sick and disabled people should not have to be afraid of being sent to the hospital every time they go out to eat but some of you folks in the food industry really go out of your way to make us feel unsafe.

or make them suffer horribly

so I don’t care how rude or stuck up you’ve decided they are

you do not know every condition on the planet. stop assuming something will not hurt people and how about just not fuck with people’s food

I cannot overemphasize how there’s a difference between making a book/movie to make people sympathize with the fairytale-esque villain who reacted to a personal slight in a fantastical way and making a film/movie to make people sympathize with the villain who is supposed to be an obvious metaphor for oppression and/or cruelty! (Note: You can make a fun movie about a villain, i/e: ‘Watch them burn down the world!’ but Disney always seems to go for the more sympathetic route, and if the amount of shots of crying-Cruella are any indication, that’s what they’re going for, here.)

Wicked? (I know it’s not Disney but everyone wants to be Wicked, so I can’t not include it.) Works. The original Witch was a minor antagonist with no real motives or real-world connections (odds are we’re never going to be chased through the lands by a woman wanting our shoes) and the Wizard was always canonically a lying showman, so having a book/musical where his lies paint her as the villain, and him as the hero, works.

Maleficent? On thin ice but still works. She was slighted by the society in the original movie, so as much of a Wicked ripoff as it is, it’s still a very creative analysis on the other ways she could have been slighted, plus they make her the real hero in the end, and, again, there’s a disconnect because odds are none of us are going to be cursed by the fae (though let me tell you, living in the UK, I’m closer than I’ve ever been).

I read this Lion King book series as a kid, and one of the volumes was about how Scar was really born with the name ‘Taka’ (translation: garbage) and how he was treated like shite by his parents, who loved Mufasa. That worked. It never excused his past, but it showed a sympathetic side that made you realize things aren’t always black and white. (This series isn’t canonical, by the way, though Kopa absolutely should be.) And, I cannot overstate this, there was a disconnect because no reader will be thrown over a cliff by a lion!

Even Twisted works as a clever indie pastiche!

But if you’re going for sympathy, you can’t use villains that represent real-life evil and oppression!

I saw a book, several years ago, that was like, “Do you want to know all about Mother Gothel’s story?” No tf I don’t! No matter how well-written it is. Rapunzel’s dynamic with Gothel hits so close to him that the palm is on the bricks! I don’t ever, at any given point in my life, want to hear that fictional abusive parent’s voice, because that’s absolutely not the voice that should be heard. (It’s the same reason I detest any theories about Frollo. “Do you want to know why this religious man abused this disabled child?” I’m good.)

They announced, last year, that they were making a spinoff about Gaston. Because if there’s anything people want to see, it’s the movie about the gaslighting, stalking, bundle of toxic masculinity. /s

Now, Disney’s like, “Do you want to know more about the rich CEO who wants to murder puppies? Do you want to sympathize with the puppy murderer? All she wants to do is murder puppies :(.”

But then also the show is really good (albeit a bit subtler) about the value in men embracing traditionally feminine traits and activities.  Our main character is pacifist vegetarian soft-boi who wears flower crowns and makes jewelry and spends a lot of time talking about his feelings and he is by and far the most morally sound character in the series who is completely at ease with who he is. 

Then you have Sokka who a lot of people have pointed out has an arc that’s basically “chug respect women juice,” and part of that arc includes him wearing the Kiyoshi uniform, something he feels emasculates him, (and which the show makes a joke about tbf) but then they turn it around and make the ensemble genuinely badass. 

And then sweet Zuko who is absolutely someone who is portrayed as caring and sensitive in his childhood (by no small part due to his mother’s influence) who is raised in probably the most toxically masculine environment in the show. The Fire Nation might have women in its ranks, but feminine traits like compassion, mercy, and basically any emotion that isn’t a desire for destruction are seen as disgraceful. It’s notable what gets Zuko banished is his refusal to fight his own father, and how that is labeled disrespectful. 

It’s also notable that the people and places that change Zuko are more feminine in nature. He works in a shop, cleaning and preparing tea. He meets two young women who drastically change his view on Earth Kingdom civilians. He spends time helping a family with children. And through all this he’s there with Iroh, a guy who enjoys music, culture, and natural beauty, who’s sensitive and dedicated to humble acts of kindness for others, and who Ozai dismisses as an embarassing failure. 

And the show ends with Zuko ditching all this toxicity and just being the guy he wants to be. He even hugs Aang at the end, something Season 1 Zuko would never do with anybody. Our boy hugs!

Like the show doesn’t just empower women by letting them fight, it also shows the power and value in emotional vulnerability and compassion that is usually only reserved for women. It empowers women to fight and kick ass while also deconstructing toxic masculinity.