[ SECRET POST #2005 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2005 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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06. [nf]


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08. http://i.imgur.com/H1X1Z.gif
[linked because uh not sure if this is porn or not; live action]


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09. http://i.imgur.com/pNcu1.jpg
[porn of the drawn variety - Tintin]


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10.


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[ ----- SPOILERY SECRETS AHEAD ----- ]











11. [SPOILER WARNING for Hourou Musuko]



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12. [SPOILER WARNING for Prometheus]



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13. [SPOILER WARNING for Homestuck]



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14. [SPOILER WARNING for Avengers]



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15. [SPOILER WARNING for Merlin]



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16. [SPOILER WARNING for Tangled]



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[ ----- TRIGGERY SECRETS AHEAD ----- ]












17. [WARNING for ... pretty sure this has something to do with rape]



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18. [WARNING for rape]



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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #286.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

16. [SPOILER WARNING for Tangled]
http://i.imgur.com/4AMr5.png

[(Anonymous)]

Abuse is more subversive than you'd think. That's the thing about abusive people... they can be downright sweet sometimes. They aren't abusive ALL the time. That's why you hear abused people say about their abuser, "Oh, s/he is so nice when we're alone, s/he brings me gifts and shows affection for me, I swear!"

But abuse is still abuse, and Mother Gothel was definitely abusive. The occasional gift or teaching Rapunzel how to read does not change or make up for that fact.

[(Anonymous)]

Okay, OP, we'll give her the "Not as big a jerk as she could have been" medal.

[(Anonymous)]

teaching rapunzel math completely makes up for kidnapping her ok

[(Anonymous)]

She had to do all that stuff to make sure Rapunzel...well, lived first of all (in the case of feeding her) and kept her complacent and eager to let Gothel use her magic hair. It would have been more troublesome to constantly be fighting with her if she just kept her as a prisoner and mistreated her.

[visp.livejournal.com]

So I'm allowed to kidnap people and hold them prisoner so long as I provide for their basic needs?

*brb, googling Joe Manganiello's residence and constructing a comfy cage in the basement*

Wait, I'm pretty sure there was something about that being not right... I think it was mentioned in Law and Order SVU or something... windows! That's what I forgot. Right, all set.

[pengychan]

Not all that bad of a mother?
...please never have kids.

[(Anonymous)]

Obviously you were blessed with a non-manipulative, non-abusive mother. The rest of us recognize that subversive, incessant abuse all too well. Mental/emotional abuse is just as damaging as physical abuse, and possibly more so, which your secret highlights all too well. If someone punches you, you have the injuries or the pain to show for it. If someone constantly puts you down and undermines your confidence and self-image and your very judgment, sometimes you aren't sure they aren't right.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, she was evil. She was manipulative and emotionally abusive and only concerned with herself. Yes, she took care of Rapunzel, but it was all for her own gain.

[(Anonymous)]

This secret makes me really, really sad. :( Being given the bare necessities of life and being "not that bad" doesn't make up for the way she treated Rapunzel.

For god's sake, her nickname for her was "Flower". Just think about it for a minute. She was a monster.

[castorochiaro]

I love how this secret starts listing off all the awful things she's done...then transitions into "but she can't be all bad! She fed Rapunzel and stuff!". It scares me a little bit if this is a legitimate secret, because thinking any of that excuses what she's done just. I cannot fathom it.

And this is coming from someone who DIDN'T have an abusive, manipulative mother.

[bleed_peroxide]

Abuse can be a lot more subtle than someone being physically or mentally abusive 24/7.

Sometimes the abuser has their moments of kindness, and - surprising to most - you can love someone and still be abusive to them. Even if Gothel loved it, that doesn't mean it was healthy, or that what she did was right either.

[(Anonymous)]

The girl had three books. Three. And I always got the impression she'd taught herself the math, the painting, and everything else. Gothel brought her the bare minimum in the way of entertainment to keep her content enough not to leave. And, as others have pointed out, just because she could've been worse doesn't mean she wasn't abusive.

I feel so worried for people who try to defend Gothel, because I'm concerned they won't realize it if they get abused like this some day (or have been already). It can sneak up on you, and the whole point of this sort of emotional degradation is to make you think it's your fault, in your imagination, what you deserve, etc.

[intrigueing.livejournal.com]

The fact that she didn't starve Rapunzel and showed her affection means she's not evil? Um, yeah, no.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't understand why these secrets are still being made and every time I see them it makes me sick (having been subjected to a variation on this form of abuse). I don't need to go into why this type of thinking is wrong because everyone above me has already explained it wonderfully.

People who justify abusers like this are enablers, and that's just as bad as being the abuser.

[gabzillaz]

She only took care of her because of her hair.

So, no.

[(Anonymous)]

Lifelong imprisonment and enslavement does not say 'good mother'.

[(Anonymous)]

I agree kind of?

Killing her was very convenient, as was the whole "you're not my real mom" dismissal of any residual feelings Rapunzel might have. It felt like how related they were became the problem, when really that was the one of the smaller things wrong with that whole clusterfuck. Things are more complicated, and if they're taking on the topic of psychological abuse in the first place, it's kind of ugly to prop a bunch of additional things on top of it to make it really bad enough.

She was totally abusive though, sorry.

[no_resignations]

Look at the picture you're using. What is Gothel kissing? What is Gothel touching? That's right. Her hair. And that is all Gothel is actually affectionate toward. She also calls Rapunzel "Flower" about 90% of the time, because she doesn't see a girl, she sees a magical flower that's providing youth.

[alizara]

Sorry, OP, but I cheered. Also the fact that even though she was disintegrating anyway, Pascal got his revenge by tripping her out the window? AWESOME.

My mother is a hell of a lot like Gothel. She does and says anything to make sure my self-esteem is at its lowest so she can manipulate and cling to me. Took me 37 years to realize it and I STILL struggle not to fall for it when she says awful, hurtful things in an attempt to control me, so...no. Can't agree here.

[akacat]

Abuse aside, wasn't Gothel way past her normal life span? So nature was just catching up to her.

[meadowphoenix]

Evil parents and nuts (and no intention to get help) parents are both shitty parents and probably abusive, so the distinction seems irrelevant.

[(Anonymous)]

She stole Rapunzel's life when she kidnapped her and for seventeen years her parents had no idea what happened to her, if she'd been sold into slavery or being abused by a pedophile, or dead and discarded a mile from the castle an hour after being taken.

Gothel destroyed three lives because she couldn't stand getting old.

And the worst part of it all was she also stole Rapunzel's love along with her life, and violated her trust in the worst possible way.

She was a monster.

[darkmanifest]

Nope, OP, as others have pointed out above, Gothel was definitely black-and-white evil. But I think the movie would have been better if she was more sympathetic, and really did express genuine affection and concern for Rapunzel that was unrelated to her greed for her hair. It wouldn't have made her less abusive, just made her character make more sense. As it is, it's a little jarring that she nurtured Rapunzel for so long and never seemed to develop a single emotion towards her besides possessiveness (which is probably why people keep looking for sympathetic aspects to her character where there weren't any - there should have been at least one). Or maybe I'm remembering the movie wrong, she didn't really leave an impression on me.

[la_petite_singe]

I've said many times that I was genuinely shocked that she died. As I was watching it I was sure it was going to end with Rapunzel going back to her parents and Gothel being banished or depowered or something, but Rapunzel would spare her because she realized that she did care for her, in her own fucked-up way, and was lonely and didn't have a real family or whatever. That just seemed more Disney, for one thing. Killing her was some DreamWorks shit. I guess I respect it, but it was surprising.