#and yes they held responsibility for their actions. but that doesn't mean you can go from 0 to 1000 because of it

[uncanny-tranny]

"Treatment" for addiction that requires you to lock up, confine, coerce, or otherwise strip addicts of their autonomy, it isn't treatment. It is a revenge fantasy that prioritizes your desire for subjugation over the actual betterment of addicts.

#politics #addiction #addiction tw #addiction mention tw #and like i understand the desire for revenge when you feel wronged. but addiction isn't one of those circumstances #i hold a deep hatred for my abuser but i was celebrating when they weren't being criminalized for their addiction #because if that had happened that would have destroyed so many lives in such a brutal and unnecessary way #and yes they held responsibility for their actions. but that doesn't mean you can go from 0 to 1000 because of it

[thef1diary]

Comfort In You | D. Ricciardo

Summary: your apprehension towards physical touch dwindles down as you spend time around Daniel.

Warnings: none just fluff

Pairing: daniel x fem!reader

wc: 2.3k

Note: after proofreading it I realized that there aren’t many dialogues, it’s more descriptive. I also didn’t include a reason why the reader doesn’t like physical touch so that can be up to you to interpret.

It started with fist bumps, that too after you had backed away from a hug when Daniel tried to pull you in. That was exactly why you had tried to avoid being around Daniel at all costs, to prevent any awkward encounters with him.

At least you were glad that he was drunk when it happened so there was a chance he wouldn't remember, perhaps that's why he tried to hug you when you were about to leave. He wouldn't have tried to do so if he was sober because he respected your personal space, however the same couldn't be said for drunk Daniel.

It was an unspoken agreement between you two, he knew from the first few days Max introduced you that you didn't like any sort of physical contact. Usually meeting a friend of a friend, he would shake their hand and then pull them in for a quick hug.

But when it came to being introduced to you, you had quickly shaken his hand and dropped it before he could even initiate a hug.

You baffled him, and while it wasn't a topic of concern for anyone else around you, it confused him a lot. Daniel thought that you didn't like being around him. However he was proven wrong when your eyes twinkled every time you spoke to him.

You always had a smile on your face whenever you were around him which should’ve made the subtle act of keeping to yourself go unnoticed. Daniel noticed everything.

He still had a nagging thought that you hated him, so one day he asked Max about it when they were walking through the paddock and was met with a laugh in response. "I told her that you would notice it," he told Daniel.

Daniel stopped walking, "what does that mean?" Max didn't think it was a big deal so he shrugged, "she just doesn't like physical touch, and I told her that if I introduced you two, that you would notice it." 

"So what, you warned her that I'm a big hugger?" Daniel laughed in poor attempt to hide how he was invested in knowing more about you. "Well you are, so yes I told her about it." They began walking again, or rather Max did and Daniel helplessly followed behind but didn't say anything.

"Why? Does it bother you?" Max asked as he looked back at Daniel. He shook his head, "no, I just thought she hated me."

At that, Max laughed, "you have no idea just how wrong you are," he patted Daniel's shoulder and walked away, leaving him behind with more questions than he initially had.

Daniel would’ve happily forgotten the little almost-hug but Max didn’t let him. The morning after it happened, he woke up to a string of texts from Max reminding him of his actions.

Now see, you didn’t think of it as a big deal because you knew Daniel. You noticed how he held back from randomly placing an arm around you or any other sort of contact, and with that kind of effort—especially after Max told you he was a hugger—you thought of it as a simple mistake.

Daniel on the other hand, he was losing his mind. He did the complete opposite of what he was supposed to do. His uncontrollable reeling thoughts caused him to blurt out an apology as soon as he saw you.

You surprised him, by laughing it off and telling him exactly what you thought of it—a simple mistake. But you surprised him even further by briefly patting his arm. It was such a brief touch that if he blinked, he wouldn’t have seen it nor felt it.

Lately, he hasn’t been blinking often around you. His gaze focuses on you anytime you enter a room. Even if there were other people trying to gain his attention, his was all on you.

As you walked away after giving him a reassuring smile, he didn’t look away until you were out of his sight. But you never left his mind. His other hand brushed against his arm where you touched him.

If anyone was looking at him, he would’ve been caught stupidly smiling to himself.

Daniel kept that little moment shared between you two a secret, even when Max tried to pester him about his cheery mood. Sure, Daniel usually had a smile on his face, so it didn’t look much different to anyone who didn’t know him well. However, Max knew him very well, so he could see the difference clearly.

There weren’t any drastic differences from that day, in fact it was like nothing had changed because you didn’t initiate any touches again.

Daniel felt like a man dying from heat in the desert, and your touch was like a cool drop of water. That one drop made him realize he needed more to quench his heart's desire.

His actions didn’t change around you. His mind was screaming at him to do something, but he never became clingy.

A few of your friends decided to plan another outing, and although you forgot some of the details, you remembered that Daniel would be there too. For some reason, that made you smile as you dressed for the evening.

Max had the stupidest brilliant idea to park away from all the other cars, the reason being, “do you know how many drunks crash their cars in the parking lot? I do not want my car to become a victim to that.”

That decision led to a good ten minute walk to your destination. Unfortunately, you didn’t dress for a walk in the cool evening weather. You wrapped your hands around yourself, which had become a habit so no one pointed it out.

But once you started rubbing your hands up and down your arms in an attempt to stay warm, Daniel’s eyes caught your movement. He was walking right next to you, and also noticed how you very subtlety inched closer to him to stay warm.

Your mind was focused on putting one foot in front of the other, as walking in heels wasn’t your forte, and you were very tempted to walk barefoot but decided otherwise.

Daniel was able to take off his jacket without alerting you. He hesitated for a moment before shaking his head at his own thoughts and placed the jacket on your shoulders.

Startled by the sudden warmth, you looked at him. He smiled like he usually does, then looked ahead nonchalantly. If he looked at you any longer, his eyes would plead you to keep the jacket on.

He felt your gaze watching him carefully, as if to analyze him but it was dark outside other than a few streetlights briefly illuminating his face.

You turned to look ahead as well, but a smile grew on your face before you could hold it back. Daniel looked at you through his peripheral vision, watching you tug his jacket a little tighter around yourself, enveloping in the warmth it created.

Once you reached your destination, his jacket wasn’t returned to him and he didn’t dare ask for it back. Even if your other friends kept pulling him away from you throughout the night, his distinctive scent on his jacket made it feel like he was right next to you.

Daniel kept himself from drinking because he would rather dig a hole and live in it than recreate the moment he tried to hug you because of his drunken stupidity.

By the time the night ended, all of your other friends had drank significantly more than you and Daniel. They complained about Max’s decision about parking far away but you didn’t dare correct them that it was a collective decision.

This led to just you and Daniel walking to get the car, because no one else wanted to walk for another ten minutes after the night they had.

It was significantly quieter outside than inside the building. You and Daniel didn’t speak, basking in the silence of the night.

You were walking closely but not close enough to touch. Daniel’s hand was itching to move an inch towards you so he could hold your hand. You didn’t pay attention, so you didn’t see how his hand clenched into a fist then unclenched indecisively.

Then you felt it, Daniel’s pinky linking with yours. Your first instinct was to move away, but you fought it and decided to look at him first. He was already looking at you, with a hopeful smile on his face.

You weren’t sure what expression your face formed but it couldn’t have been good because you felt Daniel move to pull his hand away.

Instinctively, you tightened the grip your pinky had on his to prevent him from moving away. This time, Daniel couldn’t hide the shock on his face. You only smiled in return, nudging slightly closer to him and threading your fingers between his.

Neither of you let go until you reached the car.

That night, you basked in each other’s presence but it wasn’t spoken of again. Although it did make you more comfortable around Daniel. There were a few side hugs exchanged which he would say was the biggest difference.

But now, instead of looking for the next opportunity to brush across your skin, he simply enjoys the moments you do, wanting them to last just a little longer.

It was race weekend again, and this time Daniel was happy to travel because you were right there with him. Well, so was Max, but he always there.

Daniel’s mood shifted while he was completing some media duties. He didn’t think he could long for you even more than he already was but you were so close, yet so far away from him.

All he wanted to do was to check on you as it was the first race you attended, but Max reassured him that he would take good care of you. After all, you knew Max before you met Daniel.

Daniel couldn’t figure out the right words to explain that he wanted to be the one showing you around.

Fortunately he would be able to see you in a while considering his schedule wasn’t as busy as it would be on race day.

He was in his driver’s room once he finally got some time to himself, choosing to take a quick shower before immediately falling on the couch from exhaustion. He closed his eyes for a few moments before picking up his phone to call you.

Daniel could’ve sent you a text but he preferred hearing your voice. However, before he could even type out a word, the door to his driver’s room opened.

Usually, he was very annoyed whenever anyone entered without knocking, but when he looked up and saw you, he forgot all about his annoyance.

“Hey, I was just about to call you,” he spoke, showing you his phone held in his hand but you didn’t utter a word. You closed the door behind you and walked closer.

He shifted, sitting up straighter so there was space for you to sit. You didn’t move even when he patted the seat next to him.

A wrinkle showed up in between his eyebrows as his face contorted into worry. You clasped your hands together, beginning to fidget, unsure of how to tell him what you wanted.

Daniel noticed your fidgeting and even though you didn’t do it often, he knew that whenever you did, there was something bothering you.

Once again, his hands itched to hold yours to make you stop fidgeting but he decided to ask you first, “what’s wrong?”

You sighed, dropping your hands to your side before hesitantly holding them out towards him, “hold me?”

It took Daniel a little too long to understand the two words that came out of your mouth. Taking the pause as denial, you dropped your hands and were about to mutter an apology.

However, before you could, Daniel lurched forwards and pulled you closer. It was so unexpected that you literally fell into his arms. “I will never say no to holding you,” he muttered in your ear and that’s when a tear spilled out of your eye.

Clinging on to his shirt, you hugged him tightly. His hands wrapped around your body, running up and down your back in a soothing manner.

He didn’t utter a word, feeling your chest rise and fall with each breath you took against his chest. As time passed, you remained in his arms and it felt so natural to both of you that neither of you questioned it.

It was evident that you were drifting off to sleep, so he didn’t move an inch, letting you sleep in his arms. Already exhausted from before, and now with you in his arms, he was close to falling asleep as well.

That however, was not possible as Max walked into Daniel’s driver’s room like he owned the place. Daniel groaned out loud but stopped once you shifted around in his grasp.

Fortunately, Max didn’t utter a word as he entered and paused in his tracks once he saw you and Daniel. His jaw quite literally dropped open, pointing at you and then him.

“What’s going on?” Max whispered, looking at the dried tear marks on your cheeks but then spotted the small smile on your face as you slept.

“I wish I knew but whatever it is, I don’t mind at all, as long as I get to have her like this,” Daniel responded while looking at you, then he looked up at Max who was beaming at him.

“What?” Max shook his head, “nothing, I was here to ask if you want to join us for dinner but I think you are happy here.”

Daniel nodded, “I am,” he watched Max close the door after he left and rested his head in the crook of your neck, sighing deeply.

You didn’t hold back anymore, there was no reason to. You had found comfort in Daniel and he found comfort in you, that’s all that mattered.

#f1 fic #f1 fanfic #f1 imagine #thef1diary fic #daniel riccardo x reader #daniel ricciardo fluff #daniel riccardo imagine #f1blr #fluff

[justabrunettewhowrites-stuff]

HIII CAN YOU PLS DO ANOTHER CLARISSE X FEM READER FIC? Clarisse brainrot rn. Okay so imagine like she sees ur bf cheating and she tells u but u knew but stayed w him bc u thought nobody else would want u and u loved him BUT SHE WANTSBU WJSJSSJ AND LIKE ITS SO CUTE IDK I HOPE THIS IS CLEAR I LOVE UR FICS SM!! TY IF U DO THIS REQUESTTT 😭

'Promises'

Clarisse La Rue x Fem!Reader

A/N:Hi lovely!Tysm for requesting!!Yes I can try!I haven't written anything similar to this yet but I'll do my best! <3

Clarisse sees your boyfriend cheat on you - and she tells you,but you knew - and somehow it ends up with you two kissing.

As you sat beneath a tree,enjoying the peace and quiet of the rather reserved area you were in - which was relatively empty at that moment,for Clarisse it was a whole another story,as she observed from a distance.She saw your boyfriend this morning,his actions betraying the trust you had bestowed upon him.Silently, she approached, her presence unnoticed but her fury visible.

Clarisse cleared her throat, and you turned to face her.

"Hey.I saw something." she said, her tone unusually calm. "Your boyfriend...well,soon to be ex,he's cheatin' on you."

She was trying her hardest to not cuss the hell out of the guy right now.

Your heart sank, but you managed a weak smile, feigning ignorance. "What? No, that can't be true."

Clarisse grumbled, her eyes sharp. "I saw it,you know? and I sure as hell ain't blind.You deserved to know."

Tears welled up in your eyes, and you just couldn't hold back the pain any longer. "I knew," you confessed,looking down. "I just couldn't bring myself to face it. I love him, and I don't think anyone else would want me."

Clarisse was genuinely surprised by this as she spoke "How can you love him when he treats you like you don't even exist?Why settle for someone who doesn't appreciate you?" she said, her gaze unwavering.

You sighed, tears streaming down your cheeks. "I just... I don't know if I can let go. I love him too much."

Clarisse, though still pissed off - couldn't fathom why you'd subject yourself to this and take so much pain. "What if someone does want you?" she questioned.

Your response was a broken whisper, "No one would want me. I'm not worth it - and I guess he just proved it by cheating that I wasn't enough to satisfy him so..."

Frustration crossed Clarisse's face as she stepped closer, her hand reaching out to gently cup your cheek. "What if I want you?" she asked, her voice low.

You looked up, disbelief in your eyes as you struggled to process what she just said. "But...I'm just...I don't know..I'm just me.I'm not special."

Clarisse's patience wore thin. "Enough with the self-pity. You're worth more than you think."

But as you continued to express your uncertainty,Clarisse,unable to tolerate it any longer,pressed her lips against yours. The kiss was unexpected, yet surprisingly comforting.It held a mixture of understanding and a promise of something more.

Breaking the kiss, Clarisse looked into your eyes,wiping your tears away with her thumb "Don't sell yourself short,pretty girl.You deserve more than an asshole who cheats on you.You're worth more than you think, and I'll be damned if I'm letting you settle for less,because get this through your pretty little head - never and I mean never will I do that.Besides,I'll never cheat on you.." she spoke as she continued to gently cup your cheek as her fingers caressed it gently,and you knew she was was sincere.This wasn't just any random thing she just said like that - as many of her random ramblings were - it was a promise,and everyone knows Clarisse La Rue always keeps her promises.

#pjo tv show #fem y/n #percy jackon and the olympians #clarisse la rue #clarisse la rue x reader #clarisse pjo #clarisse x reader #percy series #pjo clarisse #pjo #percy jackson #clarisse x you #x y/n #x you #fem x fem #x reader #female y/n #fem reader #pjo fandom #clarisse la rue x you #clarisse la rue x y/n #x yn #camp half blood #chb #fanfic #my fanfiction #lesbian #gxg #wlw #percy jackson and the olympians

[dutchdread]

What response do you have to that one quote(I think it's from an ultimania) where it basically says: "Cloud has complex feelings for Aerith, he had a bond with her that was different from the one he had with Tifa."?

Obligatory "spoilers for rebirth" warning. I think that is very accurate. One of the problems with the LTD is that it tends to equate all types of love. In particular it pretends that all love is romantic. I think a good starting point for answering this question is to read my article "what is love, baby don't hurt me". And "Do I think Cloud had romantic feelings for Aerith? Plot twist: Yes" if you want a bit more nuanced take on what I think about Cloud and Aeriths relationship. I think after Rebirth we can stop pretending that Cloud isn't romantically in love with Tifa, he literally kissed her. People can pretend it's optional but that is missing the point of these scenes, which are intended to give insights into the nature of the relationships between these characters. Regardless of which date you actually unlock, if you maximize your affection for all the characters you will have a Cloud who, if asked to go with any of the characters, would react the way he does in the high-affection version of that date. That means that even in the universe where Aerith asks Cloud on a date, and he decides to comfort her by holding her hand, that SAME Cloud would have kissed Tifa had she been the one to ask him to go with her. These are not two time-lines, these are two "what-ifs" concerning the same person with the same emotions. Similarly, the same Cloud who kissed Tifa would have held Aeriths hand for her. The reason this matters is because clearly Cloud is not the type of person to cheat, this is not that sort of narrative. Nor is he the type of person who would engage in actions that he'd think are a betrayal of his feelings towards some other girl. If Cloud loves Tifa he would not do things with Aerith that he would see as a betrayal of those emotions. Similarly, if he loves Aerith he would not do things with Tifa that he would see as a betrayal of those emotions. We see this several times in the game in fact. Cloud isn't fond of Aerith typifying their Costa Del Sol "date" as "a date", and is very unhappy with Aerith doing something similar in Kalm. And yet Cloud does kiss Tifa, without guilt or hesitation. He tries it in Gongaga, he does it at the Golden Saucer, and he continuously tries to advance his relationship with Tifa throughout the game in general. So given that that's the case, why would he grab Aeriths hand at the Golden Saucer, and in the dream sequence? Answer: because he doesn't think that grabbing Aeriths hand is romantic in the sense that kissing Tifa is. Because these are not the same type of feelings as the romantic type that he has for Tifa, and are therefore not at odds. And what they actually are....is complex. I don't think anyone could really accurately jot down the precise nature of Clouds feelings regarding Aerith, since that is precisely the point. That is why the word "complex" is used in the first place. You have to remember that the situation here is unlike any that anyone would be well equipped to deal with, or has ever had to deal with. We have a Cloud who is not himself, and who has a host of traumas and struggles and very specific afflictions he's working through. Aerith is the person he's bodyguarding, she's a symbol of the planet, she's a friend, she's a cetra, she reminds him of his mother, she's the girlfriend of his best friend, the girlfriend of someone whose identity he has in a vague sense taken on, someone he's having visions off. He finds her annoying, but also likable. But most importantly she is someone who is helping him, and whom he is helping. (continued)

#ffvii rebirth #cloti #cloud strife #aerith gainsborough

[apollodrider]

APOLLO × BRAT! (GN) READER

warning ; some nsfw , will have some out of character (ooc) dialogue or actions portrayed in the story.

“YOU MUST first .. kneel. “ Those words , it went into one of your ears and quickly left the other .

Perhaps you really were deaf . Well , maybe you just desperately wanted to get in Apollo's nerves .

You stood your ground , eyes glaring into Apollo's own . He frowned at you , a sigh leaving his lips .

“Do you really intend to piss me off , darling ?“ Apollo gave you a closed eye smile as he said these words .

“Whatever do you mean ?“ You asked Apollo back , giving another question instead of a simple 'yes or no' answer .

Apollo did not have this much patience , he wonders how he even lasts without snapping . His ego is quite fragile , but that doesn't mean he can't fight back .

Apollo slowly opened his eyes. “Do I have to force you to kneel , or will you willingly kneel for me ?“

He asked you with a smile . Although , his aura gave him away . “Do you actually think you have the ability to make me kneel before you, hm ?“ You teased him .

Apollo's eyes sharpened as he began to step towards you . “I'll prove it to you, sweetheart .“ He declared , moving both his hands towards your hip before firmly wrapping his arms around your waist .

His right hand that was also covered by a gauntlet creeped up towards your neck , caressing it gently while his left hand wrapped around your waist .

You had to admit , these actions coming from him ... combined with how he gazes into your eyes and refuses to break eye contact made you nervous , though.. it wasn't quite enough to make you fold .

“Is that all you can do?“ You tease him once more . You really wanted to see him angry . Why ? Is it because you want to see him angry ? Precisely , because when he is ... You know you'll always be in for a good time , a rough time .

Apollo smiled at you , leaning closer to kiss you . His lips pressed against the sides of your lips before he quickly pulled back .

“Love .. You're playing with fire .“ He whispered to you , his smile slowly turning to a sly smirk .

You held back a whine , you didn't want to express your disappointment . “If you want a kiss , you'll have to earn it .“

Apollo's left hand wrapped around your waist a bit more tightly this time . He moved down and left kisses on your neck . Along with kisses , he'd give your neck a few teasing licks which would earn a whimper from you .

His right hand creeped up to the back of your head , running his hand through your hair as he kissed your chin . He made sure that his eyes were glued to yours the whole time , and if your eyes did try to direct anywhere else .. he'd tighten his hold around your waist which would make you jump a little .

Eventually , he stopped kissing and leaving marks on you . He let go of the back of your head with a small smile .

“Beg , beg for me to continue , honey ..“ Apollo's smile quickly formed into a sly smirk , leaning closer to your ear to whisper those words to you .

You had to admit , those words made you shiver . it made your eyes go wide with surprise , but we can't have you admit that just yet ..

You opened your mouth right away to protest against that . “No—“ Apollo's hand quickly pressed against your underwear , letting his fingers rub against the fabric to silence you . Well , it infact did work .

“I'll have to ask you again , sweetheart . Beg .“ Apollo ordered .

You bit down on your lip . “..Please,“ You pleaded hesitantly . Though it wasn't much , Apollo smiled in satisfaction .

“Good , that'll do .. for now .“ He said in response .

“Now , you must kneel . Get down on your knees , sweetie .“

Let's just say , that didn't quite end well for your legs or well ... literally every part of your body .

#apollo #apollo record of ragnarok #shuumatsu no valkyrie #shuumatsu no valkyrie x reader #record of ragnarok #ror x reader #snv #snv x reader #snv apollo #bratty #gn reader #gender neutral reader #gender neutral y/n #lime #smut

[hug-your-face]

Insight today while washing the lettuce and thinking of my friend who doesn't want to vote.

They are an otherwise intelligent, responsible, generous person, who appears to be socially conscious. They have worked hard and long for their position in their profession. They express concern for the planet. They get twitchy if you use too many paper towels.

But they don’t want to vote for Biden for reasons, and quote "doesn't like the whole system where the parties take turns swinging things back and forth" unquote.

I have been dumbstruck at their attitude for about two months now. I've been thrashing back and forth trying to reconcile this person I love with their attitude:

If you care abt the planet enough to conserve paper towels, don’t you care enough to stop a Repub administration from raping the land?

If you don’t like how things can swing back and forth, don't you want an administration that's going to work to shore up, rather than dismantle, more lasting democratic systems of governance?

If you understand the value of the long game, why are you only satisfied with instant results from a single election rather than viewing that election as a single move in an ongoing process?

The insight came to me as I used an extra set of paper towels to dry my lettuce:

These people are not motivated by outcomes. They are motivated by how their choices make them FEEL.

Not how the outcomes of their choices will make them feel. But how the action associated with their choices makes them feel.

In terms of outcomes for the environment, saving paper towels doesn't do shit compared to pushing for restrictions on oil companies. But using half a paper towel is an instant dopamine hit: "Ahhh, I am caring for Mother Earth. I care. I am a good person. Ahh yes that's the stuff."

This model fits for voting too. We know that The Only Votes That Count Are Those Cast. We know that Dems Go Where The Votes Are Not Where The Votes Aren't. We know that voting in every election, every time, in numbers, is a very low-effort way to contribute to moving the Overton window farther left.

But in the moment, for people who are motivated by how their action associated with their choice makes them feel... the absolute best move for their dopamine supply is to abstain: "I am NOT supporting an old fart; I am NOT supporting genocide; I am Challenging The System; I am a good person. Ahh yes, that's the stuff."

At the time, when I challenged my friend on their position, they held up their hands and said "look, I'm not saying I have any answers, I'm just saying I don’t like how the system works."

They didn't like how participating in the system made them FEEL in the moment.

For those of us who think this is madness, hey, we aren't off the hook entirely. We are basing our choices and actions off of outcomes, true. But there's probably a feeling/dopamine component in there too. "I am holding my nose and voting Blue; I am doing my part to actually affect the future even if I hate some things abt my choice; I am a good person."

So maybe the difference isn't in the motivation (my feelings and self-image) but in what motivates us (my action vs the outcome of my action).

I don't have an answer to the question at this time and this post is already long enough. But I'll think on it. And I invite you to do so as well:

For these people (who seem to be a sizable part of the population), how to outweigh the choice where their action preserves their self-image, doesn't cost them dopamine for having to take a "bad" action, and maybe even gives them a happy boost for "not being part of a flawed system?"

For these people, how to help them connect more to the outcome?

Off the cuff, I can't think of any means other than cognitive-behavioral therapy. :/

EDIT: Apparently there's a term for this and it's called Emotivism -- ethics isn't abt effects but abt feelings.

#mine #long post #psychology #cognitive psychology #affective cognitive #ethics #politics #environment #ref

[thechosenanubis]

Hey, @mask-of-anubis hope you don't mind that i made a separate post with your tags as the main focus point. ( the tags are taken from this post if anyone is curious) But I felt the the topic is too important to just be kept in the tags.

Thoughts under the cut.

I want to preface this post by saying that you're completely right, that the hoa girls are held at a much higher standard compared to the boys. Sadly this is a common reccurence in most media.

Female characters are scrutinized for everything they do, no matter if you are a "traditonal gal", a "female warrior" or something in between.

As you pointed out, these girls are complex and they make mistakes ( and thank god that they do, because if they didn't and were instead some mary sues hoa would be boring as hell). We have to thank the writers for that because they wanted to create human characters.

Simply put: people scream about wanting "complex female characters!" and when they get them on screen they whine about how "toxic" "pathetic" "whiny" "bitchy" they are.

Let's take for example the worst form of this behavior: The S2 Joy-Nina rivalry. (yes, i'm really going there).

I'm one of the few people in the entire hoa fandom, that thinks that their rivalry ( while i can agree that it overstayed its welcome sometimes) was actually a good arc, and in some ways was inevitable.

People thinks that feminism means "the girls must always get along!" Ignoring that forcing two girls who have very different views, becoming friends just for the sake of Feminism™ is actually going to diminsh the quality of the story, and the characters themselves too.

In fact, since its quite implied in the pilot that joy has a major crush of Fabian, and i'm sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but no girl is going to be happy that her crush isn't single anymore, especially when (at least from joy's pov) she and fabian were quite close. Of course, the way joy went about it in s2 was wrong, but the girl is traumatized ( as all the characters in the show are to various degrees lol) and instead of blaming the teachers, she focused her anger on the easy target.

But keep in mind that Nina isn't a saint either: she's passive aggressive to an unhealthy degree, she lashes out at her friends, and is very possessive about a boy who isn't her boyfriend anymore.

But people, instead of trying to understand why they act that way, They prefer the easy way out aka calling them something along the lines of "Bitch" "Horrible" "Toxic" "Pathetic" "Whiny" "Bully" and everything else under the sun.

Really it's quite concerning that i've seen this behavior in multiple fandoms, and it has no intention of stopping. And no matter how you spin it, female characters can never win, because people will find a way to hate them regardless.

Because as you said, when did male characters ever been held responsible for their own actions? Right, never.

Because fans, somehow to make their fave male character "he's just a soft boy™ who can do no wrong ever" , they have to ignore every single flaw they have. Even if those flaws make them interesting.

Instead female characters are always blamed, villified for the same things the male characters do.

And really everything comes down to the double standard , doesn't it?

#house of anubis #hoa meta #fandom critical #selikor rant #sorry i'm quite heated about this topic #since its something i debated quite often in other fandoms #where people villanize the female characters just to prop up the male fave #sorry for any incoherence i wrote this right before i went to bed lmao

[chalkrevelations]

Y'all. So many people in the tag exercised over August saying right in front of Day's salad that he couldn't think of Day as more than a friend and only kissed him out of pity ... but nobody seems to care about the fact that he was only answering the question MORK JUST ASKED.

What tf is August supposed to say when Mork has pushed the issue right in front of Day? Lie, like that's not going to be obvious? Like Day doesn't deserve the truth?

I don't have time right now for a full-blown defense of August, but I will say that I find it very very interesting that after we've seen and heard Day's version of their story, of what they used to be in the past, of August's demands and Day's accommodations, we get this episode that tells us 1) Day is not surprised when August apparently forgets his birthday because he thinks "that's August," at the very same time that 2) August has not only remembered Day's birthday but enlisted Mork's help in planning a party for him. Almost like the August that Day remembers - the August that we've seen onscreen, through Day's perspective, coloring our perspective - is not precisely the August that we're dealing with in present day. (Almost like Day isn't a perfect narrator, for whatever reasons.)

Frankly, if I was August, I probably would still have not forgiven the guy who was my doubles partner in high-level sports competition for dropping off the face of the earth with zero notice - literally in the middle of a match - in order to apparently fuck off to the US and swan around for an indeterminate period of time - per what's coming from his family - thereby fucking up my career out of nowhere and not to mention without even the courtesy of any explanation of what's going on. You think you were let down by waiting five hours for me to show up for dinner? Try waiting a year to unexpectedly stumble across you on campus one day because you can't even be fucked to text me to let me know what's going on. Day wasn't the only one who got pushed into an "arranged marriage" on their doubles partnership - that goes both ways, and August was the spouse who was left abandoned in that framework, and he's had an entire year of that, so imo he deserves some credit for being able to turn on a dime and try to build/rebuild a relationship with Day so quickly. I submit he would have had every right to still be angry, and that forgiving Day so quickly could be seen as an outgrowth of pity, as if Day can't really be held responsible for his own choices and actions.

I also think August deserves credit for the fact that his attempt at forming a romantic/sexual relationship with Day doesn't seem to come from any kind of malice, but from wanting to make Day happy. August wants to make Day happy. Is this not a primary characteristic people look for in relationships, wanting their partners to be happy? If August had discovered that, yes, he did like kissing Day, then his gamble - just like any first kiss is a kind of gamble - might have paid off for both of them. (Not for Mork, of course, so it was never actually going to go that way, because we all know who's endgame.) August is navigating unfamiliar territory, just like Day's family has been navigating unfamiliar territory, and yeah, it's awful that Day then has to sit there and hear how August is pitying him, but that doesn't make August villainous, just misguided, because this is an Aof joint, and characters are both complex and imperfect, and that means they can fuck up with the best of intentions, just like real people do. I've seen some comparison of August to Gee, and how well she's adapted to Day's new reality, but first of all the relationships are different - Day doesn't have a crush on Gee, for a start - and second of all people are different. I feel like I'm seeing a lot of the same kind of anger and shaming language directed at August that's been directed at Day's family, compounded by the fact that he was supposedly Mork's romantic rival, and we all love Mork, so fuck that guy. Only he's not, y'all. He has now made clear that he's not going to be a romantic rival.

Anyway, I'm glad that they've taken time to make even August complex and interesting and imperfect and human, I kind of love him a little bit, along with his desperate, misguided, doomed attempt to make things perfect for Day, and I really hope we haven't seen the last of him. I would really love to see August and Day be able to sit down and say "hey, i wanted to make everything nice for you to show I care" and "hey, i'm sorry i dropped off the face of the earth, but now that I'm back I don't need a pity fuck, I'm a big boy and can get over my crush," and then maybe be friends.

#oh look #i guess i found time for a full-blown defense of august #august annop #day danainat #augustday #august & day #last twilight #last twilight the series #in defense of august

[ineffable-human]

Season 2 Hot Take - We're Being Manipulated

Yes I know this is going to sound like a conspiracy theory, but is it really a conspiracy if its true? So, as someone who spent the last four years obsessing almost entirely about Gabriel's character and arc (do not get me started on him in S2) and not much else, I feel like I have a different approach to Aziraphale and his actions. I mean, I'm sorry but I just don't buy the fact that Aziraphale is so deeply traumatized that he would return to heaven just like that. I just don't.

Like, c'mon, season 1 Aziraphale, the utter bastard who straight up lied to God's (metaphorical) face, who got gut punched by some 'bad angels', who was sentenced to death, who tried to talk to God for help and got the run around, merged with season 2 Azirpahale who saw that heaven would just let kids die and not understand why it's bad (also please don't get me started on his 'you really were truly awuful' line, I cannot), who learned the that line between right and wrong is blured and that sometimes graverobbing can be good, who found out he could do magic the real, human way, would not just be like fuck yeah heaven is the good guys let's gooooo. I just don't buy it. And I want to trust that the writing in season 2 was purposeful and for a reason, because I want to trust that Neil Gaiman knows what he's doing (weird plot-device of the miracle block aside of course because idk how that could possibly be explained properly). And one of my friends pointed out to me that season 2 was/felt very influenced by the fandom. So what makes the most sense? That Neil Gaiman would just write some really weird and off-character stuff to match what the people want? Or that he would use the fandom's expectations to influence how they react to a situation and event in order to hide what's actually going on? I mean, look at all the information we're missing.

We don't know what Aziraphale's relationship was like with heaven between seasons (and I'm thinking he had to have some kind of relationship for the Bookshop to still be considered an protected embassy. Because let's face it, vindictive lil heaven isn't gonna keep a triator safe for no good reason).

We don't know the full conversation between Aziraphale and the Metatron (and the fact that Aziraphale's response after the whole Crowley as an angel thing is blocked off is the most interesting tidbit of all. We never actually find out what Aziraphale said, and we know he hadn't given Metatron a real answer before he went to talk to Crowley {yet the Metatron walks in after as if Aziraphale already said yes})

We don't know how and why it was so easy for Gabriel to sneak off after the trial. (Like, I know all the other angels are clueless, but the Metatron has clearly shown himself to have a strategic mind and, let's be honest, he would have seen something like that coming).

There's so much we don't know about, that's being hidden and held back, and we don't question it too much because it's easier to just fill in the blanks with our four years of headcanons and ideas.

And all the posts that Neil Gaiman interact with just further these ideas! I mean, let's face it, he's not gonna like this one because it's too close to the TRUTH (and also because he's busy and there's like a million posts a day but MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH)

Aziraphale is a smart character, who knows that heaven is toxic. He's strong and stubborn, and I truely don't believe he's going to just slide right back into that abusive relationship without a Plan. Aziraphale doesn't want to go back to heaven because he knows they aren't really the good guys, but that's the argument he uses because that's the only one he knows how to use. It's his default setting. (and the Metatron is most definitely probably listening in on them so Aziraphale clearly can't say what he actually wants to say, which only contributes to their horrible communication skills).

Aziraphale doesn't need to learn that heaven is in bad shape. He already knows that. But what he didn't know was that he could fix it. He's spent 6,000 years seeing all the cracks in the foundation and not having the power to do anything about it. That's his whole arch in season 1; taking control and doing what he can to fix the wrongs he sees.

But even now the idea that he actually has the power or influence to make the changes he knows are needed is a foreign concept. And the Metatron offering him the job is kind of like Crowley offering him the food. Azirpahale didn't know he could want to actually change things. That he could be the one to put in a suggestion box. He's not going back to learn the hard truth, he's going back to change the hard truth before others have to suffer a similar fate.

Our ideas and expectations were shattered, but that's only because we were coming at it with those expectations. We let them cloud the real story and distract us from the TRUTH.

This whole entire season was a magic act of the highest form using fan-service and shotty writing (dear god please let it be on purpose) as smoke and mirrors. and we're falling for it.

(And while we're on the topic, may I just slip in as an added bonus, Crowley has only himself to blame for Aziraphale thinking him becoming an angel would be a good thing, because how can he expect to go around calling Aziraphale angel all the time and looking at him the way he does and NOT expect Aziraphale to just assume that Crowley thinks being an angel is the best thing since sliced bread????)

#good omens #good omens season 2 #good omens season 2 spoilers #good omens theories #good omens season 2 theories #you're not a conspiracy theorist if your theories end up being real #just sayin

[urstruly-ghst]

Hello! I read the prompt of “their crush accidentally confessing to them and running away? Then their crush just completely avoids them afterwards?” And I really liked it! Is it possible you could do this for Jade, Riddle, Trey and Malleus as well? I noticed you mentioned having an announcement for this blog, and if you’re too busy or don’t have time, you can take your time with the prompt or skip it if you need to 🥰 Good luck with your thesis work!

note : i have lost all my drafts (i type on ms word) for my 17 asks, but--! i have gotten 2 drafts saved. this is one of them. due to this, my requests are still open! i promise i would deliver more. sorry for the delay

riddle rosehearts 

In a world of uptight rules and borderline tyranny of Riddle, he had a soft spot for many things. The sweet strawberry tarts baked by his dear friend, the perfect marks he worked hard for, the sentimental moments in his dorm, and you. You were not just his dear friend, and you also held his affections. Riddle took a lot of time to understand his afflictions, which means he would be very slow approaching you. 

Your friendship was very civil, and it took time for Riddle to be a: “buddy-pal” level of friend. He wanted the relationship to be treasured, and he wanted to be your friend compared to someone you date. Riddle wishes that if his feelings are not returned, he would still be your close friend.  However, he doesn't expect much from you when his affections are something that you have to look into carefully.

But Riddle didn’t expect you to confess first. This was not in his plan but his dreams, so I guess he isn’t frozen in shock. He was feeling so many new emotions at that time. He had the flutter and disbelief coming rapidly. Riddle was so absolutely floored with this. He couldn’t even say his feelings before you rushed off, leaving him so red and confused.

He tried to chase you, but it turns fruitless when you sprint fast. Riddle wasn’t athletic, but he could try breaking one rule, running in the fields with his horse from the Equestrian Club. Outlandish as that scenario is, Riddle was in shambles. For once, he got this new invigorating feeling. Plus, this is a prime-time show-off for you.

When his horse caught up to you, you were already surrendering. No one can outrun his horse, and he trained her well to run for miles. Besides that, he can tell that all this running around isn’t going to solve anything. He waits for you to calm down before he finally relays his own response, all of his confessions were filled in with flowery words and stammers, and he was happily basking in your presence.

“I know I have been harsh with my actions in chasing you down. I apologize for that, but you were stubborn, and I am determined. You confessed you liked me, yes? Well, I utterly adore you too. I was hurt with you running around, so I decided to rush after you... Stop looking at me like that..”

trey clover

Trey was very reasonable and was usually responsible for getting people in his dorm to follow the rules. For a reason, he was the vice leader; anything he does feels calculated, and all relate to his authority. Yet even with his high standing power, those relations never reached you.

Yes, you were an honorary member of the dorm (Riddle says so himself); however, you were not in Trey’s regime. Like Che’nya, you were a loophole. Trey finds himself confused and wonders why he wanted to make the loophole more complicated than it should be. Later, he shall learn that those intense feelings were his blooming love for you.

While it was not shocking for him to like you, after all, you are his favorite student to teach baking and the only one keeping the ADeuce duo in line. He finds you attractive from the beginning. While confirming his feelings, Trey had time to plan out confessing and being more honest to you and others. Trey was always secretive. He was far from it, even if he looked like an open book. 

However, even with planning, you somehow made a mess. Uncharaterically of you, Trey would note as you were stuttering and being antsy to spit out the rest of your confession. Indeed, this day was a mess for Heartslabyul. First, the lot of another rose bush being all white, the students causing mayhem, and Trey running after you spat out the last bit of your heartful words. The chaos was rampant, the dorm members pushing blame on each other. Trey then had this moment of rebellion, deciding he could deal with all the disarray later. You’re more important. 

While running away from the gardens to the looming hallways, you got lost. Cursing at the predicament of being lost, you try to remember the patterns, but amidst your effort to escape, Trey found you. It was unfair for you, you mumble, as getting lost in a dorm you’re not familiar with and the vice leader running after you, you’d lose the game if there were any. Trey laughed slyly as you surrendered to his help. Like always. However, your shock was reaching the roof when Trey had this look. A look you wished to be bestowed upon you. For as odd as the Heartslabyul dorm can be, Trey made sure you knew his feelings were not weird or playful, and it all started with a kiss. 

“You know, if you were a student in this dorm, you would definitely be collared by Riddle for running off. Hahaha! I’m glad you’re not a part of this dorm because I would lose it if anything happened to you. Let’s forget them, for now, because I need to take you out on something more. Or do we stay to announce this union of ours? Oh, you know I'm joking.”

jade leech

Everything Jade does and say is calculated and well executed to his best abilities. One can say that jade wants to be the epitome of a perfectly constructed being, with his sly and almost impregnable facade. However, Jade isn’t all as perfect when it comes to one thing: dealing with those pestering thoughts of you.

While he deals with chaos regularly, he says it is all a part of a balanced day. It never prepared him for the mess you bring in his world— the meticulously crafted world, from his first steps on land to his hikes to the mountains. Dealing with you and your insanely alluring presence was like learning to walk on his two feet again. It was going back to square one; strangely, he didn’t mind it. That means Jade can learn everything about you, the world, and your mystery.

However, it doesn’t help when you’re unpredictable. Jade plans things out, he isn’t the impulsive one between the twins, but he should’ve seen things your way too. Jade prepared everything from his words and outcomes, but you shatter his plans again. Ever so annoyingly, but so apologetically. You confessed— out of schedule, out of his control. It struck him so.

But Jade can recover. He always knew that catching yourself was the first action. So, he grabbed you quite fast, not letting you escape his world again. Jade calls out to you like the vast ocean, hoping you’re listening to his calls, and pleads to drown yourself in just him. 

It took some time for both of you to recover from that. It was unlike the fast-paced deals he does. For the first time, Jade made things slower. Jade is direct, always wanting to get things done, but when it came to you, he opted to take some time with you. It’s uncharacteristic of Jade to do so; Jade, the one who makes deals faster than one can blink, took his time with you. Both of you can say it was worth the wait, as you are now drowning in an overwhelmingly perfect world deep within your planets.

“I must say, my dearest pearl, I never thought I could make a deal prolong as i did with you. You’re truly something. Aren't you? Fufufu. Words can’t explain how you caught me off guard. It’s a boast for you to outsmart and get the Jade Leech to be confused for a second. Consider yourself the first, dear.” 

malleus draconia 

Being with Malleus as a stranger is intimidating for many. He is a very tall and robust individual alone. What more as a magician? However, Malleus never felt that around you, even after finding out his heritage as a prince and one of the world’s powerful mages. You treated him with the same kindness you granted him the first time fireflies invaded your sight on that fateful night. 

Falling in love with Malleus is more emotional than the rest, as he never felt more of a connection that runs as deep as the magic that plagued the land. He often wonders if he loved you for more than he does, would it imprint on the world as the way magic has? Malleus is a romantic fae who often wants to spend time with someone like you. Amazing you. 

Confessing is no challenging feat for Malleus, and he has complete confidence you would react positively. However, he takes some time not to startle you, as he thinks coming off too strong would make his shiny reputation and impression on you. Yet, as cautious as the giant fae is, you confessed so suddenly during your late-night walks. It felt like a whisper more than a confession, but Malleus heard it as earth-shattering loud. It made his steps halt. His shallow breaths were knocked out of his lungs. It was such a shock. 

And, as the silence and shock registered, you ran away. Scared, confused, and hurt, that is what you felt. Malleus was so silent, as still as the gargoyles he stared at. You felt ashamed for flying in your fantasies too much. Yet, before you can disappear, Malleus’ bright fireflies invade your vision. It brought you back to the night you both met. 

Malleus appeared, smiling coyly, as he held his hand for you to take. You just stared, scared as to why he was so calm. He knew what was spiraling into your mind, but he had time to sort those things out. Malleus can slow down his already slow pace for you. After all, it does take time to adjust to the knowledge your partner is not the same species.

“Do you know of fae traditions? I can assure you that all those other nuances are as complicated as the ever-changing human customs.  My rose, born out of sweet honey, I am here. No need to run. It pains me so. Know that nothing of your feelings shall scare me off... Unless you’re challenging me, no?”

#twisted wonderland x reader #twisted wonderland #twst x reader #riddle rosehearts #twst riddle #riddle rosehearts x reader #trey clover #twst trey #trey clover x reader #jade leech #jade leech x reader #twst jade #malleus draconia #twst malleus #malleus draconia x reader

[freetheshit-outofyou]

Circle around boys and girls, it's real talk time. Today I was out in the desert, just doing my thing, I stopped to pick up some spent brass and got shot at. I was out of my very white jeep when the sonic crack broke over my head. I looked around, about 650 meters out there was a truck facing away from me and I could see a person squatting down on the drivers side. Then I saw smoke come out of the truck bed this time the sonic report was to my right. I have been shot at way more times than I can count, the sonic report of a rifle is very distinct. (Heartbreak Ridge) I took out my rifle, turned my jeep so most of the body was facing the truck to give me the best possible cover and held position while I called 911. I explained what was happening they said can they see you, I said we're in a dry lake bed with unobstructed view of each other so yes they can see me, and another shot went over. Only having my 5.56 650m would be a stretch but I was willing to shoot it our if it came to it. The dispatcher asked if I could drive out and I said I could but the only ways in or out would put me at greater risk over just holding tight. Another sonic crack, I told the dispatcher they should get someone out there before I'm forced to shoot back. 19 minuets and 22 shots at or over me the truck left, I followed at distance. An unmarked sheriff's SUV stops me while letting the truck I'd given 911 a full description of drove right on by him. The deputy who was super unconcerned and seemed to be half asleep started questioning me, as I expected, but then he starts trying to push this off asking if I could be mistaken. I showed him the photos, explained how I know what it sounds like when you are shot at and also explained why I did not return fire. He tells me they have the truck stopped at the hardball and leaves me there. I had to clear my rifle, Nevada is real touchy about you driving with a loaded rifle but a loaded pistol or any Black powder is good to go. By the time I get to the hardball 2 Lyon County Sherriff's cars and one Nevada High Way patrol car had the truck stopped. I pull over waiting to see what will be done, after some yelling and dirt kicking like someone kicking dirt at the baseball Umpire they let these two fucks just walk. To top it all off the LEO's just looped around and left, saying shit to me on why people who were just shooting over me just walked. I tell you all this to tell you, you should call 911 when shit gets hard but you will always be your own first responder. If you are not willing to be responsible for your personal defense don't expect anyone else to either. I was at the disadvantage but that doesn't mean I did not still have tactical options. People are getting crazy, police are not going to help you, act accordingly. EDIT: As a former LEO I'd like to add the very police who blew this off are the very same LEO's who would have shot and killed these same guys for these actions. Remember no one care about your survival more than you.

#me #upstate nevada #people suck

[audioletter]

hi o/

“Do you wanna get out of here?” clorivia OR

“You’re not gonna cry, are you?” dehyatham

300 WORD STARTERS

Sorry @sidalafa this was so delayed, life is life right now!

Clorivia:

“Do you wanna get out of here?”

Clorinde held her hand out to Navia. The Poisson Disaster had weathered her, held her ransom; Clorinde helping as much as she could but knowing that at the end of the day, Navia would be working well into the night to "make things right".

Navia's actions, like she'd caused the disaster; she was responsible for the waters flowing in, for Silver and Mellus. Clorinde knew, the fraying edges evident at Navia's edges, and she continued to hold her hand out until Navia took it.

"Yes, please, for now," and it was a whisper, a prayer. Clorinde gripped her fingers tight, dragging her up the ladder and into the sunset that was setting above them.

"It's all my fault."

"No," and Clorinde is firm in her voice, her body language - turning to Navia with gusto and resolve. "This had nothing to do with you, nor the Spina di Rosula. It was a freak accident, a horrible accident and…" Clorinde found herself trailing off, taking in the beauty of Navia taking in the sunset.

"They'll never see this again."

"But you will."

Navia turns to Clorinde and, with a sudden movement, buries herself in her shoulder. "I should have been there for them."

"You were, and you are." Clorinde's body responds, her arms wrapping around Navia's heaving body, now wracked with sobs. "You are a good leader. Your father -" and she can't bring herself to speak on Navia's father for obvious reasons, so she leaves it hanging in the air while clutching Navia even tighter.

"I miss them."

"Mellus and Silver?"

"All of them."

Clorinde moved her chin to Navia's hair, and, with a small amount of bravery, kisses her forehead gently. "They miss you too, but they're always with you. I promise you."

Dehyatham:

“You’re not gonna cry, are you?”

"Fuck you." Dehya held out her claymore and changed her stance slightly. "I've a claymore, you've a knife, Scribe."

Alhaitham smirked, knowing this was all foreplay. "Sword versus claymore, what a clash of power." He fell back, swinging his blade. "You're bleeding, is all I mean."

Dehya reached up and touched her face, the red dripping over her fingers. She narrowed her eyes, sucking the blood off her fingers and pointed her claymore at Alhaitham with a renewed enthusiasm.

"Come at me, Scribe."

He sighed, swinging his blade once again - he'd gotten used to these sparring matches in the outskirts of Sumeru City, as mundane as his work at the Akademiya - and again, smirked. "Calling it off."

The shock on her face was worth it. "What the hell do you mean -" she shuffled back as he moved into her space, sheathing his sword and sliding his hand to her waist.

"There's more - uh, combative ways we can spar, correct?"

"You're the one who schedules these matches, yet now you want to -" Alhaitham took the words she was angrily going to spew at him by kissing her, roughly and with intent.

They broke apart, breathing heavily. "I rather enjoy the aftermath of the sparring matches, to be fair," he smiled against her mouth, moving his hand down her thighs.

He doesn't miss her heavy swallowing, her eyes darting across his face, down his chest. "Fuck you."

"That's the plan, correct," and he nuzzled her ear, her cheek, her nose. "That's the plan all along?"

She responded by grabbing him, jumping until her legs were wrapped around his waist. He liked how visceral she was; kissing him with tongue and teeth as he liked it, and he broke them apart to smile.

"To mine, then?"

#asks #genshin impact #clorivia #dehyatham #clorinde #navia #dehya #alhaitham #antis dni #thank you for the ask this was so much fun! #sorry it was late #both are exactly 300 words go me

[highly-important]

I think a big criticism I have of Heartstopper is how it makes a sexual minority (Ben) the face of homophobic oppression.

We know that one of the things that affected Charlie the most was the bullying he went through earlier. That it was so bad no one can really put it to words.

Charlie describes his bullying in a very abstract and intangible way, and never directly points the finger at anyone specific.

In general, there is this collective amnesia about who actually bullied Charlie and who let it happen. No one is really held accountable for it.

This is also very similar to whatever happened with Elle at Truham. Elle was extensively bullied, but she brushes off her problems and we never see the extent of her trauma. We honestly don't even know how this actually affected her, apart from the ways that she minimizes herself. But its all abstracted - no one is really ever identified as responsible or complicit.

Ben is the only person who is identified from that time in Charlie's life, and it means its easier to blame Ben for it than anyone else.

I understand why Nick and Charlie don't want to forgive Ben, and I don't think he is owed that forgiveness. But I also think Ben is a stupid 15 year old in an awful, traumatizing situation. There is reason to believe he would have behaved differently if he wasn't also in a homophobic environment. Do you think Ben could hear other people call Charlie disgusting and not internalize it himself? And the responsibility for their relationship going badly isn't squarely on Ben's shoulders, either.

There is also no reason why someone else, like Araji or Farouk couldn't have given him an empathetic moment or helped him a little. Ben is equally deserving of support and compassion.

Ben becomes the face of Charlie's trauma, and Ben seems to bare the responsibility for it. The straight people around him slip under the radar, despite arguably being the ones bearing the most responsibility for Charlie's issues. Charlie's self hatred, his ED, and the cutting are all caused by the bullying. The straight bullies are allowed some grace and empathy that isn't given to Ben.

We forget that Nick has been a part of Harry's friend group for years. Nick isn't really doesn't stick up for what's right on his own, and doesn't help much when they hit Tao with the ball. Obviously his feelings for Charlie cause him to reexamine these things. But its not something Nick ever has to come to terms with. (Its similar with Imogene, she hangs out with and enables some of Charlie's tormentors, but never really has to come to terms with that.) And in S2, the actions of Nicks' friend group are largely forgotten, and the emphasis is put on how supportive they are when Nick comes out.

It is very realistic that kids would react differently to an unpopular kid coming out than they would a popular kid coming out. But they're still the same people. Charlie doesn't even feel resentment that the same people who called him disgusting are now voicing support of Nick.

It is the bullying that made Charlie feel disgusting, its the bullying that gave Charlie an ED and made him self-harm. And its the bullying that made Ben want to keep his relationship with Charlie a secret.

If Nick was friends with Harry for a while, and Nick doesn't really remember the bullying Charlie went through, it also means that Harry maybe wasn't a main antagonist when Charlie's bullying was "really bad." So even though Harry is the face of homophobic bullying, even he is disconnected from the "really bad" that happened the year before. Harry is just an asshole, and somehow not responsible for causing serious trauma.

We get more of an indication that Harry can grow and do better than we do Ben. And yes, even though Harry is never forgiven or forgotten, he's also never confronted with it either.

All the straight people at school are easily redeemable because weirdly, none of them seem to actually be complicit in the "really bad" bullying that fucked Charlie up.

(And even making these distinctions between when the bullying was really bad and not so bad missed how any kind of daily micro aggressions, no matter how small, can build up to have toxic effects. Hearing your sexuality degraded pretty consistently can have huge negative affects on your health, even if to an outsider it doesn’t look like that much.)

I am seeing more and more media do this - make a minority the face of that minority's oppression. Its this gentle way of exploring oppression, while avoiding making people outside that minority group feel uncomfortable or ask difficult questions about their own complicity.

It perpetuates this idea that homophobia is actually over, despite the fact that somehow, mysteriously, the affects of homophobia are still felt. Harry is written as someone who can improve, Ben is written as someone who is incapable of change. I think there is just something deeply unsettling about who is given compassion and empathy.

Not only does HS really avoid the hard work of showing how Ben gets better, but it avoids the hard work of having the straight characters confront the harm they caused.

And I'm not saying this to "cancel" Heartstopper or tell you you're a bad person for liking it. I've written extensively about the things I think this show gets right. But I think that making a minority the face of minority oppression is a damaging trope that we should be as critical of as we are of tropes like "Bury your Gays"

#heartstopper #ben hope #heartstopper discourse #heartstopper ben

[horizon-verizon]

Isn't it like wrong to call Viserys a rapist? He groomed Aemma and Alicent but he didn't rape them in a sense he didn't go like Aegon with Dyana. There are many types of rape of course but like it seems wrong

*EDITED POST* (4/13/24)

Ask comes in response to this reblog/post. This is about the show, yes?

No this isn't like anything with Aegon raping Dyana, taking her surprise and her yelling at him to stop. BUT I'd say that seeing that your wife doesn't want you to touch her means she hasn't given consent. Alicent was very obvious in her lack of desire to have sex with Viserys.

We have no scenes of show!Viserys marrying and living life with Aemma before episode 1, right? So we have to assume that in HotD, he also married Aemma at the ages in the original story/the bks. Age is definitely a matter we can look at here to determine grooming or no grooming, but since this is a world where:

most noble marriages are arranged and those marrying often do not actually get to choose their legal partners

where the marrying AND consummating persons can be under our (American, idk abt other nations) legal age of 18

we need to see who pursued who before the betrothal (not the marriage, the betrothal) AND why they did so? Because there is a difference b/t:

someone trying to preemptively make their future spouse more comfortable with them so the eventual consummation isn't awkward or a "failure" or stressful or something else I add below about the anxiety to perform one's duty

--AND--

them claiming they are doing such only to get the target to fuck them/be more vulnerable to their influence.

There's no strong proof of him wanting a sick sense of control or influence over Aemma before they married or betrothed. There's no proof of Viserys asking or pushing for a marriage with her for the express purpose of fucking with a child, because he wanted to have that type of control over her or any child. And they were arranged to be wed. He was around 16 to Aemma's 11 when they married and they consummated their marriage when she was 13.

Under this context, the 2 years of waiting might have been seen as "too long", as much as it shouldn't have been, but for whoever were willing to marry Aemma off at her 11 yrs of age are probably those who also applied some pressure to said couple to consummate, EVEN IF the couple actually liked each other, too.

Even without some external entity actively or purposefully making that sort of pressure--either maliciously or impatiently, like ordering a consummation versus constantly asking about it--the couple themselves could have both felt anxious to perform their "duties" to & for their parents/authority figures/families. But we simply don't know for sure and it wouldn't be mutually exclusive.

The couple lived & grew up in a world with little concept of a strong "legal" age, or a boundary for girls that was also enforced by laws. A world where doing your duty to your families, to your "God", to the authority figures around, to oaths you take you were often held as higher ethical standards than doing what some of us moderns would think is an ethical duty to "humanity".

Adult!Viserys expressly chose Alicent, though. And with Alicent being very obvious, I don't see how he couldn't have seen Alicent's reluctance or hesitance in all the times they had sex (at least 4 for each child)? From what little we see, they don't seem to be a couple where they (really Viserys) at least watch for each other's cues or signs of desire in bed. AllegedlyLola on TikTok says it best of HotD!Viserys (but much can the same shoudl be said for his book version): he says he loved Aemma, that he will always love her, etc. and pedestalizes Aemma to the degree that Rhaenrya could never be Baelon, her siblings can never be her, and all to never really give us a real picture of who Aemma was so he does not have to divulge how some of his actions have ruined Aemma's life. Helaena not having kids or at least stop having them before Rhaenrya becomes Queen/he dies would have even helped Rhaenyra...smh. He doesn't ever think to not let his daughter Helaena marry at 13 & have TWINS not long after (as Aemma died in part bc she started having children WAY too early after they consummated their marriage); he forces his daughter to marry Laenor to fix a problem he created instead of actually thinking about what would be better for her claim and position--which is not to marry a gay man!, esp when everyone knows he is gay; I mention Alicent already...this is the same guy who marries a 15 year old but gets angry with Daemon for seducing his 19 year old daughter and saying she is just a "girl"...bro...Add on the fact he allowed a faction against his heir and be lead by his second obviously hostile Hand & wife exist in court instead of properly intervening and diminishing Otto and Alicent's influence over Rhaenrya so she wouldn't have to escape to Dragonstone...no self reflection, just constant deflection, ignoring, placating the wrong people, putting his foot down at the wrong moments, not pursuing certain avenues or voids of information like in the Vhagar claim incident AND allowed the same thing that happens to his first wife happen to his next wife and his two daughters...ugh.

Getting back to Alicent, remember, consent is not a one-size-fits-all. You need to constantly ask for it and confirm it.

Keep in mind that this is an HotD Watsonian reading/analysis. The writers chose to make show!Alicent so vulnerable and defenseless to introduce something that modern viewers would easier think of her with their no-under 18s (and in certain age gaps, really under 25s) rule without making them really think about what these people themselves were going through. It's easier to assess a medieval setting or circumstance with the rules of conduct that we follow and know and then apply to them as if they would 100% understand how we think INSTEAD OF us FIRST trying to understand how they would think & react to what they have had to live with or learned so that we may expose how/where the double standards are.

I'm not saying that we should go back to marrying 15 year olds, I'm saying take a breather and assess how these people will think & act and assign the "fault" of such to the world instead of just them. Where it's appropriate. I am also not saying that you shouldn't feel uncomfortable, either. I'm saying do the activity fiction requires of us and see through the characters' eyes to understand them instead of trying to enforce you own views right away and all the time to find the nuance.

Example, this Youtube commentator perfectly describes Alicent's mindset within the lens & contextual vocabulary of what the feudal world asks of its people, acknowledging her victimhood but still holding Alicent accountable/showing/implying how wrong she isr:

#viserys i #asoiaf asks to me #alicent and viserys #viserys and alicent #hotd characterization #viserys i's characterization #alicent's characterization #character ages #aemma arryn #hotd #asoiaf

[attonposting]

I think it's really important to distinguish that even a light side romanced-the-Exile Atton isn't motivated by goodness for its own sake. He has a stronger sense of responsibility than before, yes, and he'll get involved when the whim strikes him - and a light Atton will have more of those occasional chivalrous, or maybe just cocky, impulses than the keep-your-head-down man he was at the start of the game.

But he's still a scoundrel by nature, horribly jaded, very comfortable with problem-solving via murder, and he believes in neither the Jedi Code nor the pursuit of atonement. His morality is more Exile-centric than anything else, as in “I'm going to do this to protect them” or “I guess I'll do this stupid dangerous thing because they'll think I'm cool.” Love doesn't make Atton a better person, but it puts him through the motions (and if reciprocated, it'd make him a happier one, which would at least improve his behavior a bit.)

All in all, it's something where I think the game's alignment system can be misleading. People look at Atton mirroring the PC's alignment with that big beam of light behind him and go “he's a good guy now!” But nothing in-game really supports that. Does he approve of a LS Exile's actions? Yes, even if it confuses him and he's tsundere about it. Would he do the same thing in their shoes? Nope – that's why he's so inspired by them. Because they went through the same shit he did and still held onto the things he couldn't. Because he fought alongside Jedi in two wars, watched the pacifists cower as the galaxy burned and watched the war heroes turn into psychopaths, and he doesn't trust it at first, but this carved-up shell of a Jedi, the one who pulled the plug at kriffing Malachor V, is the closest thing he's ever seen to what the Jedi were supposed to be. Atton's portrait is gonna be pretty dang light sided while he's ranting at your Exile that all the Jedi who died on Malachor deserved what they got, and he means what he's saying. The game can stick him wherever on that bar it wants, but it's not serenity and goodwill that fills him, it's a messy morass of poison he's been choking down for years.

His arc is more about ceasing to run from himself, sorting out his feelings and his fears, and finally being able to move forward than it is about redemption. You figure he already had his big worldview shift years ago and made zero attempt to make up for any of what he did or mirror the grace he was shown, and, like... Atton's motivations start and stop with the Exile. Everyone else in the party has some other allegiance or some further goal that shapes their path. Bao-Dur wants to rebuild the planets destroyed in the war. Mira wants to reunite the families it broke. Atton wants to help the Exile, and if they're a lady, he wants to get together with her. That's all he wants out of life... unless he goes dark side, which gets ugly real fast.

While a dark Atton crashes straight back down to the bottom of the bar, I think the lightest Atton realistically gets is the grey background with a dusting of blue at his feet. It's like Kreia says – his potential lies downward. Dark Atton is terrifying, a proto-Sion, a hollowed-out obsessive shell of a man who can only feel anything through tearing Jedi down to his level. Light Atton is just a guy.

It's for this reason that I have trouble seeing him helping to rebuild the Jedi Order as canon implies. He never stopped hating the Order, and he has no stake in it anyway, only you – heck, if you look at becoming a Jedi as the pivotal moment in all of the Lost Jedi character arcs, Atton's decision to become a Jedi is so he can better protect the Exile. It's only a personal choice inasmuch as he's decided this is how he can live with himself, offering his life to someone who's truly proven to him that they're worth it. He's got nothing else anchoring him, to the point where I think he really is better off with the Exile than left to his own devices, even accounting for the influence warp and the probable imminent death. And I think it's telling that Kreia will only predict his future when he has motivations that don't include the Exile.

#atton rand #kotor #kotor 2 #kotor ii

[reunionatdawn]

My Analysis of the Best Paired Endings in 3H (Part 9: Caspar/Petra)

Catherine: When I told you I would cut down children with no hesitation, you looked disgusted. I take it that's the part you're struggling to accept? Caspar: Pretty much. I don't think I'd be able to do it, even if that meant disobeying orders.

Caspar and Ferdinand are the two most difficult students to recruit outside of their home routes because they can only get C-Support with Byleth before the time-skip. And this corresponds to how difficult it is for them to leave the Empire from an emotional standpoint. They can't even be recruited in Hopes. Caspar wasn't sure when to obey orders or act on his own morality. He got reprimanded for doing so in his C-Support with Byleth, and that single incident had a huge impact on his development.

Shez: You're taking this awfully well. Weren't you and Caspar childhood friends? Linhardt: Yes, but that is of little consequence now. He is not fighting for honor or any greater purpose. War is just his way of life, and he doesn't have the slightest intention of dying or losing.

Caspar has never known any other way of life but fighting and making a name for himself on the battlefield.

Caspar: Something is kinda bothering me. I was talking to someone the other day about how I want to distinguish myself in battle, and they said that meant I wanted the war to go on forever. Of course, I told them they were nuts… Then I actually started thinking about it. About what I'll be doing when the war ends, I mean. About what I'll even…be. Ferdinand: I do not think you have cause to worry. We may not know what the future holds, but you are delivering great results as a leader. Surely you will be held in esteem for such? Caspar: Sure, but doesn't that just mean my life is about nothing but fighting? I'm not a guy like you who's good at pretty much everything, so… Ha! Listen to me. I can't remember the last time I got in my own head like this.

He was more introspective about his circumstances in Hopes. But that only reinforced how unhappy he was with his way of life. It wasn't fulfilling for him to live only for war, but he had no real sense of identity other than as a warrior.

Caspar: Oh. Hey, Professor. I was just reading this letter from my father. Do you know him? He's a pretty big deal in the Empire. He only writes to ask how my training's going, or how many monsters I've killed. Stuff like that.

Caspar had a strong desire to punish evil in the world, but he possessed a very black-and-white sense of morality. That simplistic view of good and evil probably came from his father, the famous warlord Count Bergliez.

Caspar: My father was responsible for a lot of what happened to the Dagdans! Shamir: Are you responsible for your father's actions? Caspar: Well, no…but kinda? I know I wasn't there, but I gotta—

It is much easier to invade and conquer when you convince yourself that the enemy is evil.

Caspar: After we cross the Great Bridge of Myrddin, we'll be in my father's territory. We actually crossed it five years ago for the Battle of the Eagle and Lion. Remember? Ugh! This is terrifying! What am I gonna do? I gotta get a grip… Byleth: Don't worry, I'll arrange for your funeral. Caspar: You think we'll meet him on the battlefield and he'll kill me? The front lines cover a long stretch of land, you know! We might not even run into him!

Caspar was also terrified of his father. He didn't like the sound of thunder because it reminded him of his father yelling at him when he screwed up.

Caspar: All right! Off to the Kingdom's capital we go! What's the matter? Should I not be excited? I can't help it. Everyone's gotta have something to look forward to!

I was really struck by Caspar's demeanor in CF. He only ever focused on taking out whatever enemies he was ordered to and barely had anything else to say.

Caspar: It's so awful to see the Kingdom capital go up in flames, but at least we made it this far!

He fought alongside the Death Knight and invaded other nations without question. It was as though Count Bergliez was hovering over his shoulder the entire time.

Catherine: You have a strong sense of justice. You have clearly defined ideals. But that's not an asset on the battlefield. Ideals slow you down. They cause inner conflict.

It was truly sad because that wasn't who he was. He had his own ideals and criticized Catherine for submitting her sense of justice to another person. It made me realize that CF!Caspar couldn't do anything else but focus on fighting because otherwise the inner conflict would have destroyed him.

Caspar: I think… I can't deny who I am. I know you were right five years ago when you told me not to chase after that suspicious guy… But I still can't get over the possibility that he might have hurt those kids. I would have regretted not stopping him for the rest of my life. There's no way I could forgive myself. It sounds awful to say, but the safety of those kids is more important to me than the knights we lost.

His character arc was about realizing that it's okay not to follow orders and that he should live according to his own sense of justice.

Caspar: I've been wandering on my own for five years. I won't go back to that house or my father, that's for sure!

And leaving his father was necessary for him to do so.

Caspar: We weren't related by blood, but Randolph was still my uncle… Seeing him end up that way was… Never mind. It's nothing. Byleth: That's how it goes with war. Caspar: This wasn't just about war. It was a grudge. Or are you gonna tell me you're on Dimitri's side? I'm sure he never trusted me, being born in the Empire and all.

Like Ferdinand, Caspar can only access his Paralogue—where he can confront the "evil" Death Knight—if he defects from the Empire. The game incentivizes you to recruit him in AM, too. Not only does he share his Paralogue with Mercedes, but doing so in AM unlocks an additional scene for her to say goodbye to Emile. I'd argue that he has the best arc in AM due to his connection to Randolph. It was important for him to see the war from the side from the Empire's victims, so that he could have his worldview challenged.

Petra: It feels like…a knife against my throat. That I am making my grandfather obey the Empire. Because I am a hostage, it is not an option to be giving up. I must be fighting and winning and staying alive. I must do anything to be making life better for Brigid. To be making Brigid and the Empire stand as equals. That is what my people are wanting from me…and what my grandfather, the king of Brigid, is wanting! Byleth: And what do you want? Petra: My want? I…I am not knowing of that. The wants of my people are something I have power to achieve. Their wants are my own.

As a political hostage to the Empire, Petra fought extremely hard to survive, not for herself, but so that Brigid could live independently and stand as equals with the Empire. But when Byleth asked her what she wanted, she didn't even know. She needed to figure out what she wanted for herself, not just what other people wanted.

Ferdinand: Do you not want to go back to your homeland? Petra: I do have the hope of returning one day, but Fódlan is also like a homeland to me now. I came to Fódlan nine years ago. I have been living half of my life here. My family is living in Brigid, but in Fódlan, I have new family and new friends.

So, what did Petra want? Well, she wanted to return home, but she also wanted to stay connected to her new family, and to use their political connections to improve relations with Brigid and Fódlan.

Petra: When this war is finished, I am wishing for you to be seeing my homeland. Dorothea: You…you are? Oh my. I'd love to, Petra. As soon as the fighting is done, I'd like nothing more than to see Brigid with you.

She wanted to bring her friends back home with her to visit. Whether you go for their romantic paired ending or are content to leave them as friends, her Support with Dorothea showed how important it was for her to maintain permanent connections with her classmates.

Petra: I am not having an obligation. I will only be marrying if I find a good person.

And she also wanted a husband from Fódlan.

Petra: My father was killed. By the Empire. By your father. And so I will be impaling you on this blade to be satisfying a deep wish of mine. Caspar: A deep wish… What are you talking about?! Petra: I am talking about my wish. Of course…I am also having another wish. An even deeper wish. I wish for you and I to keep being friends. To keep fighting and surviving together.

Petra had one other deeply held wish. She wanted to kill Count Bergliez. She always bottled up her true feelings and never expressed what she really thought. She was always gung-ho about fighting and said war fed her body and mind. She may have acted like she was fine with her situation, but she was really not. She didn't want to kill people in the name of the Empire that invaded Brigid and killed her father, and she had a lot of rage underneath her calm surface.

Caspar: Well, I guess even a queen can't push her feeling down forever. I can't imagine what it must've been like to go through what you did. But I think I can still relate. Petra: Umm… Caspar: Hey, here's an idea. From now on, take it out on me. Petra: No. This is silliness. There is no point in killing you. Caspar: I'm not talking about killing, Petra. What I want you to do is unload on me! Tell me off! Just talk to me about whatever it is you're feeling. If all your hate becomes too much, dump it on me. If you wanna hit something, I'm your guy. I just want us to keep being friends, alright?

Caspar was the only character she ever showed that side of herself to. In Hopes, she wanted to kill him, but he offered for her to take her pain out on him. He was the one person she could talk to and be open and honest with because he was the same. And Petra was more raw and emotionally vulnerable with him than anyone else.

Petra & Caspar Petra returned to her homeland of Brigid, and inherited the throne from her grandfather. As ruler, she declared independence from Fódlan, and renegotiated Brigid's diplomatic ties to Fódlan and Dagda on more equal terms. At every step along the way, she was accompanied and supported by her husband, Caspar, who had left Fódlan behind to be with her. It is said that the people of Brigid were initially suspicious of the union, due to Caspar's relation to a nemesis of their homeland, but that his tireless efforts on Brigid's behalf endeared them to him over time. It certainly helped that he made the queen very happy.

Petra didn't have an obligation to get married. She just wanted someone to share all of her heart with. Caspar was never particularly envious of his brother, and he always liked hard work. So, working tirelessly for Brigid is a better way to live than inheriting his father's position and becoming the new Minister of Military Affairs.

I don't think the writers necessarily pushed for either Caspar or Petra to be paired with anyone in particular. Many of their paired endings work just as fine. Still, the Caspar/Petra ending is one where Petra can have everything she wants, including someone who she can be truly open and honest with. And it is the only one where Caspar can directly address the damage caused by his imperialist father. So, I consider it the best one for them.

#fe3h #fe3h meta #caspar von bergliez #petra macneary