#grief is not an excuse to be emotionally manipulative

[nalyra-dreaming]

About DM, having read som theories and speculations of yours and others I would love to add some of my thoughts and hear what you and @virginiaisforvampires and @cbrownjc thinks - if you are interested :)

1. Armand clearly reacted to Louis offering Daniel the Dark Gift, and reacted even more strongly to Daniel basically saying “No, thanks”. On the surface it seems in the latter instance that he was just offended by Daniel’s verbal barb, but I’m sure this is actually clever obfuscation by the writer/director/actor, no?

2. Given 1) and the foreknowledge of DM, Daniel responding ”A cure for Parkinson’s” when Armand (as Rashid) asked if Danial has everything he needs could be an unfired Chekhov’s gun…?

3. What really is/will become Armand’s endgame? I actually believe that it is as it seems, that Louis is the driving force behind this second interview. And that Armand actually be still be somewhat angry/resentful following the (presumed) breakup of DM. I think you speculated that Daniel might have wanted to leave to live a life since Armand refused to make him a vampire? While Armand might have wanted to spend the rest od Daniel’s mortal life with him? This would explain the charade, it being a way for Armand to either try to stop Daniel’s memories from resurfacing (per his request?) as well as Armand’s attitude in season one (as he seems annoyed with Daniel at times). Daniel’s terminal illness might be changing Armand’s mind however (á la DM), as previously suggested. Honestly? A part of me want to see some sort of fucked up Dracula situation, where it becomes clear gradually in a terrifying manner to Daniel that he is trapped by this ‘monster’ who claims to know him better than he knows himself/knows what’s best for him. The latter seemingly being a version of the dynamic playing out between Armand and Louis currently.

4. How will Daniel feel about Armand following season two? I think Daniel’s view of life and of the vampires has been shown to be quite different than to back in the 70s. His view of Armand must surely also be influenced by hearing of Louis’ bloody history of him? As he will presumably get to know Armand chiefly from Louis’ story and be quite critical of him - even viewing him as quite sinister as he realizes and gets Louis to realize the part Armand has played in tampering with their memories and Claudia’s death. Of course Armand is participating in the interview so his perspective will also come to light, and Daniel seems according to the trailers at one point be talking to Armand one-on-one. So he’s open to listening. I believe that Daniel’s view of Armand will be quite negative - even following the return of his memories, at least initially. That putting these memories and feelings together with his current view of life and view of Armand will be anything but simple. I would guess at this point that the romantic nature of their relationship is something that will be revealed very late - maybe even be a cliffhanger for the next season (together with other stuff).

5. A more nuanced view of Armand. However it wouldn’t completely surprise me if Louis, and possibly Daniel, somewhat consensually agreed to have some of their memories tampered with. I think Louis on some level after Claudia’s death might, due to his intense grief, wanted to emotionally “run away” so to speak. And that this series basically began with him for some reason or another now feeling ready to confront the past. So Armand’s seeming malevolence as a mind-manipulator will potentially be tampered by these facts. However Daniel will now presumably together with Louis find out about the role Armand played in Claudia’s death. Daniel’s empathy for Claudia is somewhat limited though, understandably as he has the human perspective and does, quite rightly, not excuse her murderous ways. But he might dislike Armand due to the self-serving aspect of the trial? Or maybe not?

6. At this point, I don’t think Louis and Daniel have been in a serious romantic relationship. I wouldn’t be surprised if they hooked up or something similar but Louis seemed very genuine and definitive in welcoming Daniel as a friend he met once/or a few times years ago recording the tapes. If he was hiding a past history and/or romantic relationship from Daniel I think he would behaved differently. Of course he could also not remember, but I don’t think that’s the case here.

7. I guess what I’m most curious about is what kind of dynamic will take form between Daniel and Armand during and immediately following season two? I would love to hear your thoughts. Also the Dracula comparison was not my idea but something I’ve read somewhere here. So sorry for long post! Love your blog!

Hey!

Glad you like! <3

Sorry this took a moment (the answer is also a bit longer^^)

He did. And yes, it might contain obfuscation, but mostly… I think Armand was almost afraid that Daniel would accept the gift from Louis. Maybe Louis offered before, maybe he did not, but Armand surely didn’t. And… Armand loves Daniel. Ultimately Daniel will be his only fledgling. There is a level of possessiveness to that, of course, and also to the not-healed bite marks on Daniel’s throat, which more than likely did not just stem from Louis’ attack (because Armand would have needed to heal Daniel there at least a bit, and over the following 12 years he bit Daniel often). I think there are a lot of things at play. For the book readers it is a nice little easter egg on various levels (both Daniel’s and Armand’s past together and also Armand’s personal past being referenced), but also something more hinted at, something we have not been shown yet. Though, given the title of that music part (Alice is in her third trimester) a while back - maybe we will get to see it. Something must have happened to make Armand let Daniel go, and the repeated refusal in the books served to open a rift between them. I could easily see that happen here as well. That said, it would mean that we will get a LOT more DM in s2 than thought so far… and I’m not sure that will be the case. What I could easily see is Daniel reminiscing (or getting memories back) about the moment he “got his shit together” as he called it in s1 - but I do not think we will get all of what that entailed yet.

Most certainly :) I think he’s already getting it. Fareed is not there to play around after all^^.

I have speculated that the aforementioned rift that developed through Armand’s repeated refusal to turn Daniel will lead to Daniel seeking other … comforts. But I think it would actually need a big reason (like a baby…) to make him struggle for real - and I could see someone else then decide to end that struggle. Put an end to the hunt/relationship because it was not good for Daniel, ultimately, and because Armand could not be moved. As per Armand… I think Armand did acquiesce to Louis’ wishes to have Daniel redo the interview, and he likely was not happy about it. I mean, imagine how it would be to see the love of your life... and said love of your life does not remember you. Verbally throws things at you. It must be a wild mix of feelings for Armand, from annoyance over helpless love to utter devastation. No wonder he tried to literally hide from it. I do think Armand was already aware of Daniel’s sickness - the aforementioned medicine by Fareed he is getting - that had to be prepared. Planned, designed. Researched. Whatever it is they are giving him is not what they claim it to be (the side effects don’t match), and… given Daniel is not stupid he might hone in on that pretty soon. Now, in the books there is a pharmaceutical empire that is led by a powerful ancient vampire, Gregory, and he and Seth (who is Akasha’s son and Fareed’s lover/maker) are roughly on the same level. Seth, but mostly Fareed, builds whole research centers for the vampires. There is a LOT of potential for the show to hook into that, and I actually think both the more physical sex and the absent death sleep during the day are thanks to Fareed. If that will ever be spelled out? No idea, but the first is something Fareed already makes happen in the books and the second is something he plans to remove… so I do think that is connected. I think whoever is orchestrating behind the scenes (coughs prime minister coughs) wanted to help Daniel to live long enough to maybe reconcile Armand and Daniel. And for that Daniel needs his memories back. If that is Armand though… the show will tell :)

Well, I think it will be the same as in the book when the memories come back - Daniel will realize that he “loved this thing”, this monster, despite everything. Despite knowing what Armand has done. That is part of the horror, that the lover overshadows everything he knows, and that he is, in a way, helpless against that. Oh, I’m sure there will be a development of feeling, of course. But ultimately Daniel will realize that he loved Armand - absolutely, totally - and then eventually he will realize that he still does. And that will make him just as confused and vulnerable and hurt, and emotional as it makes Armand.

I can easily see Louis saying something like “I want the pain to stop” or something similar, and then Armand taking that as his cue to interfere. The thing is, Armand back then… is not the Armand in Dubai. DM happened in-between and it changed him. So when Armand likely “tinkered” with Louis’ mind back then it was more to serve himself - when he “tinkered” with Louis’ mind later on it was likely to help Louis. However he did and what that tinkering might entail. So yes, Daniel might challenge him on his part in it all, of course. I am counting on it, actually. Because Daniel is there to pull the truth out of Armand - that is (part of) why the interview is being redone. And of course that will shape Daniel’s view of him further - only the feelings won’t care for that view when they come back. Armand was quite the “villain” in the earlier books - that changed a bit with the later ones. But he is still a coven master, and Lestat calls him “ruthless” in the books. The show will present both Armands to us in direct confrontation - and I bet the emotions of the audience will be just as tumultuous as Armand’s and Louis’ and Daniel’s own are by this confrontation.

Oh, Daniel and Louis… probably got along really well and even intimately during those 12 years. I think Louis definitely has a personal connection to him, much more than in the book. It’s a weird relationship triangle they have there, and soon Lestat will be added to the mix - and I bet it will be revealed that Daniel has met Lestat before (as well).

I think after s2 Daniel will still be an old man, still be the interviewer, the chronicler. But remembering much, much more, and therefore challenging whoever else is on that couch then (I expect Lestat) a lot more as well. For example wrt episode 5. I would bet real money that we will get episode 5 in s3 from Lestat’s POV. Because by now I think there was nothing random, or unplanned about it. This show is a puzzle, and we have had only a few pieces. I think Armand and Daniel… will be very … raw with each other. Emotions are high, vulnerability as well. There will be intimate moments, but also rejection. Daniel’s view on eternity will change at some point, and probably rather rapidly with the memories coming back. There will be anger at the meddling. Daniel is no pushover. He will challenge them, and especially Armand. At some point he will realize that he does not need to ask - he can demand, to an extent at least. And that will change the dynamic once more.

It will be very, very interesting to watch^^.

#Anonymous #asks #ask nalyra #amc iwtv #iwtv #amc interview with the vampire #interview with the vampire amc #iwtv amc #iwtv 2022 #interview with the vampire #louis de pointe du lac #armand #loumand #the devil's minion #daniel molloy #devil's minion #lestat de lioncourt #the brat prince #iwtv lestat #future season speculation

[cancerian-woman]

I won't be offended if you prefer to delete this but your post about Tyler had me thinking...

Caroline really made his grief over his mother dying about her so much so that she issued the worst ultimatum and left herself with...

A drunk old man that used to be her teacher.

A long time friend that never seemed like he got over Elena and definitely has codependent issues with his brother so much so that he sacrificed himself willingly a day after their wedding.

And a power hungry hybrid who gave her money he could more than afford to give and said pretty words but also tortured, enslaved and killed people she was connected to....and also definitely had codependent issues with his brother.

I cannot fathom it.

All true facts. It’s late here so a meta! :D

As a huge Forwood shipper and I’m equally very critical of them. It’s a great ship for them both at first, then becomes a ship only for Caroline’s needs and development which isn’t fair to Tyler That Klaroline/Steroline shadow made those fans believe Tyler was the worst Caroline could get. When in reality he was the BEST romantic partner and friend she ever had.

What upsets me more about that ultimatum that Caroline FORCED is that she’s the only one we see comforting Tyler after Carol’s death. Even before Carol died, and Tyler was skeptical about being alpha she uplifted him and Tyler heavily respected what she had to say and went full force with it. Mind you, this is the same Tyler that broke every bone in his body just to be with Caroline. Then re-agreed to slavery for Care. Forwood communicated with each other and called out their faults. The other tvdu ships weren’t doing that!—then we get this full arc of Caroline’s grief and remember she bluntly told Tyler to get over the fact that she hooked up with Klaus because of her impulses and she’s not good1!!1

The series wanted to bury Forwood and they did so in the worst ways imaginable. Caroline gets pregnant with Alaric’s babies forcibly. (I understand Candice was pregnant but they could’ve hid her belly so Caroline wasn’t pregnant.)-Oh and we can’t forget Alaric was in love with her and proposed.

Steroline was supposed to follow the friends to lovers build up the way Forwood did and it never appears that Stefan is all in the way Caroline is. Tbh, even before the wedding Stefan wanted out the relationship he tried multiple times to end things in s8. Caroline refused and wanted it to work. Building them up after Liz’s death was a choice. Stefan manipulated Caroline heavily to when it came Tyler and their relationship.

Klaroline has no obstacles to pass with them. Klaus may give Caroline pretty things, and money but emotionally he’s never shown to give Caroline any support. When Caroline saves Bonnie from those 12 witches which is her first huge kill(correct me if I’m wrong) since s2 she immediately goes to Klaus and he basically tells her to get away from him. Klaus mentions how she’s too good for that small town but Caroline had never said she hated her home. What she did hate was Klaus grown ass destroying shit. They never had a serious conversation about anything tbh. I did enjoy how Caroline called him out at first but TO’s “you aren’t the villain in my story.” Ruined that. Oh and lol these shippers get on Damon for his rape of Caroline yet somehow, someway excuses that Klaus attempted to rape Caroline too in Tyler’s body…. Anyways! I do think a lot of Klaroline is rooted in Klaus wanting control over Tyler, and Caroline is a way to exert control over Tyler because of his love for her.

Okay this is long af, sorry! To end this off Tyler loved Caroline for who she was. He never wanted her to change, he valued and respected her. Never abused her or anyone she loved. He listened to what she had to say. Caroline’s other love interests NEVER saw her the way Tyler did. Btw, I wish people understood Tyler never, not once slutshamed Caroline for having sex with someone else. He was only mad that she slept with Klaus as if Klaus did not ruin Tyler’s life and murdered his mother. There’s obviously a reason Caroline didn’t want Tyler to know and continued to ignore the boundaries he placed up in s5 so they could just go back to the way SHE wanted them to be. It’s sad they were ruined because 5B of Forwood has moments where you can forget their broken up just based on Forwood’s chemistry. I forgot to add, some fans pretend Tyler couldn’t give Caroline a good life. Tyler wasn’t financially struggling, and would’ve done anything she asked of him. I think it’s a little problematic that Tyler did say everything he liked about himself was Caroline lol. But, he wanted nothing but her and their happiness. Just without the enslavement from Klaus.

Thank you for the ask!

#Forwood #tyler lockwood #Caroline Forbes #Anti Steroline #Again stefan died to be free of that relationship bless that man heart fr #anti klaroline #anti stefan salvatore #anti damon salvatore #anti klaus mikaelson #driaresponds #sevensistersofsussex #Tvd #the vampire diaries #a lot of you k c e r s lack media literacy because Tyler never cheated on Caroline btw :) Klaus manipulated Caroline into thinking other :P

[yanderes-galore]

Can you do yan conor from dbh reacting to his darling maybe slowing becoming docile and broken please ?

Sure! Connor may have some issues with this, honestly-

Yandere! Connor with Broken! Darling

Short Concept/Reaction

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Mind break, Regret, Isolation, Manipulation, Obsession, Forced relationship, Overprotective behavior, Delusional behavior.

Connor doesn't even mean to break his darling, honestly.

He isn't sadistic like some of his counterparts.

Connor is genuinely caring, thinking he's doing the best for his darling.

Referring to Connor in the deviant path... he genuinely just wants a relationship with you.

This love for you alone makes him deviant.

Even though you're human and he's an android, he still wants to understand protecting and loving you.

Connor would kidnap his darling if he felt you were in danger.

At least, that's the excuse he gives.

Connor already has trouble understanding love.

He has no idea this obsessive behavior over you should be considered a malfunction.

He just knows keeping you in your house with him by your side... makes him happy.

That's because he knows you're safe from danger by him!

He isn't dense, however.

He notices your dislike of the situation, even when he reassures you he does it because he cares for you.

He cares for you like a good boyfriend should.

He's hurt when you decline his affection.

You don't even like him calling himself your boyfriend.

Connor is no doubt a delusional yandere.

He's convinced he can make you care for him like you did before all of this.

Although... in an attempt to feel your affection... he accidentally does the unthinkable.

He breaks you.

He never meant to.

It shocks him when you give into the isolation.

He prefers not to call it isolation, but that's essentially what he's done.

While it feels nice for you to finally give into his hugs and hesitant kisses, it also feels wrong.

The android frowns whenever he looks into your eyes only to see them so dull.

You used to be so bright!

You used to smile at him whenever he saw you.

So why do you seem so... empty?

Your smiles are so fake, in fact your emotions overall seem so fake.

Connor doesn't like to think about it but it is entirely his fault you're like this.

He trapped you in your own home.

He forced his obsession on you in an attempt at trying to love you.

He is the monster who broke you.

All of this is his fault and now he's trying to find ways to fix it.

Connor tries to stimulate your mind with things you like.

Things such as favorite foods, favorite games, favorite anything.

If that doesn't work, he tries taking you outside to try and give you fresh air.

He's always nearby in case you're unsafe and try to run off.

Although... at this stage he shouldn't need to worry about it.

The android begins to doubt he'll ever get you back.

Overrun with guilt and grief, Connor could do two things.

He could turn himself in and accept his fate for your sake.

Or he could keep you to himself like this and accept he'll never have the old you-

Connor just wanted to make you happy.

If you ever broke at his hands, he'd regret it greatly.

You mean a lot to him.

If he hurt you, emotionally or physically, in any way...

He'll do anything to fix his mistakes.

"Please, (Y/N)... I didn't mean it- I just... I just wanted us to be happy...!"

#yandere detroit become human #yandere dbh #yandere connor

[sarasade]

On Claudia, Viren, Aaravos & Claudia's Character Arc

This post is mostly about Claudia's character development or should I say character deterioration.

It's highly likely that Callum will be the one to take down Aaravos- like it all goes back to Harrow's letter in s2 and chains of history and the themes of free will vs destiny and such. Aaravos possessing Callum is all about that. He's literally taking control of Callum's faith. There is clear antagonism there that's in a direct conflict with who Callum is.

But at the same time Claudia is the one who's got the biggest personal beef with Aaravos. He exploited her grief, manipulated her and used her father to accomplish his own goals. If Aaravos didn't exist Claudia wouldn't have spent two years of her life in a complete stagnation waiting for her dad to come back from the dead instead of moving on. It seems like Aaravos has been molding Claudia into his personal minion through dark magic during the time skip as well.

Taking this into account it would be really satisfying to see Claudia snap out of it and take her revenge. Characters having a personal connection to the villain always makes a story's climax more gripping. More personal the better! And everything between Aaravos and Claudia is VERY personal.

That's why Viren worked so well as a foil to Callum and Ezran in s 1-3. Especially Ezran whose rightful place as the king he tried to take. He was basically their shitty, power hungry uncle who turned against them. Side note but if Viren is still alive I hope he makes a return as Ezran's foil.

Claudia helping to take down Aaravos would be emotionally satisfying. All the elements for that are already there. Of course Claudia should come to some kind of realisation about the way she's been used by Aaravos before she can take that turn. I doubt the show's got the time for that but it's an interesting possibility to think about.

I really like how the plot around Aaravos manipulating Claudia is done. Even Claudia's own father didn't do anything to prevent it from happening although all the signs of Aaravos having sinister plans for Claudia were there from the beginning: Aaravos calling Claudia "an asset" and encouraging Viren to lie to her in s3 therefore enabling Viren's worst impulses while also using them to his benefit. It's SO EVIL (and I love it). Viren isn't that much better since he always had some kind of excuse to ignore the red flags. At this point of TDP's run I'm convinced that Runaan's "Faith worse than death" line about Aaravos' mirror is finally paying off. It means that the consequences of Viren's actions have hurt Claudia, the only person Viren loves unconditionally, in an unfathomable way.

I think Claudia's arc is relatively subtle and very well done. It balances between Claudia being a victim of manipulation and neglect while also giving her agency to influence the plot as a whole. My only complaint is that Lost Child short story should have been implemented in the show itself and not just be extra material. I have some other grievances but those are mostly fandom related.

How some fans, especially in YouTube reviews, talk about Claudia's downfall like it was inevitable because she's always been fucked up or talking about how "trauma isn't an excuse for bad behaviour" is strange to me. Like, yeah, it isn't an excuse but it's simply just bad media analysis to instantly jump into condemning Claudia's actions, like she's a real person who uses trauma as an excuse to hurt other real people, instead of seeing it in the terms of a character study. Claudia clearly uses trauma to convince herself that what she's doing is right but never tries to manipulate anyone else by using it as an excuse. Think about her and Terry for example: she usually refuses Terry's help instead of trying to garner sympathy from him. This character trait is one of the many reasons why she felt obligated to keep her family together as well. She's extremely stubborn and not very self-conscious about her trauma brain but she does understand why others would see her actions as objectionable. I think this character type (usually a woman) has been given the playful nickname "trauma bitch" in the internet lexicon. Anyway god forbid if we actually empathise, reflect on and engage with unpleasant or problematic characters instead of instantly condemning them.

TDP is about how people can always CHOOSE a different path. Viren's dark magic hallucination in season 5 stated this very clearly.

In Claudia's case it's more interesting to think about WHY she DOESN'T choose differently. That's where all the meat of her character writing lies.

Claudia's arc is what happens when the desperate actions of someone motivated by trauma around abandonment are taken to their logical conclusion in this fantasy setting. It's a fictional story, it has metaphors and shit. Fantasy genre has used necromancy and extending one's life by magical means as a story element to explore humanity's relationship to death many times. The metaphor for loss and regret basically writes itself. Ursula Le Guin has used this trope in The Earthsea books, Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn has done it etc. Everything can't be a one to one comparison to real life (trauma rarely makes you want to kill your friends with dark magic irl. idk that's just me though) and there needs to be a level of abstraction involved in a fantasy story. Abstraction and metaphor, paradoxically, can reveal a greater truth about the world. (I'm probably accidentally quoting someone here but can't remember who.)

Anyway the rest is great. When you think of it all for a moment it's pretty fucked up how Claudia has been used by Aaravos. It's not some tiny part of Caludia's story. It IS her story. And Viren set that norm for her. Viren too has abused Claudia's trust. It's a complex subject and probably requires its own post since Viren, Soren and Claudia's situation reflects some pretty realistic dynamics real life troubled families have. That's why the characters compliment each other's stories so well. Viren is a more realistic character after all when Aaravos is more over the top and symbolic and less of a real person. Aaravos is one of those villains who embodies the opposing ideology of the heros. We (still) don't know almost anything personal about him so he matters mostly in relation to other characters.

Thanks for reading this Claudia propaganda! I've had so many of these in the drafts. Anyway TL;DR

#they did a callback to the unicorn horn spell in s5 #rule of threes guys- what if they use the unicorn spell on Aaravos? #like the whole fandom has already figured that Nova Blade is not gonna cut (heh) it #being real salty about TDP YouTube here lol #not to be that person but- is engaging with a complex female character's story really asking too much? #tdp meta #sarasade text #the dragon prince meta #tdp claudia

[rearranged-fanfic]

Chapter-By-Chapter Part 1; The Prologue - Unfinished Painting

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*Spoilers Below*

This fic starts off incredibly melancholy. let's properly set the tone, shall we?

"When death strikes, it’s sometimes a long, slow cut.  And sometimes, it’s swift as the blink of an eye.  It does so efficiently, without remorse, and without discernment.  We all die, in the end."

This is the opening paragraph, the reader's first impression of the story and of our protagonist. We cut to Reader-chan (our Reader Avatar) in the hospital directly after her mother's death. There's a sense of shock and upset, but ultimately, resignation.

We know from the story that her mom had been sick for a while.

 "It wasn’t sudden, nor was it unexpected.  Mom had been sick for a very, very long time."

"Mom’s death had been a slow cut, festering over months and months until it was long overdue."

This is something she's been preparing for quite some time now. But there's still the undercurrent that she's not dealing well. You'll notice that she has no support structure; there are no others in the hospital with her.

Reader-chan is very much alone. She has few friends, and most of her family is distant or has since passed on.

"I was nineteen when I was made an orphan."

"After Dad had died unexpectedly from COVID complications..."

"And then [the younger sister] become an adult.  And she’d left me behind without a backwards glance."

I know you're thinking, 'Author-san', why would you give us such a depressing start? This is so sad'. And, primarily, it's to ease the transition when Reader-chan transmigrates to the JJK world. If she'd have had a family who loved her and supported her, would she have wanted to stay in her new world - which, in this story, is portrayed in an incredibly dark way? For me? I'd say not. I'd claw and scrape and scream to get back to my family, hot fictional men be damned.

When isekai stories have protagonists that just go 'this is my life now', it really tanks my immersion. Especially when they're supposed to be serious dramas. Comedies are a little less glaring, because there's a suspension of disbelief that allows me to excuse more. But dramas? Oh boy, if you have family in your old world, you'd miss them too.

So, her losses before the start of the main story justify her lack of desire to return home - because it is something she struggles with in the first few chapters. Not only that, but it also reinforces her mental strength. She lost her dad and mom within a few years of each other and her sister is globe-trotting, so what could I possibly throw at her that's comparatively worse?

A character that has less to lose or less to return to is easier to manipulate emotionally for the author. There are less hangups, less connections to keep in mind, and less loose ends to tie up when the isekai inevitably ends.

Not only that, but the grief she experiences gives readers an immediate point of connection with her. Most everybody can identify with the loss of a loved one. Whether it's a parent, grandparent, or sibling that has passed away or simply lost touch, that sort of mental anguish resonates with humanity on an intrinsic level. We, as the readers, see her pain and understand it.

And we want to see her pick herself back up and move on from this.

We go from the hospital to her apartment, where she unpacks the last of her mother's belongings.

Reader-chan reveals that she'd been taking care of her mother before her death, for some unknown amount of time. And, in doing so, had let her own life fall by the wayside.

"I’d been able to see my ribs at one point, and my collar bones had become pronounced in the v-necks of my shirts."

"I’d neglected other things, too."

"An easel and canvas lay covered in the corner of the room, doing little more than collecting dust. [...] My book collection was little more than decoration at this point, too."

"I’d just lost my job. [...] I’d gotten fired for taking care of her."

"I wasn’t exactly qualified to do anything else, since I’d dropped out of college [to take care of her mother]."

Things like her health, career, future goals, hobbies, and interests were all discarded. Reader-chan, in dedicating her life to her mom, had completely derailed it.

This is the characterization we get of Reader-chan: she's toxically altruistic. Reader-chan is an incredibly kind person. She's hard-working, fiercely loyal, and selfless. This is to set up not only her desire to save those around her, but her own personal conflict within the story itself.

She can easily be viewed as a doormat, letting others take advantage of her. She bends under pressure, gives pieces of herself with terrifyingly little asked in return, and is unconcerned about her own wellbeing. Which is... very much not okay.

Despite this, we see that she's surprisingly resilient when faced with seemingly-insurmountable odds.

"And I resolved that I was going to go back into the store and talk to my boss"

"I could’ve started doing murals for the businesses in town again. [...] I could’ve paint windows for offices or the brickwork facades downtown, or done commissions for smaller pieces [to pay for her expenses]."

Reader-chan almost immediately starts to make plans to get back up onto her own two feet. Which shows that she's mature for her age, and able to deal appropriately with setbacks as they come. She's also not prone to getting overwhelmed and giving up.

Cut away again, and we find her in the parking lot of her old job, intent on talking to her boss to get it back. And she's trying in vain to get a hold of her distant sister.

She leaves a voicemail, to no avail. And for the first time, we see her truly angry...

"Snapping in anger, gripped the phone so hard that the fragile class façade threatened to break.  Part of me hoped it would, that spiderweb cracks overtook it and the screen shattered in my grasp.  So I’d lose her number and never have to call her again.  Then I’d never have to see her again, either."

... and her immediate regret.

"I’d never see her again, just like Dad.  Just like Mom."

"Was that what I really wanted?  … Maybe not."

Because, despite the fact that her sister left her behind, she still very much loves her. And, if she cuts her sister loose, she really will be all alone.

I included a strained sibling relationship because, initially, I wanted there to be something that Reader-chan would be conflicted about. Should she rekindle her relationship with her sister - forgive, forget, and move on? Or should she hold a grudge in her heart, even if it leaves her miserable?

When she gets isekai'd, the conflict becomes: should she put forth the effort return home to her sister, knowing that their relationship is only hanging by a thread, or resign herself to her fate in her new universe?

We catch a glimpse of fandom. We know that Reader-chan enjoys a myriad of media, but that it's fallen by the wayside in recent months.

"Only a few manga volumes had been touched, when I’d take them to the hospital to read with Mom; she’d liked looking at the pictures."

"On the rearview mirror, little chibis of my favorite anime characters hang and jingle together."

I made eye contact with tiny Tsunade from Naruto [...] the blindfolded gaze of Gojo [...] next to Levi Ackerman.

So we know that she has a keen interest in manga, specifically, judging from her collection and from the characters she keeps in her car.

After getting off the phone, frustrated and angry with her sister, she attempts to calm herself down by reading through her curated stories page. Which leads to this:

"And I saw a headline titled 'JJK: Fan-Favorite Character Killed in Battle', with a picture of Sukuna next to it."

"Out of curiosity, I clicked on the article and scrolled down, looking for the manga panels in question."

"Because it wasn’t Sukuna dead.  Gojo Satoru had been bisected, cut clean through, and left in a pool of his own blood."

Reader-chan reacts like this:

"“Th-that’s not possible, right?”  I inhaled through my nose.  Out through my mouth.  Trying to calm myself."

"I stared at [the tiny Gojo keychain] for a bit, and yanked his chain off the mirror, tossing him into the back seat where I couldn’t look at him anymore.  Then I pressed my face into the backs of my hands and screamed at the top of my lungs."

"Because the universe was so fucking funny that it had to play some sort of cosmic joke on me.  Because Gege killing off that character just had to happen now!"

Up until now, we've seen her handle everything with a surprising amount of grace. We can tell that she's deeply upset by the loss of her mother, sure, but she's putting on quite the brave face. Or maybe she's simply too shocked to be anguished. yeah... definitely the second option.

"I watched the doctors rush around like I was a thousand miles away, observed from outside of my body as they tried in vain to bring [her mother] back from beyond the threshold."

 "I went about my motions like I was piloting myself remotely."

"Even as I unpacked her stuff, I didn’t cry. I was just… empty, I guess.  Too tired, or maybe too shocked."

"I still didn’t cry.  Not when my whole world was collapsing around me."

But the moment she reads about Gojo's death, it acts as the metaphorical straw. And she's the camel.

"Unable to help myself, I laughed.  I laughed so hard that my shoulders shook.  And I laughed so hard that the laughs turned to sobs, and then to wails."

"I cried."

"It was ugly, and violent, and so stupid. [...] I cried for what felt like hours."

Initially, I was kind of wary of putting this chapter out into the world because of this moment. Because, yeah, her mom died, but she's going to cry over an anime character? That's the criticism I honestly expected.

"I was an idiot, losing it over some fake guy when I couldn’t even shed a tear for the woman who’d raised me.  And though I tried to stop, the waterworks kept coming and coming and coming."

But it makes sense in my mind, because we humans displace our emotions all the time. We get irrationally angry or sad at things and take our emotions out on them. Have a bad day at work? Get mad and kill something on a videogame. Upset? Watch a sad movie and cry about it.

I do this with 'The Fox and The Hound' all the time! I'll put it on and just weep until my eyes and head hurt. And, man, does it feel good! Like, on the days when my emotions are going haywire, like when I'm on my period, I just want to vent.

Gojo's death isn't what makes her sad enough to finally cry, but it gives her the perfect outlet for her emotions. It's a way for her to finally experience the emotional devastation of losing her mom without touching on the raw wound itself. It's a catharsis that she so desperately needs.

Crying really does help her. Sometimes, all you need is a good breakdown to realign your axis.

"And, little by little, I came back to myself."

"In the aftermath, there was a bit of clarity, of peace.  The buildup and the release of pressure. [...] Weight lifted off my shoulders and I felt a levity that I hadn’t in months. [...] I felt like I could breathe again.  Like my lungs were expanding properly and my heart was beating in my chest instead of my throat."

"Turns out that crying is good for you; who’d have guessed?"

After she cries, she picks herself back up and resolves to push forward. Starting with getting her job back, then ending with possibly rekindling a relationship with her sister.

This is one of my favorite parts of this little chapter because it perfectly encapsulates the whole vibe of 'post-nut clarity'... but for sobbing like a crazy person, obviously. Like, we all have that moment after we cry where everything just sorta clicks into place.

Reader-chan, for a solid moment, is standing tall. And she's putting her own emotions and needs first.

She calls her sister, getting out of her car. And while she's leaving a voicemail, she finally meets her fate.

"But I never got to finish my ultimatum.  The screeching of tires cut me off as I whirled around just in time to see the grill of a large truck barreling toward me.  And then there was the sickening crunch of bones breaking and somebody screaming."

This is where the isekai truly begins. Because when she dies, she winds up in a black void. And this void is where the next chapter opens.

We have a callback to our first paragraph.

"When death strikes, it’s sometimes a long, slow cut.  And sometimes, it’s swift as the blink of an eye.  It does so efficiently, without remorse, and without discernment.  We all die, in the end."

Keen observers may also notice that prior to being run down, the story is in past tense. Everything past getting struck is in present tense. This is to reinforce the idea that Reader's old universe and life are permanently 'was', while her new world and life permanently 'are'. A little bit of author psychology for you guys.

There's also one of my favorite side stories ever in this: 'The Saga of The Shopping Cart'!

"I scowled when one person pushed their empty cart into another parking spot instead of the cart return.  Idiot."

"A gust of wind blew the loose shopping cart in front of me, and I let it cross before making my way towards the building." 

"Because that shopping cart had blown onto the road, in front of a vehicle going way too fast. [...] And in a bid to avoid hitting it, the driver had cranked their wheel.  And hit me instead."

I love this introduction chapter, because I feel like it gives us a solid foundation for Reader-chan. We immediately know what her motivations are, how she reacts in the worst situations, and whether or not we'll personally identify with her during the series. It also sets the tone really well, in my opinion: dark and sad with a shining glimmer of hope on the horizon.

The title, 'Unfinished Painting', is a reference to both her neglected work in her apartment and to her life being cut short before she can be fully realized.

"Every morning, I gave [the easel with her painting] a nasty side eye, wondering when I’d just get rid of the stupid thing.  Maybe it’d be good to start fresh on a new piece."

"I [..] crossed over to where my easel had remained untouched [...] The painting on the canvas was half-finished, a work-in-progress that’d never quite made “progress”.  It was an ambitious landscape painting: colorful sunrise breaking over the Colorado Rocky Mountains, with clouds encircling the highest peaks and rays caressing the jagged edges of the cliff faces.  It’d been detailed, almost obsessively so, and vivid."

"I traced the edges of the painting fondly.  It was supposed to be my best work yet.  And it had been.  For a time."

The parallels become even clearer when digging into the color symbolism of red paint.

"[..] in a fit of rage, I’d thrown an entire tube of red paint at [the painting].  Crimson splatters dot the scenic mountains like blood spray."

"All the hopes and dreams inside my head smear across the pavement like paint spatters on a canvas.  Just a red, red stain."

But, there's also the implication that death isn't the end. That she can take this and make it better.

"The painting wasn’t necessarily ruined; I could still restore it if I worked hard."

"Maybe it’d be good to start fresh on a new piece.  If I ever found inspiration to draw or paint, anyway." 

When we consider that 'The painting' is acting as a parallel for her life, it essentially changes this to mean 'My life isn't necessarily ruined; I could still restore it if I worked hard.' And 'Maybe it'd be good to start anew. If I ever found the inspiration to live, anyway.'

Which all points to the idea that a fresh start is, perhaps, a good thing?

All-in-all, I'm super happy with how this turned out. Of course, that could just be my own personal bias, since I wrote it. Who can say?

#REARRANGEDfanfic #fanfiction #fanfic #read on ao3 #read on wattpad #isekai #self insert #chapter by chapter #behind the scenes #writing community #author speaks #self commentary #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen fanfic #gojo x reader #gojo x you #gojo x oc

[thefirstknife]

Mara is being a classic manipulative abuser trying to sway everyone to pity her and putting the spotlight on her own grief rather than the immeasurable suffering she has caused others, and the fandom is falling for it hard. As someone who will spend likely the rest of my lifetime healing from the hurt caused by someone like her and hangs out with many fandom friends with the same experiences... it's just really anxiety inducing and hurtful to see how large chunks of the fandom are so quick to praise and adore her for her "character growth". She is upset to be facing consequences for her actions and is trying to get pity. She is a horrible person and a fantastic character and she should be allowed to be the asshole that she is. She doesn't have to be good to be enjoyable. I am terrified the narrative will go the way of having Crow forgive her because that's the "good" and "kind" thing to do, thus essentially saying abuse victims need to be the "bigger person" and forgive their abusers. Not even gonna get into how she used the Awoken people from the first moment. There's nothing wrong with loving Mara but I think all of you need to take a step back and listen to people who have met real life Maras and understand just how messed up your support of her is when you're touting her as this traumatised person just trying to do what she believes is right (true) which makes her good and worthy and simply misunderstood (false, her trauma doesn't absolve her of being a cunt). She isn't growing, she's just further manipulating people and making things about herself. There is no moral failing in enjoying characters who are horrible people. She's no different from Clovis with her god complex and having slightly more noble intentions doesn't excuse her whatsoever. Her remorse might be genuine but at the moment she isn't seeking to provide any reparations to her victims, she just want people to feel bad for her being sad.

I was abused by my older brother, emotionally and physically, who manipulated (and still does) people around him.

I shouldn't have to say this, but I'm getting really tired of people assuming that everyone who sees some value in Mara's character growth has never been abused. That assumption is disrespectful and forces the person you're telling this to out themselves about their own abuse. Because if I don't, then people will just continue saying that I can't possibly understand what it's like. I understand. Unfortunately, personally. I would advise not to approach random people telling them that they can't understand what it's like because they happen to like Mara as a character.

Another thing that I want to mention at the start is that I have never in my life claimed that Mara did nothing wrong or that she isn't a bad person. She is. It's a part of the reason why she's a fascinating character. She's an uncompromising leader who worked under the idea that the end justifies the means and that she is the only one that can see us through to that end. It's a cruel life for everyone around her.

Her trauma doesn't absolve her of being a cunt, but it does explain why she is one. I think this is not only valuable, but crucial to understand because that explains that her cruelty wasn't out of sick malice and enjoyment of hurting others.

If we want to care about abuse, we have to understand that parental neglect is also abuse. Mara is also an abuse victim. This also doesn't absolve her of her actions, but it does explain them. Mara's recent new line in which she tells Elsie about Osana Sov, her mother, is a classic abuse victim story about parental abuse. It's one that rarely gets acknowledged because that type of abuse is structured specifically in a way to go unnoticed. But it's abuse nonetheless. And I'm sorry but if we care about abuse victims, we also have to care about abuse victims who become cunts. That's the only way to really fix the situation.

And I do genuinely believe in fixing the situation. I know that a lot of people don't want their abusers to get better or to change and I also know that a lot of people don't believe that their abusers CAN get better and change, but they can. Not all of them of course, but some can. Insisting that Mara is not actually changing and is just pretending and being manipulative again is your trauma talking. The text is incredibly clear in this scenario and it's not just coming from Mara herself; it's coming from people around her. So unless we believe that literally every character (including incredibly perceptive ones like Elsie or Ikora) would fall for Mara's every word even when they never did so previously, Mara is genuinely changing and she isn't manipulating anyone or pretending to be trying to get better for good girl points. That's incredibly uncharitable interpretation where you have to go out of your way to insist that she's just pure evil. It's equally incorrect as saying that Mara is pure good.

Again, I know that not everyone is capable of dealing with that in the same way or same time as someone else. There was a time in my life when I genuinely wanted my brother to just die and be gone from the world and that he is not deserving of any introspection or the ability to change. And I know there are horrific people who have done truly unforgivable things and that it's hard to think about them as people deserving of effort and change. But if those people put in the effort and want to change, we have to give them that second chance.

Of course, their victim is not obliged to help them or be in their presence ever again. This is a right that Crow is currently exercising, with no end in sight. But if he eventually chooses to give it a go? His story will not be worth any less to an abuse victim. It won't align with everyone's story, but it will align with some of them and again, if we care about abuse and abuse victims, then we also have to care about those that aren't identical to us. It's not about being the "bigger person." I don't want to be prove being a bigger person to my brother, I just genuinely think that it would be better for everyone involved if he changed and worked through all of our issues and we were a normal family.

The text is also more than clear about Clovis who has never in his life believed that he is wrong or that anything that he did was wrong, including all suffering he caused to all of his family and humanity. Like, this cannot get any clearer. And the game directly made that comparison to debunk it in a very on-the-nose way: in a full dialogue in-game. Clovis doesn't think anything he did was wrong; Mara does (and Rasputin admits to the same).

I would also like to point out that the game is filled with abusers who never get a fraction of the same flack. Calus is a massive abuser who neglected and emotionally manipulated and punished Caiatl her whole life, as well as treated his people as accessories to his own goals and tossed them into suffering and death for his own amusement. Not even for anything dire like saving all life in the solar system; for pure amusement. Reading about Gahlran is a special type of horrific depiction of Calus' disregard for people's autonomy and safety.

People also for some reason don't see it, despite it being incredibly clear in the lore book, but the Witness abused Rhulk into obedience through isolation and manipulation. It picked Rhulk because he was already on the edge and then it used isolation and manipulation abuser tactics to sway him away from his people and turn him into the genocidal unquestioning obedient follower that he became.

Savathun was also a fairly abusive person as well and probably the best comparison with Mara. She was knowingly manipulating her siblings, and her nephews, and also her children, for whom she had very little love and care. She also completely ignored them and left them pretty much for dead when she decided to become a Lightbearer. And you know what? Savathun is also an abuse victim herself as well. She is a traumatised person that has been on the receiving end of manipulation and we all feel very bad for her circumstances. And Savathun also wanted a second chance; and she got it!

Clovis was a massive abuser whose wife had to run away from him and hide, who did not see his child and his grandchildren as real individual people. He manipulated every single one of them, most of all Elsie, to whom he most likely lied about her disease to make her accept the Exo body and to whom he directly said that he is in control of all information about her own body. He also did not view any people as real people and instead, they were all experiments. Reading his logbook and his extra experiments (warning for medical trauma and body horror) is, to borrow words from an in-game character, "a gratuitous exercise in horror." He has never, not once, said or did anything that shows he regrets it or thinks anything he did was wrong.

You might say "but nobody is making excuses for Calus or Savathun or the Witness or Clovis!" And like, yes they are. They're never addressed as abusers and they have plenty of fans who treat them just like their cool blorbos. A really interesting example is the Witness who, by god, has a really cool design, but whom people are consistently treating only like a sexy otherworldly alien who is just sooo shippable with its abuse victim.

And as much as that makes me super uncomfortable, same as Calus bros who to this day swear that he's actually someone worthy of following or that Clovis is just a poor little meow meow that everyone is being too mean to, I am not here to tell people that they aren't allowed to do those things. And I am not going to send them guilt-tripping asks telling them that I am an abuse victim and that they cannot possibly have similar experiences because they post positively about these characters. And I certainly can't claim that none of them understand abuse.

I don't know why Mara is the only one that gets this sort of response. Mara is both an abuser and an abuse victim, she was a miserable person as a human to the point where she straight up decided to commit suicide. She was a cruel leader who believed that only she alone can save the world and that everybody else is at her disposal to be used as she wants. And she has since learned how awful she was and regrets it. She wants to change and be better. No matter the timeline, she remains our steadfast ally until the end. It's really not that difficult. There's no double or triple deceptions and manipulations involved.

Me and many others have actually literally been talking about how Destiny writing is currently focused so much on every character sounding like they've been going to therapy and how everyone is super introspective about their problems and wrongdoings. I assume this is because we're slowly wrapping things up and we can't have characters being too ambiguous in the face of our endgame enemies, but no matter what's the reason for it is, the conflicts and characters have been getting increasingly more straightforward. Mara is not going to flip the switch on us.

If you for any reason can't stand to see a storyline in which someone like Mara gets a second chance, that's something that you will have to deal with in your own time. Disengaging from the story is okay. Disengaging from the fandom is okay. Sometimes media will tell a story about your experience that doesn't align with yours perfectly, but it does align with other people who have been through similar issues.

And in case of Destiny, this is a story whose main theme is "second chances." Mara wants one so she deserves one. Savathun wanted one and she deserved one. Even Calus or Clovis or even the Witness; if they want one, they deserve one. It's okay to not want to forgive any of them personally and even to struggle with the fact that the story is trying to pass that as the right thing to do, but again, that's something for everyone to deal with in their time. And please don't make assumptions about other people and their relationship with abuse.

#destiny 2 #mara #abuse tw #long post #ask #ok to reblog btw #or add to

[haley770]

i dont even know how to begin this. i know i dont have any followers and i only post art but it doesnt sit right with me to not say anything.

when i started sharing my art on here, it was because i wanted somewhere to keep track of my progress, as well as share things that i was proud of and just in general things i spent time on. i did not ever plan on making any text posts, i have never made text posts anywhere online, i have only ever posted my art and drawings. this is about shelby shubble,(and wilbur soot) and includes the topic of abuse and manipulation so please be safe and careful. also please take care of yourselves <3 you are loved and valid.

to start: i am so proud of shelby for speaking about this. she really is so powerful for this. i am so glad she is able to heal, work through this, and speak about it publicly in front of so many people. she is so brave for all of this and i wish her, as well as anybody else affected, the best. if you do not know about what is going on and are currently a wilbur soot fan(i dont know if this applies to anyone but just in case) i urge you to please watch shelbys VOD. please educate yourself, if you see this and dont do anything AND still support him, you are choosing to stay ignorant.

to anybody reading who WAS a fan of wilbur soot, it is not your fault that you supported him. you did not know him. you did not know him. we only know a limited amount about this situation, and remember that it is serious. please do not make jokes about this. it can invalidate people. after this it is clear he is a manipulative asshole. please do not blame yourself and please take care of yourself. it is okay to feel betrayed or angry. it is okay to feel sad about this. it is okay that something/someone you once felt comfort in, you now feel disgusted with. it is okay to feel grief. it is okay to feel shocked. i wish everyone including myself could look back on the time you enjoyed him and/or his content positively, but it is also okay if you dont nor do you wish to. you are valid. i also just hope everyone realizes how dangerous he really is as a person and how manipulative he is. shelby made this very clear. he is dangerous. he is DANGEROUS. please remove your support from him and give it towards supporting shelby and anyone else who he has hurt(emotionally and physically). and, if you choose to support him after this, please consider WHO you are supporting. he is DANGEROUS. he is MANIPULATIVE. i understand this can be a lot, it can hurt, and it can be overwhelming, but that does not excuse the fact that he hurt people. do not interact with or use any of my art if you continue to support him.

i have previously posted 2 drawings that i have since deleted. these pieces, an oil pastel drawing and an animatic, were fanart for lovejoy and in turn wilbur soot, who i NO LONGER support. i make art because it is a hobby and passion of mine. i thought for a couple days whether or not i wanted to delete the posts or to keep them up. at first, i was going to leave them up because i made this blog to track my art, but in the end, i decided that i could not keep them up. a couple hours after i deleted them, i saw wilburs 'apology' and even though i had already made my decision, it sunk in even deeper. i do not wish to support him at all. i completely understand if anybody does not remove posts involving wilbur soot. i respect your decision and you do not have to explain yourself. and just a reminder, just because you once supported him does not mean you are a bad person. you are allowed to do as you wish, you are your own person and i will not shame anybody for doing otherwise(except if you continue to support him, please watch shelbys VOD, you will see how much harm she endured, how truly horrible he is, and how dangerous he really is). i myself have ultimately decided that i couldnt live with peace if i kept any post related to him up on my blog. and because this affects so many of his ex fans, it is important to consider yourself and your health.

his what some might call an 'apology' was actually apalling and i think it goes to show what kind of person he really is. it makes me feel SICK. i am glad to hear he is in therapy and receiving help, and i hope he continues this, but it does not excuse or undo the damage that he has done. we do not know exactly what happened, so please keep this in mind when it comes to everything. but, his manipulation will not work anymore now that we know who he really is. the entire statement is just manipulation in writing. he made the whole statement all about him. he did not apologize one bit. he does not own up to shit in his statement. he should be at the very least apologizing to shelby, yet all he did was try to invalidate her. shelby does not accept his statement, which speaks in and of itself. it is one of the worst statements i have EVER seen. i dont even know why i had expected anything better from him. really goes to show how WE DO NOT KNOW HIM. i do hope he realizes how horrible and manipulative it is and starts to change, but i will not be around to see it happen.

i am leaving this for the end because it is not as important, but i do wish to be honest, open, and to share this as well as my feelings. for anyone who is feeling lonely or upset: i will admit that wilbur soot had been my favorite content creator and musician since 2020. while i have consumed much less of his content in the last few months, minus his music, i have consumed so so many hours of his content in general over the last (almost)4 years. i just want to reitorate, we did not know him. okay, he was the reason i started listening to music, his music in particular had been in my top songs since i made a spotify account in 2020 and have brought me immense comfort in the past, especially during hard times. so many of my interests stemmed from him, geoguessr, flags, languages, my music taste, so many. after this, i will never be able to see him the same or listen to his music the same again. everything was fake. he lied about genuine things to cater to his audience. he used us and his friends. i am completely disgusted. a reminder, we do not know him but these things are clear. i do not and will not support a known manipulative abuser. i am seeing so many things in a completely different light now and i am so ashamed to have ever have supported this man. if anybody feels this way, please just remember it is not your fault. you are not alone. i am in full support of shelby shubble and the other people who have spoken out about him and the things they endured from him. i am so so proud of her as well as the others and am so glad she was able to come to terms with the abuse, as well as getting the courage to be able to speak up about this situation against wilbur. i will not tolerate anybody who supports him, it actually makes me sick. i would also like to add this, before wilburs statement and after watching shelbys VOD, i believed that it was 100% him. i did not want to take the chance of supporting an abuser even before he released his statement. i was in full support of shelby and unfollowed him on everything. this whole thing was shocking. i was so disappointed. not solely because my favorite musician was an abuser, but because i trusted him. i know this isnt about me. i know i didnt know him. but i think it is okay for us, to feel betrayed though. he always spoke up against things and he painted a picture of him being a good person. looking back i can also think of so many things that were played off as jokes and i feel so bad that i ever seen them in that way. i am glad i had once found happiness and comfort in wilbur soot and his community at one point(over the last 3 years) but that time is over. support victims. take care of yourself. you are important and valid. your experiences are valid. people love you. drink water and get a snack. take a shower. go get some sleep. take a couple deep breathes, it will be okay. it will be okay. i think it is important to acknowledge your feelings to process them. you matter to people and your feelings are valid. i know there are people who need to hear this. it will be okay.

once again, i dont think i can emphasize enough how important it is that we support shelby and anyone else affected at this moment. they were vulnerable to protect us and others from him in the future and they are just so brave for that. i promise i have no ill intentions with this post. i wish shelby the best. i do not support wilbur soot. FUCK WILBUR SOOT. i do not support lovejoy. i just could not not say anything about this situation because i had been such a big wilbur soot fan up until shelby had spoken out. i love shelby so much and i admire her bravery <3 i tried to write everything down that i could think of, but this is probably going to be the only time i talk about this. my heart goes out to shelby and anyone else wilbur soot hurt. GO SUPPORT SHELBY

ONE MORE TIME, go support shelby and PLEASE take care of yourself. your feelings are always valid. you are loved. it will be okay. i do not WANT likes or notes left on this. i want people to be aware and reminded they are valid and to not invalidate their feelings and to uplift shelby and her story.

#shelby shubble #shubble #tw abuse #wilbur soot

[mlobsters]

supernatural s7e11 adventures in babysitting (w. adam glass)

when this started i was like. is this... going to be a twilight new moon reference...

which is my favorite scene in the series, it's my favorite adaptation of how the book did it (a blank page with just the month name for 3 pages in a row), and it's one of my most favorite and memorable usages of music in a movie.

while the circumstances are less permanent, new moon really hit for me with grief. and in fact i made a little parallel thing with this scene in spn s2e3 bloodlust (sera wrote that one) when sam and dean are in the thick of john just dying.

i wrote a little bit (under the cut) about my own parents deaths in the last episode and as ever this show pokes at my dead parents feelings and i'm not sure this episode is gonna go down with me. john dying was rough on me in that stirring up personal grief way, i'm hoping to not have a repeat of that experience.

(minor music rant, i think why it gets to me so much is because i am such a pushover and so easily emotionally manipulated by tv/movie music. *usually* if a show wants me to fell sad, they're gonna hit that button with music if nothing else. and i dislike it when i feel like i'm being manipulated. so to have a show not be able to hit that low bar, when i am already extremely emotionally connected to the show, THAT is notable. and not good. because like i said, i'm a cheap date. like just for a second there i felt that real sadness with this generic sad piano score happening as we go from sam and dean arguing and deciding to work different jobs to sam knocking on the kid's door. it was right there! but it petered out as soon as it came. -- edited to add: not surprisingly, it's a jay gruska ep)

wolverine, is that you?

teen wolf s3e8 visionary - madison mclaughlin as paige krasikeva

i thought the kid looked familiar, paige in teen wolf?? baby derek had to mercy kill her

surely dude would have a scarred up arm by now, with the number of times he's slicing himself. on the same wavelength again, i also suggested this little test back in episode 6 :p

FRANK Do I look like I know? You think it's easy to see this deep into what's real and also be bipolar with delusional ideation? There is no pill for my situation, sweetiepop, so, yeah, best guess – the bigmouths are onto me. Next question.

cue reading the delusional disorder wiki page, i didn't realize delusions could come without other symptoms of psychosis

so i think i've seen stuff he's been in but nothing jumping out worth grabbing a picture of. but he keeps pinging a) tom sizemore b) that he's somehow related to mark sheppard/crowley c) patton oswalt.

FRANK Got the equipment arranged. Come and get your costume on. We can scoot. DEAN "Costume"? What?

okay, that was cute.

not cute for me, the bumbling around on the cherry picker -_-

SAM (on phone) Dean, hey. So I think this guy was hunting a Vetala. Um, Dad took one down back in the day. Silver knife to the heart, twist, they're done. He says they're maladjusted loner types – like to knock a guy out, drag him home, feed slow. So, if Krissy's dad got grabbed, there's a chance he might still be alive. Be nice to get this girl's dad back home to her, you know? All right, I could use your help. Call me.

hitting us over the head with the point again. GOOD TO GET A DAD BACK TO THEIR KID HUH

you just said you could use dean's help.. but you went alone anyway and got jumped (very easily i might add) and bitten? great decision making, sam

DEAN How long was I out? FRANK 'Bout 36 hours.

excuse me WHAT. what a cheap way to add a bunch of tension and conflict that's also completely not believable. i don't care how sleep deprived he was, unless there was some medical condition happening there IS NO WAY.

FRANK Did I mention you look awful? DEAN Yes. Maybe because somebody I cared about just got shot in the head. And this is like shoving a rock up a hill. And – screw you. FRANK Here's my advice you didn't ask for – quit. DEAN What? FRANK You want to keep going? DEAN I want Dick Roman on a spit. FRANK But you're gonna drive yourself into the ground first. Good plan. DEAN I'm not gonna quit. It's not even an option. I'm not gonna walk out on my brother.

not totally sure how quitting equates to walking out on sam, but okay. oh wait, was he saying quit hunting altogether? (that totally went over my head, i just am realizing now after finishing the episode and rereading before posting lol)

KRISSY My dad left, and he didn't come back. Sam left, and he didn't come back. I give you the info, you leave, you don't come back.

she makes a good case and we get awkward roadtrip with kid for dean

DEAN Because I hunted one that turned out to be two a couple years back. KRISSY And you never told Sam? Wow, thanks. How 'bout sharing that with the rest of the class so we don't all get killed? DEAN Sam was away at Stanford, smartass.

okay but what? if sam was at school then john was alive and somehow dean never got that information to john so he'd update his journal? i don't think there's a gap that this could have worked in when john was dead but sam wasn't with dean for long enough to do a hunt/not talk about it. weird.

anyway probably just a segue to bring up college with the kid.

KRISSY So... Guess I'm retiring – one and done. DEAN Really? How you feel about that? KRISSY Who knows? Maybe I'll go to Stanford like Sam. KRISSY We're so lame. DEAN Yeah, we are. Take care of yourself.

that was sweet.

SAM You know what? Good for them. DEAN Yeah. It's nice to walk away from someone and feel like they could be okay. How about you? How you doing? You all right? SAM No. I'm definitely not. But, you know, I mean, um, I think, maybe... I just want to work. SAM Should I even ask? DEAN I'm fine. SAM "Fine," meaning...? DEAN You're right. We should just... work, right? And figure out a way to kick Dick Roman's ass. Well, hey, we are the professionals.

obstinate as dean can be about some things, he sure will take other people's advice to heart and start implementing it. though faking the smiles for that long while driving was creepy and sad

is it too much to ask for sera gamble to unironically like twilight???

#supernatural #spnwatch #spn 7x11 #sideburns #twilight new moon #spnhiky #hiky #madison mclaughlin #teen wolf #paige krasikeva #Youtube #adam glass #lykke li #chopsurveillance #spn musical score #jay gruska

[sweetcloverheart]

Clover Rants Miraculously: Gabriel and the Lesson (un)learned

You know, what pisses me off the most about Gabriel never having his identity as Hawkmoth exposed to Adrien or being brought to justice (which would be a little more tolerable if it was a Lex Luthor-esque situation where Gabriel just has too much power/sway in his civilian life that making him face justice for his crimes as Hawkmoth/Monarch is just near impossible for the heroes at the moment) isn’t just that the plot is basically giving him a literal “Get out of jail free” card - it’s that even with all this, nothing will change. Come season 6, the Miraculous-less Gabriel will simply go back to being neglectful of his son and keep him at arms length as he tries to manipulate his friends and girlfriend away from him for being “bad influences” and continues to try and have him isolated from the world at large - and the only difference between that and the past will be that he no longer has his Hawkmoth/Monarch activities as an excuse anymore. Oh sure, they’ll play up that his grief over Emilie is still weighing him down (though now without any miraculous to help save her, does he even have any excuse to still morn anymore?), but other than that? No excuse. He can’t purposely upset people now that he can’t akumatize them, he can’t force Adrien to leave the country for modeling jobs now that he’s let him quit and can no longer make large-scale schemes to endanger all of Paris to threaten Ladybug over, and he can’t excuse being absent/uninvolved in Adrien’s life because no longer being Hawkmoth means he has all the free time in the world to interact with his child. And yet he’ll continue on. Gabriel will no longer have the means to justify his emotional abuse towards Adrien except that the story simply demands it (unless they plan on sending him to Brazil too).

And when it finally comes time for Adrien to learn of the secret kept from him (Not that his father’s a supervillain, mind you - That would make Adrien imperfect, and the narrative can’t allow any sort of flaw to touch their protagonist’s perfect boyfriend. He can learn that both Marinette and Gabriel know who Hawkmoth is though...), it won’t be Gabriel who apologizes, for neglecting and emotionally abandoning his son to wallow in his own grief to the point that he dabbled in dangerous magics and indirectly assisted in Lilamoth’s ascent to supervillainy just to spite his nemesis (and for using his amok to pull him alongside his whims like a puppet). And it won’t be Nathalie who apologizes either, for numbly standing by while his father basically abandoned his child (who she’s come to see as her own) in a desperate attempt to rebuild his family, and then aided him out of her own misguided form of love until she finally realized things had gone too far. It won’t even be Felix or Plagg, the former who knew what a dangerous person his uncle was and the crimes he was committing but chose to tell his cousin nothing out of spite and “tough love”, while the latter likely chooses to keep Adrien in the dark out of love and loyalty (and because the laws of the Kwami prevent him from saying anything).

No - instead, it’ll be Marinette who apologizes, as the show forces her to self-flagellate and beg for forgiveness in Gabriel’s place over having to be made by the narrative and circumstances to keep mum about the identity of the man who spent the better part of their teenhood tormenting them through monsters and a manipulated public. Marinette will be the one to apologize, for the fact that Adrien’s father chose spite and villainy over his family and taking responsibility for himself, for the fact that a new Hawkmoth is terrorizing the city, for the fact that his mother has remained comatose, for everything terrible that has, can, and will happen after the last episode of season 5 because she has to learn her lesson no matter what, and because the story is adamant in preventing Adrien from having this one bit of agency and closure for himself in his storyline, and will now place the burden on his partner (who likely will be given no choice but to keep Gabriel’s identity a secret for him while the story treats it like a active act of betrayal) to bear - because god forbid we let the adult man who made the active and conscious decision to fight a pair of preteens over magical jewellery (to the point that he literally threw away the chance to save everyone the headache and suffering (and after having it basically handed to him on a silver platter)), then purposely threw away the magical brooch he was using to terrorize the city and its people just to spite them once he had been beat, face any consequences for his actions, let alone be forced to face the fact that maybe, his actions weren’t protecting his son like he thought

#Clover Rants Miraculously #Miraculous Ladybug #ML Salt #ML Spoilers

[horizon-verizon]

Hello there

How do you think Ryan would excuse Aemond's crimes against the riverlands and house strong?

Alys Rivers plus that scene in S1E9 lets us know that Aemond will possibly be made into a sexually abused young man at the psychological mercy of his own older female lover/WAR PRIZE. And in canon, he starts burning down the Riverlands after Rhaenyra takes King's Landing. So his doing that would probably come after his fear, rage, and grief over him not being able to do anything for his own mother and sister and feeling the biggest failure despite having the biggest and oldest, and fiercest dragon (who he may or may not be in love with and truly desire but can't have, we'll see what the writers decide). All of this will culminate into something like Bogus-Daenerys of GoT, where he goes on a rampage against the wrong people out of feeling totally helpless and useless. (Original Canon Quote)

Poor Aemond.

As for the Strongs, I am less certain. The writers could go with could be that one of the Strongs -- maybe just Simon Strong -- trying to assassinate him and Aemond decides to kill all of them jic -- not that this actually absolves him from murdering children, but that's the HotD way. We saw Lucerys. We might hear then, people saying "like how Lucerys took out his eye, Aemond was just protecting himself". As if the could-be Strong weren't also trying to protect themselves and/or practice their loyalty to rhaenyra's cause by getting rid of this person preemptively, who also holds them all hostage and may have fear from him hating them because of the parentage rumors of the V boys and how Aemond was hurt by one. The writers could adopt the canon of Aemond's motivation to kill the Strongs (being what I said about how he thought the Strongs were both his hated nephews' relatives AND balming Larys for Rhaenyra's win) and make it that he was either under some magical/medicinal influence from his own misadventure or Alys Rivers' manipulation OR again he was so emotionally rent that he decided to take it out on these people.

#aemond targaryen #asoiaf asks to me #aemond's characterization #hotd characterization #hotd predictions #hotd #house of the dragon #hotd critical #hotd comment #aemond's wrongs #the strongs #strong extinction #alys rivers #alys and aemond

[blackbird-brewster]

Ok, so yes Rossi has been getting a disproportionate number of storylines in general. But for the one he's been given in the reboot, I actually prefer it to how some of his others have been handled.

Rossi being shitty and the team being there for him is actual 'team as family' stuff, not just them claiming to be a family but not really acting like one.

Yes, his behaviour is unacceptable, but they are trying to work out how much leeway to give him because he is grieving

They starting to set firmer boundaries. He needs to get his shit together. You have Garcia standing up for herself, both Garcia and Emily giving Rossi their own pep talks about coping skills, etc.

Rossi's grief plot has an impact on a lot of the team. Trying to support someone you care about while protecting yourself is a balancing act.

This is very different to say, Gideon era, when Gideon would just be shitty and people would put up with it because he's in a position of power.

In short, yeah, out of the disproportionate number of Rossi storylines, I am liking this one because of its broader team impact.

I don't mean to excuse Rossi's shitty behaviour, it's just a bit complicated when grief is involved.

Oh, I assume this is in reply to [this post]? I was actually talking about Reid having 100 storylines lol. But I mean, the show has spent a disproportionate amount of time on all the white men over the years, tbrfh. I'm glad you're enjoying the dynamic but I Am Not. As someone who has spent a decade in therapy trying to unpack all of the emotionally manipulative people in my past, Rossi being a total asshole to people is Not enjoyable for me. (I am not invalidating your enjoyment, the following is my personal opinion of this) Sure he's grieving, but that doesn't give him a pass to treat people like shit. And the way the emotional labour always falls on the women on the team is appalling. Emily and Garcia shouldn't have to be like 'Dave go to therapy.' He's a grown ass man, he should know how to behave.

I am fucking proud Garcia straight up said 'You cannot talk to me like that' but that really shouldn't have EVER needed to be said in the first place. I have dealt with insurmountable loss in my life, I have lost an unbearable amount of people I love and you know what, never did I use that grief as an excuse to yell at my friends or family.

Criminal Minds has always been about toxic masculinity traits. Gideon, Hotch and Rossi (and sometimes Derek and Reid) all have the default of 'I will yell at people outwardly instead of being introspective and taking responsibility for my own emotions and actions' It's so so boring to me.

For the FIRST time in the show's history we have a 2:1 ratio of women to men in the main cast. And we STILL are focusing on the ONE white man??? And that focus involves the woman of the BAU holding his little hand and doing tons of emotional labour?? No fucking thanks. Red Flag central.

I used to really like Rossi, but so far the reboot has pushed him into the unbearable category for me.

#criminal minds #cm evolution #cm spoilers #david rossi #cm meta #what-if-the-universe #reply post #toxic masculinity in media

[elonmuskfansgossipblog]

*Replaying to anon*

About the breeding fetish

Listen dear nobody said that he has it all we are saying it allegedly

It's very very weird for men to get a lot of kids just because

And judge women and play with him for the population collapse

He's literally trying to pass the idea that we may should be forced to have babies like breading programs

We all know that ultra rich man have a weird fetishes and it's very weird that E is getting ladies pregnant left and right because if you decided to have a child with someone you have to be absolutely committed and in love with

My theory is because he's obsessed with the population collapse subject that manifested into him wanting kids as much as possible and maybe it's pleasurable for him

He literally didn't even grief on his son when he passed away because he knew he will have some more and he accused his ex-wife of being emotionally manipulative while griefing on her first baby born

I don't understand how you ladies don't find it weird that E is saying that women are the problem why our populations is dying out but he forgets that not everybody is rich and especially in this economy and the mental health crisis cross the world like excuse me who can have more than five kids imagine

Most people with minimum wage can only raise one child and provide financially and emotionally for it

So he better get his blaming somewhere else he doesn't even spend time with his kids lol

Wants to make single women responsible for as many kids as possible and those children going to be fatherless

There's so many problematic stuff about this theory and his belief

But my last opinion is he can rot with the rest of the world collapsing

We don't care we will not have kids to satisfy your capitalism needs

And most of the children will be tate fans and will call women names in comments

.

[atherix]

YOU WANT A GLIMPSE, IM GONNA RANT SO MUCH RIGHT NOW Because I've spammed my friend so much and they need a break from that SO HERE I AM

Typing this all out again is gonna take forever tho. 

So first order of business,

EXCUSE ME, WHAT. I really need to reread midnight.. I just know there's going to to ANGST. Like, I'm gonna cry

Amd this all happened while I was in the middle of draeing (still working on it)

MUMBO AND HIS KID, LIKE COMMON, I WAS ALRESFY SAD /pos

What if mumbos daughter was turned? Then a number of things could sprout off from that.

1) she could have been manipulated into thinking her parents abandoned her

2) she could have grown resentful because Noone came to save her

3) she may not even remember her parents

Then like, the coven thst mumbo was turned to, what if his daughter was turned by the same coven, and they were just separated the whole time so... when he remembers (BECAUSE OF CUB STUFF) they go to thst coven to get rid of it AND SHES THERE

what jf she tries to kill him and then mumbo realizes who she is

Wait, if she was ruenned as a kid, she would still be a kid right! Is she forever a child! WAIT MORE THOUGHTS,

if she was tuned as a child and stays a child forever, does her brain still develop? Does she mentaly grow up?

If his kids are alive they are very traumatized *cough- just like everyone in this series- coughcough

---what if his daughter remembers the braiding hair stuff.

Because my brain has a hold on the hair brading thoughts but that's another thing entirely that I could rant about for hours as well

What if mumbos daughter was turned jnto a cove  and she never excaped?

Ohh the emotions mumbo will feel when he sees them again (if this is even happening)

Sad ,confused, happy, grief, anger

If anyone hurt his kid he would go on a murdering spree

I swear if BLONDIE shows up, I'll step thought my phone screen and beat her up, I will.

Tubbo have siblings??? And then I have mumbo family thought too. Soo Many because for the past 2ish days all I've been able to think about is that

And like how braiding hair is culturally important to scar and emotionally significant to mumbo, like

My heart

Amd them how mumbo probably loved to dress his kids up all fancy, like him.

Aaaaaaaaaa

And then because his first family all died (or so we were lead to beleive) he's over protective of the one he has now so letting tubbo leave not only went against his vampire instinct but also his own fears,, probably,,,

And like how he couldn't see the good he had done in boatem until grian and scar were like DUDE, LOOK, YOURE AMAZINF OK, LOLK HERES THE HISTORY BOOKS TO PROVE IT

And then how the mimics looked like his kid

He never got the chance to talk it out or process it that much before scars flux and then he remembers stuff just to forget again because PLOT

And then also___ when grjan got kidnapped, mumbo was probably so terrified thst he'd loose another part kf his family, LIKE

THINKING ABOUT THIS HAS ONKY CAUSED ME SO MUCH MORE PAIN

Qnd I know another way to get mumbo to wear a dress,

His daughter would want to play dress up or something and he'd dress up with her and have a princess tea party if she wanted that.

I just- yeah, I can't

That ask make my brain go WOOOOOOOO

A lot of this is just reaches into the dark, but yeah. Aqaaaa. Mmm words :)

All very good thoughts and no questions that I can answer hehe :) OKAY BUT THE FACT YOU HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS AND SOMEONE BRINGS IT UP LMAO

#ask #Midnight Series #long post #hermitshipping #<- mentioned #god I love analysis/theories this is Delightful to me #gods wouldn't that be something huh #if any of Mumbo's children are actually alive #:) #can you imagine the guilt he would feel :)

[themoonofblueside]

I think despite many faults of season 4 of stranger things, one thing i will give to them is creating emotionally heavy scenes for morally bad characters without having any redemption arcs. I know many people complained about how much they put weight into Billy's death by making Max feel immense guilt and grief over him but the show did not excuse his behaviour nor was he portrayed as a good character.

Although they play an antagonist role; Billy, Brenner and even Jason is portrayed as humans. The show doesn't let us forget that Billy was heavily abused even in his cruel moments, it shows Brenner caring about Eleven and the other kids while still remaining seeing them as objects to his mission. Jason, even when threatening Nancy, supports red teary eyes for both his friend and girlfriend's deaths. Even Henry, who manipulates and tricks El, is clearly another child who was experimented on and prisoned under Brenner's hand. The show lets the viewers see the reasons and emotions behind their actions but does not redeem them. I appreciate that a lot.

#Stranger things #stranger things s4 spoilers #stranger things s4 #Stranger things s4 vol2 #El hopper #Eleven #Jane hopper #billy hargrove #Jason stranger things #doctor brenner #Idk jason's surname help #max mayfield

[shallowseeker]

Cas should’ve taken the lead on sounding the alarm about soulless Jack

...and talked to Jack about it.

(Image from here.)

///

Look, I know Dean was awful during the divorce arc, but the thing is…Cas did need forgiveness. (And just because Cas asks for it, doesn't mean that Dean has to award it instantly. He has a right to the time needed to process his grief.)

Cas couldn’t have known what was gonna happen with Mary, but the fact is, what happened to Mary could have happened to anyone in their family, even Dean.

By virtue of being a Seraph, Cas knows Jack’s angelic powers better than anyone. He, along with Donatello, is the "local authority” on this issue (souls).

Cas should've talked to Jack

Cas acknowledged that he should've talked to Jack, because he was too afraid to face the truth. But it doesn't excuse the fact that he didn't.

Cas spent billions of years as a soulless being. Surely hearing about Cas's journey throughout that, and hearing about Cas struggling with doing the right thing, regardless of his soul status, would have soothed Jack's anxiety.

He could've brought a friendly angel like Anael to see Jack and discussed how souls aren't the end-all, be-all of existing. Discussed how difficult it is to stay in control of angelic powers and to be careful and tender with the concept of human morality.

Dean's move to visit Donatello was fine and all, but Donny has no grace. Jack is soulless, but he's not graceless.

Angelic emotions

Angels seem to rigidly-robotically control their emotions, and it looks like there’s a good reason for that. (Lucifer, for example, does not control his volatile emotions, and he kills indiscriminately because of it. Remember, it was emotion that helped him break Asmodeus's prison warding.)

Angelic emotions then…are not non-existent…perhaps they even instinctually know that they can be volatile and dangerous. (And that would’ve been fascinating to explore.)

Like, imagine getting backstory on how angels deaden their emotions. Perhaps they train alongside RietZen, who can tattle whenever soldier-angels emotionally falter.

///

Cas needed to tell Dean about the situation

...not just insist that Dean magically tackle Jack's emotions. Cas even invokes a pretty painful period of Dean's life (Soulless Sam).

Now, do I think Dean would've taken the news well? No. I think the situation was extraordinarily painful. I think Dean went straight into DENIAL phase of grieving. Denial and anger are normal emotions in the face of crises, even without what happened to Mary.

However, Cas still should've told him what was going on, especially when he went searching for Chuck again. Besides, anyone could’ve gone to meet with Anael to find that trinket, and Cas could've stayed where he was needed, with Jack.

///

Cas is physically the strongest member of TFW

Like, there’s no way to sugarcoat this: Cas probably shoulda been with Jack at all times since Cas is physically the strongest.

(Kinda like in AU Earth, how Cas was responsible for patrolling Lucifer, when Gabriel was weakened.)

///

Anael was right about Cas being lone wolf

And tragically, Cas was on his way to come clean about it, but it was too late. Shitty situation.

///

Cas wound up pivoting to the same solution the Winchesters were considering: using a cage to buy time

Right after berating Sam and Dean about caging Jack, he tried to go to Hell to get a look at…a cage. This shows that, strategically, Cas knows it's the reasonable move in a sea of terrible moves.

He then calls out Sam and Dean for manipulating Jack to get him into the box, comparing them to Dumah. Of course, he manipulated Dumah by dangling Jack to her as bait to get her to kidnap him, so...

He manipulated Dumah because he felt it was the soundest tactical move, the same way Sam and Dean thought that manipulating Jack was the safest move. (Remember: Jack'd been riddling people with flesh-eating worms, sucking them into Hell crevices, turning them into salt, and not to mention...blaming their mother for her own death.)

///

So yeah, Cas is not blameless.

He has this terrible tendency to wait till the shit hits the fan to act. (This time it was more unfortunate than it was his fault, though.)

Cas does not shoulder all the blame for the situation. It’s just a shitty situation. It’s one of those things that just all around sucks.

#shal meta #cas stuff #spn season 14 #spn moriah #spn jack in the box #spn + coffins #dean/cas + grief #dean/cas #dean/cas + married dynamic #dean/cas + stress on the marital dyad #tfw + losing a child

[heather1815]

So, I know the majority of MLTS readers make Reagan out to be the bad guy, but is he really? I mean if you think about it, his childhood was the complete definition of shitty. No actual family that cared for him (his mother even thought nothing much of him) , never loved, sold by his own grandfather to a gang (clearly not a thing any child should be associated in or with. The only father figure he had was the gangs head leader who just gaslighted and manipulated him. He was made out to kill his only best friend, just so he could rank up on the status pole and go on ‘exciting’ missions. (Then having to live with guilt no child should have) He was abandoned then (which I get, it’s every man for themselves but STILL). Then fast forward, even if he did do this to himself, he’s still widely hated by pretty much everyone around him- so much so that his own leader sends him on a job to make him leave him alone for some time! (6 or more months mind you) He actually succeeds in his mission, but Tord absolutely wrongs him just because Reagen didn’t know Edd was an ‘old friend’ of his!? Reagen wanting revenge has to be justified to some degree right? His lack of love or natural human affection for others is because he really never received it from anyone so he was never properly taught the right way? Either he’s not the bad guy or I’m just crazy! I mean it’s sad that he has no other goal than revenge on those who wronged him! Even though the personal goal he accomplished for both him and Ted was sweet in a way. He admitted he didn’t know what’d he’d do after he accomplished his other acts of vengeance!!

(Sorry, went on a rant there. //)

It’s all good - rants are always welcome!

Reagan’s case is a difficult one to judge cause there are many factors to take into consideration, and I always encourage debate and discussions among the readers.

He suffered greatly growing up, but Reagan believes only his suffering is valid and constantly uses it as an excuse for his actions. He emotionally manipulated Edd, took advantage of Ella’s grief to warp her mind and then used her, and tried to get Tom to kill Red Leader for him just because that would hurt him more. Reagan needs help more than anything; to let go of the past and find a new purpose in life. Problem is that he is too blinded by revenge to ever seek out the help he needs on his own. Reagan is very much a representation of a powertrip fantasy. I believe anyone who has been through some sort of injustice has at one point in their life wished they could get back at their tormentors in some way or another, so we can all relate to Reagan when he gets the power needed to come out on top after witnessing his backstory. It’s when he hurts people who did nothing to him that it becomes a problem. And you know, the whole killing people thing is also kind of not great, but I digress.

Not to worry though. Reagan’s story is far from over ;)

#ask #mlts #mlts reagan