#it’s a story folks but please god do not woob this man

[mightymizora]

Mannnn seeing some stuff again so gonna make my personal position on this clear.

I’m not here to be a Gortash apologist. I don’t forgive or support the things he does in canon. I don’t think he does anything that supports a redemption arc; hell during the game I don’t even think he is interested in being redeemed.

He is a fascist. He is cynically using language and imagery of light, of being a saviour, to appeal to the desperate masses. Many of the things he does are directly lifted from cult of personality playbooks. He tortures, he experiments, he kills (even if he says he doesn’t like murder, it’s a justification; it’s not about the base lack of control! When he kills it is for a purpose, don’t you see!) Anybody who cannot be bought is coerced, or threatened, or blackmailed, and anybody who is expendable is dead. He is so accomplished at lying that he can even convince himself of the adjusted truth.

He was an abused boy AND he is a tyrant. At some point he bundled up all the pain he endured and turned it into a weapon to unleash upon the world. He thinks he is superior to others, and has shucked off what he perceives as the weakness of feeling to be merciless and cruel.

I find him narratively interesting. I find him compelling, well written and intriguing. I find the idea of two terrible monsters finding a horrible version of codependency together interesting. In an AU I might even be interested in what point, if any, he wasn’t destined to be this person.

But I’m not interested in making excuses for a tyrant.