#and thinks that their actions are justified

[syngularitysyn]

It's all fun and memes to joke about how Caitlyn immediately switched sides the moment she hears Vi call her cupcake again. And I do it too. But to me, the switch wasn't abrupt at all.

From the first scene in episode four, Caitlyn already says that the martial law has been going on much longer than she wanted. In the next scene, you see her standing up to Ambessa, using her words back at her, for which Ambessa calls her fearless. It shows that Caitlin has not given up control and is not being puppeteered by Ambessa. She's in control still, but her singular focus is still on Jinx like it was in act one.

Vi was right that Caitlyn is behaving like Jinx, but it was probably the worst thing Vi could have said to her, no matter how true, cause Caitlyn was too deep in her quest for 'justice' in her grief. That's why she reacted so violently.

Jinx is the target of her obsession, or her in her mind for justice, even though what she really wants is vengeance, and being compared to Jinx cut deep. Vi had noticed the similarity before in season one, but that was before Jinx kidnapped Caitlyn and wanted her dead.

In the beginning of episode four, she feels that it's been going on too long, but even after all those months her obsession is still stronger. Her obsession with getting vengeance, finding Jinx, killing Jinx, is still stronger than her moral compass, which she has abandoned to avenge her mother and fill her mother's shoes.

But over the course of the second act before she sees Vi again, there are multiple things that happen that make Caitlyn understand she has to stop, that what she's doing isn't right or justifiable.

Some of these were not initially clear to me when I first watched it. but one thing I realized today while I was working out is that one crucial moment for Caitlyn's arc in act two is with Singed.

Taking her singular focus off Jinx for a moment, Caitlyn does what she does best and figures out who Singed is, and what he's responsible for. She uncovers that Singed is actually the formerly revered alchemist Dr. Corin Reveck, who used to work with Heimerdinger at the academy. Arcane implies he is from Piltover and became a Zaunite after being kicked out of Piltover. He helped build up Piltover to what it is, and now he is ravaging Zaun with shimmer, weapons and monsters.

When she calls him a monster and asks him "why do all this?", he tells her he did it 'for love'. Out of love for his deceased daughter.

And I think that that is one of the crucial moments where Caitlyn starts to realize that what she is doing is not very different from him.

She's doing things her old self would never have approved, of out of love and grief for her deceased mother.

When she sees Vi again, she doesn't suddenly switch sides, she's already been doubting her chosen course of action. She initially says "you can't be here", because Caitlyn is trying to believe she's doing the right thing still, and knows Vi is a threat to that belief/lie.

Vi calling her cupcake though, is one of the last drops in the bucket. She left Vi to do what she thought she needed to do, what her mother might have done. What she's doing out of guilt for not saving her mother when she had the chance. She even tried to be with a girl her mother would have approved of.

When Vi calls her cupcake, all the feelings she's been trying to stuff away come flooding back. She snaps out of this self-imposed love-deprived state she's been in, and she can no longer deny she loves Vi.

When Vi tells her that she's trying to save her dad, I think that is the moment she actually switches sides. That was the last drop. That is the moment where she realizes there are still people she loves, who love her, who are still alive and they need her help, and that is more important than her horrible campaign for vengeance out of grief, otherwise she's no different than Singed.

[obaewankenope]

having feelings about things is valid

lettin those feelings be the only thing that you use to guide your actions is not valid

because often those feelings are not objective, entirely subjective, dependent on your past/upbringing/experiences/traumas and will have you acting like an asshole and thinking it justified or acceptable for x, y, z reason when you're actually reacting instead of recognising the problem/issue/question/challenge and working through it

being upset is valid

hitting someone when upset is not

crying because you feel hurt is valid

purposefully using hateful or emotionally-charged language in order to hurt someone else because you feel hurt is not

that's it. that's the point

Since the OP made their post unrebloggable (and blocked me. Both actions they are well in with their right to do)

I'm going to make my response it's own post because I think the point is important

-

As someone who is autistic and has BPD and CPTSD and loads of trauma yes you sometimes need to change how you interact with others to keep people around

When I was 13 I hit the few friends I had when I was angry

I had to change that in order to keep those friendships

When I was in my early 20s if I was losing an disagreement with my husband I would threaten to kill myself. My husband told me it hurt him and was cruel and manipulative behaviour, because it was.

So I worked hard to change that to keep my relationship

It's easy to say "I shouldn't have to change for others" and that's true to an extent. You shouldn't change your interests or passions or dim your light. And you should have space to be imperfect and flawed and not have to pretend your ugly bits aren't real. But if something you are doing it causing other people harm you kinda need to change that.

That's called "living in a society"

People adapt to each other and make space for each other in their lives. You adapt to them and they adapt to you

You start being more diligent about throwing away the empty toilet roll because it really bothers them. They start warning you before they run the blender because you hate loud noises

I stopped threatening to kill myself because I was mad I was losing an argument and my husband stopped being so vocally judgemental amount media he personally dislikes

There is a certain type of person who heard the phrase "your emotions are valid" and took that to mean "my emotional reactions and my behaviour are always objectively correct because my emotions are valid and if you have an emotional response or react to what I'm doing negatively then you are wrong and you can't be hurt because my emotions are valid"

And that's a recipe for disaster

Your emotions are valid to feel. They are how you feel and there are reasons you feel the way you do

However, your reactions and behaviour are something you can learn to control and can be irrational

We live in a society and we as people change each other as we interact and that isn't necessarily a bad thing

[rosenotactuallyquartz]

here’s why the situation with bismuth says a lot about rose’s dynamic with pearl

surprisingly, the bismuth episode says a lot about rose’s feelings for pearl.

rose kept many secrets, but pearl carried some of the heaviest ones. at first, rose felt guilty about the fact that pearl was keeping such big secrets for her.

but by the end of the war, rose was keeping a huge secret from pearl

“we thought you’d been captured. or worse, shattered.” — pearl, bismuth

rose knew how close pearl was to bismuth, but she lied to everyone about what happened, claiming bismuth had been lost in battle. she even acted “worried sick,” as pearl describes when bismuth comes back. for thousands of years, pearl believed bismuth was probably dead.

as we know, rose was deeply ashamed of herself and her past. she believed that everyone around her was better than her & she also really admired pearl. the guilt of lying to pearl was overwhelming, but rose was very afraid to tell pearl the truth. she also couldn’t bear the thought of losing her… but at the same time, the guilt made her feel unworthy of being close to her.

this guilt caused rose to become avoidant and distant—not because she didn’t care, and not because she didn’t trust pearl.

she didn’t trust herself. she couldn’t imagine a life without pearl, but she also felt like all she did was cause pain and she was terrified of hurting pearl again.

rose’s dishonesty (and being too afraid to tell pearl the truth) is also very related to rose’s trauma on homeworld. when it was known that she messed up, rose would be met with pain (punishment) or abandonment (being locked in a tower). rose trusted pearl, but taking accountability scared her because on homeworld, these situations never ended in anything positive, such as forgiveness and fixing things for the better. rose also believed she deserved to be abandoned if she messed up. self-compassion was something rose struggled with deeply.

pearl, on the other hand, didn’t understand rose’s avoidance and hesitancy until much later, after learning the truth about bismuth

before this, pearl was insecure & she struggled with self blame. this is tied to her homeworld trauma—the belief that her worth is defined by what she can do for others. she wondered if she had done something wrong and she questioned whether she “wasn’t good enough” for rose to love her as much as she loved rose.

but rose was very, very in love with her; it’s been confirmed that their love was never unrequited, so it’s funny that some people in the fandom assume this before thinking about bismuth

rose never distanced herself because she didn’t love pearl; she did it because of guilt and shame. she did it because she didn’t believe she deserved someone who made her so happy.

& here’s something interesting: pearl continued to love rose after she found out the truth. she showed no signs of wishing she left her. in reunited, she thought everything i do, i do it for her while she was fighting. she would never see this action as being okay or defensible, and she likely felt some bitterness for awhile which is understandable. but she never stopped loving her, nor did she want to abandon her.

by the way, i think that lying about bismuth was one of rose’s worst actions. i don’t think this makes her a bad person, especially because she felt guilty about this lie. i just hope you guys know that this analysis isn’t me trying to justify what she did. it wasn’t okay! the whole purpose of writing this is just to show that rose really was in love with pearl. her behaviours are never from a place of not being in love with her—they’re from a place of having her own issues and feeling undeserving of love from someone like pearl.

[nagaytoe]

Got a req! Howlw about some angst? What would happen after the bad end?

Evanescent

(Adj.) Soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence; quickly fading or disappearing

Solivan Brugmansia X Reader

TWs: Murder, attempted murder, weapons, just a lot of death in general, loss of loved one, shifting blame, like one mention of necrophilia

Word count: 2.3k

I am currently cooking up 3 more scenarios of what could've happened after the bad end on day 2 but this is the first one that's actually finished (there were just too many ideas popping into my head so ofc i have to write for all of them lmao)

Requests: open

Disclaimer: i tried my best to proof-read it and tried using they/them pronouns but when i first wrote it i used she/her, i just hope i got all of 'em lol

Also, apparently 'whose' can also be used for objects as well and not just for people??? Sounds wrong to me but if the internet says it's right then lets hope its right haha

SPOILERS FOR DAY 2 OF THE KID AT THE BACK

Sol was inconsolable, his face buried in your neck, tears staining your shirt. His arms were wrapped around you but you didn’t reciprocate the gesture. How could you anyways? You were dead. Stabbed by Sol's only friend, Hyugo, who was currently cleaning up the gory scene.

---------------------------------------------------

Just a few moments ago you stumbled upon a horrifying view: Your friend, best friend, and your first love, Jericho Ichabod, laid on the dirty ground of a shed whose door you just broke down, his head barely attached to the neck.

Your knees gave in beneath you as soon as you gazed upon Crowe, grabbing his body, shaking it and willing him to wake up again. How could this happen? He was well liked, nice to everyone he met, who would think about taking his life? You barely registered footsteps behind you because of how loud you were sobbing, but the clanking of metal on the ground didn't slip past you. Turning around, your eyes are met with the sight of someone you didn't expect. You expected a gang leader, a thug, everyone but the one who actually stood in front of you.

Solivan Brugmansia

Just yesterday you befriended the seemingly timid boy and now he was soaked in blood, his red eyes wide as your gazes met.

“[____]...?” Tears of his own started to well up in his eyes which currently roamed over your hunched figure.

“What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here, you need to leave!” By the end of his sentence he was yelling, tears streaming down his face.

Truly a miserable, pathetic sight.

“You killed him, you killed Crowe, didn't you?” Anger was bubbling up in the pit of your stomach. On the inside you were praying to whatever god was watching from heaven above, if there even was one to begin with, that all this was nothing more than a bad dream, hoping insistently to wake up. However, this was a nightmare you were not permitted to ever wake up from.

“I only did what I should've done years ago.” His words caused you to huff in disbelief, “You're not even gonna deny it, huh?”

“I would never lie to you, [____]” Was he fucking serious? He just killed someone, but at least he's not a liar? What the hell was wrong with him?! You were enraged, he had no reason to kill Crowe, to play god by ending his life and taking your love from you.

“Why? Why did you kill him?!”

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU AND HE TRIED TO TAKE YOU AWAY FROM ME! I COULDN'T SIT BY AND LET THAT HAPPEN… YOU'RE MINE! MINE ALONE!” he finally snapped, showing his true colors. Was everything he showed you before just a facade? It had to be.

The words he just spoke left a disgusting taste in your mouth. Love? Love?! How dare he use this sweet word in such a disgusting fashion? How dare he taint it in order to justify his vile actions? It made you sick to your stomach and you were blinded by rage as you lunged at him.

“YOU MONSTER!”

You unbuckled the strap of his choker and pulled on it, strangling him in the process.

“YOU LOVE ME?! I LOVED HIM! HE WAS EVERYTHING TO ME! MY BEST FRIEND, MY FIRST LOVE, MY SAVIOR! YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME, I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU! DON'T YOU DARE IMAGINE YOU KNOW ME IN THE SLIGHTEST! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!”

Sol was clawing at your wrists by now, but it was no use, every action of his seemed slow and heavy, as if it took a lot of effort, almost as if he was paralyzed.

His hands fell to the side and just as you thought you managed to avenge your love something sharp pierced through your chest.

--

Here you were, taking your last breaths in the arms of the person you despise most.

“[____], please… please stay with me… don't leave me [____]...” his pleas were a stark contrast to what he is screaming at the person who stabbed you.

“HOW COULD YOU!? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!”

Then he went back to sobbing into your shoulder. He seemed completely out of it, switching between grief and anger every other second.

You couldn't seem to make out the words your killer was saying, everything they said was incoherent, except for the last two words:

“No witnesses.”

---------------------------------------------------

“What do you plan on doing? Hold them until they start rotting?”

Hyugo was standing in front of Sol, who was still sitting on the ground, sobbing and cradling you in his arms. After he managed to clean up the scene, the only thing left to do was the disposal of your corpse.

“Just kill me alongside them.” Sols voice was quiet, barely above a whisper and it was strained from crying and screaming so much. It hurt Hyugo to see his best friend like that.

“You know very well I can't do that.”

“YOU WERE ABLE TO KILL THEM THOUGH! I JUST GOT THEM BACK AND YOU TOOK THEM FROM ME!”

Hyugo couldn't hold back his anger anymore. How could Sol still fail to see that this would've never worked out either way?

“THEY TRIED TO KILL YOU!”

Hyugo sighed deeply in an effort to calm himself before continuing, “Even if I had only knocked them out, do you think they would’ve forgiven you for killing Crowe-”

“Don't you dare bring up that bastards name. All of this is his fault anyways. If it hadn't been for him… me and my sweet [____] would still be together now…”

Sols voice was laced with venom as he gripped your body tighter. You have stopped breathing by now, the color has long drained from your face and the warmth of your skin has vanished. All that was left was an empty shell of who you once were.

Just yesterday, you were breathing, talking, laughing. Now? Now you will never be able to do any such thing again.

“It was you or them, Sol. I need you to understand that. Do you truly believe they could've loved you back after finding out you killed someone? Do you think the two of you would have lived happily ever after?” The blue haired man was trying his best to reason with his best friend, but to no avail.

“We could've made it work, I know that we would have… We were destined to be together, there wouldn't have been any other way…Maybe I should just keep them…”

“Sol.” Hyugo put his hand on the taller males shoulder, who was still sitting on the sheds ground. “We need to bury them.”

Sol seemed to be pondering for a moment, the hold he had on your body relentless.

“I can't… I can't let them go. They're gonna be really scared if we bury them and leave them in the darkness forever…”

“Sol, I'll repeat myself one last time. We need to bury them. What else are we supposed to do with their body? Keep it?” Hyugo put his hands on his hips, his patience wearing thin.

“I see no reason to not keep it…” the males words were muttered, but his friend was still able to hear them.

“You can't be serious! Do you know what happens to a body when it decays? They'll have 2 weeks at best before there's nothing left of them, except for the bones.”

Sol knew his friend was right, but how was he supposed to let go of you?

“They deserve a gravestone… a funeral… they deserve a memorial and not to be buried in the woods like some dead animal…”

Hyugo sighed. He knew that there is pretty much nothing he could do right now to convince Sol to do the right thing, he will keep arguing until he gets his way.

“What's your plan?”

Sol considered his options for a few moments before responding,

“Let's call the cops, make it look like an accident or shift the blame onto someone else”

Hyugo scoffed, “And what do you plan to tell them? We don't exactly have an alibi and there aren't that many families with Katanas either, you know? The only other family I can think of right now is Subarus.”

Red eyes met Hyugos teal ones, it's obvious an idea struck Sol. “That's right…”

Hyugo immediately cut Sol off before the latter could finish his sentence.

“Absolutely not! I will not drag my brothers family into this.”

“He doesn't even like you!” Sol retorted.

The shorter males eyes grew wide for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.

“You know what? Do whatever you want. Keep their body like some necrophilie if that's what you desire.” Turning on his heel, Hyugo began walking off. He already took care of everything necessary, cleaning the scene and disposing of the weapons alongside Crowes body. He was not in the mood to argue with someone whose judgment was clouded and wouldn't even listen to him in the first place.

Sols rage grew stronger by the minute. How dared he? Hyugo killed his one and only soulmate in cold blood, like they were nothing and now he walked off just like that? No… No, he won't. Sol won't let that happen. He couldn't let him disrespect you like that. Carefully lowering your body to the ground and standing up, just as Hyugo walked out of the cabin, Sol quickly lunged at the shorter, unsuspecting male.

If there was one thing he knew, it was that Hyugo might be good with weapons but he wasn't all that strong physically.

Well, at least he was weaker than Sol. Since Hyugo buried his katana alongside any other evidence all he can fight with were his bare hands.

“SOL, GET OFF OF ME!”

Sols hands wrapped themselves around Hyugos throat, just like yours were wrapped around his not even half an hour ago. Pressing his friend's head into the dirt ground, Sol is blinded by rage. Hyugo clawed at the taller males wrists, kicking him but Sols grip won't loosen. Letting go of the hands that were wrapped around his throat, Hyugo felt the dirt ground around him for something he can potentially defend himself with and sure enough - he managed to grab ahold of a rock, swiftly smashing it against the side of Sols head.

The taller male staggered and collapsed on the floor next to Hyugo, who hit the exact right spot to knock someone out.

Hyugo stood up, dusting off his clothes and sighing. What a mess. He knew that he needed to get rid of the body, even if it'll drive Sol further into madness.

So that's what he did. He buried [____]s body deep in the forest before sitting down by Sol's side, waiting for him to wake up.

—————————

Sol didn't attempt to kill Hyugo again after the first time, though part of the reason might be the ax Hyugo found in the shed and kept on him afterwards for self-protection. Either way, Sol acted like Hyugo didn't exist. To him he was dead anyways.

He tried his best, tried to go to school but the next days there were hell. People talked, gossiped, conspired as to what could've happened to [____] and Crowe. Were they kidnapped by the mafia? Did they commit suicide together? Did they run away together? Did they join a cult? People made up all kinds of stories in order to make sense of the situation, but only Sol and Hyugo were the ones who knew the truth.

After a few days, Sol stopped going to school. He couldn't handle it any longer.

Every time he sat in his classes he would draw you, instead of paying attention to what the teacher was saying.

Every time he sat in art class he was met with the sight of your unoccupied seat.

Every time lunch break rolled around he would go to the library where the two of you met and sit down in the seat he sat in on that day.

After school he would go to your apartment complex and break into your apartment to lay down on your bed, hugging your sheets and pillows, pretending they were you.

Hyugo never told Sol where he had buried you, too anxious about what Sol might do were he to know where you've been buried.

Not even a week passed before Sol decided what he had to do next.

On monday, almost a whole week after your death, Sol went back to school. The place where he first saw you, where he fell for you and in whose proximity you had died. Though, instead of attending class, he walked up the stairs to the school roof. The cool november breeze brushed over his face, twirling his hair and swaying single strands from side to side.

He climbed over the fence, briefly sitting down on it.

There was no further purpose in living, that, he was sure of. He lost his only purpose and what meaning does life have if it has to be spent without you, his darling?

All he could do was atone for his sins.

His mind is occupied with memories of you as he leapt forwards, clutching his fist to his chest where his heart resided.

“See you soon, pumpkin.”

Everything went dark as his body met the ground. There was no pain, there was no afterthought. All that's there is nothingness.

Of course, to the people now surrounding his body there was a gruesome scene, perhaps they would prefer nothingness as well. But if there was nothingness, there would be no note either, tucked away in his fist.

“In the forest”, the note read.

Sol promised to atone for his sins and he would never lie to you, remember?

[peace-hunter]

i need optimus to be a Worrier next movie. i need him to be in charge of and responsible for thousands if not millions of mechs and realize they all depend on him and be Fretting about it. i need him seeing people, his people, being in danger and Freaking The Fuck Out.

but most importantly i need him to see one of his friends risk their life for something, anything, and realize that "oh. this is how it feels"

"Is [this] is worth dying for?" "Yes, it is."

this is what he made D go through every single day

[goldenbunniesxo]

sorry for how long what I add here is but i really liked this post and wanted to add more of my thoughts of how light differs from akechi signficantly - but also how they have a few interesting similarities. I do agree with practically all of this honestly, I do think goro akechi and light yagami are fundamentally very different characters. however, as a big fan of both, i definitely think there's something very interesting about the way masks/personas play different roles in their lives, and how they both have this persona of being a gifted, perfect student. in light's case its a lot more effortless, to the point of it being boring. whereas although i think akechi is very intelligent, i believe that due to his background he needs to put a lot more effort into maintaining that appearance (and juggling being the detective prince + an assasin while light is just doing school like a normal kid - again, privilged.) however, i think the way they both put so much stock into the way they are percieved and crave being Seen so desperately, and navigate social interactions as games to be won in which their natural charisma makes them very adept at is super interesting. ultimately akechi is like, dripping with the desire to be seen but is terrified of it (the horror of being known yadda yadda) and so he gives pieces of himself with every conversation despite his best acting but also contradicts his character at every turn because he's a fractal of masks and persons and never got the space to fully figure out who he *is* (which on a different note is another way that he's such a good contrast and parallel to joker - but i digress). light on the other hand, has a pretty stable sense of self, even though that self signifcantly warps throughout the course of the series, you get the sense that you never lose the fundamentals of what light yagami is (unlike how you are constantly puzzling out akechi's "true nature" altho part of that is bcs we never get to directly be inside his head). light meeting L is the only time he ever gets truly "seen" in death note imo, but the tragedy kind of is that he will literally die if he shows part of his true self (kira - i say part because i dont think kira IS light's true self but just a part of it), so then L is still confronted with light's many masks and his obsession with kira makes you wonder if he could ever see light for all that he was. and like. as @casuistor 's yotsuba light analysis showed, light was also still pretending/acting during the yotsuba arc, that wasn't his whole genuine self, so yk. light is very much an icarian protagonist - a tragedy, a victim of his own making, if you will. things would have always ended up this way for light imo because of the nature of who he is and what he grew up around, and he honestly would have been genuinenly unfillfiled and unhappy in a no death note universe too. light is obsessed with proving to himself that he is a Good Person, and that he did not fail, because when Light accidentally killed two people it freaked him out so bad that he decided he'd become god because god decides what's good or bad, and cannot be judged. the mental gymastics he does to justify his actions to himself is quite frankly hilarious. light is aware althroughout that murder is wrong and bad and that what he's doing is evil but he believes himself a martyr, and justifes bloodying his hands for the sake of Greater Good.

goro akechi never fancies himself a good person. i think even though he doesn't regret killing any of his victims, i think he fundamentally believes that he is a bad person, and goes to great lengths to never excuse or justify his behaviour - which also means just omitting his reasons for it too. akechi doesn't want to be percieved as a victim at all because he hates his agency being taken from his actions. which loops back around to their main difference - akechi's desire for agency, which trumps his desire to be seen, and light's desire to be good, which trumps his desire to be seen.

I feel like when people compare Akechi to Light Yagami, they fundamentally misunderstand his character. Their similarities really end at their designs, and Light is the kind of person Akechi would despise. Light Yagami lives a pretty privileged life at the start of Death Note. He has a stable home, with two parents and a sister who care about him. He's a successful student. There isn't really inherent tragedy to his life. The whole reason he starts using the Death Note is a mix of curiosity and a jaded worldview, and when it works it empowers him, very quickly goes to his head, as he believes he is one who can be a god of a "new world" once the shock of his initial kills wears off. While his first kill was to help someone, that altruism didn't last. He is in charge of his choices, while Ryuk mostly vibes and maybe eggs him on a little. Fundamentally, Light has something Akechi lacks: agency, and a comfortable life he took for granted. Meanwhile, Akechi is someone who lived on the bottom rung of Japanese society. His very existence is shameful there, between his mother being a sex worker, his status as an illegitimate/"throw away" child, and his mother's suicide. Years languishing in a foster system that is notoriously inhumane, in a country where 90% of the adoptions are grown men for inheritance and patriarchal reasons, while very few children in the system find permanent homes. When Akechi awakens his power, he approaches Shido not because he wants to kill people but for a stupid revenge plan cooked up by a traumatized child who's been nudged along by a malevolent god. He wants to build Shido up so that at the height of his power, he can expose him for the monster he really is, while another part of him genuinely wants to be useful to Shido, as Cogkechi later calls out. His feelings are a mess of contradictions, and so it's no surprise that Shido was able to mold him into his assassin at only 15 years old. It's also worth noting that Akechi only approaches Shido with his ability to cause psychotic breakdowns. Shido is the one who teaches and instructs him to do shutdowns. He's still complicit, very sunk cost with his revenge plan, but as I spoke of here, even if he wanted to quit, he couldn't alone. Shido's cleaner and control of the law and ability to effortlessly turn him in would render the Metaverse his only safe haven. I think people look at 11/20 Akechi and Akechi in the early parts of the engine room and assume that's just his "true self," when in reality it's another mask. Royal makes it very clear because in Rank 7, he outright warns Joker of what's to come via a pool metaphor and offers an out (though he's MUCH happier if you don't take it/stick to your principles), and in Rank 8, he goes on that big "I hate you" speech... while Sunset Bridge is playing. Y'know, the song that plays at the end of most confidants to reaffirm bonds. So when he smiles as he shoots what he assumes to be Joker, that doesn't mean he's genuinely happy. More likely, he's an emotional clusterfuck, given he also is disoriented enough to namedrop "Shido-san" over the phone, and in the subsequent meeting with Shido, tells him not to kill the Phantom Thieves and that Morgana is "just a cat." Yes, he says they'll make them fear for the rest of their lives, but remember, he's talking to Shido. The things he says are likely all incredibly calculated to sound appealing to Shido. And when you consider that he planned to utterly destroy Shido's reputation after the election, the "delay" makes even more sense.

Later, Akechi goes on about how the people he induced shutdowns on were deserving of their fates, but I don't think he believes it so much as it's the only way he could convince himself that it was worth it, and given how much society failed him, and given how many of the people he targeted were likely rivals/competitors or rich fucks, I think he'd be less inclined to assume good faith. Kunikazu Okumura was not an innocent little victim, after all. He was one of the people who requested breakdowns and shutdowns the most. I think Akechi enjoyed killing him not because of how it'd hurt Haru, but because of catharsis. Because Okumura is just as monstrous as Shido, so why should he feel remorse? However, I don't believe he feels the same about Wakaba, as when he discusses her with Shido, he mentions how her fate was because she refused to willingly work for him. It's another justification, but I personally think Wakaba's death was the most painful for him because he was effectively making Futaba just like him. That's why I think his reaction to Sae threatening Sojiro's custody was genuine. Anyway, evil grinning Akechi is just another mask, as I said. Keep in mind, this is someone who laments not meeting Joker years ago, someone who Morgana outright points out is lying about his hatred. And that's the thing. Light Yagami, while a really fascinating character, is not someone who had all this childhood suffering or lack of agency. He does not regret his actions in the slightest and goes down due to his own hubris in both the anime and the manga. While you can argue that Ryuk set him up by dropping the Death Note, Light was the one who picked it up and chose to use it. Any nudging from Ryuk didn't coerce Light into doing it because Light seized the opportunity. No, if Light Yagami is like anyone in Persona 5, it's Masayoshi Shido, not Goro Akechi. Both believe they are god/god's chosen, that they are the ones who will reshape the world to their ideals, and to be frank, both use and abuse women to serve their own purposes. Goro Akechi goes down sacrificing himself for the Thieves and pleading with them to stop his father and again in Maruki's reality when he refuses to let Joker accept a gilded prison of a world for his sake when he knows better than anyone what it's like to have no true freedom. If you max his confidant, you see him in the postcredits, leaving his survival entirely possible, and I think it works because at the end of the day, Akechi was meant to be a victim and a foil. Light is a villain protagonist and a cautionary tale. Though its his POV we follow, he isn't someone we're meant to root for, but I definitely don't think enjoying the character is a bad thing at all. He's really interesting! I just think that a lot of the Akechi and Light comparisons are surface level at best.

[thenationofzaun]

Arcane and Ideological Clashes

Tags by @coolseabird

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. One of season 1's themes I loved was the philosophical and ideological debate between Silco and Vander (and then Jinx and Vi). I adore the personal character-driven aspects too, but the thing is, they don't have to be mutually exclusive. Ideologies can be extremely personally informed/motivated, and in the case of these characters, they were. Every part of their worldviews were shaped by their circumstances, their lives, experiences, and relationships with other characters. For example, Silco surviving the murder attempt by Vander and how this very personal betrayal motivated him politically, to be unrelentingly extremist in his methods. Or Vander feeling personally guilty for all the deaths on the Day of Ash, leading to him forming a political deal with Grayson to subdue the undercity from ever stepping out of line "for their own good". Because when you live in these kinds of dire conditions, there really is no way to separate the personal from the political.

Though season 1 didn't explore these themes with the sisters as deeply as I would have liked, the crumbs were there! Especially for Jinx. Yeah, she's selfish and personally-motivated, but her actions are nonetheless political. When it comes to her political opinions, the first season itself only gave us crumbs ("We kicked the enforcers butts, imagine what the whole of the Lanes could do!" as a kid, and then later Silco tells her that the children of Zaun deserve more and she seems to listen pensively, but never comments on it). Every act of political violence by her in the first season was given a personal motivation (she wants Silco to think she's strong, she wants to confront Caitvi on the bridge, she wants to avenge Silco). But writers comments outside the show gave us more - one of them said online that while Jinx understands Vander, she disagrees with his worldview and aligns with Silco's views on fighting topside. So that confirmed that Jinx does have an ideology and it aligns with Silco's, even if she was mostly preoccupied with personal matters in S1.

Vi on the other hand was completely neglected by season 1. All of her thought process and political opinions post Act 1 were left entirely subtextual. Act 3 was the worst offender because it's there that she makes her most controversial decisions (betraying Jinx to the Council and attacking the Shimmer factory with enforcers). However, again there were crumbs that one could string together to form interpretations. In S1E2, Vander basically convinces her that rebellion against topside is futile as it would likely lead to the deaths of her loved ones. She then decides to give up her desire to fight them and turns herself in to the enforcers. What follows is 7-8 years of being beaten and abused and downtrodden by topsiders in prison. Yeah, I can definitely see how this experience would only confirm Vander's words, that Piltover's might is too much to overcome, not without heavy casualties on their side. That rebellion is futile and the best thing to do is to keep your head down and don't invoke their wrath.

However, it was a fellow undercity citizen who murdered Vander and took her sister. And when she returns years later, she finds that he is still in power, has significant influence and a large number of followers in the Lanes, and no one has overthrown him. One line that really stood out to me was one she said to the brothel madam Babette in S1E5 - "From the looks of it no one down here lifted a finger to stop Silco". How juicy is that! She feels resentful towards her fellow Zaunites for not avenging Vander and taking down Silco in her absence. She feels betrayed, abandoned, left behind by her own neighbours. Her sister changed under Silco, her home changed under Silco. And everyone moved on without her. Expanding on this could have been such a natural way to justify her class treason by joining the enforcers. She thinks Piltover is too strong for Zaunites to beat so there's no use rebelling against them anyway. So why not use their might against her Zaunite enemies? Zaunites themselves "won't lift a finger" to stop violent gang leaders so why not use topside's power to do it? "What loyalty should I have to my class, if the people from my class abandoned me like this?" I could even see how being wronged by Zaunites could hurt more than being wronged by Piltovians - she could see it as the latter owing her nothing while the Zaunites are supposed to be her family and neighbours, who owe her more.

Again, season 1 itself did jack shit to delve into these feelings nor her trauma from prison. But the crumbs were there. I happily used them to form my own interpretation to justify her bizarre decisions and was satisfied. But then season 2 rolls around. They had the blueprint and chose not to use any of this rich material. How do they justify her joining the enforcers? Do they explore any of the complex feelings of resentment Vi may have for her home and class? Nope, she joins after hearing how her crush talked her up to colleagues. How do they justify her fully turning on Jinx and disowning her sister? Do they explore Vi's loyalty to her foster father Vander, and her acceptance that Jinx chose to betray him and side with his murderer, then try to murder Ekko for years? Nope. In fact, she forgets about Ekko and never mentions him again lmao. Rather she seems to turn on Jinx because she attacked the Council??? That seems to be the turning point for Vi, the thing that makes Vi view Jinx as a monster. "She killed the tyrants who oppressed me all my life, how dare she😤" ???? It would make sense for Vi to view the attack as stupid and reckless, again just like Vander said - fighting topside only brings more wrath to the undercity. But they don't even do that. They never explore Vi's political opinions and how she agrees with Vander's "compliance for our own good" stance. They never touch on her time in prison and how it may have compounded Vander's views. Instead they make it so Vi seems to sympathize with the Councilors and condemns Jinx's bombing because of some generic "violence bad" moral.

It's so stupid too, because they completely forget about Grayson. That's more PRIME material to justify Vi's enforcer arc. If Vander, her mentor, allied with Grayson, Caitlyn's mentor, then why shouldn't she ally with Caitlyn? She could easily use the Vander-Grayson peace deal to make herself feel better about her class treason. "He allied with enforcers to keep the undercity in check for their own good. So will I. Putting on the uniform is just the next logical step. I will take out the gang leaders and Silcos that Zaunites are too weak to stand up to. My parents were wrong to fight against topside, rebellion is futile. Jinx is wrong to fight against topside and will only get more Zaunites killed in the resulting retaliation. They can call me a traitor but I'm doing this for their own good."

All the pieces are there. Instead they never bring up the Vander-Grayson deal. Caitlyn and Vi have never even spoken about either of them in their entire relationship lmfaooo. They don't even know that their beloved mentors knew each other. They never speak about anything of substance. The only crumbs of an ideological clash we get in season 2 is the argument in S2E5. But it's all from Jinx's side - "I wish I was just seeing things when you decided to throw in with the Piltie goons who murdered mom and dad." But then Vi replies with some lame insult, then they're having a cheap slapstick comedy fight, and Vi never reckons with this. She never expresses what she thinks of her parents dying fighting topside. Then the Piltover vs Zaun war is completely abandoned and the plot focuses on Warwick/Hexcore/Noxus. And we don't get any more explorations of the ideological/philosophical clash that the sisters represent. Is it worth it to rebel against an oppressor if you lose yourself and all your loved ones to violence, but at least those in the future reap the benefits of your fight? Is it worth it to comply for the safety of yourself and your loved ones, if your people will eventually suffer a slow death and never have a future? What are you willing to sacrifice for your revolution? How far will you go? They handled this theme beautifully with season 1 Silco, then said "alright that's enough" and dropped all effort when it came to season 2. And from the trailers of Act 3, it looks like Vi will be convincing Jinx to fucking help Piltover against Noxus. Which is just gross lmao.

[abbyfmc]

Yandere Fe/male bully headcanons:

TW: Mention of torture, stalking, physical abuse, psychological abuse, abuse of power and negligence of authorities, sadistic and yandere behaviors, kidnapping & harassment.

Bullies can come from different family backgrounds: Some live under domestic violence; others have absent parents; some have serious traumas that they take out on their victims; or they simply want to demonstrate the power and influence that they and their families have.

It doesn't matter if the bully is male or female, as both are equally dangerous.

A yandere bully would be quite jealous of his target.

I've seen that bullies rarely walk around alone, having at least two or three henchmen or lackeys with them. A yandere bully would be no exception.

You were a love interest who rejected him/her, and now she's/he's out to stalk you and make your school life a living hell.

A yandere bully would HATE to see you being happy with anyone but them.

A yandere bully would follow you everywhere, basically stalking you even possibly in the school/university bathrooms.

A yandere bully will follow you even to your house. First alone, and then with his lackeys.

A yandere bully will not tolerate you having friends, so he will do EVERYTHING to break your friendships.

For example: Making up gossip about you to manipulate your friends or classmates and turn them against you, so that you only focus your attention on your yandere bully.

Yes, a yandere bully will isolate you from the rest.

A yandere bully will love to harass you, because he would be a "sadistic and manipulative" yandere.

Your yandere bully would send his minions to spy on you.

Your yandere bully will publicly humiliate you when you are with friends because of his jealousy.

Your yandere bully would physically attack his love rivals, mostly out of jealousy.

A yandere bully will force you to watch while he physically tortures your friends or any other classmates who have spoken to you.

I think a yandere bully could also have narcissistic, psychopathic tendencies or something similar.

He likes to make you suffer constantly, in order to always be on your mind.

The yandere bully will want to physically mark you and will use anything to do so, such as: knives and razors; weird corrosive liquids; cigarettes; his bare hands (to scratch, hit, choke, slap, and even pinch you); paint; food and drink; and even a hair curler (which was even depicted in "The Glory"). This is fucking terrifying for the victims, as it will cause lifelong trauma and a yandere bully would know this.

After the physical torture, your yandere bully will act as if nothing happened and kiss you (probably by force).

Your yandere bully will have his/her lackeys find a place where neither you nor he/she can be interrupted, or rather, where you have no chance to escape or ask for help.

Your yandere bully will steal things from you and keep them secretly in his house, such as drawings, pencils or pens, or some small object that is precious to you. Like the classic yandere, he/she would make an altar with them in your honor.

A yandere bully wouldn't let anyone else make you suffer at school, other than him/her. This includes his/her lackeys, who he/she would forbid from touching you or talking to you too much without his/her permission.

Did I mention that your yandere bully would punish you in front of the other students? This was as a warning not to approach you again.

A yandere bully KNOWS the harm he does to you or your friends but he doesn't regret it; on the contrary, he justifies his actions by saying that it's "because he loves you"

A yandere bully will never sincerely apologize for their actions, whether towards you or others. As I said before, the yandere bully will always justify themselves in their love for you.

Scream, curse, and fight back if you want. Your yandere bully will always follow you wherever you go.

Did you accept another girl's feelings? Your yandere bully will burn her the next day with the hot curling iron, just because your yandere bully felt jealous for you and anger for that other girl.

-"Did you see what happened today? That happened because you accepted that bitch and not me. You are mine and no one else's!"-.

Did a classmate lend you books? Your yandere bully will tear, wet or burn them in front of the owner of said books (unless they are provided by the school/university); or hit the owner of the books out of jealousy.

Or maybe he'll take it out on you.

Your yandere bully will make your friends leave you, one by one.

As strange as it may seem, a yandere bully will leave love letters in your backpack or desk (lovely according to their twisted way of seeing things); roses (I think it would be more common if the yandere bully is a man); small chocolates and other gifts; demonstrating their, very rare, good mood.

Your yandere bully will force you to accept them.

For this very reason, if you reject him/her, he/she may come into your house and break your things or seriously hurt your family, pets or roommates.

Yes, a yandere bully would harass you even in your home. You wouldn't even be safe in your home. He/she would steal personal items, savings or simply enter your home (only if he breaks the doors or windows, or if he has a copy of your keys).

Yes, he/she will go that far.

Your yandere bully would see you entering and leaving your house, bathing, getting dressed, cooking, eating, cleaning, etc;…and your yandere bully would wish to be there with you so he/she could be with you, kiss you, hug you, touch every corner of your skin and make you his/hers.

I think he/she would use his minions, money, power and influence to keep you somewhere. Not necessarily to torture you, but it could be to torture your partner, a family member or a friend in front of you; or to go on dates with you (more awkward dates than romantic ones).

If he has certain racy photos of you (due to how much he stalks and spies on you), the yandere bully will use them to blackmail you with: -"If you agree to be my boyfriend/girlfriend, I won't tell anyone about your photos."- which the yandere bully would strangely do, since he would have already achieved his goal.

If you tell a teacher or the authorities, the yandere bully will simply use his family's money and power to get away with it, with only a "stern" warning.

In fact, a yandere bully would use his power against the teachers and principal to have you under his mercy and close to him.

-End of part One.

I will continue tomorrow with the rest.

[edsblanketfort]

Thinking about the parallels between Ed’s and Mary’s violence. Stede hardly even questions Mary’s attempt to kill him, he’s mostly outraged at the method. The story punishes violence stemming from racism or enforcement of harmful social norms, but Mary’s violence to ensure she can continue to live a life where she can be herself is completely unpunished. Instead it’s an open action of self protection and expression that leads to understanding and love and a better outcome for everyone. She’s rewarded! She gets to end the marriage while also reconciling with Stede and knowing that they will both be free and happy. Also she gets Doug and the money (free real estate!) What more do we need to reinforce the message that it’s not violence that’s the problem, it’s why you use it

Ed’s violence against Izzy was for freedom too, but even more justified because it wasn’t just freedom from an unsuitable and stifling marriage, it was freedom from targeted abuse and control

Mary’s skewer more than validates Ed’s leg shot and I will die on this hill

[candy-cloud-system]

Guess who’s back speaking their shit ! This guyyyyyy ! . Allow me to write a long ass paragraph explaining everything about why I am NOT going to take back what I said.

First off. Comparing anything I said in that paragraph to racism is wild. Not ONCE did I mention race, and it was a completely irrelevant and honestly just false comparison. Hating someone for being downright ableist is SO much different than being racist. And I can guarantee you, I will never hate anyone for their skin color or race. That is something they are born with, and cannot change. And the diversity of human beings is single handedly the most beautiful thing to me.

Now. A more accurate comparison, if you will, would be saying something along the lines of this: imagine you broke your leg because of someone else’s actions, and it causes you a lot of discomfort, pain, and changes the way you have to function. Often you get frustrated with things you’re unable to do the same as someone without a broken leg, or even get super angry at the person who was the cause of your broken leg, sometimes finding yourself daydreaming about how much better your current state would be if you hadn’t been around them or left the situation sooner. Now imagine the next day you see someone else with a cast on their leg, and you think “oh! Someone who may have a similar experience and understand my struggles!” Just for them to tell you their leg was never broken before and they simply “wanted” to have a broken leg.

Imagine the pure frustration that would give. All the thoughts of everything and all the pain and regret and rage you face daily now being mimicked by someone who woke up and decided to claim they had it simply because they wanted to. THATS what it’s like seeing an endo.

I will say this now. Plural means the exact same thing as a system. There is NO difference. There is no such thing as “systems have trauma, but if they say they’re just plural then they aren’t claiming to have a disorder!” Because that’s bullshit.

Endos cause a lot of harm to our communities, even if they aren’t aware. The misuse of terms and stealing of terms from cultural practices, invading our spaces sometimes with purpose to harm us, convincing actual systems their repressed trauma or even remembered trauma doesn’t exist or wasn’t bad, and wide spread misinformation highly effects people like me who have to live with the actual disorder.

I’ve seen a lot of systems (myself included) who are uncomfortable calling themselves plural. Although it is a correct, and sometimes more used in medical settings term for systems; the association of the word with endos who think slamming another label on themself justifies blatant ableism has made that term unbearably difficult to use on ourselves. I’ve seen the same with the words headmates, host, fictives, and other system terms.

“Tulpa Systems” are stealing a cultural term, AND misusing it at that. Tulpamancy is a term from Tibetan Buddhism. Original concepts of it found in the Buddhist Niramāņakāya, and later came into traditions of Mysticism. It is NOT when a 14 year old on tiktok decides they want a serious mental health condition and “creates an alter” for themself. Tulpas are part of a culture. And are spiritual practices.

Invading spaces that aren’t made for you can be very harmful. Even if unintentional or seemingly “harmless” those spaces are MADE for certain people. Those certain people need places they feel comfortable being themselves with other people like them. That’s very important. Something I’ll compare it to is this; I get very uncomfortable when an abled body person gets in the school elevator with me. The elevators at my school are made specifically for disabled individuals and those who cannot walk up stairs. It with the exception of escorts, when someone who is perfectly able bodied gets on, it creates a tension for me. They’re invading a space made for me and people like me, simply because they wanted to. I feel it’s unfair to me, because I’m not able to fit in comfortably in their spaces, I cannot walk up stairs with ease, yet they can, the elevator is a space where I can feel comfortable and capable with the abilities I have, and I feel very uncomfortable when that’s invaded by others. And it’s the same with system spaces. I’ve ranted to my friends countless times about how I never feel comfortable in the online system community. My spaces get invaded constantly by people who think they have a right to steal what should be a safe space for trauma survivors. I have grown accustomed to the reality that I will never have a space online that I will be completely safe from ableism in this community do to endos. Even in real life I have faced people in the eyes who faked my disorder just because they thought it was cool. They faked and copied my real struggles, lied about experiences and made me miserable. And I feel like i don’t even have to speak about the endos who come into spaces to harm us. We can all tell that’s fucked up.

CDDs are a trauma response. And something it does, and it’s whole point, is to hide your trauma. A lot of people with CDDs will not remember what happened. It’s what makes it so tricky to cope with and heal from. I’ve had a very close friend of mine ignore their plurality and not take steps to heal due to them being convinced they didn’t have trauma or wasn’t enough trauma and they were an endo. That is so incredibly harmful. I cannot stress that enough. Telling people they can have a CDD without trauma, even putting that option of being plural without trauma is SO harmful. Because young people who may realize they have a CDD and not be educated on them will brush it off as being an endo, spread that misinformation, and most dangerously; not be able to take the proper steps to heal. Lucky for me, I understood that it was a trauma related disorder, so I was able to get into therapy, get on medication to help myself combat my depression, and find coping skills that were healthy for me to work on growing and coping with my CDD and other disorders. Convincing someone their CDD isn’t serious, or that it’s not trauma related takes that away from them. It takes away the realization of the need to heal, it takes away the chance for them to cope with serious trauma. And it can even worsen it. People with trauma who categorize themself as endo or are categorized by others as endo may be even more effected, feeling like trauma is now a competition or that they aren’t enough to have a CDD that they may actually be struggling with and wanting help for. I hope you understand how harmful that is.

The spread of misinformation is WILD. One of the first things usually brought to me by my friends at school who don’t know much about DID is usually some misinformation they saw from an endo. And of course I don’t mind educating them properly at all, but it honestly hurts me a bit to see some of the crazy things I’ve seen them believe because of how much misinformation people spread on the internet about this disorder.

CDDs aren’t fun, they aren’t quirky. They’re serious trauma stemmed disorders formed to help someone survive. It’s not “having silly characters I like in my head”. It’s NEEDING them to keep you alive and as stable as possible when in horrible conditions whenever you are in the most vulnerable stage of your life.

Blah blah. Internet rant. Blah blah. I can already feel the comments calling me a loser and telling me to blow up or something 💀 like ima lowkey be mean for a sec but do y’all ever shut up? Learn to literally educate yourself instead of believing a 13 year old who wants the entire cast of Hazbin Hotel in their head cus they think it’s quirky (no shade to actual systems with hazbin alters)

Get ur ableist asses outta here fr 💀💀💀💀😭😭😭 making my life hell

Tw: syscourse ,

Endos DNI with this post.

Hot take; I shouldn’t have to be terrified to read / like posts. I should have to read the tags to make sure it’s not posted by an endo trying to infiltrate our spaces. I shouldn’t have to fear that the thing I’m gonna read is going to send me into a spiral because it’s gonna be some stupid ass shit about how “traumagenic systems are losers” or whatever the other stuff endos say about us is.

WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO HAVE AN ALTER WHO SITS OVER MY SHOULDER EVERY TIME I OPEN THIS APP THAT CAN PULL ME AWAY INCASE SOMETHING GETS BAD.

THAT SHOULD NOT BE A THING I, A TRAUMATIZED SYSTEM, SHOULD HAVE TO DEAL WITH WHEN LOOKING FOR COMFORT OR SILLY CONTENT TO CHEER ME UP REGARDING THE TRAUMA FORMED DISORDER THAT WILL FOREVER MAKE MY LIFE DIFFICULT.

“Endos don’t hurt anyone🥺🥺🥺”

yes they fucking do.

- Sharkbite

[clueless-fan-critic]

Agatha All Along: the Magical Sequel to WandaVision

So…I’m pretty late to the bandwagon, but I finally got fully through the entire series.

And I loved it!!!! The lore, the atmosphere, the characters, everything fell perfectly into place. After finally finishing and rewatching the show, it has become my top favorite show along side WandaVision. I'm always a sucker for anything with witches, spells, deities, and other mythological elements. I've been a big fan of the Scarlet Witch, both in the comics and Elizabeth Olsen's stellar performance. But enough praise, let me explain what this show has in store.

Agatha All Along is the sequel series to WandaVision that follows Agatha Harkness, previously trapped in Wanda's spell, on a journey beyond Westview. And onto the Witches Road with a makeshift coven on her side.

With all that out of the way, I will examine the finer details full of spoilers and dramatic twists that are much better if you go into the show blind. Now, Down the Road We Go!!!

Down the Witches Road...

The Witches Road is the main setting for all the major conflict in the show with a magical MacGuffin playing a role for each of the witches. As they progress, each character fulfills their own desires by overcoming the trials: Jennifer Kale learns to be a witch without her powers, Alice Wu-Gulliver overcomes her family curse, and Lilia Calderu embraces life despite her upcoming death. However, there were hiccups along the way with Sharon Davis's death, Agatha confronting her mother's ghost, and Rio Vidal's reveal as Mistress Death. But the major twist is that... The Witches Road never existed in the first place and Agatha made up the Ballad to lure witches for her to absorb. And Teen, later Billy Maximoff/Kaplan, made it real in a way like Wanda's Hex.

What I could tell was that each trial played a role in a character's journey, magic, and an element they represent: Jennifer as potions and water, Alice as protection and fire, Agatha as spirit, Lilia as divination and air, and Rio/Death as earth. The trials were more or less reflections of the characters in essence like Alice's trial related to music and Agatha's trial was more about what she has become and is. In the end, many of the characters got what they wanted from the road ironically since Agatha only gathered the coven to gain more power for herself.

Witchcraft is a huge staple in this show that embraces the more mysterious and spiritual sides of magic. Making it distinct from Sorcery by the Masters of Mystic Arts which looks more like the Avatar's Bending Arts if anything. It gives us a different way of seeing magic used by actual witches with spells and potions and even riding broomsticks.

Although we don't really know why, I think Agatha's magic draining power is a "mutation" that makes her incapable of creating her own magic and instead steals it from others. We also don't get any clues to how she got the Darkhold, just a rumor about her giving up her son for it. Maybe someone gave it to her and manipulated her into seeking out Wanda by promises of giving her power or resurrecting her son. Those were the only plot holes that kind of bothered me in the end, but aren't important... yet.

One by One We Carry On...

All the actors portray their characters flawlessly, but I did not expect Agatha to remain the same evil character throughout til the end. I thought they would pull some sort of "Zuko" scenario in a short period. But no, they keep the same but more sympathetic and relatable. Agatha goes from an evil witch killer to a grieving mother who's also a witch killer. Despite falling in love with Death, Agatha still lost her child Nicholas Scratch and still continued building the legend of the Witches Road to pursue more power. While it doesn't justify her actions, we get a bit of an understanding into why she does what she does.

While Billy is a great character, I didn't feel he had those "Epic Epiphany" moments like with Lilia completing the Divination trial and her final showdown with the Salem Seven. I still think he'll go to that point in some other project but he does grow into a stronger character from his experiences.

One of the witches who stood out the most is Lilia Calderu. The strongest episode is Death's Hand In Mine where she takes center stage as the main character. Lilia was characterized in a very strong way where she's definitely not a Mary Sue who wins because it happens. We see how Lilia experiences time randomly and how much she struggles to live with it. She uses her Divination powers to outsmart the Salem Seven in one badass move, but ultimately sacrificing herself while finally reclaiming her power.

The only thing I felt was unnecessary were the Salem Seven. They only play the role as an obstacle rather than a major antagonist like Mistress Death.

Now that we finally know who Rio is, it makes sense with how she drops bread crumbs in her scenes including her arrival on the Witches Road, the Ouija board's message, and even how she talks with Agatha about their history.

The casting and dialogue feels both organic to the actors and technically skilled in how they include previous characters from other shows like Sharon Davis and Ralph Bohner/Randall. All without being forced or contrived, it feels necessary for Westview to become the place where magic goes awry.

With where the series end, I really want to know how they can top or connect this to the next saga.

What Lies Ahead...

With the overloaded schedule of upcoming MCU projects, sudden hiatuses, and crazy leaks, we can only hope for some definitive answer to how plot holes are filled in. Will we get the resurrected Tommy Maximoff/Shepard meeting White Vision? How did Agatha get the Darkhold before Westview? Is Billy going to become a Young Avenger with his codename Wiccan? And will we get a sorcerers vs witches battle? All completely up in the air and slowly driving fans psychotic with anticipation.

With that said, Agatha All Along is more than enough to keep us satiated with amazing performances, alluring settings and designs, and intriguing witch mythos. I am hoping for more witches and magic being incorporated into the MCU and having writers learn that a character doesn't need to be redeemed into a hero so long as they are compelling to relate to.

Now, What Will You Find Down The Road?

[rottenpumpkin13]

How do you think AGSZ handle having to do a war crime?

((Not that Shinra would have any policy on war crimes))

I think their stance on the actions they took in a war setting are similar to what zack explained in this scene in Crisis Core:

Also, the indoctrination within Shinra and SOLDIER combined with living in a world that's completely controlled by the corporation, shapes their perceptions of their actions. The way they engage in war crimes isn't necessarily about a willingness/enjoyment to commit them, but moreso a deeply internalized belief that their actions serve a "greater good" as defined by Shinra's propaganda and narrative. SOLDIER, Shinra's military as a whole are conditioned to see their operations as necessary and morally justified, which makes them more likely to rationalize/justify questionable actions as legitimate strategic choices. But I also think that there's a desensitization at play when someone like, say, Sephiroth does certain things, like him being on auto-pilot in battle because that's what he was taught to do.

[dykedvonte]

I saw your earlier post and you mentioned how people say things like "Curly is a grown ass man", "Curly is bigger than Jimmy", "Curly is Jimmy's boss", "He just needed a backbone" and you're so right cuz it drives me insane the way people want to hate Curly as much as Jimmy so they start saying really concerning stuff. Like is that not just victim blaming? Is saying "Curly is a grown ass man" not just rephrasing "why didn't she fight back?" It feels like the fandom think they can just say vile shit because his abuse wasn't physical (at first, and don't even get me started on anyone saying he deserved to be abused as if any kind of abuse can be justified) and he's a guy. Makes me wonder if people would bother seeing Curly as another victim if he was a woman or if discussion would be equally as insufferable because he's still not the "perfect victim" compared to Anya

It's crazy the way people say "I would've fixed everything unlike Curly" and then continue brushing off a victim and saying they deserved it. Even Curly acknowledged Anya's suffering even if he failed to help her in the end, and yet the fandom acts like this without any self-awareness (sorry for ranting like this but I'm just very tired of the fandom recently)

What worse about those comments and the sentiments is it’s often used when people are discussing him as a victim. Like acknowledging the abuse he also faced with Jimmy and that it shouldn’t matter or have an effect because he needed to “man up” and deal with it due to his position.

He needed to deal with it more effectively yes, but it is really victim blamey in the sense he should’ve just been able to. I talked about if Curly was a girl people would probably still judge her on the basis of being more experienced and accomplished and also needing to know better. The problem is that every is trying to treat what Anya and Curly went through on a comparative level. The game does not try to do that but instead tries to have their abuse parallel each other and be metaphorical, along with show the subtle and explicit ways abusers treat their victims.

People see how Jimmy and Curly parallel each other and create the idea “they deserved each other” in some weird ironic penance stance on both their parts. It’s just so odd because the game clearly shows that not a single person was deserving of their situation and especially the treatment under Jimmy at any point for any reason. The game centers around everyone paying for callous actions he commits and refuses to take responsibility for and yet the conversation center around one of his most tormented victims being questioned on how deserving he was of it/how it shouldn’t have effected him that badly.

I know you can be mad at Curly but making it out that if he was a real good man than he just would’ve had the balls to stand up to what was likely years of emotional and mental degradation still perpetuates the idea if a victim really didn’t like the treatment they would’ve just fought back harder or not put themselves into that position in the first place.

It goes back to the idea that there’s always a way to stop it and it’s on you if it happens. It’s again taking focus off the perpetrator and putting it on other aspects than the ever present source. Idk man but it’s like people are trying to make so many slightly different think pieces on MW that some just loop back to harmful rhetoric we were just moving away from.

[buddhistmusings]

One element of this phenomenon that bothers me so much is that these people don't pause to reflect at all.

It doesn't occur to them that they don't understand what is and is not Zionism.

Like full honesty, a while ago, I thought I opposed Zionism because I had been given a false definition of the concept (basically, something similar to Kahanism). Part of what made me realize that I don't oppose Zionism in general is when I learned about the statistics of how many Jews support Zionism.

I realized that if Zionism is what I had been told, it makes no sense that so many Jews would support it. If I wanted to maintain my position on what Zionism is and is not, I'd have to concede that the vast majority of Jewish people believe in abhorrent things. But I was aware that this wasn't the case, and if I were to accept it as the truth, that would be antisemitic.

So I took a step back and saw what Jews had to say about the concept, and realized that basically, academia has an awful antisemitic bias, that helped proliferate a false understanding of Zionism which frames the issue in such a way as to isolate and justify oppression against Jewish people. I read about the history of antisemitism and learned about how this false understanding is so deeply rooted in Soviet ideology and was the justification for anti-Jewish pogroms.

It's so sickening because I know this bias isn't implicit either. I know it required conspiracy to proliferate this false definition. I know it required academic dishonesty, collaboration with other academics, and consistent and cognizant antisemitic aims.

Basically, blanket antizionism comes in two forms, I think. Strawman antizionism, which is based on a false definition of the concept of Zionism, in which the adherent may or may not be aware that they were given a false definition. And just plain violent and intentionally antisemitic antizionism, in which the adherent understands what Zionism is, and just wants to see Jewish people suffer.

I still wouldn't say that I *am* a Zionist, mostly because I don't think it's my place as a non-Jewish person to tell a Jewish person what their relationship with the Land of Israel should be like, as an individual or as a group. I can look at the ideologies under the broader Zionist umbrella that I think are awful. I can also see ideologies that promote the thriving of all people, regardless of religion or ethnicity, and I can see ideas that I think are probably necessary in order to promote the welfare of Jewish people.

I am comfortable saying this to my fellow non-Jews : if you are promoting antizionism, if you have a problem with Jewish people identifying with or supporting Zionism, you are being antisemitic. You might be behaving in an antisemitic way unintentionally, but you are being antisemitic. This is a big part of why listening to marginalized perspectives is so important - because you might have been given false information.

Jewish existence in Israel is necessary for the welfare of the Jewish people. This has been proven in the countless antisemitic genocides since the Holocaust, where Israel provided the victims a place to go. You can and should oppose many actions taken by the Israeli government, as you might with many other governments, but to frame them as an exceptional evil in the same way as Nazi Germany, is antisemitic. You can oppose Netanyahu himself. You can and should oppose violence, and you can do all this while also supporting Jewish life in the Land of Israel.

I just saw a post talking about supporting Jews, then OP reblogged it with "ZIONISTS NOT WELCOME!"

...Who is going to tell them? I mean, they'll probably deny it like all of the antizionists do, but:

Ethnic Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel. There is loads of evidence to support this. By being antizionist, you are saying that indigenous people who reclaimed their land shouldn't be allowed to do so. But you only say this about Jews. You are antisemitic.

And if you truly believe that Jews originated in Europe (despite all of the archeological evidence of them being in Judea (Israel) no less then 3,000 years ago), then you are a fucking idiot.

[blood-starved-beast]

Hmm thinking about it I think of lot of ppl's issue with Caitlyn's arc this season is the confusion of what her arc in s2 act 1 was supposed to mean/represent and how that translates to her arc in act 2.

Cause the point was that Caitlyn's laser focus is what blinds her. It made her susceptible to manipulation by Ambessa, caused her to lean to fascist like behaviors, and with the priviledge of her birth, meant that translated into consequences for and damage to a lot of people of Zaun (including the war crimes). This does not justify her behavior now, but it doesn't make her a fascist ideologue, which a lot of ppl seem to have gotten the impression is where her character will be going.

Act 1 Caitlyn was her hardening and doubling down on her pain and grief, which culminates in her discarding Vi, something that pre-ep9 of s1 wouldn't have happened. Not after all what they've been through. That's where the parallels with Vi and Powder from s1ep3 come from - at an emotional/personal level, it's a betrayal not only to Vi/Powder, but also to what Caitlyn/Vi wanted in their relationship/how they engaged with their loved one/themselves even.

Fast forward to act 2. Time has passed, and Caitlyn's initial grief has cooled. Her hard boot actions of act 1 and leaning into the role Ambessa provided for her (which she did not want, cause again she's not an ideologue for fascism/dictatorships) did not bring her her results; rebounding with a woman her mother would've wanted (per Amanda Overton says) did not get her the satisfaction she'd hope. She misses Vi. But more pertinently, Ambessa is going too wild, she is causing too much problems, and this is going on for too long. And there's the Jinx issue. Caitlyn is smart, if a bit hamstrung with little allies who could do something (her mother, Jayce are now gone, she has no Vi for a guide in the undercity) to help her. Only Ambessa, whom Caitlyn is aware is manipulating her but Caitlyn herself is not politician with the skills to play back. And again, Ambessa knows how to press her buttons. Until Singed.

That's when I think, it becomes clear to Caitlyn that she needs to act now. When she learns that Ambessa not only was going behind her back about finding this weapon (thus, more self-interested and dangerous), she's working with the guy who has done so much damage to Piltover and Zaun both. And is actively hurting this guy and plans to do more. It becomes imperative when Ambessa speaks about destroying a peaceful commune. So when Vi shows up, finally, an ally whom Ambessa is not aware of and/or doesn't have a thumb in, she takes the chance. Hence the team up. She can trust Vi here, cause she learns that Vi has an invested interest in protecting the commune (her dad is there/is the beast). That's not of course, including the guilt and of course the love, but still. And that clearing of mind allows her to focus more on the important things - not attacking Jinx, ignoring her to focus on Vi being injured in the fight despite having the Shot for Jinx. Caitlyn now knows isolation (timeskip deal) and values more what she has to lose.

tl;dr - Caitlyn's issue was always that she had tunnel vision, and too much grief that manifested into rage which led her astray in many ways. She was never Anti-Zaunite in the sense she wanted them all dead - but cause of the grief and her flaws with her privilege led her to lean into her biases with little countermeasure. Even in episode 1 she was blaming Jinx, and later Silco's goons for the rogue actions in Zaun - not the whole population. Again, he Her "pivot" in act 2 makes sense therefore, cause it was less a pivot if more of a clear head/wake up call. Her actions in act 1/timeskip are not justified on moral grounds, but it makes sense for the character and her situation.

[nuzipilled]

Hello! I have a question about your writing (since it's so SOSOSOS GOOD (and to be honest It got me to start writing))- how did you manage to write a character like J or V? (Characters who very much keep their emotions to themselves) I've been having trouble writing J personally, and was wondering if you had any tips? If not, thank you for your time anyways! ^^ I can't wait to see more of your art! -- Nervous Writer anon

hey!

so actually, V i’ve found to be probably one of the hardest characters to write for me personally because she’s a little more…subdued when it comes to her feelings compared to J who i think has slightly less emotional regulation but with the same intensity of reaction, if that makes sense.

i put alot of myself into J when i write her, not so much in the present day, but looking back on a particular point of my life where i was grieving the loss of a friend, had unchecked mental illness and was just generally not a very good person to myself or the people around me, even if i didn’t feel that way at the time. my best advice is let your characters when you write them feel ugly. dont sugarcoat the bad stuff, give them intrusive thoughts, make them act in ways they can’t quite wrap their head around. play with mental gymnastics, have them try and justify their actions to themselves, or to other characters—have said other characters call them out on it and either make the character you’re writing from the POV of either concede or double down depending on how stubborn they are.

conflict is good in fanfic. conflict breeds resentment or resolution, conflict makes you feel things. people tend to shy away from it which ends up watering down the scene for me as a reader and makes the payoff less enjoyable or satisfying for me to read. i’m really not the best at articulating myself but i hope this helped somehow!