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littjara-mirrorlake · 3 months ago

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The Color of Hope: Ambition, Necromancy, and Black Mana

Black is one of the most misunderstood colors in Magic: the Gathering, not least because it appears on the surface to be so straightforward. Look at the most iconic black cards of Magic and you'll see deals with demons, necromancy, mass destruction and cruelty and suffering–the trappings of classic fantasy evil. Even the color's symbol itself is a skull, a universal signifier of death and danger.

And in early Magic that seemed to be all it was. White was the color of Fantasy Good, black was the color of Fantasy Evil, and the rest of the colors were... fire magic? Elves? Whatever odd but intriguing skeleton affairs are implied by Time Walk?

Gradually, though, Magic deepened as both a game and a storytelling medium. The color pie grew into itself as a system of complementary philosophies, archetypes whose associated aesthetics were only part of the full picture. Their arrangement around the wheel, below, is highly deliberate; neighboring colors are said to be allies with a high degree of philosophical and mechanical overlap, while colors on opposite sides of the pie are known as enemies, more likely to disagree on fundamental levels.

Black stopped merely representing capital E Evil and became the color of striving for power; unlike its peers, black felt that nothing, least of all morality, could prevent it from seizing what it wanted. Mark Rosewater's 2015 article about black emphasized the color's focus on the self:

"Black's philosophy is very simple: There's no one better suited to look after your own interests than you... Many costs require the sacrifice of others for your own advancement. Because it puts itself first, black is always willing to make this trade. The weak must fall for the strong to thrive." -Mark Rosewater

At its worst, black is an exploitative, amoral color that prioritizes itself at the expense of all others, allowing the "weak" to fall and scorning the very idea of compassion. Rosewater writes that black is "always willing" to trade others for itself. And these can certainly be parts of black's philosophy, when taken to its worst possible extremes, but they're far from the entire story.

Over time, Magic's outlook on black gained nuance. Magic story introduced protagonists like the necromancer Liliana Vess, whose craving for immortality, seemingly exploitative nature, and demonic deals called back to the oldest portrayals of black–and yet she was not one-dimensionally evil. She underwent character development over the years, learning the value of reclaiming herself and standing beside others, and at no point did she become any less mono-black for it. Remember her; we will come back to Liliana and her story later.

In addition to the usual death and decay, black cards began to feature a theme of relentless devotion. On the plane of Eldraine where each color represents a virtue, black's is persistence, explicitly as important as any other color. On the plane of Ikoria, the love between bonder and beast pulls Winota back from the brink of death. Wherever this Oathsworn Vampire printing is set, its flavor text is quintessentially black. It's the same self-driven attitude as before, but cast in a different light: black is nothing if not persistent when it's got its heart set on something (or someone) it cares about. Nothing, least of all the grave, will keep it down. After all, black will always come back for its own.

These newer cards uncovered the true face of black as a color capable of both great love and harm (sometimes even the latter for the sake of the former), and suggested a tantalizing new thread: perhaps putting yourself and yours first isn't all that bad, necessarily. Black is a deeply protective color; it says you don't just have to accept what you're handed, it's okay even to be furious about it (hello, ally color red), but let that galvanize you to do something about it.

Vraska, a gorgon who faces extreme discrimination on her home plane of Ravnica, triumphs by reclaiming herself, gorgon powers and all–and even more radically, loving herself. She displays traits often considered the purview of white and green, such as a love of home and a drive to elevate the oppressed, but they are all filtered through the lens of her black alignment. Vraska staunchly refuses to deny herself or her people, the Golgari Swarm, of their value. Nor does she allow law or propriety to prevent her from championing them by any means necessary–even if that means cold-blooded murder, or aligning herself with a villain like the Planeswalker Nicol Bolas.

"[Vraska] thought of Mazirek, of the kraul, of the rest of the Ochran assassins and the malignant Jarad who reigned with casual ruin over the most downtrodden of the downtrodden. She remembered her years of isolation, and the heinous cruelty of the Azorius, and how no group deserved to suffer as much as those who would subjugate her own. Eliminating that hell was all she ever wanted." -The Talented Captain Vraska, Alison Luhrs

Like Vraska, black loves fierce and hard, willing to break any taboo for the sake of those it cares about. And it whispers, the entire way through, you are enough. You deserve better. No matter what others may say or do, you are enough.

"If I am to be met with disrespect, then I must first love myself with a fierceness no fool can take away." -Vraska in Pride of the Kraul, Alison Luhrs

Even black's "ruthlessness" isn't as fundamentally cruel as it appears, centering a passion for problem-solving (shared by its other ally blue) instead of a blunt disregard for others.

"People don’t understand the word ruthless. They think it means 'mean.' It’s not about being mean. It’s about seeing the bright, clear line that leads from A to B. The line that goes from motive to means. Beginning to end. It’s about seeing that bright, clear line and not caring about anything but the beautiful fact that you can see the solution. Not caring about anything else but the perfection of it." -K. A. Applegate

All of this comes together to make a black a color not of evil but of strength, integrity, and persistence. And that's all well and good, but I'm going to take it even further and put forward a new proposition: that black is the color of hope.

Of the nine mono-black Magic cards with "hope" in their names, all but Liliana portray black as an instrument of hope's destruction. This is, once again, black's flaw taken to its extreme–crushing others to achieve its own ends–but neglects black's own relationship with hope.

Black, more than any other color, requires hope to stay alive.

For black to persist, it must believe in a light at the end of the tunnel, a future in which its goals are realized. As long as it does, it will endure any hardship, walk through fire, and turn reality itself upside down on its way there. Primal, desperate ambition is the engine of hope that burns at the heart of black, keeping it always one step ahead of stagnation. Bitter and stubborn, black believes tomorrow will come because there is no other choice. After all, for black to relinquish hope is to let itself wither, regress, and die–an unacceptable outcome.

Thus, it is monumentally difficult to strip black of hope. That only makes it all the more crushing when it happens, when black contends with the idea that there is nothing it can do.

Black's deepest, darkest fear is helplessness.

Like any mono-black character, Liliana Vess is driven at her core by a seething, desperate hope. When Liliana first unlocks her necromantic power, it is out of a sheer refusal to allow her ill brother Josu to die, even when the esis root that would cure him is destroyed by enemy witches in an undead-raising ritual. She defies her previous training as a healer, which taught her only to take the safe path, in favor of a higher-risk and higher-reward approach: stealing life from the witches themselves to restore power to the esis root she needs. It is her knowledge that her brother needs her, and her sheer stubborn will to succeed, which allows her to defeat the witches against steep odds.

"Six foes, and Liliana stood alone. But Josu's life depended on her, and the power blossoming within her was more than enough." -Liliana's Origin: The Fourth Pact, James Wyatt

Tragically, however, Liliana's attempted cure goes horrifically wrong, transforming Josu into an undead being plagued by eternal suffering. In his pain, Josu attacks Liliana. For a while Liliana holds out hope, finding the power to fight back while she determinedly searches for a spell to reverse the harm she's done. It is when she realizes this isn't possible that her strength falters.

"All this time, she had believed… that she could turn the power of death to the service of life and health. That a healer should use every tool at her disposal. But Josu was the result, a horrible fusion of life and death, and all her spells meant to manipulate the life force of the living could do nothing to harm the dead." -The Fourth Pact

Liliana learns that even her own dark magic, fueled by determination, cannot solve the problem she's created. She discovers the hard limit of her willpower, and the despair of this discovery is what causes her Planeswalker spark to ignite.

At this time Planeswalkers are as gods, immortal and near-omnipotent. Liliana spends decades enjoying this affirmation of her capability before the Mending strips her and all her peers of their power, reducing them once again to mortal mages.

"Then the Multiverse reshaped itself, robbing her—and every other Planeswalker—of the godlike power they once had wielded. Some called it the Mending, as if something broken had been repaired, but to Liliana, it seemed the opposite. It broke her beyond any hope of repair." -The Fourth Pact

Once again, it is Liliana's fear of helplessness and her refusal to accept it that drives her to push beyond the bounds of propriety–this time, to make a pact with Nicol Bolas and four demons to maintain her immortality. It is not enough for her merely to delay death; she requires the security of knowing she is fully beyond its reach, that she will never be helpless before it again as she was with Josu.

"Holding death at arm's length for whatever years are left to me? No, that's not enough. I want to be free of its shadow." -Liliana in The Fourth Pact

Black isn't like its enemy colors white and green, which are superficially associated far more often with hope. Unlike white, it doesn't believe that conviction, justice, and community will bring about rightness. Unlike green, it doesn't trust in the wisdom of the world or the natural order. Black believes that nothing will change unless you make it change; ultimately, black's self is the only one it can trust to bring about the world it needs. In addition, black lacks its enemies' idealism. Instead, it strives to be a pragmatic realist, making a final assessment of defeat all the more definite and crushing.

While white and green are more amenable to finding hope and holding it aloft as a banner, black claws hope desperately to its chest with shredded, bloody fingernails. Every ounce of hope black has, it tore by itself from the clutches of an uncaring world.

Ironically for such a self-driven color, black's fierce hope is the greatest asset it can provide to others–on its own terms, of course. It was Liliana who turned the tide of battle against the Eldrazi titan Emrakul, defiant in the face of cosmic despair. And when Nicol Bolas made his bid to return to godhood, using Liliana's necromancy to command his undead hordes, Liliana finally turned against him. In reclaiming her power, so too did she use it to free her fellow Planeswalkers from Bolas' assault. Her fear of helplessness no longer shackled her to him; agency and autonomy were hers at last.

The triumph of black, its moment of ultimate victory, is the hard-won fulfillment of its hope.

"Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light." -Dylan Thomas

An aetherborn, railing against the shortness of their natural lifespan, constructs a new body for themself with their own bare hands. An artificer's grief over her lost companion causes her to push invention to its limits. A young girl who loves her brother calls on the darkest of powers to save him. As it turns out, necromancy–that original thematic keystone of black–is only one of black's many, many refusals to let go of love and hope once it has them, even in the face of the ultimate end.

Time and time again, black–in love with life, ablaze with hope–looks the Grim Reaper in the eye and tells it: "Not today."

#mtg #magic the gathering #color pie #black mana #liliana vess #vorthos #literary analysis #war of the spark #magic origins #planeswalker #nicol bolas #vraska #necromancy

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mins-fins · 1 year ago

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WATCHING HORROR MOVIES WITH ZB1

PAIRING . . . zerobaseone x gn!reader

GENRE . . . fluff

WARNINGS . . . no actual warnings! some may just be longer than others

WORD COUNT . . . 963

NOTES . . . my brain feels like a puddle istg.. please note that yujin's is written platonically!!

kim jiwoong

this man is NOT scared

like you'll be the edge of your seat literally jumping at every sound and he'll just sit there like "😐"

you always get jump scared and you continue getting closer to him

"do you seriously find this scary?", "the literal grudge is on the screen jiwoong".

he doesn't get your fear

he probably does get scared on some occasions though

but very rare occasions if were being honest

you think he is WAY too calm and he thinks your WAY too overdramatic

"we should watch the sequel!", "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME KIM JIWOONG!?"

he laughs whenever you get scared

zhang hao

he is just as scared as you

scratch that- he's probably MORE SCARED than you

you'll be ten minutes into the movie and he's already clinging onto you for dear life

this man is a scaredy-cat (did you see that haunted house video?? he literally is)

he hides his face into your shoulder half the time because he's scared of something appearing on the screen

"y/n is the jump scare over yet?", "it was over five minutes ago hao".

he hides his eyes for most of the movie

at this point you get less scared because he's scared so now you feel like you have to watch the movie for him

"that movie was too scary!", "you didn't even watch the whole thing!", "well the parts i did see were scary!"

sung hanbin

he's probably not scared

well not that scared

he probably gets startled from time to time but he keeps up a brave front for you

you are literally the biggest scaredy-cat around hanbin

and he tries his best not to laugh

you are literally COWERING in fear and he has to cover his mouth to not giggle

"are you making fun of me, hanbin?", "no" as he is literally fighting for his life trying not to laugh at how scared you are

you get mad at him and literally die trying to watch the rest of the movie

and then he says sorry and comforts you before you go to bed so you don't have any nightmares

"i'm still mad at you", "well you better be grateful that the grudge won't come grab you at nigh—", "HANBIN!"

seok matthew

he's scared but also not scared??

matthew is probably the kind of person to make random comments during the movie because his mind is just full of thoughts

"do you think the nun is just misunderstood?", "you mean the evil spirit from the conjuring?"

you just sit there, scared out of your mind, and he sits there, also scared out of his mind but also super confused

but when he gets super scared he will literally almost jump out of his seat

"that wasn't even that scary!" he says as he's clinging onto your arm for life

"so what did you think of the movie matthew?", "can we watch a romcom next time please?"

kim taerae

he is VERY scared

you cannot tell me that this man isn't a scaredy-cat

he's in the same boat as hao 😭

he'd try to convince you he's not scared then get jump scared two seconds later

"you look like your enjoying yourself", "oh screw you y/n"

covers his eyes every two seconds and only peeks after all the scary noises are gone

"babe seriously, the jump scares are done", "your just trying to make me open my eyes"

he forces you to sleep with him and the lamp on because he gets too scared of the dark

ricky shen

he's half and half

ricky probably doesn't get scared easily but there's gonna be that one part that startles him

like you'll be afraid the whole time and he's just kinda sitting there, trying to grasp what's going on

"i don't get why they're walking into a house that's clearly haunted!" as your suffering from watching this movie

he probably doesn't understand why your so scared

"it isn't even that scary, y/n", "yeah the grudge on the screen is totally not scary ricky"

he laughed at one part and you stare at him like he's a psychopath

kim gyuvin

oh he's definitely not scared

gyuvin probably watches horror movies alone at night

he probably giggles while watching them too

when he sees that your scared he looks at you like your insane

"what do you mean your scared? it isn't even that scary!", "the literal ghost girl coming out of the tv screen isn't scary to you gyuvin?"

he laughs at every scene he's not supposed to laugh at and it's crazy

"i'm kinda scared of you, you know?", "next time maybe you should put on an actual scary movie"

park gunwook

gunwook is brave

doesn't mean he's not scared though

gunwook probably isn't that scared but he isn't not scared

for the most part, gunwook isn't disturbed

there are some jump scares that get him though

"that wasn't even scary!", "i saw you get startled gunwook"

but most of the time gunwook isn't scared

he laughs once then immediately takes it back because he knows your gonna question him about it

"i mean.. it could be scarier", "are you trying to kill me, gunwook?", "…maybe"

han yujin

he pretends to be brave

but he's actually pretty scared

yujin is not slick with the way he's trying so hard not to jump from his seat 😭

"you look scared", "i'm not scared! shut up!"

yeah no he's definitely scared

at this point, your less scared than him

he could literally be clinging onto your arm and would still say that he's not scared

"are you sure your not scared?", "no why would i be scared of the literal grudge on the screen?"

#zerobaseone #zb1 #zb1 imagines #zb1 scenarios #zb1 x reader #zb1 reactions #zb1 drabbles #zb1 fics #kim jiwoong #zhang hao #sung hanbin #seok matthew #kim taerae #shen ricky #kim gyuvin #park gunwook #han yujin #𑁍 ࣪˖ 𓂃 isa's works!

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justhere4thevibez · 2 months ago

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So, in your opinion...

Jason Carver: misunderstood or deserving of his bisection?

amazing question! and my answer is, a little bit of both.

one the one hand, if Jason was the protagonist and we were following along from his pov, Eddie would ABSOLUTELY be a person of interest in chrissy's death. and who doesn't love someone trying to avenge their love's murder and going outside the law a little to do so?

HOWEVER. I don't feel that his feelings for chrissy were very deep or genuine, for a lot of reasons.

a) because he had NO IDEA what was going on with chrissy. she told a near stranger more about how she was feeling than her own boyfriend (which, for comparison, lucas KNEW something was up with max even though she didn't tell him and they weren't even DATING at the time). the fact that jason didn't know shit when clearly chrissy was suffering immensely under a number of pressures/abuses speaks volumes about their connection (or lack thereof)

b) all of his "affection" for chrissy was for show and only in public places where other people would notice. chrissy's smiles/gestures to him didn't seem very genuine either. i think their relationship maybe started out genuine, but jason was too self-involved, or he just liked having arm candy and didn't really care about chrissy (also the fact that chrissy is happier and more herself with eddie, who she's supposed to be scared of, than her own boyfriend??? that man is a PROBLEM)

c) we see right from the start that jason isn't opposed to using other people's deaths for his own gain. for example, the speech about the mall fire victims to rally the basketball team??? like wtf dude, have some class. i think he WAS sad about chrissy's death, but he also saw it as an opportunity to rid the world of a person/group he had already deemed "evil" whether or not they had anything to do with her death

all that to say, i don't think he deserved to be brutally ripped in twain, but i also don't think he cared about anyone other than himself or his agenda. so, good person? NO. deserving of death? not particularly.

#vibez answers #stranger things #jason carver #chrissy cunningham #eddie munson #hellcheer

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irrelevanthough · 1 year ago

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I feel like Astarion is misunderstood by this fandom

I see a lot of memes, videos, or conversations about how to get him to like you by doing things like kicking puppies, hating children, and being overall a bit evil, and how he's just a violent and power-loving guy.

Astarion approves of certain questionable choices and violent acts because that's all he knows. He spent centuries as a puppet controlled by a power-hungry sadist who taught him that's all there is to life, and to break out of this cycle of abuse, Astarion has to become his master and gain the same power he has; there's no other way to end his suffering.

When he meets Tav, that's the first time he has EVER been free and not controlled by his master. He's seeing the world around him without anyone manipulating or leading him for the first time in hundreds of years. Of course, the first actions he would want to take are chaotic ones—the ones that make him feel powerful for the first time in forever! He has the power! He can be more powerful than his master! Not only that, but he can get his revenge and finally be in control of his life forever!

That's where you, as a Tav, can come in and show him that the world he knows, of constant struggle for control and power, isn't everything. Being powerful is great, but not at an expense of someone else's life. As Larian said, Astarion's arc is about either breaking out of a cycle of abuse or continuing it.

Astarion at his core, isn't evil or a violence-loving vampire; he just doesn't know how to survive in this world by doing something else! It's normal to follow the example you've seen and to have the urge to show your abuser that you're stronger, and to want to take everything from him. I love the fact that we can take Astarion's act in such different ways.

To diminish his character to such simple statements irks me the wrong way, because I feel like this is a bit similar to how Fenris' character was simplified into "he hates all mages, he's broody and rude" when DA2 came out. Astarion and Fenris hate what they had to do, what they were forced into and the sourness of their character is only a natural outcome.

You can show people that there's another way, and they can always change because of the kindness they are shown, even if they don't understand it at first and that's why I love Astarion's character so much.

#baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #baldur’s gate 3 #baldur's gate #baldurs gate astarion #baldurs gate romance choices #astarion #bg3 spoilers #spoilers

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rius-cave · 5 months ago

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I just saw you mention Adam having PTSD from the exterminations and honestly it's so valid. He did enjoy doing them, he did have fun, yes, but I firmly believe he started it because of his unprocessed trauma that he wasn't even aware of. I mean, I see the way he's masking himself (literally and figuratively) as a way of protecting himself from people. Back when he was "born" he was literally rejected and betrayed by the very people he supposedly loved and who were supposed to love him, then he was practically abandoned and thrown out of Eden by the same people who mentally harmed him in the first place. This guy is badly damaged and no one can convince me otherwise. And he was damaged from the start so he couldn't possibly realize that something was very not okay because these were the very first people he knew. And we all know pushing down our feelings and ignoring them comes with concequences. In his case, the frustration manifested in violence, on top of that violence against his own descendants who chose the wrong path, who had tainted humanity with their acts. He also probably connects them with Lilith and Lucifer who caused it in the first place, bringing evil to the earth. I also love to consider the extermination as a form of personal revenge on Adam's side, since he isn't able to carry out a direct revenge it serves as one for him.

But he knows it's wrong. He knows either way that what he's doing is bad and cruel, and even if he actively avoids admitting that to himself, he subconsciously knows.

Then he gets to Hell. He most likely only used to visit Hell during exterminations, which means his brain most likely strongly connects the place with that. Hence, being in Hell is a constant reminder for him. On top of that, he actually sees what life is like in Hell. That all those "bad bad sinners who can't change and tainted humanity" aren't all bad actually. And perhaps he doesn't care about them, but I don't think he could just ignore that. He has to live among them, he sees the way they live and he's forced to realize that they're still human souls and not pure evil and rotten. It will add to the guilt which he probably also doesn't admit that he feels, because he didn't do anything wrong, right..? Everything was reasonable... But then why does it feel so bad?

Okay this turned our very very long but it just hit me and I could still go on about it lol, I'll spare you from that

First of all, thank you anon for putting into words this thing that I'm not smart enough to do myself.

I really wouldn't dare to say that "canon" Adam is this deep and has oh such big trauma and is only misunderstood by everyone and bla bla, because if I'm honest, the way he's written in the show doesn't lead me to believe that Vivzie really cares about fleshing him out to be a super complex character. And hey, fair enough, I'm taking him from her anyway lol.

But if if we stopped for a second to think about it, Adam definitely has the potential to be a much deeper and complex character that would be able to touch upon themes like this. I desperately need to know when did everything go wrong, was it really Eden? Was it during his time on Earth? Was it after he died???

I honestly think it's kind of a mix of all of them, but the biggest shift was after he died. He was the first human soul in Heaven, hey, it's not so bad in here!! Maybe his suffering on Earth was worth it after all if he was able to spend the rest of Eternity in a place like this! Now he just needs to wait for his family to get there as well so it can all be complete!

Except they don't, not all of them in fact. A couple of his sons, maybe or maybe not his wife, but it's definitely not ALL of them, where is everybody!? He's pretty sure his grandchildren would start aging by now too, where did everybody go!?

Of course, that asshole has them. It wasn't enough for him to steal his first wife and lie to them so they'd get kicked out of Eden, he also took a bunch of his children, his grandchildren, his great grandchildren and so on and so on.

Look at everything they do on Earth, it's disgusting, and it's all that fucker's fault. None of this would've happened if it wasn't for him, if it wasn't for the other sinners who kept repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

And he starts the exterminations after centuries of wallowing in that hatred. But of course, they're only the result of years of watching how everyone just eventually leaves him. And he doesn't realize when that violence starts becoming just a way to cope with his intense hurt.

I feel like I went a little off track there, forgive me I am a little scatterbrained right now. But in any case, I absolutely concur with you!

#hazbin hotel #adam #ask

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fandoms-and-salt · 1 year ago

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The main problem with Ruby gillman movie is that it sends a message that "bigotry is actually justified and your racist grandparents are right". The second, closely related problem is it's villain.

Firstly, if we look at the film without the spoiler-y marketing, Chelsea/Neressa is written as a twist villain. Like Hans Frozen type twist villain, with little foreshadowing and those "sympathetic" scenes that actually don't amount to anything and might just as well be a lie. Even with the marketing, i think the movie still tricked people into thinking that Chelsea might be a misunderstood villain or have a redemption arc or what not. And twist villains could work well, usually if their turn to villainy makes sense with their preestablished goals and personality (eg. Disney's Atlantis). Or a liar villain could work well if the audience knows of their malicious plans, but the heroes stay in the dark (eg. Scar from Lion King). In general, if the twist or reveal makes the story/conflict less interesting and/or didn't have proper foreshadowing, viewers are bound to dislike it.

Secondly, Chelsea is our only mermaid. And she is, well, evil. It would have been better if we had other good mermaid characters, but she is the only one, which, coupled with Gramamah's generous description of mermaids, makes it seem like all mermaids are as evil as she is.

Thirdly, yes, stories for young children about pure good fighting pure evil are generally fine, it teaches them right and wrong, so they can later consume media with more complex lessons. But in those stories the good guys are usually the underdogs fighting an oppressive evil. In mermaid vs kraken conflict, it's actually mermaids who are at a disadvantage. Krakens are big rulers ("protectors") of the ocean with superpowers. The characters themselves admit that Granmamah is a warlord. Mermaids are small, weak and need a magic trident to even match the power of krakens. Their only "advantage" is being popular with humans, while krakens are feared and hated, but humans have no effect on the story or the conflict. If the story was that mermaids are actually more powerful rulers of the ocean, or the kraken family were the just rules but got conquered/overthrown by evil mermaids, or if both species were of equal power ruling their own parts of the ocean and mermaids decided to go and conquer the peaceful kraken kingdom. Then the good vs evil conflict would have looked less like "how dare these evil inferior minorities challenge the rule of our superior race".

Speaking of which. Ruby's first instinct, even after finding out that "mermaids are actually evil" from her granma, is to judge Chelsea as her own person and assume that mermaids can't be actually evil. Which is, you know, a pretty fair and mature response. When she hears that mermaids suffer from terrible conditions, she actively tries to fight what she sees as injustice. But what lesson does she learn? That she should never question her elders, since they do know better. The story is fighting for the status quo to stay the same, while Ruby is punished to trying to change and improve it.

That's all i can say for now. Other complaints i have are:

humans are virtually useless to the story (including the love interest, tho he had some cute moments), they are just damsels-in-distress and trophies for Ruby to save and get approval from. This movie just as well could happen all under the sea with some minor tweaks.

The human designs are weird and uncanny. Otherwise the visuals are fine.

Ruby's arc is kind of all over the place with her main arc being the classic "believe in yourself", which she mainly gains through hanging out with Chelsea. But isn't Chelsea supposed to be the villain who "leads Ruby astray" from being a good citizen who is not skipping school, lying to her mom or ignoring her friends and crush? Make it make sense, movie.

#for the record i don't really care for Chelsea/Ruby ship (especially after that reveal)#or Chelsea having a “misunderstood mean girl” redemption arc that fandoms obsess over for some reason #sapphic fishgirls would be nice but i care about a good story more #damn that's a long post #ruby gillman teenage kraken #chelsea van der zee #ruby gillman critical #i guess #lovin rambles

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digitaldoeslmk · 1 year ago

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I find it interesting that MK basically has to learn the opposite lesson his mentor did when it comes to violence. from what I understand swk slowly learned that not all conflicts had to be solved with bloodshed. and MK has to find peace with the fact that not all conflicts can be solved peacefully. People minds can't always be changed, not every villain is broken/misunderstood/misguided, and sometimes people are just pure evil. its no wonder his mental health is unstable, and i'm sure swk isn't thrilled seeing this sweet kid have to struggle so much with it.

yes!!!! yes you got it!!!!! :D

on a deep level too, JTTW has a running theme that the more violent one's response to a crime, the more violent is the reprisal for that response if it fails. the whole arc of the Havoc in Heaven is about a monkey and yaoguai warlord being thrown into an environment he wasn't equipped or prepared to handle the expectations of, and that punishing him instead of properly preparing him for his role has consequences. also you can interpret it in a symbolic way: as Wukong is the Mind Monkey, the restless and unrestrained human mind, you can't punish yourself into becoming better, you must stop, learn, and understand your situation before moving forward. otherwise what you get is just, a mess spiritually and mentally.

meanwhile, MK was brought up in a very loving and understanding environment. yes, the show portrays his friends and family (Pigsy and Tang are his dads, you cannot change my mind) as far from perfect, but they are altogether a circle that loves and supports each other even through their mistakes, and it's their flaws that makes them stronger. however, in esoteric Buddhism there's the concept of a ruthless compassion, in that sometimes you need a heavy hand to stir people towards the right path; in this article my friend JTTWR shares how even Wukong's golden fillet is a display of that concept.

and yes, an understanding and kind approach can take you very far; in my au, MK manages to befriend and help turn around most of the enemies he encounters, not unlike the show! but sometimes, that's not enough, and sometimes, it only makes things worse and drags you down with them. sometimes, violence is a valid and even necessary answer for the good of the majority.

as for Wukong... as a bodhisattva, he knows that suffering is necessary for learning and that he can't shield MK from everything. one must face adversity to learn to overcome it. but as a grandpa himself, he's not keen on the suffering of beings, much less those close to him. he can offer an ear to MK's vents, a shoulder to cry on, a hug, a joke, a few matches of games to take his mind off things. MK needs to learn these harsh lessons, but Wukong's not letting him do it by himself.

#lmk au #by the book au

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gentrychild · 11 months ago

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jjk au where sukuna and gojo are super powerful cats who just want to fulfill their dreams, not necessarily the good ones :3

1 - Some cats know how beautiful they are and they aren't just vain about it, they weaponize it. Long haired white cat with the bluest eyes you've ever seen. Either more annoying than canon Gojo, is living with at least five persons, his students included, convinced he owns everything, will lie to everyone he meets by pretending that he hasn't eaten in months and will side eye you if you try to give him actual cat food. He wants the stuff from your plate.

2 - Nanami is technically his owner but Yuuji, Fushiguro and Nobara spoil him rotten, no matter how many times he tells them that they are making his behavior worse.

3 - Sukuna is a horribly ugly pink cat who will eat anything, isn't just mean but evil and feeding on people's suffering. Due to circumstances, he is living with Yuuji, and both of them hate that arrangement. There was a time where Yuuji just thought that cat was misunderstood but now, he is a cruel tyrant who tried to kill him several times. The only one Cat Sukuna vaguely tolerates is Megumi, who refuses to take him in his place for obvious reasons, no matter how much Yuuji begs for it.

4 - I think it's important for you to know that Gojo and Sukuna has the exact same powers as in canon.

5 - However, since I want Yuuji to survive, his cursed technique is now Benevolent Water Spray and the only thing that can stop Sukuna.

#5 headcanons game #jjk

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user2872 · 6 months ago

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FINALLY RANTING ABOUT AZULA'S STANS!!!!

Honestly, I know most of Azula's stans are already quite famous for being the "brightest" in the fandom, but goddamn it, I didn't expect to start hating Azula while scrolling for COOL EDITS of her!!! But that's just how effective her stans are in creating "good" images for their "baby girl".

The amount of bitterness in these clips where they basically play the 'trauma-comparing' game with Zuko is sickening. Like I'm not even a Zuko's stan myself, yeah he's my second favorite character in the series but he isn't even in my top 10 most favorite characters list. However, whenever I saw they pull out his mother's and uncle's support as means to diminish his suffering so that Azula could appear more pitiful, that's enough to almost awaken the inner hater inside me on a character that didn't deserve hate, so that's why I'm dumbing it on these stans' heads, instead.

To clear all of your heads first, mind if I remind y'all that even when Azula was losing her mind, her mother's illusion was telling her 'I love you' instead of calling her a monster like how Azula kept insisting. Usually, whenever a character's delusional, their illusions would tell lies tills the character believes them and becomes more insane. In this scene, even her own mind was telling her what the truth was but it's Azula who pushed it away, just like how she pushed her own mother's love away, and now letting that tormented herself.

And so sorry that Iroh decided to accompany his 13-year-old heavingly mutilated and banished nephew on his journey to fight the Avatar (who they believed to be a hundred-year-old-demi-god), instead of staying with his homicidal niece and dictatorial brother.

Like I love Azula, but as an actual well-written villain, instead of a "misunderstood baby girl" who did bad things because 'This world forced me to be cruel'. No. These fans would post stuff like 'God forbid women to be evil' and then turn around and blame all of Azula's wrongdoing on literally everyone, even her victims.

Zuko LOVES his sister, Ursa LOVES her daughter and I'm not sure about Iroh but honestly, I would probably disown Azula if she was actually my niece no matter how much I love her character.

Y'all can make edits or clips about your favorite character however y'all like, but pulling that 'comparative suffering' bullsh*t with someone that she had played an active part in their trauma is just a new kind of low.

Sure, Azula being with her abusive father is the most devastating thing, but Ursa and Zuko also experiencing the same, if not, MORE is just a teeny scratch to y'all.

Frankly, I'm not expecting everything in this post to reach any of y'all brains, but at least typing this can release some of the pent-up feelings from all of those stupid clips that I have been seeing.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #Honestly none of y'all deserve Azula #Azula's biggest tragedy is her stans not Ozai #anti azula stans

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cosmichighpriestess · 6 months ago

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𝕺𝖜𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖄𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕭𝖆𝖑𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖄𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝕷𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘🖤

My demons know me very well. And they know you very well too. But I specifically want to talk about the demons who are with me and the darkness within all of us. They know I have overcome challenges to forgive people who wronged me. They don't need to test me on those challenges anymore. Our agreement is finished. They serve me now. These demons are high ranking and they know I have no fear of the darkness, and that I do not resist my yin and yang energy.

But the demons that know me deeply, are more so challenging people in my reality because they know I will already forgive them, I will already understand them, I will already know they are under a spell and don't know why they are hurting me and those around them, so these demons are challenging their integrity to see what they will do with me, a person who looks vulnerable and easy to manipulate but I am actually a trap, because I'm neither, I'm actually protected and very hard to manipulate. This is actually a new level for me because I've already forgiven and continue to. You see, if you are to look outside yourself and invalidate the darkness you perceive out there, you're also invalidating the darkness within you, thus not accepting it, thus leaving no room for it to change.

This doesn't mean encouraging negative, abusive behavior it just means accepting that it's there for you to shine your light on it so that is has room to change, an offering of love and acceptance for whatever that being is experiencing to be negative. They must be so disassociated, so lost, so hypnotized from reality to be acting that way towards you.

There have been times where I wanted to curse people knowing my power to really cause harm and I chose not to. I wanted to in my darkness and I was very close to cursing people that wronged me but I did not listen to the little devil on my shoulder and instead I chose to go inside the infinite, abyssal amount of love and forgiveness within me and I realized that felt better for me personally. Even though I may have uttered words I cannot take back from the ethers. I forgave myself, I forgave them, and I learned from those experiences deeply and continue to.

I understand there's pleasure in watching those suffer who hurt you, that is why there are bullies, that is why there are evil actions because there can be pleasure found in those things when a person is so disconnected with who they really are, which is unconditional love. A person who goes down the rabbit hole of dark magick ends up coming to a stop eventually because they can see they are only cursing themselves. I used to have those fantasies of people who abused me relentlessly, but then I realized that was not the kind of world I wanted to live in and that was not the kind of person I choose to be. But I am very self aware, and I understand my darkness now because of going through those hellish experiences.

That hell I experienced was actually the key to my healing and ascension, it wasn't a punishment from a past life. The flames we walk through in hell purify our energy. To be able to incarnate on this planet you have to have a certain amount of darkness to be here otherwise you wouldn't be able to handle Earth or understand the amount of darkness on Earth. There is an intelligence behind negativity. That negativity that our ego defines and labels as so bad and so evil that it shouldn't exist is actually very misunderstood. Isn't the dark so beautiful at night? Isn't the moonlight gorgeous at night? Isn't it magical when you fall asleep at night and go into the darkness? How can that be all evil? There's nothing wrong with it, it clearly is helpful for ourselves to rest and to dream and also for manifesting your dreams.

There are beings of darkness that live in that darkness, that dwell in the shadows that are all Source, all children of the Divine, and they can help you manifest your dreams, in the very depths of your being if you let them. Our dreams are connected to the subconscious mind. And as you dream and you experience and see something you rather not look at, there can of course be fear. But that is the experience of being however you choose to define it, positively serving you or negative.

Always remember you are both light and dark, because you are Source/an aspect of God. You cannot be all light without darkness otherwise-you're not balanced. Remember as the pendulum is pulled all the way into one way, eventually it swings the other way. If you have no awareness of your negativity and no awareness of how to bring light to the darkness then you'll feel unprepared when the pendulum does swing back into the darkness. Remember without the bad days you wouldn't recognize good days, and you would have nothing to compare the good days to and really appreciate them.

My energy particularly pulls out the darkness within others I come into contact with to give them a choice, if they want to accept their darkness and forgive themselves or will they project it onto me to transmute it for them. This is all completely neutral and meaningless, I will do it for them because it serves me no matter what it's more energy for me no matter how negative, I can chew it up and spit it out cleansed. So it's completely up to them what they choose, but it's also up to me to create a version of them I prefer. So now as I am more aware, I choose to create the most positive, loving version of them because that is unconditional love to me, I also allow them to be free to be who they are without me projecting my own beliefs about what I want them to be.

Now, sometimes unknowingly I will create versions of people I don't prefer but when it comes into my awareness I quickly change my beliefs about that person so that I'm seeing a more positive version of them but after this I allow them to play their role in my life, even if it's more negative because it always serves me in some way. I am a master alchemist so it doesn't matter what I get, I can always use it to turn it into gold.

Some beings want to know what my weaknesses are, what my fears are and they go into my subconscious mind to use my fears against me but I always see it in a positive way. I used to love horror movies, now I don't really have interest, but I appreciate the beauty, the art and the emotions they invoke within me that inspire me. I love to weep at anything beautiful and sad and to feel all my emotions, good or bad. I adore dark art and create it. I love dark fashion and dancing in the dark. I listen to a lot of dark music in a positive way. I am very dualistic because I don't vilify darkness.

I don't ever claim to be all light because I know I'm also darkness. I also know that fear is an illusion, all fear is an illusion and it creates and manifests every single problem in our lives, so I just change my beliefs to, "it's always working in my favor no matter what and any darkness I see outside of me is also within me" so I just accept it and turn the other way to what feels better immediately because it feels better. It also feels good to not shame my darkness because it's not evil, it just IS. It's neutral.

I am constantly creating my reality at this level of consciousness. I'm not on the wheel of karma anymore, I've passed that level fortunately with hard inner work. I'm not suffering like I used to, I'm releasing fear, limiting beliefs, I'm forgiving, I'm unconditionally loving, I'm owning all aspects of my multidimensionality. But the darkness doesn't own me. I'm conscious and aware and creating everything I see at all times, now, now and now every moment. I'm in no rush because I'm All That Is, eternal, immortal, limitless and indestructible.

Instead of liberating others and pretending to be all light, calling yourself a light worker here to save everyone, going outside of yourself constantly, just liberate yourself first, and own your darkness, own your light but do not invalidate others darkness, negativity for it's within all of us and it serves as an intelligence beyond our human comprehension at the moment. I'm not accusing you of saying you are all light and love but some beings certainly ignore their darkness and label it as bad and shouldn't exist.

Create a beautiful, loving, intelligent connection with the darkness and those who oppose you and they will come into your heart, and they will give you access to their power, so that you can use it. But of course being a being of integrity of love, you will surely choose to evolve your heart and use your newfound power for good to create more beauty in your world. Let us dance to the rhythm of our darkness. 🖤

#rose messages

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kingmagnificoofrosas · 10 months ago

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Ok, it's time to deep talk even more about Magnifico! Part 1.

Since my analyses have gotten so much love, support and agreement, I feel motivated to continue 💙

In my first analysis I've touched up on many things, but something I want to deepen a little more is his trauma and his responses to it. Next to his character all in one of course.

After watching and rewatching and studying while making screencaps, I found myslef being heart broken for Magnifico even more. He's so horribly misunderstood it blows my mind. People are so freaking mean and ignorant it's insane!

We know that Magnifico was deeply traumatized as a young boy. Most people focus on themselves, their pain and their healing, but Magnifico instead wanted to make sure others will never suffer like he did. Please, let that sink in for a moment. His first response isn't to look at himself but to look at others. He lost everything and what does he want to do? Give! His first impulse was - I need to learn magic, so I can be strong enough to build a place where I can make sure people will never have to endure what I had to. Not "I gotta build myself a safe place so I can never be hurt again" like a little hermit crab hiding in a new house. No, he always looked what he could do for others!

This is one of the most selfless things a human being can do! It's not happening often but it's happening. People with trauma using their trauma as a motivation to help others.

Magnifico's determination to build a save haven for others despite his situation is freaking honarable!

He loves deeply! I did explain that the trauma Magnifico suffered heavily influenced and altered his thinking, his feeling, his actions and decission making.

He loves deeply but his paranoia and fear cloud it. What I mean is, some of his decissons aren't right but this doesn't make him evil! He's like a helicopter parent! His motivation to fiercly protect and keep save is purely love driven and initially right but because of his immense fear and paranoia it's becoming overprotectiveness and that is not the right way.

He never meant harm, he never meant to hurt. He was being too selfless in way. I heard another Magnifico defender say, he did too well.

And it's true.

Magnifico has given so much in his life. Matter of fact, he was absolutely right when he said he gives and gives and gives and yet people still aren't satisfied. And I totally get it! It's real life. People are greedy beings. Give them your little finger and they soon want your whole hand.

The people of Rosas live in total peace. They get everything they could ask for and more. Enough food, good homes they don't even need to pay rent for, enough money ... they get wishes granted every month. Sometimes even more! Magnifico mentioned in the past year he's granted 14 wishes, which means he did grant more than just one every month from time to time.

Magnifico is so much more than his handsome looks and his abilities. Yet, all people saw him as was that. A very handsome genie. Not the benevolent ruler that even made this flourishing life possible in the first place!

And I mean yeah, he said "I'd love to see you try and do my job!" And he's right again. I've never ruled a whole kingdom before and successfully at that! But I can imagine it must be darn hard! Certainly not a piece of cake.

People loved and celebrated him for what he could give and do! But what if he'd been just a regular king without any magic powers to grant wishes?

We see how the people of Rosas reacted after he told them about a threat. In the end they ask for another wish ceremony. And Magnifico snaps at them. He's clearly in distress even though he tries to appear collected and sovereign, and the only thing they care about is getting more wishes granted? Dude, give this poor man a break!

I can totally understand Magnifico having a nervous, emotional breakdown. Add it all up. He's constantly on edge because of his trauma, he always means well but the pressure of his ambitions and his duties as king are weighing him down further, he's constantly triggered, constantly irritable, no one gives a toot (Amaya included) which is like fuel to the fire in his soul, he feels threatened, he's terrified, he feels not understoond, valued and respected and furthermore used and exploited.

See how he make's the wishes spin around him faster and faster here? It's literally symbolic of what's going on in his soul at that moment.

Same as this one does.

The mirror is cracking, meaning his soul is cracking further. He's starting to break.

It's no wonder he loses his cool, really. Everyone would eventually break in such a situation.

Now, back to the whole wishes situation

Stop a moment and look how Magnifico looks at this wish/dream. He adores it, he appreciates it. (It's a happy family btw.) and someone who's as good in reading emotions as I am will see the ever so slight pain swimming along.

As king, it's Magnifico's duty anyway to make sure his kingdom runs well. That his people are safe and content, that there is order. And the whole decission making rests upon his shoulders as well.

Should he be in the leading position he is in? No. No, a person as deeply traumatized as he is, shouldn't. But the fact that he still tries is admirable! He's not in power because he's a power hungry, cruel, cold-hearted, selfish, narcissistic psychopath, like a villian is! He is in power and wants to stay in it, because he wants to protect others! He cares so much more about others, that he stresses himself to the peak of breaking mentally!

His trauma keeps him in this spiral. Trauma driven motivation > stress/trigger > trauma response > desire> action > trauma result/success or failure

Yes, he doesn't grant every wish because his trauma blurrs his judgement. He's so deeply into it that he cannot judge properly. Does this make him evil? Nope. It would be laughable how rediculous the hater's arguements are if it weren't so sad.

The arguement "Magnifico sees the dreams of people as a threat to his power so he steals them and makes people forget them."

🤨 huh?

I could slam my forehead even harder against something other than my hand. 🤦🏻‍♀️ The ignorance hurts!!! Like, have this people even paid any attention? Clearly not.

He never stole anything! Neither did he manipulate, play or lie to people. He left the decission to them. It was an open fact "If you want, you can give me your wish and I will keep it save and eventually grant it." And even if one doesn't give their wish, they are more than welcome to stay in his kingdoom and live a happy life!

Now listen. Magnifico's desire to keep the wishes in the first place isn't out of any bad or ill will! To say he keeps the wishes because he simply likes to be in control over people because of selfish, cruel reasons is a big mount of bullcrap. Look at how this man treats the wishes! Which by the way, to him, resemble his people!

Ah, yes, sooo evil and selfish and ill willed!

If someone sees this, the pure love in his whole bodylanguage, and still claims that this man is evil, actually doesn't give a damn about his people, and takes the wishes just because "powerhungry" has something really wrong!

Should he decide over other peoples dreams and wishes? Not really! This is a grey area. Back to his duty as a king. A king needs to care for his people. Magnifico takes this very seriously. Thanks to his trauma, a bit too much. This might be "not ok" but it doesn't make him evil. Good grief! Urgh!

He loves his people! He keeps the wishes because he thinks that it gives him a better opportunity to keep watch over them! Why does he want to watch over them and have the control? Out of fun? To satisfy his selfish urge to rule over others? No, because -

"Everything, everyhing I do is to make sure that never happens again!"

It's the very same stupid reason people have been villainizing Abuela Alma from Encanto. It makes me fuming mad that people ignor deep trauma and the mental issues that come with it and make such people out to be villains. Abuela treated her whole family unfairly, yes. She was harsh, inconsiderate, cold, stern, overprotective, insensible etc. But why did she act like that? Because she was hecking traumatized!

After she and Mirabel reconcile, she tells her family this :

"I'm so sorry I held on to tight, just so afraid I'd lose you too!"

Aha! Now taken in consideration that she is also deeply traumatized and I mean, pfff, she saw her home town getting burned, had to flee with her 3 newborns and see her soulmate get stabbed to death or even beheaded (we don't know) right in front of her eyes.

Her desire to keep safe was always good but her trauma blinded her to a degree.

A similar case were people have been villainizing a character for having trauma would be the case of Imelda from Coco. Her trauma of losing her husband and having to raise their daughter on her own caused her to forbid music for 2 generations! She was harsh too, and even though her actions concering this might have been wrong, she meant well. Everything she did came from the good motivation to keep her family from experiencing the crushing hurt she had.

Yet another example I've seen Magnifico defenders bring up would be Elsa! Elsa has been born with ice-powers because she's actually part spirit as we've learned in the 2 movie. She got traumatized as a child when she accidentally hurt her little sister Anna. Her response to trauma brings her whole kingdom in danger, even threatens to kill them by freezing them to death, and when Hans and his guards go to find and kill her, she defends herself and almost kills one of the guards. Yet, despite everything, Elsa isn't made to be a villain! She was supposed to be but in the end recieved love and appreciation, while Magnifico didn't?

It makes absolutely no sense.

Does trauma justify wrong actions? No! But it explains them and it certainly doesn't make someone a villain! Goodness gracious! 😩🤌🏼

Alma was obsessed with having the "miracle" controlled because she was terrified if she would lose that control, her past would repeat. She would lose her family.

Elsa abandoned her kingdom because she didn't want to hurt anyone anymore.

Imelda forbade music because she didn't want her family to experience the hurt she did.

All of this Sounds similar, right?

Magnifico obsessivly wanted to stay in control because he was terrified that if he would lose that control, his past would repeat. People will get hurt and lose everything like he did.

He panicked as an unknown light flooded his kingdom and made the wishes rattle.

The very first thing that came to his mind was "threat." And this was ONLY because of his trauma.