#problematic faves

[problematic-tip-centre]

Negative outcomes to exposure therapy/releasing suppressed emotions

I've been exploring how to use healthy/"perfect" coping mechanisms to cause conflict and drama recently.

General negative outcomes

Possibility of being retraumatised

Increased anxiety (at first, but may cause character to increase reliance on unhealthy mechanisms)

Bringing up intense emotions that are too hard to manage

Feeling like they're failing if progress is slow

Being put in danger (for instance, if they're facing fear of water, they could almost drown)

Outcomes related to anger

Becomes resentful at others for making them relive their trauma

Feels betrayed by support systems

Expresses anger in outbursts or aggression toward others

Becomes hypersensitive to perceived slights or rejection

Suddenly becomes an extremely angry person due to dealing with suppressed emotions being triggered and being a part of them

Struggles to regulate anger, leading to conflict

Outcomes related to danger

Suddenly having an increased amount of flashbacks

Loses touch with reality during a session

Takes physical risks to cope with the intense emotions (like I said earlier, the confrontation of trauma can lead to unhealthy coping)

Becomes dependent on the wrong person for comfort

Alienates support network

Puts themselves in harms way to test their fear tolerance (especially works if the character is beginning to heal and is excited about it)

[problematic-faves-appreciation]

Add your problematic faves in the tags!

[ultraericthered]

League of Villains Appreciation Post

Shame that Horikoshi dropped the ball with these guys in the final inning, but they were an epic legion of super evil while they lasted.

[athenanfaymont]

Jason Todd & Kon-El: Separated at Birth? 🤔

If there are two DC characters who seem to have been made from the same “problem child with authority issues and too much attitude” template, it's Jason Todd and Kon-El.

Think about it:

💥 Both are second choices with major replacement issues. Jason was the Robin nobody wanted after Dick left. Kon was the clone who could never fully be Superman.

🛑 Both have severe father figure problems. Jason blames Bruce for letting him die, while Kon spent years dealing with the fact that part of his DNA comes from Lex Luthor.

😎 Both are the rebellious older brother figures in their families. Tim Drake spent half his life being compared to Jason, while Jon Kent has had to deal with Kon as his "role model" big bro.

🔥 Both have the coolest outfits on their teams. Jason’s leather jacket and red bat symbol. Kon’s black T-shirt with the House of El logo. Both said, “Spandex? No thanks.” and proceeded to punch criminals in style.

But the best (or worst?) part? Jason and Kon have interacted exactly ZERO times in any meaningful way. And that’s a crime. Can you imagine the chaos they'd bring together? Two guys with anger issues, father figure trauma, and a sense of humor that swings between sarcasm and self-destruction?

Kon: "You have daddy issues? I have Luthor issues." Jason: "Bro, my dad let me die." Kon: "…Okay, you win."

DC, if you're reading this, please give me Jason and Kon fighting, teaming up, or just venting about their dads in an intergalactic bar. (And let's make Tim jealous. Although I'd rather not talk about Tim right now, because there is no character WORSE TREATED BY DC than Timothy Drake) This is the content we deserve. 😤

[Cavan Scott, José Luis, Jonas Trindade and Rex Lokus]

[rinasunny]

[royalnavyart]

—and still you treat me no better than a hound!

[xunehh]

off the top of my head

[dmmeeble]

Can't believe this still needs to be said in TYOOL 2023 but:

Like, it's wild to me that some folks in this fandom are still trying to do discourse eight years later, when for the life of me I cannot be bothered about who enjoys x character from y media during a time of unprecedented actual real world problems for everyone, especially the LGBTQIA+ community. Yes, Victoria Chase from Life is Strange is a bitch and not very nice and a bully and she does some very bad things. You don't need to breathlessly remind me of this because chances are I've spent way more time obsessing over every line, action, and facial tic for this girl than any of her haters ever would, and because it's those very traits that make her fascinating to me and a character worthy of deeper exploration. Just like Azula, or Ianthe, or Catra, or Villainelle, or Regina, or any number of Very Bad Women doing Very Bad Things that have captured the hearts and imaginations of sapphics who just want to simp for iconic (and again, entirely fictional) mean girls as a way to pass the time in a world much crueler to us than a character in a video game or tv show or book or [insert media of your choice] could ever be. What I'm asking anyone for whom this may concern is to: A.) Evolve past the notion that what characters or ships people enjoy says fuck all about their morality or real-world relationship preferences, or B.) *get off the blog dedicated to the pRoBlEmAtIc fictional woman in her most pRoBlEmAtIc ship.* It's really that simple.

[letsallgotothelobby]

Endorsement

[haley-harrison]

catch me sipping fangirl tea from the "my blorbo did nothing wrong" mug

[problematic-tip-centre]

Financially abusive choices a character could make

Forbidding a partner or dependent from having their own bank account

Sabotaging someone's ability to work

Stealing money

Using rent, food, or medicine as leverage in arguments

Lavishing gifts early on, then using that generosity to guilt/trap someone later.

Monitoring and/or policing every purchase a dependent makes

Making someone feel guilty for spending on themselves

Deliberately keeping someone financially illiterate

Hiding job or promotion offers from someone

Controlling access to child support or using parental status to extort money

Secretly hoarding resources

Using financial insecurity to trap someone in a relationship

[problematic-faves-appreciation]

Anyone else tired of people lauding Zuko's redemption arc as "the gold standard of redemption arcs"? While its popularity is far from unearned, I wouldn't call his arc the "be-all and end-all" of examples; doing so entails overlooking other redemption arcs for taking different approaches to redeeming characters than the Zuko arc.

His misdeeds were a bit more serious than that, bud. Yet at the same time, the retweeter is correct about one thing: Zuko's crimes are indeed easier to stomach — the other villains outdid him in the heinous department — making him palatable to people who don't want redemption arcs for characters that do really bad stuff.

So, without further ado, here are some redeemed characters with worse misdeeds under their belts than Zuko!

Cartoons

Grace Monroe (Infinity Train)

Animated Films

Emperor Kuzco (The Emperor's New Groove)

Manga/Anime

Thorfinn Thorsson (Vinland Saga)

Live Action Films

Wikus van de Merwe (District 9)

Video Games

Red Hood/Jason Todd (Batman: Arkham Knight)

This one is... complicated, but yes.

Books

Severus Snape (Harry Potter)

Live-Action TV

Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

──────────────────────

Who would you add to this list?

[ultraericthered]

Erika does the last word in ALL CAPS just like Dlanor often does.

And some time not too long after this:

Shows they've grown close and have rubbed off on each other. <3

[asayyun14]

I wish it was easier for me to find blorbos

[subpixie420]

[austajunk]

A3 for Martina Electro & Yomi Hellsmile from Rain Code? 👀 👉👈

Hahaha, they are SOOOO divorced. :)