#against heroism

[primoresplendens]

I predict: Lord will NOT become a playable character, because that would make them one of the "Heroes". And a Hero is the one thing Lord actively refuses to turn into. They actively work to remain as just Lord: of the Heroes.

Lord repeatedly asserting how they are "nothing", "only an ordinary human", "no one of significance", etc. Should Not be taken as a lack of fortitude. I repeat: and they are NOT being a reliable narrator, so perish any imagination of their "incompetence". THOSE ARE THEIR MANTRA. They are "nothing", as in nothing but a ROLE. A backdrop for the True Heroes to shine on. The enabler of the processes, that are called lives, of each one of them. They want to be the silver screen for the ending credits to rise on each of their Heroes' names, with none to call of their own. They are so quick to reject any allegations of their own heroism, BECAUSE they are in the primest of positions to become a hero otherwise.

But the world will vouch to credit them? Mark my words, Fandom, the narrative shall not allow it. If anything else, Lord themself shall not allow it if and once they are given the choice. This story is about the Heroes, and Lord is, and will remain, of the Heroes: the sign lies in the title

[clonerightsagenda]

"what if you had a mutual aid network that occasionally told interdimensional monsters to fuck off": Discworld witches as a concept

[mamawasatesttube]

something i like to think about sometimes is that. man. you could really create some kind of perfect storm with the combo of tim's post-infinite crisis fear of losing kon again + kon's intense, but generally passive, suicidality. guy who was so convinced he had to die a hero that when it happened he didn't even seem bothered by it (because he can't be traumatized by his own death if it was what he was literally made for, right?) x guy who has developed a whole new type of mental illness out of the survivor's guilt 100x combo. put them both through the wringer at the same time with one easy trick (make tim think kon will try to sacrifice himself for something) (and kon very well might!)

[shiryawashere]

yeah no sorry I'm gonna be thinking about this and going nonverbal for the next 24 years actually

[pulchrasilva]

I can be soooo normal about barely concealed suicides. When you make a decision knowing it will lead to your death, but to anyone else it might look like a mistake. When you throw yourself into dangerous situations and don't care if you come out the other side. Maybe you want to die but not enough to take your own life. Maybe you're not brave enough, or too ashamed. Idk whatever the reason I eat that shit UP

[angy-grrr]

thoughts:

Himiko Toga never chose a villain name because she has always been the monster and demon for others, internalizing it. But also because she isnt trying to be someone else, but proudly show herself and her love -AFO exploited this to reaffirm the previous, so she never even realized she could give her blood for others.

Ochako Uraraka's goal and arc isn't finished until we see a few main points: "who will save heroes?" A discussion about heroism and saving, and I wouldnt be too surprised if saving villains also come up here as a developed version of the first. They are all people, and that's what matters over their assigned roles. "Himiko Toga". Where is she? Ochako's arc can't be finished until we see or hear what ended up happening. "What does she feel about it all?" She needs a resolution and express her feelings, and with the hiding she has done recently I cant help but wonder even more about Himiko's state, as she is the person who makes Ochako feel safe enough to talk about her thoughts. And lastly"You like him, dont you?" What will happen with her love for Izuku? Is she going to hide it, confess, talk about it more with Himiko? I still think about "the reveal" during her fight with her, and her hair covering her whole face... It could be because she "needs" to tell and show her whole face to Izuku*. I would prefer it another way tho

*She said she admires Himiko for being able to say her feelings and love who she does with her whole face, if I remember correctly, while remembering an Izuku who is looking somewhere (someone?) else smiling. I believe its important that she doesnt have her face shown there, but we still dont have a clear reason why. Is she just not able to show that love to Himiko because she hasn't shown Izuku first? Is it because she no longer feels it? In the next panel she says shes now going to stop her, we can see her face, and her mouth is covered in blood. Is it because their battle was never about him? Because she is ashamed of those feelings? Because she doesn't want to engage in them?

With chapter 425 taking us by surprise because of her first interaction with Midoriya after the war, I prefer to think she has her hair covering her face because she still can't be honestly herself with him. Partially? Yes completely, but she can't tell him her feelings like with Himiko.

I hope she expresses her feelings to the class, to her parents, her friends, the civilians... but I really don't think a confession to him and him only would solve anything.

She doesn't want or can't chase him and his feelings like with Himiko; Izuku is acting weird, upset about many things, and she doesn't see that, im sure she would have tried to help if she actually knew. Even tho she looks around to find a crying Himiko, she doesn't try to do the same now, and in fact rejects it; she decided her feelings are not for him or others to see, at least at the moment.

So how does Hori plan to change this in such little time? Is Izuku going to chase after her, when thats what he has always done with everything he wants? Doesn't he deserve to be chased back? Doesnt she deserve the right to decide how much of herself she wants to reveal to him? Or mourn the loss in her own terms, in case Toga's dead or she thinks she is?

With her feelings for both Midoriya and Toga she has tried to put heroism first, focus only on that; with the first one because she fails at her goals and just blindly imitates him without finding herself, and the second one because she shouldn't feel that way and questions herself over those quite frequently.

I have no idea if Horikoshi plans to make her put her feelings first for him over heroism like she did with her -risking it and acting against what a hero "should" do so they can both just be Himiko Toga and Ochako Uraraka.

I have no idea, but it would make me so sad if he did.

EDIT:

In chapter 424 we see Shoto first in the hospital, when the narration explains things cant be as simple as Deku thought as a kid. Then Ochako appears, with her arm over her stomach probably thinking about her fight. It can't end so easily, and I wouldnt be surprised if chapter 427 or 428 was about them.

Fun thought: what if Himiko is the one about to see Spinner? jkjkjk. It could be cute tho.

[shigarakins]

excerpts from interviews horikoshi has given in 2018.

[X] [X]

these aren't the only interviews where he has talked about this, but i don't want to dig up every single instance of him adressing the idea of "everyone has their own unique definition of what a hero/heroism is"' because he was basically just saying the same thing over and over again over the course of the past few years. i think he even brought it up in one of his more recent interviews, but even if he hadn't, i see no reason to believe that he changed his mind at some point after 2018.

i mostly just think it's interesting in how it relates to tomura and tomura's character arc. basically, if your goal is to explore all the different shapes and forms a "hero" can take, you'd naturally ask yourself the question: "can a villain be a hero? and what would that look like?" where tomura is the answer to both of these questions. his brand of heroism is defined by wanting to be a hero for the villains (as a villain) and by destroying for their sake in order to create a future where they can live how they see fit. but that ultimately means that he couldn't ever stop being a villain or abandon his goal of destruction in the literal and most extreme definition of the word since that would have changed his idea of heroism too much in order to turn it into something more "acceptable", when the whole idea seems to be that even tomura's brand of heroism is valid, and that even a villain who is and wants to be a hero for other villains can and has the right to exist. any attempt at "redeeming" tomura or getting him to re-join society on the heroes' terms or re-define what it means to "destroy" or perhaps even abandon that goal entirely would have sort of defeated the point because it would have been akin to "converting" him, and basically forcing him back into a box (essentially saying that, in order to be a hero, he can only have "this type of existence").

but since this is bnha (where, when neither of two parties wants to give up, someone has to die, even a teenage girl's slate cannot, ever, "be wiped clean," nothing can change the fact that people "still became murderers" who cannot be forgiven, etc.), and jail just isn't that dramatic/emotionally moving/exciting of a conclusion, if he was never supposed to stop being a villain, if, in fact, him being a villain (in spite of afo, not because of him) was the entire point of his character, and fighting to "destroy until the bitter end" was the culimination of his character arc, then there was never any other outcome for him but death.

[deadpresidents]

What have you been reading since the last time you posted your latest reads?

It's been a few months since I updated my latest reads, so I'm probably going to forget a few titles, but here's what I've been reading since then:

•The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

•Pancho Villa: A Revolutionary Life by Paco Ignacio Taibo II and translated by Todd Chretien (BOOK | KINDLE)

•The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

•Guardians of the Valley: John Muir and the Friendship That Saved Yosemite by Dean King (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

•Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

•When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day by Garrett M. Graff (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

•Too Rich: The High Life and Tragic Death of King Farouk by William Stadiem (BOOK)

•The House Divided: Sunni, Shia, and the Making of the Middle East by Barnaby Rogerson (BOOK | KINDLE)

•Glad to the Brink of Fear: A Portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson by James Marcus (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

•The Founders' Curse: James Monroe's Struggle Against Political Parties by Brook Poston (BOOK | KINDLE)

•Decade of Disunion: How Massachusetts and South Carolina Led the Way to Civil War, 1849-1861 by Robert W. Merry (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

•The Age of Reconstruction: How Lincoln's New Birth of Freedom Remade the World by Don H. Doyle (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

•Power and Glory: Elizabeth II and the Rebirth of Royalty by Alexander Larman (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

•The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis by George Stephanopoulos with Lisa Dickey (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

•The Devils Will Get No Rest: FDR, Churchill, and the Plan That Won the War by James B. Conroy (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

•Ballyhoo!: The Roughhousers, Con Artists, and Wildmen Who Invented Professional Wrestling by Jon Langmead (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

•The Rivals: William Gwin, David Broderick, and the Birth of California by Arthur Quinn (BOOK)

•The Book-Makers: A History of the Book in Eighteen Lives by Adam Smyth (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

•A History of the Muslim World: From Its Origins to the Dawn of Modernity by Michael Cook (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

•The Thought of Pope Benedict XVI: An Introduction to the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger, Third Edition by Aidan Nichols (BOOK | KINDLE)

•Avignon and Its Papacy, 1309-1417: Popes, Institutions, and Society by Joëlle Rollo-Koster (BOOK | KINDLE)

[rin-solo]

To anyone in the TUC fandom who has looked at AHS and skipped it because they heard the ending is happy...

... and then assumed that it's just a wish fulfillment "ideal reality" kind of outcome of the TUC story that cuts all of the depth, pain, and realism ... Go back and read it right now.

Because that is not what AHS is. Not even close.

AHS is not "my version" of TUC where I just change whatever I dislike without regard for themes or characters in the original. Far from it. One of the main goals I had was actually to give more of the Underland. More characterization (that aligns with canon, although some characters develop in a different direction because of shifts in circumstances), more worldbuilding (that coincides with canon, adding onto it), ... just more, period.

The best way I can describe what it actually is is honestly saying that AHS is to TUC like Marvel's "What if ...?" is to the MCU. It is quite literally a "What if Henry had survived his fall at the end of "Gregor the Overlander"?" And I kid you not, 95% of the changes in the story, compared to TUC, are simply a result of exactly this change.

But the entire plot of the final book is different, right? Well, I didn't say that the consequences of that one change weren't substantial. They are. Without spoiling too much I can only say that Henry happens to be an optimist, and it also happens that an optimist was exactly what the TUC story needed to achieve a happier outcome.

Anyone who has actually read my version of the CoC plot will tell you that it is far from ideal, perfect, or pain-free. A lot more happens in the actual plot, but most of those new events are there to serve the dark, violent nature of war. There's so much talk about loss, and sacrifice, exploration of (also the dark side of) heroism, and whether "for the greater good" is worth it. There's corruption and death, injustice, and grappling with unkind fates and alienation/rejection.

Now, I will admit that I did put less emphasis on the societal pressure aspect of CoC, but mainly because that theme is a huge part of AHS 2 already, and it did not really fit this part of the story anymore. Instead, "Gregor against society" becomes "Questers against society" (quite literally, since they are — small spoiler — banding together to actually overthrow Solovet and bring about change.)

BUT ... if there is corruption, death, and the violence of war, how is it happier then? How can it have a happy ending?

Very simply because it is not only corruption but also redemption. Not only death and suffering but also growth and gain. Not only violence and breaking of relationships but also companionship, hope, and mending of relationships.

... The main change that happens to be so powerful it can give this series a happy ending without disrespecting or abandoning its original gritty violent core is ... a shift in mindset toward the positive. For Gregor, but also for everyone else. One of the main themes I added is the exploration of the double-edged nature of things: Everything has good and bad consequences. What we take away from it is what we choose to focus on.

Now you might see better what I meant by "All this series needed was an optimist" earlier. If there were someone to remind people of the bright side, to remind Gregor that his rager power does not make him evil and that he is never alone or choiceless, to embody this hopeful outlook and bring it out in everything ... I promise to you that this is all it would have taken.

And this is what I'm giving you.

[amerasdreams]

Russia:

"Be absorbed by us, or we will kill you."

"You are our brothers, so we have to kill you to remind you of that."

This is the reason for their war. No sane person can support that. We have to defend Ukraine and the rational world from such violations of international law and expansion which is a close relative of Nazi Germany. As insupportable a reason, and as horrific of methods.

[badgirlcoven-official]

I know you can divorce a character from their bad writing I do this all the time this is not a "You're problematic if" post at all

But every time i see the bg3 twink now I'm like where's the option to violently kill him? Can I punch him? How to make him suffer in a way that doesn't make him look cool?? I need to do violence to the video game man and it's kind of comical

[the-busy-ghost]

Warning- this is a very petty post, but I think I'm entitled to at least one petty, pissed-off reaction every time I finish a classic novel that hit harder than I expected so take this as my quota for the year.

Also spoiler warning for a book that came out over a century ago but still, I didn't know the plot going in so don't want to ruin it for anyone else, if you haven't read it shut your eyes. (Also Local Tumblr User Going Wild Over Book Published a Hundred Years Ago That Everybody Else Already Read should probably be categorised as akey part of indigenous tumblr culture at this point).

Anyway I just finished the War of the Worlds and in between studying I've thinking about Themes and Motifs as you do, and idly looking for further analysis. I then accidentally ran into an article called 'A Quiet Place II Succeeds Where the War of the Worlds Failed' and:

Now I haven't seen any of the Quiet Place films, this is not a rant against them and of course everyone is entitled to their own opinions. But re: the ending of The War of the Worlds, I have to ask, did this guy somehow miss, uh, the entire point of the book or am I just utterly insane?

[sebastianshaw]

rando ratty ramblings but as kind as Haven is and as cruel as Shaw is I still try to avoid a straightup “good/evil” dichotomy and more that like...Shaw is purely self-interested and Haven is all-compassionate, and while we simplify these things to always bad and always good, the fact is not only can selfishness indeed sometimes be the better choice, compassion can sometimes be a bad one, and not just in a “oh you’re not thinking about yourself” way where only YOU are harmed, but like, compassion to a certain kind of evil is aiding it which is therefore arguably evil too and if I were to ever actually write some srs Alt Marauders fic again I’d wanna explore that and likewise I don’t want them to be a clean-cut “he’s logic she’s emotion” dichotomy either because she’s very logical about human psychology and how people work and how doing this is likely to result in that, and meanwhile he’s just like “well why would someone respond like THAT that’s just crazy” because he simply Doesn’t Get It, but that doesn’t mean it’s not logical, it’s very logical, it just tends not to get credited as such in our culture

[xserpx]

Savine had not changed this room. Probably no one had changed it in two centuries. Some dark oils of dead Lord Governors, some gruesome-looking Northern swords and shields looted from some old battlefield, some inexpertly stuffed hunting trophies, peering disapprovingly down with their bland glass eyes. An upset deer, an astonished stag, a baffled bear, a leering wolf. Leo had told her it was the way his father had liked it, and so it was the way he liked it, and she respected his decision. Or at least pretended to.

— The Trouble With Peace by Joe Abercrombie

[wallylinda]

Brown eyed Hal is someone who’s SOFT and caring and who fights against what was ingrained in him by the government. Brown eyed Hal is someone who looks at the force at cops at the army and realizes it’s wrong, the system is broken.

Blue eyed Hal is a stranger

brown eyed hal is still going to prostrate before the system and not give it a second thought until its escalates to a point of nigh-genocide. giving him blue eyes did not magically erase his years of stubborn obedience to the corps nor did it negate his ability to be kind to others. he looks freaky but hal has had this personality since the mid-2000s none of this is new or really worth talking about because it's the same thing fans have been complaining about for nearly two decades at this point.

[jeddara-of-jasoom]

You cannot be for the opposing side and their actions and "values" in the least if you actually risk your freedom and safety to protest against them.

The bravery of people who stand alone and face the regime, nothing in their hands but a sign

Russia is not monolithic, no matter how much the regime tells you they're "united"

The people who support the regime have 100% freedom to say what they say.

Those who oppose it are of course afraid to speak.

But some still do anyway. Even after all the examples they have of protesters arrested, harsh sentences. Horror stories of what happens to some.

Some people in Russia are still free. The freedom in their hearts won't be crushed, even if their physical freedom is taken away.

If freedom still burns in one heart, there is hope, because it can ignite thr freedom in others' hearts and eventually spread like wildfire.