#a crime she can never be absolved from.

[moe-broey]

I was maybe halfway into this when I realized this could have been an edit but. Can anyone hear me

[tls12lessthan3]

rereading the lee jihye cinema scene is really making me think about the parallels between kim dokja and lee jihye in ways that are so evil. like the point of this scene is lee jihye grappling with her trauma from killing na bori with kim dokja's help, with him telling her that its true she did a terrible thing but that all that matters now is she lived, and that she has to continue living. "Atone for the rest of your life or live a garbage life. Just somehow survive!"

lee jihye did something horrible to someone who loved her deeply in order to survive. the fact that na bori gave up her life willingly doesn't ease lee jihye's guilt - she still feels as though she doesn't deserve to be alive. and kim dokja feels so much compassion for her in this moment! he sees her for what she is - a terrified kid who just wanted to live - and fights for her to survive. he encourages her and empathizes with her and generally does his best to ensure she can live on even with all her guilt because he doesn't see her wanting to survive even at the cost of others as an unforgiveable crime.

which makes the fact you can see the clear parallels between lee jihye and the oldest dream here so much more heartbreaking. the oldest dream is an extension of the message that kim dokja passes onto lee jihye here - no matter what, you must somehow survive. thats what the oldest dream's existence is, a kid trying to somehow survive. that desperation is what his all powerful dreams are born out of. he pushes orv's message about living having a cost, and having to bear that cost, to its extreme - oldest dream's survival was very expensive indeed, causing incalculable suffering across universes and taking 1864 of yoo joonghyuk's lives. this is something kim dokja has to bear to keep living - its something hes unable to. orv forgives him for this, but he does not. both lee jihye and oldest dream are kids who want to live, both hurt those closest to them in the process, both are unable to live with that guilt even when absolved of it by the very person they hurt.

but where kim dokja empathizes with lee jihye, where he cares for her, where he sees her as still deserving of a future, he is unable to do so for himself. even in this very scene he is chastising himself for 'using' her, for doing what he has to to survive in an apocalypse, unable to see the irony. all of his companions have made horrible choices to survive in the apocalypse, all of them have chosen to live at an inevitable cost of someone else. and yet kim dokja holds only himself accountable for the crime of survival. it really exposes this supposed accountability for what it is - a deep self-loathing disguised. if it had been any other child sitting at that subway station, kim dokja would have understood. but because it was himself? of course he reacted with disgust and violence - look at the entire book. he's never been able to do anything else when it comes to himself! even when he cares so deeply for the others....oh kim dokja.....

[ironunderstands]

These Aventurine, Topaz and Jade comparisons are getting out of hand…

As much as I adore both of them, I think it’s very disingenuous to compare Aventurine and Topaz’s lore and be like “but they are the same!!!! If people like Aventurine and dislike Topaz that’s just misogyny!!! and like… no?

Topaz’s whole thing is that she doesn’t know the extent of the IPC’s evil, and believes that what she’s doing is genuinely the right thing to do. Even if she never had a choice in joining the IPC, she (incorrectly) believes what they did to her and her planet is justified, logical and moral, and for those reasons she stands with them. Part of this is likely IPC brainwashing, as she was probably very young when she became an indentured servant to them, and someone living on a planet on the brink of destruction would likely view anyone who stepped up to save them as heroes (imo the IPC likely waited for the point of no return to establish contact so her people had no other choice to except).

However Topaz got best end of the proverbial stick, her planet and its people were deemed useful by the IPC, and didn’t fight back, even if in the end they were still exploited.

Unfortunately, we have seen through Boothill, Belabog and Aventurine what happens when that isn’t the case.

Boothill’s planet got bombed and people genocided because they had a resource useful to the IPC, but were unwilling to cooperate with them or hand over their home, so the IPC decided to eradicate them.

Belabog had a debt owed to the IPC that was ridiculously high and very unfair to expect them to pay back, and had Topaz not convinced the higher ups to give them some time (which she got demoted for), the IPC would have taken Belabog by force

That leaves us with Aventurine, whose story is in no way on the same level of bad as Topaz’s. Unlike her, he has witnessed and experienced firsthand the truly awful shit the IPC can do.

They took custody of Sigonia and promised to offer the Avgin aid in their fight against the Katacans, at the very least protect them from harm. (Sidenote, since the IPC held control over Sigonia, they should have stopped the fighting in the first place). However, they simply stood by and did nothing, resulting in the deaths of around 6,000 Avgin, with around 3,000 went missing (or injured, I don’t remember, either way it’s bad).

But wait! It gets worse! Aventurine when he was still known as Kakavasha referred to the IPC as “the men in black/the men in black suits”, and his first master says he bought Aventurine from “the men in black/the men in black suits”, likely mocking the way he referred to them. Therefore THE IPC TOOK PART AND LIKELY EVEN CREATED A FUCKING SLAVE TRADE IN SIGONIA

Look being made into an indentured servant isn’t fun, but idk personally I’d take that any day of the week OVER BEING ENSLAVED

That’s not even to mention how horrible of a reputation Sigonian’s have in the galaxy, one likely spread by/resulting from the IPC themselves, as at least on Aventurines planet they do not have the mobility to make a name for themselves. (Honestly it’s a mini theory of mine that Aventurines scam is what partly contributed to this reputation, and his status as a slave is something the IPC conveniently left out in their broadcast about it-)

But, you might be saying, didn’t Aventurine have a choice to join the masked fools and leave the IPC, isn’t he free now? And to that I say, it’s complicated.

Considering the amount of suicidal shit Aventurine has done while being part of the IPC, he clearly hasn’t been having a fun time as a member of one, so why does he stick around, especially with the Fools invite? Even if he was a slave, does that absolve him of the crimes he’s committing now? What could justify his actions?

Revenge, plan and simple.

This is going to delve into some spoiler territory for the end of the Penacony 2.2 quest, something which I didn’t feel like mentioning earlier because I’m sorry but everyone and their mother already knows Boothill’s lore. Now, let’s get into it.

Aventurine accepts Jades offer to join the IPC, and when he becomes a Stoneheart, the first thing he asks about is the fate of the Avgin, to which he then learns that besides him, they are all dead. You see, from birth Kakavasha was pushed onto a pedestal as the savior of the Avgin, but now that there are no more Avgin to save, his primary motivator in becoming a Stoneheart (beyond not being enslaved anymore) is gone.

So what does he do now?

Simple, try to kill the motherfuckers behind it.

That’s why he takes on such risky gambles still, and why he wagers and wants Diamond to promote him to rank p46. The higher Aventurine gets the closer he gets to his goal of taking down the IPC for good.

Which is why his meeting with Boothill is so meaningful. I think Boothill is going to “kidnap” him and together they are gonna take down the wicked bitch that is Oswaldo Schneider for his literal crimes against humanity.

Mark my words, an IPC downfall is going to happen, and I think Topaz, Aventurine, Boothill and Ratio are going to be at the forefront of it.

However, Topaz and Ratio (and by extension the rest of the galaxy) have to learn/realize the true horrors of the IPC (although I can sense Ratio doesn’t really like them, and he’s learned a lot from Aventurine, I doubt he knows the full extent of the situation or is in any way happy about it). Therefore? Topaz mental breakdown arc? Ratio lore? PLEASE??!? The IP3 compliment one another so well and god I can’t wait for that to come to fruition.

I really want to see a Topaz and Ratio centered story leading up to an IPC smackdown, and I think we are gonna learn a lot more about how shitty they are in the later half of 2.2 and in 2.3 when the interlude and Jades release arrive.

As for the aforementioned Jade, she’s gonna need a Aventurine squared amount of trauma or reasoning behind her actions to seem in any way sympathetic, because right now she just seems like an evil bitch (in a semi good way, I will always respect the commitment to the bit) who loves her job and would make Machiavelli weep over how hard her ends are trying to justify her means.

[httpkaulitz]

Can you be my pretty toy?

PAIRINGS: Bill x Female reader

CONTENT: Smut

SYNOPSIS: Bill breaks a promise and you decide to teach him a lesson.

WARNINGS: sub!bill, dom!reader, handjob, overstimulation.

A/N: First time writing sub Bill because I love it but I don't really write it 😋

“I’m so sorry, my love.” Bill hissed, his face turned towards you with a pleading look.

You could feel his body trembling against yours. The heated skin of his back against your chest, his hair sticky with sweat sticking to the skin of your shoulder.

You two had been like this for at least ten minutes now. He apologized to you repeatedly while you stroked his dick with your hand in a firm grip, but at an agonizingly slow speed.

“I won’t do it again, I promise.” He looked away from you, embarrassed at how desperate and pathetic his voice sounded.

“Oh I know you won’t do it again.” You whispered, your tone almost too sweet for someone who was punishing him.

Bill squirmed a little more, desperate as he realized you were nowhere near done with him. He knew very well that you were more than irritated that he disobeyed you.

“It wasn’t my fault, I couldn’t help it.” He whimpered as he gripped the sheets. His thighs trembled every time the soft palm of your hands passed over the head of his dick.

Bill was terribly aroused, to the point of pain.

He looked back at you, his pink lips parted and the black makeup running down his eyes. He seemed almost desperate as he spoke. “I couldn’t ignore her.”

“You couldn’t?” You asked firmly, staring at him. As if he didn’t have the strength to maintain eye contact with you, he looked away.

When he didn’t answer you, you asked again, this time louder. “You couldn’t? Why? Is she special now?”

Bill lets out a sound that’s somewhere between frustration and disappointment when you let go of his cock. Your hand goes straight to his jaw, squeezing it enough to squeeze his pink cheeks. You turn his face, making him look at you again.

“What’s wrong? Did you lost your tongue?” Unable to speak, he just shook his head.

His beautiful brown eyes shine with unshed tears. He knows he shouldn’t touch himself, but he wants to so badly that he has to grip the sheets so his hands don’t fly towards his dick.

You release his jaw and wait patiently for him to respond and after a few seconds he does. “I tried to ignore her, I swear, but she kept coming back every time she saw me.”

You narrowed your eyes at him and he flinched a little more.

“She works with me-” He started to say but you cut him off.

“And what? You don’t have to be friends because of that.” Your hand went back to his cock, but this time you jerked him off fast and precise, just the way you knew he liked.

Bill pressed his lips together trying not to moan so desperately. His hips jerked upwards on their own even though he tried to control it.

“I’m not a bad girlfriend.” You said as you watched him squirm under your touch. His normally pale skin was now pink and sweaty. “I don’t mind when you purposely flirt with your fans, I mean, they deserve some attention.”

“Please… please let me-” The sentence dies in his mouth as you do an especially quick up and down motion a few more times before pulling your hand away from his cock.

Bill whimpers in frustration and need. You smile as his cock twitches and his legs shake involuntarily.

Even though he hasn’t managed to cum yet, he feels on edge, so stimulated that he would do anything to get his release.

“Do you really think you can cum after what you did?” You knew Bill was too kind to ignore anyone, but he had promised and still broke a promise.

You were furious when you saw him talking to her. Smiling as she threw herself on him. You never liked the way she looked at him. As if she didn't care that he was taken, as if she could have a chance with him.

"Please forgive me. I swear I didn't mean it, I didn't mean it." Bill sounded like a criminal desperate to be absolved of his crime.

He leaned towards you, pleading eyes staring at your lips. He had always been sensitive to touch and you could only imagine how needy he was right now.

“Did I say you could move?” You grabbed him by the neck, pulling him back into his place.

“I’m sorry.”

Completely ignoring his apology you asked. “Are you really sorry or do you just want me to touch you?”

The hand that was on his neck moved down his torso, caressing the sweaty and sensitive skin.

“N-no, I’m really sorry.” Bill stammered as he watched your hand slowly move down his body, but away from where he really wanted you to touch.

“So if I left you here alone like this you wouldn’t care?” You could almost see the gears in his mind working to find the right answer.

“Please don’t…touch me, please.” He was close to begging desperately over and over if that was what he needed to do.

You smiled, a mischievous smile before dragging your hand back to his dick.

“Thank you, thank you so much.” Bill said again and again. Relieved that you were touching him again.

You snaked your other arm around him to keep him still in place as your hand moved up and down his cock frantically.

Bill threw his head back on your shoulder, moaning and shaking under your touch.

“Please let me-” it was more than clear what he wanted.

“Let it go, my pretty boy.” You whispered sweetly in his ear and smiled as you watched him come undone in your hands.

His once tense body now relaxed against yours. Your hand slowed to a stop.

Bill looked at you smiling, he looked tired as if he had run a marathon. He was ready to cuddle into you, but your hand attacked him again.

Your touch, so skillful and insistent, was guiding him to painful overstimulation. Bill opened his mouth to scream but you pulled him close and silenced him with an eager kiss that was quickly reciprocated.

You couldn't deny that it was intoxicating to have someone so desperate under your touch.

His head was spinning, his eyes rolling back with the mixture of pleasure and pain as his body shook.

He whimpered, looking down at where your hand was incessantly moving up and down his cock.

"Please, liebe, it hurts." He whispered between breathless moans.

"What's wrong, darling? I'm just doing what you asked so desperately." You said with feigned innocence.

He looked like an expensive painting, messy and incredibly pretty. His makeup was completely smeared, his skin flushed and his normally spiky hair was down and sweaty. You could see the drool running down his face as he moaned nonstop.

His body shook violently and you knew he was cumming again even though there was nothing left of him now.

“I can’t… not anymore, please.” He begged, his legs automatically closing.

He didn’t know how many times he had cum, 5? 7? He lost count, his body was on the edge and he felt like he might pass out from so much stimulation.

“Just one more time, honey, now be a good boy and spread your legs.” You said as you brushed away the strands of hair that were stuck to his face.

Even though his body was determined to disobey, Bill obeyed your command in the same instant.

You stroked the head of his cock knowing how sensitive he was. Every sigh and moan that left him was a reward as you moved your hand, the soothing touch doing nothing to really calm him down.

You had no desire to stop, but by the way he was now almost coming apart in your arms you knew you had to. You watched him cum for the last time, shaking and writhing as tears wet his handsome face.

“Shhh, it’s over. You did great, baby.” You whispered to him as you hugged him and kissed the top of his head. You got ready to get up and get him some water and clean up the mess you made, but Bill held you in place.

“Stay here with me, please.” He says in a sleepy voice. His whole body relaxes in your arms now that he knows you’re not mad at him anymore. You just go back to holding him knowing he’ll soon fall asleep in your arms.

[loredrinker]

Framing Forgiveness - Solas Atonement Ending (Romance)

There are a few things that stand out for me around Lavellan’s forgiveness of Solas in the Atonement ending. 

1) Only a romanced Inquisitor speaks words of forgiveness to Solas specifically 2) Lavellan’s forgiveness comes before Mythal speaks  3) Mythal does not ask for forgiveness 

Lavellan Forgives 

Forgiveness is not comfortable; it is controversial because it can be viewed as weak or foolish. However, it is an incredibly strong act of free will and when given in truth, it offers spiritual, emotional and psychological healing. It liberates the forgiver and the forgiven.  

I’m actually impressed that the devs made this choice in the game and chose to tie it to love, framing it as an intimate and emotional act - an act of love.  

Forgiveness is about choosing to let go of resentment, it breaks cycles of guilt and vengeance, it helps to shift beliefs rooted in self-loathing. It does not erase what has been done. But it grants Lavellan agency. To forgive is to refuse to be defined by suffering. She is not the victim of his betrayal but takes ownership of how this story ends.

And what makes forgiveness powerful is that it forces the forgiven to see themselves through the eyes of the forgiver. For a man who has spent so long seeing himself as the betrayer, the destroyer - what must it be like to be met, instead, with grace – from the woman he admits he betrayed? 

One of the more difficult aspects of forgiveness, and why some may struggle with it, is that it isn’t always earned. Some don’t like that Solas could be forgiven before he has earned it. But the game doesn’t present forgiveness as a reward – it presents it as a gift. And that is when forgiveness is at its most powerful, when it can change a person, when it offers healing.  

Limiting the forgiveness to a romance is interesting. To have all characters forgive Solas would have made forgiveness feel like a general moral principle, rather than the personal act of emotional transformation I think Veilguard was going for in the Atonement ending. It also offers the idea that true redemption begins with love, not with punishment. If we only forgive someone when we feel they have fully atoned, then forgiveness is not about grace, it’s a transaction.  And that’s the messy thing about forgiveness, it comes first, when there is no guarantee that the forgiven will atone.   

I think for Solas’ arc, that gift of forgiveness is highly symbolic and impactful considering his history.  

And I love that the devs chose to position her forgiveness ahead of Mythal.  

Lavellan’s Forgiveness Before Mythal’s Release 

Sola's life has been dominated by Mythal – a bond as profound as it was painful.  With Lavellan offering forgiveness before Mythal speaks, she is standing independently from Solas’ legacy of entanglement with Mythal, away from all that pain and regret. 

Lavellan’s forgiveness is not divine or bestowed like a ruler pardoning a crime – her forgiveness is mortal, intimate and human.  By positioning this before Mythal, we are reminded of his humanity, but also of his personal connection to Lavellan, that she symbolizes a place for him to belong as himself – as Solas. He was Solas first, after all.  

Solas’ turning point isn't dictated by Mythal’s authority alone, but also by this personal moment.  If we, the player were only given Mythal’s voice at the end without the voices of Rook and Lavellan before her, it might have felt like a convenient way to absolve Solas of his guilt.  Instead, this gradual approach – Rook’s appeal, Lavellans’ forgiveness and then Mythal’s release – make this emotional shift feel earned rather than a deus ex machina moment.  

Mythal Does Not Seek Forgiveness Nor Offer An Apology 

If Mythal had asked Solas for his forgiveness, it would have acknowledged that Solas had power over her in that moment.  By having Mythal not seek forgiveness, the game reinforces that their relationship was never truly equal, that Mythal always dictated the terms.  Mythal had to be the one to dictate the terms of their parting.  It is also a fascinating exploration of their differences – Solas carries guilt, Mythal carries responsibility. She acknowledges they did many wrongs together, made terrible choices together, but she does not seek emotional resolution for it. 

If Mythal had apologized it would suggest that the past can be undone, old wounds closed.  But Mythal doesn’t give Solas any of that. This is very fitting – Solas' entire story has been about trying to fix his past mistakes.  Mythal’s lack of apology forces him to accept that some things cannot be undone and she denies him an easy emotional resolution. Instead, he must find his own way forward, despite the wrongs he did.   

Lavellan’s Forgiveness – Mythal's Release 

Mythal releases Solas as a leader releases a soldier. Lavellan stays as a lover choosing to stand beside him. Mythal says “I release you.”, Lavellan says “There is no fate but the love we share.” Mythal’s statement is about a duty ending.  Lavellan’s is about love enduring.   

But Solas’ fate is in his own hands now – and that moment where he looks back at the tear in the Veil, he is choosing.   

I feel like I need to add that this isn’t about diminishing Rook here. Rook offers a chance to atone - tied to duty. Returning the dagger to Solas is a gesture of trust, an acknowledgment that he still has a choice - but it comes with an expectation: bind yourself to the Veil. Set things right. Like Mythal, Rook does not release Solas from consequence.  

But this post is focused on forgiveness - its power, and that Lavellan offers the personal, emotional resolution that Mythal withholds.

I really appreciate the game having the courage to incorporate forgiveness into this world state. To offer grace as an aspect of this story’s ending is beautiful and fitting in the Veilguard setting, a game where many of the companions have to walk through their own forms of forgiveness and letting go.  

Forgiveness can be uncomfortable because it challenges the idea that justice is solely about punishment. It forces us to reckon with the full complexity of a person - not just their worst actions. In Solas’ case, it requires seeing him as more than the sum of his crimes - it demands acknowledging that he was not only a destroyer but also someone who cared, who loved, and who suffered. And by contrast, it demands viewing Lavellan and her forgiveness in the same light - not as naive or weak, but as someone making a deliberate, choice of strength to see beyond her own pain and shape what comes next.  

[moistvonlipwig]

the ozymandias phone call is a rly interesting moment in breaking bad to me for many reasons but one of the biggest ones imo is the fact that like.....a huge part of walt's abuse of skyler has been making her out to be the bad guy. he continually puts her in a position to look like the 'bitch wife' who is shutting him out for 'no reason' or the 'bitch mom' who is taking away flynn's shiny new car or the woman who 'cheated' on him with ted (nevermind that she had already separated from walt and he was refusing to sign the divorce papers and the 'cheating' was a tactic to get him to do so).

additionally she is an imperfect victim and he damn well knows that and uses that to his advantage multiple times to get her to do what he wants. marie has already slapped her and berated her for her complicity in walt's crimes and she doesn't even really understand the full extent to which skyler helped him. and both walt and skyler know full well that no one from the outside looking in (except perhaps jesse) would ever be able to understand why skyler did what she did even if they knew the whole story. because people don't hold compassion or understanding in their hearts for imperfect victims, which is to say, human victims, because no human is perfect. which is one of the things that can make abuse so isolating for the victims -- the shame they feel about their own actions & the fear of how others will judge them. the reality of the abuse becomes an unspeakable, shameful secret that only the abuser & victim know, so the victim comes to rely on the abuser even more, because at least they know the truth.

so the ozymandias phone call is interesting because in that moment walt makes skyler a perfect victim. for the first time, he makes himself out to be the bad guy (which he undeniably is, but which he has refused to appear to be in front of flynn prior to now). the way he talks to skyler on the phone is both true and a lie; he is sanding down her complexities to feed marie, flynn, & the police an abuse narrative they can understand and sympathize with. the abuse he put skyler through never quite looked like that phone call, which is how skyler knows he's putting on an act, but he did abuse her, and in this moment, despite its performative and dishonest nature, he is also, paradoxically, being finally honest and admitting what he did to her, and letting the other people in their lives see their dynamic for what it was. it doesn't heal the wounds he inflicted on skyler, it doesn't absolve him of what he did to her, it probably doesn't even make it easier for her to talk to anyone about what he did to her -- but he speaks aloud the truth he had previously made unspeakable, and he makes it clear, at least to the people who love her, that she was not the bad guy. she never was.

[revilloutionaire]

is it just me or was endeavor's arc never about him deserving redemption??? nor was he ever actually redeemed? like, atonement vs redemption are two very different things, and watering him down to "he is a horrible person henceforth he does not deserve to be written a redemption arc." in my opinion, that's just a tragic waste of his character.

endeavour's existence as a hero actually brings a very important and nuanced layer to the world of MHA and also brings up the question; is a person's good deeds enough to measure their worth?

think about it: todoroki enji is an abusive father and husband. he bought his wife, participated in a genetics scheme, neglected two of his children, pushed his eldest to his limit psychologically, and physically abused his youngest.

but think of endeavour: the number two hero. his efficiency rates are the highest in the country. he keeps property damage to the absolute minimum and runs an agency with an expansive network of sidekicks. and what is this man's job? he SAVES LIVES. it is his literal JOB to SAVE PEOPLE, and he is THE BEST in his field. it would be one thing if he were incompetent, but endeavour is literally incredible at his job.

the dichotomy proposes a philosophical question: would you remove this man from his job when he is so instrumental to the protection of the population?

i understand how severe his abuse was. i understand how severe abuse IS. it ruins the very foundations of who you are. todoroki enji effectively has ruined his family. but he has something that many abusers do not have: guilt.

his guilt does not absolve him of his crimes. he is aware of this. but he is attempting to take accountability. and while he is entirely too late, would you rather have the man not try at all? and for the people who want him locked up: what is endeavour serving a prison sentence going to do for the population? sow growing fear and distrust in a society where people are losing faith in their heroes?

there's one more layer that people forget, or in some cases, refuses to acknowledge: he loves his family. he only comes to love them far too late. and thats another thing people forget: abusers can truly love the people they abuse. and enji loves his kids, you can see it in the way he embraces natsuo after he thought he almost died, how he embraced touya even if he thought he would die with him, how proud he is of shouto as a hero, and how thankful he is for fuyumi. he still remembers rei's favorite flowers and always has them sent for her. the problem is that it's all too late. too little, too late. but it's THERE and i find the writing incredible.

i just think that endeavour is such a brilliantly written character. not redeeming endeavour would've made him a cartoonishly evil character, and undermined the themes mha depicts. what makes a hero? what level of morality does someone need to have? if a man is a murderer, but ends up saving another in a heroic act, is he now a hero? redemption is never something people deserve. it is something they earn, and whether endeavour was truly redeemed was a personal decision, that only the people he abused could ever make.

the beautiful part of it all, was that every todoroki had a different response to it. because every single one of their responses were valid.

natsuo walked away and went no-contact. enji would never see his future daughter-in-law, or grandchild, or anyone from natsuo's family ever again. and that's something enji will forever have to live with.

rei stays by her husbands side. she chooses to forgive. if only because she feels guilty too.

fuyumi genuinely wants to reconnect her family, not just for enji's sake, but for her own. because she wants to cling to the only family she has.

shouto wants to establish his own identity away from his father, and become a hero in spite of what enji has done to him. because it's who he is.

and touya wants to burn it all down.

these are all very, very real responses to abuse and destructive family dynamics. and it was all beautifully written. keeping up with the todorokis is honestly some of the best family writing i've seen in shounen. its rare to have a full family written into the picture with such realistic and complex problems, that show their lives as a family not just from childhood, as almost all animes do, but how their dynamics shift and change as everyone in the family grows and moves on with their lives. families aren't just shed for narrative purposes like it's mostly written in manga and shounen. they stick with you almost your whole life. and endeavour is an important part of the tapestry created- "not redeeming" him is the same as throwing him out of the picture.

because endeavour is a realistic depiction of an abusive man. and i know from personal experience- abusers are not cartoonish monsters. they're real people with emotions like everybody else. and the harm they inflict on others always backfires on them- they'll feel it for the rest of their lives. and so does endeavour. he destroyed his own family, and he's not getting it back. he knows this. so he's not going to try and get all of them to love him again, he knows that would he pointless.

hence the atonement. he's going to be there from now on, however he can, because he knows that nothing he can ever do will fix his mistakes. he will never be at that dining table with his family.

anyway lol end of ramble i just think he's an amazing character and stories should explore more themes based around him and the todoroki family

[32beesinatrenchcoat]

So I was going to write a detailed post describing my every thought on the last season of the Umbrella Academy, but that would have taken forever to write and read. Not to mention people here have spoken about most of those things more eloquently than I ever could. Instead, I want to mention a running theme in the show: family. That seems obvious enough on the surface considering the premise is a dysfunctional superhero family. However, each character is motivated by the nebulous concept of a family.

This has a different meaning for each main character. Sometimes it's by blood, by marriage, or by teams. Each character may have different motivations that could come in conflict with each other's. In season 3, Allison is motivated by a loss of her family (Claire and Ray), Diego and Lila are motivated by starting a family together, and Luthor is conflicted between his old family (the umbrella academy) and a new family (the sparrows).

The problem I have with season 4 is that this theme is tossed aside for no reason. They spend very little time with each other, and they seem so miserable whenever they do get together. Viktor wants to help Ben cause he's his brother, but they have no connection beyond Umbrella!Ben. Allison saves Klaus only to have it thrown in her face. Luther spends the first episode trying to bring the family together and never does it again. But at least these people tried to help. The rest of the family would rather do anything else it seems.

Ben and Klaus immediately walk away after the fight in Maine to do whatever they want. It's been shown that Klaus likes to have people when he's hit bottom, whether that's to help him or just provide company. Ben spent the entire wedding episode angry that he was unwanted. It makes no sense he would throw away several chances to be a part of a family just to be an ass.

Diego and Lila chose to have kids and be together last season. Why are they shown to be completely unhappy now? Lila always wanted a family and people who loved her instead of manipulating her. In this timeline, her parents are alive, she has children and a husband, and his siblings are all there for her. What was the point of telling us several times last season how good of a dad Diego would be to not have that shown? Even if his job sucks and his life is stressful and he misses heroism, his children should be the most important thing to him.

Finally, we reach Five. Five's definition of family has always been his siblings. He fought for them. He killed for them. So him wanting to hide away in some fantasy timeline instead of saving his family is ridiculous and completely out of character. I could believe him and Lila being stuck together and they grow close over the years. I could maybe believe some romantic feelings happened if they truly saw no way out. The problem is that they should have gone straight home once the cipher was found.

The biggest issue is that none of these arcs were absolved. Diego/Lila/Five is never reconciled either way, Allison saves Klaus again and he learns nothing from it, Ben dies a painful death again, and the children are punished for the crime of being born by being erased from reality. The conclusion to the theme of the show is not only do they cause problems in every relationship they have, but that they are the problem. The show asks, What is family? The answer: nothing that can last apparently

[arashi-no-saxlphone]

Ok I know people on here probably already know this but like. I want to say. Asuka blowing up Japan was not just a "Haha I'm gonna just do this" it was a "Oh fuck what the fuck is happening we need to aim this so the entire earth doesn't get fucked" and last ditch directed it at Japan. I AM NOT EXCUSING THAT! I AM NOT SAYING ASUKA NEVER DID ANYTHING WRONG I JUST WANT PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THE EVENTS CORRECTLY! Asuka's main goal in turning Aria into Justice was to prevent the Gear Project from being used for war so he created Justice out of Aria (THIS is something you can hate him for this is an extremely fucked up thing to do and I'm not going to analyze what he did to Fredrick and Aria in this post because that's a whole other can of worms) as a command type Gear to be able to PREVENT total war by taking control of ALL gears. However UNBEKNOWNST to him the Universal Will was taking control of Justice/Aria as she awoke and was going to destroy humanity (because The Original fucked up in making the Universal Will and some weird clause happened where "protect humanity" ended up being "humanity is a threat to itself so they all have to die") by mutating the people in Japan into bombs. Asuka realized that if it went on like this the world might be destroyed and in the moment he redirected Justice with the last bit of control he had over her using Manual Override to just destroy Japan to prevent this. It was NOT an easy or light decision that he had time to make! He had to try and stop the Gear Project from being used for warfare and destruction, TWICE, and failed both times and ended up destroying the world anyway. He put the Flame of Corruption in Frederick and turned him into a gear as a failsafe before this, likely because Asuka ONLY had Frederick and Aria to rely on as friends at all. IN ABSOLUTELY NO WAY IS HE ABSOLVED OF ANY OF THOSE CRIMES! HE HASN'T EVEN ABSOLVED HIMSELF! HE DID NOT CHOOSE TO BECOME A MONSTER DOING FUCKED UP SHIT FOR NO REASON HE WAS IN A DIFFICULT POSITION BECAUSE OF WHAT HE CREATED WITH FREDERICK AND ARIA!! HE PLANS TO KILL HIMSELF IN HIS STRIVE ARCADE MODE FROM THE GUILT! STOP MAKING ME GO TO BAT FOR ASUKA BECAUSE PEOPLE WON'T READ! ALL OF THIS IS ON THE GGWIKI YOU ONLY NEED TO READ 2 OR 3 ENTRIES TO GET THAT BASIC LEVEL OF INFORMATION!! PLEASE!

I linked Asuka here but also seeing the entry for "Japan" will explain the situation. I am. NOT saying. Asuka was right. I AM saying that the idea that this is a wholly Black and White "everything in the world is his fault" situation is a GROSS FLANDERIZATION and oversimplification of what is an EXTREMELY compelling, horrifying, and tragic story of a man paving his way to hell with good intentions and I need. People to stop talking about Asuka or Chaos lore when they're on screen in Strive when they don't know what the hell they're talking about. Please.

[zahri-melitor]

So, question i’ve toiled in my brain for a while now. Steph and Bruce’s relationship Pre-52, was generally pretty rocky, honestly Bruce from that era suffered due to how outright mean he was written at times.

It is hard for me to think of a bruce-steph dynamic that feels faithful, that wouldn’t have her realistically want nothing to do with him, due to all that’s happened. I can think of one-two nicer moments with them, that’s about it.

I don’t think that every batfam member should be on good terms with Bruce, I suppose the reason why I think Steph’s is so striking is due to how antagonistic Bruce is, how even when he lets her be Robin—it’s cut down so fast and so quickly. I can’t even think of a working relationship between them that wouldn’t be awkward, due to all that’s happened.

Apologizing for the tangent, you’re one of the most reliable voices I can think of for batman canon related things. My questions are this, how would you perceive a more positive dynamic between Steph and Bruce? Would you do retconning and rewriting if able to make that work?

There’s a few aspects in this:

One of Steph’s main character traits is how desperate she is for approval and recognition (this isn’t an uncommon dynamic for characters with Bruce. I’d have a hard time naming characters in Gotham who don’t fall into this dynamic on occasion). If she actually didn’t want anything to do with Bruce she would have stopped trying years earlier.

For a multitude of reasons, mostly ones outside the internal logic of comics, War Games probably no longer occurred exactly how War Games and particularly War Crimes is written, especially in respect of the details around Steph. It’s pretty much been trimmed down to “Tim stopped being Robin, Steph became Robin for a short period, then was fired for not following orders” in terms of what gets referenced. We do know that Scarab as a villain is still in continuity for Steph (thanks to Robins, so only probably not definitely main canon), but nobody has really been willing to address ‘did War Games still happen, and to what extent’. Basically, nobody has dug into ‘did Steph still cause a gang war’ because for the combination of both Doylist and Watsonian reasons it’s just easier not to address that question and skate over needing to answer, because as soon as you do it makes Steph a lot less sympathetic in terms of the rehab job various writers have been attempting for years; because Steph, in-universe, has never actually acknowledged any sorrow, guilt or belief in wrongdoing towards what happened to other characters during that period that was not expressed in the original story itself. Basically: either we have to acknowledge that Steph started a gang war AND that her ‘death’ is at least partly Bruce’s fault/blamed on him; OR if we absolve Steph from having any guilt here, we also lose anything people want to pin on Bruce out of this other than ‘fired her from being Robin’.

Now. If you remove War Games as the centrepiece of the Bruce-Steph conflict, what do you replace it with? And my argument is that The Victim Syndicate extended story arc is a compelling replacement that fits both Bruce and Steph’s personality traits well, and gives them a point of contention in their relationship that, importantly, shows both of them holding valid points.

I know. I know a bunch of Steph fans don’t like Tynion’s run because it uses Tim (and their loss of him) as the centrepoint around which Bruce and Steph define their relationship. But it’s also one of the few extended storylines Steph has had since Rebirth, and it’s the only one that has any serious dynamics between Bruce and Steph in it (Realistically, since Rebirth Steph has Tynion’s run, her appearances in Young Justice 2019, Mariko Tamaki’s Shadows of the Bat: The Tower, Batgirls, and then a handful of appearances here and there of varying quality like her Death Metal appearances to explain the costume flip).

Plus. The thing about Tynion’s run is that Steph’s arc through the entire story is about Steph questioning what it means to be a hero, and whether she wants to be one, particularly in circumstances where she feels Bruce has caused both her and other people’s problems. Steph doesn’t feel comfortable being a hero, because she blames Bruce for the harm that comes from his actions and from his vigilante work, and explores what other solutions there are to vigilante work: trying to help victims of crime via vengeance (the Victim Syndicate); Lonnie’s position that radical anarchist collectives are the was to build a better future; etc. She reflects her own origin of spoiling Arthur’s plans by spoiling and revealing Bruce’s plans.

Bruce and Steph fight over Tim, and which of them knew Tim better, and which of them understood his future plans better. And it’s a proxy for the fight they don’t want to have with each other, over what ‘following orders’ means and whether Bruce has the right to dictate them to Steph.

And then Tim comes back and Steph finds herself fighting with Tim himself because her answer and his answer to ‘what is the purpose of being a vigilante’ no longer match what she originally believed his answer to be. Because they’ve both grown and changed.

I find it a really compelling basis for Bruce and Steph’s modern relationship. Because they care about each other (Bruce going to find Steph after Tim dies is rooted in my brain) but also they both had to learn to give each other space and that they really do rely on having another person (Tim; Cass; Babs) as a buffer between them.

And while there are definitely Doylist reasons why we haven’t seen another story showcasing Bruce and Steph working together since then (Steph primarily appearing in stories full of other female characters because someone is ‘writing the girls’), I think it also offers the current and future direction of the Bruce and Steph relationship: they both know they don’t work as a partnership, but they can work as part of a team.

And that acknowledgement, to me, has a resemblance to the way that Bruce and Barbara have marked out territory between themselves: Babs doesn’t take Bruce’s nonsense anymore and hasn’t for years and WILL leave if he’s pushed her too far, but they came to an adult collegial relationship with each other and they work together smoothly the rest of the time.

Now, Bruce and Steph's working relationship is not as well grounded as Bruce and Barbara's. But that's where I put them. They don't so much focus on their relationship as on the fact there are a number of people simultaneously important in both their lives. And because of that, they need to be able to get along.

[soleminisanction]

Do you think Tim would have been more angry at Steph for starting the war games if she survived/didn’t fake her death? Or do you think the fact that she tried to fix it in the end would absolve her of that blame a little bit in his eyes?

I always love your analysis btw! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with the world

That's a good question. An interesting complication to the answer being: does canon Tim even know that Steph was responsible for for starting the War Games?

It can be hard to tell because certain people muddled the waters a lot (cough Brian Q Miller cough no-nothing wiki writers cough cough) but near as I've been able to glean from reading the comics, so far as most people in-universe were concerned, the blame for the War Games gang war fell on Batman's shoulders. There was a big publicity campaign during the War Crimes arc that followed that outed Steph as the girl Robin, but it painted her as a martyr and laid all the blame at Batman's feet.

Near as I could tell, the only people who actually knew Steph was involved with causing the war were Bruce, Selina, Black Mask, and Cass; and Bruce also blamed himself. The only person who ever really held Steph responsible was Cass.

So the question is, was Tim only not upset because he didn't know about Steph's involvement? Personally, I like to think that, if Steph had lived/not faked her death, she would've been open about her part, and that she'd continue the arc she showed in War Games of newfound awareness and understanding of how her actions affect others.

And if she did that, I think Tim wouldn't be angry. Hurt, yes. I think the whole mess of emotions surrounding those days, especially the fact that she became Robin in part to deliberately hurt him, would irrevocably damage their relationship to the point where they couldn't date anymore, and they'd need to spend some time apart. Tim would go off to Bludhaven with Cass after his dad dies, and Steph would go... somewhere else, away from Gotham, maybe with her mom, to recover and figure out her own way to move on after everything.

But the parting, I like to think, would be more sad than angry, a mix of remorse and hurt and being glad they're both alive and just... knowing they can't be around each other right now. That they won't be able to stand doing that again for a while.

Eventually, after a few months or years, they might get back to a point where they've worked through the grief and trauma enough to be friends again. And it'll be a different relationship than they had before, but it'd still be good. Or maybe they'd just stay apart from each other and live their own lives. You never know.

So yeah, bit of a ramble, but that's how I figure it'd work. Steph really does show her best character during War Games so I'm inclined to say that people who met her in the immediate aftermath, especially people who knew her before and could see how she'd changed, would give her the benefit of the doubt.

[groove-on-boogie-down]

It’s not explicitly stated, but I do think in a way, Mae and Sol are both on journeys of redemption that are connected and opposite each other.

Mae had a crime pinned on her. The fire she started to figuratively burn Osha’s dreams became much worse than intended and added to chaos. In pursuing the jedi, she sought to clear her name, hoping for a rebirth that she thought her coven and sister would never witness.

Any guilt Mae possibly carried evolved into what the jedi actually did. She pleaded for help and didn’t get it. Instead she watched the “keepers of the peace” invade her home, attack and kill her family and leave her home in ruins. They left her alone and left her for dead.

Sol carried this lie with him for 16 years, and when he reunites with Osha and finds Mae alive he plans to confess the truth. BUT!! He also thinks proving a vergence will outweigh the harm he’s done. That’s why he’s so hellbent on getting both sisters. To clear his name.

Sol thinks that proving the vergence to the council with both twins will absolve him of the crime in interfering with the coven on Brendok in the first place.

So as this journey of retribution evolves into justice, Mae discovers Osha is alive, and she pivots. Being with her sister is more important now. Together, they are the last remnant of the life they had on Brendok. When Osha rejects her, she seeks a confession, through Sol.

When everything comes to a head, Mae prefers Sol tell the truth. But this is before he rambles about the origins of the twin’s birth. He’s telling Mae things she doesn’t care about, buying his time. But Osha overhears the most important detail, the truth that he killed their mother.

Sol spends more time justifying his actions as part of his plan. He wanted everything to go right in his mind, so he could prove everything had a purpose. He tells Osha he did it because he loved her. And he dies with no apology on his tongue. His redemption is not earned.

In the end, his words and actions are cut off, the same way he cut off Mother Aniseya. His reputation is ruined in his death—by a friend, on a large scale—the same way he helped ruin Mae’s reputation in life. It all comes back to bite him.

Mae witnesses the fallout and is freed from burden. She no longer carries her sister’s hate. Their coven lives through them. The Jedi who wronged her are dead. Under the bunta tree, the twins are reborn. Mae’s redemption is earned! But freedom is short lived.

In sacrificing her memories to protect Osha’s choice, Mae is re-traumatized with pain she just released. Back to a starting point we didn’t see on screen. Four jedi have wronged her but they are dead & she doesn’t remember their justice. She doesn’t remember a twin. It’s just her.

This is a death of sorts. She has lost everything. But she is not free like Qimir would suggest.

The Acolyte Season 1 gave us this tragic theme of things uncorrected & left unsaid. However, in Season 2, Mae deserves a healthy, clear mind. Let Mae-Ho Aniseya have the chance to pull the Thread of destiny so that she can be renewed and reborn, again!

End.

[justalittleconfusing]

12/27/023 a male police officer took my statement over the phone and decided my statement didn’t mean much

03/2024 a female special victims officer retook my statement in person and issued an arrest warrant

10/2024 a male judge threw out my case saying my word was not enough against my assailant to prove I was sexually assaulted beyond a reasonable doubt.

12/2/24 a female solicitor said she thought the judge was wrong and was pursuing the case anyway, even if it meant the burden of proof is now higher. An indictment was filed. I most likely will need to testify before a grand jury. And that is just so the case can go to trial.

We are at almost the one year mark from the date of the assault. I have struggled with sleep, flashbacks, feelings of depression and huge feelings of anxiety.

Tell me again how false reports by women are so prevalent. Tell me again why the words of women are picked apart piece by piece for a shred of non credibility while a man saying “wasn’t me, didn’t happen, it was an accident she misinterpreted” is enough.

Ask me again why, if a crime was committed, why a woman would choose not to report. Ask me again why a woman drops criminal charges and says yes to a settlement and somehow that absolves a man of all his accused sins. Ask me again what it’s like to walk through your community knowing the person who committed a crime against you will most likely never see a single consequence.

Tell me again why facing cross examination and testifying front of your abuser to have your words ripped apart in front of a jury of your peers looking for any sign of lack of credibility, how the burden of proof falls on the person who was hurt.

Tell me again why you report?

I am reporting so a record of arrest is now going to follow. I am reporting because even if this case fails the next time he does this there is a formal record. I am reporting because I want a record with the agency who issues him his license to have a history for when he does this to the next woman. That when she goes to report, her case is already made. Her voice will be believed. Her word will be taken as being enough.

If he walks away with no mark of a crime when he does this again, the next woman will not have to endure what I have. She will be believed and can relax in the comfort that someone will walk through fire to build a case so there will be a pattern. And I will send her all of my warmth and love and my apologies that my path through fire was not enough to protect her.

I am reporting so it will end with us.

[psychicspacesquid]

One death is a comedy, a million a statistic

I'm having thoughts about the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, because it brings into focus the contrast between different types of violence. On one hand, there's the violence of shooting a man in the streets. On the other, there's the systemic violence of many, many people dying from the negligence of health insurance companies. Is shooting someone who has indirectly caused untold deaths justice? What should we do instead if it isn't? And, not unimportantly, should we feel bad about rejoicing that this has happened?

I: Systemic violence

So here's the rub: the CEO undeniably had a lot of blood on his hands. He would otherwise never have seen justice for it, because systemic violence isn't punished, it's treated as a fact of life in the way deaths and injuries due to natural disasters or accidents are. The nature of systemic violence is that no one person is wholly responsible for the violence taking place. Make no mistake, this is intentionally so, because those in power benefit from nobody being responsible. Therefore, we can't put a number on how much blood is on the CEO's hands.

The fact that nobody is responsible is due to two factors. The first is simply that organisations like a health insurance company are structured in a way to avoid personal responsibility. If a claim is denied and leads to someone's death, there's not a single person who pushed the button that lead to that person dying. It's a complex web of bureaucracy and management that absolves any one person working there of the blame. The CEO can thus wash his hands, because he has never seen the claim in his life, it was a dozen employees and their managers who processed it.

Second, a death due to systemic violence is rarely due to even one organization in the system. Say, for instance, someone died of complications of diabetes. The person in this example had insurance, but worked for a job that did not pay enough and was reliant on food stamps. Her claim for insulin gets denied, but with food stamps she can make ends meet. However, her food stamps get cut off, she has to choose between insulin and food, and she dies due to not being able to choose insulin. Now which organisation is responsible? Her health insurance for denying her insulin? Her government for cutting off her food stamps? Her employer for underpaying her? In a sense, all are, and therefore, nobody is responsible. Therefore, we can't put a number on the amount of people the CEO of UnitedHealthcare has indirectly killed. Depending on your definitions it's anywhere from zero to many, many, many thousands. Such is the nature of systemic violence.

Now we run into another issue: systemic violence is still violence. The many thousands of people who died due to their healthcare being denied are just as dead as the CEO who got shot. In a purely utilitarian calculus sense killing thousands is undeniably worse than killing one person. That's an important justification for being in favor of the shooter going free or even cheering them on: after all, why should the shooter, who did a lesser crime causing only one specifically chosen death, face justice, when the CEO who indiscriminately albeit indirectly caused thousands of deaths was never going to face justice and even be rewarded for doing so?

II: Retribution

However, there is another factor that's deeper, more primeval and more emotional. It, for many people, feels good that something bad has happened to someone who did bad things but was never going to face consequences otherwise. It feels like sweet revenge. It feels like justice. But is it justice?

In a retributive sense, it is. Under retributive justice, justice is conceptualized as a settling of the scores. If you did something bad, something bad should happen to you. If you got something in a dishonest manner, you should pay that back plus reparations. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth. You caused a death, now you must die.

One appealing feature of retributive justice is that it feels good. We love seeing bad things happen to bad people. That's why this feels like an action movie: the appeal of seeing the villain defeated at the end of the movie is the catharsis of seeing a bad person get what they deserve.

The big downside of retributive justice is that it, in many cases, does not solve the issue at hand. Killing the CEO of a health insurance company does not bring those killed by their negligence back, it does not install a mythical nonexistent "good CEO", it does not automatically change their policy to a better one.

Real, restorative justice, on the other hand, is slow, complex, and not achievable in the short or even medium long term. Justice has in this case, arguably, been achieved, when people no longer die or are otherwise harmed due to the negligence of health insurance companies and those still living that have been harmed by their negligence have been properly reimbursed. Achieving justice would involve completely overhauling the US healthcare system, reworking the entire US social safety net, and restructuring worldwide economic systems that are prerequisite for this injustice to take place. This is not a task achievable by a single human, and we can find ourselves completely crushed under this project if we chase after this impossible goal alone.

III: Justice

Then what are we to do if justice, not retributive justice where those who have done bad are punished but restorative justice where those harmed get made whole again and future harm is prevented, seems out of reach? Is retributive justice then a suitable substitute?

Normally, I would say no. In many cases, retributive justice just leads to more violence. An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. However, in this case the violence is wildly disproportionate. To stretch the metaphor, it's not individuals that have been gouging out eyes in a chain of violent acts. It's one large conglommerate that has left everyone without eyes, and one of those blinded has finally decided to take a single eye. This amount of violence is a drop in the bucket. Even if this incident were to happen to every major health insurance company CEO in the US that would be a few dozen deaths tops depending on where we draw the cutoff for "major company" versus thousands upon thousands.

However, for this to be retributive justice instead of just retribution, some step towards true restorative justice has to follow from the violence. Political violence is useful as a tool, but only if it's well-thought out and goal-oriented. Smashing without a plan, however cathartic it might be to smash, leads to all sorts of nasty consequences without any payoff to counter-balance those consequences. Political violence cannot be the only tool in the toolbox and should not be pulled out lightly. Political violence should be a surgical tool, not a baseball bat.

We do not know the shooter's motives at this moment in time, and we can only speculate. However, it's extremely likely that this is an action that was extremely well pre-meditated. We can only speculate whether this was indeed political violence with a specific goal in mind. Time will also have to tell whether any positive consequence will follow from this.

IV: Virtue

Now for the big question: should we feel bad about any of this? Should we feel bad about rejoicing? Here, the utilitarian calculus is less useful. Instead, I want to turn to virtue ethics. In my personal view, virtue ethics is not particularly useful in determining which action is the right one. However, it has useful insights into the process of actually doing the right thing when you know what the right thing is.

Under virtue ethics, morality is like a muscle you need to train. You don't always do the right thing, but you learn and get better at being a moral person. Part of that is that we have the correct emotional responses to justice and injustice. This isn't as simple as feeling good when good things happen and feeling bad when bad things happen. Appropriate moral emotions can be extremely complex. For instance, regret even when you know you did the right thing can be an appropriate moral emotion because it means you are seeing the moral complexities of your actions.

Now is the positive feeling that the CEO who got shot got what he deserved you might be experiencing an appropriate moral emotion? I want to cautiously say yes, with some major caveats. The reason rejoicing at his death is appropriate is because it refocuses however we might be feeling about the (relatively minor, death toll 1) violence of the shooting to the (major, death toll many) systemic violence caused by the negligence of health insurance companies. This emotion, especially on a societal scale, might be the impetus needed to focus the conversation on the systemic injustices that otherwise don't emotionally resonate: one death is a comedy, a million a statistic.

However, this emotion needs to be kept in check. Positive emotions about the deaths of other humans are incredibly, incredibly dangerous. They are part of the engine behind dehumanization and the tragedies that follow dehumanization. As much as we would like to think of CEOs as Not People, if we do not think of them as people we cease to understand them properly and the violence perpetuated by those at the head of companies becomes something mystical and demonic instead of something done ultimately by human hands. It's what leads people chanting "eat the rich" at doctors and movie stars instead of, you know, the wealthy.

I want to argue that the correct emotion to keep our enjoyment at someone's death in check is to feel just a little conflicted about it. Yes, we should celebrate because it re-focuses the conversation on the systemic violence that really matters. But we also should look at each other and grin and giggle uncomfortably and whisper "should we really be doing this?"

Either way, it's the release weekend for Wicked where I live, so: Good news, he's dead.

[chaggie4ever]

What future conflicts do you see happening with Chaggie? Personally, I think it would continue with their whole "Charlie doesn't listen and Vaggie doesn't express herself" issues they had in S1. Plus, the whole trusting Alastor thing might come up. Your predictions?

Absolutely great thoughts! Predictions and talking about HH is the only reason I made a Tumblr account XD

I personally really want Lute to have a role. Charlie seems to hate her even more than Vaggie after the angel reveal. And I think Vaggie will totally be here for this rivalry XD she may have to keep Charlie from killing Lute! A role for Emily in Lute’s possible redemption would be a great addition as they model Chaggie perfectly. Or maybe even Adam’s redemption (I’m convinced he’s coming back as a sinner - his vocals and lines are too great he has to come back). I remain convinced that Vaggie and Lute were frenemies and/or lovers for centuries.

The Alastor stuff is definitely important and will cause conflict for sure. I’m thinking Lilith is involved too (both her and Alastor have been gone for seven years…). I could see Vox getting involved and publicizing Vaggie’s genocidal past and Charlie comforting her.

alas i got sidetracked. Back to Chaggie! I really hope they address their codependency, and Charlie's tendency to steamroll Vaggie… she needs to actually listen to her girlfriend and notice when she is uncomfortable and will need to learn to push a bit more when Vaggie is uncomfortable to make her express herself. Vaggie is one of a few main characters who we have NOT seen cry. She REALLY needs to XD maybe Rosie can be a couple's therapist?

also now that season 3 and 4 are confirmed, im betting on a Chaggie engagement season 2. And if they dont have some down time to have an on screen date or fooling around time imma blow up the studio (no not really). I love that they are established and not the centerpoint of the season - this helps normalize gay relationships. But I also have needs XD maybe Charlie had to wait for Lucifer to come back in her life before she could officially get engaged as queen of hell. Future queens of hell 🥰 this will also likely not go over well in heaven or hell after Vaggie’s exorcist past…

Also… thank goodness Vivi isn’t in charge of writing anymore as she has Satan kill Vaggie after they are engaged and I will kill everyone if this happens

Bonus headcanons (some are stolen):

- Vaggie’s wings come out when she’s aroused - stiffly XD I think they will transition from gray to silver over time as she redeems herself further

- Vaggie and Lute stand trial for crimes by the seraphim. Vaggie is absolved of her disobedience and halo and eye restored (or maybe a weird glowy version so she still keeps her eye patch most of the time). She never wears the halo but it lets her open portals to heaven and hell. Lute is cast out of heaven for killing a member of Lucifer’s family (Dazzle) and attacking them and her vigilante justice on Vaggie. She may lose her wings and an eye too. She will still have one arm as she does not love anyone to restore it (Vaggie’s wings grow back out of love for Charlie and because they weren’t cut off by angelic steel. Lute ripped her arm off and it can also grow back.. if she learns to love).

- Vaggie hides her wings 90% of the time because she’s ashamed of her past (I’d LOVE a B plot episode where Angel Dust helps her with this)

- Charlie is super embarrassed when she demons out when Vaggie teases her publicly (always subtle until Charlie ruins it)

- Vaggie and Nifty bond over shared violence

- They go on flying dates where Vaggie carries Charlie and she loves it. Sometimes Lucifer joins.

- Charlie has picked up stabby Vaggie on several occasions and walked away with her to avoid conflict

- Vaggie’s spear is an emotional support spear and she talks to it and Charlie is jealous and has tried to hide it

- Vaggie spends Sunday dinners with Carmella and her daughters and is basically adopted and Charlie is jealous but also really happy that Vaggie is making her own friends

- Charlie loves when Vaggie speaks Spanish in bed - I also love the theories that they keep ruining beds with Charlie’s horns XD

- EVERYONE has heard them having sex - Charlie is LOUD and sometimes sings + Vaggie avoids Angel Dust the week after particularly loud sessions

- Charlie will propose after a very awkward convo with Lucifer

- Vaggie eventually bonds with sinner Adam and maybe Lute too

- I have an aversion to pregnancy and children but some of the kid theories are cute and Vaggie seems to be the more feminine but I could actually see Charlie carrying 😉😇

Ok imma stop now before this turns into a whole fan fiction XD

[crossedsabers10s]

Hi! just read charnal house floor and adored it-- the dramatic irony, the tension, the rising horror; liz calling damon young which is so terrible because she's right he always will be and yet he absolutely isn't.... art.

I did want to ask, how do you think something similar would go down when they are closer, when liz knows damon's a vampire, when they are both a bit more traumatized, when liz has once tortured damon herself and he's forgiven her that?? like if it were around season 3 or so. I ask mostly because I just really love it when people feel sorry for damon shjddk anyway you're an amazing writer and happy new year !

fjkl;adfdsalfkj thank you!

hm, later in the show when they're friends/she knows? Well, the same story line (her showing him the storage room, perhaps even as a show of reconciliation? her showing a vampire the secret stuff?) relies on Liz forgetting she knows about Augustine or just not considering it important so it remains as status quo until that moment and Damon finds out. He is. Less likely to attack her? Probably--tho we all know how Damon deals with sudden strong emotions-- and she'd realize that this is personal to him, even making the leap that he was involved w Augustine at one point. Which would possibly result in her prying a few horrific details out of him--he's sharing them to shock her into not asking more, she's staying calm and treating him like a victim, falling back on her training, which he does notice and switches to telling her he already took revenge, bc he wants her to see him as villain instead of victim, maybe which spawns her researching the Whitmore family and all of his victims perhaps even preventing him from killing Aaron's aunt bc she's like 'does it make you feel better? does revenge help? this woman never hurt you.' and he's all 'it makes me feel better' but then through the power of friendship he's forced to confront the fact that revenge is ultimately empty/isn't going to bring back Enzo or absolve Damon's role in his 'death' and Liz convinces him that tearing apart the organization and dragging the non-supernatural shady shit to light is a better vengeance than random murder of people who are like. Innocent of the original crime and Dr. Whitmore isn't even alive to care that his family is being hunted down. Tearing down his legacy tho? the college and program and all that? Ruining his name and memory? That's where it's at. So they do that, discover Enzo, and bam. Of course, then Liz has to convince Enzo not to kill Aaron/Aaron's aunt. She could probably call them even for her getting the ball rolling on his rescue as long as he doesn't go after them and instead focus on Wes. They drag Enzo back to Mystic and suddenly, amongst the Original Plotline, they have to deal with Damon's... ex? friend? ex friend? no one is sure. Liz and Damon are keeping quiet. Enzo is too busy being free to answer questions.

OR

she now knows vampires feel and think as people do, remembers Augustine exists and guiltily goes out of her way to check in with them--maybe to convince herself that the vampire they have is a bad one and therefore deserves it? and instead finds. Well. Enzo. when she tries to dig further, she's either shut down or they try to silence her. So she starts... going about it the legal way. Do you have a permit for that? Oh hey I noticed you ordered a bunch of medical supplies. Where did that go? Throws the book at them until they Do Something about it and gets kidnapped so Augustine can figure out why she's making trouble/maybe they even found out about Caroline and threatened her. Liz, drawing her gun: Frankenstein wannabes say what? Whatever, point is, she rescues Enzo, brings him back to Mystic and goes hey maybe I should ask Damon for help? Maybe this guy would feel more comfortable with another vampire. Damon, walking into the room because Liz asked him to help her with something: this isn't the last thing i expected but only because i didn't expect it at all. Enzo: *kill bill sirens*