For A Series Where The Slavery Started Off As Kind Of A Joke, And Moreover A Series That's Been Largely

For a series where the slavery started off as kind of a joke, and moreover a series that's been largely aimed at children since its revival, I sincerely believed that actually whipping a character on-screen would be too grim for AvA. I never thought they'd go there.

Like I pondered the possibility that it'd happen, conceptually, to the character. But I never thought the show would actually depict it.

There are only so many contexts a whip can be relevant in; they have connotations. When the whip is turned against a person in distress, the atmosphere becomes blatantly cruel. There's no way to sugarcoat it, there's no blurry lines. Whips bring suffering. Their mere presence agitates, let alone the actual pain they inflict.

It's a level of dehumanization that's so much more easily and instantly identifiable as terrible than some other stuff that has been done in the series, or even to this character.

And it's especially deplorable that it was done to this character, given Chosen's history.

We don't actually know if he's been whipped in the past, he might not have been, but. Whether he was or not, the implications regarding power dynamic that are inherent in the presence of a whip are unmistakable. He understands, on some level, what is happening and what it means, even if his understanding doesn't approach from the same direction that Victim's does, or that the viewer's does. The scene pauses for him to react, after the whip is cracked. He sees significance in its presence.

There really aren't many ways to interpret a fearful person being mercilessly attacked with a whip. Especially if he's got a halter around his neck allowing his attacker to control his ability to distance himself from the harassment, which carries its own implications.

I see merit in the idea that Victim was trying to tame Chosen like a wild beast, and I'm willing to believe that that's the understanding which Chosen or Victim or both have of the situation. But as a viewer I cannot completely separate what's happening on-screen from the banal idea of a slave being punished. Horrific, contemptible, violating, disparaging, unjust, inhumane abuse.

And it's happening to Chosen, who already threw off the shackles of his own slavery years ago. And it's happening under the hands of Victim, emulating the actions of his own abuser...who happens to have been Chosen's abuser as well.

We only saw the beginning and the end of Chosen's enslavement; we don't know what all he suffered while oppressed by the animator. We don't know what Victim knows, of what Chosen has suffered.

Tools have never been used to restrain a character by the neck before, in this series. Strangulation is always done by hand, to win a fight, never to prevent them from leaving it.

Whips haven't appeared at all before now, in this series, much less been used against the characters. And then, of all the characters they could've picked, they pick the one with a history of slavery, a concept that shares a heavy correlation with whips.

It's messed up. It's so much more messed up than I thought the series would be willing to go.

PURPLES WINGS. THOSE ARE. LITTERALLY PERFECT.

Yoinks the design cutely :3

Binged Animation V. Minecraft and Animator V. Animation and I think I have a new fixation-

the suffering never ends

Green. Green I swear to the void when I catch you Green.

a million pieces.

Swearing below! I whipped this one up really fast. like in less than 10 minutes.

Lackluster. 

Acting. 

“He liked it. He fucking liked the comment.” 

Orange wasn't even hiding their disbelief. Neither was anyone else.

She couldn’t speak. The laptop was still on his lap. 

yellow is pretty useless here lol. 

Hopeful, she clicked the response. His heart plummeted, reading her friend’s reply. 

I’ll see what I can do next time. 

“Holy- I swear when I find him! He’s gonna have to pay!” 

He was distantly aware of the yelling. The outraged calls of her friends in response. And the heart to the previous. 

He liked the comment. The comment about her horrible, horrible acting. 

Was it really that bad? 

“I literally have no idea where he is in Minecraft, but- Yellow?” Blue gently tapped his shoulder in concern. “You okay?”

.

.

.

“He’s right.” 

“Yellow-” 

“He’s right. I was pretty useless in that video.” 

“No. No, you weren’t. Green’s the one who went too far here. There was literally no logical reason why he would do this.”

“Why would he do this otherwise.” She mumbled weakly in response. 

“Because-” Blue stopped, gently taking the laptop from Yellow’s grasp. 

“I don’t know.” She whispered, her voice faltering. “This isn’t something he’d do.” 

“Right. Right. I’m sure it’s just a mistake.” She wasn't sure who he was trying to convince.

“I don’t think so. He could’ve easily just scrolled past it or ignored it. Or better yet, defended you.” 

“I don’t know.” 

.

.

.

Did it all mean nothing to him? Was it all of their moments just a token for him to wave in front of the crowd, flaunting? 

Was all of their time spent together just a game? Another stepping stone? 

Well, just maybe there’s a shred of herself that… still believed in him.

Maybe. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding. 

He turned to Blue, who was now staring at the laptop with a grim expression on her face, barely masking shock. 

“What the fuck.” 

“What? What is it-” 

Curiosity took over as usual, as he snatched her laptop back, much to Blue’s protest. 

“Yellow- Wait- You don’t need to see-” 

Too late. 

Suggestions: 

Use a Fake Lucky Block to prank your friends. 

Make sure its a fake one… 

The heart. With his picture. 

No response underneath. Nothing. 

“Oh.” 

on this day one year ago someone sewed a fried egg to a tshirt

omg requests open??? riot requests open??????

...

Greenscreen (the glitched video from influencer arc) and victim. Deleted by teenagers duo 😔 /hj

riotquests are in fact open, yeah! (you will never hear me say riotquests again)