#if humanity is inherently good and someone chooses to do good then so what. its in their nature

[nightcolorz]

in the books when Armand’s monstrosity and inherent violent nature is discussed or implied by other characters hes often compared to “the devil” or a demon, or an imp, smth like that. Which is part of why I think it’s so interesting how the current (amc iwtv) fandom takes that same concept and equates it with predatory wild animals, like tigers, sharks, stuff like that. On one hand the imagery of the devil is more vague (no one has any physical connection to the danger “the devil” poses), and it definitely gives an air of more mysterious power, but it also implies much more agency then an animal does. Devils are humanoid, they have complex thought, and tho they are inherently evil, they do evil in a way that is seen as calculated and malicious. Devils are scheming, clever, and they choose to hurt people bcus the inherent evil they have means that they enjoy doing it. Maybe the devil was born that way, or it was damned to be a devil, either way it has little choice in being an agent of evil. But it still chooses to participate in that role, it has the capability to choose, and to think through what it does, to understand why it chooses to do it

but for an animal, the imagery of comparing someone to a predator animal is very visceral, strikingly insulting. Predator animals r mindless killers 💀 they r built to hurt u, there is no rhyme or reason or way to train a wild animal, it’s going to kill u. But the main difference here is that an animal doesn’t kill out of malice or spite or a desire to hurt, a tiger kills to eat, a shark only hurts a human if it thinks the human will hurt it, or if it mistakes it for food. So in comparing Armand to an animal, it’s much more dehumanizing than comparing him to a demon, but maybe more correct? the implication is that when being compared to an animal, unlike a devil, Armand can not be reasoned with, and u r delusional to think he is capable of doing anything but killing u. Which is kind of mean 💀 but not untrue? The way Armand thinks and behaves is admittedly, very animalistic. He doesn’t reason with any sort of real empathy or human-like thought over why he should kill or hurt someone, he just kind of does it if he is afraid or cornered or hungry. Unlike a devil, Armand hurts out of a need. And it’s often misperceived need or misperceived threat that causes him to react with disproportionate violence, but to Armand, the way he sees it he is always acting out of need, even when the need is not in reality there. “I am going to loose this thing I need to live so I need to kill to prevent that”, etc. so I see the comparison, where when Louis is parading Armand around as his lover like a tiger on a leash, when he knows that Armand would kill him at a moments notice if he perceived him as a threat, or even if he needed to eat, that’s very “stupid human owns a tiger as a pet and acts like it won’t kill him” scenario. But!

there is smth I disagree with when it comes to the “armand is a big tiger” angle, in that armand is not a wild animal incapable of being tamed🙏 hes domesticated. I think armand is much more akin to a dog that was trained Wrong, like a reactive dog or a former fighting dog. A dog that had everything in it to be capable of being good and kind and gentle, but was trained into being smth violent, and has lost its capability of acting in anything but violence. He has the bones of smth that is trainable, he’s looking for a master to give him the orders, but despite this he still has been taught bite, kill, fight back, u will be hurt. So rlly, it’s more like, Louis has a reactive dog with a muscle on that is leaning into his touch and whining for his attention, a dog that once violently attacked him bcus the fear was triggered in its brain and the age old orders went off telling it to attack the threat

[cosmerelists]

If Radiant Spren had to Choose a New Order...

As requested by anon. :)

We've already imagined what would happen if the Radiant humans had to choose a new Order to join...but what about their spren? If the spren had to choose a new Order / type of spren to become, what would they choose?

1. Syl: Becomes a Reacher (Willshaper Order)

Syl: Hmmm...well, I'd definitely want to continue to be somewhat like myself! Syl: (Since I'm pretty perfect as is) Syl: Freeing people who were unjustly imprisoned is pretty honorable, and it would nice to still be able to fly, so I'm gonna go Reacher! Kaladin: ...Are you wearing a sailor outfit? Syl: Suits me, right??

2. Wyndle: Becomes a Peakspren (Stoneward Order)

Wyndle: I-I would love to be bonded to someone stately and calm! Wyndle: An elderly craftsperson, perhaps, who wishes to spend their evenings working on their personal projects! Wyndle: Perhaps I could be a Peakspren, then--calm, dependable, and with a Radiant to match! Lift: ...You wanna be a rock? Wyndle: I-I'm sure I would make a very good rock! Lift: If you say so.

3. Ivory: Becomes a Highspren (Skybreaker Order)

Ivory: In me, a desire to be unseen is. Ivory: Reports indicate that Highspren do not always appear even to their Radiants. Ivory: In that, some comfort is.

4. Rua: Becomes a Mistspren (Truthwatcher Order)

Rua: [gesturing] Lopen: A Mistspren, huh, naco? Why's that? Rua: [changing forms rapidly from a flying chull to a cremling to a giant middle finger] Lopen: Ah, I hear ya, naco! Lopen: You LOVE to change forms, and the Mistspren can do that too! Rua: [back to usual form, gesturing] Lopen: [nodding sagely] Lopen: The "truth" often is a big middle finger to power, you are so correct.

5. Stormfather: Becomes an Honorspren (Winderunner Order)

Stormfather: I am inevitable and unchanging. Stormfather: I am a fragment of him whom the humans call the Almighty. Stormfather: What else could I be but an Honorspren. [Syl & Rua exchange glances] Syl: Yup, yup, noble & unchanging! That's us! Rua: [solemnly salutes using only his middle finger] Stormfather: ... Stormfather: Am I a bad dad?

6. Sibling: Becomes a Reacher (Willshaper Order)

Sibling: Which are the ones who never bond humans? The Reachers? Sibling: Definitely going with them! Sibling: Ahh, imagine bonding a Singer who's never even USED a fabrial! Navani: ...I thought we were getting along fairly well.

7. Tumi: Becomes an Ashspren (Dustbringer Order)

Tumi: I never believe people who claim someone or something is "inherently dangerous" or "evil"! Tumi: They call me a "corrupted" spren, you know! And at one point, they thought my buddy Rlain and his people were Voidbringers! Tumi: When in fact, he's wondrous! Tumi: So I'd love to give being an Ashspren a try--they seem neat! Tumi: And I do love a good sense of danger...

8. Glys: Becomes a Cultivationspren (Edgedancer Order)

Glys: Sadly, I don't think any of the other orders could produce visions like me, which is the best thing I'm bringing to the table! Glys: But at least I could still heal this way, and the Cultivationspren bond Radiants who care about Remembering, which is its own type of Truth. Glys: Plus, Renarin said he wanted to get into gardening to impress someone, and I want to support him! ❤️ Renarin: T-That was a private conversation, Glys!

9. Timbre: Becomes an Honorspren (Windrunner Order)

Timbre: [pulsing] Venli: Really? An Honorspren? Why? Timbre: [pulsing] Venli: Yes...I can see why you'd to like to fly. I can see you zipping about in the air. Timbre: [pulsing] Venli: Yes...that order is a bit strict for you, but then, you were never one to do exactly what's expected of you, were you? Timbre: [pulsing] Venli: More rebellious than Sylphrena? Not sure what that means, but good for you, I guess!

10. Pattern: Becomes a Highspren (Skybreaker Order)

Pattern: [humming] Pattern: It would be hard for me to give up math or lies! Pattern: But what is space but a glorious mathematical arrangement, and what are Laws except collective lies that humans have agreed to believe? Nale: ... Nale: You can't-- The Law isn't-- H-How DARE you-- Pattern: [buzzing excitedly] What delicious lies! I like you already!

[the-rat-eatery]

Something that I think is so great about She-Ra is that it portrays selfishness as a good thing. So many stories about “chosen ones” and “saving the world” are presented as acts of selflessness; it’s the sacrifices that bring the world to peace. She-Ra isn’t like that. It isn’t without its sacrifices, we think of Angella and Mara and Shadow Weaver- but they aren’t the focus. Catra becomes more selfless over the course of the fifth season, but that’s just character development- not the thing that saves the world. 

Adora is a martyr. Obviously. The classic way for the story to handle this is to have her die in the finale- a death tragic but necessary. If she were to die there would no doubt be statues built in her honor, if she had died in the initial seasons then that death would surely be something that was presented as honorable- something to be avenged and be in awe of. But her inherent heroism, her selflessness, is repeatedly shown to be a bad thing for Adora- the person. Sure, the longevity of Adora’s She-Ra might have been expanded if she had given her life for the cause, the stories told in her wake more grand, a punchier ending to the tale, but Adora herself would have felt no benefit- she would have been a corpse. It is Catra, and Catra’s selfishness, that saves her. 

Catra is interesting in that way. We see her arc climax with an act of selflessness- her saving Glimmer in exchange for what she thought would be her life. But it ends with her being selfish, choosing to confess to Adora in the end, desperately asking her to stay- the only thing she ever wanted from her. It is want that saves them both in the end, want is an entirely selfish act. 

Adora’s selflessness is questioned throughout the fifth season by Catra, something that is taken as a given by everyone else in the rebellion. They were all expected to lay down their lives for the rebellion, but Adora was on the front lines. This isn’t even questioned by Bow and Glimmer, who stood back when Adora (without any discussion) was unanimously decided to be the one to take the failsafe. Yes, they didn’t know the repercussions then, but Adora was still the leader, and she was the one expected to take the responsibility. Catra’s selfishness, her not wanting to let Adora go is what brought Shadow Weaver’s deception to light. She wants, and that saves the person she is wanting. Want is lifesaving, want is a good thing. 

I like this because selfishness is good, actually. Selfishness is the thing love thrives on, it’s why living isn’t surviving. 

Selflessness is giving up what we want for someone else’s good. This is good in measure, I’m not saying that everyone should take everything that they want all the time- the world would be chaos. But selflessness can go too far, and we see this in She-Ra. Selflessness can wrap back over into selfishness when you’ve got too much of it- barreling over with giving and giving yourself to other people in a feeble attempt to avoid dealing with your own problems. But the selfishness of She-Ra is the selfishness that is required of love. It is confession. It is, instead of accepting death for the sake of all, fighting for the life you want. Wanting is such a human thing. Not even a human thing, it’s just a life thing. And that same wanting is chastised by the media. We aren’t supposed to want, especially if we’re gay; and if we do then the honorable, right thing to do is to give it up for the good of other people. She-Ra shows us the opposite. Selfishness saves the world and wanting is good. 

[acesartemis]

yearning (g, Eddie pov, buddietommy)

my take on a queer/asexual/questioning eddie

“Eddie, I want you to do a little research” —

Eddie bit his lip to contain his groan at the word ‘research’. He had come to have the kneejerk reaction to it due to Buck’s insistent need to research everything. It was endearing, don't get him wrong, but he could easily get tired of the yapping.

—“on the orientation of Asexuality,” Frank suggested close to the end of Eddie’s therapy session. “Maybe its romantic counterpart of aromanticism, too, wouldn’t hurt. Whom you are attracted to does not garner the same amount of distress in you as much as the how.  I think the asexual spectrum may be of comfort to you, considering what we’ve discussed previously of your views towards sex and dating feeling like you have to perform in those situations.

“Unfortunately, I cannot—and I would not—tell you what you should identify as, but I feel like, even if you’re not asexual, learning that it is a possibility may help you feel more settled. Furthermore, it may open the door to more exploration if you so choose. Once you have a baseline of information, we can discuss further, if needed, at the next session. ‘Sound good?”

At Eddie’s overwhelmed look, Frank gave a tiny chuckle. “Here, I’ll write it down so it's easier to remember for you.” 

Eddie took the paper from the therapist and gave him a hearty handshake. “I will. Thanks again, man.”

—♠—

The paper sat on his bedside table for three and a half days until a restless and hot night after a whirlwind of saving people from themselves and other members of humanity left Eddie unable to get comfortable enough to sleep.

With a sigh, Eddie reached for the paper, illuminated red by his alarm clock, and his phone. Might as well do some reading at 3:37 in the morning.

“Asexuality,” Google read, “is the lack of sexual attraction to others, or the low or absent interest in or desire for sexual activity.”

Well, what a loaded definition.

Eddie’s head thunked against his headboard, dropping his phone to his chest as he stared at the ceiling. Yes, he’s described dating and sex as feeling like a performance. With Shannon, it was his first real relationship, them being so young. The Church and his culture told him to be a man he needed to find himself a good woman and only bed her after they were married. That was fine with him. But the act itself felt gross that first night. The noises, the sweat, the skin to skin contact, and the dirty talk always felt so awkward to him. And he hated the anxiety of making sure she felt good, that she was always satisfied. Eddie could stick his gloved hands in bloodied flesh all day long, but the thought of reaching into a woman just to find a bunch of nerves—no.

Then Shannon got pregnant, their marital-duty fulfilled, and Eddie found his out in the military where he went years without having sex, and truthfully didn't think much of it at all.

But touching he missed. And kissing. He could never get enough. The closeness, the intimacy, the soft caresses, the security of having someone or being in someone’s arms… His soul craved for it when he was gone. 

Hmm, maybe the doc was on to something.

But what really caught his attention was queerplatonic relationships: a type of relationship, most commonly non-romantic, where there is an intense emotional connection that goes beyond a traditional friendship.

Well, damn, that was him and Buck to a tee. Buck, whose attention he sought out, whose comfort he craved (even more so than Shannon, truly), who had wormed his way into the fabric of Eddie’s life to the point that he felt secure in leaving Christopher to in the event of his death.

And Buck, whom Christopher had attached himself to like a leech moreso than any other partner Eddie has had.

But was what he felt for Buck considered romantic? True, Eddie had craved to press his lips against Buck’s after the tsunami, and the lightning, but was that inherently romantic? Who could say. For right now though, queerplatonic partners had a nice ring to it. He would ask Frank at their next session.

—♠—

Then Tommy flew into the picture and Buck was suddenly bisexual and what Eddie had wanted to label their relationship all went up in smoke.

“What Buck feels does not negate what you do.” Frank’s advice rolled around his head for days. “And you don't know what he truly feels until you ask.”

Eddie truly couldn't blame the guy. Eddie wasn't sure what his attraction level was yet, having settled on calling himself merely queer for now and quite possibly never having a specific answer was quite alright with him, but he had to admit that Tommy was an Adonis of a guy. The envy of straight and queer men alike, for their respective reasons. And Tommy was the epitome of cool. Flying his new friends to Vegas in a helicopter? Strong, intelligent, and witty? He understood the baggage Eddie carried of misogyny and the military. His arms were big enough to envelop anyone, making them feel absolutely safe and secure.

Eddie hadn't felt that way with another person since Buck.

Oh, shit.

—♠—

During a frantic phone call during a break in the activity of Eddie's work day, Frank said, “Eddie, yes, it is okay to feel like this with more than one person. You’re friends with more than one person, right? And we all have different needs that can't always be met by the same person.”

—♠—

Eddie’s stomach was in knots. He made uncharacteristic mistakes on calls to the point where Hen decided to body-check him out of the way while looking after a patient and it was obvious Buck noticed. Of course Buck noticed. And Tommy too, as Eddie fiddled with his wine glass the next time the trio had gathered at Tommy’s to watch a fight on ESPN.

“Spill it,” Tommy softly demanded, reaching over to rescue the fragile glass from his fingers.

“Yeah, you’ve been off," Buck agreed. His lips turned down in a worried frown. "Is it us? We have both been extra careful not to make you uncomfortable—”

Eddie groaned. “Buck, no. It definitely is not you guys. Well, it is, but not the way you’re thinking.”

“You can tell us anything, you know. This is all a whirlwind to us too,” Tommy assured and Eddie just yearned.

That's what it was. It all finally clicked in his brain. Eddie was yearning. He already had Buck and knew he always would, but he yearned for more. Tommy made Buck so happy in a way Eddie could not. And while that didn't truly matter to him, he was developing the feeling of being the outsider looking in.

“Eddie?” Buck urged so carefully, so softly, like he was terrified.

“I want—” Eddie breathed, clearing the lump of anticipation and anxiety from his throat. “I yearn for… both of you. I… relish in your hugs and touches, and I want… more. I’ve been talking to Frank and I know I'm not bisexual in the traditional sense, and I might be somewhere on the asexual spectrum but I don't care. I just know deep in my bones that I want you. Both of you, in my life forever. To talk to, to cry and laugh with, to take care of my son with. To have and to hold and to kiss… but nothing sexual.”

“So like we’re already doing, but with more of this?” 

Eddie’s breath hitched as Tommy’s warm hand encircled his wrist. He gave a small tug and Eddie complied eagerly as the man wrapped his arms around him and tucked Eddie against his chest. His breath tickled his ear as he pressed chapped lips to his temple.

Eddie’s heart felt like it were to explode.

A small whine fell from Buck’s lips. “Don't leave me out!”

Eddie chuckled as he and Tommy opened opposite arms to make room for Buck, quickly bracketing the man into their shared embrace. “Aw yes. Lifetime achievement unlocked!”

“You’re a dork, Buck.”

“But you love it.”

“So this is good?” Tommy asked, locking eyes with Eddie and giving a soft but pointed look. Buck would roll with anything, they both knew, but Tommy had the experience to know he needed to step lightly with this. 

“Yes, it and you.” Eddie aimed to brush a kiss to Buck’s cheek but was surprised to find Buck's lips instead, the attacker giggling as they separated. Eddie then turned his head to kiss the underside of Tommy’s jaw, ensuring the older man didn’t feel left out either.

Eddie gave him a firm nod, and delighted when Tommy brushed their lips together for the first time. The kiss was feather light but it made Eddie see stars anyway.

Eddie didn't care what he was. He loved Buck and Tommy and they loved him back and that's all that mattered to him.

[tyrantisterror]

I forgot to ask why you think its possible for people to empathize with creatures such as vampires who weren't originally thought of as remotely human or sympathetic, why the blood-drinking and other monstrous qualities aren't deal-breakers when it comes to becoming sympathetic characters in stories.

I think whenever you have a creature in fiction that is "evil" because of something inherent to its nature, it'll immediately trigger a sympathy response in people who have also been made to feel "evil" for being what they are.

I mean, we're already using vampires as an example here, so let's look at them. They drink blood, that's their big defining thing. Well, shit, is that really evil, or is it just a unique dietary need? Is a vampire any more evil than a wolf, an animal that also has to prey on the living? Is it really more evil than us, who kill living things all the time to not only sustain us, but our many habits, including frivolous ones like the desire for material luxuries? In most fiction, vampires can't choose not to drink blood. It's a necessity for their existence, they have to do it. Can it really be held against them without being unjust?

True evil is a choice someone makes. If there is no choice involved, then you don't have an evil creature, you have a victim of a fucked up situation, and victims of fucked up situations should be sympathetic to people. I think it says something good about human nature that many people looked at monsters like vampires, who were intended to be evil by nature, and thought, "Well with some help they could be nice, they could live a normal life, they could coexist with us."

[writing-for-life]

Nuance in (The Sandman) Fandom

Send me asks about everything Sandman-related!

I thought a lot over the past few days, partly prompted by discourse on here, partly due to a couple of “interesting” asks and messages I received (the type you don’t answer). I *think* they might have been prompted by engaging in discourse on topics like anti-blackness/racism, misogyny/sexism, TERF characters etc in The Sandman.

Fandoms are always getting super sensitive if someone shines a critical lens on their favourite works, authors and characters. So to make this clear (in case it isn’t already obvious from my brain-rot blog):

I love The Sandman. I love Neil Gaiman. I have an extremely soft spot for Dream (and Desire btw, who deserves a lot more character analysis than just being summed up as “villainous, sexy bitch”. One day, perhaps ;)).

I can read The Sandman and just get lost in the story, even after decades and many rereads. 

But I can also view it through a critical lens—these things aren’t mutually exclusive.

Not critical enough or too critical?

As fans, we can get trapped in certain thinking patterns, like:

“My blorbo can do no wrong”-syndrome 

“Characters with flaws are inherently problematic and imply authorial endorsement of those actions” 

“Characterisation and problematic subtext are one and the same” (aka overanalysing and looking for problems where there are none is the death of every story, but failing to see problematic patterns where they are clearly visible is a problem, too).

Don't say anything bad about my favourite character

I think this doesn’t need much further exploration. It’s not my personal way of looking at stories through permanently rose-tinted glasses (I always feel it stalls my experience, but my experience is not everyone else's). Some people prefer that type of escapism, and I’m good with that (although the downside is of course that by not willing to engage with issues, we can unwillingly perpetuate them). Live and let live, ship and let sail. But please, for the love of god: Don’t insult people via their inboxes or messages just because their opinions and preferences don’t align with yours. I’m not going to sugarcoat it or phrase it “nicely”: It’s infantile (and a form of bullying btw), end of.

How can you even like a character who's so horrible? And that author must be equally horrible, too

We have to separate flawed characters, even those who are written to be really problematic, from real-life endorsement of these actions. 

Author, narrator and character are three fundamentally different things, and don’t overlap as much as some people seem to think. 

We can write vile, despicable characters to make a point (for me, Thessaly was always a prime example for this, and I explained why here). We probably hate them as we write them. I don’t know what else to say, but this facet of writing seems to get more and more lost on people, and it’s a worry. Crying for sanitised characterisation is one step away from censorship. We explore what is problematic about people and humanity through story. That’s how we process and learn. It’s nothing new, but it becomes impossible if we can’t write flawed and even disgusting characters. 

Face value…

Since I’m mostly in The Sandman fandom, I often read that its ending is hopeless, and that’s supposedly the entire message. 

It is agonisingly sad, yes. But is it truly hopeless? I personally see it as quite the opposite, but of course that’s my opinion, coloured by my life experiences.

I also get that show-only fans often haven’t read the comics, or at least not the whole arc. And as such, their outlook from what they’ve seen so far (and choose to focus on) has to be different by default. I also understand that many people are quite new to the comics, even if they have read them in their entirety. I’ve sat with them for 30 years, and I still find new things on every reread (and I read it more times than anyone should 🙈), and I still don’t feel like I’ve understood it all. Perhaps because I still haven’t fully understood myself (and it’s unlikely I ever will). If there’s one thing The Sandman isn’t, it’s one-dimensional and easy to grasp in its whole depth.

I just wrote a ginormous meta on it, if you’re interested, it’s here:

Subtext, (not so) glorious subtext

This is where it gets complicated:

We shouldn’t mix up characterisation and story subtext. Overanalysing every line to death will always make us find something that’s “problematic”, when it really isn’t in the wider context of the story.

Zooming in is NOT always a good thing. Sometimes, we actually need to zoom out. 

But subtext *can be* (accidentally) problematic. Even in stories we love. And none of this negates what I previously wrote.

Stories have real-life implications of sorts, and we need to be able to talk about it. That’s where those slightly flabbergasting, hostile inbox messages come in, and I want to expand on that "topic of contention" a bit:

Neil himself confirmed that the Endless basically warp reality, and that this is why, after Dream’s failed relationship with Nada, many black women in his vicinity suffer terrible fates (Ruby and Carla in particular). And that this spell is only broken when he dies, and that it is the reason why Gwen doesn’t suffer the same fate. And said Gwen then gets used as a plot device to basically absolve Hob (who canonically really is a problematic character, whether show-only fans like it or not) from his slaver past. Once again, very clearly: No one is making this up. Neil confirmed it (for the comics, and that was over 20 years ago. It remains to be seen if his stance has changed as we move into that arc in the TV show).

I don't think it is correct to imply that Dream as a character is racist (I've read that, too) because he logically can’t be. He holds *all* the collective unconscious. He is also, strictly speaking, not white. He is everything and nothing, and he shows up in many different ethnicities throughout the whole arc, depending on who looks at him. But Neil played with a subtext here (reality warping due to a bad relationship which then affects everyone with similar physical traits) that will read very differently to a black person than it reads to a white person, and we have to understand why that is an *extremely* slippery slope.

Plus, we are supposed to see Hob, who *was* a racist at some point (you can’t not be if you’re a slave-trader—it’s impossible by default) as redeemed. And yes, he *does* regret deeply, good for him (and if I were saying this aloud, you would hear the sarcasm in my voice, because it is indeed all about him. We are to sympathise/empathise with him and his character growth while there isn’t much mention of the people he maltreated). But also: it was a black woman who basically forgave him (with dialogue that personally makes me cringe). And that black woman who offers forgiveness is not truly a black woman—she is a character written by a white man. And as much as author and character are not the same (see above), there is an inherent sensitivity in that power imbalance that we can't brush under the carpet.

I don’t think Neil is racist. Probably quite the opposite, and I can even see that his intentions were good from a storytelling point of view. BUT intention and impact are two fundamentally different things, and telling the story this way (comic version) betrays blindspots only white people have. Just like women have blindspots when they tell stories about men, and men have blindspots when they tell stories about women (and there are a few of those in The Sandman, too). And and and…

As storytellers, we can’t always speak from lived experience. It’s impossible. And that also means we occasionally make mistakes that look bad in hindsight, even if our intentions were good.

I guess the proof is in the pudding: What do we do when people who *have* that lived experience tell us it looks bad? If they inform us why it is hurtful, plays into old stereotypes etc?

Are we willing to listen and yield (both are the foundations of allyship btw), or are we insisting that our viewpoint as someone *without* lived experience is right? That lived experience extends to all lived experiences (sex/gender, sexual orientation, age...), and from all we’ve heard from Neil so far, it seems important to him to rewrite what he sees differently today. Whether they’ll always get it right for the show—we’ll see. At the moment, it looks a lot better than in the comics, and certain issues are already being handled with a lot more sensitivity, but a few problems remain.

Pushing back on criticism that comes from people with lived experience is problematic—I’d encourage us to think about what it looks like if a white majority in the fandom is basically saying that the opinions of POC are essentially “overreactions” (and yes, that happened).

It’s complicated. The Sandman was written in a different time, and I think we have to distinguish between things that weren’t really problematic at the time but have aged poorly (again, Thessaly springs to mind, and I have lived experience as a queer person during that time, so I can see it in context while at the same time acknowledging that I would make changes to bring it to the present day), and things that were always a problem due to blindspots. They were a problem in 1990, and if they don’t get changed, they are still a problem today.

This fandom is generally so much more open and nicer than others I know. But that doesn’t mean it’s infallible, because it’s full of humans. 

Nuance is sorely needed, in both story interpretation and interaction between said humans.

[quixtrix]

god save our women; a ramble of an analysis

or, captain laserhawk REALLY shot jade in the face and im still upset about it because oh my GOD they really made her be thrown into a role that is not HER and in death she's still a Figure. yknow, i personally don't have a problem with sarah x jade, but over the past few months occasionally i'd think about it. yeah, it's funny to call sarah gay as hell for putting jade in a femme fatale outfit, but. should that truly be our basis for the ship? or should we think a bit deeper on why exactly sarah would put the sole woman in her lil tool set into such a position? i wonder why it wouldn't hurt to think about why jade would be forced into a role where one has to be sexual.

sarah is an extent of eden and eden is society and society will occasionally harp an odd sort of something masquerading as feminism to you that being sexual gives you power! but really it only serves to loop back into being for the man's enjoyment.

now i have to say that being sexual can be empowering! it really is! we just also have to acknowledge that in the eyes of society, sex is an exchange where it serves the man more than it does the woman. it still feels good to be sexual though, and being sexual can be used right for what you want.

but when it comes to jade, jade is forced to fall into this femme fatale role, this role that demands one to be a maneater, when she usually sticks to a more impersonal way of work. in this role, she dresses in clothes that she's not comfortable with wearing, when told to change from her usual outfit she is visibly uncomfortable, and overall it doesn't fit her.

she is not a sexual person. she does not typically utilise sexuality as a tool in her arsenal, she doesn't even seem to really touch it (or she's just insanely bad at flirting). either way, she's not used to being in this position because she does not choose to be in this position often.

anyways, why does sarah think to put the woman in a position where she would have to step out of her comfort zone? because obviously, she uses things and positions as tools, and sexuality is a tool.

now i want yall to bear with me as i compare sarah to another woman in media; makima. no im not calling sarah some god awful dommy mommy or some shit, i'm bringing in makima to highlight how sexuality is used. she uses her sexuality as a woman to entice this young boy into doing things for her, ranging from a kiss to assaulting him and telling him that she'll give him more as a reward. while not inherently sexual, she offers up a date with her to encourage the devil hybrids under her control. she even offers up a kiss at one point to encourage competition. makima, someone raised by the government and given tools that she uses to manipulate others, has sexuality in her arsenal. it is not a stretch to say that sarah, someone who has intimate understanding of the government, the ladder she climbs, has seen others use sexuality as a tool. hell, it might even be encouraged to use it as a tool. i'm absolutely not saying that sarah fucked her way to the top, im saying that sarah is aware that sexuality is a tool that one can use.

now we all know how sarah got to the top, which can be reasonably assumed to be through military rank and impersonal ways. ways that don't require one to lower your guard and take you in before they strike, like a femme fatale way would. sarah most likely got through to the top by using people and throwing just enough weight around. so why does she not allow jade to flourish in a way that honestly would benefit the team way better yeah no its because she sees her as a fucking tool in order to recognise jade's real talents she must first let go of the notion that she is a simple tool and accept that as a human she has legitimate strengths in unique areas and not just one where you can remind them who is in charge and how you are a tool and FUCK EDEN AND THEIR FUCKING TOOL MINDSET FUCKING CAPITALIST MINDSET IN A SO CALLED POST CAPITALISTIC SOCIETY!!!!! okay im getting a lil heated but yknow what let's continue FUCK PEY'J LOOK AT THIS SHIT

IM SO SORRY BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL FANS THEY DID YOU SO WRONG BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO FUCKING HAMMER IN THE IDEA OF JADE BEING A FIGURE AND NOT A PERSON EVEN IN DEATH SHE IS BOILED DOWN TO SOME FUCKASS WHO KNEW HER AS A BABY'S LOVE INTEREST AND I KNOW FOR A FACT THEY DID YALL WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! they did yall so wrong my god. my god !! imagine! someone who knew you as a BABY openly admitted to you when you were a young adult in your 20s that he has feelings for you! what the hell! what purpose does this serve than to cement the idea that jade is a tool, a motive? jade, a goddamn REPORTER tryna spread light on a legitimate issue on society and then gets thrown into the Ghosts because of it, is boiled down to a tool. a fucking tool by both sarah and pey'j, TWO PEOPLE WHO ARE SEEN by both show and fandom AS POSSIBLE LOVE INTERESTS FOR JADE.

SHE LITERALLY COULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH MORE IF SARAH DID SEE HER AS HUMAN AND DID UTILISE HER ACTUAL TALENTS INSTEAD OF SEEING HER AS A TOOL AND FOR THAT JADE IS UNFORTUNATELY NOT SEEN AS A PERSON, BUT AS A FIGURE.

but yknow what. yknow who also has been seen as a figure and not a person.

dolph laserhawk. eden's child soldier that they raised as a paragon of hope fallen into disgrace.

yknow what also happens with dolph and jade? they treat each other as human. jade includes dolph in her lil vlogs as she does with the rest of the team, because she is a good person. dolph recognises that she is indeed a person, someone worth remembering as themselves. not as who she was to someone, but as someone who went out of her way to offer kindness. she gets a goddamn speaking role in his vr dream alongside alex, who yes groomed him, but he also made dolph feel human.

i didnt even realise it before that they put the only two people (that are. dead. bullfrog is not here for obvious reasons) that have made dolph feel human and not an extension of eden in one frame BUT THYE FUCKING DID. these mfs and dolph are basically real recognises real

this isn't about dolph though, this is about jade. jade, who didn't get to be shown to the world as a person, who posthumously became a figure for a man's revenge, who was put into a position she is not suited for because she was not recognised as human. jade, who is the most human out of the ghosts, who gave voice to those that couldn't through her work, who went into exposing pagan min because of her uncle, her family that she loved. for being the most grounded member, they had to kill you because you mattered so much. kept the team together through kindness. god they did you so wrong jade.

[infizero-draws]

oh hey, id love to here your labduo hcs

YAYYYY ok. i'll start off with the demon soulmate ones (not specific to them) since someone else asked to hear about that as well. this is very long sorry

SO. all demons are born with a special kind of semi-immortality (able to be killed but unable die from age) where their lives are connected to a mortal soulmate(s). soulmate in this context has no inherent romantic or sexual connotations; soulmates can be strictly platonic, romantic, sexual, or anything in between. they dont even necessarily have to spend their lives with each other, it's purely the bond and the connections between their lives.

soulmate bonds exist from the moment all parties are alive, but the demon doesn't get the instinct to seek them out until the age of 18. the demon will follow this instinct and once they meet their soulmate(s), their lives will be connected from there on.

if the demon decides not to seek them out for whatever reason, they'll still naturally be drawn to them. however, if by bad luck or purposeful avoidance they dont meet their soulmate(s) by age 50, then they'll just Die. for this reason most dont avoid their soulmates but there are some who choose this lonesome dangerous lifestyle; choosing a set-in-stone 50 year lifespan over one tied to a mortal's lifespan, which could end up being cut short.

if the demon has already met their soulmate(s) before the age of 18, then nothing really changes. they still don't KNOW they're soulmates until they turn 18, and then once they do the connected lives come into effect.

these mortal soulmates have historically been humans, which is what led to the horned human variant coming into existence a long LONGGG time ago. these are different from demon-human hybrids, as over the years they've become their own subspecies. the horned human variant is still considered fully human, just with horns and a tail. this is what c!tommy is, while c!eryn is an actual demon-human hybrid. here's this old chart i made to illustrate the differences:

demon-human hybrids don't have quite as good of a sense for locating their soulmate(s) as full demons; they'll still naturally be drawn to them but won't really be aware of it until the bond has been forged, unlike a full demon.

^ this is all obviously expanded upon from bad and skeppy's canonical soulmate bond btw.

ANYWAYS so that brings us to labduo. (i forgot they were called that btw. awesome) basically they're soulmates, but as per the way this all works, eryn doesnt realize this until they turn 18. and that's when he's like ummmm tommy. i think we're soulmates lol. and tommy is like wot. rlly? ok. and that basically is it LOL. tommy lives with tubbo and ranboo in the future to me, i dont think eryn and tommy would be attached at the hip soulmates. eryn would probably go off on his own adventures and come back every so often to catch up, rest at the benchtrio house, etc. rolewise they're like the distant uncle who randomly shows up from time to time LOL.

when it comes to other hcs for them ummm i dont actually have a lot. i think they figured out they were trans around the same time, like pre-puberty, and that was something that rlly brought them together. eryn tried to cut tommy's hair and it was a disaster. for anything more read this comic i made a while back

for me tommy was just this scrappy kid who showed up at the village stealing bread and shit, until he befriended eryn and was taken in by eryn's mom. ive never given tommy's actual origins much thought, as i dont think it rlly matters to me. the thing thats important is that he was an orphan from a young age. as much as i think the lab stuff can be cool i think i do just imagine him to have had normal parents and. Something happened where he did not have them anymore. young enough where he didnt have memories of them or anything. idk

OH and rq to explain this doodle in the context of all this. its basically just eryn saying that it's a good thing all of tommy's trauma and deaths happened BEFORE their soulmate bond existed or else it would've happened to eryn too lol

thats kind of it...... thank you for your interest...

[cosmicjoke]

I’ve read that in order to have empathy for others, one needs to first believe that people are inherently good. Do you think this is the case for Levi? What’s your own personal opinion on this?

I think Levi probably believes in the general goodness of people, yes. He's also seen the very worst of humanity, though, and is very aware of just how bad people can be. I don't think Levi harbors any idealistic delusions about humanity and its ability to ever be a harmonious and peaceful animal.

But I also think Levi holds empathy even for people who aren't really good, or people who have obvious negative qualities. Like, for example, Dimo Reeves, and the merchants of Trost. Levi wanted to help those people, even though all of them were actually extremely greedy and selfish. He in fact saves the lives of two of the merchants who were badmouthing him and the Survey Corps just moments before, when he pushes them out of the way of an oncoming wagon. And he goes out of his way to broker a deal with Reeves to help the entire city of Trost out of financial ruin and despair. We see this kind of stuff from Levi all the time. Like when he gives Petra's patch to that one soldier, despite the man's own, selfish actions endangering the entire unit, and causing them to have to dump the bodies of Levi's own squad. He gives this man Petra's patch, despite being insulted by him only a short time before, as well. Or the soldier in "No Regrets" that endangered Levi's own life through petty jealousy, Levi ends up saving his life, too. He saves Furlan's life, despite Furlan trying to trick him and force him into joining his gang. He forgives Erwin and chooses to keep believing in him, despite Erwin's duplicity and selfishness. He didn't even hate Kenny, in the end, despite all that he had done to him, and tried to understand why Kenny abandoned him, to see it from his point of view. He tries to help Floch and save him from being cut down by Mikasa, despite his viciousness toward Erwin. He understands the reason Mikasa is so harsh in her criticisms of him and even cruel in her accusations against him is because she loves Eren, which is why he doesn't push back against her or scold her for it. He didn't want either her or Eren to suffer for directly disobeying him in Shinganshina, either, and even threatening his life, letting them out of their holding cells early. He showed compassion for Pastor Nick, even, despite his refusal to help directly endangering lives, and even with Sannes, you could tell Levi wasn't enjoying torturing him and didn't want to take it too far, his horrified expression when Hange rips his tooth out really demonstrating this. There's a reason people call Levi the most empathetic character in the story. They aren't just talking out of their ass when they say so. Levi holds empathy even for bad people, and for people who have done bad things. He even tried to understand Zeke, but Zeke was just too far gone at that point.

So I don't think Levi's empathy hinges on his ability to believe in the goodness of people. He's seen and experienced first hand, probably more than anyone, just how rotten people can be, and he still believes their lives have value and he still wants to help them.

As for myself, I tend to have a pretty negative view of people, if I'm being honest, lol. But if someone is truly empathetic, I think they can acknowledge that people are just as capable of bad and just as prone to doing bad things as they are good, and still think they deserve compassion. Levi is exceptionally compassionate and empathetic. I think he's a better person than most.

[saberamane]

I would just like to share this lovely comment from someone on chapter 65 of 'We Were Born For This', it is just so great to see some just get it when you write something that isn't blatant or right in your face.

I've been binge reading this wonderful story over the past couple days, and when i got to this chapter i just had to comment. It feels almost like the culmination of... a lot of things desmond is overcoming, i don't quite know how to put it into words though i'll try (if it comes across awkwardly just keep in mind i absolutely adore this story with my whole heart, so it absolutely isn't intentional).

The way i'm thinking about it, is that we've been slowly watching desmond reclaim how to be a person, and this is one of the last Big Things that have been taken from him without any progress on overcoming it, so it feels like a big victory for desmond to find a way that feels 'safe' for him to explore this side of himself. While as an ace myself i'm fully aware sex isn't necessary for a fulfilling life, it is a completely different thing to have something forcibly stolen than it is to willingly give it up, so there's almost a feeling of pride in seeing desmond begin to grow past it. I also really liked the subtle dom/sub aspects you introduced, even if it was apparently an accident, because i've always felt like it was almost, natural, for things to go in that direction with characters like that. Let's see if i can put it into words, sorry if i ramble on too much...

Okay, so when you have that human weapon vibe from a character, it almost feels like having some sort of sub vibes (sexual or non-sexual) comes naturally, you know? Like, when someone has been built from birth to be nothing more than a weapon, with no wants or desires of their own, the idea of taking charge of themselves for no purpose other than to serve themselves would probably feel unnatural. Like, even when those characters heal and grow beyond just being nothing more than a weapon, that doesn't erase the past, doesn't change the fact that they feel more like they were /built/ than /born/, and that part of their being is always going to be there in the background. And it's its own kind of healing, to choose for yourself who you /want/ to guide and direct you, to willingly offer what was previously taken forcibly. To still be a weapon, but one wielded by gentle hands that you know would never hurt you, that doesn't even view you as the weapon you know yourself to be but instead considers you as the person with wants and needs you can only allow under their encouragement... still a weapon, but more than just a /thing/ to be used and thrown aside... the inherent eroticism of the weapon/wielder dynamic, is what i'm saying. I like my smut with a side of psychoanalysis, lol.

It was wonderfully executed as well, i must say. The smut was written in a wonderfully visceral way, and you could just feel desmond giving himself over so beautifully. Being a good soft dom apparently comes naturally to ezio, with his easy confidence and understanding of what desmond wants and needs, and sheer delight at providing it. Desmond being able to completely relax into it thanks to the mix of the pleasure (unfamiliar and taboo) with the feeling of being commanded (easy and safe). The shame and fear being countered by the comfort of a person he loves and wholly trusted being the one to guide him through it, turning it from something he's doing wrong and must be punished for, to something he's unquestionably doing right as ezio tells him how good he is for it, all while being considerate to hold himself back and not push desmond too far for his own wants and desires.

Basically, thank you very much for such a wonderful story, i am very happy to read this :)

[nofomogirl]

Ineffable Beaurocracy vs. Ineffable Husbands

Season 2 ended with two things very few had expected:

Gabriel and Beelzebub are now a happy couple.

Aziraphale and Crowley aren't (neither happy nor a couple).

As we're all processing, it's inevitable that comparisons sprout left and right, and more and more often I hear voices pointing out how ridiculously quick and easy the romance between Gabriel and Beelzebub was, as well as questions why exactly Aziraphale and Crowley couldn't be the same. Especially Aziraphale, since the fandom likes to blame him in particular for not being in a happy established relationship with Crowley.

I understand the bitterness and frustration but do people honestly think that Gabriel had the same obstacles to overcome, the same sacrifices to make, the same risks to take?

I like Gabriel as a character and I'm happy he found love but please, let's not forget what kind of a person he is - selfish, self-important, entitled, privileged and inconsiderate. Falling in love doesn't remove these traits. It doesn't magically reform him. It might have been a start, a first step on a road to becoming a decent person but that growth will probably never happen if he just ran and locked himself in a happy bubble with Beelzebub.

Yes, he's happy now. Yes, he's out of the picture and not a threat anymore. Doesn't mean he's a nice guy all of a sudden.

Gabriel could choose Beelzebub because he never questions his actions. He believes that whatever he does is inherently right. It doesn't even matter if not long ago he condemned someone for doing the same thing.

Gabriel could choose Beelzebub because he never cared about the consequences of his actions. He never stopped to think about what kind of pain and misery he will cause others. We were shown it plenty of times.

Gabriel could choose Beelzebub not because he was ready to sacrifice so much for them but exactly because he's incapable of making sacrifices. Whatever makes him happy is his priority because he cannot see how anything could be possibly more important. He's an angel, therefore he is inherently good, therefore good things make him happy, therefore whatever makes him happy is inherently good, and the happier he is, the better it must be.

Gabriel could choose Beelzebub because he doesn't care about Earth, about Creation, about God's Plan, and about Heaven. You might try to argue that he did, especially the latter ones. But I think there's a reason why his persona was modeled after an obnoxious CEO rather than a fundamentalist of any kind. Because he is not a believer, he is a guy who was put in charge and has only the shallowest possible knowledge of what his company actually does, the barest of the bare minimums, and never actually tried its products himself. Gabriel had been always just going through the motions, putting in minimal effort, and covering it with a smile and pep. In a way, it's actually sad because he never knew anything else. He was put in a job and told to do it, so he kept doing it until he found something he actually cared about.

Gabriel could choose Beelzebub for the very same reasons he was ready to start Armageddon, and Aziraphale didn't choose Crowley for the very same reasons he stood against Heaven to save the Earth and humanity.

Aziraphale couldn't choose Crowley the same way Gabriel chose Beelzebub, because Azirapahle is the exact opposite of Gabriel.

So before you write that Crowley deserves someone who would love him like Gabriel, ask yourself seriously if you think Crowley could love a person like Gabriel. Because we know he doesn't. He hates Gabriel and loves Aziraphale and there's a good reason why.

[imustbenuts]

more disorganized yakuza culture bordering on religion thoughts

(finished order 7, 8, 0, k1, k2. currently at 3 ch 3)

it feels like the writer went deep into reading about buddhism and religion at one point

im not japanese but a SEAsian uh chinese/hokkien diaspora who happens to be a weab so take this with some grain of salt bc we arent a monolith here

Surface level understanding of buddhism

when it comes to gang and tattoos or in yakuza's case irezumi, theres a general consensus of tats = cool and rebellious in a culture thats largely very collectivist. so getting one is like pointing the middle finger to society

the problem is sometimes tattoos are gotten more for the aesthetics than truly understanding the deeper meaning behind it. an easy example is the dragon itself: its powerful, its strong, it comes and goes, and does good things whenever it wants to. it might get associated with buddhism but like... if you think about it for 3 seconds, it fucking falls apart for 1 reason

gods in buddhism are the maintenance crew for the world's function (rain, nature, etc), and at the same time are supposed to be as part of the cycle and pain as everyone else. meaning, gods arent inherently special, they just happen to be higher beings doing their best to escape the cycle of samsara.

so by that lens, borrowing godhood from god to elevate yourself is... uh. kinda weird. (imo at least).

yet what goes on in 2? ryuji borrows the dragon iconography and tries to achieve dragonhood. kiryu is thematically the dragon but thats kind of all that he is. hes more theme than human at this point.

in yakuza 1 and 2 theres some hint of this surface crap. the story never really goes deep enough exploring the aspects of this cycle of suffering thing. the general message seems to be, suffering happens and builds character. which fucking sucks.

but thats not the real point of the buddhist message. its more suffering is unavoidable, so do your best to reduce it for yourself and others, and roll with it.

The gap and the growth between 1, 2 and 7, 8

looking at 7 and 8 in contrast to 1 and 2 and i think its clearly buddhist as fuck: kasuga ichiban is framed as jesus, but in some buddhist interpretations, jesus qualifies as a boddhisattva, ie someone who clears the condition of escaping samsara but chooses to stay behind to help. and thats what ichiban does. he doesnt judge, he refuses to play into classism bullshit, and forces people to look past it.

buddhism was originally a breakaway from hinduism. where hinduism had a whole caste system forcing people into tiers, buddhism tried breaking it. (and then medieval japan's government turned it into shinto buddhism and shoved everyone into a caste system themself... yeesh.)

meanwhile, in gaiden, kiryu has this bit where he meditates as a monk for enlightenment.

makes me wonder if the writer tried to do something similar and exactly how much buddhist stuff did they read at one point....

oh btw

Kiryu and Kasuga's theme. Dragon and Not-Dragon

ok i fucking caught this:

kiryu is the rain dragon isnt he? hes always associated with rain in yakuza 1 and 2, in an era where rendering rain for cinematic purposes is a ROYAL PAIN IN THE ASS.

theres a few types of dragons out there but the uhhh oldest? traditional-est? one is the association with rain and storms. originally bc ppl in the past thought lightning strikes and flashes looks a lot like mythical creatures, and eventually the whole eastern dragon came about with that association.

meanwhile kasuga's kanji name reads as spring day. i am looking directly into the camera at this theming. hes the sunny spring day that comes after the storm. the story will be far kinder to him than kiryu.

so even though dragons are supposed to be strong and good fortune to be seen, and are benevolent and etc, they are again more theme than person.

theres even a real trend where everyone wants to borrow the dragon aesthetic to look cool, big, strong, fortuitous and lucky, be it in tattoos, irezumi, ritual, traditions or propaganda (chinese nationalism stuff). what i mean is people will have babies on the year of the dragon on purpose, wear the dragon and give more preferential treatment to their child/grandchild born on the year of the dragon.

everyone worships the dragon and takes its scales to wear, but no one thinks of the dragon as a creature. as a living thing.

meanwhile ichiban's irezumi cant even be called a dragon. maybe a mermaid. but not a dragon. and in that regard i feel like he's escaped from a fucking curse.

Carrying the cross

some other bits i picked up also. kazuki and daigo, and their crosses

shinto buddhism is the default in japan. but more SHINTO than buddhism, mind, bc buddhism is something people seek out these days rather than be taught bc its too super fucking esoteric. meanwhile, christianity is the minor religion. while some people do think of it negatively (due to instances of cults), it is by no means a mystery or exotic or even so minor that its rare.

anyway thing is. in these specific characters' cases, im 99% sure they signify a desire to walk away from their old self and past. bc of the baptism thing.

in buddhism, theres nothing to absolve one of their past. theres a strong emphasis on change instead, so its more of acceptance rather than discard.

which is. hm. idk what daigo's major deal is but from 2 -> 8 he seems like he ate a lot of shit along the way, guessing from his acala irezumi and name. and that the cross isnt a big thing in his character design anymore: it reads a little like he stopped running away from his family history.

(incidentally shinto is very responsible for the conservative classism in japan historically speaking, which is why its not a very strong thing in rgg setting. basically, strong Cleanliness and Dirtiness ideas, and guess which side of our night life, criminal and ex yakuza mcs falls under :') )

anyway im nuts bye

[centrally-unplanned]

When you say Aaron Bushnell's self-immolation was prompted by his mental illness, how are you making that evaluation? Is it a simple conclusion of suicide=suicidality=mental illness? I personally feel like there are circumstances wherein a person can rationally choose to end their life, and so bristle somewhat at the implication that the act is an inherently irrational or imbalanced one, and want to clarify whether that is indeed the distinction being made.

No, it is not a simple 'suicide = ill', though to be clear that is a very strong prior and is the right default! If a Palestinian parent committed suicide in Rafah I would...like they are "mentally ill" in the sense that they are likely brutally traumatized by mass scale destruction of their entire society, but the frame is just useless, right? Its adds nothing to try to understand it through that, because all humans can respond that way, that is the human brain working 'as designed' in the sense that sure yeah the brain often cant take that.

Aaron Bushnell had a desk job in Texas doing tech work. He was leaving the military in May. He had no family in Palestine, no connection that we can see, he has never even been there as far as I know. He grew up a member of an abusive christian cult that practiced 'mind control' techniques and was a member of an 'anarchist cell' that debated what 'sacrifice' was needed to prove their mettle. The latter ofc is typically what most people call 'shitposting online' and is no grand signifier but when you literally start firebombing the walmart of the self I think we can re-appraise it a bit.

Obviously I have never met the man, i will never 'know'. But I can use those good old bayesian priors. And most people's response to reading about bad things on the news is to vote and maybe join some activist groups. Which he did! And then suddenly he went from that to publically committing suicide because he, a desk job in Texas, was 'complicit in genocide'. Those odds are *heavily* stacked in one direction, and it isnt 'rational response to one's circumstances'.

And while I would be fine with a stance of blasé neutrality on the topic I do find the widespread response by incredibly mainstream and influential people to praise suicide emotionally, personally galling. (Dont worry, I dont hold you to that stance or anything, random tumblrites arent gonna bait someone. This is directed at the Cornell West's of the world)

[tragicbeauty1991]

Today I got called a “murder apologist” (and other not so nice names) by someone who apparently does not like the fact that I love a good villain redemption arc. Let me explain a few things…

First off, welcome to my blog. We believe in the inherent goodness of humanity here. We believe in love and forgiveness and that people can change. We believe in kindness over bitterness, in hope over despair, and in reconciliation over revenge. And if that’s not your thing, maybe this isn’t the best blog for you to check out. And that’s okay. People are allowed to have different opinions.

Second… We recognize that there is a difference between fiction and reality. Just because I like a character and want to see them come around to the side of good does not mean that I approve of any or all of their actions. Murder is bad, kids. I think we can all agree on that point. I don’t support the character’s evil deeds. I support the idea of them working through the reasons they got to the point of doing them and then coming out on the other side of it as a better person who wants to try to make up for their past. I also recognize that there is a distinct difference between a fictional villain and a real-life serial killer in jail. I’m not that person who’s gonna be caught sending love letters to violent men in prison. I am, however, fascinated by them and am the kind of person who will listen to podcasts and watch documentaries that investigate the psychology of such people. I like to see what makes people do the things they do and I firmly believe that in the vast majority of cases, there is more than a little bit of nurture lacking in the “nature or nurture” cause of evil. People aren’t born evil. Learning how and why they became teaches empathy. And yes, I can empathize with them and still think they’re a terrible person. Maybe I’m naive, but I think the world can use more empathy, and I’d rather be a little too kind to someone who might not deserve it than bring more hatred into the world. Real people often don’t change their ways, but it does happen. And fiction allows a safe environment for us to play around with that idea.

Third… In the words of Wonder Woman, “It’s not about deserve.” Do I think these characters who have done awful, horrible things deserve to be redeemed? Probably not. But that’s the thing about grace and mercy…they are inherently undeserved gifts. And that doesn’t mean you don’t set boundaries. It doesn’t mean you put up with abuse. It doesn’t mean that actions don’t have legal or emotional or financial consequences and everything is automatically all rainbows and butterflies. Forgiveness isn’t a feeling. It’s a choice. It’s choosing to allow the legal system (and God, if you believe in Him) to do its work and taking yourself out of the equation in terms of offering vengeance. It’s not allowing yourself to get walked all over, but it’s also choosing not to go walking all over your enemy when you have the chance. Also…redemption isn’t something that happens overnight. It’s hard work. It’s a long process of the person slowly coming to realize that they were in the wrong, grieving deeply over the wrongs that they have done, and doing the best they can to make up for it by living a different sort of lifestyle. It’s not a single choice to do one good thing. It’s a million little choices to do the right thing instead of the easy thing over and over and over again. It’s stumbling along the way and making mistakes and getting back up and trying again. It’s learning to control anger and to accept that love and friendship and fear and heartbreak aren’t weakness. It’s learning to put others before themselves when before they only ever had to worry about looking out for Number One. To use a recent quote from the Loki series, “Raze it to the ground. That’s easy. Starting over is hard. Hope… Hope is hard.” Redemption doesn’t always mean a totally happy ending. It means becoming a better person, and there is often a lot of pain involved.

Finally, I’d like to conclude with the words I once heard from an Orthodox priest that really stuck with me and which I think are especially relevant to how I approach my thinking in both fictional villains and my actual fellow human beings… “Other sinful human beings are not the enemy. They are slaves of The Enemy. And you don’t hurt your enemy’s slaves. You try to set them free.”

[undead-discourse]

genuinely have to wonder what these people who are so staunchly anti non-offending paraphiles want to happen to said paraphiles. like... what, do you want them to be killed for their thoughts they cant control? you think they deserve to die because theyre mentally ill? do people with homocidal intrusive thoughts deserve to die too, for an act they have not and likely will never commit? i hate to break it to you, but paraphilias are way more common than you think, and the people who have them are humans just like you. some of them seemingly come from nowhere, but a lot of them stem from trauma, which yall dont like to think about because it reminds you that if things just went a little differently, you couldve ended up like the inhuman, irredeemable monsters you advocate for the murder of. either way, its literally not something that the paraphile can control. fundamentally its unlikely any of them will ever be able to shirk their attractions. they can, however, just like you, control their actions. they are people with mental illnesses so stigmatized that its socially acceptable to publicly call for their slaughter. if you fancy yourself someone who thinks that people can be reformed and rehabilitated, someone who identifies as a prison abolishionist or an anarchist, you cannot also advocate for the involuntary killing of people with mental disorders. and you cannot perpetuate this culture of shame and fear and hostility, because all it does is push paraphiles who desperately need help further into isolation, away from the help that they need, and closer to actually offending. if someone is outed as a paraphile, their entire life is ruined. all of their connections are severed. theyre met with constant active hostility for something they never asked for and something they cannot control. so why, then, would a paraphile ever feel comfortable asking for help? how could they ever feel like they can reach out to a professional or even just to their friends and family when the risk is so high? when theyre told that theyre going to hurt people no matter what anyway?

full disclosure, im a paraphile. i wont specify anything beyond that. but for the longest time i really did feel like an irredeemable monster who was doomed to hurt others, that it was only a matter of time. that mindset, unsurprisingly, is not very conducive to recovery. it was only when i found other paraphiles online, learned i wasnt alone, that i didnt have to feel like the only option was death, that i finally felt like i could take control of myself. the isolation was the biggest hindrance to that. feeling like i was entirely alone in the world aside from people who had committed heinous acts, because the paraphiles who havent obviously cant talk about it. except they do, in small corners of the internet, where they still face incredible harassment and shame. still, knowing i was in the company of good people and knowing that my attraction wasnt some conscious choice on my part that made me into an inherent monster helped majorly. i didnt choose to grow up in the environment that i did. i didnt choose what i was exposed to as a kid. i didnt choose how any of that would affect me. i didnt choose to be a paraphile. but i am choosing to be a good person despite it, and im choosing to let other paraphiles know that they can do the same. i know there are some reading this. youre not alone, you can get help, and you can choose to be a fantastic person. youre not doomed. you dont have to die to keep others safe.

to summarize: paraphiles are human beings with mental illnesses just like many of you. and just like you, they need help and support, but its incredibly difficult to get that when the public opinion on them is generally "you deserve to die no matter what." we are incredibly common. you probably know a paraphile. and if that deeply upsets you on a moral level, i hope you know thats the reason why paraphiles hide it and just get worse and worse.

paraphiles are always going to be here no matter how hard you wish they were all dead. thats just a fact. so you can keep making graphic threats against mentally ill people, literally only causing further harm to them and to others, or you can show compassion and a genuine desire to see things get better by at the very least not perpetuating obvious anti-recovery, pro capital punishment, pro thought crime propaganda.

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[mdhwrites]

Avatar's Bloodbending 'Problem'

TL:DR: It's not necromancy. It's not paralled to the real rise of a genuinely good service, or in its own universe something that is inherently, at worse, disrespectful. One can raise the dead and do no harm. To Bloodbend ANYTHING is to force it to your will and inflict pain. Period.

So what is this about? Well, some people are trying to be 'clever' by talking about how the only form of bending that is inherently demonized is bloodbending, the version of bending created by someone who was under brutal oppression and in solitary confinement. Here's the thing... Does a backstory excuse evil?

What is Bloodbending good for, especially versus other forms of evil magic? Mind Control can guarantee the truth out of people, helping with criminal investigations, or for that matter can help suppress fears, help people face or erase trauma, etc. like that. Necromancy can be used to help study the human body, be what leads the way to non-holy forms of revival magic and literally reflects how people had to fight in order to learn how to heal through medicine. What can Bloodbending do?

It can't force people to answer questions, it can't teach one about the human body beyond MAYBE how the circulation system works, and when used, it is inherently VERY painful. Its main uses are ONLY in physical control and death. The actual, good or even BENIGN uses for it are minimal, to put it extremely mildly. The main one I can think of would be a bloodbender who was given permission to help people who have lost the use of their limbs be able to use them again, or helping athletes be able to improve their training... Maybe.

And in return? Something that on pretty much all levels is wrong. From a moral perspective, you take the autonomy of a person. It is called Bloodbending but... What the fuck BENDS in this situation? With any other form of bending, you move with the elements. You convince them to join you in your desires and for the most part have them do things they would regardless, just in a different direction. Healing with water bending is the big question mark here but forms of firebending is just combusting the air and then letting it burn. Earthbending is creating different forms of rock, different shapes, and then pushing it. Airbending is just making air move fast, hard, etc. like that.

Blood bending does not convince the body to do what it normally wants to or suggests to it new actions. How Sokka and Aang contort is entirely unnatural. Not only that but what others bend is inert. It does not have a will you're stopping, minus two examples I'll get into, but bloodbending? It inherently is going against the will of the other person which goes against many of the show's own philosophies and morals. Like this person in captivity... Makes people their captives. Continuing the cycle of cruelty is not a good thing. Ever.

Fun element to this: This is why benders can't multi-bend as well and why even Avatars struggle with certain elements. The element cannot bend in a way it is unsuited for so the person themselves must be in harmony with the element they are using. Hence why Aang needs to fight his natural instincts to meet Earth on its own terms because the whole fucking point is HARMONY.

So about those two exceptions: Lightning and Plant bending. Lightning has a goal in its movements. It's not just flowing due to gravity like water or burning fuel like fire but instead chooses a specific point to strike, which even then could be argued as not a choice because of how it actually works in nature. How do you deal with that? Specifically by working with the lightning and convincing it to go in a new direction through the motions of your own body, like any other form of bending. And plant bending is only done by people who are at one with nature. Who work with it in their bending, not against it like with Bloodbending. It is in harmony, not conflict, with the material who's lifeblood it uses.

Bloodbending, by probably every metric possible, IS in fact an abberation. Something that is cruel, unnatural and goes against the spiritual ideals of the show. Why in the world WOULDN'T it be demonized?

The source of something does not dictate its morality. Its uses and purpose do. Otherwise, the church would be allowed to do quite literally anything it ever wanted because it is empowered by God to do good and fight 'evil'. I don't think any of us want that. See you next tale.

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Final one that isn't actually directly a part of this conversation but I could see people could try to use it here is the obvious comparison to Blood Magic in fantasy. However, I would argue Blood Magic is much closer to nuclear energy in most fantasy settings, with how it is at its base level just an energy source but by not regulating it, the harm it can do is DEVASTATING. Good mages can use it as an energy source to cast more benign spells in times of emergency to help people but not through what blood magic uniquely allows one to do. It's like how uranium is a VERY good energy source but as an energy source, it's just extra potent. Its more specific uses however mostly include, you know, destroying large pockets of civilization. It needs to be made into something more generally useful to be good. Bloodbending... Isn't anything like that because it can't even be turned into something benign to then be used for better work so it has no real place in this conversation.

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