#sometimes I'm a pacifist who wants to choose forgiveness

[theladygazingatemptiness]

not to be dramatic but. for the last couple of months I've been feeling like my body isn't truly mine

[heinzpilsner]

I lied to you, bwahahaha!

I keep thinking about tSR (from Aang's perspective this time though)

And when I think, I type in my notes, simple as that.

You know, another component people (me including) kinda tend to overlook about this episode is that Aang didn't just argue with Katara and Zuko about their morals.

He was put by Katara into the position to argue because she suddenly went to him and asked to borrow Appa for their revenge trip. And after Aang refused, they decided to take him anyway.

And... It wasn't a right thing to do. At all.

Katara's right to revenge in general is one issue (which I'm not going to discuss here).

But they had no right of using Aang's personal animal companion to commit something Aang openly disapproved, no matter how upset his refusal made them.

It would make Aang their unwilling accomplice, and besides - for him, it wasn't just like giving them his vehicle to commit crimes (which would be bad in itself): it'd feel like letting them to kinda corrupt his unintelligent friend and put him into unnecessary danger, I suppose.

(Not to mention the unnecessary danger for Aang's intelligent friends!)

I saw some people criticizing Aang for not respecting Katara's moral beliefs in this situation, but... It's Katara who went to Aang with her request for his cooperation, not the other way around. Hence, it's Katara who first implicitly asked from him to discard his pacifistic values for her sake. Basically, she suddenly (really suddenly, if you think about it from Aang's perspective) put him into a "It's me or your morals now, Aang? Choose wisely!" situation, and when he wasn't eager to give her the answer she wanted on the spot, she resented him and just turned to leave ("I knew you wouldn't understand"). To treat your close friend in such a way is pretty unfair, no matter how much you're hurting at the moment. And of course Aang felt the need to explain his views to Katara after this - because he valued their friendship and was concerned for her.

(I'm not stating here that Aang's behaviour was perfect, or that his relationship with Katara in general couldn't benefit from him being more attentive to her feelings and values. That's not my point. I'm just trying to explain Aang's exact position here.)

And after that, Katara and Zuko treat Aang as if he's not their friend anymore or something. As if he's some equivalent of a pirate, and to steal something that belongs to him is a right thing to do just because they want.

Aang was actually extremely understanding and (yes) forgiving in this conflict. Zuko had no right to be so dismissive and sarcastic when you look at the situation from this angle.

I mean, hello Zuko, it's Aang's beloved bison you're stealing here for your risky, non-urgent and morally problematic mission that can psychologically harm Aang's beloved girl as well? And he isn't even angry at you for this? You could be a little more grateful, you know.

(Do you value Aang's friendship at all, Zuko, or your heart can accommodate only one important person for you at any given moment, eh?)

Again, I'm trying to be objective here. From Katara's or Zuko's perspective, the situation looks completely different (with a big neon 'lost mothers trauma' sign all over it). But this post is not about their perspective.

Something like this.

(I can always change my mind on the topic after noticing some new facts though, you know. My opinion on anything isn't set in stone. It can be such a bummer sometimes, haha. I keep ignoring my notifications, anyway.)

[just-1other-nerd]

I want to talk about the morals of the crows real quick

Kaz is very ruthless, especially when it comes to achieving a goal. He is a means to an end guy. But he doesn't like slavery, especially forced prostitution. He looks after his crew (one overlooked example is that he makes the slat warm and dry, which shows that he also cares about the less important members of the Dregs). He holds his end of the deal. He awards and appreciates the people who are loyal to him (once again not just the inner circle, because he also gives Rotty and Specht each a half of the money that was originally intended for Per Haskell). He works for his own good and for the good of the people he cares about, so even if he does something good, like smuggle Grisha out of Ketterdam, it is oftentimes because of selfish reasons or because it's beneficial for him. He doesn't follow any religious rules because he's an atheist. The law and the government didn't protect him and Jordie, so he breaks it with pleasure.

Inej is a woman of faith, and she tries to live by it as much as she can. She only kills when it's self-defense, and she prays for forgiveness (and maybe also the souls of the people she killed, I'm not sure). She knows what's right and what's wrong, but she also knows that sometimes good people have to do wrong things for the greater good. She knows slavery is bad, so she hunts slavers. She knows stealing and threatening are bad but she does it anyways because it is her way out of the indenture and because people like van Eck or Pekka Rollins deserve to be robbed and threatened and because people like Kuwei (and his father) deserve freedom. She works mainly for the greater good of the world but sometimes for herself and the people she loves. When she is free to choose, she always wants to improve things and do something positive even if she has to threaten people. Inej doesn't give a shit about the law because it never protected her, other slavery victims and the Suli.

Jesper has loose morals. He likes the thrill and adrenalin rush of Barrel life, gambling and fights. That leads him to do bad things like killing, which he doesn't enjoy or being in great debt because he made bad decisions. But even if he doesn't show it to others all the time, he constantly feels guilty. Jesper's motivated by working for himself and the people he loves. He doesn't really give a shit about the world as long as it doesn't affect himself. That's mainly because of his trauma about the death of his mother but also because he feels like he can't do anything about the state of the world. He wants to be better and he tries. He's not following any religious rules. He still likes to break the law because it's fun and exciting.

Wylan isn't a pacifist because, on a logical level, he knows that the world doesn't work like that and that that means that violence is necessary sometimes. But he'd still prefer talking it out, and when that could actually solve the problem, he sure as hell tries. He doesn't want innocents to get hurt. He doesn't want to participate in violence if not necessary for the goal. So when he has the chance to leave the criminal world, he does, and he distances himself from that as we can see in RoW. But that scene also shows that he is willing to break the law for his friends but he doesn't want more trouble so he abides it in general but not because he believes in it, like he works with the idiots of the Merchant Council on a daily basis and knows that they're incompetent and/or greedy. He doesn't follow religious rules but has a strong moral compass.

Nina is a soldier and patriot, but she still sees errors in the system and has sympathy for the enemy. She is willing to leave a seemingly endless war behind her in order to be happy even though she knows it'll hurt, leaving her beloved country behind. She wants to save Fjerda even if it took Matthias from her because she promised. She is a soldier, which means she is okay with killing the enemy if they don't show regret or decency. She fights for her people, her loved ones and the greater good. She is a spy, so she is okay with lying if it serves the cause. She does have borders she won't cross, but there is still a lot she is willing to do (gaslight and girlboss Fjerda for the next couple of decades). If she's home, Nina follows the Ravkan law in general even though she can ignore direct orders if she thinks she knows better. She isn't very religious and even willing to use religion to manipulate people into not discriminating against Grisha. She doesn't give a shit about the laws of Ketterdam or Fjerda.

Matthias is a soldier, a patriot and a man of faith. But his love for his country and Djel were exploited, and he was manipulated into doing bad things and hating Grisha. But whenever it came to normal people and animals, he always had a strong moral compass that even the Drüskelle couldn't destroy. He learns that his country is corrupt and he discovers the right way of Djel. He wanted to fight for the people he loves, for the country he loves and the God he loves. He didn't want to hurt innocents. That never changed he just began to see that he hurt people because someone lied to him when they said those people are evil and unnatural. Honour is very important to him. If it's necessary, he will use violence (like surviving the hell show, breaking into the ice court, fighting evil people like Van Eck and Pekka Rollins, etc.). If he thinks the law is something good, he will abide by it, if he discovers it's corrupted, he won't.

That's why I think Matthias is the real cinnamon roll of the crows.

Bonus: Kuwei just doesn't give a shit. He isn't religious, the law never protected him or his father and if he doesn't want to talk, he'll straight up pretend to not speak your language.

[dontpetmeibite]

I don't bother about whether or not people deserve forgiveness and I certainly don't bother about punishment.

What I know is that the universe doesn't care about justice or mercy. I was brought into this world to be dangerous, and because I was brought into this world to be dangerous they designed me to be consumable, desirable and disposable. The little spark that came out of the earth had done nothing to deserve that fate. The nobles who lived in the towers were not brought into the towers as newsparks because they deserved to be. Kind and good people suffer and cruel people often become very powerful.

Mercy and fairness are things that were not created as part of the universe, and only we as people can create them. I choose to be merciful when I can because I want others to show mercy to me and to the people I love. When I was very young I took in another young person who was suffering and he became my closest friend; in time, he became my dearest lover and my spark-mate. The people who should have cared for him chose not to do so; and because of their cruelty, we both found love.

Punishing people doesn't fix anything. Pain is not a currency. Just as I am not entitled to cause pain to people who have done nothing to me because of the pain I suffered early in life, I do not have the right to decide that someone else must suffer a specific amount of pain because they caused pain to someone who is not me. The only rational response to evildoers is to make them work to repair things if they wish to remain a part of society, even if they cannot repair the specific things they broke.

Sometimes people who are determined to be destructive to others will choose not to stop until they are killed, and that is a choice that they make. We have the right to defend ourselves and one another, but locking people up, deciding to kill them, and then asking an innocent person to kill them is utterly barbaric, because killing the helpless at other people's orders corrupts the spark. (I have certain and personal knowledge of this.)

At any rate. Those who eat understand that everything but our sparks will be food for someone eventually. Those who kill understand that they are able to die.

Nobody owes the world pain. There is far too much pain in the world as it is.

I can't be the pacifist my spark-mate is, and that's why I'm his Protector and he is not mine. I know that violence is inherent in the world, and sometimes necessary, but I also know that being sapient one can choose not to inflict it when refraining would be the best choice.

Sacrificing your life to the violence of another solves nothing.

Those who are determined to be destructive will not be satisfied with the sacrifices of others. Those who are innocent should not add their pain to the sum of unwanted pain in the universe, and those who are guilty should not put an end to their pain and regret when they have so much work left to do to restore the world they helped break.