#all others who are indoctrinating the weak

[sabakos]

Recent discourse reminds me of that cult indoctrination trick that's often used to weed out more difficult marks early on, where they tell you all that you aren't allowed to eat rice on Tuesdays and then if you protest they go "wow SOMEBODY likes rice a little much huh" as if you're the fucking weirdo who cares too much about how much rice is consumed between Monday and Wednesday instead of them.

And this forces you to decide whether your autonomy matters to you more than the approval of the group - while they'll still act like you're on thin ice either way, if you give in at this point they know you're theirs forever, because now they've established a foothold, you've shown a moral weakness, which they will brand you with so it can be used against you in the future ("hey RICE-addict here doesn't want help break into the city records office") to force you to double-down and isolate you further.

And if instead you do decide to push back further, after your abrupt departure from the group ("You're seriously leaving us over RICE?!? Seriously?") and subsequent ostracism, you can then be used as a demonstration to the others who were more pliable, of how the outgroup is full of people like you who are obsessed with violating the No-Tuesday-Rice rule to the point where they'll abandon all their friends, who cared so much for them, so it clearly isn't an arbitrary restriction, you're the kind of monster these rules are intended to protect them from, thus all the other wise and esoteric precepts of the charismatic leader are implied to be equally justified.

[nightcolorz]

it’s so wild to me when people talk about Armand and Louis’s dynamic as if since Armand is a lot older then Louis he always has the upper hand and Louis can’t “really” hurt him, like 💀it’s not like Armand was severely tortured his entire childhood and treated like a slave who was incapable of being anything other then an object his entire adulthood until he was eventually kidnapped and indoctrinated into a cult where he was beaten and starved and tortured into compliance, all of this forcing him to believe that there is no existence for him that doesn’t include submission to the greater power. wow it’s not like Armand isn’t capable of understanding or fully comprehending any of the things he’s experienced throughout his long life because he has been so severely traumatized that he can’t remember 80% of his existence and has regressed to a point bcus of his upbringing where he starts to panic and loose his shit if he doesn’t have a daddy/master to take care of him and to submit to bcus if he doesn’t have someone there telling him what to do he’s nothing. It’s not like this means that Armand will do anything to not be abandoned bcus he literally can not live independently. It’s not like Armand’s age only says anything about his physical strength bcus hes the most lost, learned helpless, confused and fumbling character in the series and he has learned nothing from anything he has been through. But yeah for sure, Armand is older so he always has the upper hand and Louis hurting him doesn’t mean anything cuz Armand can’t be hurt haha he’s too strong. Seems legit. Armand is old so he isn’t capable of being extremely emotional vulnerable and Louis is young (over 100 yrs old) so he’s not capable of recognizing a vulnerable person and taking advantage of that vulnerability for his own gain (it’s totally not like his job as a mortal was doing exactly that). Ten out of ten nuance and complex analysis guys the old one is powerful and the young one is weak thanks for that stunning show of media literacy 👏👏

[n4tsum1-san]

when you think about it, sunday and robin's ideologies are like the indifferent cruelty of the universe vs. the indomitable human spirit

this is kind of an oversimplification but think about it...

sunday is a bird in a cage. his cautious nature was taken advantage of by the dreammaster, and he was indoctrinated into the belief that only strong people survive, and the weak can never find true happiness. he believes the universe is cruel and unforgiving. like the charmony dove he and robin rescued when they were young, only for it to crash and die later. birds will always be better off caged, as long as they are satisfied by fleeting glimpses and dreams of the sky. there is no shame in escape; on the contrary, the seeds of escape exist in everyone's hearts.

robin is a bird who flew and almost fell. she chose a high-stress career full of competition, and the more successful she is, the more scrutiny and pressure she faces. she visited war-torn planets and witnessed desolation firsthand. she nearly died when she got shot delivering medical supplies to the frontlines. and she questioned herself – why do birds fly if they're destined to fall? do we sing to cover up suffering and give people false hope? – but she found an answer. birds fly because it's their dream, their home, their irrevocable right. even in the face of an immutable fate, if you can still sing out without a tremble in your voice, it will definitely be felt.

and in the final fight against sunday, she says this:

"Brother... The weakness of humanity cannot be redeemed by others."

no matter how much sunday wants to protect everyone from the cruelty of the universe, he can't. ultimately, it's not up to him. it is as acheron said:

"The most critical aspect of this plan is not to convince everyone to choose the right path... But to inspire them to save themselves."

yes, reality is harsh. many birds fall and many people die. some suffer fates worse than death. it's natural to want to escape reality, hell, it's okay to feel that way. but things will never change if people escape all the time. the human spirit is destined to shine as much as it is destined to go out. sunday recognizes this, but robin understands it on a more profound level.

[vexwerewolf]

Felicitations, comrade! We had our session 0 for the IGF campaign im running, and one of my players wants to be a moonlighter pirate "infiltrating" Hell's Gate militia. He was initially thinking of being affiliated with the Hell Hounds, which for obvious reasons would present some challenges. Do you have any advice for making this happen, what with the very first mission putting him up against his true boss? I dont know that he'd have enough time to have truly built up camraderie with the rest of the SRT to truly make his character have conflicted loyalties.

I mean, he'd have to have been with the militia a while to build up enough trust to be seriously considered for the SRT.

But moreover, let me tell you what being a Hell Hound is like.

CW: psychological and physical abuse

So one thing I want to make it clear that the Hell Hounds are basically an incel cult without the weird gender-sexual overtones. I imagine there ARE women and enbies who join it but in essence Andros Capella is a creepy weirdo who preys on disaffected, primarily male youth with no prospects and indoctrinates them into his worldview of nihilistic violence.

Andros doesn't really have a philosophy, or at least not one that he could describe in words (and even if he could, he wouldn't), but it could be summed up as "the weak exist solely to create things for the strong to take." You are worthy of having things if you are strong enough to take them, but only so long as you're strong enough to keep them.

The closest political ideology I could ascribe to him would be "stateless fascism." Andros is certainly sadistic, devoid of empathy and believes himself to be supreme, but he's too intellectually lazy to bother engaging in justifying why he's supreme. He makes the most basic of naturalistic arguments (i.e. "this is just the way the world works") but feels it's beneath him to actually justify or provide evidence for his claims.

He hates the minutiae of day-to-day life, and derives no joy from anything that doesn't involve someone else's discomfort or pain. He will steal your food for the sheer thrill of having taken something that you wanted to eat, but he won't enjoy eating it because he despises the physical sensations of chewing and swallowing.

And if you are a Hell Hound who, god forbid, enjoys something, he will bully the shit out of you. He will verbally and physically abuse you until you learn to hate the thing you liked just to make the pain stop.

Lemme tell you what the average night on Fort Cerberus looks like when you're not on a raid: you and a couple hundred other sick fucks lurk around the corridors drinking and gambling but you sure as hell better not actually look like you're having fun because you're all desperately trying to avoid becoming the bossman's next chew toy.

Some poor fuck catches Andros' eye. You're not sure what for, but from the sounds of things he might've been counting his poker winnings too loud. He gets a hand on his shoulder from the big man, who tells him that he's being too selfish - gotta learn to share a bit more, yeah? Now, way Andros sees it, guy's got ten fingernails that he's keeping all to himself, so here's a set of pliers - redistribute.

You jeer along with the rest of the room, loud enough to drown out his screams, because you're so very, very relieved that it isn't you. But you fuck up. You look a little bit too enthusiastic, perhaps, or maybe it's the opposite, maybe you weren't forcing it enough. Either way, the bossman's eyes land on you and your blood turns to ice in your veins.

"You," he says. "C'mere."

The room is dead silent all of a sudden, quiet enough that the pitiful whimpering of the first guy, (currently on his second thumbnail) is the only sound you can hear. You walk over, as a prisoner does to the place of execution.

He takes your hands, inspecting your fingernails, and then your hands, then your arms. "No ink yet? You not pulling your weight? Am I payin' to feed a fuckin' leech?"

You say you're not a leech.

"Those pricks over at the Gate are gettin' too clever. Learning too quick. Gettin' the jump on us too many times. I want someone over there learnin' what they know. You 'avin' no ink makes you a good choice. They'd sniff out any of these boys in a second, they would, but not you. You look soft. Don't he look soft, boys?"

The room jeers at you just as you jeered at the first guy (he's on his ninth nail, now, and his throat is so hoarse he can't make sounds anymore). You try your best to remain composed.

"Normally soft'd be fuckin' worthless. But soft'll let you blend right in with the Gaters."

So, to avoid whatever horrific torture he's currently ideating, you agree. The next time they go out on a raid, they pick a ship full of people who don't know each other and slip you in with the passengers when nobody's looking. You don't go to Hell's Gate directly - you do a couple of hops through the Thousand Habs, just to throw off suspicion.

You sue for residency on the station as a refugee from a failed habitat. They give you your own cabin, and they make sure you're fed and clothed. You smirk to yourself - they really are as soft as Andros said they'd be; they have food and water and clothes and they're just giving them away!

You don't have all that many marketable skills, so after a few rotations scrubbing air filters, you apply to take the militia aptitude test. You try to play it down so they don't get suspicious, but if nothing else you're a damn good pilot, so you get fast-tracked. These fucking idiots just give you a mech! God, it's gonna be so easy to tear them apart from the inside.

They put you in a team. You train together, building up hours in the simulators. Then something weird happens. They... trust you? They want to... spend time with you, outside the simulators. They want to drink with you, play games with you, hear about your life. Well, is it more suspicious if you say no? You have to maintain your cover.

You don't always fit in well. Sometimes you crack jokes that are... a little unpleasant, a little off, a little worrying, and you learn to bite those down because it's bad for your cover. You also have this odd air about you, like you're constantly on guard, like you're waiting for the other shoe to drop (like somebody's gonna make you rip your fingernails out if you're too happy). People figure you must've gone through some trauma and are kind stupid enough not to pry.

You feed information about the militia back to Andros - carefully, so as not to blow your cover. Some members of your team get hurt - nobody dies, but they get hurt. You feel... bad. Why do you feel bad? They're soft, they're weak, they don't mean anything. They're not your real friends. You don't have any friends.

Months pass. Jerry says he wants to tap your team for a long-standing project he's working on. This is your chance. Sabotaging this will prove to Andros that you're strong, that you're not weak, that you're not a leech, that you can pull your weight.

Sure, a bunch of your team will have to die. The only people who've ever put their trust in you, the only people who've ever believed in you. But that's fine, right? They don't mean anything, they're not real people, right? They're idiots for trusting you, right? They deserve it, right?

Right?

... right?

[wolke17]

I like the hidden inventory arc because it’s the only arc where horrible atrocities happen but they’re all caused by humans instead of curses.

the time vessel organization, the jujutsu higher ups, toji, the villagers who torture little children, the 3 big jujutsu families, tengen and everyone who operates in their behalf (yes, this even includes yaga) - they’re all complicit in the atrocities that geto says “everyone knows about and that are nothing out of the ordinary”.

but most sorcerers dont question these atrocities, they’re trained to focus on curses as the single source of all evil after all. and yuuji is a prime example for that (even though he is one of my faves).

he saves people indiscriminately, it doesn’t matter if said person has done horrible things to other people. he wants to save them on the single basis of them being human. but he fights mercilessly against curses, even against those who have human sentiment and feel love or comradeship for their companions.

in a world where young people are indoctrinated to fight curses as the sole source of evil, geto is the first one to halt and question “whom do I do all that for?”. he spirals, radicalizes, leaves to change the broken system from outside - but fails miserably.

however by doing so, he inspires his best friend to change the system from within - his friend who’s been so strong all his life, he didn’t see much value in the weak and relied on geto as his conscience until he saw what the system did to his precious friend.

again it’s unfortunate that the only thing this arc is popular for is the KFC breakup but whatever lol.

[barrenclan]

Hacksaw and Ranger has to be the most vilest villains couple I think have ever seen. The way they refer to animals that they indoctrinate as “projects”,which while morbidly funny, goes to show how they view others as tool that can just dispose off when they are no longer useful. Saturn was just a desperate mother who wanted to care for her chicks. Immediately killed once she gave them the info they needed. Rainhaze just wanted his nephews to have enough food to survive. Ranger then breaks him down to the point where Rainhaze is willing to kill the very same family he desperately cared for.

Yet, despite all the inhuman stuff they have done to others, they still deeply care for each others. They both support each other goals and skills, even if it’s a bit evil and morbid. I won’t lie but my heart actually broke a bit when Ranger was just about to get his eye gouged out. Even though I really wanted to see them get hurt, there was just something about the panel of both them looking at each other crying that pull my heart. I don’t thinks Ranger would have the same reaction over if he just saw Hacksaw as another tool.

This doesn’t excuse the harm and pain they caused to others. Both of them got what was coming for them. Even though their love for each other was strong, it wouldn’t prevent them from getting hurt.

It's very important to me (and perhaps... a Major Theme In The Comic....) to get across the idea that people who do evil things are exactly as human as you or I. Being monstrous doesn't preclude someone from being capable of genuine love, or sorrow, or pity - in fact, it makes every cruel action they choose to take that much more reprehensible. "Evil people" aren't a category of human separate from "good people" - it's all just people. And that's a big part of Ranger and Hacksaw's story!

Not an intentional parallel, but it does mirror the intent of inflicting extra pain at a moment of pure weakness.

[welivetodream]

The reason Bunny gets a shit load of hate despite him being the only one who is NOT an accomplice to murder is because of one simple thing:

His personality.

That is the reason we can't feel bad for him. We as a society have considered Homophobia and sexism one of the worst things you can ever do. Which is true.

Murder is justified in certain situations, especially when it's in a fictional universe/story, not saying Bunny's death was justified, but we can excuse murder----even the law excuses murder at times. It's something grey and understandable in certain situations. We have liked; even loved characters who have killed others simply because it is in a fictional story.

The reason we draw the line at Bunny's behaviour is because, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism/Misogyny as well other forms of discrimination are NEVER excusable. When someone says a slur, you can't excuse that by comparing them in terms of morality with other characters. In modern society, we don't accept slurs and derogatory remarks.

Maybe in the 90's and 2000's when the book was new and fresh, people might not have cared about Bunny's behaviour much, maybe they even sympathize with him and loved him, because it was a DIFFERENT TIME back then. We cannot tolerate things like that anymore and it makes people harder to sympathize with Bunny.

Other than all that, Bunny is annoying a lot of the time. He is not the loveable goof he thinks he is. He scams his friends. He is cocky and arrogant. He is dumb and condescending. He says the worst things at wrong times. He puts people down. He pokes fun at others weaknesses. And the more you see of him the worse he gets. Even to the point you wish he dies.......

And he does. It's in his death that Bunny is more humanized, as most people are, in death.

And it is SOOO frustrating because he is the sanest person in the entire class. The most normal and least indoctrinated in those beliefs.

Bunny Corcoran is a character I wanted to like. But he kept getting on my nerves and I found others more interesting than him. And after reading the book several times I can appreciate him more. Although I don't agree with so many theories about him being a "good" person.

Bunny doesn't need to be good. He doesn't need anyone defending him. He doesn't need excuses for his personality. He is annoying, sometimes endearing; he makes your blood boil and he's still gone too soon. His death is a tragedy. He wanted to live. Forever.

Bunny is Bunny

You love, you hate him, or you don't care about him

His existence is necessary for the story and it's time we don't fight about if he was an angel or the devil

He was a person. A deeply flawed, complex person. And we should appreciate him just for that.

~🕯️🕊️🐇

[just-another-star-47]

Ominis Gaunt

My headcanons

Part one

Screenshot by the wonderful @animasola86

Ominis has a gentle and tender soul, but has been traumatised severely by his family.

He suffers from panic attacks and nervous unrest, which are only exacerbated by his generally weak mental constitution -> this weakness stems from his family's incest, together with his congenital blindness.

In the early years of school, it was impossible for Ominis to assert himself against others, and he also suffered from severe mood swings and outbursts of anger

As he only had contact with his family until he entered Hogwarts, he often acted coldly, sometimes even cruelly, towards other students, as he knew no other way of dealing with other people, especially in conflict situations.

Hogwarts Healers helped him to get his mood swings under control and some of the professors took care of him, especially Professor Garlick and Ronen.

After a mental breakdown, Sebastian took pity on him and tried to befriend him, becoming his protector; however, over time it became apparent that he opened up more to Anne's compassionate support.

Ominis is terrified of his older brother, even more so than his father

He is easy to manipulate, which often led Sebastian and Anne to take on pupils who tried to do just that

He finds it difficult to recognise his own worth and even though he is against his family's beliefs, he sometimes falls back on what he has been indoctrinated with

Ominis has a great fear of loss, which often manifests itself in outbursts of anger

After his third year at Hogwarts, he refuses to return to his family during the summer holidays

His brother tried to get him back, but Sebastian negotiates a deal with him - they can stay at Hogwarts and in return he will ensure that Ominis does better at school - a deal that Ominis only finds out about much later through Anne (Anne is the only one who visits Solomon at Feldcroft for a few weeks in the summer break)

Even though Ominis tries to avoid his family at all cost, he writes letters to his mother

Ominis would never say it openly, but he believes that Anne and Sebastian's parents are not as infallible and good as the twins think they are

He is cautious and reserved and only lets the twins persuade him to go on pranks and adventures because he is afraid of losing them otherwise

He has a great need for justice and finds it difficult to tolerate violence, although he is able to overlook the use of violence if he thinks the person deserves it

[guiltycorp]

I feel like when ppl discuss the influence of trauma on Geto’s downfall, how Gojo managed to move on by immediately overcoming his weakness & dealing with their assailant and then proceeding to hone his technique instead of stagnating...  They often miss that it wasn’t just the trauma for Geto.  The most important thing for him was always looking for meaning, his anxious and righteous nature forcing him to come up with an explanation for their world and his own purpose in life. His simplistic views of ‘there are strong people (sorcerers) and weak people (non-sorcerers), and the strong must protect the weak’ as well as trust in their system were challenged time and time again throughout the backstory arc. But it wasn’t only Geto being depressed and reactive, it was also about fixing his previous assumptions. Unlike Gojo, he overthought things to a fault, eventually coming to the wrong conclusions (even when Yuki offered him her solution on a plate, that being the research into making non-sorcerers into sorcerers), likely out of prolonged misguided fixation on the dichotomy of weak vs strong, but nonetheless it was a product of a thought experiment and deliberation, even discussion with Haibara and Yuki.  Still, my point is that... Gojo simply never cared enough about things like ideology. The light novel made it seem like he only realised that maybe there is something wrong with the system when Geto left, not when Riko or Haibara died! He simply didn’t think about those tragedies as anything other than random sad occurrences that he could prevent in the future by being better at being the strongest (spoiler: he couldn't). He tried to internalize Geto’s original values of protecting the weak since he could sense some merit to them, finding joy in entertaining Riko and later his students, but he completely missed the reasoning behind those values. This is why he spouted all those things about not saving/reaching Geto (without having attempted it in the first place) and about becoming a teacher to prevent young sorcerers from missing out on their youth (immediately going to indoctrinate young Megumi into their messed up system as a pretext of saving him from the Zenins, exploiting Maki’s childish ambitions of getting back at her family, later risking students’ lives to progress Yuta’s potential, letting Itadori run around without much oversight, ignoring the situation with Megumi’s sister, ignoring the more ‘uninteresting’ students, the list goes on)... He has only a vague idea of what his perfect world would be like (still kind of ridiculous and reliant on Being Strong a-la Sukuna), but he makes no effort to properly explain it to his students who are supposedly meant to change their society in the future.

The only way he can empathize with them is by remembering what he himself enjoyed in his youth, that being companionship with his bff and his growing power. And when some of them don’t show interest in that (like poor fucking Megumi) Gojo is simply not interested in exploring alternatives.  To him, it’s not a question of ‘why’, it never was. ...All that said, this could all be eaaaasily author’s bias who leans towards Gojo’s way of thinking irl, in which case it’s unlikely to get a resolution of some kind :^) Personally, I hope it will bite Gojo in the ass more than it already has. I do have some hope since the current fight vs Sukuna is underlining how similar they are to each other. 

[howlsofbloodhounds]

Howl I'm thinking about Nightmare's gang being a cult again.

Just how fucked up is it that Killer had to go through that twice? First with the Something New Player rewiring how his brain works entirely, while Chara meticulously breaks down his boundaries and reworking his identity until only they could decide who he is. Only for Nightmare to do exactly the same once Killer finally killed them.

And not only that, but now he has to watch as the same exact thing happens to others. And Stage 2 can push for apathy as much as they want to try and protect them from that crushing realization, but eventually it's gonna hit. Eventually Killer's brain is gonna let its thoughts wander in that direction because boredom is always gonna be the greatest threat for it. And then Killer will wish he'd never done that, because this whole time he's kinda been complicit in their indoctrination.

But, then again, by then he doesn't really know another way to live. He knows that once he broke free of Chara's very similar conditioning, but he doesn't have a concrete idea of what could come next. He doesn't know what life outside a cultish structure looks like and that makes the prospect of ever leaving terrifying.

I think Color coming in and showing him that there is a possible future out there for him is the saving grace he needed all along. And also the push he'll need to get the others out too. Because he's definitely not gonna let them leave for as long as he doesn't see an exit. Whether they hate him or not for it.

It is extremely fucked up. And that’s why I’ll keep saying that Something New is a psychological horror until someone eventually starts writing a fic about it. /lh

And the realization that hits is still very likely going to be tinged with that deep seated apathy that chara reinforced. I can’t see killer breaking out of his belief that he’s emotionless, that emotions are signs of being weak and that attachments are threats to his autonomy and independence, for many many years, with a lot of set backs, and I can’t see it happening when he’s under nightmare.

I don’t really think killer has broken free from chara’s conditioning—despite how much he’d like to claim he is free now that they’re dead. Because they cant be dead when their voice still rings in his mind, and their eyes still watch him everywhere he goes. A constant lurking shadow.

Chara never died, killer never escaped. they just became more elusive.

I think there’s still a lot going on in killer mind he doesn’t realize is conditioning, such as his belief in his emotionlessness. His kill or be killed, controlled or be controlled mentality. Even the reason why he turned on chara was still within the confines of what they taught him—the most determined decides fate, the strongest controls the weakest, and he had no need for them anymore. and so he will make them suffer.

with nightmare, i do think he wont even realize or care what’s happening to the others—because its just how things work. not until color comes along, showing him that things don’t have to be like that. before that, i can see killer helping only in ways that would benefit or amuse him, or whenever nightmare tells him to help someone—because he doesn’t think theyd ever willingly help him if it came down to it.

but if he realized somehow before color comes along—because he definitely wouldn’t take into consideration anything horror, murder, or cross have to say about it because they are apart of the weak/the controlled and they’re just struggling to realize that. it is inevitable, and it’s pointless to try and change it. or at least that’s his justification for avoiding any responsibility.

but i can see any attempts to “help” them being tainted by his worldview and what he’s been taught; such as teaching them how and when to avoid upsetting nightmare, teaching them the rules of the place, trying to teach them when to go to limp and stop resisting, how to learn how to enjoy the pain of themselves or of others. best ways to torture others, and how to “go away inside” if they truly can’t handle it.

and he definitely wouldn’t let them leave unless nightmare says so, which is unlikely. In his mind this place in castle can be learned and then eventually become predictable, they’d struggle outside of the castle because of who they are and what they do. that’s really the only kindness he knows how to give.

..i can definitely see spiting the Chara in his head for being a huge motivation for certain more “merciful” or “kinder” things. just to prove to himself they don’t have control over him anymore, and to spite them even beyond the grave.

{ @stellocchia }

[jyantabear]

been playing pathologic throughout the summer and i've enjoyed it a lot and im currently on the changeling campaign and I heard a lot of people say the changeling route is underwhelming and weak but honestly i think it's been really great so far and I think it has tons of depth and I find Clara very interesting Idk im on day 8 of the campaign I feel like I have more thoughts on this route then the haruspex campaign. Perhaps its partly because Clara's subject matter appeals to me a lot but I think it's amazing It's this tragic story about a little girl who so badly wants to be good and do good. She wants to be love and accepted and find her place in the world with all the anxiety she has over her unsureness on her identity and the strange circumstances of her existence. It's about the Saburovs playing this pretend, toxic, nuclear family structure with her. Where a part of them does care about and love her but for selfish reasons. They project their insecurities on her, both of them. They want her to be their salvation and be their key to finally helping the town as they feel they're failures and frauds in that pursuit. So they pressure, love bomb, and abuse their daughter to fit this mold. And Clara is scared but she follows anyway desperate for love. And even without realizing it she's mimicking their teachings and values because It's all she's been given in this world. The only source of guidance It's about Clara and her relationship to the people around her. How she feels sympathy for her bound because she sees herself in them. Because she sees they're people with dimensions and are complicated. And she wants someone to see and grant her mercy and forgiveness as well. And it's so interesting to compare this to her interactions with Daniil and Artemy. Who she's also very similar with but demonizes them. (which I don't think is unjustified btw as they're very horrible to her. But I want to note that while the healers always had some tension between them this route has definitely cranked it up a ton and in the opening play Clara is the one criticizing them for being heartless, selfish, and "not knowing compassion" right off the bat. And even in the few times Artemy and Daniil can have pleasant exchanges with her it's short lived and never sticks with her) And she goes the extra mile to demonize them and deny and dismiss any complexity they might have as she also sees herself in them but doesn't want to admit it. Because it's what she doesn't want to be. It hurts too personally for her to associate with them and makes her feel pathetic even thinking she could be similar to them because she doesn't want to share their loneliness, their struggles, their failures. It makes her feel more stable in her identity to put them down and go "Well at least I'm not like those bloodthirsty horrible useless doctors" And While Clara also feels dislike towards Maria. Maria is someone Clara wants to be. She wants to be that beloved and powerful mistress. Someone who can guide and help others and use her power for good. Which is why she'll say "Her and Capella will be the only ones to understand my loneliness." Clara wants someone to understand her pain but only if she can protect this idealized image of herself she's painted in her mind because she's been hurt too much. It's a tragic story of the unrealistic and harsh standards placed on young teenage girls. And the idea that perhaps humanity is the problem. But taking that message in a rather conservative and violent way then one that acknowledges the complexity and indoctrination society and people have built. A young girl internalizing beliefs of irredeemable ontologically evil people due to all the abuse she's been put under.

[yellowocaballero]

One of the many things that I've been doing instead of writing are these damn manwha binges and Villain To Kill is literally so funny. The comic premise is straightforward action, think Tokyo Ghoul meets Solo Leveling - local Genetically Superpowered Superhero Cop working for corrupt Hero Organization gets #betrayed and #murdered and is reincarnated into the body of a Genetically Superpowered Villain Teenager so now he has to join up with all the other villain superpower people to get justice.

It's so 5/10. Cassian is extremely OP and the story isn't well-written enough to pull that off well. The worldbuilding is so incredibly nonsensical and weak that it falls apart if you think about it for more than five minutes (tried to write fic for it and failed because I would have had to rework the entire world - which, I could have, but that's a lot of effort for Villain to Kill). The plot is mostly any OP action hero plot where guy gets increasingly powerful by fighting increasingly powerful guys. Cassian himself has almost nothing going on internally, to the point of elegance. And it is somehow the gayest manwha I've ever read.

It's the fucking character designs. And like its narrative but it's the fucking 100/10 character designs. The entire cast's design and characters slam. There's not that much depth but we don't care. You know if we don't like somebody if they look vaguely straight, and you know that we like somebody if they look like they were set to tumble dry in the queerness washing machine. The (great!) women are high femme or hard butch. The corrupt institution assassinated a man Cassian loved and framed & murdered him, at which point he was adopted by a rag-tag bunch of flamboyant homosexuals deemed unacceptable and undesired by society who all teamed up and decided to villainize society in exclusively funny ways and spend most of their time gossiping or hacking the Pentagon. An AFAB character dresses as a man and goes by he/him pronouns half the time for no good reason. Cassian is physiologically incapable of thinking about anything but violence so the heartwarming found family scenario's going over his head, but his Painfully Het Hero Foil Indoctrinated Into Homophobia caught the found family ball and now he's dancing in their gay bars and dressing in drag. There's only a few characters who are explicitly gay but this is gayer than that.

I talked a while back about how important a decent supporting cast is to a good story, and this is yet again good proof. Looking at this, I think I'd go further and say - it's an action manwha, we're reading it for a reason, we don't need character-driven story arcs or really complex characters. I think it's just charisma. A story can go really far on characters with charisma.

TV Shows that are carried on the lead actor (Columbo I love you) - it's because the actor has charisma. You watch it to see the actor hang out being himself. That's way way harder to do in fiction, but I think that "a complex character" isn't necessarily a "charismatic character". I'd rather have a cast of only charismatic characters rather than only complex ones. A story of any genre needs a strong cast of charismatic characters. They can be deep or they can just be chaotic lesbians. Charisma invests the reader in the story and the characters. It's simple but it's really powerful. And it is fucking hilarious how sometimes all you need to do on that front is "Rupaul this shit".

I can't genuinely recommend Villain to Kill and this is not a recommendation. But random stuff always interests me like this, and I really had no idea that I would read 120ch of a manwha bc the designs fuck so hard. Also, like, this is queerest manwha I've ever read. Somehow. Fucking somehow.

[aspoonofsugar]

Charlie's Angels

Don't you love Hazbin Hotel's angels? I do! Especially two of them:

So, here is a meta about my two favourite angels and two of my favourite characters in general!

FALLEN ANGELS

Vaggie and Lucifer are considered weird by other angels:

Lute: Sinful filth like you has NO place in heaven.

Charlie: Lucifer was one of these angels. He was a dreamer with fantastical ideas for all of creation. But he was seen as a troublemaker by the elders of Heaven. For they felt his way of thinking was dangerous to the order of their world.

Vaggie is "weak" because she shows pity, whereas Lucifer is "dangerous " because he thinks in original ways. These differences eventually lead them to be discarded by Heaven:

They become fallen angels and end up in Hell, where they find love and family:

Still, their heavenly upbringing sticks with them. In particular, both Vaggie and Lucifer are traumatized by their respective authority figures.

Vaggie has been indoctrinated by Adam to the point she feels she has no value if she fails:

Vaggie: If I can't help you, what's the point of me?

Lucifer was crushed by the Elders of Heaven and still fears them:

Lucifer: I just don't want you to be crushed by them like- Like I was.

As a result, they:

hide parts of themselves from Charlie: Vaggie conceals her past out of fear. Lucifer instead masks his vulnerability out of shame.

project their unsolved issues on Charlie: Vaggie thinks Charlie's love for her is conditional and lies to her. Lucifer wants to protect Charlie from Heaven to the point he infantilizes her.

So, their impact on the story is double:

Charlie must become able to see Vaggie and Lucifer's hidden parts, if she wants to grow

Vaggie and Lucifer need to change and solve their issues for Charlie's sake

Both these developments tie with the Jungian symbolism of light and shadow.

LIGHT AND SHADOW

Light and shadow are two Jungian Archetypes aka two complementary parts of the human mind:

Light is associated to the persona or mask. It is what a person shows while interacting with the world.

The shadow is what is hidden in the darkness. It is what a person represses and refuses to reveal to the world.

When it comes to Vaggie and Lucifer's role in season 1:

Charlie must accept both Vaggie and Lucifer's shadows and lights. Only in this way she can learn nuance.

Vaggie and Lucifer must face their darkest parts, their shadows and integrate with them. Only in this way they can mature.

Let's explore these parallels journeys.

CHARLIE: BLACK AND WHITE

Vaggie and Lucifer are similar people, but Charlie sees of them opposite things:

She sees Vaggie trying to save the sinners in the present, but ignores she was once an exorcist who murdered thousands of hell people

She sees Lucifer permitting the exterminations in the present, but she ignores that in the past he tried to help sinners like Charlie is doing now

In other words, Charlie sees Vaggie and Lucifer in black and white. In particular, she sees only the white in Vaggie and the black in Lucifer.

White Vaggie

Vaggie and Charlie have been together for three years, but Charlie still knows nothing about her girlfriend's past. Not only that, but it is obvious something is off about Vaggie. She is deeply insecure, overperforming and she basically says she learnt how to trust while fighting in the trenches:

Vaggie: I just need to teach them, the way I was taught… The scene changes to the group standing on a rooftop with half-destroyed buildings all around them. Everyone was shocked that the exercise has taken them to a live turf war battlefield with guns blazing in the background, demons screaming, and explosions booming. Charlie: THIS IS HOW YOU LEARNED TO TRUST PEOPLE?!

And yet, Charlie ignores all these red flags and never tries to go deeper in her understanding of Vaggie. She idealizes her.

Black Lucifer

Lucifer and Lilith have both been absent and have neglected Charlie. However, she only calls out Lucifer, while she justifies Lilith:

Charlie: After he and mom split, he never really wanted to see me. He calls… sometimes, but only if he's bored or like, needs me to do something.

Vaggie: Oof… how long has it been now? Charlie: Not that long, only…seven….years, off doing something important, I'm sure!

Similarly, she acts as if she is upholding only Lilith's legacy:

Charlie: But Lilith's hope remained. And her dream was passed down to their precious daughter, the Princess of Hell.

But the story makes clear the Hazbin Hotel is really an evolution of Lucifer's original dream, as well:

Charlie: So in the end, it's the view I had of you That showed me dreams can be worth fighting for

In short, Lucifer and Lilith have very similar flaws and qualities, but Charlie tends to compartimentalize them, so that Lucifer is cast in a less favourable light, while Lilith is put on a pedestal.

Microchosm and macrochosm

Charlie isn't wrong in her assessment of Vaggie and Lucifer. She is right about Vaggie's good qualities and she has all reasons to call Lucifer out. The point is that there is more to both and Charlie must become able to see it. Just like she must learn to see the shades of gray present in both Heaven and Hell:

Vaggie: Those angels' minds are hard to change.

Lucifer: Charlie! You don't understand. Heaven never listens. They didn't listen to me. They won't listen to you!

Symbolically, Vaggie and Lucifer both try to warn the Princess about Heaven's complexity, but Charlie is initially stuck in a simplistic white and black mentality. Thanks to the two fallen angels and to her trip to Heaven, though, she starts grappling with complexity on both a personal level (microchosm) and on a wider political scale (macrochosm).

Personal level

Lucifer hides his weakness and shortcomings behind a powerful and cold mask:

Lucifer: Alright, I mean, look… I love that you want to see the best in people, but these sinners… You know, they're just the worst. I, I don't know how much you can realistically expect from them in Heaven.

Still, once he opens up and brings to light his real self, Charlie sees how similar she is to him and is able to reforge their relationship:

Both: All that I'm hopin', now that my eyes are open Is that we can start again- not be pulled apart again 'Cause in the end, you are part of who I am

As a result, Charlie feels empowered and has a renewed enthusiasm and optimism towards her dream:

Lucifer: I'll support your dream, whatever lies in store Charlie: And who could ask for more?

Lucifer's hidden shadow turns out to be a bright and warm light.

Vaggie shows Charlie unconditional support and has complete faith in her and her dream:

Charlie: I just hope what I'm trying to do here will work. Vaggie: It will. I have faith in you.

However, she doesn't tell Charlie that she used to be among the very people who brought carnage into Hell:

So, once Charlie discovers it, she is hurt, enraged and temporally loses her inner balance, giving in to negativity and hopelessness:

Vaggie's shadow is darker than Charlie imagined.

Political level

Charlie sees Heaven as the perfect realm and is initially enchanted by it:

Charlie: Okay, I love Heaven! Vaggie, did you see the ice cream shop? They had sprinkles made of rainbows!

However, throughout her journey there, she realizes Heaven too has cracks, contradictions and shadows:

Charlie: Wait… none of you know what gets someone into Heaven?

Which leads her to sing this:

Charlie and Emily: The rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again

In answer to this:

Adam: 'Cause the rules are black and white There's no use in tryin' to fight it They're burnin' for their lives Until we kill 'em again!

The world isn't black and white, but shades of gray. The moment Charlie understands it, she can finally make sense of Vaggie and Lucifer's warning:

Charlie: I was told not to trust in angels

CHARLIE'S CONCLUSION: BRIDGES

Vaggie and Lucifer kickstart Charlie's arc. It is through them that the princess starts facing nuance in three ways:

Personal relationships: Charlie thinks she knows Vaggie and Lucifer the best, but both are able ot surprise her and to show her hidden sides of themselves, both bad and good.

Politics: Vaggie and Lucifer symbolically lead the Princess of Hell into Heaven and help her make sense of this contradictive realm. Specifically, Lucifer organizes Charlie's meeting with Sera and Vaggie goes to the questioning with Charlie.

Identity: thanks to her conflicts with Lucifer and Vaggie, Charlie faces her own lights and shadows. She discovers an inner strength when she inspires Lucifer to trust her. Meanwhile she touches her inner darkness when Vaggie hurts her. Both this power and this vulnerability are parts of who Charlie is and it is only by integrating them that she can bloom into the Princess of Hell.

In other words, Vaggie and Lucifer are Charlie's bridges towards:

Heaven and her role as Princess of Hell (macrochosm)

Who she is deep down as a person (microchosm)

They are Charlie's bridges towards light and shadow.

VAGGIE AND LUCIFER: GUARDIAN ANGELS

Vaggie and Lucifer are meant to be Charlie's personal guardian angels, as both want to protect her. Still, they can't succeed if they do not grow. So, they go through parallel arcs that can be seen as journeys of integration with the shadow:

They are forced to take off their masks (persona)

They are overwhelmed by their most hidden and shameful parts (shadow)

They conquer their shortcomings and grow (integration with the shadow)

Let's explore these three steps.

Blinding light: Sera

Sera embodies the persona, as she tries to mask everything wrong or disturbing behind a facade of perfection:

In Emily's imagination, Sera is a generous angel, who shares her light with others.

She blinds everyone with her virtue, wisdom and goodness, all while hiding exterminations and her involvement in them:

Lute: SHHH. Sir, what was the Seraphim's one rule? Adam: Uuughhh, "No one but the exorcists can know about the exterminations".

At the same time, she is an important foil to both Vaggie and Lucifer.

Sera and Vaggie try to hide their crimes from respectively Emily and Charlie. They love the two princesses and are worried for their well-being. At the same time, they are scared the two girls might resent them if they discovered they took part in the exterminations. Despite their efforts, though, Adam eventually reveals both of their secrets:

Adam: Gotta say, I can't wait to Sera: Adam… Adam: Come down and exterminate you!

Vaggie: Don't, Adam, please! Adam: What's the fuss? Why hide the fact that you're an angel Just like us

Emily and Charlie are horrified by the truth. Still, Sera and Vaggie's reactions are opposites.

On the one hand Sera immediately forces Emily to repress everything she is feeling. In this way, the status quo is quickly re-established and superficially their relationship goes back to how it was. By the end, Sera and Emily are shown working together, as per usual:

However, it is obvious they aren't facing their problems, which will only grow deeper.

On the other hand Vaggie gives Charlie time to process her feelings and express her anger. She doesn't try to force the Princess of Hell to get over it and waits until Charlie is ready to forgive her. All while working hard to fulfill Charlie's dream. By the end Charlie and Vaggie are back together, but their relationship is now deeper and stronger:

They start facing their issues and their bond develops because of it.

Sera and Lucifer are respectively Emily and Charlie's authority figures. They both care deeply about the young girls and want to protect them from Heaven. Still, the two older angels are also condescending towards them. Not only that, but they hide important parts of their personality from the two kids. In other words, they both wear masks. Still, Sera's mask is effective and she and Emily are very close. Lucifer's mask is ineffective, as he unwillingly pushes Charlie away. In the end, both masks come off and what emerges is opposite:

Emily discovers a negative side of Sera, meanwhile Charlie sees a positive side of Lucifer. Moreover, Sera and Lucifer eventually deal with the girls in different ways. Sera decides that Emily must conform to avoid any possible danger. Lucifer instead decides to support Charlie's dream, even if it might lead her to suffer. Sera chooses to protect Emily by enforcing repression. Lucifer chooses to enable Charlie's self-expression. Sera keeps treating Emily as a childish extension of herself. Lucifer starts accepting Charlie as her own adult person.

Sera: I couldn't bear to see you suffer that fate, so please, let me worry about this, ok?

Lucifer: Okay, I can get you the meeting, but once you're in Heaven, I won't be able to go with you. Will you be ok? Charlie: I'll be fine. Lucifer: That's my girl. Good luck kiddo.

Sera, Vaggie and Lucifer all hide parts of themselves from their loved ones and have their real selves exposed. However, Sera refuses to admit her crimes and does not accept neither Emily's anger nor her wishes. Vaggie and Lucifer instead admit their mistakes and accept both Charlie's negativity (Vaggie) and her dreams (Lucifer). Sera fails to take off the mask and is stuck in blinding light. Vaggie and Lucifer instead put the mask away and step into the shadow.

The darkest shadow: Alastor

Alastor embodies the shadow, as he preys on people's fears and insecurities:

Alastor materializes and controls beings made of shadows.

He does the same with the Princess of Hell, as well. He waits until Charlie hits rock bottom and manipulates her into making a deal:

Charlie: How? I'll do anything. Alastor: Anything? Then… let's make a deal.

What's interesting is that Alastor succeeds because both Vaggie and Lucifer fail Charlie.

First of all, Vaggie and Lucifer are framed as the two main obstacles to Alastor's plan, either directly (Vaggie) or indirectly (Lucifer):

Vaggie: Charlie, whatever you do, do not make a deal with him! Charlie: Don't worry, I picked up one thing from my dad! "You don't take shit from other demons!"

For example, in the pilot Vaggie strongly advises Charlie against trusting Alastor and Charlie answers that Lucifer taught her how to handle these kinds of situations. So, Vaggie's presence and Lucifer's teachings are Charlie's main defense against the Radio Demon. Still, Alastor quickly seizes upon Vaggie and Lucifer's weaknesses:

Alastor: Not for your soul, just a simple deal. I do this for you, and you never ask me to engage with this frivolous television technology ever again. Or…Charlie can come back to absolutely nothing. Your choice.

Alastor: Sadly, there are times a birth parent is a dud They say the family you choose is better

He makes use of Vaggie's insecurities over her usefulness to Charlie and taunts Lucifer's absence from his daughter's life. He doesn't really need to do anything else because the two angels' flaws do the rest.

Vaggie's lie hurts Charlie so much, that the princess pushes her girlfriend away in a moment where she needs all the support avaiable:

Vaggie: She's upstairs. Coming up with something, I'm sure, in our room. Alone.

And in this very moment Lucifer is nowhere to be seen, despite the fact he knows of his daughter's trip to Heaven. He either ignores how the meeting went and doesn't bother to ask. Or he knows it went badly and isn't there to offer a helping hand. Either way, he is absent.

In this context, it is telling the only ones there for Charlie are Razzle and Dazzle:

The two demons are Lucifer's gift to Charlie and have the mission to protect the princess. So, they are an extension of Lucifer himself and a perfect example of his parenting style:

Lucifer: Who needs a busboy now that you've got the chef? (Woh-oh-oh!) Michelin tasting menu, free à la carte I'll rig the game for you because I'm the ref! Champagne fountains Caviar mountains That's just to start!

"I don't need to be there and struggle psychologically if I give my daughter fancy toys, like two dragon body-guards!". Except, Razzle and Dazzle aren't Lucifer and it shows:

Symbolically, Charlie pushes Razzle and Dazzle away before taking Alastor's hand. Immediately after this, Vaggie breaks into the room:

Vaggie: No. No! Alastor: Right on cue! Vaggie: What did you do? Let her go!

The framing is rather clear. Vaggie's lie and Lucifer's absence leave Charlie vulnerable to Alastor. In a sense, the Radio Demon skillfully steps in to temporally play both Vaggie and Lucifer's roles:

He is there to help Charlie save the Hotel, as the Hotel Manager Vaggie usually does

He is there to mentor Charlie, as her actual father Lucifer fails to do

So, Vaggie and Lucifer screw up and their loved one takes a dangerous bet as a result. This ties with the shadow symbolism, as both angels fail to face their darkest parts in time. Vaggie has plenty of chances to tell Charlie the truth, but doesn't. Lucifer has just promised to support Charlie's dream, but once again he isn't there for her. Vaggie and Lucifer truly love Charlie and want to change for her, but they both struggle to do so. Luckily, they are soon given a second chance.

Conquering the shadow: Lute and Adam

Lute and Adam are Charlie's two major enemies in season 1 and they are negative foils of respectively Vaggie and Lucifer:

Just like Vaggie, Lute is an exorcist, who puts all her self-worth into her ability to kill:

Adam: Lute, how many demons did you kill this year? Lute: Got a good 275 this year, sir. Adam: 275? Woah! Badass! Awesome job, danger tits! Pound it.

She deals with problems by using violence and is fiercely loyal to Adam, like Vaggie is to Charlie.

Just like Lucifer, Adam struggles with Lilith leaving and wears a mask of arrogance to hide his vulnerability and low self-esteem. Not only that, but both Lucifer and Adam are authority figures who fail the people below them:

Lucifer: Our "people", Charlie, are awful! They got gifted free will and look what they did with it! Everything's terrible!

Adam: I started everything on Earth! All of mankind came from these fucking nuts! You all should be worshipping me, you ungrateful, disgusting, fucking losers-!

So, Lute and Adam embody Vaggie and Lucifer's repressed dark side. They are who the two fallen angel might become, but choose not to be. They are Vaggie and Lucifer's shadows. This is why, the Hotel Manager and the King od Hell are asked to fight the two exorcists in the finale, in order to protect Charlie.

On the one hand Vaggie fights Lute by refusing her mentality:

She juxtaposes a defensive fighting style to the exorcist's overly aggressive one. Moreover, Vaggie refuses Lute's rethoric about violence and revenge and shows her opponent mercy.

On the other hand Lucifer fights Adam to save his people, while Adam threathens his own descendants. Lucifer fights to protect, whereas Adam attacks to kill. As a result, Lucifer protects his daughter and is helped by her:

Adam instead is killed by a symbolic child (Niffty) and leaves his metaphorical daughter (Lute) behind:

In the end, both Vaggie and Lucifer win, but they do not kill Lute and Adam:

Vaggie: Seriously, you're pathetic, you know that? Ready to die rather than accepting mercy? No, live. Live knowing that you only do because I let you, the failure.

Vaggie spares Lute and rushes to Charlie's side to help her.

Charlie: Whoa, whoa, Dad. He's had enough. Lucifer: Alright. How's mercy taste, you little bitch?

Lucifer listens to Charlie's plead and shows mercy to Adam.

This happens because both Lute and Adam represent repressed parts of Vaggie and Lucifer. They are symbolically those sides our fallen angels refuse to face. They are their flaws, their past, their fears, their worse selves. So, Vaggie and Lucifer can't really kill them because it would mean to kill themselves. In fact, you can't kill your shadow, but you have to face it, without letting it take over. That is what both Vaggie and Lucifer do for Charlie's sake.

VAGGIE AND LUCIFER'S CONCLUSION: MORE THAN ANYTHING

Lucifer: More than anything (Charlie: More than anything) More than anything (Charlie: More than anything) Both: I'm grateful you're (Lucifer: my daughter/Charlie: my father) more than anything More than anything

Charlie and Vaggie: There's something that I've been dying to say More than anything, more than anything Need you to know I love you more than anything More than anything

Vaggie and Lucifer share different versions of the song More Than Anything with Charlie. Why is that so?

The song celebrates different kinds of love, like Lucifer and Charlie's familial bond and Vaggie and Charlie's romantic relationship.

The song highlights Vaggie and Lucifer's importance to Charlie

This importance is shown in the finale, where Vaggie and Lucifer not only defeat Charlie's enemies, but are also by the Princess's side:

Vaggie sings to Charlie before the battle, when the princess fears her loved ones might die

Lucifer sings to Charlie after the battle, when the princess is grieving her losses

Both support Charlie, when she is at her most vulnerable and they reassure her she did good:

Vaggie: You've already done so much So many lives you've changed So many souls you've touched And in the end, if it's only me you've saved

Lucifer: You can do this, now I know it! For your story has just begun You can't quit now. Hell, you owe it! There's still damage to be undone You've changed my mind, you've touched their hearts Found the good in souls gone bad

Both tell Charlie she has touched their souls and saved them.

So, Vaggie and Lucifer fail Charlie the moment she goes to face Heaven, but they are there for her when she fights to protect Hell. They screw up, learn and do better. As a result, they stand by Charlie's side, as the season comes to a close:

Vaggie is there because she has accepted Charlie's anger and her forgiveness. By doing so, she has accepted her violent past and has realized she can forgive herself.

Lucifer is there because he has accepted Charlie's ambitions and dreams. In this way, he was reminded of his past idealistic self and has found a new faith and new hopes.

THE FUTURE - ANGELIC SIBLINGS

In season 1, Vaggie, Lucifer and Charlie all struggle with their shadows, but their integration with their most repressed parts is far from over. What new challenges await them?

Among (many) others, I think all three characters are set-up to have "angelic siblings", who may step in as shadow archetypes. So, these angelic counterparts might embody parts of themselves the demons do not want to aknowledge.

Vaggie and Lute

Lute already plays the role of Vaggie's shadow in season 1. Vaggie's flashback makes the symbolism pretty clear:

Vaggie sees her shadow as she is about to kill a helpless child and stops herself. Only for another darker shadow to appear over her. That is Lute, who proceeds to rip her eye and wings off.

The meaning is obvious: Lute is the violent part of herself that Vaggie wants to escape. And yet, she will need to face Lute again and again. Even more importantly, she will need to aknowledge their shared upbringing and trauma, which is at the root of their issues.

Lucifer and Sera

Sera mentions Lucifer twice in Welcome to Heaven.

The first time, in relation to Charlie:

Sera: Well, you failed to control the demons' unrest, and now Lucifer is involved, setting up an audience for his misguided daughter.

The second time, in relation to Emily:

Sera: Please.... if you start to question... you could end up like Lucifer: Fallen.

I think the implication is that Sera and Lucifer used to be close (probably sibling-like), but Lucifer's fall changed things.

Sera right now seems to see different sides of Lucifer in Charlie and Emily:

In her first mention of Lucifer, Sera rolls her eyes and says Charlie is misguided. Except that she doesn't really know Charlie by this point. So, she is clearly seeing her as an extension of Lucifer. Specifically, she sees Charlie's attempt to change the system as similar to Lucifer's past ambitions: dangerous.

In her second mention of Lucifer, Sera warns Emily not to end up like him. She is clearly scared for the young Seraphim. Except that Emily is an angel version of Charlie, who is a younger version of Lucifer. In other words, Sera probably sees Emily as the embodyment of everything she loves about Lucifer. So, she wants to avoid history from repeating.

In other words, Sera projects on the two girls what she dislikes (Charlie) and what she misses (Emily) of Lucifer. Except that she can't have one without the other. More importantly, Sera and Lucifer will have to eventually meet to solve their past.

As a matter of fact it is possible Sera and Lucifer share the same authority figures: the Elders of Heaven. These parental figures probably traumatized them both on some level. So, we may have a scapegoat/golden child dynamic similar to the one Vaggie and Lute have:

Lucifer and Vaggie refuse their authority figures' teachings and end up in Hell as a consequence.

Sera and Lute accept these teachings and reach a position of authority. Sera is the High Seraphim of Heaven, while Lute is Adam's liutenant.

Sera and Lute are the ones who physically banish Lucifer and Vaggie and the ones who get in the way of the fallen angels (Sera politically and Lute physically).

Given this set-up and these similarities with Vaggie and Lute, it would be interesting to see how a future interaction between Lucifer and Sera will go. Sera might have the potential to challenge Lucifer when it comes to his past, his role as a parent and who he wants to be in the future.

Charlie and Emily

Emily is who Charlie would be if she were born in Heaven instead of Hell. She shares the Princess of Hell's kindness, but also her naivety and her innocent condescension:

Emily: Gosh, I'm so pleased to show some outsiders around After you see our realm, you'll never wanna go back down St. Peter and Emily: 'Cause every single day in Heaven is a happy day Welcome to Heaven

You'll be complete! It'll be so neat! Our service can't be beat! You'll be on easy street! (Yes!) Life will be sweet at the Happy Hotel~!

These traits are actually stronger in Emily, as Heaven presents itself as peaceful and perfect.

In Welcome to Heaven, both Charlie and Emily have their vision of the world crushed:

Emily: What are you saying? Let me get this straight You go down there and kill those poor souls?

Adam: Don't you act all high and mighty Did you ever think your little girlfriend might be a liar?

However, Charlie is given the chance to work on her internal flaws, while Emily is forced to push everything under the rug:

Sera: They were uprising, Emily! It is my position as the head Seraphim to protect our people at all costs. And it's your position to keep them happy and joyful. Emily: How can I bring joy when I now know we are bringing misery to thousands of innocent people? Sera: Heaven needs us, Emily. Everyone looks to us… and we can't doubt ourselves or worry about the fates of demons when we have our own souls to protect.

So, it would be interesting to see what kind of bond Charlie develops with this other self and how they can help each other grow.

Obviously, these are all just theories, but it would be cool to have all these angel characters explored more in later seasons!

[fyloe]

My CoTL AU (Mostly backstory)

BLOOD TW & Yap session warning.

[I've simplified it as much as possible and included little pictures for those with short attention spans.]

This is begins before the slaughter of the lambs and the universe's rules are slightly tweaked, just a twinge... A wee bit. (I only say this because I either can't remember or don't know everything about the game).

It all starts with a little lamb named Marrei who's living in Anura with her parents. Her mother is pregnant/expecting soon and her father works from sunrise to sunset, food is scarce and they all risk starving.

Her mother continuously tries to give her portions to her frail and weak daughter (Marrei) only for her husband to stop her and force her to eat, sometimes he doesn't succeed and instead he gives her his portions to eat.

Marrei's father eventually dies of starvation and the pair (trio including unborn child) continue to eat whatever they can get from scraps, without her father around her mother continues to give Marrei all the food.

One day her mother leaves and does not come back.

Marrei waits inside that house for a week, almost weeks, before she exits. She finds her mothers corpse, her mother had left to die next to where her father lay. He wasn't buried, used instead for compost.

(I didn't add much detail cause I'm lazy.)

It had been so long that her parents were thoroughly picked apart by birds.

So Marrei, in her little mind, was like "hey, don't baby lamb skulls make me live a long time or something?" So, she took her brother's (congrats, it was a boy) skull and brought it with her.

She just picked a random direction and walked, and walked, and walked... she just kept walking with no goal in mind.

For days.

For weeks.

Longer than she spent alone in her house, just ratting whatever berries or pumpkins she finds. She is kicked from many farms. She grows.

Eventually she happens upon a temple.

(This is where shit gets blurry as I have only got the back bones laid out, some areas have excessive minor detail whilst areas like this do not. Marrei could've gotten caught by guards or just knocked on the door, either way she ends up getting indoctrinated into Heket's cult.)

Marrei undergoes the world's loooooongest training montage to level up from beta noob to level 99 Mafia boss and through the power of toxic Yuri she becomes the consort of Heket and they are gay for each other for a couple thousand years (she gets an official immortality necklace from her shawty).

She basically becomes the words most humblest spoiled brat, getting gifts she didn't ask for all while continuing to be a nice soft person.

(Marrei looooves gold.)

(These are the years she develops relationships with the bishops that come up after they become followers + other secrets that you only get if you stick around.)

Then it happened.

Marrei didn't know much about Narinder as he had only sought her out once and once alone.

She had unknowingly given Narinder a little push, fed the thoughts festering in the back of his mind, yet was completely taken by surprise at the news of his (albeit failed) usurpment attempt.

Marrei spends a while in depression, having lost someone she considered close even though they had spoken once (she's just nice like that) and everybody else she cared about (Leshy/Heket) was badly injured.

She was then promptly kicked out without warning or reason and banished from Anura by Heket.

In a panic, she finds her way into Darkwood as it's the only other place she knows.

This is essentially a period of inactivity, things happen but nothing too serious to write about.

Well, there's one thing....

But, that's a secret.

Marrei gets kicked out of Darkwood as well and then she decides it's time to just start walking again.

So she does.

She walks and walks.

Eventually, she ends up at the clearing Ratau shows the player and attempts to set up camp.

Alas, she's jack shit at anything but sitting there and looking pretty so she struggles for a long time before meeting Ratau.

He helps her get set up and teaches her how to be an independent woman/is like her father because shes a fatherless idiot and Ratau isn't old enough to be a wrinkly old ballsack yet as he just got fucked over and fired from vessel duty.

You guys will never guess what happens next lmao

Marrei lays an egg!

*air horn sound effect*

(No, it's not Ratau's wtf...)

So yeah, that thing hatches and she doesn't know what to do. Marrei is a horrid mother and she cries all the time, she cries a lot. She is stupid, stupid woman. She is too busy living in the past and missing her shawty.

Ratau smacks her on the head with his stick a couple times... A lot of times.

Fun fact: The Lamb literally doesn't have a name, at all. Everybody just calls them Lamb, or The Lamb, or Leader.

This is because Marrei just... never named them.

Probably doing mushrooms or something lmao

Marrei pulls on her big girl pants and gets her shit together eventually because she actually gives a shit about her kid, she's just a loser who has no idea what the fuck she's doing and didn't expect bro to pop out...

The Lamb grows up to have a close bond with Marrei and Ratau who occasionally visit like a grandpa.

When Lamb turns 18 they're like "can I finally leave bro, just for a little bit, I've never stepped foot out of this camp"

Marrei is like "FUCK NO!"

And Ratau is like "bro, chillax..."

So she sighs and allows them out.

Only for Lamb to immediately get lost and be captured before being put to slaughter as 'The Last Lamb".

Lamb meets The One Who Waits and Narinder is like "lmao why u kinda godly or sum shit" and Lamb is like "brother what... Can I just die or go home like damn" and Nari like "shit calm down rude ass"

So Lamb returns home to a worried sick Marrei sobbing in Ratau's arms as the red crown's vessel.

The game mostly continues like normal, the bishops don't know the lamb is related to them and neither does the lamb.

Except after the slaughter of Leshy, Marrei distances herself from her child and then right after Lamb defeats Heket's final mini boss Marrei finally cracks and tells the Lamb everything.

Who their other mother is (don't worry how it happened, it's magic), That their half god/frog, Her upbringing, just... Everything.

(This is old art, I just thought it was fitting lmao)

Lamb does the equivalent of saving and exiting the game, leaving the cult and going fishing or working on Sozo's quests or something.

Lamb continues their crusade through Anura in which you can get a new dialogue option with Heket where she (not by name) mentions/refers to Marrei, saying the Lamb reminds her of someone she once knew. She remarks on the familiarity of his bracelets they wear as similar to ones she had given to Marrei. (As Marrei had regifted it to the Lamb.)

While the Lamb is out they end Heket without informing her of anything, that Marrei is alive or of their relation.

Once again, the game pretty much continues as normal until the bishop's revival. (Besides the fact of Narinder being a smarty pants and figuring out that Lamb was related to him and being a pissy bitch about it, yapping about the irony of his siblings unknowingly losing to someone who's their blood--things coming full circle.)

There's very minor plot that happens after the game's technical end besides Marrei getting her closure and becoming a toxic old Yuri couple with her shawty, having another kid, Leshy being a fucking goober and getting into a throuple, and Narinder trying to be a not dog shit uncle...

So yeah, that's all!

I'm probably gonna remember a shit ton of lore later and be super angry like "stupid little fucking brain fuck you!" but like this post has been deleted more than four times and I've had to redo it so this so what you get have fun

This post is dedicated to @owl-lady-lover, thank you for asking about my lore! :3>

[nervoustragedyluminary]

If Someone appears to be venting in the transandrophobia tags about facing lateral aggression due to being a trans guy then they hit you with

"why do amabs always behave like this? they always think they're better than us/it's always amabs doing this"

Then that's very likely a terf or someone who is drinking their koolaid and it is probably best to tell them to knock it off and /or block them.

Lateral aggression from trans women and trans fems isn't "amabs using their male privelige to dominate and oppress the deluded weak trans identified feeemales"

it's oppressed people lashing out at the closest safest targets who happen to be fellow trans people often as a response to similar lateral aggression from trans men but generalising all trans men and "afabs" to be exactly like the shitty dude/s who were being transmisogynistic to them.

it's people doing respectability politics

It's classic humans being humans in a crab bucket

its not some magical biological drive or trans women being a hive mind of secret mras

trans women aren't misogynist sleeper agents waiting to hurt trans men and other "afab" assumed trans people, and terfs who keep trying to push this bullshit should know that we see through you and condemn your misogyny and transphobia and stand with our trans sisters and siblings

Beware of anyone equating any crappy behaviour by anyone to their AGAB because that's bioessentialism and it's a cornerstone of terf and misogynistic rhetoric

Just because a trans woman is being a cruel fuckwit that doesn't make her a man,

no trans women aren't "biologically prone towards selfishness more so than other trans people "

Anyone saying that shit is spreading terf rhetoric and trying to prey on people who are hurting to try to isolate them and make them feel like they can't trust other trans people least of all trans women.

It's a grooming tactic ;"you can't trust anyone except fellow afabs" is grooming (similar for the"you can't trust afab trans people crowd) it's an isolation tactic that cuts you off from outside sources of information and experiences that conflict with the simplistic "us vs them" narratives that these high control groups like terfs want to indoctrinate people into

Terfs want us trans guys and assumed "afab" trans people to turn on trans women and fems and assumed "amab" trans people and buy into their fairytale of "male socialisation /behaviour versus afab solidarity uwu sex separatism and violence is feminist" & fuck that to hell

remember to keep an eye out for transmisogyny and point it out for what it is.

Solidarity forever

(The vast majority of people I do see calling it out I just saw a heinous post and needed to vent)

[zwyragpina]

Just saw the stupidest take on this app, and I continue to question whether or not this fandom has actual reading comprehension skills when it comes to fuckery, that is Mapleshade's vengeance. And of course it is the self-diagnosed 13-year-olds in this app that want to bitch and whine when someone tells them otherwise. 

The River Issue.

1. No, she in fact did not have to use the river. There were multiple options, and none of them weren't said to be unavailable in the book. She was brooding and being angry after being exiled, which does not automatically mean "she was thinking and panicking." No, the book tells the exact opposite of this because she is straight up swearing and cursing the names of her fake ass clanmates. 

2. Frecklewish being followed was not reason enough for her to cross the river. Oakstar gave her until sundown to leave the territory; therefore, frecklewish does not have any grounds to rightfully attack her until she is caught trespassing after her given time. She wasn't even aware that Frceklewish was following her, and regardless, Mapleshade isn't weak; she is shown to be very capable of defending herself. And frecklewish is a fucking push anyway, so she obviously wasn't going to do anything. 

3. She had several options, being the bridge, another clan, and the two-leg place. There are several bridges in the canon map, and the one closest to her is the one near the tree cutters place. She also could've taken the path near the owl tree. It's the middle of the day and storming, so the owl wouldn't have even been out. Another clan would have been the safest option, as in the book, as far as we know Thunderclan is on decent terms and conditions with Shadowclan and Windclan. And besides that, she has kittens, and they cannot turn her away or else they'd be violating their code. Yes, she could've gone to the two-leg place. In canon, the kittypets become a problem during the events of Pinestar's choice and Goosefetaher's curse, which takes place several moons after she's died. 

The Blame for the children’s death

Yes, Mapleshade is infact at fault for her children's deaths, and to say that she isn't, but then turn around and say that Appledusk purposefully killed Birchface is insane and shows how stupid you people are. Both of those are cases of manslaughter. Mapleshade willfully took her children into a river that was already unsafe before the flood hit. Appledusk's situation was an act of self-defence, and honestly, the arguments on whether this is murder or not are very telling on people's intelligence skills. And obviously they both expressed guilt for their actions. Mapleshade feeling guilt that her kits died doesn't absolve her from blame. 

Who deserves blame?

The only cats that deserve blame at all in this story are fucking Oakstar, Frecklewish, and Mapleshade. The majority of blame falls on Freckle and Oak because the entire plot device of the fucking story is so that they can't get over their grief and are using whatever means possible (indoctrinating children supposedly related to them) to get revenge against someone who was simply defending them. Mapleshade takes the blame because she caused a big part in her own spiral by being incredibly reckless, naive, and foolish. And while definitely other characters have blame for their own actions. The majority of what happened to her was a result of her own selfishness or stupidity. 

The only thing I will absolutely not hold against her is the secret she went along with. Frecklewish and the other one literally pressured her into going along with their little fantasy. And that is not her fault. 

These are facts lmao. Get over it <3