#'justifying his atrocities' so true

[francy-sketches]

The villains wiki is so funny I love how it has a 'hobby' section which in daemon's case consists of 'causing chaos' and 'antagonizing otto hightower' good for him for having fun little side projects :)

[ruinofchimera]

Lily Evans was far from a white knight in shining armor in the confrontations between James & Co. and Severus. And if you want to talk about her toxic friendship with Snape, don’t try to erase her contribution to the equation.

Apparently, her close friend is lifted upside down by a spell that causes his robes to fall and expose his underwear. As he helplessly struggles, flailing to free himself, a crowd gathers to watch the spectacle. His wand is out of reach, and he is being mocked and threatened. Of course, as a true friend, she finds this picture amusing enough that she has to hold back her laughter. You know, absolutely reasonable behavior for someone who cares for you deeply. Moreover, imagine if Remus were in a similar situation—no doubt his friends' first reaction would be to laugh, or perhaps yell at his bullies to put him down. With his wand in hand, James Potter would stand by and wait for his friend to be released.

Definitely a turning point in Lily and Severus's friendship. Though Severus's behavior was heavily dictated by a strong sense of hurt after such a public humiliation and violation of his privacy, as you all say, these circumstances justify nothing when it comes to throwing those kinds of insults. Fine.

Oh, but what explains her response, then? Was she hurt too? Humiliated? If you’re saying that the mental state after such a traumatic experience as the one James inflicted upon Severus shouldn’t have affected his words, what justifies Lily’s behavior? What made such a saintly person as she join in the ridicule of her so-called friend in an instant? Not only did she join in by calling him the insulting nickname used by his abusers, but she also added another mockery of Severus to the rotten pile as if it weren’t enough already. And I want to remind you once again that Lily lost control of her emotions before she had even gone through half the humiliation that Snape had endured, for the record.

Thus, it appears that there is a precedent of hypocrisy here. Why do you make this situation appear as a one-sided insult (Severus is the big bad wolf and Lily is the victim) rather than a mutual emotional outburst? Why is Lily allowed to feel hurt but Snape isn’t, though Severus’s emotional damage is at least double? Fine. Let’s move on to the approach both of them took in their apologies.

So, apparently, Severus felt guilty after committing such an atrocity as calling Lily a Mudblood. He made a sincere attempt to apologize. Lily didn’t feel guilty for her contribution to his public humiliation; she was sure the only villain here was Severus.

Lily had every right imaginable to reject his attempts to make amends, but the thing is, Severus reconsidered his behavior—she never did. Moreover, she expressed absolute skepticism about his redemption. Should I even mention that she later started dating his bully? The one who never even tried to apologise for his assaults on Snape?

Somehow, she believed in James's redemption even without him admitting his wrongs. Let it be. That’s not the main point of discussion. What I really struggle to understand is how, given all these circumstances, Lily becomes a cheered, glorious friend, and Severus is commonly believed to be the villain in their dynamic.

Did I overlook something? Prove me wrong, if you please. Open my eyes to where exactly Lily is a saint or martyr. Where is she even a good friend in the first place? I’m all ears.

[theeroins]

If I say that I'm not used to people misinterpreting my favorite characters, I'd be lying. But the way they get so many things wrong about Inho's character is kinda pissing me off because you KNOW that most of them do it to cancel out the possibility of InHun being *something* more than what's shown so far. You don't ship them, that's fair, frankly I don't care. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion UNTIL your opinion is wrong.

Let's talk about a couple of things I've seen being talked about on tiktok (🙄)

“Inho joined the games because ilnam said that it'd basically be more fun to play than to watch so he followed his example." loud incorrect buzzer ! Inho has joined the games before, and not only that, he's also a previous winner, so therefore he's very much aware of what it's like to be a part of it, he's experienced them first hand, just like he's experienced the atrocities of it. they've changed him for the worst and possibly caused him a huge trauma —they're the reason he's lost faith in humanity after all— so, why would he crave to relive it just for the thrill of it? i, personally doubt he even enjoys watching the game.

“Inho didn't look at Gihun with love, he likes to watch him suffer” Short answer is no. He doesn't like to watch him suffer, neither he looked at him with love, not the pure kind of love at least. Two things can be true at once. Inho spent half the season staring at Gihun because everything about the man intrigued him; His determination, his stubbornness, his kindness, his hope, his heart that's full of love despite the pain he suffered, even the pain in his eyes every time someone got eliminated in front of him as if it was the first time it had happened, as if the cruelty of it all surprised him every damn time. How can someone, who's been through the same things Inho has been through, be the polar opposite of him?

now, the reason(s) that I think Inho actually joined the games for..

(yes I am an Inhun shipper, does that make my opinion a little biased? maybe. do i still believe I'm right? absofuckinglutely.)

Let me clarify this: Inho is NOT a good man, no matter the redemption arc he might get in s3, he'll continue to be a terrible person because nothing will ever erase the blood he's spilled and the evil men he's worked for. BUT at the same time, he's not ALL bad, not like the VIPS and ilnam. See, Inhun are the average "yin-yang" trope in fictional romance, (which I eat up every time and I find it very interesting when it's done the right way, don't get me wrong) Inho is bad but there's some goodness somewhere deep inside him. And the only person who's brought it to the surface is Gihun. Sure, he does think Gihun is naive, but he's also the only person who's actually challenged him, who's "forced" him to get his stupid head out of the dirt and look around him, even for a short while and Inho definitely liked what he saw. Honestly, it wasn't even that hard for Gihun to do so because the goodness in Inho wanted and waited for someone to pull him out of the dirt, he wished for someone, something to give him hope for humanity or.. anything. Anything that'll help him escape from his misery.

You can definitely argue that he joined the games to befriend Gihun, to gain his trust and stop his plans when the time comes, which is half true. But keep in mind that he needed to justify his choice to join the games. He's not a VIP nor the mastermind to simply get to do that without consequences. He's the frontman, the one who controls and manages everything. He's needed for the games to work and go by smoothly and successfully without unnecessary losses and problems. Gihun would only cause problems, Inho knew that very well and yet he chose to put him in it once again. He recklessly made that choice, risking pretty much everything because of his inner conflict. A part of him wanted Gihun to prove himself to him, that there's indeed good that'll save the world and the rest of him wanted to prove to Gihun that everything he so strongly believes in is merely a fantasy.

Joining the games and befriending Gihun was the only way for Inho to see the real him, without the heroic mask he puts on every time he faces the frontman. I think he believed that someone as extraordinary as Gihun will either break in front of him and he will end up disappointed by the human kind once again, or Gihun will change everything about the way he thinks for the better. But the problem is that Inho hopes for both of those things at the same time.

And that was Inho's arc in season 2. His inner conflict and how it will affect him, the game and Gihun later on.

[lolabearwrites]

Then I would say u are right

What if I said Aaravos wasn’t exactly in the wrong

[eemamminy-art]

I was talking about this in a server but I wanted to put the thoughts here too

I think Zenos being the way he is stems so much from Emet-selch's beliefs that sundered people are lesser. Like it's the generational trauma that made Zenos that way in the sense of Solus' cruelty to Varis led to Varis' cruelty toward Zenos, but I also think that the loss of the ancient world and the contempt Emet-selch holds for humanity is also something he instilled in both Zenos and Varis. The notion that humanity is just inherently corrupt and evil, and that people will always resort to violence and harm toward one another because he's seen so many conflicts and nations that rose and fell over the millennia.

So in his kin, that sentiment is passed on. In Varis' case, he is aware of his grandfather being an ascian and is very much like, "I will be the exception to the rule, I will be the example of mankind standing above the ancients." Except, of course, Varis uses this mentality to justify some of the most horrific atrocities a person could commit, such as mass genocide through black rose, or killing his own family members in the civil war that followed Solus' death. Varis has this notion that he's an example of a "good" human, despite doing all of the terrible things that Emet-selch ascribes to humanity as a whole.

In Zenos' case, he was groomed to be a living weapon and has come out the other side of it with this bleak outlook. If humans are inherently cruel and evil and corrupt, why does anything matter? It made his baseline assume the worst in everyone, including himself, so his apathy is all-encompassing. There is no right or wrong, everyone kills everyone and it's all fucked up, so why bother trying to be "right"? What even are "right" and "wrong" anyway? It allows him to be someone who does horrific things, while searching for some kind of purpose or meaning. I wish we had gotten to see more of Fandaniel and Zenos interacting, because I think they are so similar in the sense of wanting for meaning and purpose but being so disillusioned with the world and with the cruelty of others that they themselves became cruel.

I think long before the "would you be happier had I a good reason?" speech and Alisaie's rebuttal to it, Zenos had this curious little seed embedded in him by his encounters with the warrior of light. It's not unlike how Lyse spends much of 4.0 both hating Fordola, and also being fiercely curious as to why she is the way she is and seeking to understand her. With Lyse though, she is guided by her strong sense of empathy and the notion that all of her people deserve their homeland returned to them regardless of their actions, while Zenos lacks empathy completely and up until now didn't really think about anyone, not even himself. But that curiosity is there, deep down, and I think it is a major driving force in keeping him going forward.

You could argue that Zenos' motivations are selfish: he does say himself that he is chasing the high of battle with a worthy opponent, and I think on some level that is true. But there is something deeper to it, something that really makes him question all he's known: "In that transcendent moment, what was it that I sought in you? And what was it that you sought in me?" He's seeking purpose, he's seeking the reason for what motivates people like the warrior of light to do good, and what "good" even is. It's so contrary to everything he's known, but it grabs hold of him until it becomes an obsession.

I think it's further elaborated on with some of Zero's story arc where she's learning about empathy, although her reasons for being that way are somewhat different from Zenos, I think they are similar on some level in that they can't really understand empathy or inherent goodness. She does eventually learn it, of course, and I'd like to think if given the chance to survive beyond the battle with the Endsinger, that Zenos could have gone on a similar journey too. That's what I envision anyway.

[valehour]

I swear to god if I read one more "Messmer/Marika did nothing wrong" post I'm gonna fucking lose it.

Guys, Gals, Nonbinary Pals etc.

Be fucking serious.

it's somewhat obvious that Marika's people's oppression, and the subsequent domination of the social order was inspired by christianity's oppression and then rise to power within the roman empire- going on to be the dominant religious order which, in turn, persecutes religious minorities. Like. that's only just subtext by tooth and nail. It does not at all justify either religious regime's atrocities. It is Exceedingly obvious the game expects you to understand that, to quote Leda "They [the hornsent] were never saints, they were just on the losing side of a war". this line, alongside the black knight helmet, and the crusade insignia Expects us to understand that maybe the whole "Marika ordering a crusade to genocide a people in the name of revenge" is wrong, actually.

As for Messmer, he is indeed a victim of Marika, like most of the demigods. it's just that he's also (arguably Firstly) a willing collaborator in these atrocities, he's not an innocent uwu snake sadboy.

If we are forced to compel a singular unnuanced 1 dimensional archetype onto Messmer, the game expects us to understand that it's "Demon King". he's doing Authurian Romance Villain shit as filtered through the lens of dark fantasy. it's not a coincidence that most of the information about him comes from other people about how much he's personally destroyed their lives. He lives in a castle called the "Shadow Keep" for god's sake, his soldiers torment the people and we, adventuring wanderers and followers of grace/Miquella fight and defeat him, which, were this a traditional story ultimately lets us access Enir-ilim and fix things. That were this a tradiitonal story, then defeating the "Demon King" sets the land back to right by enshrining the True, Good King (or god, such as Miquella is, in this case).

The fact it doesn't is the complication to this otherwise simple story- the fact that Messmer is also a victim of Marika's pursuit of revenge is important nuance, and adds to the tragedy of this story- simply killing The Bad Guy In Charge doesn't fundamentally fix things. It's that complication that makes them so deeply fixating as people. But there is a mountain of difference between "I find Messmer's tragedy Sympathetic and Compelling (and thus want to fuck him)" and "Messmer did nothing wrong". You do not get the title "The Impaler" by being innocent.

you are, in fact, allowed to be horny for the snakeboi or for Marika without actively ignoring the realities of their casual brutality. Actively making a pair of complicated, messy, tragic characters into something simple and easily digestible for maximising fuckability is not a sign of like, actually liking them. Love your genocidal warmongers as they brutally murder civilians or like, admit you don't actually like them, you like the flanderised imaginary version of them- an attraction no more substantive than the kind of R34 art that gives Ranni tits and hips broad enough to change her aspect ratio, instead of her cool weird fucked up doll body. You Cowards.

[eiyriny]

Why Does Jiang Cheng Get All the Hate While Nie Mingjue Gets a Pass?

I genuinely don't get why Jiang Cheng is the only one who gets so much blame and hate for not helping the Wen Remnants. After all, the main reason he chose not to help them is out of fear that his newly rebuilt clan couldn’t survive the fallout of offering them protection. Regardless of whether you believe this to be true or not, that's what Jiang Cheng honestly believes.

But you know who did have the power to challenge the Jin Clan, has no compunction in using said power (proven during Xue Yang debacle) and prided himself as being a righteous man, but still pushed for the deaths of everyone associated with the Wen name just bc of his personal hatred? That's Nie Mingjue.

During the emergency clan meeting after Wei Wuxian absconded with the Wen Remnants, two major clan leaders tried to speak on behalf of the Wen Remnants and each time they were instantly shut down by Nie Mingjue.

First, Jiang Cheng:

Jiang Cheng deeply furrowed his brow and rubbed his temple, which never stopped throbbing. He drew a soundless breath. “…My apologies to the Sect Leaders. You see, the Wen cultivator that Wei Wuxian wanted to save was named Wen Ning. He and his sister Wen Qing showed the two of us mercy during the Sunshot Campaign. That is why…”

“Showed mercy how?” Nie Mingjue demanded. “Wasn’t the Wen Clan of Qishan the culprit behind the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng’s annihilation?”

[Side note: Cutting Jiang Cheng off mid-sentence here wasn’t just rude, but it also undermined JC's authority and displayed NMJ's lack of respect towards JC as a fellow clan leader in front of everyone. Plus, the most egregious part here though, was the way NMJ callously threw in the destruction of the Jiang Clan, JC's personal tragedy to his face as a point to shut him down without any real regard to JC himself.]

Next, Lan Xichen:

After some thought, Lan Xichen answered. “I know a little about Wen Qing. There has never been talk of her being involved in any of the massacres associated with the Sunshot Campaign.”

“But she also never stopped any of them,” Nie Mingjue pointed out.

“How could she have done so, when she was one of Wen Ruohan’s trusted aides?” Lan Xichen asked.

Nie Mingjue was indifferent to such logic. “She remained silent and raised no objections while the Wen Clan committed atrocities. That is no different from watching from the sidelines. She can’t presume to enjoy preferential treatment when the Wens were fanning the flames of disorder, then refuse to bear the bitter consequences and pay the price when they were overthrown.”

Lan Xichen fell silent.

So my point is, I think it's unfair that Jiang Cheng gets so much heat and condemnation for not helping the Wen Remnants, while Nie Mingjue, the man who was basically condoning and supporting the Jin Clan's abuse and try to justify it under the guise of righteousness at that, barely faces any level of hate and criticism in this fandom. I think the later is far more despicable and deserving of condemnation than the former.

[obsessioncollector]

Hi friends! Inspired by @librarycards I wanted to make a post celebrating Women in Translation Month! Anglophone readers generally pay embarrassingly little attention to works in other languages, and that's even more true when it comes to literature by women, so I will jump at any chance to promote my faves 🥰 Here are some recs from 9 different languages! Also, I wrote this on my phone, so apologies for any typos or errors!

1. Trieste by Daša Drndić, trans. Ellen Elias-Bursać (Croatian): An all-time favorite. Much of Drndić's work interrogates the legacy of atrocities in Europe, particularly eastern Europe. Trieste is a haunting contemplative novel centered on an elderly Italian Jewish woman whose family converted to Catholicism during the Mussolini era and were complicit in the fascist violence surrounding them in order to protect themselves.

2. Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, trans. Anton Hur (Korean): A collection of short stories that are difficult to classify by genre–speculative fiction in the broadest sense. The first story is about a monster in a woman's toilet, which sounds impossible to pull off in a serious, thought-provoking manner, but Chung does so easily—these are the kind of stories that are hard to explain the brilliance of secondhand.

3. Sweet Days of Discipline by Fleur Jaeggy, trans. Tim Parks (Italian; Jaeggy is Swiss): Another all time favorite! The cold, sterile homoerotic girls' boarding school novella of your dreams.

4. Toddler-Hunting and Other Stories by Taeko Kono, trans. Lucy North (Japanese): I think I read this in one sitting. Incredibly unsettling—these stories will stay with you. They often focus on the unspoken psychosexual fantasies underscoring mundane daily life.

5. The Complete Stories by Clarice Lispector, trans. Katrina Dodson (Brazilian Portuguese): I think Lispector is the best known writer here, so she might not need much of an introduction. But what a legend! And this collection is so diverse—it's fascinating to see the evolution of Lispector's work.

6. Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga, trans. Melanie L. Mauthner (French; Mukasonga is Rwandan): Give her the Nobel! Mukasonga's books, at least the ones available in English, are generally quite short but so impactful. Our Lady of the Nile is a collection of interrelated short stories set at a Catholic girls' boarding school in Rwanda in the years before the Rwandan genocide. These stories are fascinating on many levels, but perhaps the most haunting element is seeing how ethnic hatred intensifies over time—none of these girls would consider themselves particularly hateful or prejudiced, but they easily justify atrocities in the end.

7. Extracting the Stone of Madness: Poems 1962-1972 by Alejandra Pizarnik, trans. Yvette Siegert (Spanish; Pizarnik was Argentinian): Does anyone remember when my url was @/pizarnikpdf... probably not but worth mentioning to emphasize how much I love her <3 Reading Pizarnik is so revelatory for me; she articulates things I didn't even realize I felt until I read her words.

8. Flight and Metamorphosis: Poems by Nelly Sachs, trans. Joshua Weiner (German): Sachs actually won the Nobel in the 1960s, so it's surprising that she's not better known in the Anglosphere. Her poems are cryptic and surreal, yet deeply evocative. Worth mentioning that this volume is bilingual, so you can read the original German too if you're interested.

9. Frontier by Can Xue, trans. Karen Gernant and Chen Zeping (Chinese): Can Xue is another difficult-to-classify writer in terms of genre. Her short stories are often very abstract and can be puzzling at first. I think Frontier is a great place to start with her because these stories are interconnected, which makes them a bit more accessible.

[burningcheese-merchant]

I’m so confused? I thought you liked burning spice but then you say that their reasons for turning evil are bullshit??

I do. I adore Burning Spice, he's my babygirl lol. I can like characters and disagree with their actions and ideals at the same time. Joker is fucking reprehensible in every way possible, but he's still the best Batman villain, if that helps it make more sense

Let me explain what I really mean when I say his reason for evil is bullshit. I don't really mean to deny or downplay his feelings at all. The existential crisis he probably had as a consequence of his job is a valid one to have. I don't REALLY know what caused him to fold for sure - none of us do, all we really have is "I'm tired of history's unending cycle", everything else I've said about him is educated guess with a sprinkling of projection - but if anything in my personal thoughts and analyses are true, then it's reasonable to a degree. Being born and burdened with great responsibility that you never wanted/asked for sucks. Sacrificing your time and effort over and over again only for that to be tarnished sucks. Working hard to build something only for it to inevitably be torn down sucks. Becoming attached to people, only to have to watch them suffer and die and leave you alone again while you stay the same, sucks. It really does. I'm not trying to take that away from the man, if that's really what afflicts him.

It's bullshit to me solely because it is what drives him to hurt people. Whatever is eating him, getting his goat, keeping him awake at night, however you want to put it, stopped mattering the minute he allowed it to influence him to commit atrocities. I don't care if all your friends are dead. I don't care if your town was decimated by the four horsemen of the apocalypse. I don't care if you have glass bones and paper skin. Your suffering does not justify the suffering of others. Whatever unfortunate circumstances you go through in life, regardless of whether or not they're your fault, are ultimately your responsibility. Burning Spice does not get to chop people up with his axe because he's bored with life. Burning Spice does not get to use unarmed civilians as soldiers/cannon fodder (that is an actual, real world war crime. People have been imprisoned and even hanged for shit like that) because he struggles with the cynicism and sense of futility history often curses people with. Burning Spice does not get to stalk, kidnap, beat, imprison, torture and mutilate a woman (who is barely half his size and who has never done anything to him) he's obsessed with because he resents his creators for forcing him to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, or because he watched people and civilizations rise and fall around him constantly regardless of what he did about it, or because he woke up on the wrong side of his throne. Everything before he hurt and killed people is an explanation. Everything AFTER that is an excuse.

And please, I'm begging everyone to not go "but immortality sucks". I have evolved past that concept and no longer agree with it. Immortality does not inherently suck. I have said this before and I will say it again: we have a plethora of immortal characters in the Cookie Run universe who do not have that attitude about it. Does Wind Archer winge about protecting the forest forever? No. Do Sugar Swan and Millennial Tree lament having to watch over time and the cycle of seasons forever? No. Did Moonlight go insane and go out killing people after the wizards left her to guard their city forever? No. Fire Spirit, Sea Fairy, Frost Queen, Sherbet. None of them regret the lives they live. They all have their issues, but none of them involve disliking immortality (and three of the ones I mentioned used to be mortal). Life is only, ultimately, what YOU decide to make of it. Time passing and people getting old and dying does not and should not dimish either one's worth. This attitude comes from a fundamental lack of understanding and appreciation for life, nature and other people, and everything they have to offer (which Burning Spice clearly has, even Golden Cheese called him out on it to his face lol). It is selfish and short-sighted.

Burning Spice, as far as he's demonstrated, never cared about anyone or anything except himself. He is entirely self-serving and actively punishes and persecutes whatever does not satisfy his ephemeral desires. His gripes about boredom are childish and immature. If he was that unhappy with life and immortality, then he would go ahead and fucking kill himself. "I wonder what it would take to destroy me" brother, YOU are what it would take to destroy you. Cut your own head off. Slit your wrists. Make yourself a nice rope necklace, you must've picked that skill up at SOME point in the millennia you've existed. But no. He doesn't do that, because he doesn't REALLY hate being alive, he only hates that life does not bow to his whims 24/7. ALL the Beasts seem like that to me. Narcissistic, cowardly hypocrites.

Very well, you couldn't handle the power and responsibility bestowed upon you. Give it back and fuck off. Have some dignity and humility and admit that You Don't Got It. The Ancients have proven that there are people who do. Step down and let them take charge. Or don't, I guess. Be a miserable asshole and make everyone around you miserable assholes, too. Make everyone else suffer for your moral and spiritual failings. Because it was never really about your traumas or regrets, was it. It stopped being about that a long time ago. Now it's just about you wanting to impose your will onto others and make them pay for mistakes they never made. Because you crumbled in the face of adversity and gave in to despair. Isn't it, Shadow Milk. Isn't it, Mystic Flour. Isn't it, Burning Spice.

With all of that said, however... I do still love him lol. I love his design. I love his voice (I turned the English audio back on just for Spice, I usually have the Japanese audio on otherwise bc I don't like most of the English voices and lots of characters share Japanese voices with anime characters I love). I love his personality, as horrible as it is. I love his little animations. I love how he interacts with Golden Cheese (inside and outside of shipping context). And I love the storytelling potential I sincerely believe exists within him and his character. That is the double-edged sword that comes with him: there's not enough for us to fully understand him, thus risking him appearing boring (ironic) and one-dimensional, but there's just enough that also allows us to fill in that gap with ideas of our own, and walk down paths we and others may find interesting. Me personally, I've been exploring what it would be like both for Spice to descend into absolute, hellish insanity and depravity without caution or remorse (Yandere Spice/Yandere Beasts AU), and how he might grapple with the concepts of guilt, atonement and forgiveness, what + how long it might take to gain/achieve each one, how it may ultimately influence his personality and view of the world, and his interactions with others during and after a redemption arc (Reformed Beasts AU, which I WILL post about soon, I'm almost done outlining each Beast's arc, let me finish cooking plz). Plenty of other people have their own takes on the little dude, too, as well as those others four bozos. And I'm certain we all agree that they're horrifically awful as people, but we find them cute and entertaining and even sympathize with them to some degree anyway.

I love Burning Spice. He's not my favorite character, that title is split between 2 others, but I still love him. He's still my babygirl. If he was real, I'd call for him to be shot and that's it, because that's all people like him deserve in the real world. But he isn't, he's a little cookie guy from a dumb phone game, so I'm allowed to condemn his behavior while also wanting to pet him, and scratch his little head, and hold him in my hands, and give him little smoochies, and have him sit on my shoulder while I work or cook or whatever, and poke his chest to see how soft his little buff man tiddies really are (and risk getting my fingers cut off for it probably)

I'm sorry if I confused you or anyone else. Wasn't trying to do that. I hope what I've said here makes some amount of sense. Take this apology ice cream regardless 🍦

[ms-scarletwings]

So there was a note under my post about Zim hovering a finger over the self destruct switch on his first day on Earth that just cracked open something in my mind.

Cause…Oh. Oh hecc you, @murhuedur. You actually touched on like, my favorite thing about this character, period. I really like this take, I do. It’s a good one. I ponder, still,

In my own opinion, it’s actually genuine confidence and arrogance, but Zim’s delusions of grandeur are as a thin rubber band. They can stretch out to wild lengths and remain malleable enough to bend around truth as he wills,

But there’s a hard limit out there eventually, and should reality require him to stretch his cognitive dissonance just too far, it’s a violent snap-back to full clarity. I don’t think he’s faking it or always lying to everyone else about what hot shit he is, because I think he fully believes those lies about as fast as he can speak them, even if he will later realize he was wrong after a cosmic punch to the face.

Like, Zim’s smart, but smart people aren’t inherently rational ones. Within Zim, the tallest, hell, maybe even Skoodge, there’s sometimes this very short-sighted flippancy about what is objectively true/false that peeks out every now and again in their psychology. I mean, humans sometimes do this too when it’s convenient to their interests, just, obviously not to goofy cartoon character levels if they want to function in society.

Zim has whatever this flaw is and cranked up to 11, maybe as a side effect of his PAK defects. Sometimes it gets him into DEEP shit, but it’s also his biggest mental shield. Zim has like no fortitude against spiraling into a full on depression or a justifiable panic attack over the smallest concession of being an absolute failure to his race. That weaponized denial that makes him so dangerous to himself and others also keeps him together and motivated forward. But it’s not largely a conscious lie he’s telling himself. It’s genuine faith he’s trying to manifest into matter through sheer force of his will.

His dogmatic mantra, “I am Zim” and what it means to him is a statement he holds on such conviction it overpowered and hijacked the ego of 3 control brains at once.

If I were inserting him into DnD he’d have the wisdom stat of a stale poptart and a 20+ thrown into charisma. He’s faking it without even understanding he’s faking it.

But were he completely detached from reality, he’d be WAY more likely than even now to accidentally get himself killed. While a narcissistic level of self esteem is what lets him ignore and selectively unhear inconvenient truths, the adrenaline of immediate life or death danger is what grounds him back in the real world. You notice over time that as self-sabotaging as he normally is, he seems to act his most rational and competent when he’s suddenly put against the grindstone and self preservation HAS to jump into the driver’s seat. He basically survives his day to day on a tightrope between a falsely glorious narrative of himself, and his perceptive anxiety both tugging him to land on either side of the fence when something big happens.

In “The Trial”, he wastes very little time on his expected bullshit or his confidence in being able to just win over the approval of his judges.. by virtue of being his awesome self. He spent most of that ordeal on the verge of a heart attack, squirmed to find an escape, and actually tried to DENY causing the death of two Almighty Tallests (reminder that he usually owns up to his atrocities with downright offensive pride). He understood the full gravity of an existence evaluation and how cooked his goose was. As soon as the situation resolves and he’s no longer in that danger, it’s right back to full trust of his status as an invader, and in Red and Purple as his biggest fans. When his disguise starts to slip in front of Skool kids he knows are dumb as a bag of rocks, he can silver tongue his way around that without skipping a beat. Losing his disguise in front of a bunch of alien-obsessed adults? Uh oh, pants-shitting terror, this is potentially game-over levels of bad, immediately gtfo of here. Stand there, chest beat, and scold the obviously rogue duty-mode Gir all day until the second it actually tries to kill you and you suddenly have to realize you’re not the one holding the cards anymore to save your own life.

The other way this quirk of his really shows through is in his selective memory. Zim has this skill to repress down and push away unpleasant experiences that I think some of us can only dream we had. I love it because it’s equal parts a comedic and analytical goldmine.

Tak, who actually posed a legit threat to his entire mission and tried herself to chip through that massive wall of denial he’s shielded in- same Tak who’s powerful af ship was stolen and desecrated by Zim’s arch nemesis… she’s not just an afterthought in his mind after that mess. He’s literally pushed that one out of his thoughts altogether in the comics. Like she, and Skoodge, who he can’t fucking stand, might as well have never even existed, even while GIR’s trying to remind him. That time he played around with time travel and it was one of the biggest clusterfucks he quickly lost control of? The bologna incident he stooped so low as to ask dib to help him with? You must be thinking of someone else. Nope. Not a thing. Lalala, can’t even hear you. This is also what makes it no wonder he deeply struggles with actually learning from certain mistakes.

From an outsider’s eye this behavior of his is baffling. It makes him look actually insane or at least obnoxiously obstinate. And I think both assumptions are half right, because this is clearly not the result of mere stupidity. Those truths are simply wayyyy too discordant with his view of himself to devote surface memory to, or too uncomfortable, unless and until, of course, you confront him with them in a fashion where that rubber band has to snap, that bubble pops, and he instantly sobers out of that complacency.

Literally god forbid he ever stops being defective in this way or is given the ability to reckon with the reality of his situation and his history all at once. I’m not even just talking about his job or banishment. I’m talking about his entire life. This chaotic, flexible, incoherent mindstate is the only branch he’s holding onto from dropping into a much more horrifying chasm beneath himself, the depth of which we can only guess. I straight up have no idea what he would do or what could happen to him if he could, even for a moment, rationally comprehend his every action, memory, and empirical truth all at the same time. Seriously, leave that Pak’s Gordian Knot be, or I imagine there could be an HP Lovecraft type of breakdown in the making.

#By the way this is probably one of the most important differences between him and Dib, and what makes Zib so… way he is.

[raxistaicho]

Felix's anger towards Dimitri in Three Houses is the most misunderstood aspect of their relationship and I will die on this hill.

Felix's problem with Dimitri isn't that he can't see that what Dimitri went through was traumatic. It's not that he's running away from his own trauma regarding the death of Glenn.

Its the fact that Dimitri uses the deaths of their loved ones as an excuse to be monstrous.

And the proof of that is in their A-Support.

Felix: Sometimes you have an animal's face, contorted with anger and bloodlust. At other times, a man's, with a friendly smile. Which is your true face? Dimitri: Do not waste your breath on questions with such obvious answers. They are both the real me. My father, my friends, Glenn… They all meant a great deal to me. And they were all brutally slaughtered. I alone survived. If I do not shoulder the anguish and regret they must have felt, who will? Felix: Hah. So, that's how you justify your atrocities.

Dimitri is so far into his own head with his grief and anger that he's using the dead as an excuse to go on his quest for vengeance, hurting anyone and everyone in his path and treating everyone around him cruelly. This desire for vengeance isn't for the dead. It's for himself.

And Felix rightly calls him out on that.

Felix: "I will fulfill my duty to the late king." My old man used to say that over and over, like a mantra. How nauseating. No one seems to understand. The dead won't acknowledge your loyalty. They don't care. What a load of bunk it is, pretending to serve a corpse. You're serving your own ego. Dimitri: You are wrong. Felix: No, I'm not. The dead are dead, the living are living. You have to respect that boundary. If you keep stringing gravestones around your neck, you'll snap.

Dimitri doesn't respect the boundary between the living and the dead. He doesn't understand it, and none of the people who should have been taking care of him made sure to teach him to respect it. And as a result, we're left with a man who uses being "the voice of the dead" to justify his cruelty.

And Dimitri is absolutely aware of what he is doing. He's not well, but he's still very clearly concious of what he's doing. And we know this because of what he says to Byleth following the death of Randolph.

Dimitri: If you do not approve of what I have become, then kill me. If you insist that you cannot...then I will continue to use you and your friends until the flesh falls from your bones.

Dimitri is actively choosing to be a dick. There is no kinder way to put it. He's being a dick, and using the deaths of Lambert, Glenn, and the people of Duscur as an excuse.

And it isn't like Felix doesn't understand on some level. If anything, he's one of the few members of the cast who CAN understand. Glenn was HIS older brother. Rodrigue HIS father. And despite the fact that Dimitri is considered more important and he was often left to the wayside, Felix still loved and cared about them. They're his family. And he knows they loved him too, even if it wasn't in the way he should have been shown (I have so many issues with the fact that Dimitri is more important to Rodrigue than Felix is but that's a rant for another day). If anyone should have the right to be angry about their deaths, it's him.

But he doesn't hold onto that anger. Not in the same way.

Felix: I'm not immune to emotion, you know. Far from it. I haven't gone a day without questioning why my father and brother had to die, while I survived. I'll bear this pain until the day I die, but I refuse to wallow in it. I have more important things to do than blubber for my whole life.

Felix does not and will not allow his anger and grief to allow him to cause atrocious acts in the same way. And he backs up his words with actions. Which is something Dimitri needs to do for their relationship to improve at all. Which is shown in Chapter 18 if you make sure their C-Support has been viewed.

Felix: Hmph. And how do you intend to make up for my father's death? Dimitri: Felix… I realize words alone are not enough to repent, but I fear they are all I have. Felix: I'm not after more empty words. I want you to speak through your actions.

If you don't have their C-Support, Felix won't say he'll agree to help take back Fhirdihad. He will, of course, as he's a playable unit. But because of both the actions of the player and, as a result, Dimitri's actions, Felix won't vocalize his support.

Dimitri can say he has changed and realized the errors of his ways and offer apologies, but for Felix, they mean nothing if those words aren't also put to action.

And THAT is what the entirety of their issues is.

Both of them lost many of the same loved ones.

But while one chooses to move forward, the other chooses to wallow back. While one chooses not use that pain to commit atrocious acts of violence, the other uses it as his justification.

And THIS is why it makes sense for Felix to leave. On top of just not liking being a noble with those kinds of responsibilities, his head of state is someone who he is diametrically opposed. They might have been "friends" once (and I say it like that because prior to the Tragedy their friendship looks very one sided), but friendship doesn't mean you accept and partake in torture and unwarranted levels of slaughter.

And Felix outright tells us this.

But both those around him and a lot of the audience do not want to listen.

Oh, that's good, thanks for breaking that down! :)

Like I've said, Felix is one of the characters I haven't analyzed super well, so I appreciate the breakdown from someone who knows him better.

[halenhusky309]

A few thoughts on D-16/ Megatron

Spoiler ⚠️

I do think D-16/Megatron is justified killing Sentinel, considering Sentinel not only lied and abused him, Orion Pax and lower-class fellows, but also later tortured and degraded him (I do think Sentinel had an easy death). However, Megatron did not show any sign that he can't let go of the hatred and resentment toward Sentinel and his goons, and if no one stops him, he would likely get himself corrupted without noticing that he had gone too far. Also, D-16 banked all his desires to overthrow Sentinel's regime on solely punishment and revenge to satisfy his anger, unlike Orion Pax, who mainly prioritized revealing the truths of Sentinel's fraudulent ass to empower the lower classes rising up and fighting for their rights and against Sentinel and his goons. We, as the audiences and even Orion Pax, noticed that D-16's reactions were getting unhealthy and extreme, and without proper help and support, would turn to a very dark path. While it wasn't clear whether D-16 would go far beyond with his revenge even after killing Sentinel, to Orion Pax, it did feel like D-16 would potentially commit further atrocities if he kept going down to road of brutal revenge against Sentinel.

I do think if they weren't in peril situations and had enough time to talk to each other, may be Orion Pax would have talked some sense into D-16 to calm him down and reduce his extreme obsession for justice and punishment.

For someone who had held his head down and followed the protocols all the time, I understood that it was great pain for D-16 to forfeit his wants and needs most of the time to appease the so-called benevolent ruler, who turned out to be his biggest enemy. But the fact D-16 chose to forfeit his closest companion and let him fall to his death, because he believed Orion Pax once again just doing what he wanted for himself only, and didn't care for his wants, which proved that D-16 didn't understand Orion Pax that much. It's true that on a surface level, Orion Pax's actions seemed selfish and reckless, but Orion Pax was the only one who understood that all of the miners couldn't continue to live like this. His obsession to find the Matrix is a long-term solution for their predicaments to set them free and allow them to reach their potentials. Orion did realize how restrained D-16 was and wanted help his friend to be more carefree without worrying about the consequences and protocol. In another word, Orion's antics were his ways to make their mundane, monotone, albeit dangerous lives to be worth living. Unfortunately, D-16 did not understand that and simply viewed Orion's antics and actions as self-serving, pointless, and stupid, due to his self-restriction to protocols, which later led to that tragic moment to their closed friendship.

[ann7av]

Idk about you but an issue I have with IF is that Violet doesn’t really think that hard about any criticism directed at her family.

Cat asks if Violet wants to talk about the heinous atrocities her family committed after Vi accuses her of being a shallow Pick Me, but this is never really explored. She posts a list of every flier Mira killed and it’s mentioned in such an offhand flippant way, it makes me wonder if Violet actually cares about her sister being a war criminal. I was hoping she’d have a talk with Brennan about his feelings on being “sacrificed” for basically nothing because it’s a sentiment I’ve seen some veterans express irl but they never actually talk on screen and it’s so frustrating.

What are your thoughts on this?

Oh my friend I'm so happy you asked because I have a lot to say about this.

(This is a list of scattered thoughts, please let me know if it makes sense and please know this is a critique of RY's writing and not Violet's moral compass as a character, I love my girl very much)

I had this issue from way back in FW when Lilith pushed Violet into the riders, It would be natural for a child to try and understand why their parent suddenly decided to risk their life in a war college but alas she never thinks about it and we are left with this gigantic "this makes no sense" feeling that progressively gets worse as the story goes.

Then there's rain when she crosses Parapet and yet... no thought on it, Vi? Your mother controls storms? Why aren't you thinking about this?

Lilith asking about her father's research while Aetos asks if Andarna could be used as a study subject and Vi doesn't stop to think WHY would they need it and HOW does it fit with her mother's previous actions?

The GODDAM NOTE inside the book of fables? That later on is revealed to be true? Brennan says he doesn't believe their father knew about Navarre's corruption and Violet never thinks about it or considers it? HOW?

My girl just found out her mother executed a bunch of people who were trying to help another kingdom and she doesn't feel conflicted about it? I was waiting for them to have a screaming match after Athebyne

Cat puts up a list of the fliers Mira killed and I was expecting a line like "It's not like my sister knew she was fighting for the wrong side at the time, she was doing what she was trained to do" but NO.

What also throws me off about this is that, up until this point, Violet is shown being a very empathetic person who really cares about people in general, but she doesn't stop to consider those were Cat's people who died, it was the flier's school that fell and it is their kingdom being attacked (maybe she got desensitized but that feels an easy way out of developing the story)

I could be happy with Violet trying to justify her family's actions to herself because at least it would feel like a natural reaction to have but you're right, the lack of reaction feels like she doesn't care.

She also never stops to have an actual conversation with Mira about any of this for some reason (she barely talks to her sister at all actually), and besides that one talk with Brennan at the beginning of IF there's nothing else that stands out enough for me to remember, which wouldn't be a problem if she had some inner dialogue every now and then, not only about her family and the war crimes but how she feels bout them too.

There are many times when we (the readers) ask questions to try and understand these characters and how they interact with each other, so when those very natural questions like "how do you feel about this?" or "but why would they do that?" are not answered, the entire thing just feels off, and that's not an issue only with the Sorrengails but with most of Violet's relationships.

In FW that's not as big a problem, she has her issues with Dain and is getting to know her squad (Liam specifically) but in IF I was questioning if Xaden dying was that bad of a thing if it meant she would think about literally anything else

To summarize: Violet's family drama could've been a Keeping Up with the Sorrengails level of drama if RY actually did the work to flesh out the dynamic but she didn't bother and chose to rewrite the same Xaden/Violet argument five times

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

she's sitting in belos's throne, wearing belos's clothes, carrying herself like belos does. luz was tricked into helping belos, so she holds herself responsible for every atrocity belos has done over the centuries. to luz, it may as well have been her doing all of this.

belos says they're not too different. they were both the only humans in a fearful and fantastical world. they were both curious about the magic of the isles, and did extensive research to master it. for a while, luz even looked up to phillip wittebane, and WANTED to be like him. She tells belos they're nothing alike, but luz feels like belos's success was because of her, making her responsible for everything.

she's wrong, of course. phillip wittebane didn't become emperor belos because one 14 year old girl showed him a glyph one time and helped him find an ancient god. he was already planning to wipe out witches. he had 350 years of chances to stop his quest to kill the witches and he didn't take a single one of them. phillip's trajectory to becoming belos was 350 years of never questioning his faith, his morals, or his humanity.

luz helped phillip one time. but everything else was a series of phillip's own decisions to do evil. luz's friends were right. if luz weren't there, phillip would have tricked someone else into helping him get whatever he needed to eventually become emperor belos. after luz left, he DID trick countless people.

luz doesn't want to hear that, though. luz starts off with the assumption that she didn't want to exist. and her being responsible for belos's crimes, her ruining the lives of her family and friends, and her generally not being a good person, are all hoops she jumps through to justify to herself that the first assumption was correct. and all of these lines of thought are, of course, untrue.

luz is trying to convince herself that, despite how much she doesn't want to be, she is just like belos. because belos has the blood of thousands on her hands over three and a half centuries, she does as well. but the audience can see that isn't true. Belos used to be a child. He was hurt by his society but instead of moving on from the hurt he leaned into it and become a monster. Luz has been maturing since coming to the isles, and would never make the choices that belos did.

Just look at the difference between this shot and the shot where belos was introduced in season 1. Luz hasnt manipulated countless guards to stand as her entourage. She hasnt violated the laws of nature to create and abuse a child in the shape of a dead man. And belos, after centuries of cruelty, is grandiose and intimidating. He fills the throne and gives an aura that threatens to destroy you if you stepped out of line.

But luz? She is a child. She is alone. look at her sitting on belos's throne. her feet don't even touch the ground

[hentaay]

Recently, I was attacked on Instagram after commenting that Max is becoming a true Piquet because he is condoning Kelly's actions. I want to make it clear that my intention was not to attack either Kelly or Max. I was merely expressing an opinion based on facts about the Piquet family, which has a concerning history of unacceptable behaviors and often justifies these acts.

The truth is that the Piquet family has been involved in several serious controversies. Nelson Piquet, for example, was racist towards Lewis Hamilton, and the family defended him. He also made disrespectful comments about Ayrton Senna, claiming he was better than Senna because he is alive. Piquet campaigned for a Brazilian politician, Jair Bolsonaro, known for his genocidal policies. Piquet also frequently expresses homophobic views, insinuating that Senna was gay.

Nelson Piquet has committed so many problematic actions, and the family continues to condone these attitudes. When I mentioned that Max is becoming a true Piquet, I was referring to this pattern of condoning reprehensible actions. It is not a personal attack, but an observation about patterns that should not be ignored.

What Kelly did does not compare to the atrocities committed by her monstrous father, but it is still wrong. The fact that Max is publicly claiming that the incident is false and that people are hating on Kelly for no reason is madness. I am sad because I like Max A LOT, and it breaks my heart to see him in this bitter family.

[alishaaxo]

ok there’s a lot of talk on the androw farman and rhaena targaryen situation and i wanna give some of my opinions on it all:

- rhaena did have a horribly traumatic life which makes it understandable why she was so detached to her children and husband. but this doesn’t justify how badly androw was treated.

- androw was disrespected so much that even servants didn’t obey his orders as their superior, nobles would insult him and children even bullied him.

- rhaena had survived a horrible marriage and many atrocities in her lifetime. marrying a second-son of a minor lord could grant her peace to find rest in her life which she never had during the war, along with favouring the house that had granted her and her daughter’s protection.

- androw was 17 while rhaena was 26 when they married. they first met when he was 11 and she around 19-20 i believe. i personally don’t think this means much because this isn’t a grooming situation like some may think but rather a marriage of convenience that everyone likely was aware of.

- it is strange that elissa farman would kind of selfishly allow this wedding to occur when it would only favour herself, her house and rhaena, yet make her little brother never be able to find true love. it wouldn’t favour her brother in a personal level. perhaps it makes sense because elissa may believe her brother would be taken care of as dragonstone’s new lord and favoured in that sense then, but it was the opposite case in reality where he was treated as scum even by peasants.

- the issue with their marriage is not that rhaena didn’t have androw treated like her superior as it was expected for a woman to, but rather to me that he wasn’t even treated with a modicum of respect and rhaena did nothing to temper that. instead she spent her time with her lady-friends and neglected her daughter and husband, leading to aerea to act out and spill a whole chamber-pot on androw’s head in a childish retaliation.

- rhaena doesn’t owe androw her love. marriages in westeros are political and in marrying him she uplifted her minor house while also allowing herself to rest from politicking matters and difficulties that could come from marrying a man from a great house, especially since they could attempt to infringe on her rights as lady of dragonstone. rhaena even told him allegedly to find a pretty maid to bed.

- i think though at this point of her saying so, androw had already become depressed and unwilling to act. he had been humiliated through their travels as he wasn’t respected as her husband, and their marriage itself was questioned which would be rather humiliating for a man of westeros for not consummating a marriage is unmanly to do plus to have this happen all while a bastard is trying to seduce his wife likely also triggered this depression too. he drank a bunch, stayed abed for days and his figure changed from a handsome one to puffy-faced, possibly from the alcoholism.

- after the loss of his sister elissa, androw had nobody and so attempted to make something of himself by becoming lord commander of rhaena’s garrison, only to be laughed not only by rhaena but her LADIES too. i get that tensions were high as elissa who was beloved by them both had stole and ran off, but allowing ladies to laugh in the face of your own husband is a big disrespect that must’ve hurt androw a lot.

- androw was NOT in the right for murder whatsoever. he hurt an innocent maester and a bunch of ladies who did not deserve what he did. even if they insulted and laughed at him, nothing excuses such atrocities.

overall, i feel sympathy for both of them but even in the face of everything that had occurred to her, rhaena had NEVER done such thing on the level if the murders androw farman did against her ladies, her maesters and eventually himself. he did go through lots of humiliating things and i think elissa’s runaway was the trigger for him imploding, especially as she was his one confidant and may have tempered rhaena+ladies’ snarky attitude toward him, but still, no way this justifies what insane thing he did. i think they ended up with a fitting ending, androw did the terrible things he desired but ended it by killing himself, finally escaping the torment of life. but rhaena was justified in wanting revenge and was able to find that by having him fed to her dragon, but i think it was nice he ended on his own terms first because if she had his private parts butchered before murdering him, it would really make it seem like she did indeed un-masculinise him even in his final breath. instead, plain-old fed to w dragon seems better.

tl:dr: sad for them both but murder isn’t the answer so ig im on rhaena’s side more? but the treatment of androw was so diabolical and she should’ve never let that slide from her servants, ladies and own daughter. but im also sick of the ppl trying to justify rhaena because shes a “cool girlboss” and that androw defenders are just “loser reddit incels” because its so much more than that. they’re both broken people who did lots of wrong.