Candy liveblog p6
Rose and Dave are both abused kids. I don’t think there’s any argument here. Rose may have only been emotionally abused, but she was the daughter of a passive aggressive alcoholic. I know a lot of people want to say Dave was abused, because the abuse was physical (and at least semi-sexual with the fact that he involved Dave in videos for his porn site), and Rose was neglected because we never see Mom hit Rose or say anything rude to her. And Dave dealt with and talked about his abuse at Bro’s hands, but Rose isn’t willing to talk about it at all.
Personally, I don’t think you need to look past the Candy page 20 to see how emotionally abusive Mom must have been.
A dead teen Jade has just shown up out of a hole in the sky, and Jane can’t resurrect her. Everybody is terrified and in a form of mourning, and what does Roxy do? Laugh and suggest a funeral. Because they’re all together again! Just like old times!
Remember when Dirk killed himself in a horrifying manner that traumatized random passersby? They all got together after that and it made Roxy so happy!
Roxy doesn’t give a shit about how either of you feel, it’s getting in the way of her being with her friends. Who cares that one is a fascist who is actively oppressing the others? It’s just politics!
See, abuse doesn’t have to be hateful or sadistic. It doesn’t have to be violent. It doesn’t have to be evil and it doesn’t even have to be mean. It can be as simple as an adult insisting that their child’s feelings don’t matter, that they’re misunderstanding things, including their own emotions, that they should only ever express their emotions in a way that the adult wants. Abuse can be not caring about your kids, except in the way that they benefit you.
Mom always wanted what was best for Rose, just like Roxy wants what’s best for her friends, but what does she do when Karkat has a rage meltdown? Support his girlfriend, who is freaking out, and their other friends? Recognize that multiple people disagree with her idea and respectfully back down?
Of course not! Roxy wants her funeral.
Can you even imagine how horrifying Mom must have acted when Rose’s beloved cat shows up dead, and she forces Rose to hold a funeral?
And Roxy didn’t even need to be drunk for what she did here.