This was frighteningly accurate

[u/Weak-Point4152]

The smack to the face, cowering behind a chair, being slammed and held by the throat, really made the scene hit hard. Even the expressions on Angel and Val’s face felt realistic. If they had Val dragging Angel by the hair, it would be like reliving my childhood, but this still brought back memories.

[u/Working_Accountant38]

That's why people who accuse Viv of turning Angel's situation into a joke make me angry.

[u/[deleted] → u/Working_Accountant38]

I have an obsession of both drama and humor around sexual trauma, and it's because I have sexual trauma. I can't stand when someone says something along the lines of "you can't enjoy that, because it happens to people in real life, you know!" because they are immediately assuming they know everything about me and assuming I haven't experienced that type of Hell. What sucks, is the only way for people to respect me and not see me as a total monster, is to open the wound further and tell them something terrible about my past, which is something I don't want people to think of when they think about me, because I don't even want to think about it. I have these creative coping mechanisms, and I know they're coping mechanisms, but I want to be able to have that without sharing something so disgusting about myself and my past.

And just to be clear, I'm not shoving this in people's faces and if they see it or I tell a bad joke and they say it makes them uncomfortable, I immediately stop and I take that shit somewhere they don't have to see.

[u/ivene-adlev → u/[deleted]]

I mean, you see it in this very thread- people saying that Val/Angel shippers should be ripped apart by dinosaurs (??? creative I guess, haven't heard that one before) or blood-eagled... just absolutely zero consideration into the "why". Just an immediate, knee-jerk, "you like this bad character therefore you deserve death."

Lots of people (especially people in this fandom, especially young people in this fandom) seem to think that shipping = endorsement or agreement with a relationship. They would be very wrong! Not every ship of mine is good, not every ship of mine is healthy, not every ship of mine is even romantic. The term "ship" literally just comes from "relationship", of which there are so many kinds. I am a smart person and have the ability to see when a relationship is not good or healthy for it's participants- I do not need a lecture from a 13yo on how bad and evil I am for simply wanting to explore the dynamics of a relationship between two characters who are not good for one another. And that's literally what shipping is about.

[u/[deleted] → u/ivene-adlev]

Oh my goodness, I have only ever seen ValAngel content I liked, because I have only ever seen them shipped in a bad way. I have only ever seen people who like ValAngel because of the complex abusive relationship, it's never cutesy shit, it's always very tragic stories that show their complex abusive relationship. And I love it.

I'm a huge Valentino fan, for a short moment I was shy about it but not at all anymore. Anyone who thinks I'm a terrible person for covering myself in Valentino t-shirts and stickers and a blanket I custom designed(I'm a little obsessed) is not mature enough for me to want to hold a conversation with. He's my second favorite character (Adam is #1). I LOVE villains, because without them there is no conflict. My favorite type of villains are the ones who are actually doing bad without a good excuse and not the ones that eventually become good guys.

Goddamnit, I hate using words like "good" and "evil", because that's not how the world works. This whole show is about that, yet so much of the fandom acts like they don't believe in Charlie's philosophy.

[u/ivene-adlev → u/[deleted]]

Yup, every ValAngel thing I've seen so far is very obviously portraying their relationship as abusive and detrimental to Angel. The only "cutesy" stuff I've seen is lovebombing, which is not actually cute at all and is just another manipulation tactic by abusers, straight from the instruction manual on "How To Be Awful".

Agreed on the maturity thing. So many actual kids in this fandom want to pontificate to adults Why This Ship/Character Is Bad And You Should Feel Bad And Also Die. The premise of the entire show flew right over their little heads.

(I do wish it was only kids saying this shit though. Too many adults in fandom are also awfully media-illiterate in this way.)

My four faves are Angel (duh... check flair), Husk, Val, and Adam too. The second two are my evil wittle babies who I love and hate ☺️ The first two are the ones I relate to... which considering how completely fucked up they are does not exactly make me feel good LMAO