Dolfijn5 @dolfijn5 - Tumblr Blog

this and also there’s something very beautiful about watching in progress fics grow. shout out to in progress fics <3

Honestly the most fun part of progress fics is reading a new chapter and commenting on it and getting a reply from the author, imo. :)

depsidase

dinosaur-ears

The Epstein files are not just about pedophilia. Trafficking children for sexual abuse is deeply heinous, so it makes sense that it's captured our attention. But pedophilia is not the point.

The point is that we live with a global network of elites who have enough power to treat politics, laws, public opinion, international treaties, and all other people as personal assets.

The point is that nobody is truly safe or sovereign when a handful of rich assholes have access to this kind of power.

The point is that Epstein being dead and Maxwell being in jail does nothing at all to alter the power structure.

alpaca-clouds

Why You Hate the People Loving the Bad Guy

I do like Enver Gortash. In fact, he is among my favorite characters in Baldur's Gate 3. I love to think about torturing him. And I think he is despicable. And I also think he is a poor blorbo who desperately needs a hug. And a lot of people online hate that.

If you remember, a couple of weeks back I rambled about how the fuck so many people were surprised by the "Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond" twist in Steven Universe, given that it was choreographed and hinted at early on. And after thinking about it for a bit, I do have a suspicion - and I think that suspicion is related to both the people who will harass folks over liking characters like Gortash from BG3 or Valentino from Hazbin Hotel. Heck, I would argue it is probably one of the main reasons (other than Vivzie being a queer, non-white woman) people get so up in arms about Hazbin and its fans.

And this is simple: because most people see the role of the villain and the abuser as a binary, and are very uncomfortable with the idea that someone can be a victim and an abuser and possibly even a hero all at once.

A lot of online discourse - especially in the left - in the end boils down to this: people cannot imagine how a person can be multiple things at once. It is also why people will be so fucking shitty about things like men experiencing oppression in any way, even if it is trans men, because they have internalized a mindset where either you are the oppressor or the oppressed. While the truth is: most people are both. (Notably, the kind of people who hold these opinions tend to be white.)

And I think this - more than anything - is why so many people were pissed at shows like Steven Universe, or Hazbin. Because those show do not allow the viewer a the comfort of having clearly defined heroes and villains. But also not in the same way that a lot of grimdark media is handling it. Grimdark media tends to go: "Everyone is kinda evil", while Steven Universe and Hazbin are saying more something along the lines of: "There are some genuinely good people, but they often go unheard, though this does not mean we should not extent empathy towards the genuinely bad kind of people, who still at times can do the right thing, albeit they often doing this for the wrong reasons". Which is a lot more complicated of an outlook on the world than: "Actually just everyone is bad and because of that nobody should even try."

In Steven Universe the people hated that idea of Rose being not just a heel-face turned Diamond, but also the most bratty and unresponsible of the Diamonds. People also hated that the show, that from the beginning preached a "everyone should be redeemed and treated kindly approach" redeemed the Imperialist villains and treated them kindly, as they assumed that in the end kids show logic would still turn out as: ""Oh, the main villains still need to be destroyed."

And with Hazbin this kinda is even more true. Because that show - and Helluva Boss, too - are very committed to the kind of worldview that is just not very common: "Everyone is kinda shitty, but a lot of people do try to do good at least by some people, though they often fail at it, because it is actually not that easy. But even the most shittiest person you know does have some positive traits, and might also experience some abuse themselves, while even the bestest person you know might still be flawed."

When it comes to Hazbin, a lot of people keep going on abut the Angel and Valentino thing. Because Angel is clearly the victim, but he also is in many ways a shitty person, and the show refuses to depict him as a perfect victim. Meanwhile Valentino is clearly an abuser, but we also see him being abused by Vox, and see him have some relatable moments, and there is a chance that the show will go into redeeming him. And to many that is uncomfortable.

Heck, it was probably to me even clearer with Helluva, because the entire point of the Blitzo/Stolas relationship is that both are really, really shitty people, and both are in one way or another abusing and exploiting the other. Yes, Stolas holds more power, but that does not mean it was all his fault. And again, this makes people uncomfortable.

And do those two shows make their points perfectly? I guess this is the moment where I have to say: of course not. But what media does? It is still clearly what it is saying, and it still clearly is what people are so uncomfortable about both shows. That it refuses perfect victims, but also perfect villains.

Which also brings me back to Enver Gortash. While obviously as a fanwork creator I am much less of a target than someone like Rebecca Sugar or Vivziepop, I also had people be so fucking annoying about how I write about Gorts. About the idea that he could be redeemed, but also the idea that he also is a victim.

Mind you, I never say he is not a villain, or that he is not horrible, or that he is not a fascist. Because he is all those things. But he still also was a victim. And I notice that a lot of people struggle with the idea that acknowledging both sides is not automatically an excuse.

Now, do I think that if Gortash had not been sold by his parents and been abused in the hells for years, he would have a villain still? Actually not. Maybe he would still have been a bit of a dick (as it does not remove the fact that his parents were shitty to him even before selling him), but he probably would not have created a conspiracy to create a false god, and probably would not have become the tyrant to follow Bane, trying to be the fascist dictator. But... acknowledging this fact does not actually mean that I think any of the things he did were less bad because of it. It was still wrong. He is an asshole. He deserves to be hated for it.

I just only think that he does also need a hug, because I do not think he ever got many of those, and everyone should get them. And not hugging the fascist asshole dictator does not bring back a single dead person, because that is just not how the world works.

People can be victims and perpetrators at the same time. One does not erase the other. One does also not excuse the other. And this also leads to the fact that people do deserve to be met with sympathy for one - while also being maligned for the other. Because the real world is just not an uncomplicated fairytale, and I do thing that it is better for us to reflect that in our stories.

tapetum-lucidumb

works both ways imo

arianiziolek

THIS

pigeon-cave

Spectrum of overwhelm, now in triangle form due to popular demand

dolfijn5

Why do i always have the 404 with rage and almost never the crying. I always get so f-ing angry

If anyone wants internet detox ideas.... get a puppy bevause my god do they require constant supervision.

He (Sam) is really cute though :) just about 10 weeks old now.

#dogs of tumblr #dogblr #puppy #dogpuppy #digital detox #cute #cute doggo #labradoodle

tailofalastor

Why?

Just... why is he like this?

dolfijn5

Not beating the neurodiverse allegations tbh 😂😂

lav3ndaze

“that’s why your wife isn’t around”

alastor and lucifer finally agree on something and it is that they are going to brutally murder this flatscreen tv

dolfijn5

Their canon love starter lol

hellyeahheistbooks

Turns out that Alastor is having the time of his fucking LIFE as Vox's prisoner. Sowing discord and animosity to his evil little heart's content. Val and Velvette are going to ditch Vox's ass so FUCKING hard and Alastor's just gonna wheel past in his silly little rolling chair smirking like the cat who got the canary. Happy that he's getting proper enrichment <33

dolfijn5

Thisss

Your honnor he is a cat, not a deer. Just look at these faces. This bish is a chaos gremlin kitty.

#hazbin hotel season 2 #alastor

dumbnotstupidfuck

OH FUCK

vox told val to stop hitting angel dust in public not because it was hurting his BUSINESS, but bc it fucked with his PLAN to use him later on

it made him look like the vees didn’t care or value him, and he wanted their public image all nice and tidy so ppl believe whatever angel ends up saying on tv next week

dolfijn5

Omg you genius, why havent i thought of thisss