042

He was your right hand man. You trusted him. Somehow…after everything he did…you still trust him. 

Thinking back, it started about a month ago. When you told Mark you had a crush on one of the other engineers. They were friends. 

At the time…Mark seemed…happy for you. He smiled and patted your shoulder, saying “They’re a good choice! Really responsible too!” And that was that. 

Or so you thought. 

After that talk with Mark, he seemed troubled. You sat him down at the dining table on the ship, and asked him what was wrong. 

“Well…Captain there’s just a problem I’m dealing with.” He looked away from you, but back soon after, “I don’t know how to deal with it. I know one answer, but it doesn’t seem right.” 

You frowned, could he be more vague? “Mark, I know you’ll do the right thing. Whatever this problem is, there’s always a way to solve it.” 

This seemed to appease him, and you both left it at that. 

The following week, you had heard from your crush how Mark had been acting strangely. You had been spending a lot of time with your crush, and you felt bad. Mark was your friend, you put your feelings for your crush ahead of Mark.

You approached Mark once again, and he looked much happier. 

“Mark…is everything…okay…?” You didn’t know how to phrase it, but he simply smiled in reply. 

“Everything is actually going great! Well…not right now. But it will be.” That response left you confused at best. 

“That’s…good?” More of a question, but he wasn’t elaborating. “What happened to put you in such a good mood?” You were going to try and push, to make sure he knew you cared. If you dropped it, you’d think he’d hold resentment for you. 

That would never be the case…but you didn’t know that. 

He nodded and scooted closer to you. “I found the solution to my problem but…it’s difficult to do.” He turned away from you, seemingly lost in thought before turning back to you, “But I’ll do it! It needs to be done.” 

“That’s great Mark! Sometimes…the best decisions are the hardest to make.” 

God…thinking back on those words…this is all your fault isn’t it?

The next time you saw him, his eyes were glazed over, and he seemed lost. 

You approached him, and waved your hand in front of his face. “Hellooo? Earth to Mark?” You said before taking it back, “Actually. It’s probably space to Mark huh?” The joke was meant to make him laugh, but it barely made him smile. 

He took a deep breath, and said “Can we talk somewhere? Alone?” It confused you, but again…you trusted him. So you went to his room, the one he shared with your crush. 

You didn’t notice it, or at least didn’t make heavy note of it, but he seemed upset seeing his roommate’s belongings. 

“Captain…I think I solved the problem.” 

You tilted your head, “Isn’t that a good thing? Don’t you feel better?” You didn’t understand why he would be so upset if he fixed the problem. He still never told you what that problem was. 

Another heavy sigh from him, and he looked in your eyes with some unknown emotion, “It was hard to fix the problem. But I did it.” And he gave you the most genuine smile you’d seen from him in days. 

“CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN!” A voice called from the hall. 

You briefly heard Mark mumble “already?” But you didn’t register it. After all, the voice outside made it sound like it was an emergency. 

You jumped up and left the room, “Here!” And one of your companions in space was running back to you, white as a ghost. 

He called back for help, and several other crew members were approaching you…all with the guns given to them at the beginning of your journey. 

“CAPTAIN! WATCH OUT!” He called and shoved you out of the way. 

“What is the meaning of this?” You asked, on edge from all the yelling. Not to mention that sinking feeling in your gut since you heard the screaming. 

He shoved you out of the way, and pointed the gun towards Mark. 

“WOAH!” You stepped between them. “What are you doing? What did Mark do?” The sentence made your blood run cold. “What…what did Mark do?” Your tone becoming shaky. 

“He killed…” And he said your crush’s name. 

Mark…no…not little engineer Mark. He wouldn’t do that. He was your best friend on this ship. 

You turned to Mark, “Mark…tell me you didn’t do it.” It was all you could think to say at the moment. 

The man in question gave you a smile, one that chilled you to the bone. “I did do it. I told you. I solved my problem.” 

Your crush was his problem? And he had to solve it by KILLING them? No…this couldn’t be happening. 

The other crew members went into Mark’s room, and went to put cuffs around his wrists. To everyone’s surprise, he jumped up, with his own gun, and shot one, then two, then three of your crew. 

“MARK STOP!” You screamed, and he seemed to hesitate a moment, which was enough time for the crew to unarm him. 

“But Captain! I love you! We can be together now, the problem is gone!” He cried, looking like a lunatic. His smile didn’t match the blood now splattered on his clothes. 

So here you were…sitting outside of his cell on your ship. He would be turned in at the next stop, and you would never see him again. 

“Captain…don’t let them take me away, I don’t want to leave you!” He put his hands on the bars and was crying openly. “I did this for us! Please don’t let them take you!” 

You sat in silence, occasionally looking up to Mark as he sobbed. 

A gun given to you at the start of your journey was in your hands. You pointed it at Mark, and he whimpered “Captain?” 

You sighed, this was a big decision to make, a crew member came in and you pointed it at him. He stepped back, looking shocked. 

You pointed the gun between Mark and your other crew member. 

What choice will you make now?