Is today the day we finally discuss how fucking WEIRD it is that ‘Grooming’ is a central plot point in almost every YA monolithic tale that’s popular in Western Media??

Can we discuss this?

Can we call out the actual villains of these series the Merlins/Dumbledores/Wise Old Men

Can we discuss how the “Chosen One” narrative always leads to a child being groomed into becoming a child soldier or having to kill some grown man villain?

And that literally none of the “wise old men” in the story actually do ANYTHING to protect this child’s innocence? At All?

Dumbledore literally allowed Harry to grow up in an abusive household because he knew a person like that would give anything to prevent others from experiencing pain

He knew: that’s why he let Sirius rot in Azkaban, that’s why he let Snape believe Harry wasn’t to be sacrificed

Why did Merlin prepare Arthur to become a King instead of simply saving him from his abusive family and raising him as a magical son separate from the Imperialist Nation of Fantasy England?

Because HE wanted the power of having the King’s ear, he sacrificed Arthur’s Happiness

Every single adult in Steven’s life let him down by allowing him to grow up separated from other children

Never telling him the truth about the war he inherited about the gem or about the trauma he inherited

Forcing him into a battle he was loosely prepared for broke him

In Animorphs the grooming and preparation for becoming Child Soldiers is made horrific intentionally because @kaaauthor wanted to tell us (the kids reading) the truth about war and she used this series to unveil the true horrors of war and of imperialism

I’m grateful for it

I’m not saying we need to end this cycle within our series
I’m saying we need to be honest about these themes

I really loved Steven Universe:Future for taking this seriously and showing what can happen to a person who grows up the ‘Chosen One’

I loved Animorphs for its honesty

Hey Guys!
My name is Faati and I’m a Media Critic and writer who loves digging a little deeper into the sociological aspects of popular media

If you learned and want to throw me a few dollars: Venmo @Faati Cashapp $FaatimaVasser PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/faatimavasser 
#ActuallyAutistic