#harmful tropes

[multifandomeweirdo]

Psyche from Lore Olympus

I just needed to rant about her whole character in Lore Olympus. I am a non-black person of color, so this is my opinions of her through the lens of my experiences and knowledge.

This is how she first appears:

This is after Aphrodite turns her into a nymph:

This is her after her human form was restored:

Her while becoming a goddess:

And this is her after becoming a goddess:

Her design:

Some people complain about her design. I agree that her design is inconsistent. She had straight hair, even as a nymph, until over 100 episodes in. I personally don't mind the change in character design. I'll just headcanon that Psyche straightened her hair or styled it specifically in the earlier episodes, and wore her natural hair in the later episodes.

I see a lot of people criticizing her design saying rather racist things, such as "she looks ugly now and that her earlier design was much better." They also say things like "She's forced diversity. Why do we have to bring diversity into this?" I think the art quality as a whole has declined, so yes, Psyche looks worse, but all the characters do. Specifically calling out Psyche feels more like racist beauty standards than a criticism of the art decline. Also, phrases such as "forced diversity" are just silly. Andromeda, a figure from Greek myths, was the princess of Aethiopia, which was supposed to be somewhere below Egypt. She was described by Ovid as dark-skinned, though she has been white-washed by Western artists (that's why she is now portrayed as white). So yes, there was some (not a lot) diversity in Ancient Greek myths, and anyway, it's a modern retelling! In this modern age, with more awareness of race and issues surrounding it, I don't think it's a bad thing to have a more diverse cast of characters.

I don't think that Rachel Smythe originally intended for Psyche to be black, and it was a lazy choice to change her so late. Additionally, she remains the only black character. However, I'm glad that she met the bare minimum of including diversity, as many authors and artists, even today, don't do this.

I think her design is cute overall, though I wish there was more effort put into Psyche's hair. I do like that they kept her brown skin when making her a goddess, instead of giving her an unnatural skin color. My main gripe is that in the myths she had butterfly wings, not these weird purple feathery things. Even the pearlescent wings during her transition to a goddess were better. But the butterflies belong to Persephone in Rachel Smythe's retelling, so Psyche can't have what was one of her symbols.

Now for the criticisms:

I saw this on @genericpuff's page, but the trope of a white man (Eros) "saving" (kidnapping) a woman of color (Psyche) from her horrible arranged marriage is harmful. Again, I don't think Rachel Smythe included this part intending for Psyche to be black, but that doesn't change the fact that this trope has had very harmful implications and effects throughout history.

Then, Eros leaves her when she, tricked by her sisters into trying to kill him, realizes that he is a god. Aphrodite turns her into a nymph and uses her as a test for Eros.

In the original myths, she completed difficult tasks given to her by Aphrodite to prove her "worth" as Eros' wife. We could talk about how she got help for these tasks, but still. The point is that she chose to go through all that for love.

In Lore Olympus, she is merely a test for Eros to pass. Which has some implications, especially since she is a woman of color.

There's also the harmful trope of a woman of color being turned into a nonhuman. Add on the detail that in the Lore Olympus world, nymphs are lower class. Again, implications.

The gods and goddesses in Lore Olympus look down on nymphs while simultaneously fetishizing them. We see Hera be racist to MInthe and no one stands up for her. We see Hades, who has a flower nymph fetish, dating Minthe but not criticizing his family for their bigoted treatment of his own girlfriend.

I'm seeing some similarities to how people of color are treated. And Psyche, a woman of color, is turned into a nymph by Aphrodite, a goddess. Add on how Aphrodite did all this because she felt threatened by Psyche. In real life, we see how people of color suffer when white people feel threatened by them. So... implications.

Conclusion:

I don't think Rachel Smythe had any harmful intent when making Psyche's character. In fact, I think she probably felt that it might bring joy to some readers to see a black woman represented in Lore Olympus. However, she accidentally wrote Psyche into these tropes that have very real, very harmful implications for actual people of color. She could have used Psyche's suffering at the hands of Aphrodite and the treatment of nymphs as a way to speak on societal issues such as racism. However, she didn't. Hera, a canonical racist, is portrayed as a "good guy" and Hades is rewarded for his fetish with a goddess who looks exactly like a flower nymph but isn't one (similar to how white men fetishize women of color but will only date a white woman. And these white women specifically try to look like the race the man fetishizes, the the point where you could call it black-fishing or Asian-baiting or any other similar term). I don't think she meant to write it like this, but she did. It could be a reflection of her own internal biases, or maybe not.

Either way, this is exactly why research before including a non-white or otherwise marginalized character is so important, especially if you have not experienced that kind of marginalization. Even if your intentions are good, you can write harmful things. Being aware of such tropes and stereotypes can help you avoid them, or if necessary, use them to comment on larger issues. Rachel Smythe did not do that, and now we have a world where the racists are the good guys, rewarded with power and worship, and the oppressed, POC-coded, lower-class characters are punished unless they agree completely with the racist good guys (like the "one of the good ones" racial stereotype where a POC is the "exception" out of a "bad race" because they such up to the white main characters). Meanwhile, the only black character is "rewarded" with godhood, not for completing difficult tasks for love, but rather for doing a god's bidding.

I could be reaching. I could be biased because of my own experiences as a (non-black) person of color. However, I think my experiences are what allow me to recognize harmful things in writing.

So anyway, do your research if you want to include a minority character in your writing. Personally, I'd suggest checking out the @writingwithcolor blog. It's a great resource with lots of information.

Thanks for reading if you managed to survive this long rant.

#psyche #lore olympus criticism #anti lore olympus #lo critical #rant #rant post #harmful tropes #person of color #woman of color

[creation-help]

It would be great if characters experiencing psychosis or other derealization symptoms would be portrayed more respectfully and kindly in media and characters. It would be great if it wasn't always to make the character seem threatening, scary or "deranged". As someone who experiences unreality due to trauma often, it's actually much more scary to be on the receiving end of it. I'm not the only one in our family who's struggled with this, and it's more heartbreaking to witness than anything. It's heartbreaking having to see a loved one demonized by their peers and the rest of our extended family bc of psychotic symptoms and hallucinations. To be treated like a rabid animal or inherently untrustworthy

Also for the uninitiated, PSYCHOPATH IS NOT A THING. SOCIOPATH IS NOT A THING. PSYCHOSIS MEANS A STATE IN WHICH THE PERSON EXPERIENCING IT CANNOT DIFFERENTIATE WHAT'S REAL AND WHAT ISN'T. IT CAN INCLUDE HALLUCINATIONS, FALSE BELIEFS AND PARANOIA. IT DOES NOT MAKE SOMEONE VIOLENT OR DANGEROUS, OR MORE PRONE TO HURTING PEOPLE.

This applies to so many other "less popular" mental illnesses and disorders and I'd just love it if it was portrayed as more normal in media and not always given to violent or antagonistic characters. Or to make it seem like someone is "Kooky" and "losing it". If you're explaining shitty behavior on mental illness symptoms that's pretty damn insulting to mentally ill people. Don't fucking interact if you still label people psychos or think mental illness makes people abuse others.

On an additional note, it'd also be good if people with anger issues, regardless of if they stem from mental illness or not, would be portrayed kindly and respectfully

(Neurodivergent (<-includes schizophrenia, psychosis and other cluster b disorders) people are welcome to add on or correct me on the terminology used, neurotypicals and everyone else stay respectful, this isn't about you)

#Harmful tropes #Ableism in media #Ableism #Mental illness #Psychosis #Schizophrenia #Media discussion

[pinkieloveheartpastel]

tw: antiblackness, internalized misogynoir, death mention:

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Nothing pisses me off more than a black person encouraging harmful stereotypes of black people.

I will never forget having to educate an (older at that) black woman online because she insisted (while being a piece of shit and saying all kinds of insulting shit towards feminine black women) that black women couldn’t be soft and dainty and vulnerable, that we had to be tough and strong and basically feel nothing.

I told her that this does not help whatsoever because this is the kind of mindset that gets black people in hospitals KILLED. Not to mention this kind of mindset is misogynoir 101. Thinking that black people can’t be complex and diverse. There is still this idea that black people are so strong that they can’t feel pain, which, of course, goes right back to SLAVERY!!!!

Of course she didn’t want to listen. I just ended it there, but this is a perfect example of black people hurting other black people. Just because you are black doesn’t mean you can’t perpetuate antiblackness. Everyone needs to do their part in changing shit for the better. Everyone.

Stop this. This pains me so much. Get rid of the Strong Black Woman trope for good and please, I beg you, have some fucking sense. I do not want to sit here educating someone who should already know what it’s like to be black out here in this world. Black people continue to lose their life because of this ignorant shit.

I’ve said this before, and I will continue to say this. I don’t care how many times I’ve said it, I will say it until I’m blue in the face.

#antiblackness. #strong black woman #racial stereotyping #harmful tropes #character tropes #misogynoir #death mention tw #internalized misogynoir

[allthebrokenpromises]

(Just a warning my internet cut out when I tried to post this ten minutes ago and I copy-pasted it from a screenshot so there may be spacing issues.)

A trope that consistently ruins media for me is the good old "that's not a disability, it's a super power!" It makes me madder because when it turns out that while the disability a character has isn't 'cured' it's associated with them being the Chosen One of their universe.

Take for example, Team Starkid's Black Friday. It's a decent musical, an engaging plot, but Hannah as a character is something that I really can't take. She has difficulty coping with the world around her because SHE'S SOME KIND OF INTER-DIMENSIONAL CONNECTION AND THE ALIENS ARE FIGHTING WITH HER AS A WITNESS. Meanwhile a lot of the audience is going "look, she's stimming! Autistic icon!" Thing is, she isn't. She may have been written to display autistic traits, but she as a character is NOT AUTISTIC she's MAGICAL and this is NOT OK. If people are recognising a character as representative of a group of people when the character is actually just written with magic powers to serve the plot, it's not ok. People with real disabilities may be capable of things normal people can't easily do, and they may not. But one thing's for sure MY AUTISM IS NOT A MAGICAL SUPERPOWER.

It is a truth widely acknowledged that in fiction disability is often cured, and this is harmful to people with real disabilities. I would argue that disability actually being a superpower is more problematic than curing it, because it doesn't just go away, it's helpful. It's called DISability for a reason. I complained about this to a friend with ADHD and he said "it's essentially telling someone who's hallucinating that the toaster is talking to them" which isn't entirely accurate but still follows my line of reasoning so I'm including it. I will now be going through some good and bad examples.

Encanto: Bruno's OCD. Not the most nuanced portrayal of OCD as I understand it, but a win for it not being either 'cured' or plot relevant. It's not explicit to audience members who don't enjoy researching their media, and it's a slightly stereotyped portrayal, but it's still good. B+.

Nino Kuni (the movie not the game): Does a decent job of actually addressing the impact of disability but turns out to be plot relevant and as a result is cured in the end. C.

Percy Jackson: ADHD and Dyslexia turn out to be plot relevant disabilities and superpowers because the characters belong in an environment that is catered to their disabilities. Characters still struggle with their disabilities at times. Percy is surprised when Annabeth, a person who has spent her life in an environment suited to her disabilities struggles with the same things he does outside this environment because she seems so put together. I like it. A+.

How To Train Your Dragon (movies): Main duo are missing limbs. This limits them in some ways. They are vikings, so they don't really care and do things anyway. A.

Bubble: (Netflix movie, recentish, what prompted this rant) Main character has an Auditory Processing Disorder. This is initially shown as a superpower, though it's shown to have an impact on his life. (I have a lot of other bones to pick with this movie btw but I'm trying to focus on the disability representation) He talks about how he struggles/has struggled with sound significantly (for maybe five minutes). He has noise cancelling headphones to help him with this.But when he takes them off he's in tune with the magic of the city or whatever. Shortly after he opens up about how he has issues with sound, he loses his headphones. Everyone else suddenly remembers he has issues with sound while he is sitting at a loud party and ask if he's ok with the noise. He shrugs and apparently has no non-magical hearing issues for the rest of the film aside from one half-hearted effort at blocking one ear while doing a war cry. Garbage. F. Also the Group Dad is missing a leg he lost in an accident. He's very hardcore, runs with a limp, shatters his prosthetic, is fine with it because this movie is barely an hour and a half and doesn't believe in giving anything depth aside from pounding it into your head that it’s the little mermaid.

We do undeniably need more representation of disability in major media, but it needs to be the right representation. This magical chosen one powers cop out is beyond harmful when characters display traits of a disability because while people won't take it entirely literally, at least when they claim you need a cure they don't act like you can do things they can't so shouldn't complain. Fiction writers apparently see disability as a character flaw, and the rule of fiction is heroes must overcome their flaws.

Feel free to correct me or add to this obviously, I just felt it needed to be said and I can’t speak for everyone.

#i'm legit gonna make a video essay about this it's unleashed some Rage in me #rant #I don't normally complain about representation because I feel unqualified to do so but this trope has been bugging me for years #disability #learning disability #pjo #percy jackson #representation #encanto #adhd #ocd #starkid #autism #actually autistic #how to train your dragon #bad trope #harmful tropes #stereotypes #long post

[coconutlimeverbena]

HQ Twitter is in an uproar at the revelation that Inarizaki might be a private school, thus "ruining" their headcanons of the Miya twins being poor

Then, someone mentioned that people probably headcanon them as poor because their dialect is read as "country", and typically translated as American Southern dialect, and people's bias might lead them to equate that with poor/low-income.

And, y'know what...I agree. Because nothing about them suggests that they grew up struggling; they share a bunk bed because Inarizaki has a dorm. They fought over pudding because siblings are annoying and do things like that. Meanwhile, Karasuno is clearly underfunded and struggling, yet people don't cling to the belief that Karasuno members are poor.

Of course, people can headcanon whatever; Lord knows I have a bunch of canon compliant fics in my bookmarks in which the twins are raised by a struggling single mom. But this is just an example of how stereotypes and bias can cloud something as innocuous as fan content. You don't have to dissect everything, but it's good to keep in mind why you might assume certain things (ex: some of the shit people write about Aran...wtf). It's good to say "wait, why do I think this?"

(One day, in a separate post, I'll write about how people's misconceptions about poor people impact how they discuss and portray Levi Ackerman in fan content/discourse...one day)

#miya Atsumu #miya osamu #inarizaki #haikyuu headcanons #headcanons #tropes #miya twins #haikyuu #my posts #haikyuu thoughts #misconceptions #stereotypes #harmful tropes

[auressea]

I loved The Sandman! but...

I'm uncomfortable with something about the series- it's been making me wince and squirm but it's difficult for me to pin it down and articulate it here. So.

There's a recurring theme or motif that places explicitly gay people as predators. it happens repeatedly and it seems.. a little skewed and excessive.

I wanna discuss it! I want people to think about it and share their perspectives. I'm inviting civil CONVERSATION.

I KNOW there are also straight/unknown characters who are predatory. However there seemed to be an emphasis on the Queer Ones.

Maybe- I'm overly sensitive to this.

Perhaps it's inevitable in a show where there's a tonne of representation of queer people and queer relationships? people are people after all (does The Corinthian count as a 'people'?, does Desire?) regardless of their sexual attraction. some folks are good, some are evil and everything in between.

did the number of queer folks doing shitty things overbalance the number of 'straights'? did it feel equal and balanced to you?

#thoughts? #queer media #representation matters #harmful stereotypes #harmful tropes #The Sandman #help me figure this out #media literacy #analysis #spoilers #Meta

[rayatii]

Currently using my breaks from studying for my bio test on Tuesday thinking of how La rondine contains examples of the Madonna-Whore complex, a Pygmalion plot (tho only a brief mention) and the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, but it’s executed in a way that clearly shows that these tropes and expectations are actually harmful to women.

#raya reflects #opera #la rondine #harmful tropes #ruggero is a good boy but he seriously lacks life experience #and what prunier did to lisette was kinda assholish tbh #sorry boys but do not expect a Pure™ working-class Manic Pixie Dream Girl who's Not Like Other Girls™ to automatically brighten your lives #and ESPECIALLY do NOT try to actively alter your girlfriend into the image of what you would consider the Perfect Woman™

[elainiisms]

y'all are always complaining about how gay rep has to be perfect and unproblematic like speak for yourself i personally love it when they try to murder each other

#like.... look i recognise that these things can be harmful BUT I DESERVE SOME FUN TOO #like im so sorry but i have the most intense love hate relationship with the death trope i could never let it go #i love tragedy #hannigram #villaneve #catradora #tamber #tryst six venom #a lesson in vengeance #the handmaiden #evervale #rhaenicent #gallavich #fuffy #hizzie #wlw #mlm #loustat #iwtv

[you-are-the-lightning]

The disabled villain: why sensitivity reading can’t kill off this ugly trope – podcast by Jan Grue

For centuries, fictional narratives have used outer difference to telegraph inner monstrosity. As someone who uses a wheelchair, I’ve learned you can’t just edit out a few slurs or bad words to fix this – it’s often baked deep into the story

[text version]

#jan grue #disability #representation #story telling #villains #meta #harmful tropes #rec

[zykamiliah]

the only yandere character i respect is luo binghe and that's because he learned his yandere-y actions would get him nowhere.

reformed yandere should be in his resume

#svsss #i love how mxtx turned the trope upside down and showed us how mentally ill the yandere character can get #and how harmful it can be to the character themselves #why aren't other writers doing this

[nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius]

No actually hi I’m not done talking about episode 3 because have we mentioned yet how fucking monumental it is that the little girl who you’d think would be a prime candidate for a damsel in distress storyline fought her way out *almost entirely single-handed.* Not the man. Her. She never gave up and absolutely blitzed her way out of there without even needing a proper plan. Crosshair is just her backup. The subtle messages in this show mean everything, we have 6’4 of seething super soldier with a vendetta and a gun and it’s his baby sister who’s the one masterminding their way to safety *I can’t tell you how feral I am about this*

Star Wars feminism is so good when it’s good, Leia would be so fucking proud of her 

#morgan speaketh #take that damsel in distress trope and throw it right out the window thank you and goodnight #the bad batch flips harmful stereotypes on its head with SPITE and that’s one of the many things i love about it #mega really said into the garbage chute flyboy #bad batch spoilers #tbb spoilers #tbb omega #tbb crosshair #tbb s3 #tbb season 3 #the bad batch #tbb

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

can we stop the trend of putting traumatized and mentally unstable characters into romantic relationships as their “happy endings”?

#this is about catra but it’s also about hunter #THIS IS NOT WHAT THEY NEED. #they don’t need a badass girlfriend they need ✨THERAPY✨ #stop acting like romance is a cure to mental health issues #it’s such a harmful message to send to kids #again props to steven universe future for being one of the only children’s shows that actually promote therapy #steven gets with connie ofc but he also takes the necessary steps to actual healing like seeing a therapist and moving out of his hometown #anyway yeah #as a psych major this trope kills me every time #i just had to rant #spop critical #toh critical

[matan4il]

It shouldn’t be this heartbreaking to be a Jew online.

(in case anyone misses this point, which I think is very important: it takes more than reblogging a “Happy Passover” post to be an actual ally to Jews online. Education is vital)

#jumblr #frumblr #jewish #jew stuff #jew #jewish stuff #antisemitism #antisemites #antisemitic #look at me mom i get to use all the fun tags! #judaism #jews #fight antisemitism #really the way i've seen posts by non-jews telling people what is and isn't antisemitism #or people casually dropping antisemitic tropes in comments and tags #or people casually reblogging posts that are offensive or harmful to jews #jr

[atopvisenyashill]

i was thinking more about characters Performing Gender, but not necessarily Transgressing Gender. I wound up focusing on Ned and Sansa bc I feel like I understand them the most but-

Sansa as a hostage is imo the most obvious (bc it’s so well done) moment of someone clearly Performing Gender but not being transgressive in that performance. Which isn’t to say it’s not a complicated performance; it’s a fine line Sansa walks between weaponizing her gender to protect herself without seeming too fake. She’s trying to placate the Lannisters by playing the perfect, dedicated, air headed betrothed because it’s the only defense she has - if she outwardly rebels, she will be punished in a likely violent and/or sexual way (which isn’t even conjecture - when she says “or maybe he’ll give me yours” Joffrey has her struck with an armored hand). She’s not quite successful in being convincing but that’s because it’s a rather extreme situation; despite no one believing her, she does make herself seem meek and stupid enough that no one suspects she’s plotting to escape with Dontos until she’s well away from KL. The fact that she even has Dontos to confide in is because of Sansa’s relationship with gender! When she saves him, she covers her rebellious slip by playing up Joffrey’s intelligence & his role as King; she reaches for “tools” of her gender AND of ~proper manhood~ to save a life and herself from another beating. Her retreats into the godswood and silence are very much Sansa attempting to recharge from these draining interactions, the same way a knight would need to stop and eat and rest after a fight. She is fighting, constantly, by forcing herself to stay within the narrow confines of a specific type of gender performance as a way of shielding herself from harm.

Ned yelling at Cat is another big one, and I’ve seen the scene referred to as Ned using his patriarchal power to scare Cat, which is a great description. It feels like a Performance because Ned is putting on this terrifying Lord Stark mask in an attempt to get Catelyn to stop asking about Jon (and Lyanna). This is not how he usually acts with those he loves! When Ned is with His People, he is welcoming of questions, curiosity, emotion, even transgressive thought (to a point! the idea that Ned is a feminist because he lets Arya learn to fight is Not accurate but you can’t deny he allows significantly more flexibility wrt gender expression than most of the fathers we meet in this series. the bar is in hell tho). Yet when Cat asks him about Jon’s mother, Ned scares her so well she stops asking & still remembers the moment bitterly over a decade later. And if that snippet we see through Bran’s eyes of Ned praying that Cat will forgive him does come after she asks (like it’s suspected), it’s clear not only that this is a performance he’s putting on & weaponizing against Cat, it’s one he does not like using as a weapon against someone he is close to. After using the power his gender gives him to cause harm, he retreats to the godswood and silence to pray and rest, much like Sansa. A spiritual cleanse, the way a soldier may pray after battle, to reset and reconnect Being A Proper Man to Being A Kind Man.

I think there’s something interesting in that two of the characters most widely defined by how well they adhere to Westerosi gender norms both dislike feeling like they had to weaponize their gender. They are exhausted by the performance, because it’s a performance. This isn’t Sansa getting excited over tourneys, or Ned teaching his sons to fight; it’s toxic masculinity, it’s structural misogyny. It’s something they’re good at, excel at, and connected to something they enjoy but when it’s paired with violence, whether done by Ned or done to Sansa, it crosses over in their minds from an innate part of themselves (The Gender) to a performance necessary due to survival (The Gender Role). And that after these performances, both retreat to nature & god as a way of resting and cleansing from the experience.

#valyrianscrolls #ned stark #sansa stark #getting on my soap box #there’s something here too about romanticism. like shelley and coleridge and whitman. the need to return to nature to undo society’s harm. #especially with the way various romance movements and romantic tropes are played with by their characters. #i can’t even remember who said it which just shows u how shitty an english major i am aksjd but about how. #like society is necessary but just as necessary is the ability to escape into nature. i *think* it was coleridge i’m probably wrong. #the gender war makes corpses of us all #gender politics in asoiaf #obviously you can point to several moments for both of them. sansa calling petyr father. ned’s relationship with theon. wherein they both #are clearly performing something for an audience. #there’s like 12 other branches of this in my head. jaime’s romanticism. being knighted bloody & the sacrilegious nature of the sept sex. #and his inability to escape his gender performance the way ned & sansa do. ned being willing to cry in front of others but robb only ever #crying in the dark with his baby brother after he loses ned. cat’s tower stuff & finding solace in sewing. #i’m gonna try to write up something about loras & renly here too. tomorrow. #also i wrote this at the train station after work so if there’s errors or it makes no sense just pretend u never saw it skskdj

[aethersflood]

Since the moment we first met, you have always been an important part of me. The half that makes me whole. When times are darkest, you are my light. When I am lost, you are my guiding star. You are just what I need. You are all I need. You are the greatest gift.

#clive rosfield #jill warrick #ffedit #ffxvi #final fantasy xvi #final fantasy 16 #finalfantasyedit #clive x jill #cliji #mine #warfield #i haven't loved a ship like these two in a while #the sincerity and devotion #the friends to lovers trope #the unconditional love and support #some of these moments just make me so !!! #like when clive feels immediate relief at seeing jill and she hurries into his arms #that tender forehead touch oh gosh #her praying for him and feeling fear and despair at having to let him go #these are two people who have every reason not to let someone in because of all the ways the world has harmed and wronged them before #but they never hold that against each other #i think squeenix did good in not making their love ambiguous or will-they-won't-they #their love is sure; it's literally the heart of the game #the way he looks at her like she hung the moon is just Too Much for me #i love cliji ok bye

[mxlfoydraco]

selection of draco and his parents moments from deathly hallows bc its think about the malfoys night

#prompted by me thinking about the abusive lucius trope #suprising to no one: i have A Lot of Thoughts #lucius in particular is failure of a parent buttt #lucissa would straight up die for draco #so him intentionally/cruelly harming draco does not fly with me?? 🤔 #& an emotionally toxic parent who does actually love you still fucks you up on a whole another level tbh #draco malfoy #lucius malfoy #narcissa malfoy #malfoys #deathly hallows #malfoy family #(also ‘kill for’ yes - but to ‘die for’ has a different value in the slytherin/pureblood context imo) #mine