#look at me continuing to destroy the perfectionist demon

[purplepixel]

- Ch. 20 of Spiders Web With Strings Attached by @psychologicalwarclaire

GET HER MIKEY. GET HERRRR. JUSTICE SHALL BE SERVED!!!

This is your reminder to go read this amazing fanfic. Am I spoiling a pretty big moment in this fic? Maybe. Only those whove read it would understand the amount of pure euphoria this chapter gave after words and words of having your heart shattered in a million pieces. Chapter 20 of swsa is iconic and remains one of the greatest moments in fanfiction I’ve ever read.

[zayray030]

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Summary: a one shot connecting to my mama Tobio series. Anyway, Akito breaks a photo but Kageyama reassures him it's okay.

Count to three and everything should be fine. Just count to goddamn three and everything will be just, fucking, fine.

“Mama? Are you mad at me?” asked a shy, timid voice, that was so normally full of snark and liveliness.

Immediately, Tobio felt his anger disappear. He couldn't stay mad at his boy. He couldn't.

“Oh, sweetheart. I could never be mad at you even if I tried, okay? Come here.” he cooed in, what he hoped, was his least most condescending voice.

Immediately, a frame too small for their age came running at him and Tobio caught him in a hug.

“I d-didn't m-mean to i-” the small boy sobbed in his arms and Tobio merely cooed at him, whispering that it was okay.

He was talking about the broken picture frame of his first year in middle school with the volleyball team. At first, he had treasured it because it had been one of the few moments where Oikawa wasn't a total asshole to him. However, as time grew on the photo only bought him despair and it reminded him about how he had failed everyone.

Looking at the broken frame where glass surrounded the picture, a piece of glass puncturing a hole where Oikawa was standing, he couldn't help the vindictive feeling of pleasure. Finally, he longer had to look at it. His cowardice from earlier refused to let him take it down, thinking that he deserved to be reminded of his failures.

“I just want to make sure you aren't hurt, baby,” he reassured softly, knowing that if his team were here he would get teased mercilessly, but right now he had to focus on his son. He was more important right now.

“B-but-”

“But nothing. I'm actually glad that you had destroyed it,” he told the boy honestly, letting out his more friendlier smiles, the one he reserves for those truly close to him. “I had been wanting to get rid of it for quite a while now, so I'm glad that you got rid of it. Kinda poetic actually,” he said jokingly.

“Really?” asked Akito and Tobio hummed in affirmation. He gently guided the boy into his lap and gently rocked him, running his fingers through his soft, brunette locks. “How is it poetic?” the boy asked, voice still timid. Tobio shook his head and continued his soothing gestures before answering

“In my first year in middle school I used to look up to one of my senpais because a) he was a really amazing setter and b) he was way more charismatic than I could ever be.” Tobio’s voice was soft recalling memories of him looking up to Oikawa, wanting to learn from the best of the best. Oh, how time has changed things.

“One day.” he continued, trying his hardest to not let his voice crack, “I asked him to help me with my jump serve. He…” Kageyama hesitated, looking at the boy in his arms before continuing, there was no use in keeping secrets. “didn't have the best of reactions. One moment he was just standing there and the next minute his best friend was holding his arm to make sure he didn't slap me.”

Tobio heard the soft gasp and when he looked down again those wide blue eyes of his son looked up at him, full of sadness for the younger version of himself. He simply kissed the boy's forehead before continuing.

“After that, I still continued to ask him for it and thankfully he didn't try to attack me. However, he did show his dislike for me much more. Eventually, the rest of the school caught up to it and everyone began avoiding me. Some even taunted me.” Tobio was shocked at how sad his voice was but he supposed that even he couldn't keep up the emotionless mask, especially around Akito.

“That's horrible.” Akito huffed, feeling angry on Tobio’s behalf. He couldn't help the small laugh that he let out, even more laughter escaping as Akito puffed up his cheeks at him.

“Truly,” he said dryly, but there was truth behind those words. It had been absolutely horrible. “Anyways, eventually my only escape had been volleyball. But due to that, I became a…perfectionist. I yelled at my team to go faster. To be better. I became a tyrant.” he spat those words out as if they were poison.

He felt the grip around him tighten, Akito pushing his head closer to the nape of his neck so the only visible thing was his brown hair.

“You aren't anymore, are you?” Akito asked, voice small.

Poor child, whilst not afraid to mouth off and call him mama, was still afraid to ask him questions. It made Tobio’s heart break and renew his vow to protect the boy with all he had.

“No. Well at least I hope not,” he reassured both himself and his son. “I have a new team. A team who…cares.” he voiced softly and bubbly laughter escaped the gremlin in his arms.

“Of course they should, mama!” and there was that cheeky little brat.

“Mhm. Thanks, baby. Anyway, as I was saying.” he continued, voice becoming more serious. “Whilst Oikawa was the catalyst for how certain things happened in my life, bad things, you were the catalyst to all good things in my life. Thanks to you, baby, my life's gotten ten times better than it used to be.”

“Even if you have to split high school, volleyball and me?” and come back with a timid voice.

“Absolutely. You are worth every single second,” he reassured before standing up, Akito in his arms.

“Come on. Let's clean up this mess and go make dinner. I can make curry with egg on top?”

“Yes!” yelled Akito victoriously, wiggling out of his arms successfully and dashing to the kitchen to get cleaning supplies, being careful as to not step on any of the glass.

Tobio watched the boy run off fondly.

True, it had been an absolute nightmare at the beginning with having to deal with a prickly kid who switched from a timid angel to a salty demon. Adding along with that his constant need to make sure his grades stayed on top and to manage volleyball as well had been a nightmare.

However, with the constant support of distant family from all over, he managed.

Whilst, sure they didn't visit him they still made sure he had everything he could wish for. And when he wished for material to help him look after his 7 year old son they had given it to him with minimal question.

The only person who had questioned it had been Miwa. When she had found out she had tried to scold him as if he was still a child but he didn't back down. He still had a lot of suppressed emotions from when he was in middle school.

Eventually, they had managed to sort things out to a point. This point was a point where she would pick up Akito from school and that was that. Nothing else. She didn't stick around for anything after.

Tobio wishes things were different and maybe they will be in the future. But for right now, things were better than they are now.

And sure, having to go to practice whilst also worrying about your son was not ideal but at least nobody questioned it. Well they did, it's just the question ‘Do you have a child?’ never comes up when they do question him so To io can't be blamed. It's not like he's lying to them, he's just not sharing information which they did not ask for.

“Mama! Come on! I already cleaned up! “

That immediately snapped Tobio away from his thoughts, eyes shooting towards his son.

The little gremlin had the nerve to smile innocently at him, holding a broom in one hand and in the other was an empty dustpan.

“Brat,” he muttered, taking the cleaning equipment from his hands and cleaning up himself the vindictive pleasure from before returning as glass gathered up and brushed over Oikawa’s ripped photo.

“But you still love me!” came the sing song voice and Tobio couldn't help but agree.

“True.” and he smirked when Akito flushed, not expecting the natural agreement.

“Humph.” he harrumphed, turning around and crossing his arms whilst puffing out his cheeks. Briefly, Tobio thinks about how he does the same thing and he wonders if he looks half as adorable as this.

“Awe.” he cooed before making his way to the kitchen, ignoring the indignant sounds coming from Akito. He disposed of the trash before he started to riffle through his cabinets to get the ingredients to make them dinner.

“Come on, Aki-chan. Help your ‘mother’ with cooking.” and he couldn't help the smile on his face as he heard the childish giggle from his son.

His situation wasn't perfect, but this moment right here was. It felt like home.

[aceofintuition]

Theory: Joey isn’t Bendy (but The Meatly wants you to think he is)

So… I know the theory of Joey being Bendy has been popular for quite some time now, and for a long time, it’s been nagging at me. It seems pretty plausible on the surface, and within the context of the game, it seems to make sense, not to mention a great twist. But... there are some things that just don’t add up for me. So with a lot of help from @jceydrew and @pipesflowforeverandever I sat down and wrote this out. Let’s talk about why Bendy being set up to be Joey might just be one gigantic red herring...

Before getting into this, I do have to acknowledge that there is a lot of evidence that does seem to speak in favor of the theory (that is to say, that Joey IS Bendy). Bendy is the titular character of the game, after all, and Joey arguably is the biggest player out of the human cast that we’ve seen (or rather, haven’t seen) so far. It fits well with Joey’s voiced belief in cheating death from chapter 3. And I have to admit, turning himself into his creations, something that would far outlast his own lifespan, does seem to be his end goal. However, there are a lot of things that just don’t add up for me with this, and make me think that we (and maybe Henry!) are supposed to think that Joey is Bendy, so that Joey can go on continuing to pull whatever strings he’s pulling in the background.

First and foremost, one of my main problems is just that… Bendy doesn’t seem all that… smart, to be quite honest. His movements/behaviors are relatively straightforward, especially compared to the other two major voices in the game (that is to say, Sammy and Alice). He shows no signs of deception, cunning, or significant intelligence, really. (Excepting destroying the cutouts, but if the theory that those are his eyes is correct… That could just be another instinctive response.) If anything, he reminds me an awful lot of the studio’s supernatural guard dog. I mean, the poor guy can’t even figure out the little miracle stations. Which brings me to my next point, and that’s the letter that Henry receives in the beginning of the game. A letter which is at the very least signed in a precise, elegant, flowing script. Truth be told, I just can’t see Bendy sitting down at a writing desk and doing that, but—more importantly, perhaps most importantly, there are no ink stains on the letter. At least, not any major ones. It’s practically one of the cleanest items in the game. And I cannot see a being who rains ink wherever he goes, is literally made out of ink, managing to write or type such a clean letter without making a mess of the paper.

And to the possibility that he could have written it and then turned himself into Bendy—well, I suppose it’s possible. But Sammy and Alice seem to imply that Bendy, the “ink demon”, has been around for a long, long time. Alice mentions that “there is one rule we all know and respect down here: beware the Ink Demon,” suggesting that Bendy has been around at least long enough to become recognized as a threat… And long enough for Alice to figure out some idea of how he moves and behaves…and what pisses him off. Sammy seems to have some similar understanding, albeit from a different perspective. He too knows enough to know that the sound in the vents is Bendy, he knows how Bendy moves and what he brings with him, and notes that he “still sings those old songs.” He also says that he will “finally be freed from this prison.” This implies that he’s been waiting, and worshiping Bendy, for a while.

However, even if Bendy’s creation was only recent, and the letter perhaps written before, there’s still the matter of Joey himself. Joey, the man who’s implied to be looking for a way to cheat death. Joey, the perfectionist. Joey, the man who you don’t show Bendy’s joke expression sheet to, because... Joey, the man who chewed out his toymaker for creating some dolls that weren’t perfect, and presumably is the driving force behind the need to make the perfect living cartoon.

Bendy is far from perfect.

And I just can’t see Joey doing anything to himself without being absolutely sure it would work exactly the way he wanted and needed it to work. Now granted, by this point it’s presumably been at least thirty years, and perhaps he was concerned about his own death, but… Again, the obsession with perfection. Presuming he’s the one who’s been making all those Borises in order to create the perfect cartoon, it seems quite likely that he would do the same to Bendy—and would want to create the perfect Bendy before even considering trying it on himself.

But then, perhaps he was forced into it by his own failing health, right? I know the theory that Joey could have had polio is popular in the fandom right now, thus accounting for the wheelchair shown in the end of Chapter 1, and Joey’s desire to beat the clock. And make no mistake; I do think that Bendy, whoever he is, was probably originally the person in the wheelchair... The twisted foot makes a lot of sense, and I don’t see any other reason for the imagery of that scene.

However, polio was a disease most commonly contracted by children under the age of five. It’s certainly not impossible Joey caught it when he was young OR got it later, but I personally think he didn’t have it at all—the studio itself just isn’t built for it! This place, of which Joey would have overseen the entire construction of, is so unbelievably unfriendly to disabled people it’s ridiculous. There are stairs everywhere. There are step-down floors that, as far as I can tell, only exist for the aesthetic. And sure there’s elevators—at least in part of the studio—but we’re given the notable audio tape in which Thomas tells us just how unreliable they are...And blames Joey for cutting corners with them. I really can’t see a paralyzed, wheelchair-bound Joey “Why, with enough belief, you can even cheat death itself!” Drew “cutting corners” with these things, let alone trusting his life to potentially faulty ones. Surely if he had been, the studio would be so much more accessible (either built as such or revised). As it is, a wheelchair-bound person can’t even reach the infirmary; it’s down at least one more flight of stairs, if not more.

But Joey, not giving a damn about one of his wheelchair-bound employees? Seems much more in line with his style. And if Bendy isn’t Joey, it brings us to the question of who Bendy IS created from. Given Bendy’s status as the titular character in the game, it’s more likely a person of some importance. We have a couple names of which we’re not entirely certain of who they are yet, of which Franks is probably the only important one. He, like Bendy, has been around since chapter one, but there’s nothing much tying him to Bendy, and more tying him to Boris. However, I would like to point out that there’s one character here who’s been missing this entire time, one character who we’ve heard nothing about. This is a big studio that likely had a lot of employees. If you assume that the studio continued operating for a period after Henry left (due to everything that Henry doesn’t recognize), it’s unlikely that Joey animated these shorts by himself—if he even animated at all. Much more likely that he had an animation team, of which Henry was the lead animator of… At least, up until he left.

Which begs the question: who replaced Henry after he left, and why haven’t we heard anything about this person?

Possibly because it could cast some doubt on the Joey = Bendy theory. Especially since it’s implied that the perfect cartoons need someone with a strong connection to them to make them perfect. Joey doesn’t seem like a man who would test it on himself without being absolutely sure, but he would’ve needed test subjects… Henry’s replacement could have had a strong enough connection to form the ink demon. And as a bonus, unlike Joey, the animator would have only needed to stay at their desk… And it’s currently implied that all of the animation department was located on the first floor, which is the only place in the game right now that a wheelchair could access with minimal issues.  

Regardless of who Bendy was made from, though, Joey not being Bendy does beg the question of where the man is if not running around as a demonic entity composed of ink and human sacrifice. We haven’t seen him or heard from him at all, but… I don’t think he’s dead. You don’t set up a red herring for a dead man, after all. You set it up for a rug pull somewhere later on, like at the climax of the arc. And I can see a couple things that suggest to me that Joey is very much around in this studio still.

Both Sammy and Alice refer to Joey in the present tense. Consider Alice’s dialogue in the elevator at one point: “Once upon a time, there was an angel. And she was beautiful. And loved by all. She was perfect, no matter what Joey says.” The entire quote is in past tense… with the sole exception of Alice referring to Joey. This was a specific choice to have it read Joey says instead of Joey said. Joey says… as in Joey has said this recently. As in… Joey is still around to say this to her.

In addition, Sammy also notes within the Q&A that “knowing Joey… he’s probably raising his salary somewhere.” Again, another present tense. Sammy doesn’t seem to think at all that Joey could be dead—and he also doesn’t give any indication that he thinks Joey and Bendy are connected. (And conveniently, just a day or two after I sat down and wrote this, we receive another tweet from the official BATIM account that seems to suggest that Sammy doesn’t believe Joey and Bendy are the same person...Not only that, but that Sammy might be interested in sacrificing Joey, which opens up another entire can of worms but I digress.)

Now, I will admit that these only speak to what the characters believe, and not necessarily what is truth. After all, Henry’s dialogue referring to Joey seems to suggest that Joey is dead. Or rather, it suggests that Henry believes that Joey is dead or at least not around--note the use of past tense for both of these. And from my perspective, it seems an awful lot like every character in this game has their own ideas of what’s going on, and none of them are… quite correct. But between Alice, Sammy, and Henry, I’m more inclined to believe the words of the two people who have been living in the studio for several years at least, and less so the man who just arrived—even if he is the protagonist. In fact, I’d even argue that Henry is potentially the most unreliable narrator of the entire game. Joey might be dead to the world at large, but he’s not in the studio.

And if that’s not enough? Well, there’s one other thing from Sammy’s Q&A that I have to thank @jceydrew for pointing out, and that’s when he says that he recalls “a whistling sound […] with a sinister purpose.” Specifically as a memory of the studio. And indeed, there is one point in the game in which a whistling can be heard… But it’s not something you’d find easily. In fact, it’s a hell of an easter egg, one which can only be found by walking backwards into Bendy’s ink pool at the end of Chapter 2 and then… waiting. Now, perhaps you’re inclined to say that this is Bendy whistling, but… Sammy calls it sinister, and makes no mention of it being related to his lord. It also doesn’t sound very close--rather far off, which doesn’t match up to knowing Bendy is only a few feet away. We also never hear it anywhere else in the game. Indeed, given that Bendy is waiting to ambush Henry, it’s really odd to be hearing any sound there at all, even as an easter egg… Or it would be, if it was Bendy making the noise. But I’d like you to consider.

At the end of this ink pool is a door, and there is one other sound that can be heard besides the whistling when you preform this maneuver… And that’s the sound of machinery, clearly coming from the other side of the locked door. And not just any machinery, no. Specifically it matches the sounds of the ink machine from chapter 1. And all this suggests to me that the whistling doesn’t belong to Bendy at all—instead, it’s tied to the location. And who would be whistling a vague melody with a sinister purpose, behind a locked door that apparently has an ink machine on the other side?

Joey Drew.

So why, then, have we not seen him in the game yet? Well, again, let’s circle back to Henry. The answer to me seems pretty simple. Henry speaks as though he doesn’t expect Joey to show up, at the very least. He doesn’t call for him or seemingly make any attempt to find him at all. As Adobe points out, it could just be as simple as Henry didn’t immediately respond to the letter. We haven���t seen Joey yet because he simply, genuinely, doesn’t know that Henry is in the studio—he has (perhaps long since) stopped expecting Henry to show up.

But things are coming to a head. If Joey hasn’t found out yet, then he will soon… And then things are going to change.  

[demonwriterx]

Why does Black Hat keep the trio?

Alan, the creator of the show Villainous, did a Q and A recently on a live stream and one of the questions were.

Why does Black Hat keep Dr. Flug and the others and why won’t they escape?

Now, Alan didn't reveal too much but he did gave us a hint which was, Black Hat keeps them there for a reason or purpose, it’s not random and it’s not that he wants to destroy them. (Which implies BH wants to, but won’t) because if there were other people, they would not stay with him. (Which also implies that he wants them, specifically, for a reason.

 and it also implies that the trio continues to stay with him after all the abuse he gives them, because for some  “reason” they want to stay with him.

Alan also follows up by saying that BH keeping them with him, is not with good intentions, they have a purpose. Every single one of them. But what is that purpose?

Here is my own thoughts.

Flug: 

Flug gets most of the abuse from BH, but he continues to stick around. Most people believe that he is there against his will, but that is not true because Alan also revealed that Flug is actually “Working” with Black Hat! By Choice!

From this, we can assume that Flug had worked with Black Hat the longest and that he is getting paid. Perhaps a LOT. In an article that Alan was interviewed in, he gave out even more information on Flug’s “Role” in Black Hat inc. 

This translates to “Dr. Flug, is Black Hat’s right hand-” He is BH right hand man, which also proves that he had been there the longest to be by his side. Dr. Flug (described by Alan in the article) that he is the most Brilliant scientist in the world, but because he is so nervous it actually causes problems. Which brings me back to Black Hat’s purpose for Dr. Flug. 

Alan stated in a tweet, that Flug is actually a villain, but now as evil as Black Hat. 

I believe that Black Hat’s purpose for Flug is to mold him into a real villain and to also use his inventions for his own financial gain. Remember, Black Hat is EVIL, he is selfish, greedy and a perfectionist. Alan stated that Black Hat is not keeping the trio there under “good” intentions. BH sees Flug potential and also sees his brain and inventions as financial gain. 

Now as for Flug, I believe it has something to do with why he wears the paper bag, this is my own thoughts by using some of the evidence provided for us.  Flug is actually a beautiful man underneath his paper bag. Think about the Misadventures of Flapjack and “the most beautiful man in the world” episode.

Taking this example, there was a man that wanted people to recognize him through his combs (because he sold them) because he knows if he takes off the bag, they won’t care about his creations they will busy gawking at his face. I believe something similar happened to Dr. Flug. He is a scientist and inventor. He wanted to be recognized for his works but because of his face, people didn’t care about any of that which led him down the path of villainy. We also know from Alan that Flug is an aviator and is also fascinated in “planes and plane-crashes”. From what I believe is that Flug, possible, hijacked a plane and accidentally crashed it into BH’s house. Where the Demon found him, learned about him and decided to use him. Flug is more than happy to join him because he knows that with BH’s help, he could actually make something out of himself. 

Dementia-

Dementia is kinda still up there because we are not entirely sure as to what she is. Is she human? an escaped mental patient? a cyborg created by Dr. Flug?

maybe. In a tweet by Alan someone asked him about the metal band around Dementia’s ankle and got this. 

Dementia is under house arrest and it seems that she is bound to the house and bound to BH. She loves him unconditionally. But he does not love her, but in the same article that I explained before, Dementia is the destructive and impulsive “assistant” of Black Hat. In the poster art of the show, we can actually see her holding a mace. 

This is what I believe is Dementia’s purpose for Black Hat. She is his body guard. A body guard? what? Can’t Black Hat take care of himself? Yes! so think of it this way. She is his guard dog. She is a force that will destroy everything in her wake, BH just have to give the word and she will obey unconditionally due to her love for Black Hat. He knows that no one will be able to handle her, expect for him. Why not use her as an attack dog? 

Black Hat does not want to waste his power of inferior beings unless he has too, when Dementia came along, she would do whatever he says so he will let her do what she wants in the name of BH. Including destroying anyone he finds annoying. 

Dementia stays with Black Hat because, well, she loves him. All she wants is for Black Hat to notice her. Which means she is happy to stay by his side as long as Black Hat needs her. 

5.0.5-

In the article, 5.0.5 is an experiment gone wrong and created by Dr. Flug. He was suppose to be super evil but became everything opposite of that. Black Hat tried to get rid of him but Flug managed to convince him to keep him as a pet. 5.0.5 is a little mysterious and we don’t know a lot about him but in the article, 5.0.5 is based on childhood Alan and Black Hat is based on Alan’s father. In the live stream, 5.0.5 wants to be useful for Black Hat which is why he cleans the mansion and does chores because all he wants is Black Hat’s love. Which he will, sadly, never get. 5.0.5 will never leave because Flug (who created him) is his friend and he sees Black Hat, as a father figure. 

My own thoughts from his creation is when he was created. He saw Black Hat first and immediately thought of as parent, even though Flug takes care of and protects him from BH’s wrath.

Black Hat keeps 5.0.5 around as a pet and as a personal maid. He’s not going to be the one to clean. Why not let the bear do it? He also uses 5.0.5 as a guinea pig to test Flug’s experiment’s on and also to torment every now and than. 

Well that’s all I have, if anyone of you want to offer your own headcanons as to the reasons why BH keeps them there, go ahead and comment below. Also another interesting fact. 

I was looking around in Alan’s twitter account and I found how evil each villain is from bad to worst, in villainous. 

so it goes from

5.0.5, Dr. Flug, Dementia and Black Hat (as being the worst)

[warsofasoiaf]

You talked about the loyal primarchs, what about the rebel ones? What flaws do each one have that may led them to betrayal?

One of the big things I see with the Traitor Primarchs is their self-absorbed nature, and their arrogance believing themselves to not need caution or restraint. They also often succumbed to desires of personal satisfaction and gratification, even the most petty sort. I’ve made some notes here, and I’ve highlighted what I think to be excellent pieces of villain crafting.

Fulgrim is one of the worst, obsessed as he was with perfection to the point of embracing anything that would improve him. In the legion’s sense, this drive was off-putting for the other legions and led to egotists like Lucius gaining rank over humbler, effective officers. In the personal sense led to falling under the sway of the Laer Blade, paying no heed to the warnings. His ego led him to be easily susceptible to flattery and manipulation by Horus, as well as trying to convince stubborn, loyal Ferrus because he believed he couldn’t possibly fail. When Ferrus and he came to blows, his ego led to his possession, and his refusal to own up to his killing of his brother and best friend led to his possession. Fulgrim is the unhealthy fixation on narcissism weaponized into ego, to the point where he murders people for not being sufficiently awed by him.

Perturabo’s casual brutality is often at odds with his desire to be an artist, architect, and craftsman. His self-control is very poor, as he frequently lashed out in rage by killing completely uninvolved people. Resigned to drudgery, Perturabo increasingly resorted to brutal pleasures to derive satisfaction from his unfulfilling life. His perfectionist drive was not as bad as Fulgrim’s, but he still decimated his legion for failing to live up to his standards when he first met them (thus, they didn’t know what standards they were failing). Certainly, Perturabo was crapped on and disrespected for performing vital but unglamorous jobs in warfare, but his pettiness in his affairs were his own doing. This resentment built up to the point where the Iron Warriors became the drudge that Perturabo feared, throwing men at the walls and refusing to take advice either from his brothers or sons like Warsmith Dantioch. Finally unable to rein in his hate, he ravaged his own planet and believing that he would never be forgiven, joined Horus and indulged in every sort of petty revenge seeking that he could.

Konrad Curze is interesting because while he did betray the Emperor, he did not embrace the Chaos Gods and even during Angels of Caliban, believed that he was acting within his nature, and there’s no reason to believe that he was not telling the truth. Whether or not that’s the case, Konrad was always the way he was, brutal and terrifying. Konrad is the man who sees no problem with visiting atrocity upon the atrocious, with bringing evil to evil. The problem of course, is that he takes it upon himself to be judge, jury, and executioner. Certainly, Konrad is a more unique case, given that his visions showed him all of the horrors of his later life including his own death, which did not do his sanity any favors. Konrad seemed to bring the torment within his own mind out, hunting, harming, killing, terrorizing, all crimes were deserving of the same brutal punishment. Konrad is an altogether insidious twist of martyrdom, sacrificing the self by becoming the monster in order to stop other monster, but Konrad ultimately became worse, and viewed the Night Lords not as an army to achieve objectives, but a scourge sent to punish anyone for failing to live up to impossible standards.

“What would you know of struggle, Perfect Son? When have you fought against the mutilation of your mind? when have you had to do anything more than tally compliances and polish your armour?” […] “The people of your world named you Great One. The people of mine called me Slave. Which one of us landed on a paradise of civilization to be raised by a foster father, Roboute? Which one of us was given armies to lead after training in the halls of the Macraggian high-riders? Which one of us inherited a strong, cultured kingdom? And which one of us had to rise up against a kingdom with nothing but a horde of starving slaves? Which one of us was a child enslaved on a world of monsters, with his brain cut up by carving knives? Listen to your blue-clad wretches yelling of courage and honour, courage and honour, courage and honour. Do you even know the meaning of those words? Courage is fighting the kingdom which enslaves you, no matter that their armies outnumber yours by ten-thousand to one. You know nothing of courage. Honour is resisting a tyrant when all others suckle and grow fat on the hypocrisy he feeds them. You know nothing of honour.”

Angron is one of the best-characterized of the Traitor Primarchs and his weakness is on full display in Betrayer. His speech to Roboute Guilliman (above) was one of the finest pieces of characterization I’ve seen in the Horus Heresy novels because of how well it explains Angron’s personality and ultimately, how pathetic he is. Angron is everyone who blamed other people for the misfortunes he had in life, who hates and resents everyone and believes that they did not work hard or strive to earn anything that they have. While it is certainly true that he was enslaved and forced to fight for the amusement of the aristocracy on his homeworld, he spits at Guilliman and believes that Guilliman never had to put effort into the 500 worlds of Ultramar. Similarly, he doesn’t think Sanguinius, who grew up on a radiation-blasted hellscape hunted by packs of mutant cannibals, or Lion El’Jonson who grew up for ten years alone being hunted by demons, ever had to struggle in their lives. Similarly, while he rails against the forcible implantation of the Butcher’s Nails into his brain (a great injustice certainly), it didn’t stop him from doing the same to his own legion. More than any other Primarch, Angron constantly blames others for circumstances they had no control over, or for problems of his own devising. Angron is a great warrior but a weak man whose fall to Chaos was largely borne out of his refusal to believe that despite his rough circumstances, he was still accountable for his own actions.

Mortarion’s social Darwinism, contempt for civilians, and arrogance certainly wouldn’t endear him to many, and his bigotry of psykers made Leman Russ look like a rational if suspicious guy. Mortarion’s resentment of E-Money saving his life killing his adoptive father was fairly bog-standard, and on its own, almost certainly was not going to cause him to fall to Chaos. Mortarion’s bigotry and greed appear to be the chief motivators of his fall. He considered the Emperor to be a massive hypocrite for being a psyker and for using Warp-tech to create the Primarchs, but he was hoping for the Emperor and Horus to kill each other so he could take the top job, as Jaghatai Khan calls him out on when they speak on Prospero in Scars, just as he called him out for corraling the psykers only to be on the side who embraces psychic powers, rampant mutation, and uncontrolled warpcraft.

Magnus’s chief flaw was his massive ego that he believed he didn’t require caution. He made pacts with Tzeentch from the beginning to save his Legion from the Flesh-Change, studied much in the ways of the Warp, continued psyker studies in secret after Nikaea, and broke down the Imperial Webway, all out of the belief that he knew what he was doing, that he could control what he was doing, and that he thought out all the possible angles. This sort of pride was Magnus’s downfall, because he never took measures to ensure that should things not work out, that he could mitigate the damages. It’s always a mistake to believe that you will experience no setbacks or make no mistakes, and so when Magnus did, he couldn’t handle the problems.

Horus’s fixation was ego, pride, and jealousy. He was suspicious that mankind itself would be leading the Imperium that he had fought for, rather than accepting civilian control (or even in making an effort to transition himself to a non-military leadership role the way Rogal Dorn or Roboute Guilliman did). Convinced of his own exceptional nature, when the Emperor did not divulge any information about the Webway to him, Horus took it personally and acted out of spiteful jealousy. Horus is the villain who gets angry when being shut out, angry that other people have different ideas, angry that people won’t see everything his way. His egocentrism made him take every time he was not included to be a specific slight, and this is a fantastic trait for villains and secondary antagonists alike.

Lorgar’s flaw was that he was so desiring to have faith in something, that he never bothered to wonder whether or nor that something was worth having faith in. Having his faith shattered by the Emperor was a big blow, but for all the Emperor’s brutality, rigid dogma, and inability to relate to humanity, the Chaos Gods are concepts taken to such immortal extremes that they can’t be done by humanity either. Lorgar wanted nothing more than to devote himself to something greater, but along the way of his desire for meaning, he forsook the idea of “greater” being “better” to simply being “larger,” largely out of a desire to feel validated in his service.

Alpharius is different, because of the whole “aid Chaos to destroy Chaos” plot. He may or may not have been a secret loyalist, because he attacked his own allies as much as the loyalists, and complicating matters even more is whether Omegon believed in the same ideology. So unfortunately, we don’t know what Alpharius’s goals were, given that Rogal Dorn killed him near Pluto in Praetorian, and whether Omegon is merely pretending to be Alpharius, has actually assumed Alpharius’s goals, or is seeking only to survive. Given the de-centralized nature of the Alpha Legion, the fact that many of them have wholeheartedly joined Chaos is not an indicator of Omegon’s allegiances as it would be for the other Primarchs.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[animeloversworldsblog]

Reblog bcs is great.

Well but you noticed an important scene 👍 but in fact it has not discarded other things more equally important? Or as in certain scenes it ruins it by showing for example the evil queen as a poor sweet innocent girl, or as in the funeral or other scenes, I do not like manga at all.

I'm sure they won't even put it as a flashback, have you noticed how not even anyone in the original manga mentioned who killed shinya and the others? Only to leave her as the glorious savior instead of showing what she really is, as I have noticed her attitudes, when guren mentions his father, when she threatens to kill shinya, when she wants shinoa to surrender to her demon and the constant sexual harassment towards guren, all as a joke or glory towards her. It shows you in the catastrophe manga Mahiru drinking blood ENJOYING killing and loving power without even caring about a single human life, instead of showing more what guren value most in his life, which is to get to know the real people who support him , help and value to see beyond everything (I do not like how in the manga they portray certain scenes that in the novel are stronger, I do not know how to express it, but in the manga they show me something that I do not see is well done) for in the end make him lose those people in the hands of a sinister selfish, jealous and envious person "The other, possessed by the vengeful spirit of his dead lover, the perfectionist who reduced herself to a demon to get what she wants. Watch. Now the real monster comes out ".

Vengeful, she reduced herself, a real monster. Anything else? I think it's clear.

I think that guren and shinya have shown that one can become the best version of themselves, that you can be strong and intelligent on your own terms, that being weak is a strength and even being weak is not a bad thing, and if that frustrates you It is good because it means that they have not surrendered to themselves yet, that with trial and error they will become stronger and will learn to continue fighting and believing not only for themselves but towards others, both are braver than they think and more strong than they appear and smarter than they think. Love here is set as something that guren ( in which he not even feel love bcs with his friends he doesn't care about her, but with her he didn't do more than doubt, and even after being with her he question himself about it?) cannot live with a toxic person, who only wants to destroy everything that hinders in her way, instead of showing it as "thinking of the other's happiness instead of yours" and that that love is worthwhile for certain people and not for others (and here is where guren show real love toward others). That's why deleting that scene seems horrible to me, because it shows the growth of guren and shinya. Instead they give us someone who enjoys hurting, who is not a genius and his strength is fictitious because it is achieved by committing atrocities, in addition to calling guren a hypocrite and pretending to be a good person and who has fallen lower than her in darkness, etc. which is not true bcs guren still is the same guren as always. If you ask me, strength is what guren and shinya are, not someone like mahiru, who has no ideals or beliefs, and who goes against the world because she cannot get things with good will but with bad.

I am sure that Shinya's death will not be so painful but that of the evil woman will be painful, tears and a lot of sorrow for her death, it is not like in the original manga where Guren looked desperate for their deaths, but in Asami's it would not be me very different and can not capture that and more if kagami is the one who says to do it that way.

Ugh really kagami and asami no yo get ride from that important scene? That is why i don't give a damn from the manga, bcs asami portrait really bad those scenes,those emotions,their personality, shinya and guren are a joke to some *cough**cough* and she is portrait like a sweet... Whatever etc. I already can imagine how is gonna be shinya and the rest death, while the snake is gonna be painful and so heartbreaking. What a damn joke is it this? Well don't surprise me kagami love glorified all the bad actions instead to appreciate the love, family and friendship and how that make you strong and grow up bcs that was an important part... But oh " killed all what you love bcs that doesn't let you to be strong""pathetic little attachments" right? THAT WAS AN IMPORTANT BOND. And is what made guren value more and more his friends. Instead to fall completely in her hands.