Animal cruelty is so far out of bounds, it’s become shorthand in fiction for telling the audience that a character is morally bankrupt, cruel, a bully, etc.
When you introduce a character and say "he just kicked a puppy", the whole audience knows that this guy is absolute shit and a deeply terrible person.
It’s not surprising that it’s now become a core Republican value, taking its place beside their misogyny, homophobia, and racism. What is surprising is how proud of it they are, how loudly they brag about it, how quick they are to circle the wagons around a woman who proudly bragged about killing a puppy she hated.
This whole thing is a perfect summation of what it means to be a Republican: a helpless animal that she failed to train displeased her, so instead of putting any effort into changing that, her first and only response was to kill it. Then, she was so fueled by traditional right wing bloodlust, she killed a goat, too. Why put in any effort of any kind, when violence is an option? Always choose violence; it’s the Republican way. She is proudly declaring that she hated a puppy, so she killed it.
She didn’t even consider rehoming these animals. Instead, she reveled in hurting and killing them. She’s proud of it. She’d do it again. She doesn’t care that this is repugnant to decent people, because the only person she cares about is the one she is hoping will pick her thanks to her loud, proud, enthusiastic admission that she is as much of a piece of shit as he is.
There's a bunch of adhd advice out there that's like "people with adhd tend to work better under deadlines due to the anxiety so here are ways to artificially induce a stress response in order to get you to get work done" and it's like well what if I don't want to be stressed out all the time in order to function
Ed tries to propose to Stede at a fancy restaurant. He's planned it all out. Spoke to the owners ahead of time. Super nervous but so excited to spend the rest of his life with his boyfriend. He's planned it all out so they'll get a cake at the end of their meal with will you marry me written on it in icing.
It's been a lovely date, but Ed's palms start to sweat when he sees the cake approach. He knows what Stede's gonna say, but it's still a huge moment, y'know?
And they sit the cake down. Tell them to enjoy. And Stede's face is very blank. Ed was expecting a huge smile and a yes and a hug by now.
Ed starts to freak out.
Stede looks up, looks between Ed and the cake, and leans over to whisper - "Ed, we need to leave, I think the waiter just asked me to marry him and I'm so not interested in marrying anyone but you"