#it portrayed people well

[eversea143]

You know, I wouldn't mind seeing a fantasy/sci-fi children cartoon show, but the portrayal of authority figures like teachers and parents is done in an accurate/realistic way. The teachers pay close attention in class, so the heroes genuinely struggle to escape their school in order to fight the big baddie of the week. Hiding the truth is also HARD because school promotes a measure of honesty from the students.

The parents won't be that understanding because, big shocker! They would rather NOT see their child go out and fight with risk of life in mind! They won't be so quick to accept the situation and can/will take drastic measures (aka: skip town) in order to protect their kid.

Friends also act differently than what cartoons normally show. Some might be willing to go 'ride or die' and risk their own lives, but the majority will go "Yeah, NO!" as soon as they find out, because big whoop! Humans are somewhat selfish by nature and self-preservation is a thing. Also trust that the authority figures will handle it so knowing who to trust isn't easy.

In other words, I've been doing a rewatch of Code Lyoko and remembered one of the reason it was such a good show. Maybe not in the exact context, but it came very close to what I'm pointing at.

[chaosinterlude]

“lucifer is sadistic and mean!! he’s so serious and scary!!”

meanwhile,

he’s just a silly man who wishes for a domestic life with his partner and dog <3

[casualavocados]

Gemini and Fourth are nothing like Atom and Kongthap. When they're together, it's chaotic. They're always messing around with each other. If I had a friend who's been working with me for a long time, I believe the vibes would be similar.

MY LOVE MIX-UP! THAILAND (2024) BTS & Special Ep

[unhelpfulfemme]

Another thing I liked is how Laurent's trauma is handled, because usually when a character has a Secretly Traumatic Backstory there's some kind of annoyingly maudlin scene about it. Either they get into some kind of big conflict with the love interest and are forced to explain themselves so they don't get judged or dumped, or the love interest intrudes on a vulnerable moment and sees them being abused or somehow handling the consequences of that abuse, or they are explained the circumstances by a benevolent third party, and this changes their view of the abused character because now they're god's poorest meow meow and I just fucking hate it every time.

Like, this is why I stopped reading this type of story: because the amount of crowding and backing into a corner and privacy violation that happens to abused characters in order to coax them into opening up about it and reassure them that they're okay is so annoying. I feel like I've been psychologyposting on main too much lately, so I might explain later why I feel this way or I might not but in any case I hate it.

I love that this book is the literal opposite of that, that Damen not only doesn't crowd Laurent and insist that he open up, but that Damen ensuring space and privacy and time to calm down for Laurent when he's overwhelmed is repeatedly portrayed as an act of friendship and caring and love (that Laurent later reciprocates, because they both lose their heads when something pushes their buttons and understand this about each other).

I also love how Damen doesn't fall in love with Laurent because Laurent is sad and fucked up, or because he's so brave to have put up with the abuse, or because Damen too is sad like Laurent (I'm physically restraining myself from going off on a rant about how shared trauma is hardly ever a good foundation for a relationship): no, he falls in love with Laurent because he's whip-smart, and a good leader, and funny, and tender once he opens up, and a lateral thinker, and a man of integrity who keeps his promises and pays back his debts (and because he's pretty and blonde and good at sporty shit that Damen likes). Some of these things may have been shaped by the awful shit that happened to Laurent, as they were also probably shaped by his station or his education or his body type or any other circumstance of his life, but it's refreshing to have a character who went through awful shit but who also has other things going on for him that make him loveable instead of being completely defined by his trauma. And even when Damen finds out, the way he thinks about Laurent literally doesn't change at all - the things he likes about Laurent are still seen in the same light as always, Laurent's personality as a whole is still the same, even his attitude towards what Laurent did to him when they first met doesn't change much (as we see in the short story epilogue). And even this last bit is really cool because Laurent is never stripped of his agency or made out into some sort of helpless victim currently, both of which would probably mortify him with how much he's trying to establish that he's not at any opportunity.

And I also like how it's not necessary for Laurent to tell Damen about it in order for them to be close, nor does Damen push him into it. And everyone else seems to agree that it's Laurent's story to tell when and how he wants it told, except for the villain of the piece, who reveals it in the most awful way possible. This is particularly important because Damen spends three books grabbing everyone in Laurent's life by the shoulders and shaking them and going, "Why do you care about this guy??? Have you noticed that he's kind of an ashole?? Why are you loyal to him?? Why???" and no one ever says anything, because they're protective of Laurent and don't want to take away his agency or privacy because it's his fucking story to tell. Even after Damen finds out, we don't see him mention it and he probably lets Laurent open up or not on his own terms, as he does with everything else that doesn't directly concern him. Even though we've seen through Laurent's dialogue time and time again that he's probably conceptualizing it in some fucked up ways in his own head and needs yet to realize that he's not some kind of twisted pervert for what happened to him, crowding him about it before he's ready won't accomplish much.

And the story itself backs all this by never being maudlin about it even though it's obvious what happened pretty early on (I figured it out really early, I remember suspecting it almost immediately and being dead sure of it by the Ancel scene in the garden); it kind of elipses around it, gives hints and parallels to other characters in similar circumstances, has Laurent say incoherent shit that makes sense in context, has other characters hint at it, but with Laurent being one of the central characters it's cool that the story gives him that respect and doesn't wallow in the tragedy of it all.

[hecksupremechips]

Honestly shoutout to Steven Universe for the representation of malachite and abusive relationships because it holds up really well and is still like one of the only abuse narratives I’ve seen that portrays how like. Abusive relationships aren’t as simple as “evil abusive person was constantly Mean and Bad to nice victim” like. Lapis is a realistic victim. She refused to leave the relationship because she longed to have connection with someone and she liked feeling as though she could have control for once, even though she really didn’t. She wasn’t nice and innocent, she felt anger and resentment and liked taking it out on Jasper. And despite how horrible it was, she deeply misses Jasper because it was the longest and deepest relationship she’s ever had with anyone and she didn’t know how to function without it

But Lapis is still a victim and we’re meant to care for her and understand where she comes from. She chose to stay with Jasper to keep others safe from her harm, and because she thought she herself deserved the abuse as a way of making up for everything bad she’s done. Jasper reminds Lapis over and over that she is a monster and that’s why they should be together, because Jasper is the only one who understands her. And when Lapis finally rejects their relationship, she mostly states it through what she herself felt and has done, saying that she didn’t like the person she became in that relationship and she never wants to feel like that ever again. It’s messy and complicated, just like how actual abuse is

Anyways yeah talk about a very good abuse narrative thanks steven universe

[mynqzo]

Why do you like vampires specifically, what do you like of them?

the sucking and fucking

[regicidal-defenestration]

Something I'm sad didn't make it into the Nimona film was more about Ballister's arm like, the comic had a whole thing about the Institute not having use for a one-armed hero, and that being part of why they began framing him as the villain

[lunarharp]

more phoenix wright situations

[thermodynamic-comedian]

daisy vs. elias is my favourite s3 scene because i enjoy both of them as fictional characters, and i disagree with both of them on a moral level. ceo vs. cop. daisy walks in and immediately calls him a weird little freak. elias immediately starts reading her like a book. she does not hesitate for a second to threaten him with police brutality. both of them are doing horrible things in this scene and i am so glad that they're doing them to each other

[hamletshoeratio]

"A strong queen is just what this country needs!"

The Irish who know the queen in question as the famine queen:

[kami-kun1003]

TWST fic writers stop reducing Silver’s entire personality to just “sleepy boy who falls asleep all the time and is sooooo sleepy and tired and did i mention he sleeps a lot and also he loves his dad” challenge (impossible) (gone wrong)

[antigonenikk]

not speirs looting all that shit because he had a newborn child back in london and was worried his wife wouldnt be able to survive on his salary alone………

[misfithive]

Fans: omg Wille is soo oblivious and adorable he didn’t even realize the song was about him

Edvin: Wilhelm is obsessed with himself and his problems that’s why he didn’t know the song was about him

💀💀💀

[pcktknife]

i cant stand stupid ppl bro

[poisonousquinzel]

The Strange Case Of Harleen And Harley

[hometownrockstar]

This is directed at skinny people, fat people u can do whatever you want its chill. Ok so i have discussed this before but there's a popular phenomenon where thin people on here and twitter and whatnot want to show how they are progressive by talking about how they find fat people hot, either through popular text posts or in fandom where they talk abt a character as being hot SPECIFICALLY in relation to their size. And my issue is not with seeing fat people as attractive FOR their fat traits, its just the prevalence of it from skinny people usually sounds very performative and almost chaser-y with how it is almost solely focused on sexual desirability of fat people.

So in my opinion, i dont think skinny people should stop talking about finding fat bodies attractive altogether, but rather show their love and support for fat people and characters in other means as well. Portray a fat character as admirable, charming, pretty/attractive (without solely sexual attraction), or just plain normal, all the kinds of things you portray skinny characters as being.