#fear does not justify cruelty under any circumstance

[garfield-mug]

I love letting spiders and other little friends outside.

[recovering-dungeon-lord]

I’ve been wanting to make a post about this for a while, because I keep seeing this ongoing debate in the ATLA fandom over whether or not Ursa loved Azula/was a good mother to her, and I haven’t seen a lot of people talk about this aspect of it. I don’t think Ursa was a perfect mother by any means, but I do think she did the best she could under the (terrible) circumstances, and I do think she loved Azula. But more importantly, I think that deep down Azula herself knows this.

She insists that her mother didn’t love her, but to me it seems so obvious that this idea comes from Ozai, that it’s a lie he used to manipulate his daughter. He wanted her to believe he was the only one she could rely on, and more importantly, that he was the only one who could ever love her. On the surface, Azula does believe that her mother didn’t love her. She tells anyone who will listen, she uses it to justify the pain and the rage that fuel her cruelty. She tells herself she believes it’s Ursa’s fault over and over again because it’s easier than admitting the truth: that Ozai is using her and always has been, that her pain and rage come from Ozai’s abuse and the isolation he’s caused her.

But think about what happens at the end of season 3. Ozai tosses Azula to the side. For the first time, he shows his cards and treats her like the pawn he’s always secretly thought of her as. And all of Azula’s doubts come bubbling to the surface. Her entire life has been a lie. She becomes paranoid and thinks everyone is out to get her. She starts hallucinating visions of her mother, taunting her.

And what does this version of Ursa taunt her with? If Azula really, truly believed that Ursa never loved her and only cared about Zuko, you’d think it would be something like “I knew you’d turn out to be a monster” or “Zuko was always better than you.” But it isn’t. It’s “I love you, Azula.” Because that is Azula’s greatest fear. She’s afraid that this thing, this shield of ‘my mother never loved me’ that she’s been using to justify everything, is a lie.

If Ursa actually did love her, then what was it all for? All the anger, all the cruelty, all the things she did to impress Ozai, to earn his love, were for nothing. Not only because he was using her as a pawn the whole time, but because she could have had that love all along, from Ursa. If her mom loved her, then she’s spent most of her life twisted up inside, causing pain and suffering and destruction, over the pursuit of something she already had. And I think that terrifies her more than anything else, because somewhere inside her she knows it’s true.

[feruslands]

"Daddy Feri", part 9

My sketch fanfic for @reconstructwriter and @la-sopa who inspired me to continue this long, dark story, and for everyone who loves "Vader/Ferus" (later Anakin/Ferus)

Warnings: rapes, cruelty, torture

The harsh, majestic fortress made of obsidian alloy, stood alone on a gray-green plateau in the midst of the poisonous nature of the planet Vjun. Frequent acid rains washed the high towers of the fortress without causing harm.

“The worthy bulwark for the last scoundrel.” Ferus Olin thought.

The Jedi no longer knew if he was dreaming or if he was seeing Bast Castle in his head, because his child was being held captive there and he was constantly thinking about this place.  But he came to himself already in a familiar cell on the Bast, awakened by the squeak of medical devices.

The power was with him, brighter than before. Ferus could feel Leia's presence, she was not far away. This made him get out of bed.

He was finally able to wash off the disgusting stench that had grown into his skin during the few weeks he had been a prisoner on the Destroyer. He thought about his child. The Jedi fully felt the feeling of oppression and fear, and it intensified when it occurred to him that Vader would not let him see Leia.

The doors opened and Darth Vader entered the medical room. Without warning, the Sith threw the prisoner a lightsaber. Ferus caught it only by reflex, and Vader immediately activated his lightsaber. The battle began. It was difficult for the Jedi to fight, his reflexes were inhibited, any sudden movement hurt him, and his coordination left much to be desired. He deflected several of Vader's attacks, and even made a couple of lunges in response, but he realized that the Sith was only playing with him. Vader didn't even put his whole body in a defensive stance. He deftly blocked Ferus's strikes with his lightsaber, moving only his hand, so lightly and casually, as if Ferus's attacks were ridiculous.  Vader left his body open to attack, as if he was sure that the Jedi would not even be able to touch him with a lightsaber in any case. And Olin soon realized that it was justified. The Jedi was amazed by the skill of the Sith, he had never met such a skilled opponent in his life.

This duel ended very quickly. Ferus ended up on the floor defeated, and his lightsaber flew into Vader's palm, deactivated in flight.

“It was so predictable.” Vader said, summing up this short battle, “The Dark Side of the Force is superior to the Jedi in everything. None of you can fight or hold a punch. You don't understand anything about the mastery of Force. And you're exactly the same, you pathetic nonentity.”

“I'm not impressed by your bragging rights.” Ferus looked up at Vader with a look full of dislike. He got to his feet carefully and slowly. Yes, it was easy for Vader to talk about the superiority of the Dark Side, especially when you meanly stab in the back, “You can show off your skills in front of a bunch of imperial hangers-on and other bastards who joined the Empire to snatch a piece of the wealth captured by the Emperor. And maybe they worship you as a deity just to strengthen their position. But you're really ignorant. You're slandering the Jedi because you don't know anything about the Jedi or the Order at all. And you, as well as your Master, do not know the true nature of the Force.”

“I know everything about the Jedi!” A wave of anger was rising in Darth Vader, “I know all about your filthy Jedi Order! And you, like any Jedi, are just an arrogant son of a bitch...”

Even the possibility of such an argument seemed extremely ridiculous, but it was happening. Was this fool really going to argue with him under such circumstances?

“It is very arrogant of someone who accuses me of arrogance to claim that you know everything about the Jedi. You're a Sith. What does someone like you know about the Jedi way? About their code, about their Order? I, like many others, once served the Jedi Order, honored their code, and I was never an arrogant scum. Because none of us are like you think, and I'm not like that! You don't know me.”

“On the contrary,” Vader said, “I know you.”

There was something wrong with those words. The Jedi had a strange, intuitive feeling of something long forgotten, but he could not grasp it in order to analyze and recognize it. And he ignored it. He was too worried about reality right now, not something ephemeral and barely perceptible.  

Vader was circling around him like a predator circling its prey. And that made Ferus nervous.

“You are a lying and cowardly hypocrite.“ Vader continued, "like any arrogant moralist, you are just a fool with your poor principles and ideals that you have invented for yourself and believed in them. And you're just like most of the Jedi whose honor you so zealously defend. But none of that matters, because all your precious Jedi have been dead for a long time. So let's get back to the present moment.”

The Sith slowly walked over and tossed the deactivated lightsaber, but the Jedi knew that he could attack him. To attack even though the enemy could hardly stand on his feet.

“Tell me something, Jedi bastard, you want to see Leia, don't you?” Vader was looking at him intently. Olin saw that the Sith was provoking him and he decided not to give in, so he did not answer, waiting for the continuation. As expected, Vader immediately lost his patience, and without waiting for the Jedi's answer, he continued, "You see, for this to happen, you will have to convince me of this.”

“Your blackmail won't work with me.” Ferus replied sharply. There was a very unpleasant feeling in his chest the moment Vader mentioned Leia.

Vader sensed that the bastard was beginning to forget who he was here, and the Sith was ready to remind him.

“So, bitch, now,” Vader stopped circling him. He froze, demonstrating his superiority, looked at his opponent point-blank and, not holding back from pleasure, grinned mockingly, “You will serve me, as a sex slave should.”

“You will not wait for this.” the Jedi knew he wouldn't let that happen.

“Really? We were just talking about the arrogance of the Jedi, which you prefer to turn a blind eye to. Do you know what I see when I look at you? The proud, arrogant idiot. But all your pride and arrogance will be shattered by one single circumstance. Think about Leia. She was so looking forward to ‘Daddy Feri’. And this meeting may not take place at all. But it all depends on you. You should be a grateful and obedient slave. Otherwise, I'll have to tell her that you're gone and give her a little box of soot as a keepsake.”

Olin somehow realized that Vader was lying to him. Most likely, the freak had already acted out this scene in front of Leia while he was unconscious. The pain of it was unbearable. This dirty bastard was crippling his child's psyche, and he talked about it with such mockery.

“You forgot to mention the most important thing. Do you know what I see, Sith, when I look at you? The dumb, envious and cruel son of a bitch. It's not news to me that you're hurting others because you can't handle your own. But you just gave yourself away. You're jealous of me. ‘She was so looking forward to ‘Daddy Feri’.’ Did you say that? She was waiting for me, not for you. She doesn't give a damn about you. She doesn't even care that you were a sperm donor for her birth. And you're making a child suffer because of your stinking envy. And you even get joy out of it, forcing yourself to forget that it was your child. So which one of us is a pathetic nonentity?”

Rage clouded Vader's gaze, he barely restrained himself from immediately attacking the prisoner with blows. No. The words of this piece of shit won't piss him off. He tried to pull himself together.

“Remember, Jedi bastard, everyone calls me ‘My Lord.’ ”

“Everyone can call you whatever they want, even 'My precious boy,' but I won't. ”

“That's enough verbiage for today,” Vader said harshly, “especially from idiots.”

Before a hail of blows rained down on the Jedi, Vader used the Force to force him into the opposite wall and hit it. After that, he pulled him in like a puppet and started beating him.

“You stinky whore! You're only going to open your mouth to suck my dick, you dumb bastard!” Vader accompanied his words with punches to the ribs. The screams of pain and pitiful sobs were especially pleasant and it quickly cooled his anger. Vader stopped for a short break. Never mind, soon the son of a bitch will be whimpering and screaming even more on the floor when he rapes him.

Vader took a cursory, appraising look at his body. Even with the blooming bruises on his torso, the muscles of this man's abs looked perfect, just like he was all too regular and perfect. Vader had half of the insides of his abdomen artificial, the upper flesh was synthetic, and there were several wide holes on his stomach, covered with metal lids. The Sith stood close to the Jedi lying on the floor.

“Don't keep me waiting, slave. Serve your Master.” Vader kicked him in the stomach.

“You won't wait. Fuck yourself, Vader.”

He didn't like this challenge from the Jedi. It was as if Olin was learning not to be afraid of him. So it is necessary to accustom him to uncontrollable animal fear again. Vader decided to set up a torture chamber for him right here to show how much he appreciates his opinion.

A surgical knife flew into Vader's hand, the Jedi's body flew into the air, as if he had been lifted by the collar, his feet did not touch the floor, and Vader slashed the knife across the Jedi's stomach. Not deep enough for this incision to rip open his guts, but strong enough to cut his abdominal muscles.

The Jedi wanted to scream, but the Sith stifled his scream by squeezing his throat with a chokehold.

“It's unpleasant, right?” Vader cut him in the stomach again, making a second long incision.

The Jedi squeezed his eyes shut in horror as Vader pulled back his arm to swing.

“Shall we try again?” And Vader, with a deft movement of his hand, made another incision, longitudinal, long, stretching right up to the groin area. The Jedi made a gurgling, wheezing sound that should have been a scream, but Vader squeezed his throat again, preventing him from screaming.

“It's just a metal that neatly cuts through your flesh, but I could just as easily disembowel you.” Vader dropped the knife and roughly lowered the prisoner to the floor. The Jedi bent over and looked at his wounds in shock. Starting from his stomach and below, his body slowly turned dark scarlet, he had never seen so much blood from his wounds before. Ferus lightly touched his wounds and his hands also turned dark scarlet.

“It's high time you learned to know your place.” Vader knew how the Jedi would beg for forgiveness.

He took off a piece of armor covering his groin area and bared his thick cock.

“Obey, slave! Kneel in front of me and take my cock in your mouth.” Vader ordered.

Ferus looked up from his wounds. He saw that the Sith was already in a state of anticipation of pleasure, but the Jedi found the strength to rudely break off the vile desire of the enemy.

“Damn you, Sith! Let your bastard emperor suck your dick.” He said with disgust.

The thought that Vader wanted to force him to suck his stinky ugly dick made him furious. In an attempt to protect himself, the Jedi tried to hit Vader, but of course it failed. The Sith easily blocked his blow.

“It was stupid, as always.” Vader responded by slapping the Jedi across the cheek and throwing him off, pushing him to the floor.

“On your knees, slave!” Vader gave the order, his voice becoming harsh and merciless. He towered over him imperiously.

“No...!” The wheeze froze in the Jedi's throat, and he could no longer say anything, only make hoarse sounds. An invisible stranglehold squeezed his throat and pulled him up until his knees touched the floor. After that, the stranglehold intensified. The Jedi opened his mouth, trying to get some air.

“You can't go anywhere, buddy. You are my sex slave.” Vader moved closer to the Jedi, and shoved his dick into the mouth of the gasping prisoner.

“Suck my dick, Jedi. Or I'll strangle you right now.” Vader raped him in the mouth, roughly pushing his dick down his throat. The Jedi struggled, but Vader did not loosen his grip, and continued to impale him on his dick.

“Suck my dick, slave! This is my order!” Vader was really excited about his power.

But the prisoner still tried to bite and pull away with the last of his strength. Then Vader inserted his metal fingers into the Jedi's mouth to prevent him from closing his jaw.

“Suck it, slave!” Vader barked again.

He roughly fucked the Jedi in the mouth until he finished the sexual act. And only then did he release the grip.

Such a substitute for oral sex did not bring much pleasure to Vader. But still, it was incredibly pleasant to make the prisoner kneel while he raped him in his mouth.

The Jedi was spitting and coughing on the floor. He was trembling, and spasms rolled down his throat due to the gag reflex. And his wounds on his stomach were terribly painful.

“You're a useless jerk,” Vader said, “but I'll teach you to be a diligent slave before you die.”

Ferus looked at his tormentor with undisguised anger.

“Someday you will die,” the Jedi croaked through spasms in his throat and spitting, “and no one will cry for you.”

Vader looked down at the Jedi lying at his feet. He grabbed him by the throat, forcing him to lift his face up.

“You think you're strong enough to stand up to me, but you're not,“ Vader leaned over him, "Believe me, it won't take me long to teach you once and for all to be a submissive, respectful slave who is ready to kneel down and serve his master at the first hint.”

“You still don't understand, Sith. You're going to have to kill me.” Ferus was squinting in pain, blood from the cut flesh on his stomach had already stained the floor.

“I'll do it as soon as I get tired of you. But your death will not be easy and quick. I'll cut off your arms and legs and hang you by the stumps. And you will hang on chains until you die from excess pain. If you don't care about yourself, take pity on Leia, spare her such a disgusting sight.”

The thought of Leia's torment raised a cold anger in the Jedi. The flow of directed Force helped him catch his concentration for a moment to try to land a blow on Vader's jaw. But the Sith intercepted his arm, quickly twisted it behind his back, and pulled hard up to break the shoulder joint of the enemy. A hoarse scream cut through the emptiness of the room.

“I warned you.” Vader disdainfully pushed the wounded, beaten Jedi away from him. The enemy fell to the floor, now he could only howl in pain. 

At Vader's call, three droids entered the cell.

“This sex slave does not want to obey. Punish him properly.” Sith ordered. And the battle droids pinned the Jedi in a grip to carry out educational work on him.

“That's right, slaves should be flogged regularly.” Vader thought with satisfaction.

Vader did not listen to his painful moans and screams and left the cell.

**

Even before Olin woke up, Vader gave Leia a little test. As a result, he learned what he wanted to know. Something he was already sure of. Leia has a good potential for Force sensitivity, she just categorically does not want to develop her abilities.

Ashes scattered across his armor, and Vader realized that she was capable enough to realize that her precious father was alive, and even nearby. This was good news for him. The bad news was that after she threw a box of ashes at him, which Vader handed to her with the words, “You disappointed me. Here you go, it's your daddy” and screamed hysterically that he was a liar, he didn't want to see her anymore. Generally.

And he locked her in a room alone. Of course, he was not moved by her tears, nor by her childish cries that she needed to see her dad.

Since Vader left, Leia has been crying alone for a long time. All she needed right now was to see her dad and make sure he was okay. But the black-armored monster wouldn't let her near him, she knew that.

She knew that the monster was merciless.

She thought the monster was bullying Daddy because of her. The monster needs her Forces abilities for something. And then she realized that if she did not cut off these abilities from herself, then grief would happen to dad.

**

Ferus never for a moment forgot about the most important thing – about his child.

But there was no way he could protect her while he was torn away from her, while he was so wounded. And Ferus assumed that this was just the beginning. When Vader realizes that the quest for obedience education has failed, he will begin to harm Leia. Olin had no doubt that Vader could have committed any incredible heinousness. For example, Vader could have raped him in front of Leia. Or cut him up, or whatever... and make her look at it.

In general, he was sure that no matter how Vader behaved in the future, he would be cruel not only to him, but also to Leia.

And in any event, every option would be terrible for Leia.

Except maybe one. If he was dead, Vader would have no reason to torment Leia.

But then Leia won't have a living father anymore. 

It's unfortunate. But which is better? She needs a living father, but a morally broken man who became a slave to Darth Vader? No.

Tears were dripping from his face to the floor, and they were tears not only from pain, but also from despair. He won't have a way out. That's how it's going to happen. His end will come. Inescapable, ruthless.

Even so, he won't die a slave. He could provoke Vader to kill him quickly, or the Force would help him in this.

Ferus called Leia by their connection in the Force, looking for her in the fortress space. He still didn't know how he could even say goodbye to her. How could he say “goodbye forever”?

**

Vader was thinking about Olin. For some reason, the Sith felt a deep abomination and shame for everything he had recently done. But he crushed and trampled on this feeling.

No. He is proud of what he has done.

From the datadap, the Sith sent orders about the Jedi. He ordered urgent help to be given to him, to sew up the wounds on his stomach, and to administer medicines that were supposed to bring him back to consciousness and prevent him from losing consciousness again.

Vader didn't like to wait, but he couldn't rush into action right now. There's still a little more pressure on the Jedi. But it is not enough just to crush the will of a Jedi, it is necessary that he himself go against his personal principles and destroy his own filthy, false ideals.

This asshole spent his entire youth posing as a celestial, a kind of crown prince, who by the will of fate turned out to be an apprentice in the Jedi Temple. But Vader will crush and destroy this illusion of the pure, noble knight, which Olin invented for himself and believed in.

This asshole will surrender to him voluntarily. And then he will become a submissive slave and an obedient whore.

Vader didn't think about what he would do if that didn't happen. Is he capable of making Leia suffer? He didn't know. But he felt that something global in his attitude towards Leia had already changed. He was gradually letting her go from him.

And it was at that moment that he felt that something had happened to Leia. He rushed into the room where he kept her locked up, but it was too late.

The baby was sitting on the floor, still crying, with red eyes and a scared, unhappy face. Through her sobs, she was still calling for Dad. She became almost invisible in the Force again. And Vader realized with amazement what had happened. This little girl managed to cut herself off from the Force.

Her potential for Force, which had been so bright not so long ago, was gone. It was as if she had become an ordinary child, without sensitivity to the Force.

Damn Ferus Olin. It's all his damn influence! It's his fault!

But it wasn't just anger that filled him. He was much more deeply disappointed. The disappointment of all the interaction with Leia. He realized that in all the time they had been talking, she had never taken a single step towards him. And at that moment, Vader's anger went away, and a calm confidence came to this place.

He had never really needed her. Leia is a part of Skywalker. And that's an insignificant part.

Vader left Leia. He had given up all thoughts of her.

He appeared on the threshold of the medical ward in which he ordered Olin to be held, and motioned for the medical droids to stop.

"Tell me, slave," Vader approached the surgical table, "do you want to lie on the floor like a rag again and howl in pain?"

“This technique is not new.” the Jedi replied in a voice broken by screams, “torment, delay, torment, delay. And so on until the prisoner voluntarily wants to avoid it.”

Vader realized that he himself had just violated the most basic interrogation tactics. This was the most basic thing that should not be done with stubborn people. He had to wait for the prisoner to speak first, start screaming, sobbing, and finally beg for mercy. And only after that, ask, "are you ready, slave, to beg forgiveness for everything?" He had to act this way, he couldn't restrain himself. It was necessary for him to talk to him before beatings and rapes, he thus felt especially acutely his superiority over his former rival.

But whatever the Jedi was thinking right now, he clearly wasn't going to be complaisant.

Vader was annoyed by this insubordination. He felt like the violence had reached a dead end, and the more he raped, the more he wanted sex. But it didn't give him anything substantial. It did not cover some important need of his, which prevented him from fully feeling satisfied.

He knew the Jedi was already on edge, but he didn't care about the pain of others. So Vader fucked him in the ass, spitting on his sobs and muttering "no...", "don't...".

After that, he allowed the droids to continue medical procedures with the patient who had just received new wounds.

Vader returned to his private quarters and immersed himself in the Bacta tank for many hours. He thought for a long time, eventually he came to the conclusion that the reason for his frequent bad mood, outbursts of anger and a desire to kill everyone around was the disgusting state of health of his body, or rather what was left of his body after Mustafar.

From the useless reflections that went around in circles, he fell into a long, sound sleep. He was woken up by a beep announcing that an urgent call had been received from the Emperor.

As soon as he woke up, he gestured to the manipulators, which pulled him out of the Bacta tank. As soon as Vader had his prosthetics fixed, he immediately accepted the challenge without getting dressed and a full-length holographic projection of the Emperor appeared in front of him. A wide triumphant smile blossomed on the ugly, wrinkled face of the old Sith.

"So how's the little girl, Skywalker's daughter, doing?" Palpatine asked.

[cosmicjoke]

Alright, chapter 133 of SnK!

I’ve got a few things I want to talk about here.

One of the things that always strikes me about Levi as a character, indeed, one of his defining character traits, is his coolness under pressure.  His calm demeanor, no matter the circumstances.  One of the interesting things to go into is WHY Levi is like this.  

We see it particularly exemplified in this chapter, I think, and there’s a few examples.  For one, they’ve all just lost Hange as their friend and Commander, and this loss particularly impacts and affects Levi, since he was closer with Hange than any of them.  But rather than allowing his grief to consume and paralyze him, Levi immediately begins trying to contribute when Armin says he wants to go over the plan, bringing up Hange’s theory about Zeke and how killing him might stop the Rumbling, etc...  Then Eren transports them to Paths, and everyone reacts with shock and awe, except Levi, who’s expression is duly unimpressed and unsurprised.  We see this from Levi throughout the series, of course.  Situations that present themselves, new and frightening circumstances which throw everyone for a loop and send people into panic, Levi reacts to with calm collectedness, a distinct LACK of surprise or fear.  He really does stand in sharp contrast with everyone else in this situation.  Everyone there is a seasoned war veteran, at this point, they’ve all been through and seen some truly horrific things.  But they still react with a kind of frantic uncertainty here.  They then begin to plead with Eren, Armin and the rest trying to convince him through any means possible, to stop the Rumbling.  They try to bargain with him, show him empathy, make promises, etc...  They make their desperation obvious by saying whatever they think will appeal to Eren.  Levi is the only one who, I think, is fully honest here.  He tells Eren that if he stops now, he’ll let him off with JUST an ass-kicking.  Levi doesn’t try to placate Eren, or show him sympathy, or empathy, he doesn’t try to be gentle or handle Eren with kid gloves.  He tells him flat out he’s going to beat his ass for what he’s done, but he’ll show him some leniency for stopping by not killing him outright.  The thing is, I think Levi’s known from the start of this whole disaster that talking to Eren wasn’t going to work.  Everyone else was holding out hope that if they could just speak with Eren, he would stop, that they could convince him through words.  But like I talked about in my last post, Levi is someone who’s just seen and experienced too much of life’s brutality and unfairness to blind himself to bleak reality.  When the 104th goes running off after Eren appears to them, to try and reach him, Levi just sits down in the sand and has that resigned expression once more, and his expression continues to show a total lack of surprise when Eren puts the 104th back where they started, before they could ever even get close. Levi isn’t surprised, or even dismayed, I don’t think, at Eren’s refusal to talk, because I think he always knew he wouldn’t be willing to.  That he wouldn’t be interested in hearing anyone’s pleas or promises.  I think Levi always knew Eren was hellbent on this course of action, and it was more or less hopeless, trying to appeal to him.  And once again, I have to restate, I think it’s because Levi’s just experienced too much hardship in his life to cling to false hopes.  He’s world-weary and in many ways a realist, someone not given to delusion or fancy.  

I feel like Levi probably glimpsed this uncompromising, hellish bent in Eren back in Liberio, his mercenary compulsion to follow through on whatever plan he had, which is why Levi was so disgusted by him on the airship back then.  He saw a lack of mercy in Eren, and it reminded him of the brutes Levi grew up with in the Underground.  Not just a willingness, but a desire to take from others to satisfy himself.  It’s why, when they’re all transported back to the plane, while everyone else looks horrified and in shock at Eren’s refusal to talk, Levi looks as unflustered as ever, and states with a matter of fact tone that negotiations are over, before asking Armin what it is they do now.  None of this is surprising to Levi.

Levi’s look of despair throughout this final arc continues to strike me as his resignation in the ugliness of humanity and the useless, pointless suffering they inflict on one another.  He’s depressed, and disappointed, because everything happening around them is only a confirmation of all the worst things Levi saw and experienced, growing up.

All this ties into another point I want to discuss, which is Levi’s relationship with Jean, actually.  I’ve found the relationship between the two of them really interesting since way back in the Uprising arc, when Jean was the most vocal in condemning Levi for his violence, declaring with certainty that he would never kill another person.  Jean is disabused of his moralistic superiority not long after that, when he learns first hand the consequences of sticking to ones morals uncompromisingly, nearly losing his life, and forcing Armin to take a life for him.  And it’s Jean who we see, again and again from that point on in the series, grappling with and coming to terms with this difficult lesson.  We see Jean’s respect for Levi, and his understanding towards Levi, grow greatly, after this incident, and Jean himself having to grow, to change and accept that sacrifices are inevitable if one wishes to protect the things and people they care about.  That sometimes even one’s own comfort and moral convictions are necessary sacrifices to achieve those things.  

Levi tells everyone that he’ll take care of Zeke, but admits that he’ll need all of their help to get the job done.  I feel like this is Levi, once again, asking if all of them are ready and willing to get their hands dirty, just like he did before they raided the Cavern underneath the Church on the Reiss property.  He knows he can’t do this job by himself (which is just further testament to Levi’s strength of character, an ability to admit to weakness), but he wants to make sure everyone else is alright with plunging in to a situation in which they’re going to be forced to kill.  Jean is the first to answer, telling Levi and all of them that he’s not going to let the sacrifices they’ve already made, the people they’ve killed in order to get where they are, be in vain, and that he’ll do whatever it takes to stop the Rumbling.  This shows incredible character growth on Jean’s part.  He went from someone who claimed that he would, under no circumstances, take another human life, to someone who declares that he’ll do whatever it takes in order to stop the Rumbling, to achieve a greater good.  And I think this growth on Jean’s part ties directly into his relationship with and the influence of Levi.  Levi never judged Jean for being uncomfortable with killing, never criticized or scolded him for it.  He even told Jean that he couldn’t say, one way or the other whether Jean’s beliefs were right or wrong.  That Levi himself didn’t know the answer to that.  He never tried to convince Jean of anything.  He just told him the truth.  That his failure to kill had put the lives of his comrades in danger, including his own, and that it also caused Armin to have to bear the burden of killing another, one which should have been Jean’s own to bear.  All of that is absolutely true.  And it was really through this lack of judgment on Levi’s part that, I think, Jean was able to grow and expand his own views on killing, and adjust and allow for there to be circumstances in his world view which would justify taking another life.  He wasn’t forced by anyone to change his views.  He changed them based on experience and through Levi explaining to him that there is no definitive right or wrong answer to be found, and through Levi’s simply being honest with him.  He was telling Jean that it comes down to what one is willing to sacrifice in order to protect the things and people they value.  And Jean learned about himself that he’s willing and able to sacrifice more than he ever realized.

But it’s still a struggle, and something all of them, even at this point in the story, continue to battle themselves over.  We see Connie struggling in particular this chapter, looking anguished over what he had to do back at the port.  It’s only Levi who accepts that brutal reality of kill or be killed with a calm understanding, and I think this is probably because, unlike the rest of them, who all had peaceful, probably relatively easy and happy childhoods, without any exposure to violence or real cruelty, Levi, I think it can be safely assumed, probably took his first life while he was still a boy.  And doubtless, that was due to desperate circumstances.  Levi’s life has been one filled with uncertainty.  Growing up in extreme poverty, he never could have known with any certainty where his next meal would come from, or when.  Never knew with any certainty whether he could find proper shelter for the night, or a safe place to sleep.  Never knew with any certainty whether he would be assaulted, or robbed, or if someone would attempt to take his life.  Levi’s life has been one of desperation and a true, unforgiving struggle to simply survive.  And so while all of his comrades have seen and experienced the horrors of war with him, none of them can know with the same level of understanding that true kind of desperation of simply trying to live day to day, that kind of awful and overwhelming uncertainty and fear of not knowing if you’ll be alive from one day to the next.  It’s those kinds of experiences in life that really separate Levi from the rest of his comrades, and in a lot of ways, isolate him from them.  It’s why the extremity of their circumstances and the desperation of their situation in this final arc continually shocks and overwhelms them, but Levi regards it all with his usual, if deeply saddened, calm.

[theonceandfutureking6481]

BBC's Merlin Season 1 Episode 1: The Dragon's Call Analysis

*SPOILERS- FOR THE WHOLE SHOW*

So I just re-watched episode 1 of Merlin, The Dragon's Call and I thought I'd post my thoughts here, since this is the kind of thing I always wanted after I watched Merlin for the first time. Sorry, it's quite long!!

This episode is great fun to watch but also really interesting from a thematic perspective, as it introduces all the key characters and many key themes that continue throughout the show.

Setting it up as subverting traditional telling's of the legend

The wonderful thing about Arthurian legend is how many ways you can tell it, there is very little canon, it's whole point is that it has been reinterpreted time and again to say different things, be that as it may there are traditional elements which tend to remain constant and Merlin keeps some of these but many it takes out and it sets that up here.

The introduction is like a fairytale, "the young warlock arriving at the gates of Camelot", feels very much like the introduction to a fairy tale. This is on one hand telling us that this is a story we know like any fairytale, but the very fact that Merlin is young shows us that it is going to be different.

On the side, I love the line "A boy that will in time father a legend", because there's just this wonderful gap between the audience and the characters (as there is throughout the whole story), we know that Merlin will do great things, we know that Arthur will too, they are stories we have heard (tying again into that fairytale esque introduction), and its wonderful to know that, to see Merlin and know that he is destined for greatness.

Introduction to characters:

I haven't got a specific section for Merlin here, but its sort of strewn throughout everyone elses.

Morgana:

If you know Arthurian legend you will know that in many (even most) versions of the story Morgana is a villain, so her introduction here is both scary and fascinating. She is so clearly not a villain, and you wonder (if Merlin stays true to this element) what is going to change and happen that she will become one. I knew from the start that Morgana would become a villain (I had heard a lot of spoilers), so it was especially tragic and interesting to watch her character arc because I always knew. Interestingly she is immediately set up in alliance with Merlin, even though they barely interact. We know that he is a sorcerer, and her first lines are oppositional to Uther's stance on magic, she out of everyone in Camelot seems the most likely ally. This is the start of what becomes parallel character arcs, Morgana and Merlin are both fighting for magic to become legal but they end up going about it in different ways, and one is the main villain, the other our hero. They are the same and yet opposites, and the setting up starts from here.

Arthur:

Arthur appears quite simply to be a spoiled bully, not exactly what we expect from the King Arthur we know and love. The position he starts in though is important for a key element of the story which is Merlin and Arthur creating a better world in many ways directly oppositional to Uther's teachings, based on love, kindness, willingness to put others first and respect for others. Uther's world is one where strength is rewarded and he is (in a more adult way than Arthur) a bully, as we learn later he is someone who takes his anger and fear out on others, who takes advantage of his position to hurt people even those he loves. Uther can be a good king, but not when it asks him to make sacrifices of his worldview or things that really matter to him. Uther teaches Arthur some important things but there are many things Arthur has to unlearn, and these bullish tendencies, and lack of respect for others inherent in them are one of them. We do however see Arthur's inherent nobility and goodness in this episode. When he lets Merlin go because even though he's an idiot "he's a brave one", it shows us how Arthur respects what people do rather than who they are. Uther wouldn't of let Merlin go (though to be fair Uther probably wouldn't of picked a fight with a peasant), he would have thought that the law had to be upheld no matter the individual circumstance. Merlin attacked the prince that is definitely illegal but Arthur respects his courage (even though it came at the cost of his humiliation), and there is something different to Uther in that, even good.

Merlin and Arthur:

This episode aside from setting the tone for the more hilarious aspects of Merlin and Arthur's relationship establishes some other interesting things about what they are going to be to each other in this version of the story. Traditionally Merlin is Arthur's teacher, often tutoring him as a child, obviously this doesn't happen here but they retain that element of teaching here. Kilgharrah literally says that maybe it is Merlin's job to change the fact that Arthur's an idiot. Merlin challenges Arthur from the start, willing to criticise him and treat him as an equal (which Arthur actually appears to love), and we see perhaps what Merlin is going to teach Arthur and the more noble elements of Arthur's character that Merlin's going to bring. It is also only within the context of his interactions with Merlin that we see Arthur's best side (at least in this episode). Merlin shows Arthur that he has to treat all people with respect, Arthur recognises that Merlin is brave and full of qualities that Arthur himself admires. When Merlin saves Arthur's life you can see Arthur re-evaluating everything he thought he knew about him, there is a respect there.

Arthur's Mum Igraine

She's not a big part of this episode but she was mentioned and I think its interesting how she's represented. In many ways her representation is highly simplistic, she falls to the fate of many fairy tale mothers in being dead before the story begins, she's a plot device. She is presented (not outright but implied) with all the stereotypical virtues mothers are ascribed with, the woman who's trying to kill Arthur this episode talks to Uther about how hard it must have been for Arthur to grow up without a mother. It's not a huge scene but its an insight into Arthur's character, he was brought up with all the hate and bullishness of Uther without a mother who could have taught him love and kindness. As we later learn Igraine's death triggered the great purge, her loss very much symbolises the loss of love within the kingdom, both in what Arthur's like at the beginning as well as what Camelot has become under Uther's leadership.

Gwen (and Merlin):

She is wonderful and sweet and interestingly (especially for an audience that knows Arthur is going to marry her one day) a servant. It is interesting that the two people who become in the show (and we know as an audience will one day be) closest to Arthur are servants.

The thing about Arthurian legend is that typically its very much set within a context of Medieval feudalism, which means stringent social barriers. The code of equality inherent in the idea of a Round Table is equality among nobles, the code of chivalry is a code of honour for knights not for ordinary people. It's a reflection of the social realities of the era that inspires much of the aesthetic of Arthurian legend as well as the era in which most key tenants of the legend were formed. In making Merlin (Arthur's teacher & (in this show) best friend/soulmate) and Guinevere (Arthur's wife) servants, this show is changing this idea for one more reflective of our own times. It is about absolute equality of all people, and as I've said already the inherent value that every single human being has and the individual capabilities for nobility and goodness and everything the Knights Code admires. It thus sets the tone for what Arthur is going to represent, not just the ideal of knighthood and courage but the ideal of kingship for all people and the ideal of the world that matters to every person.

The self reproducing nature of love and hate

This is an idea which I've always viewed as the main theme of Merlin, the idea that hate begets itself, as does love. This episode is a perfect encapsulation of that theme which recurs again and again. Uther kills a man who is innocent (in the sense that he didn't actually hurt anybody) and the man's mother seeks vengeance and in doing so kills more innocent people because she hates Uther enough that she doesn't care who else she hurts to get at him. This happens again and again in the show, but what this show does that I love is turn it into a main theme by depicting the reverse. Arthur and Merlin are great because they act against this world of Uther's creation, they act with love and compassion and respect for all people, the ends rarely justify the means and most importantly, especially when their actions seem morally grey, they are always motivated by their love for others (not fear or hate- unlike Uther and any number of villains). Uther is the main villain of the show precisely because it is his actions that create every other villain they encounter, Morgana sums it up nicely and somewhat ominously (given what side she ends up on)- "the more brutal you are the more enemies you'll create". Uther views that brutality as strength, but it is the weakness at the heart of his kingdom, it is what makes Camelot a worse place it is what puts everyone he cares about in danger. Essentially the plot of the first episode sets up the cycle of violence that Uther started, though it doesn't set up Merlin and Arthur as breaking it it does set up the idea of equality and respect for all people that Arthur will learn and is essentially opposed to the brutality and cruelty and hate represented by Uther.

Fun non-analysis things

It mightn't seem like it but I do actually watch Merlin for reasons other than copious analysis of themes. It is a highly enjoyable show with characters and relationships (Merthur but also just generally the wonderful representation of friendship and loyalty) I love, and its actually really funny.

Gwen saying "Who'd want to marry Arthur" is peak comedy because we all know, well you.

The weird set up in Gaius' first scene as him being bumbling and slightly insane (in the mad wise old man sort of way), there is literally no carry through, he's not even like this in the rest of the episode, but its hilarious so who cares.

Merlin and Arthur's whole exchange is the funniest thing and Arthur had every insult coming. Also this is exactly how you set up enemies to lovers.

All the writers names begin with J? It's just something I notice every time the intro credits roll and it's just funny (Julian Murphy, Johnny Capps, Jake Michie and Julian Jones)- also two Julian's, I mean what are the chances?

[diepower]

THE BIG BLEACH HC MEME centering around politics, repost & fill out! For anyone who wanted to explore those aspects more, considering it played a big role in the story. Some things may be unknown to your Muse, just think in WHAT IF then & well, have fun and take your time!

BASICS

Name:   Meninas McAllon    / / /    Age:   1000+ years    / / /    Gender:   nonbinary woman Race:   Shinigami / Quincy / Hollow / Fullbringer / Visored / Human / Other Currently lives: (verse dependent) Soul Society / Hueco Mundo / Silbern / Living World / Hell Exact Location: again, verse dependent, but Silbern in general and then Squad 12th’s basement in her CFYOW verse... haven’t quite ironed out all the details of her post-canon AU beyond that it’s set in the Living World, though Group(s): Wandenreich, Shinigami (specifically Squad 12 and not by choice)

QUESTIONS

- Would your muse consider themselves more: GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL ? - Would your muse consider their group more: GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL ? - How does your muse think others see them: GOOD / EVIL / NEUTRAL ? - How does your muse think others see their race: GOOD / EVIL / NEUTRAL ? - How does your muse think others see their group: GOOD / EVIL / NEUTRAL ?

- Is your muse considered a threat: YES / NO ?   By whom?:  Soul Society - Is your muse powerful: YES / NO ?  Could they be considered OP:  YES / NO ? - Did your muse any crimes: YES / NO ? - Does your muse think they are doing mostly the right thing: YES / NO ? - Would society think the same: YES / NO / MIXED OPINIONS ?

- Does your muse think they are treated unfairly: YES / NO ? - Does your muse feel understood from others: YES / NO ? - Is it important for them what others think of them as a person: YES / NO ? - Would they welcome death:  YES / NO ? - Will they ever find peace:  YES / NO ?

01.0.  Do they fully stand behind the group they are part of? YES / NO. Why is that? Explain: To Meninas, the Wandenreich are a means to an end; a way for her to be placed in a position where she might exact her revenge on Soul Society for the deaths of her parents during the original Quincy genocide 1000 years prior. In addition, being recruited into the Wandenreich also puts her in a closer position to Yhwach himself, whom she firmly believes is equally responsible for the deaths of her parents due to his ineptitude as a leader and “god”. She has no loyalty to Quincy as a race, and only greater purpose is to become the Strongest of all Quincy (not even particularly the “Strongest Quincy”, as she prefers her fists over traditional Quincy techniques). She is exclusively motivated by her own personal sense of justice, and will do whatever she must to attain it.

02.0.  Do they like as things are in Soul Society? YES / NO. 02.1.  Is there anything they would change? Explain here: Soul Society is a corrupt government body that uses methods of fear, torture, and suppression to uphold their very self-serving ideals of justice. Already armed with this perception, Meninas also sees this firsthand while captive to Mayuri Kurotsuchi and must personally carry out such tactics firsthand. While she doesn’t in the fullest capacity know how to change Soul Society because the root of evil is much deeper than anyone would think, she believes that a number of practices and traditions and captains ought to be destroyed; torn out, root and stem. She also hates the nobility that control many of the policies and buy their way into the Gotei ranks. Those who fight and do the work have earned their place at the top, those who do nothing and hoard their wealth while watching those at the bottom suffer have no place in policy making, regulation, or enforcement.

03.0. Would they ever actively try to bring change (in general)? YES / NO. 03.1. Is your muse more: passive / active ?  Introverted / Extroverted ? 03.2. Does your muse care more about: others / themselves ? 03.3. Do they trouble their mind over a lot of problems, others? YES / NO. 03.4. Do they mostly involve: the world / everyone / themselves / comrades / friends / family / elderly / kids / teenagers / home / workplace / strangers / souls / humans / quincy / shinigami / nobles / fullbringer / visored / hollows / espada / arrancar / (former) boss(es) / pets / animals / zanpakuto spirit / enemies / partner / lover(s) / soul king / god / other…(add more) 03.5. Name (up to) three which are the most on their mind (optional, adding names): - her parents in that her original goal was to get revenge against yhwach and soul society for their roles in the Quincy genocide; she cannot remember their faces anymore, but its her memory that they existed at all that drives her actions - bazz-b in that she and him have an established partnership and plot to commit deicide together, and have been keeping this partnership going for the better part of the last 1000 years under the guise that they’re a very messy and very stupid pair of lovers with a loud and destructive relationship. a long time ago, she swore to help bring about the future of the world he envisioned, and her loyalty has not shaken. - the other femritters- giselle in particular being as young as she is, and meninas harbors a strong guilt for recruiting her into the wandenreich (despite being under orders from yhwach). though on the surface their relationship is rife with bickering and light-hearted contempt, she specifically tries to watch out for giselle. - the nobility (not for any particular race, just in general) as she despises those who claim dominion over the others due to circumstances of wealth or fortunate circumstance without actually doing anything to aid the suffering of those below

04.0. Do they think frequently about politics? YES / NO / SOMETIMES. Why is that? Explain: Most of Meninas’ thoughts are politic-focused, although this perhaps isn’t something she herself is aware of, if that makes sense. Most of her thoughts are “it seems to me that this is the way the world is, where it ought to be this other way and I will help to shape it in that image with my own two hands”. 

05.0. How do they feel in their current location, more: POSITIVE / NEGATIVE / NEUTRAL ? 05.1. Why is that?:  This goes for pretty much all locations/bases in her life after leaving her childhood home at the age of 12- she doesn’t regard anywhere as home as much as shelter. She doesn’t like Silbern, but grows used to it over time (hence the neutrality), but is miserable while trapped in Soul Society.

06.0. Does your muse have any goal: YES / NO ?  BIG / SMALL ? 06.1. Does it involve anything world-changing: YES / NO ? 06.2. If goal or not, any future plans? Share here:  She despises the class differences between the weird racist blood purity and nobility schemes of the Quincy to Nobility in any of its forms and greatly begrudges those of high noble status. While she does a good job at hiding this disdain while residing in Silbern and around large numbers of Quincy elite (in wealth and breeding), she resents most of them for what they are. Her young life was shaped by the perception of a person’s worth in the world ruled by pedigree and wealth, and she as a result that a person’s worth is dependent on how useful they are as a tool or object to others. She wants to live in a world where those currently at the bottom stand at the top, and those in power are beneath their feet. As far as plans, she’s spent her entire life living with the purpose of revenge, and acting as a tool or an object. Meninas struggles to reconcile this way of life with any dreams for living in any normal capacity.

07.0. Does your muse know about the original sin of soul society*: YES / NO ? * curious? Read about it here. 07.1. If they knew, would it change their views on Soul Society: YES / NO ? 07.2. More: POSITIVE / NEGATIVE / NEUTRAL ?

08.0. Who is the worst person in their eyes?:  Yhwach, Yamamoto, all of Soul Society 08.1. What should happen to them?  Execution (quick / slow death) / Imprisonment / Stripped of their powers / Torture / Repay for their sins / Pay a Fine / Social Work / lose their loved ones / Exile / other… (add more). 08.2. Explanation:  Frustrating as it is that she can’t force Yhwach to watch his loved ones die because she believes he lacks the capacity for feeling in that regard, she wants him to die quickly and without much thought. No power-stripping, no long drawn out torture, just something to end it all. Soul Society should be stripped of its powers to recognize the cruelty of their dominion and ideals imposed upon all realms.

09.0. Thoughts on the Quincy Massacre if they knew: POSITIVE / NEGATIVE / NEUTRAL ? 09.1. Would they be alright with such thing happening again: YES / NO / INDIFFERENT ? 09.2. Would they try to prevent it: YES / NO / DEPENDS ? 09.3. Explanation: Regardless of how self-focused her goals may appear, she doesn’t want to create a world where more children have to go through what she did.

10.0. Would they ever switch sides: YES / NO ?  10.1. If yes, What could bring them to do so?:    - 10.2. Would they create a new one: YES / NO ?  or join a current one? If so, which: Meninas is now and forever on Meninas’ side.

11.0. Does your muse follow a certain moral code*?:  YES / NO / GRAY AREA ? * (ethics) A written, formal, and consistent set of rules prescribing righteous behavior, accepted by a person or by a group of people. 11.1. What does it involve?: discrimination based on real world (not manga world) issues like racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc shes not a good person but shes not a piece of shit 11.2. What does it NOT involve?: shes cool with murder, torture, manipulation, plotting to kill god. very much “the end justifies the means” for the sake of her ideals  

YOUR MUSE’S VIEWS / OPINIONS ON THESE GROUPS ?

Central 46:   positive / negative / neutral.   ━   because: corrupt government that doesnt actually go out on the front lines and have no fucking idea what theyre talking about

Four Great Noble Clans:   positive / negative / neutral.   ━   because: she hates rich people and also its their fault the world is the way it is

Royal Guards / Gotei 13:   positive / negative / neutral .   ━   because: corrupt military upholding their own self serving ideals of justice and righteousness. its hubris that makes them call themselves “shinigami- death gods”. theyre not gods, theyre pathetic people in places of power

Fullbringer:   positive / negative / neutral.   ━   because:  truly doesnt care

Visored:   positive / negative / neutral.   ━   because:  theyre shinigami AND hollows so extra disgusting

Espada:   positive / negative / neutral.   ━   because:  hollows are poisonous. she is not a fan

Quincy:   positive / negative / neutral.   ━   because:  the mission is cool, the culture and weird blood purity bullshit with noble lineage is fucked up. she only isn’t completely spiteful because being a quincy herself affords her more power to become stronger, and she loves her parents. overall, she doesnt feel the same loyalty to her kind that others do

YOUR MUSE’S VIEWS / OPINIONS ON THESE (IMPORTANT) PEOPLE ?

Aizen:   positive / negative / neutral.   ━   because:  cool that he wanted to revolutionize SS, lame that he relied on hollow power, lamer still that he lost. also, she doesnt like men who talk too much.

Yhwach:   positive / negative / neutral.   ━   because:  she sees his ineptitude as a leader and failed god figure just as responsible for her parents’ deaths as soul society. his hubris as a god is just as deplorable as soul society’s itself, it just so happens hes the one who gave her more ability to get her revenge

Mayuri:   positive / negative / neutral.   ━   because:  the daten already described him as disgusting, esp detailing his torture on subjects he found to be particularly interesting. Meninas especially hates him after becoming his prisoner in CFYOW following the war. he performed surgery on both her and candice, claiming to have filled their bodies with bombs in order to force them to comply. he took a special interest in the unique state of meninas’ body and muscle density, and as such, there are a number of other “experiments” she underwent at his hands. on top of her being forced to execute soul society’s “dirty work” at his behest in exchange for her life... she hates mayuri

Kurosaki:   positive / negative / neutral.   ━   because:  she thinks its disgusting that soul society relies so heavily on a child’s power to be a strong military force, even worse that the wandenreich and yhwach himself sought to take control of that power. despite this, she doesnt hesitate to attack him with the intent to kill for the sake of acheiving her own ideals, and shes also bothered by ichigos apparent blind faith in soul society (from her pov)

Soul King:   positive / negative / neutral.   ━   because: she thinks the soul king is a testament to soul society and the nobility being disgusting and cruel. and thats all i got bc i still have to do 3 more of these for wildly different viewpoints and my brain is running low on juice

CONGRATS, you managed till to the end, now tag your fellow bleach partners!

TAGGED BY: @zombiequincy thank u hela TAGGING: idk anyone whos wearing socks i tag u

[nezumiismissing]

Missing Characters Analysis Pt.2

Okay, so! It’s been a while since part 1 of this series, but I’m not giving up on it, because I had a lot of fun with the first one, and I want to explore all the other missing characters. If you missed it, here’s part 1. That being said, probably none of these are going to have the same format because of the differences between the characters and their role in the story, so in a way I suppose this isn’t a real continuation, but whatever.

For this part, we’re going to talk about Getsuyaku, who similar to Rashi, although to a lesser extent, I found to play a mostly symbolic role in the story. While he does directly interact with the characters and the story itself, and therefore has a more grounded role than Rashi, for this post at least, I’m going to focus on more of the symbolism, which means that you now get to sit through me rambling about class analysis for the next 1500 words or so. Sorry in advance.

Now the details of No.6’s class system is a discussion for another time, but I’m making it the theme of Getsuyaku’s analysis because he serves as basically the sole representation of the Lost Town residents, who occupy a position we would most likely consider working class. As a working class citizen, he is in an interesting position of existing both within the city and outside of it, in this case literally, since his job at the Correctional Facility takes him outside the wall, and he therefore has the ability to communicate, at least to an extent, between the middle class of No.6 and the impoverished West Block. Although he is a citizen of No.6, it is shown to us in several instances that he is not treated equally to other citizens, having to do unsanitary work and being given no respect by anyone other than other Lost town residents. On one hand, he is treated as being below the other citizens of No.6, not deserving rights or respect, and being basically equivalent to a West Block resident who had managed to break into the city. On the other hand, he is misunderstood by West Block residents, who believe that because he lives within the walls that he is comfortable and taken care of. This is also an internal struggle for Getsuyaku, though, as we see that he feels an obligation to continue working for the city—although whether this is out of fear or genuine appreciation for No.6 is somewhat unclear— therefore maintaining his position as “above” the West Block residents while at the same time recognizing his position within the city as lesser than other citizens and reluctantly going against it by selling things to Inukashi in order to survive and improve his own life.

The divide between “inside” and “outside” the wall is made extremely clear by most of the characters throughout the story, and yet here we see a rare (or maybe not so rare) example of someone who, for symbolic reasons, occupies both spaces. For the most part, each character in No.6 serves as a way to compare two or more different groups of people or conflicting ideas, perhaps most notably Shion in his representation of both the elite class of No.6 as well as those who have been banished from the city altogether. The importance of these comparisons is often to highlight their differences and incompatibility with one another; however, in this case we see Getsuyaku as a unifying force rather than a divisive one. By occupying both spaces simultaneously, he is able to represent both The Lost Town residents via his citizenship within No.6, as well as to a certain extent the residents of West Block who, like Getsuyaku, are forced into criminal activity as a means to basic survival. Within this dual identity, we are able to see that despite their statuses as either “inside” or “outside” the wall, these two groups are fundamentally almost the same to a great extent. The wall becomes not a great divide between those that are deserving and those who are not, but instead a thin line between barely scraping by and abject poverty that is able to be crossed at any time.

Along with the burden of simply doing undesirable work, Getsuyaku, and therefore the working class as a whole, is also forced to play a significant role in the maintaining of the system through the control of information. No.6, and most societies in general, are built upon the control of information, and the withholding of certain information from the general public. Getsuyaku’s job at the Correctional Facility necessitates that he learn what is likely otherwise classified information about No.6, whether that be the conditions under which he has to work or any suspicious materials he may find while sorting through the city's trash. While this information would clearly be useful to both regular citizens and those working against the city such as Yoming, he is obligated to withhold this information out of fear of punishment by the government, and therefore takes part in his own oppression. This is of course not a voluntary position, as his death shows us, but nonetheless an important aspect in the world building of the story.

Speaking of his death, the murder of Getsuyaku also serves as the first time that we directly see fatal violence enacted upon a regular citizen of the city. While it's clear by this point in the story that No.6 is not above murdering its own citizens, and other instances have been implied, such as the case of Yomings wife, this scene cannot be understated. Other deaths take place within predefined contexts: part of the experimentation with the bees, a direct response to going against the city, culling older people to preserve resources. Obviously none of these things are ethically justifiable, but they come with explanations that we can on some level understand for the purposes of the story. Getsuyaku’s death on the other hand comes with almost no explanation, and even from the perspective of No.6 itself, is less justified than the Manhunt. He is murdered not because the officers know he has done anything deemed to be “wrong”, but simply because they are suspicious of him, because in their minds it is easier to claim that he is to blame for the malfunctioning robots than it is to believe that it was an accident or regular breakdown. The fact that we know the circumstances of the incident don't matter in this moment because we are not in a position to make a decision about him.

Getsuyaku’s position as the first civilian casualty of the last portion of the story also serves a narrative purpose, that of a symbolic catalyst for the revolution that takes up a large portion of Volume 9. As the representation for Lost Town, we see that although other groups will be punished for disobedience, the true targets of No.6's master plan are the Lost Town citizens, the working class. Through their repression, No.6 maintains control over the baseline functioning of the city (waste management, energy production, food production, etc), as well as the vital information that is created and gathered through these industries. Because the working class is in control of these fundamental processes by virtue of being the ones working there, any disobedience on their part, no matter what the reason, is taken as a direct action against the city as a whole, even if another explanation for the incident exists. Through his death, we see that No.6, however incorrect they may be, views Getsuyaku, as well as the rest of the working class, as disposable and replaceable. To an extent, we see that this mindset has been internalized by many members of Lost Town, who, while upset at a person’s disappearance, have accepted it as a fairly normal part of their lives. In Getsuyaku’s case, however, enough of the right characters, namely Yoming, Lily, and Karan, are involved with Getsuyaku and his family that his disappearance serves as a breaking point for this internalization, indirectly resulting in many of the events of the last volume of the novels.

For those in West Block, Getsuyaku’s death serves an entirely different purpose. While it is only witnessed by a few characters, his death confirms for Inukashi what we as the reader already know, that No.6 has no issue with disposing of its own citizens if they are no longer useful. By extension, we also see that he was never really considered a citizen in the first place, but rather an unconscious tool for the maintenance of the city. Being able to see directly the cruelty of No.6 towards those living even within the city disrupts the commonly held belief of the West Block residents that the inside of No.6 is a utopia, and that it instead may be just as bad in some ways as it is outside of the walls. At least West Block doesn’t try to give off the impression of being a safe and comfortable place, right? At this point there is no hope of a better life for the West Block residents, and they are instead faced with the reality that as long as they were not born into power, they would never truly be able to gain it within the city.

So what does this mean in terms of the anime? The exclusion of Getsuyaku from the anime, while understandable given the time constraints and already rushed ending, ultimately still affects the story and our perception of how No.6 and its class system actually function. It draws a firm line between No.6 and West Block, leaving no room for the portrayal of the proximity between the working and poverty classes, and giving no opportunities for them to interact or assist each other in any way. Ultimately, it shows a picture of a world in which downward mobility only occurs to a certain extent, and that even those who have fallen or have always occupied the lowest rung of the working class will still be protected from interacting with or becoming the impoverished “others” by the government. In his absence, we do not get to really see the reality of working class life in No.6, and are therefore unable to make a significant connection to what would otherwise be an important moral center to the story. The cruelty of No.6 is still blatantly obvious, but it is never shown to have been turned directly onto its own citizens. This is starting to drift into some themes I want to explore in another post, but you get the idea. In attempting to reflect an image of our own world, No.6 as an anime fails to construct the world as it really is, with blurred lines between different “classes” of people, and instead draws strict barriers between lower classes that instead serve to reinforce the mainstream concept of a disconnect between working and poverty class people that makes them enemies rather than allies.

If you made it to the end, thanks for reading! I tried really hard to make this not about a bunch of stuff other than Getsuyaku, but he’s so wrapped up in the other aspects of the world building that I’m not really sure I succeeded in that regard. I had a lot of fun with this one though, so hopefully you enjoyed it too!

[mars-colony]

alrighty! so before I go and rb it, can you do 3-6,8,9,12,19,20,23,25,26,31-33?

Thank you so much for asking so many questions! I’ve answered 3 and 5 previously, but the rest were brand new! This is really long so I’m going to put it under a read more. Apologies for the angst train! Some of these ones ended up kind of fluffy tho!

4. Does your OC have nightmares? What do they contain?Dollie has had her fair share of nightmares. From watching Nate die again and again, to deathclaws, to strange blurry confusion of what the Institute might be like. She’s dreamt of losing her friends to swarms of ferals, she’s had several rough dreams in particular where she couldn’t move and had to watch Danse being overwhelmed by feral ghouls without being able to help him.

6. What would get your OC to make themselves disappear?Dollie does this from time to time. When she can’t process things or the Commonwealth gets to be too much she just drops off the map for a few days, sometimes weeks. If you know her well enough she’s usually at the Red Rocket or held up in Home Plate. She values her time alone because it lets her gather her thoughts and build herself back up to keep moving forward.

I can’t think of a situation where she’d disappear completely. During Blind Betrayal, she was ready to drop everything and go with Danse, and I think that’s the closest she gets to disappearing. Otherwise, her sense of responsibility is far too great for her to quit.

8. What is the closest your OC has come to death?Aside from a few instances of almost being drowned by a feral that was trying to tear off her face, being choked out by a raider, or deadly radiation poisoning, the closest Dollie has come to death was getting shot close range with a shot gun. She was sedated in sick bay on the Prydwen for several days. Recoup was rough.

She’s been close to death once pre-war, but that’s a story for another time.

9. What is the greatest sacrifice your OC could ever make? Under what circumstance would they make it?

The greatest sacrifice Dollie makes is Shaun. She makes the decision to let her biological son go in order to save the Commonwealth. It kills her, and in the end she can’t really come to terms with it so she just doesn’t. The Institute was going to leave the Commonwealth for dead, and there was no way she could let that happen. One life for many. Her choice practically made itself.

12. To what extent would your OC go to survive?When Shaun’s safety is still in question, there is literally nothing Dollie wouldn’t do to survive. She’ll do whatever it takes to get to him and make sure he’s safe. If she hadn’t run into Preston or Recon Squad Gladius when she did, it’s likely that her moral compass would have cracked and she would have made some darker choices. Seeing that morality was alive in the Wasteland so early on was very important for her mental well-being.

19. What is your OC’s preferred method of death?Dollie wouldn’t want something long suffering. She had to watch her mother’s violent battle with late stage cancer, and that’s not something she’d want to live through. She’d want something quick and clean. She wouldn’t want to die for nothing, also. If her death had purpose or was for something, that would be better. At most she’d want a few moments to tidy up, to tell the person she was with that she loved them, appreciated them, or thank them, and then she could try to be at peace with everything.

20. How does your OC sleep at night?For a long time after the vault, Dollie has a very intimate relationship with the ceiling. She doesn’t sleep for more than an hour or two at a time, and just lies there staring upward. She spends most of her first several months running on fumes and completely exhausted. She sleeps best when Danse is watching her back. She trusts his constant vigilance and his quick perception. She feels like when he’s there nothing bad is going to happen, which is definitely something you want to hold onto in the Wasteland.

After a while she becomes a lighter sleeper which helps her get more sleep, because she’s less worried about not waking up if something bad happens. She also has fewer nightmares, because she becomes kind of desensitized to them. When every waking moment is practically a nightmare, the nightmares aren’t so scary anymore.

23. Would your OC be considered good or bad by an outsider?I firmly believe that Dollie would be considered good. Despite all of her troubles she goes out of her way to make the Commonwealth a better place with the Minutemen. She doesn’t ask for anything in return from her settlements, and her help is not conditional. While some people would be very wary of that and slow to trust, she proves herself with unwavering kindness. She’s very patient and doesn’t force people to join the Minutemen’s cause. Even if they didn’t want to, she’d still offer help.

25. What does your OC love most, and what would they do to keep it?Dollie always wanted a quiet life with little conflict. That life became a very idyllic dream after the bombs and the vault. But when she met Preston and the settlers, she found a scrap of that dream still alive. So in a literal sense, Dollie is fighting to make the Commonwealth a safer, more peaceful place. With the help of the Minutemen she hopes to make her dream a reality for everyone in the Commonwealth.

26. Has your OC ever had unrequieted feelings of any kind for someone?That’s the fun of a slow burn isn’t it? After Nate’s death she’s very hung up on him, and has a lot of trouble recognizing her feelings. Once she realizes she’s falling for someone else she feels an incredible amount of shame and guilt. She keeps those feelings to herself, not just because of the guilt, but because of who the person is. Falling in love with Paladin Danse is honestly a mixed bag. He’s an incredible person, he makes her laugh, makes her feel safe, they share a lot of the same values, and he has an incredible way of getting through the toughest walls she’s built around herself. There’s never an elephant in the room with Danse. He addresses problems as they arise, and she’s never had someone like that. She has literally never felt closer to anyone in her life. But he’s her commanding officer. And his first love will always be the Brotherhood of Steel. Even if he reciprocated her feelings, he’d never put his place in the Brotherhood in jeopardy. She also doesn’t want to lose his friendship, so she doesn’t act on her feelings.

Another unrequieted emotion she harbored was resentment. She felt a lot of resentment toward Nate because he had a comfy life before he willingly joined the military. His family had immense wealth, his parents had top notch health care, all around he led a privileged life. He also had very harsh stances on certain topics, like addiction and mental health, that Dollie saw as coming directly from his life of privilege. However, Nate changed a lot after his time in Anchorage. He became a much more open minded person and definitely wanted to do things without his parent’s help. Nate and Dollie’s relationship was getting stronger every day. She was opening up to him, at a glacial pace, but he was still the first person she ever let into her life.

31. Would your OC torture?No. I can’t think of an instance when Dollie would ever allow torture to occur on her watch. As someone who studied government and history so closely, she believes that all things said under acts of torture are void in a court of law because they come from fear. This belief holds true in the Wasteland. She believes that torture is completely useless and is nothing but cruelty. It serves no purpose.

32. Does your OC hate? To what extent?Dollie had never truly hated anyone until Kellogg. Watching helplessly as he destroyed her entire world definitely cemented him into her memory. She loathed him completely and felt no sympathy for him. That hatred led her to Diamond City and to finding Valentine. That hatred led her to Fort Hagen where Kellogg met his fate. All in all, Dollie’s hatred has to be justified. She doesn’t hate for no reason, and she doesn’t hate over petty things. She deeply loathes some people, but so far, the only person she’s hated (other than a healthy dose of self-hatred) was Kellogg.

33. How does your OC let out anger?Dollie is a bottler. She bottles up her emotions until they explode. She can harbor massive amounts of anger before she finally snaps. The last straw is typically an unlucky raider who pushes one too many buttons. There has been an instance of her taking that anger out on other people, namely Danse, when he really didn’t deserve it, but after that she went out of her way to apologize for the behavior. Before the war she didn’t “get” angry. Meaning she bottled it up even worse and didn’t talk about it. Sometimes she’d vent to her sister on the phone, but she didn’t have a real outlet. She put some of that to use in court, but otherwise she kind of became a ticking time bomb. Post war, if she gets too mad she’ll just let out a snarl, fight some raiders, and feel better.

[diskwrite-ffxiv]

There have been some very excellent posts breaking down the first non-apology from Oz. And now, after the first attempt was generally panned, Oz has made a second go of it: https://imgur.com/a/E9qELpy

As we consider Oz’s words, there is a point I would like to emphasize.

Apologies are an important part of the abuser’s playbook.

And as Lundy Bancroft states in Why Does He Do That?, it doesn’t really matter if the abuser’s apology is sincere or not.

The salient point about remorse, however, is that it matters little whether it is genuine or not. Clients who get very sorry after acts of abuse change at about the same rate as the ones who don’t. The most regretful are sometimes the most self-centered, lamenting above all the injury they’ve done to their own self-image. They feel ashamed of having behaved like cruel dictators and want to revert quickly to the role of benign dictators, as if that somehow makes them much better people.

This is the third time I’ve linked this image with regard to this situation, but it’s because it is paramount that we understand the abuser’s behavior as cyclical and the role that apologies play. 

It’s a little counter-intuitive compared to non-abusive interactions. Under normal circumstances, an apology serves to say things like “hey I messed up and I’m sorry.” It’s part of making things right with someone else, and it’s considered part of the social contract that if someone is sorry for what they did, they will try to do better in the future.

But in the context of the cycle of abuse, that’s not what happens when an abuser apologizes.

Another quote from Bancroft:

After he has purged himself, he typically acts ashamed or regretful about his cruelty or violence, at least in the early years of a relationship. Then he may enter a period when he reminds you of the man you fell in love with—charming, attentive, funny, kind. His actions have the effect of drawing you into a repetitive traumatic cycle in which you hope each time that he is finally going to change for good. You then begin to see the signs of his next slow slide back into abuse, and your anxiety and confusion rise again.

[Once more please excuse the pronouns and specifically gendered way Bancroft has written this book. He is addressing heterosexual romantic relationships because that is what he worked with most in his practice, but so much about abuse is common regardless of the type of personal relationship.]

Ultimately, whether or not an abuser feels sorry means nothing. If they’re going to become a better person, what’s required is that they change the fundamental beliefs, behaviors, and actions that made them an abuser in the first place.

So, let’s talk this second apology.

What does it take for an abuser to change?

In my last extensive post, I quoted Bancroft’s example of what it would take for a man to fully take accountability for vindictively cutting down a neighbor’s tree. So how does Bancroft relate this to abuse, and what abusers must do to truly become better?

I’m going to quote this part in full and it’s a long one, so bear with me. Some details are especially romantic relationship specific, but I left it all in because they are necessary to communicate just how all-encompassing true change for an abuser has to be.

1. Admit fully to his history of psychological, sexual, and physical abusiveness toward any current or past partners whom he has abused. Denial and minimizing need to stop, including discrediting your memory of what happened. He can’t change if he is continuing to cover up, to others or to himself, important parts of what he has done.

2. Acknowledge that the abuse was wrong, unconditionally. He needs to identify the justifications he has tended to use, including the various ways that he may have blamed you, and to talk in detail about why his behaviors were unacceptable without slipping back into defending them.

3. Acknowledge that his behavior was a choice, not a loss of control. For example, he needs to recognize that there is a moment during each incident at which he gives himself permission to become abusive and that he chooses how far to let himself go.

4. Recognize the effects his abuse has had on you and your children, and show empathy for those. He needs to talk in detail about the short-and longterm impact that his abuse has had, including fear, loss of trust, anger, and loss of freedom and other rights. And he needs to do this without reverting to feeling sorry for himself or talking about how hard the experience has been for him.

5. Identify in detail his pattern of controlling behaviors and entitled attitudes. He needs to speak in detail about the day-to-day tactics of abuse he has used. Equally important, he must be able to identify his underlying beliefs and values that have driven those behaviors, such as considering himself entitled to constant attention, looking down on you as inferior, or believing that men aren’t responsible for their actions if “provoked” by a partner.

6. Develop respectful behaviors and attitudes to replace the abusive ones he is stopping. You can look for examples such as improving how well he listens to you during conflicts and at other times, carrying his weight of household responsibilities and child care, and supporting your independence. He has to demonstrate that he has come to accept the fact that you have rights and that they are equal to his.

7. Reevaluate his distorted image of you, replacing it with a more positive and empathic view. He has to recognize that he has had mental habits of focusing on and exaggerating his grievances against you and his perceptions of your weaknesses and to begin instead to compliment you and pay attention to your strengths and abilities.

8. Make amends for the damage he has done. He has to develop a sense that he has a debt to you and to your children as a result of his abusiveness. He can start to make up somewhat for his actions by being consistently kind and supportive, putting his own needs on the back burner for a couple of years, talking with people whom he has misled in regard to the abuse and admitting to them that he lied, paying for objects that he has damaged, and many other steps related to cleaning up the emotional and literal messes that his behaviors have caused. (At the same time, he needs to accept that he may never be able to fully compensate you.)

9. Accept the consequences of his actions. He should stop whining about, or blaming you for, problems that are the result of his abuse, such as your loss of desire to be sexual with him, the children’s tendency to prefer you, or the fact that he is on probation.

10. Commit to not repeating his abusive behaviors and honor that commitment. He should not place any conditions on his improvement, such as saying that he won’t call you names as long as you don’t raise your voice to him. If he does backslide, he cannot justify his abusive behaviors by saying, “But I’ve done great for five months; you can’t expect me to be perfect,” as if a good period earned him chips to spend on occasional abuse.

11. Accept the need to give up his privileges and do so. This means saying good-bye to double standards, to flirting with other women, to taking off with his friends all weekend while you look after the children, and to being allowed to express anger while you are not.

12. Accept that overcoming abusiveness is likely to be a lifelong process. He at no time can claim that his work is done by saying to you, “I’ve changed but you haven’t,” or complain that he is sick of hearing about his abuse and control and that “it’s time to get past all that.” He needs to come to terms with the fact that he will probably need to be working on his issues for good and that you may feel the effects of what he has done for many years.

13. Be willing to be accountable for his actions, both past and future. His attitude that he is above reproach has to be replaced by a willingness to accept feedback and criticism, to be honest about any backsliding, and to be answerable for what he does and how it affects you and your children.

If this sounds like a lot, that’s because it is. But as Bancroft says himself:

Abusive men don’t make lasting changes if they skip any of the above steps, and some are easier than others. Most of my clients find it fairly easy to apologize, for example. In fact, an abuser may weave apologies into his pattern of abuse, so that when he says “I’m sorry,” it becomes another weapon in his hand.

[...]

But even a genuine and sincere apology is only a starting point. Many of my clients make it through the first three steps: They admit to a substantial portion of their abuse; they agree that their actions resulted from choice rather than loss of control; and they apologize. Then they dig in their heels at that point. An abuser’s sense of entitlement is like a rude, arrogant voice screaming inside his head. It yells at him: “You’ve given up too much already; don’t budge another inch. They already talked you into saying your abuse is all your own fault when you know she’s at least half to blame because of the shit that she does. She should be grateful to you for apologizing; that wasn’t easy to do. She’s lucky you’ve gone this far; a lot of guys would tell her to go screw, you know.” And the voice drags him back into the mud that he had finally taken a couple of baby steps out of.

So if your conclusion from all of this is that there is no apology from Oz that will be good enough, what do you mean by “good enough”? Does “good enough” mean, displays that they will be able to affect genuine change on themselves and improve? Because if that’s the case, then you’re right. Abusers can and do sincerely and genuinely apologize, then go on to repeat the cycle of abuse once more.

That is the typical behavior after an apology. If Oz is going to stop being an abuser, they’re going to have to do a whole lot more than offer a good apology.

And this still wasn’t a good apology.

The second apology

This reads like Oz saw our criticisms and then, like a student making cuts to a paper after their teacher’s instruction, cut out everything we specifically objected to without understanding why we took umbrage with it in the first place.

Honestly? This is not a good start.

I’m going to respond to a request I’ve seen that I be more plainspoken and more direct. I originally worried that might come across flippant and dismissive, but I appreciate not everyone sees it the same way. I apologise in advance if this comes across a little too conversational or free-association.

The problem was not you talking “too smart” or with the “wrong tone” as you seemed to say in your conversation with @captain-ameribunny. The problem was that you were more interested in saying what you didn’t do and deflecting accountability than actually owning what you did.

I know I have hurt people and I am sorry. There were times it was absolutely my intent to do harm. Regardless of what reason I had, where I was in that moment, that’s what I did.

So why mention your reasons or “where you were in that moment” at all? Tucked away in the heart of that is the ghost of what you truncated from your first apology- all your attempts to say outside influences drove you to the behavior. It’s like a door you carved into your words. You shoved your justifications behind the threshold then closed the door behind them. Perfectly poised to open at the right opportunity to explain away what you did and why you did it. To others, and to yourself.

If you are one of those people, I apologise. Knowing full well the feelings of alienation that come from someone turning their anger on you, I engaged in that exact anger. I knowingly used that fear to bad ends and displayed a general lack of empathy.

I responded to conflict in destructive, unhealthy, and sometimes objectively cruel ways. I blurred the lines between the minor failures of others and critical flaws that define people for what they are. I used the simple humanity of other people as leverage against them and refused to show compassion for the pain that caused.

I harassed and held grudges against people who didn’t deserve it. When those people defended themselves, I used that natural and rational reaction as a reason to mock them and as proof of the vile image of them I had created.

This section has a very similar problem to the one previous. By claiming they blurred the lines between “the minor failures of others and critical flaws that define people for what they are,” Oz is still subtly saying that the people they went after did something wrong. They’ve essentially labeled their behavior as a destructive overreaction, but leaves room to state that sometimes it was deserved. 

Oz of course doesn’t clarify exactly which people “deserved it” and which didn’t.

I said in my previous apology that I am sorry for contributing to a cycle of anger and anguish and I stand by that. What I did made the world a worse place. I excused countless of my own wrongs that went on to hurt innocent people, directly and indirectly. There were times I saw the hurt I caused and simply chose to not care because of whatever validation I found to justify that and all I can say now is that I am sorry.

Honestly, a blanket apology isn’t enough for this. You gleefully trashed people publically for months. Sometimes years. You prided yourself on trying to drive your targets out of the community. If some of those people were innocent, wouldn’t directly coming out about how you mistreated them and you were wrong do a lot to help make things right?

But instead, you’re still asking for people to approach you in private for anything beyond general apologies.

I do not know who does and does not wish to speak with me about any of this and I do not want anyone to feel put-upon or isolated by me trying to initiate that. If you feel you would benefit from speaking to me about any way I’ve wronged you, please, I invite you to do so. I want to hear what you have to say and I would appreciate the chance to extend my apology to you personally.

First off, you’ve framed it in a way to sound like you’re leaving this at a blanket apology for the benefit of the people you’ve hurt. 

The thing is, if you’re not willing to publically walk back the specific terrible things you said and did, what’s to stop that harm from continuing? All the whispers you spread about people will persist. Reputations will still lie in tatters. 

And furthermore, if you’re not willing to publically state which specific examples were wrong, you’ve given us plenty of room to believe you’re apologizing for those examples without you actually ever stating you were abusive in that particular situation.

After all, you just reminded us that sometimes you went after people for “minor failures” but other times it was because of “critical flaws.” Which was which? Are you willing to own up to the exact examples you completely mistreated someone?

Frankly, it does you more good to leave this at a blanket apology than it does the people you hurt. It saves you from having to specifically look us in the eye and tell us that all that fire you breathed at so-and-so was actually abuse.

And beyond this, now that we’ve gone through your entire second apology- are you going to own up to how you first responded to people calling you out with unbridled rage? Then with talking repeatedly about how this was all just manufactured outrage that was going to blow over? Then with claims that other outside forces made you this way, that people enabled you, that your intentions were good, that this was just a relapse, and we should qualify and excuse your behavior for any or all of these reasons?

If you don’t actively own up to- and stop- this kind of behavior, then you won’t change.

Your only qualification on this post was that you weren’t plainspoken and direct enough the first time. Really, if that’s what you think the problem was, then you don’t get it at all.

So while we’re speaking of some of the specific things you said, let’s take a look at some examples.

Specific examples of behavior

The Tweets

Let’s recount the last time you actually got specific about anything you were accused of: https://imgur.com/a/GFfW0f2

This is the album of tweets that I linked in the last post I made. You’re still pretty general about it, sure. But you are speaking very clearly about various topics and saying that under no circumstances have you endorsed or done them.

As I pointed out in my last post, we have screenshots that show you did some of these things. So, is your stance still that you did not in fact do any of it, despite our hard evidence that you did? Which of the screenshots are things that you didn’t actually do? Are the people who provided those screenshots liars, or did you genuinely wrong them? I’d like to hear your explanation. Publically, please.

<<SASS>>

I’m going to start this section by linking @honhonoura​ ‘s post: http://honhonoura.tumblr.com/post/175621265651/i-am-a-knight-of-the-round-vegetable

But the reason I’m speaking on this in particular is, over the course of things, I was provided with some screenshots that I am now sharing with permission. Since you deleted your blog, it’s much harder to find evidence of your abuse, but as we’ve observed some of your victims recorded what you did to them long before. All of these posts were there. And they were very public, I might add.

Oz is going on about this here because one of the <<SASS>> members was autistic.

In it, Oz has stated that if someone is too mentally ill to accept responsibility for abusive actions and can’t stop themselves from abusing other people, they shouldn’t run a guild or put themselves in charge of others.

Here, Oz is very insistent that someone who has been abusive paints themselves as the victim, they’re doing something wrong. I presume that “painting yourself as a victim” includes stating that someone else abused you, which motivated you to be abusive yourself.

In both of these posts, Oz has made very strong statements about abuse and what it is acceptable for the abuser to do and not do. They were made in the context of calling someone else out, the context that @honhonoura​ elaborated on in her post.

Oz, do you still stand by your opinions in these posts? Do you believe you were justified in posting them? Do you believe they were aimed at an appropriate target? Would you say you went after <<SASS>> because you perceived, to use your own words, a “minor failure” or a “critical flaw that define people for what they are”?

Your post about <<SASS>> in 2018 before you deleted your Tumblr certainly gave every indication that you stood by what you did them in 2014. You were very willing to talk about them the same way today that you did back then, so I would like to hear your stance on everything I’ve just shared now. And again,  since you went to such great lengths to publically smear their name, I would like your response publically please. 

Balmung Blessings

I would like to share with everyone the two posts that motivated me to unfollow Balmung Blessings long before I knew who ran it.

Post 1: https://imgur.com/a/PU09rG1

Post 2: https://imgur.com/a/uuTL4tD

The first post is very... long. 

At the time I read it, not knowing Oz was involved, the part that gave me pause began where they spoke about how the blog was approaching 800 followers, which starts on image 9 of the album.

It struck me as deeply uncomfortable that their number of followers motivated their thoughts towards how that would give them power over the community. They spoke of it as influence and mused on how they “weren’t sure what to do with that ‘power.’” As if that was something that could be wielded over people.

Uh. When I approached 800 followers, you want to know what my biggest thought was?

“Ho jeez that’s a lot of people HOLY FUCK WHERE DID YOU ALL COME FROM man I better not be a fuckhead.”

The primary feeling that my follower count gives me- aside from general “when did you all get here??”- is a sense of responsibility. If a lot of people are going to read what I write, that means I should try extra hard to only contribute in productive and positive ways because I don’t want to inadvertently hurt people.

The very notion of looking at that number and perceiving it as power makes me feel sick. Physically ill, with a twist of revulsion to my stomach. I don’t care how many followers I have. I’m not here to control people.

Post 2 followed the first shortly after. So, this means that after Oz wrote about how much value they placed on the number of followers their blogs receive- specifically about the sense of power over other people it gave them- stated that they follow many FFXIV blogs because they interacted with Balmung Blessings.

If you interacted with Balmung Blessings, they were likely to bestow followership upon you- and all the significance Oz ascribed to it. Something like quid pro quo.

Back when these posts were written, this made me extremely uncomfortable. I didn’t like the idea that my interaction with the blog was being viewed by the blogrunner as a contribution to a platform to community power. So, I quietly unfollowed the blog.

Learning that Oz was the runner of Balmung Blessings certainly puts those two posts in a different light.

Oz, after all, has placed a great deal of importance on having weight in the community. They have used what influence they’ve sought to gather like a cudgel against other people. 

They were also not above using the Balmung Blessings platform to suit their own means. 

Post 3: https://imgur.com/a/Y439os2

This was made shortly before Oz deleted the blog.

[As a sidenote, I absolutely do not condone sending anonymous hate to anyone under any circumstances. And certainly not spurred by a secrets blog.]

First, even as Oz states they try not to pay too much attention to followers, they still referred to their number of followers as if that was some sort of personal endorsement. They continued to ascribe great meaning to that number, as if that gave them something.

Second, here we see Oz using the Balmung Blessings platform to discount the accusations being made against them- even though on Balmung Blessings they never stated their ownership of the blog- referring to it as “passing drama.” 

Third, they then proceed to talk about how callout posts don’t fix things, they are destructive, and they are wrong.

Oz, is this an opinion you share of the callout posts that you made? Because you have made many. 

And finally,

Post 4: https://imgur.com/a/u9TNaUb

Here under the Balmung Blessings platform, Oz asserts that “anyone has a place in our community as long as they’re doing their level best to be a good and conscientious member,” however if “someone thinks actively spreading hate and inevitably some amount of completely fallacious gossip is doing that,” then they need to either change or leave.

Between the posts about <<SASS>> and the messages relayed through the Balmung Blessings platform, it is clear that Oz has very strong opinions about what is right and wrong behavior when it comes to the actions of other people.

So, Oz. You’ve said an awful lot of things about how people who are shitty and toxic and abusive need to stop leading groups, how they have no excuses for their behavior, and how they either need to change or leave. 

What would you want someone to do if they’d wronged you the same way you’ve wronged other people?

 Are you willing to apply the same standards that you’ve ascribed to other people’s behavior for yourself? Were the standards themselves wrong? I would also like an answer to this. And just like the others, I would like it publically please.

Why are these answers important?

As detailed by Bancroft, just apologizing- sincerely or no- isn’t enough for an abuser to change.

The abuser has to fix their fundamental beliefs and behaviors. If they don’t, they will repeat the cycle of abuse.

The specific examples I’ve brought up throughout this post target a few main points in Oz’s conduct.

1. Denial, deflection, and poisoning the well. Oz has used all of these tactics to avoid taking responsibility for their actions. They have denied behavior we all saw proof of. They have deflected the accusations numerous ways- whether stating it’s all just drama that will blow over, blaming it on Adrian, so on and so forth. And they have actively smeared their targets in ways that are intended to make others distrust or disregard any accusations of wrongdoing.

All of these are common abuser behaviors used to escape criticism and responsibility. If Oz is to change, they will have to fully acknowledge the specific ways they perform these behaviors and then dismantle them. 

2. Entitlement. Abusers act on double-standards. They are entitled to enact a certain behavior or feel a particular emotion, but the abused is not. Anger is a common target. The abuser believes their anger is acceptable, however the anger of the abused is unreasonable or unjustified. And as Bancroft points out, just because the abuser apologizes, that doesn’t mean they’ve given these beliefs up.

If Oz is to change, they will have to acknowledge the disparities in their belief system that they utilized to justify their own behavior while castigating that same behavior in others. But not only that, they will have to relinquish all double-standards and any of the advantages those gave them. 

3. Power. To bring back the quote from Bancroft used in my previous post:

The term abuse is about power; it means that a person is taking advantage of a power imbalance to exploit or control someone else.

Oz’s fixation on and interpretation of follower counts speaks to a deepset focus on establishing power over other people. Indeed, that sort of power is something Oz has regularly sought out. They have openly spoken of getting a thrill out of making others afraid, and one need only look to one of their “crusades” to see how willing they are to use this power like a sledgehammer against someone else.

If Oz is to change, they are going to have to give this up. Period. Because fixing abusive behavior requires the abuser to relinquish the advantages that behaving abusively gave, Oz needs to relinquish their desire to obtain power. And they absolutely need to refrain from using their social platforms against other people. 

These three points are merely a handful of the beliefs and behaviors Oz will need to fix if they are going to change. 

Putting up a couple blanket apologies and telling people they can contact them privately for anything more isn’t anywhere close to what needs to happen. 

Given how perfectly everything fits into the cycle of abuse thus far, and with how rare it is for an abuser to actually change, I would advise everyone to be very cautious about taking their apologies as a sign that they will improve.

Oz, since I know you’re going to read this- I’ve said it once before and I’ll say it again. If you aren’t already getting professional help for this you should get some. And you should try to find someone who specializes in helping abusers. Be upfront with them about what you did, and don’t try to wriggle away from it.

If you are truly sincere about believing your behavior was reprehensible, then do what it takes to change it. This is what it takes. And it’s a long hard journey, but if you have the bravery and the strength to follow through, then it’ll be worth it in the end when you never hurt another person this way again.

[dukeofishgard]

interesting oc questions that can be found here! first few will be outside a cut then rest under a cut! 

On a scale of “is occasionally forced to bathe” to “Instagram model with sponsors to hoe for” how involved is your OC’s Skincare routine?

Duke is super big on his hygiene. For one, he’s obviously from nobility so... he just grew up practicing good hygiene. However, after being cursed and developing a penchant for dying in horrific ways, he became much more obsessed with cleanliness. He’s always worried that he may smell bloody or otherwise slightly like death. So he takes extreme measures to try and keep that at bay. 

What are your OC’s food preferences (flavors/textures/spiciness/calories/ when and how they eat) and how did they get that way?

Duke has a pretty broad taste, and will try pretty much anything at least once. He does tend to be drawn to spicier foods, and heavily seasoned dishes as his tastebuds (through various ways) are not quite as robust as they used to be. So he tends to like strongly flavored dishes. He also tends to like meatier dishes as well- often with a good hunk of bread to mop up the juices. He grew up eating rich dishes thanks to his upbringing, and enjoyed sneaking into the kitchen to see how things were made. This made him popular as a Captain as he’d often find ways to spice up rations given during the War and often went out of his way to hunt for proper meat for his soldiers. Now as an immortal, he’s traveled all across Hydaelyn and enjoys trying new dishes from different cultures. Again as his tastebuds aren’t that great, he can tolerate most things. He’s definitely the type of guy who likes that one dish that the majority can’t stand. 

What’s something pointless/petty/unimportant that IRRATIONALLY ANNOYS THE HELL out of your OC?

I’ve never really thought about this because he’s such an easy-going person and isn’t phased by most things really. However, probably how Dracyn will tidy up his desk for him. Duke is, by habit now, just a generally messy person. He tends to just leave things scattered about on his desk, papers and such. So when Dracyn tidies things up, even tho Duke knows it should look nice and not a trainwreck, it annoys him because he then can’t find anything. it may be a mess, but it’s his mess and he knows where everything is god dammit.  What’s your OC’s response to being asked for money by a homeless person?

He will literally give said homeless person all the money he currently has on him, ask for the person’s name and then likely do his best to get them into housing and find a job. He does this often. On one hand he’s genuinely just that sort of person, but it also is another way for him to use the endless amounts of money he’s made being immortal. Better in the hands of those who need it more than him. Does your OC get lost easily? What do they do when they do get lost?

Nah. He’s got a good sense of direction. If he ever gets ‘lost’ it’s on purpose for adventure purposes. 

What would STOP your OC from Doing The Right Thing in a tense situation?

Duke is at his core, completely and one hundred percent a goody-two shoes. The only situation I can think of, of him hesitating is a completely hypothetical and would, at this point, only happen in an AU. And that would be if Dracyn ever completely snapped. It’s been a big thing between the two of them that Duke insists he could never kill or ‘put down’ Dracyn if Dracyn were to ever fall back into his old ways, despite Dracyn asking him too. Duke insists that he could always bring Dracyn back. So, again, were Dracyn ever to fall back onto his old ways, and Duke had to choose between killing Dracyn and saving people from Dracyn, it’d be a really be a stopping point of Duke not being able to make a very rational choice. He’d likely end up trying to simply hide Dracyn from the world rather than forcing himself to kill Dracyn. :\ But again, this would likely only happen in an AU because their relationship currently is very even and there’s not anything that comes to mind that Dracyn and I have planned that would ever trigger Dracyn to just totally lose it.

Realistically, could your OC (in their normal circumstances- i.e. at thier own house/battlecamp/spaceship etc.) keep a small child alive for a week if they had to?  A Dog?  A Houseplant? A rock with a  smiley face painted on? Yes. Duke was a father, and is currently once again taking it on again after marrying Dracyn, taking care of his step-children. Despite his heavy reservations on being a father again after the death of his children, Duke is quite good at taking care of others, and a good father. He also is fairly good with plants- he tends roses back home at Ishgard. If your OC had to take the S.A.T. tomorrow with one night to prep, how would they do?  both emotionally and academically. He’d likely do just fine. He’s a smart cookie, and emotionally, he wouldn’t really care if he did well or poorly. At least now in his life lol. Growing up he may have been more worried, but again- he was always pretty intelligent and studious. So even with only one night to cram, I think he’d be fine.   What would cause your OC to chose to do something petty/pointlessly cruel?

The only time Duke is ever pointlessly cruel is if someone’s pushed him to that point. I.E, when people threaten the people he loves. He’s normally pretty quick to kill an enemy, but you threaten someone he loves and he will get vicious and make sure it’s painful. He once shoved himself further onto a bandit’s blade and then jammed a hidden dagger into the man’s neck as painfully as he could. When Dracyn was kidnapped, Duke, despite getting injured, was one step away, had his stepdaughter not blasted the guy out of the ship, he would have grabbed the kidnapper and continued to stab the man repeatedly, over and over again. His cruelty is truly only shown when someone has wronged someone he either cares about or hurt innocents.  As for being petty, Duke can be very Ishgardian and can be incredibly petty and huffy if someone insults him lol. On a scale of “Complete and Justified nervous breakdown” to “Conquer The Entire Galaxy and become an Immortal God-Emperor”, how well would your OC handle being abducted by Aliens? He’d probably just sigh and be like “okay well this is at least something new and exciting after a thousand years.”  What song is 100% guaranteed to get your OC beyond turnt and will be sung loudly and embarrassingly, either in public or the shower? Uhhh, hard to say because of XIV’s setting? Ye old Ishgardian ballads? lmao idk! likely any song that gets performed at Lucky Sparrow, and likely a lot of the group numbers he helps out with likely get practiced loudly in the shower. What perfectly-normal-to-them-thing does your OC do that confuses/pisses off/terrifies thier neighbors? Showing up alive outside tending the gardens when the day before he showed up with various, mortal injuries that surely would have killed any other normal person. “But- you- you had a sword- sticking out your head! I saw it! In one side out the other!” “Yes well. I got better. Do you think these roses are looking a bit down? Maybe I should add some blood to the soil...”  Under what circumstances would your OC appear naked in public? When he was younger, his second in command, and lover, Etienne convinced him to run naked through the Foundation while they were back in Ishgard on leave. The entire squad was drunk and only wore their dragoon helmets. So, basically he needs to be drunk and the person asking him to do it, needs to be the man he’s madly in love with lmao.  What thing did your OC’s parents do that your OC wishes they had a better explanation for? Duke actually, genuinely holds no ill-will towards his parents. And it’s not even a matter of the fact that they’re dead and long dead at that, so his grievances have been to put to bed. He just genuinely loved his parents, and they genuinely loved him back as well. They did their best for their son, and their only real ‘fuck-up’ was the arranged marriage to Antoinette, but Duke realizes that they were tricked into believing she was sane. Other than that, he knows they loved him very much and when he asked for help, even when he asked for help to keep his children, Minette and Alitte safe- (a huge risk at the time) they always came through. How often does your OC “zone out” or do things on autopilot and how severe have the problems that have arisen from that been? Usually pretty often. Being immortal and living for so long, sometimes mundane things just sort of... start to all bleed together. He’s definitely accidentally cut himself in various ways while cooking because he’s not paying attention, and he doesn’t quite feel pain as easily as others. How strong or weak is your OC’s Impulse control? What’s the worst thing that happened becuase of thier Impulsivity or inability to be so? It’s pretty weak. It’s gotten better now that he’s remarried, and he knows Dracyn would be upset if something happened to him despite being immortal. But before he met Dracyn, he was incredibly impulsive and would often times throw himself into situations that would end up with him dead and or seriously maimed. These days he’s a touch more restrained if only because he doesn’t want to explain to his husband why he’s got a gaping, bloody hole in his chest. How does your OC sabotage themselves? Prior to getting married, Duke would often sabotage relationships and friendships if he started to feel cornered and ‘too happy’ His greatest fear is always seeing the ones he loves growing old and die. Sometimes he could handle it, other times he would clam up and simply... leave, with no explanation. Just in the middle of the night, leave without a word, and often go to the Fury’s Gaze in Coerthas where he’d forcefully and continually commit suicide as an extremely unhealthy way to cope with the feelings of loss and grief over once again, not letting himself get close to people in fear of their eventual death. What’s the trashiest item in your OC’s wardrobe, when was the last time they wore it and why do they still have it? Duke has many trashy items in his wardrobe as he is A. immortal and thus has to change his style in accordance with the times and B. He does not get rid of anything.  As such, he has some incredibly questionable fashion choices in his closet, and insists on keeping them in case they one day come back in fashion. How Dehydrated is your OC right now? Are they going to fix this? Duke is always teetering usually on the edge of dehydration. He’s gotten better about accidentally starving himself, mainly because he has his family he eats with every day, and thus, he eats with them even though he can go a bit longer without eating. Staying hydrated however, he can be a bit forgetful. As he’s immortal, and can’t die from it really, he’s gotten used to going without for longer periods of time, and sometimes just doesn’t recognize the signs. Thankfully he has a husband that typically reminds him if he’s looking a bit peak. It’s not intentional, it’s just one of those weird things he just forgets after being immortal for so long.  What’s your OC smell like?  no, not that “Vanilla and Anxiety” evocative stuff, realistically.  Body odor? what have they been touching all day? When was thier last shower? Did they put on any kind of artificial scent? I’ve always headcanoned Duke’s smells very specifically- and spoke about it under the hygiene question. Duke typically always has an underlying odd smell, often times like blood, occasionally a bit more... dead. This stems A. from his curse and B. the fact he tries(ed) to kill himself so often. He’s very self conscience about it, as he knows he may not be able to smell it himself as he’s kind of used too it. So he’s pretty obsessive about washing up. He typically smells of leather due to what he wears, and often like chocolate and cinnamon from his baking. He also probably has a fancy cologne he wears, probably a floral/rose scent.  This is also the reason he’s typically a bit iffy around animals, as animals can typically detect the underlying smell on him and ofc are like “the fuck is this unnatural dead dude.” Miqo’te might be a bit more sensitive around him too, but again- he takes GREAT pains to mask it.  ---------

feel free to steal and do yourself! tag me if you do cos i love reading shit like this!!!! 

[acti-veg]

“Is it okay to kill pests?”

This is one of those areas where the lines can become a little bit blurred for some vegans. Whether it’s through fear, convenience, or just not knowing what else to do people can often contradict their values and act in ways which aren’t consistent with vegan ethics. There are several different opinions on this within the vegan community, all I can really offer here is my own and try to justify as best I can, but I am by no means speaking on behalf of all vegans.

Firstly, I think it’s necessary to distinguish between pests who are deemed so because they pose a genuine risk to human health, and those we call pests simply because we don’t like having them around. Having a rat or mite infestation in your house is a pest problem, because they can post a genuine risk to humans, will make life uncomfortable, could destroy your property and will make living conditions unhygienic. A spider who has wandered into your house to get out of the cold or to hunt is not a pest, and unless they are venomous they pose no genuine safety risk to you or your family. 

Even if an animal genuinely is a pest, that is not a good reason to inflict unnecessary cruelty on them. Where a humane alternative exists, which it usually does, there can be no moral justification for choosing to kill an animal when it isn’t necessary to do so. That an animal occupies the same space as you is not a reasonable reason to kill them unless there is literally no other reasonable option available to you.  You might be disgusted by an animal in your home, or genuinely frightened of them, but how you feel about a specific animal doesn’t have any impact on whether they deserve to be treated humanely, including allowing them to live where it is possible to do so.

The most humane option for dealing any pest is preventive measures to ensure they don’t enter your home in the first place, including storing food in proper containers, cleaning any food waste regularly, sealing cracks in walls and blocking space under doors, or any other potential points of entry. When a pest problem emerges in a home, it is usually because these steps have not been taken adequately. For specific animals you might have a problem with, there are usually natural deterrents which are very effective, ranging from fruit juices, specific herbs or flowers, and chemical deterrents depending on the animal in question. There will almost always be a way to deter an animal from entering your house in the first place if you know there is a risk of them doing so.

Once a pest has already established itself in your house, deterrent may no longer be an option for you. If capture and release is possible, which it usually is, this should be the first thing you attempt. Humane traps for rats and mice are widely available, cheap and effective, such as this one. When using catch and release traps, these should only be active when you are in the house and can check the traps at least every two hours. Animals become extremely agitated when trapped like this, and can go into shock or harm themselves trying to escape if not released in good time. A local park is the best place to release, do so gently by opening the trap and setting them in the grass, giving them plenty of time to leave of their own accord rather than forcing them to. For insects and arachnids, humane bug catchers like this one are very effective and don’t require you to get close to the animal in question if you’d rather not do that.

If you are dealing with a true infestation and there is no chance of dealing with the issue in a non-lethal manner, then that may be your last resort. If an animal poses a genuine risk to your health or that of your family, then self-defence can be a reasonable cause for killing, when all other options have been exhausted. This is never a good thing and it’s deeply unfortunate, but it can be necessary in some scenarios, particularly when dealing with insect infestations or animals which pose a real risk of infection, like mosquitoes and cockroaches. Keep in mind that veganism is about avoiding unnecessary harm to animals, but we have to acknowledge that not all harm is unnecessary in all circumstances. It would be unreasonable to expect anyone to tolerate an infestation in their home out of a strict adherence to veganism,  since all moral frameworks have to be practical or they will become useless and unobtainable. 

When it comes to dealing with pests, we need to make sure we don’t leave our veganism at the door and act out of instinct, fear or discomfort, no matter how tempting that might be. That we don’t always like the animals who share our homes with us is no excuse for treating them unkindly, and our personal feelings towards them should have no impact on whether or not they deserve to be alive. We should apply the same logic to rats, mice, insects and arachnids as we do to all animals, that we should avoid harming them wherever possible, and treat them as individuals whose rights and lives must be respected. No matter how small, how scary or how different they are to us, all animals have the right to life a life free from unnecessary suffering, and we should grant them that right whenever it is in our power to do so.

(More resources available at Acti-veg.com)

[otc-dramaturgy]

Spotlight Saturday

Today we’re shining a spotlight on Jessica Lefkow, who plays Ann Putnam and Sarah Good!

The Crucible is an American classic. Have you encountered this play before? If so, what was your first experience with it? I remember reading the play in school, and being gripped from the very first by the impossible stakes and fear of the characters

This is a play that uses the Salem Witch Trials as an allegory for the Red Scare and has become a timeless classic that is seemingly more relevant as time goes on. What in this play do you relate to? What elements are relevant to you right now? My character Anne Putnam buys into the idea that all blessings come from God as a reward for humans who adhere to narrow, exclusionary definitions of righteousness. By extraction, she believes that when bad things happen, the moral failure of humans who live/believe otherwise is to blame. In this play Anne's personal woes prompt her to seek human agency as their cause, unleashing a murderous chain of events. Those currently in positions of political ascendancy in the USA so clearly and undisguisedly adhere to the same worldview as the Putnams that old fault lines of privilege and oppression which are cooked into our American DNA are being exposed and nourished as the racist, classist poison that they've always been. We are seeing this cabal and others like them across the land use such reasoning to justify unspeakable cruelty and injustice towards their fellows on a scale which, as in the play, threatens even those who previously thought themselves immune to to such horrors.

Do you believe in witchcraft and the occult? Why or why not? Do I believe they exist? Yes. Do I believe IN them? No. I have no investment in any systemic approach to deciphering the levers of our spiritual existence, but I'd be blind to evidence were I to deny their power amongst those who do believe. I'd even go so far to say that the ability to recognize and lend power to the 'truth' of things that are not real is at the root of what makes us human; we ARE the stories we tell ourselves. Actors exploit this ability to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances every time we step on stage. In fact what we do - what every artist does - is so dangerous for despots, (whether they hold power or simply yearn for for it) precisely because what we unleash really can change the world.

[qcdastuff]

Carding the Veil

Prologue

Thedas is a world in chaos. And nearly always it has been a world at war.

There have been wars between nations that decimated bloodlines and wars between species that tasted like genocide. There have been Exalted Marches against infidels and civil wars so bloody they threatened to fell the nation in on itself. Now, however, it seems the south of Thedas is embroiled in a war between mages and everyone else. But the south of Thedas is not all of Thedas.

In the North, the Tevinter Imperium has stood strong for over two thousand years, even as whole nations have been carved out from it's once-expansive territory. It still manages to be a powerhouse, a terror - a nation feared by all others - if for no other reason than that it is run by Mages.

Run by Mages on the backs of slaves - the last nation to officially keep to the institution. The majority of the nation is non-magical - sleepers - ‘Soporati’. But it does not matter; the nobles are all Mages themselves, and they live in decadence hardly seen elsewhere. They practice their arcane arts in prestigious colleges and circles, learning and expanding the breadth and depth of what magic can do. All of their progress, however, comes as a price - the lives and blood of elves and non-magical poor alike, reduced to chattel. But for all their extravagance, for all their callous disregard, they also play a vital role in Thedas.

The Imperium is nearly the only thing holding the Qunari in check. ‘Ox-men’ they are sometimes called, but never to their faces, not when they’re armed. Not unless you outnumber them. They are, as a people, tall and broad-shouldered; great horns curling from their heads, and to the Tevinter mindset, they are bloodthirsty savages.

While their appearance may cause fear or distress or disgust, it is their beliefs that cause them to make war against the rest of the world. For the Qunari themselves believe that they were once savages. Once bloodthirsty barbarians - Kossith. And then Ashkaari Koslun wrote ‘The Qun’, and his people fell upon it - consumed it - were consumed by it. It brought order to their chaos and purpose to their lives. They became The Qunari - the People of the Qun.

It is the Qunari’s mission to spread this message, this enlightenment, this order across all of Thedas. And they know what the Tevene know, and what all the rest of Thedas fears: If Tevinter should fall - all of Thedas will fall.

So yes, The Tevinter Imperium is full of slavers and power-hungry mages stabbing each other in the back over land squabbles and slave gifts and seats on the Magisterium. But they are also Thedas’ last line of defense against the Qunari menace, and so they get away with doing as they please.

For no other nation in Thedas can claim that they are ruled by mages. The Rivaini may have their Seers and the Avaar Tribes their Augurs, but these are not who rule their people. They merely provide counsel. The Rivaini have a working relationship with their magics, and the Avaar practice theirs under the watchful eye of benevolent spirits. It is because these peoples do not subscribe to the predominant religion of the continent that they have such a tolerant view of magic.

For the majority of nations, magic is not something that is allowed to run free. It is not something that is allowed to be practiced out on the streets or out from under the watchful eye of the Chantry.

It is the Chantry - the Church of Andraste, blessed Bride of the Maker - that truly holds most of Thedas in an iron grip. It is the Chantry which demands, more than guides, the mores, the conventions in Thedas. ‘Magic is meant to serve man’, cries the Chantry, and with this one snippet crushes magic under heel.

Ferelden, Orlais, Nevarra, The Free Marches, Antiva, and even the vast wasteland of the Anderfels all march to the Chantry’s tune. Mages are rounded up, as soon as they manifest their power, and are taken to be locked away in towers called Circles - for their own good. On the surface, it is claimed that these Mages, these children, are taken there to teach them control. To teach them how to make the magic serve them. But in reality - they are prisoners. For the only way a Mage actually leaves a Circle is by running away - which is never permanent. Or death.

The children are trained up and given a choice. They may participate in a ritual where they are thrust into the realm of magic, facing off against a demon in a Harrowing that will try to possess them (which of course they must resist) - or they can be made Tranquil. Cut off from magic, the Tranquil are also cut off from their emotions. They tend to become alchemists and storeroom clerks in the Circles - for even a magicless Mage cannot leave.

The true horror of the Circles, for most, comes with the arm of the Chantry stationed in every tower to watch the Mages. Templars. Trained in how to resist magic, in how to snuff it out, the Templars are said to be shepherds for their little flocks of Mages. In practice. In reality, they are jailers. They oversee the Harrowings and behead the Mages who fail to resist possession. They hunt down escaped Mages, and collect children to be brought to the Circle. They mete out punishment for any wrongdoing by Mages, and are the ones trained in performing the Rite of Tranquility.

In the best of circumstances, the Templars work with the Mages. They are there to protect them - from the outside world, from demons, from themselves if need be. They only kill who they must. They only make Tranquil those who know they are not strong enough to battle a demon and win.

But anyone alive can tell you how often the best-case scenario plays out. At their worst, they are corrupted by power. Abusing their charges in any way they see fit - because there is no one to stop them. Making Tranquil those who speak up against the abuse, those who would not submit. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. A lesson learned, and a scenario that played out in the Kirkwall Circle, in the Free Marches.

Kirkwall had once been a part of the Tevinter Imperium - as had all of the Free Marches - and it had been a hub for the slave trade. The City still looks it - giant golden statues carved and mounted into the rock face of it's main harbor of slaves in chains. The city itself is physically divided - the higher the social status, the higher in the city you live. Many even live below the city, where the slave pits used to run.

By most accounts, it is in Kirkwall where the flame of the Mage Revolution began. The Kirkwall Circle was more corrupt than most - it’s Templar Knight-Commander Meredith, a tyrant. She wielded the brand of Tranquility as easily as a sword, snuffing out resistance and letting her favored minions do as they would with their new playthings. She only grew more mad and corrupted as the years went on. She was helped by a sword she had commissioned - carved entirely out of red lyrium.

Lyrium in itself was dangerous, as anything in the wrong hands. Useful in the right ones. When distilled and blended properly it gave boosts in magic endurance and strength to Mages. It allowed Templars their ability to suppress magic. It was used in enchantments, and potions,  and the construction of magical staves. And always, always, that bright, electric blue.

Red Lyrium was and is still yet a bit of a mystery - corrupting and turning to madness anything that stays too long in its presence. Including the Knight-Commander. Meredith had hallucinated insurrection where there was none and corruption everywhere except within herself. Until finally - she snapped - and ordered the Annulment of the Circle.

Every Mage was to be put to the sword. Every man. Every woman. Every child.

According to most, an Apostate Mage - an escapee of a Circle - was the one who started it all. The one who could no longer tolerate her cruelty and lies and persecution. He blew up and destroyed the Kirkwall Chantry - the supposed seat of power for the Templars, though Meredith had long stopped listening to their edicts. He bombed the Kirkwall Circle and led the Mages to freedom - escape and riot and revenge against their oppressors.

The innocent and the guilty alike burned in those fires, and the outrage was immediate. Those who knew nothing railed against the Mage who destroyed the Chantry - feeling justified in their fear of Magic, in their belief that Mages should be locked away.

The Mages, however, saw their opportunity. Saw their chance. Even without knowing the full scope of the horrors of Kirkwall, every Mage knew what the worst of their situation would look like. Many had experienced it first hand. And so, because the liberation of Kirkwall had succeeded, all across Thedas, Circles rose up in open rebellion. Mages were no longer willing to be shackled and caged - they wanted freedom , and they wanted it NOW.

But the Chantry cannot allow such a thing. For magic to serve man, it needs to be controlled . Regulated. Put in its place. Templars have done their best to fight the Mages at every turn. To hunt down these rebel Mages; they seek to drag them kicking and screaming back to their towers, or else see them dead.

Brutal fights rage across Thedas as the Mages and Templars each try to see the end of the other, and so many innocents are caught in the crossfire. So now, the head of the Chantry, Most Holy - Divine Justinia - has called for a truce. A meeting of minds. To discuss the future of Mages and to bring peace to Thedas. For this war cannot be sustained. It cannot be borne by the common folk without destroying life as everyone knows it.

Thus, the Conclave was called. At the Temple of Sacred Ashes, where the last remains of Holy Andraste, Bride of the Maker, are ensconced. Mages and Templars alike are to come to the Conclave under a banner of truce, to meet, and to discuss the direction they will go into the future together .

There are many who think Most Holy mad - who think this cannot work. But as religion unites countries, so too does it unite people. No one can deny that Divine Justinia is a fair and just woman - chosen by her peers for the position, of course - but also blessed by the Maker.

And so they come - from the Free Marches and Ferelden and Orlais and Antiva and Nevarra and the Anderfels - they come. Up to the Frostback Mountains, up to the Temple. They come to listen to Divine Justinia and what the Maker might tell her. They come and they pray there is a solution to this that doesn’t burn down all of Thedas.

...

Chapter 1

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23582437/chapters/60499582

[antisemitism-eu]

On Polish antisemitism

Over the past couple of days, my blog attracted a few commentators who feel that Poland is misrepresented on this blog. Specifically for this article: "Poland: President Duda says Jews are safer in Poland than in Western Europe, denies responsibility for Holocaust crimes" Apparently my post got to a "Polish media issues" group on Facebook and they got organized to protect Poland's honor.

Let me first quote from the article by Prof. Deborah Lipstadt, which is prominently linked on the original post:

While Poland had terrible and extensive examples of antisemitism [read Jan Gross' Neighbors or his more recent work Fear for compelling examples of this], nonetheless let's not confuse that with the German plan to wipe out European Jewry. [I reviewed Gross' Fear and may have myself gone a bit overboard in condemning an entire nation. ] Auschwitz, Maidanek, Sobibor, Treblinka, Chelmno, and Belzec were not "Polish" death camps. They were German camps that were placed in Poland by the Germans because that was where most of the victims were. This is not a brief on behalf of the Poles of the 1940s. It's a reminder to keep one's historical eyes where they belong, i.e. on Germany. I strongly recommend Rethinking Poles and Jews: Trouble Past, Brighter Future edited by Robert Cherry and Annamaria Orla-Bukowska for a series of essays that pierce the stereotypes which have obscured historical reality.

I completely agree.  Auschwitz was not a "Polish" death camp.  It was a Nazi death camp.  Poland was under Nazi occupation and suffered greatly for it. So what's the problem? 1. Context - President Duda's statements in the original post come as part of an organized attempt to cast off blame for any crimes committed by Poles during and after the Holocaust. See here:

President Andrzej Duda said the nation's new "historical policy offensive" aims to create a new generation of patriots and "to build up the country's position in the international space." Critics see historical revisionism that will produce little beyond national self-righteousness and will prevent an honest reckoning with the country's wartime history - an extremely complex story that includes suffering and heroism of the highest order but also cases of murder and betrayal by Poles of defenseless Jews. "They want to narrow our view of the past," said Pawel Spiewak, director of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. "They want to use the state apparatus to force their new view of political history, and this is very dangerous."

2.  Denial of antisemitism -  Explaining why Poland was not responsible for Auschwitz is not good enough for some people.  They claim that there was no antisemitism at all against Jews, or that any violence against Jews was done by a few 'criminal individuals', or even worse - that it was justified, because Jews were the enemy (ie, part of the Soviet regime).  Some commentators have thoroughly studied anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sources (including Jewish and Israeli ones), in order to show that Jews are not better than Poles.  They wave away the stories of blood libels and pogroms.  Deny that Jews were murdered by fellow Poles during the Holocaust, even by fellow fighters against Nazis.  Deny that Jewish Holocaust survivors faced violence in Poland.  Deny current-day antisemitism.  According to a recent poll, antisemitism is endemic in today's Poland. 60% of Poles believe that Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust. 50% of Poles believe that Polish Jews are more loyal to Israel than to Poland. 50% of Poles believe Jews have too much power in the business world and in the financial markets. 40% believe Jews have too much control over global affairs. 30% believe Jews have too much control over the global media. Those are extremely high numbers. As Prof. Lipstadt points out, many Jews think the Poles played a part in the Holocaust.  Many of those claims are incorrect.  So where do they come from? I believe those claims are rooted in history.  Over the last century and a half, many Polish Jews fled their country, carrying with them stories of Polish cruelty against Jews prior to the Holocaust. The sheer destruction of Polish Jewry in the Holocaust is staggering.  90% of Polish Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.  Many of those Jews had family that had fled previously.  Receiving news of your loved one's death in a country that you had fled from, does not encourage one to see that country positively, regardless of the circumstances. And it didn't stop there.  After the Holocaust, there's accounts of violence and pogroms against Holocaust survivors.  In the 1960s, Jews again faced antisemitism, when the Soviet-controlled government sponsored an antisemitic campaign.  The Polish people are not responsible for crimes they did not commit.  But the Polish people were and are extremely antisemitic.  Claiming otherwise is rewriting history and denying reality. This blog is an activist blog in the fight against antisemitism.  It is not meant as a 'free speech' forum for incitement against Jews.    My suggestion to anybody who wants to fight the perception that the Polish people are responsible for the Holocaust: 1. Do not wave away or deny Jewish accounts of antisemitism and violence against Jews 2. Do not attack Jews or Israel as a way to prove to Jews that you're not antisemitic The New Antisemite: http://ift.tt/2qyXmHp

[amitsinhavidhi]

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN INDIA AND THE LEGAL PROVISIONS

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:-

When a person abuses another person to gain control or authority over the other person by means of abusive behavior/manner or way is called domestic violence. Domestic violence takes place between close relationship and within the family. Domestic violence includes any kind of violence suffered by a person from a biological relative.

Domestic violence is neither a onetime violence nor does it happens automatically. It is a ongoing process, It does not happens with women only but almost everyone who is suffering from VIOLENCE whether it is a child, elder ,or husband.

It takes place to infiltrate fear or dominance over other, the abusive partner or individual adopts this behavior because of the following reasons:-

·       It happens because of anger issues

·       To use their power on a weak person,

·       The habit to dominate other,

·       The person find it thrilling,

·       To prove that they are superior,

·       Some find pleasure in it.

·       In most of the cases economic circumstances is the reason of violence.

·       Extra marital affair,

·       Alcoholism,

·       Violent childhood is also one of the reasons for domestic violence.

Hence, there is no logical reason to it. It is all about control and dominance over other person. The process of domestic violence harms the person in many ways, the victim’s confidence decreases, it hampers their self-respect and mentally it also breaks the person.

Domestic violence commonly known as family violence, relationship violence, intimate partner violence and child abuse.

TYPES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:-

·       PHYSICAL ABUSE

·       SOCIAL ABUSE

·       MENTAL ABUSE

·       SEXUAL ABUSE

·       ECONOMIC ABUSE

·       VERBAL ABUSE

1.    PHYSICAL ABUSE: - Physical abuse is any kind of abuse which shows aggressive behavior of a person through which a victim suffers injury, suffocation, trapped etc. It includes hitting, beating, slapping, kicking, punching, choking, pulling hair, threatening to harm child or close relatives, damaging the door or household furniture, or keeping the person hostage etc.

2.    SOCIAL ABUSE: - Social abuse means to insult a person socially by way of degrading their self-esteem, by using degrading words or telling them that they are not capable of anything

3.    MENTAL ABUSE: - It is a subtle form of abuse in this form of abuse victim suffers mental torture and sometimes this result suicide.

4.    SEXUAL ABUSE: - Sexual abuse means using of sex in an exploitative form. It includes both oral and physical behavior

5.    ECONOMIC ABUSE: - Economic abuse means to control the victim financially so they are not able to maintain their self and depend solely on the mercy of abuser

6.    VERBAL ABUSE: - Verbal abuse means using of foul languages or threatens the victim to hurt him/her or to kill their child, parents, and pets or damage their property

CAUSES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:-

Domestic violence is not a new problem in our society, it is the most common problem which takes place in almost every house no matter whether they are educated or not ,rich or poor.

Almost everyone is suffering from violence but mostly women are the sufferers, one of the reasons for violence is the orthodox and idiotic mindset of the society that women are physically and emotionally weaker than males.

The causes of domestic violence are many some of them are as follows:-

·       Anger issues

·       Dominating power

·       Intoxication

·       Mental issues

·       Disturbed childhood

·       Dowry demand

·       Stress issue

EFFECTS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:-

Domestic violence is not good for anyone who is suffering from it whether it is a male, female, children or elders.

It Affects them severely and mostly damages the health condition both physically and psychologically.

·       The victim becomes quiet and unsocial

·       If they are working member then they lose the efficiency to do work.

·       They isolate themselves.

·       Suffer from depression, lack of sleep and dehydration

·       They lose their appetite and their body becomes weak.

·       In some cases children become violent because of the situations taking place in their home.

It destroys the happiness of people and they become distant in some of the situations when it becomes unbearable, people often try to kill themselves and commit suicide.

DYNAMICS:-

According to UNICEF’s global report card on adolescents 2012, 53% of girls and 57% of boys in India think a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wide.

LEGAL EFFORTS:-

The Indian Parliament passed a new law with the goal of more effectively protecting women from sexual violence in India. It came in the form of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act in 2003, which further amends the INDIAN PENAL CODE 1860, the CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE of 1973, the INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT 1872, and the protection of children from sexual offences Act, 2012.

LAWS RELATED TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN INDIA:

·       The Indian Penal Code Amendment in 1983: A special section, numbered 498A, that officially made domestic violence a criminal offence was added to the Indian Penal Code in 1983. The section of the law specifically covers cruelty towards married women by their husbands or their husband’s families

·       The 2005 Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act: It gives a specific definition of Domestic Violence actual or threats of physical, mental, emotional, sexual or verbal abuse as well as harassment regarding dowry or property. It gives a women’s right to reside in their “matrimonial household”, she cannot be evicted from her the house as she rightfully share it with her husband. Violators of this law will either be mandate to compensate the women financially, or will be served a restraining order to keep them away from the complainant.

·       The Indian Penal Code 1860: there are several sections mentioned in the code to protect women from violence such as Section 364 INDIAN PENAL CODE Outraging Modesty of Women, Section 304 INDIAN PENAL CODE Dowry Death, Section 313 causing miscarriage without women’s consent, etc.

LEGAL MEASURES FOR THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN UNDER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT 2005:

·       Section 4 (1) states that any person who has reason to believe that an act of domestic violence has been, or is being, or is likely to be committed, may give information about it to the concerned protection officer.

·       Section 5 states duties of police officers, service providers and magistrate.

·       Section 6 provides shelter homes to the aggrieved person on request made by the protection officer or a service provider.

·       Section 12 states the procedure for obtaining relief from the magistrate.

·       Section 17 gives the right to women to reside in a shared household, whether or not she has any right, title or beneficial interest in the same.

·       Section 18 states about the protection order given to the aggrieved person by the magistrate.

·       Section 19 states about the residence orders given to the aggrieved person by the order of magistrate, 19(3) the magistrate directs the respondent to execute a bond if require, with or without sureties, for preventing the commission of domestic violence.

·       Section 20 directs the respondent to pay monetary relief to the aggrieved person and any child of the aggrieved person as a result of the domestic violence.

·       Section 21 allows temporary custody of a child to the aggrieved person.

·       Section 22 orders the respondent to pay compensation to the aggrieved person for the injuries, including mental torture and emotional distress caused by him by the acts of domestic violence on an application made by the aggrieved person.

·       Section 31 states penalty for breach of protection order by respondent , if the respondent breaches a protection order or an interim protection order he shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to twenty thousand rupees, or with both.

·       Section 33 penalizes the protection officer if he fails to discharge his duties as directed by the magistrate in the protection order without reasonable cause.

In general notion people believe that women are the only victims of domestic violence and men are the abuser, which is a myth.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST MEN:

Women are not the only victim of domestic violence males also suffer from it but it becomes difficult to identify that men is a victim and not an abuser. As our mind is set that it is a male dominating society and they are the abuser women are the weaker section of the society and they are the victims only.

There are lots of provisions and acts in India that are made to protect women and now many of the women take advantage of it. Men also go through mental cruelty as well as physical cruelty but either they are ashamed to share about the violence they are facing or feared that nobody will trust them and instead people are going to make fun of them. It is not easy for men to come in front and tell people about the violence they are facing because of their respective partners and if someone makes a courageous move and files a complaint against the abuser then the investigating officer either will not believe it or will neglect the situation.

India is a patriarchal society and it is a common belief that men are the abuser and they suppress the women to maintain their control over her but it is not the only truth. If we look at the opposite side of the coin then we can see that men are also the victims of violence and it is really difficult for them to come in front and tell people that they are facing such violence.

Men can be victims why it is difficult for us to accept the fact, we always talk about equality of rights but are we really equal, why we are blind when the matter comes to see that men also needs help and legal justice.

Violence becomes a common thing people who possess dominating nature just suppress the weaker partner it may be men or women. It is high time to stop gender bias and take a step to cease the violence act no matter who is the victim.

CASE LAWS:-

RAZIA BEGUM vs. STATE, NCT OF DELHI AND ORS.

Delhi High Court

Protection of women from domestic violence act, 2005- section 2(q), 2(f) - ‘respondent’- every relative of husband cannot be made as respondent- in order to fix liability upon a respondent, he must be a person who is or has been in domestic relationship with aggrieved person.

KRISHAN KUMAR AND ORS, Vs. NAVNEET AND Others.

Punjab and Haryana High Court:-

Right to reside- Section 2(s) of protection of women from domestic violence act- house being exclusively belonging to father-in-law, it could not be called as a shared household within ambit of section 2(s) of the act.

SHABNAM PARVEEN VS, STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND OTHERS.

Calcutta High Court:-

Interim maintenance- widow daughter-in-law not entitled to and maintenance from her father-in-law.

CONCLUSION:-

Domestic violence is not a small problem it is a big issue to think. Monetary problems, alcoholism, illiteracy, extramarital affairs, bad childhood and dowry are the major reasons of domestic violence.

The victims most commonly face physical violence by their partners; there is an urgent need of more and more domestic violence counseling centers throughout the country.

History is evidence that no legislation has succeeded in totally eliminating crime from the globe.

Though not all people are victims to domestic violence but there are people who are suffering from violence. There are many laws to help people but it is only possible when people are aware of their rights and duties.

The legal system is lacking where it comes to protect men from domestic violence, they are the victims too, and we should look into the broader perspective and start accepting that women are no weaker and only sufferers in some cases men also face violence and they also need legal help as well as psychological help.

[theconservativebrief]

The Trump administration is under searing criticism nationwide as a result of its “zero-tolerance” policy that has resulted in the separation of thousands of children from parents who are being criminally prosecuted for illegally entering the United States. Facing a torrent of criticism, even from traditional allies, the administration has hunkered down; officials are framing the policy as necessary to deter rising family migration from Central America.

“When you prosecute the parents for coming in illegally, which should happen, you have to take the children away … when people come up, they have to know they can’t get in,” President Donald Trump said Tuesday.

Deterrence is hardly a new concept in border enforcement. It’s been the basic principle behind immigration policy, enforced to varying degrees, for several administrations. But until now, the stiffest forms of punishment — prosecution and federal prison time — were reserved for adults traveling alone, not families.

But it is far from clear whether the new shock-and-awe measures will substantially deter future migrants from Central America, including families with children. Past experience does not demonstrate an “implement policy, achieve desired outcome” effect.

The reasons are many, not least that the forces that impel people to migrate are entangled with profound economic, political, and other realities. This is especially true for recent migrants from Central America, who have faced intense pressure to migrate due to poverty, natural disasters, civil wars, and extreme gang violence in recent decades.

For decades, deterrence has guided the philosophy of policing the border. Starting in the 1990s, the US Border Patrol expanded its capabilities to apprehend illegal crossers along the US-Mexico border. It sealed off major urban centers and thereby forced migrants to cross in more remote, dangerous areas. The US government has also used public service announcements in Mexico and Central America to broadcast messages about the dangers of crossing the border in arid deserts and rugged mountainous areas.

During the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, the government began imposing what the Border Patrol calls “consequences” for illegal crossing beyond simply turning them away. This includes the repatriation of migrants far from where they crossed — for instance, sending people apprehended in California back to Mexico through ports of entry in Texas, in an effort to break bonds with local smugglers.

Other tactics include formal deportation, which bars people from future legal admission to the United States, and prosecuting them in federal courts, where they may receive significant prison sentences.

These strategies were designed to raise psychological and financial costs for would-be border crossers, forcing them to think twice about the consequences of attempting illegal entry. There is some evidence that this system of deterrence worked. Fears about dying of exposure in the desert or mountains, being kidnapped or extorted by criminal elements along the border, or spending a few months in a US jail appear to have cut down the number of people who attempted a border crossing.

Border Patrol apprehensions at the Southwest border, which hit a 1.6 million peak in 2000 and exceeded 1 million as recently as 2006, plummeted to just over 300,000 in 2017 — a level not seen since the early 1970s.

The effectiveness of deterrence policies can also be seen in the declining number of people trying to cross the border more than once. In 2007, 29 percent of apprehended migrants were “recidivists” who were caught more than once in the same year; in 2014, the rate was just 14 percent. Border Patrol agents and researchers have attributed the decline to increased costs and dangers associated with repatriation through remote areas, the shock of being forced to appear in federal court (often in shackles and chains) and federal prison sentences that can last up to six months for first-time entrants and longer for those accused of multiple reentry or assisting smugglers.

But the dramatic drop in apprehensions is not due to deterrence alone. The United States has become a less attractive option for migrants for other reasons: In Mexico, historic improvements in the economy and education system have also kept more people at home. (And birth rates are declining, reducing the supply of migrants.)

Finally, the US recession in 2008 reduced the number of jobs that served as magnets for unauthorized immigrant workers. For immigrants seeking a brighter economic future, crossing the border to the US was no longer worth the risk.

Historically, the vast majority of apprehended migrants have been young adults from Mexico. But in 2014, for the first time, the Border Patrol apprehended more Central Americans than Mexicans.

That year, moreover, 29 percent of apprehensions were families or children traveling alone, up from less than 10 percent a decade ago. They did not fit the profile of previous migrants looking for economic opportunity: Many were fleeing domestic or gang violence in their home countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

During the Obama and preceding administrations, asylum-seeking migrants like these were largely spared from harsher deterrence tactics. Most families and adults traveling alone who were intercepted and who claimed asylum were released into the United States pending immigration court hearings.

Due to immigration court backlogs, most of the families, children, and other asylum seekers spent years in the United States awaiting the resolution of their cases. The vast majority of families and children apprehended since 2014 remain in the United States. On the campaign trail in 2016, Trump joined others in criticizing “catch-and-release” policies that allowed asylum seekers to remain in the United States for years, a practice that, he argued, incentivized illegal immigration.

The election of Trump, who made tough immigration enforcement a centerpiece of his campaign, proved a deterrent of its own, at least for a while. During 2017, apprehensions fell to near-record lows amid sharp rhetoric from the president combined with tough executive orders on immigration and a surge in arrests of unauthorized immigrants inside the United States.

But a year later, this “Trump effect” has largely subsided; in the period from March through May 2018, apprehensions reverted to levels similar to those of 2014 through 2016. Meanwhile, the share of families and children among apprehended migrants rose to 39 percent, compared to under 10 percent a decade ago.

Last month, the Trump administration responded to the increase in family arrivals by announcing the new “zero-tolerance” policy, which has resulted in the heart-rending stories of family separation we’re hearing about. Prosecution of parents for illegal entry in federal court requires separation from children, who cannot be held with them in criminal incarceration.

But in the worst case, if their asylum claims are denied, parents may be deported, leaving their children in the US. These children could remain in our country in long-term foster care if the Office of Refugee Resettlement cannot find another family member in the country who is willing and able to care for them.

And whether this strategy will deter family flows from Central America in the long term remains to be seen.

El Salvador and Honduras have among the highest murder rates in the world. Gang violence is an ever-present danger, especially for women and young people gangs try to recruit. Guatemala is experiencing ongoing political instability and has a high rate of extreme poverty. Research shows significant shares of child migrants from all three countries witnessed violence or were threatened by violence before fleeing.

The fact that apprehensions slowed last year only to rebound this year suggests that the reasons people are fleeing the region are powerful enough to overcome severe deterrence policies. Migrants are risking their lives to get away from horrific conditions without guarantee of success — only a small percentage ultimately meet the stringent US criteria for granting asylum.

What then is the answer? How can humanitarian protection for adults and children with valid asylum claims be balanced against policies that are essential to maintaining border security?

The solution cannot simply be more punishment, especially when it inflicts significant and lasting psychological harm on children. Such a solution is antithetical not just to international norms but to American values, whatever the deterrent effect might prove to be.

Moreover, while there is evidence that prosecution, shackling, and the threat of prison time have in the past deterred economic migrants from attempting to enter the United States illegally, these forms of deterrence are likely to be less successful with humanitarian migrants, especially families and children, who are often fleeing life-or-death circumstances in their home countries.

Family apprehensions have not dropped since the new policy was implemented, but it is still too soon to know. Even if they do, it is morally reprehensible to forcibly separate children from parents under any circumstances — deterrence cannot justify such cruelty.

Randy Capps is director of research for US Programs at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, DC. He is a leading national expert on US immigration policies and immigrant demographics and integration. Capps has written numerous reports on immigrant populations at the state and local levels and recently completed a national study of immigration enforcement during the Trump administration.

The Big Idea is Vox’s home for smart discussion of the most important issues and ideas in politics, science, and culture — typically by outside contributors. If you have an idea for a piece, pitch us at thebigidea@vox.com.

Original Source -> Family separation isn’t just immoral. It’s likely ineffective.

via The Conservative Brief