#that isn't evil just misunderstood suffering

[unknown-cold]

I can't believe you guys misunderstood Amanda's words that much, why you’re twisting her words to push a tired copaganda narrative when the show itself clearly portrays enforcers as oppressive, be fr!! And about the cops Vi saw Caitlyn as a person not a uniform, THIS IS WHAT AMANDA WAS TRYING TO SAY. people really love to just be mad 💀 Are you serious or the media affected all of you to the point that you cannot differentiate between fantasy and reality, this is so fucking annoying

Like next time the writers should know the questions of the interview before answering them, because unfortunately many people will misinterpret what she says seriously it is a live interview and the questions she asks are random, so it is normal for her to say things sometimes that may be out of place or urgent, but that does not mean that her intentions are bad, in the end she is a human being and it is normal for her to get nervous and not know what say exactly.

And I talking about when Amanda said "not all cops are bad" she meant the cops in the Arcane universe, not the cops in real life. Isn't the interview was about the show or I missed something?

You all call her now a pro-cop just because she said that!? Is it supposed that someone who talks about a "fictional" character, like whether from a game like Leon Kennedy or Jill Valentine from Resident Evil or show like Grimes from TWD, and praises these characters, whether this is someone from the creators of the work or a fan, would be supporting the cops in real life? Seriously guys what is wrong with you??

I understand that there are people who have suffered from the cops, especially with what is happening now in America of racism and other things. But guys don't offend writers. "just because you don't like what the writer said doesn't mean she's wrong, and it doesn't justify offending her." Sometimes we refuse to hear what doesn't agree with our tastes, but that doesn't give us justification for attacking and offending others.

I know you guys want cops to be punished for their actions but this should happen in real life and also hold those responsible accountable like corrupt cops, not in a fantasy show, I mean just think what would be the point if Amanda said "Yes cops are bad and they will always be that way" Seriously there would be a huge contradiction in the show and the way it's told. First of all what we saw in the last episode of season 2 will make no sense, when the enforcers fought the Noxus soldiers, and the people of Zaun cooperated with the enforcers to save their cities. And how did this happen because their boss over the enforcers or the Sheriff or whoever made them this way, made them good and serve the cities. And another important thing, it would never make sense if the idea "all cops are bad" to exist in Vi's mind and love Caitlyn at the same time, especially since we know Caitlyn will be an enforcer again or Sheriff in the future, so do you still think it makes sense for Vi to hold on to her intense hatred of the enforcers while choosing to cooperate with Caitlyn and stay by her side?

Also the big problem is that these people are tying serious political issues to a fictional show, this is so bad guys like again it's fucking fictional show! It's just so weird that you all can't differentiate between fiction and reality.

Always remember that if it weren’t for these writers Amanda, Christian, Alex, and other writers, this show would not have happened, so be grateful for that, or at least respect them

[hellixodev]

PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR. PLEASE BE MACHINE HERALD VIKTOR.

[littjara-mirrorlake]

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."

[gachagon]

Remmick is just straight up evil

I watched Sinners, I decided to make the grievous mistake of going online to hear other peoples thoughts. Why do I keep seeing this idea that Remmick isn't evil, or meant no "real" harm, or even that he genuinely wanted to help others? Remmick is literally a personification of the american idea of Cultural Assimilation, the idea that in order to truly make it and be american you must strip yourself of your actual cultural identity and become just "American".

But the truth about cultural assimilation is that it means to embrace and replace your culture with whatever white people decide is best. When Remmick turns people, he doesn't let them sing their songs or dance their dances. They all sing Irish folk songs, they dance Irish dances, they do the culture that Remmick decided was the best and most unifying.

He has no care for their own culture, and wants them to literally give that up so that they can join him and his weird vampire cult hivemind. In the end, however, it is all about control. He gets to be the center of everything and the one everyone turns and looks towards, the one everyone agrees with.

He only wants Sammie to join and is enamored with him because he sees Sammie as a shiny new toy he can potentially buy. Sammie has a good voice and writes good songs, he wants Sammie's creativity and passion but does not give a single fuck about how or why Sammie is that passionate or creative. He even says as much, "I don't care about your stories".

He is just straight up EVIL like the worst. He is not a sympathetic villain or misunderstood, or even someone with an opposing but equally as viable point. I don't know how to explain to some people that cultural assimilation is quite literally one of the worst things to ever happen to a lot of POC, but especially black people. The whole point of the ending is that Sammie doesn't give up the blues or making music, he continues to make the music HIS people made instead of giving it all up to assimilate and join the church.

The music is the thing that connects people because Sammie is sharing it with others WILLINGLY (not by force or by having someone haggle him about it lol) Sammie's music and by extension Blues as a genre allowed for a lot of people from all different walks of life and cultures to express their pain and suffering, which is the whole point of it.

Anyways, I could really ramble forever but yeah fuck Remmick lmao he's not even an interesting villain, and is so obviously just an evil dickhead. There is no nuance there, the guys just lying about actually wanting to care or be nice to people or unite them all as one. It's really giving "We're all one race, the HUMAN race" and "All Lives Matter!" type shit.

[w1tched]

I hate it so much when people mischaracterize Boothill as some sort of heartless cold-blooded bounty hunter who would hurt anyone who got in his way. He's a strong defender of the innocent and weak. He's a Galaxy Ranger who makes sure the evil and wicked receive poetic justice.

Oki long ass reply, my bad:

AAAUUUGGGHHHH SAME i fear IPC propaganda works too well on these ppl although at the same time, I can't fully blame them either, if that makes sense?? The thing is, Boothill has shown time and time again how he actually uses the the IPCs image of him to his advantage and plays into the role of a trigger happy thug (example being when he threatened two NPCs during the 2.6 quest) but when you look at the bigger picture, Boothill only ever acts this way when 1. He's facing off against the IPC or 2. When he thinks his actions will lead to consequences that will have a good outcome for a larger number of ppl.

Furthermore, it's been established throughout his story and the quests he's appeared in that Boothill is a very self-sacrificing character. I'd go as far as to say that he has a very big martyr complex and has a very altruistic mindset. The biggest and clearest example I can find of this is how Boothill sacrifices his organic body to gain a cybernetic one for the purpose of getting revenge and justice (there are other reasons too but these two are the biggest and primary ones). Keep in mind that him becoming a cyborg doesn't even benefit him exactly. While Boothill is a pretty mellow and chill guy, he still has to keep this anger burning in some way to keep himself motivated to continue his revenge and its obvious his mental health has suffered greatly because of this (as well as the tragedy of his home planet but that's a given). Other times when Boothill took the hit for someone else was when he took March 7ths place during that assistanana trial. Anyways, my point is that it's just wrong to see Boothill as someone who's cold blooded when in reality, he's one of the more human characters that we've seen in the game and what is a human if not someone who loves and cares with all their heart?

Also also also !!! The "keeping up with boothill" event showed how Boothill has helped and defended people. He's incited rebellions in planets under the IPCs oppression, donated money to charity and also chased away wrong doers from a bar (my memory is fuzzy on the last one but it was smth along these lines).

All in all, Boothill isn't some cold blooded bounty hunter, duh !! He's meant to be a morally grey vigilante instead. Boothill’s moral compass is incredibly strong to the point where the second he sees someone evil, his very first instinct is to put a bullet into that person (established in 2.6 quest). Furthermore, it's strong to the point where he can end such a person with just a single shot because once you're his target, it's kinda game over for you, shrugs.

To sum up Boothill’s character, you could use the exact same phrase that he uses for Sunday in his voiceline. "The roadway to hell is paved with good intentions." Boothill has pure intentions but it's the way he goes about these intentions that make him so morally grey and more misunderstood.

These are my personal thoughts and analysis on him, my bad if it's a bit jumbled 😓

[hadesisqueer]

shauna is a deeply traumatized person with post-partum depression and an undiagnosed mental illness yet no one understands that and no one is showing even a little bit of empathy. everyone is just turning on her

Anon, Shauna does very likely have an undiagnosed mental illness and she IS a person who's gone through horrible trauma, yeah. For that I felt a lot of empathy; she wasn't always like this, she went through a lot and she should've been in therapy with people that could help her. Still, how exactly does trauma justify her behaviour? Most of all when she's around people like Travis. Travis has gone through horrible trauma as well. So has Nat. Have they shown a tenth of the malice Shauna has? Trauma, or mental illness... it all isn't a justification for forcing everyone to stay in the wilderness against their will so you can feel like a beloved queen. It isn't a justification for treating your girlfriend like shit and pointing at her with a gun and enjoy seeing that she's so scared of you she wet herself. It isn't a justification for being a sadist, it isn't a justification for taking a girl's hair after she dies so you can wear it as a trophy. Her mental illness and her trauma explain how Shauna has ended up like this, how she's ended up doing the awful things she does... But there's still no way to justify anything lmao? And no one should, that's a point: people can enjoy her character and feel empathy for what she's gone through while also understanding she's a sadist and a horrible person and that she can't be defended from those actions because there is no way to defend her from them. She's evil, and people are allowed not to like her, and people are allowed to like her, as well. True, I have a love-hate relationship with her. I still like her as a character, she's fascinating and SO complex. But I own the fact that she's a terrible person and I understand why there's people that don't like her at all, instead of playing her as just a poor misunderstood girl and a victim like you seem to be doing? Yeah, I have empathy for what she suffered. Yeah, she's still horrible. Own it? Lmao

[satan-offical]

Hate mail/ Rant

Okay, Satan, Lucifer, Morningstar, Big Red Cheese – whatever you’re calling yourself these days, we NEED to have a serious conversation. And no, this isn't a "wow, you're so edgy and misunderstood" post. This is a dissertation of pure, unadulterated Tumblr rage aimed directly at your pointy little head.

First of all, the aesthetic. Let's be real, the whole hellfire and brimstone thing is tired. It's been done. We're in the 21st century, Satan. Get with the program! I'm talking, like, pastel goth hell. Think lava lamps, but filled with glitter. Think demons in ripped fishnets and platform boots. Think a color palette that's less "burning souls" and more "strawberry shortcake meets the apocalypse." You're a fallen angel, not a grandpa!

And speaking of fallen, what about your social media presence? It's abysmal. You're supposed to be the ultimate influencer of evil, and yet your tumblr feed is just you sibling for jesus and begging for attention. Where's the relatable content? The "tag a friend who's definitely going to hell" memes? The aesthetic vision boards for different levels of eternal damnation? You're missing out on a HUGE opportunity to corner the market on edgy teens.

Don't even get me STARTED on your employee benefits. I heard that soul-crushing paperwork is the only thing that hasn't been automated. The lack of dental is appalling. I mean, seriously, how are your minions supposed to maintain their terrifying grins without a good dental plan? Not to mention the work-life balance. Burning in hell for eternity? That's not sustainable, dude! We need mandatory vacation days and a healthy demon union.

And the music? Oh, GOD, the music. Heavy metal? Really? That’s, like, so 1980s. Step up your game. I’m talking lo-fi beats to suffer to. I’m talking ambient sounds of existential dread. Think Grimes meets Nine Inch Nails meets the sound of a dial-up modem failing. That’s the kind of auditory torture we need in 2025.

Also, can we talk about the patriarchy? Like, seriously, Satan. You're literally running a system based on punishment and hierarchy. It's problematic, to say the least. We need to dismantle hell and rebuild it as a cooperative collective of tormented souls who work together to achieve… I don’t know... ultimate existential peace through crafting personalized torture devices for problematic billionaires? We can workshop it.

In conclusion, Satan, you're failing. You're stuck in the past, your aesthetic is outdated, your employee benefits are garbage, and your entire operation is fundamentally flawed. I'm not saying you need to completely overhaul everything, BUT WE’RE LOW-KEY SAYING YOU NEED TO COMPLETELY OVERHAUL EVERYTHING.

(Lots of love, from-@askangie)

OK HONEY LISTEN UP

1.) really? Pastel goth aesthetics? It's hell, not your hello kitty hot topic fantasies. We aren't making people feel welcome, and your pretty princess vibes won't help with the fear factor.

2.) Says the person currently on Tumblr. Shitty posts and begging for attention? Yeah, do I see you with 1000+ followers? I give my audience what they want, and if you don't like that start your own blog.

3.) "Soul crushing paperwork?" If you're calling two pages daily on the torment done to our citizens soul crushing, I can imagine how you are at work. Get a life and figure out how to properly have a business before you come complaining to me

4.) So you're hating on heavy metal now? Boo hoo, cry me a river. Oh, you don't like the music? Cry about it and live a good life if you want lofi vibes.

5.) Patriarchy? Really? How long have you been following me? Not long enough to know that ONE: I'm a girl and TWO: most of my staff and heads are women. Get a life and wake the fuck up

Before you come complaining to me about my way of business: become an angel, betray god, fall from heaven, start building up a literal society of evil-doers and then we'll talk.

Mic drop.

[dross-the-fish]

A follower tagged me on a post that was talking about how Edward isn't actually a bad guy but rather he's misunderstood and I'm not going to reply to that post because I don't want to start drama on someone else's blog but I've seen the sentiment brought up a few times so I'm going to make a blanket post about the topic rather than single anyone out. The post I was tagged in mentions the trampling of the child and seems to frame it like an accident so I'll start there and I'll let Henry himself tell you how he views that incident. "An act of cruelty to a child aroused against me the anger of a passer by," He outright says it, it's an act of cruelty. He doesn't deny that. And that's what I hate about fanon Hyde. A lot of interps seem to forget that Hyde is a middle aged man struggling with a repressed sadistic streak and not a social awkward teenager. I think the most concrete evidence we have of Jekyll/Hyde's nature is in Jekyll's letter and how he describes himself and his relationship to Hyde. “To cast in my lot with Jekyll, was to die to those appetites which I had long secretly indulged and had of late begun to pamper. To cast it in with Hyde, was to die to a thousand interests and aspirations, and to become, at a blow and forever, despised and friendless. The bargain might appear unequal; but there was still another consideration in the scales; for while Jekyll would suffer smartingly in the fires of abstinence, Hyde would be not even conscious of all that he had lost.” As afraid as he is of losing the life he's built for himself there's so much LONGING to be Hyde despite the evils Hyde has done. He wants to indulge in his appetites and he knows if he embraces Edward he won't even grieve his losses. I find it interesting that he notes that becoming Edward would cost him his "aspirations and interests," because he would be losing everything to his vice, choosing pleasure and indulgence over his own goals and ambitions. "If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also," Henry Jekyll is a complex and repressed but also very selfish man and here's where the interpretation of Edward as a metaphor for addiction comes most strongly into play. Jekyll shows textbook signs of a drug user: experimentation, denial or minimization of the harmful effects, attempts to quit, withdrawal when he goes too long without being Edward and eventually he develops a dependency and falls into a spiral. The fact that he's taking a potion just drives the imagery that much harder. Even the description of the effects of the potion itself mirror drug use. "something indescribably new and, from its very novelty, incredibly sweet. I felt younger, lighter, happier in body ; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a mill race in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but not an innocent freedom of the soul. I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked" It's agony at first but once the "high" hits and he becomes Edward he feels good and his inhibitions are gone. He can indulge every depraved and twisted act his heart desires without having to take the hit to his reputation or the responsibility. “since then I had been obliged on more than one occasion to double, and once, with infinite risk of death, to treble the amount” - Jekyll risks an overdose because he keeps taking more of the serum. This illustrates his dependency on Hyde and his inability to quit. One thing I've noticed about Hyde interps that favor the lighter, softer, readings of the character is that they almost always neglect the characterization of Henry Jekyll. Either depicting Jekyll as the good half or all but erasing them from their fanon version of Hyde and that's something you can't really do because it misses the point of Jekyll and Hyde. Which is about Henry Jekyll and his repression and his eventual turn to a destructive outlet.

"The pleasures which I made haste to seek in my disguise were, as I have said, undignified; I would scarce use a harder term. But in the hands of Edward Hyde, they soon began to turn towards the monstrous. When I would come back from these excursions, I was often plunged into a kind of wonder at my vicarious depravity. This familiar that I called out of my own soul, and sent forth alone to do his good pleasure, was a being inherently malign and villainous; his every act and thought centered on self; drinking pleasure with bestial avidity from any degree of torture to another, relentless like a man of stone. Henry Jekyll stood at times aghast before the acts of Edward Hyde." once the leash is off Jekyll is shocked by what he's capable of, what Hyde is capable of. The words used by Stevenson paint a lurid picture, Depravity, bestial, torture, villainous. He can't outright say what Hyde is doing but it's pretty clear he has a sadistic streak. He also lets slip at one point by using "My" instead of referring to Edward as separate. "My vicarious depravity." He's aware, he is complicit and he enjoys himself. You cannot separate Jekyll from Hyde therefore any interpretation of Hyde as being soft, innocent, unaware or merely mischievous is not only incorrect but it directly contradicts the purpose of the story and strips Jekyll of his complexity. If you can't like this character as he is written then you don't like this character. There are some things you can leave up to interpretation but Hyde's sadism and Jekyll's addiction to Hyde are both very clear cut and Jekyll's confession spells everything out in a way that you'd have to reach pretty far to claim that Edward is being misrepresented by Utterson throughout the bulk of the novel.

[mins-fins]

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?"

[unknown-cold]

The artist: ( @itshuansart )on Instagram and Twitter/X

I love this so much!! Best art that expresses Caitlyn's sadness and suffering, I really wish I had seen something like this on the show.

I can say that Caitlyn's character is one of the most misunderstood characters ever, that these people see Caitlyn as just an enforcer from Piltover made them not understand her, or rather they don't want to understand her character.

Because it's getting really suspicious, I feel like Caitlyn's hate is more than just a character who did bad things. There are characters who did worse things. Let's take Silco, one of the characters who did the worst things in the entire show, from trying to kill an entire family for control, to flooding his entire population with shimmer and turning some of them into monsters and making children work in dangerous factories, all of this and he didn't get half the hate that Caitlyn did. Silco is a true dictator who didn't care about anyone but himself and his interests and his intentions were always evil. Unlike Caitlyn, she tried in the end to fix her mistakes and admitted her mistakes too. And to everyone says she is evil or dictatorial because she used gas, is it a bad thing yes, but Caitlyn had no evil intentions in using gas, she used Gray to facilitate the capture of Silco's gangs and allies who were basically harming the people of Zaun even the kids as we saw in ep 2 in S2 when Chross's Goons was following Isha, and of course capturing Jinx as well, she did that because it was a less harmful solution than sending armies of enforcers and Noxus men to Zaun, and we saw because she stopped using Gray after she end her mission and failed to capture Jinx. If Caitlyn was really evil and dictatorial as some people claim, she would have used Gray again to exterminate the people of Zaun, but she didn't do that because that's not her personality that we knew in season 1, and most of the problems that happened were because of Ambessa, and her manipulation and constant incitement for Caitlyn to capture Jinx.

So yeah hating on Caitlyn is so hypocritical and completely unnecessary, seriously I can't believe there are still people who message me and reblog my blogs and not just me but other people saying that Caitlyn is an evil cop and you should stop talking about her and liking her, or you'll be just like her. Are these people crazy or stupid or what exactly!? What does my liking a fictional character have to do with you thinking that I'll be like her in real life!? These people really need to grow up and leave people alone, like if you don't like something and you see someone else like it there's no need to give them your opinion because they won't care and we who like the same thing won't care either so why bother us with your opinion, and then it's selfish of you to want other people to be like you and agree with you (especially when your style of criticism is rude and terrible)

So I always say the show is not black and white, and there isn't only one side good and another side bad. Arcane proves every day that this show is not for everyone and if you want to enjoy it you have to open your mind well and be open-minded, and most importantly put politics and real-life issues aside, and enjoy this fantasy world with flawed characters and good writing. (This show is not designed to solve political issues. At the end of the day it is a show based on a video game)

[justhere4thevibez]

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.

[tubbytarchia]

hi it's my first anon ask ever so I'm nervous but just wanted to vent briefly about a couple of popular jimmy ships. I might be lacking some information / outdated topics but I work with what I know for ig

I'm so glad flwerhsbands is dead. I loved watching their POV in third life but not because it was a dreamland cottagecore relationship, and it was mildly off putting when others thought of it as such. Jim being belittled all the time behind his back wasn't cute. it was interesting cause of how they liked eachother enough but misunderstood the other and their alliance in many ways. If they ever realigned it would probably be the same, maybe worse, and that would not feel good.

Next rachers. I haven't fully watched their povs so I may be wrong abt this but. They weren't romantic in DL but they were good to eachother. Yet it feels like m/m for the ship is like equal to every other fic they are major in, romo or not. I don't get it. I have read and enjoyed a few, but it unnerved me when fics would make them the same age / wouldn't acknowledge the age difference. Idk why it's popularity creeps me so much. I love how supportive they are but they read as just friends to me.

Lastly and completely unrelated, it's great that jim's had more times where he's not the butt of the joke this year (between skrnachers plate up and Joel cooling it on the bullying), gives him opportunities to explore different roles and it makes the teasing more enjoyable (to an extent and at viewer's opinion) when there's that diversity. Oh my god this was not brief I am so sorry.

This is very brief by my standards anon don't even worry LOL. Absolutely agree with the FH segment. I've said this twelve thousand times but I can never reiterate enough that I don't inherently dislike their dynamic in the Life series and instead find it really compelling. I don't think Scott is just straight up evil (he is not one of my blorbos but is at least in the top 3 of most interesting traffic characters without a doubt) and I don't want Jimmy to suffer but regardless the narrative isn't up to me, only my interpretation based on what I see

With ranchers, I think I can understand you feeling this way but I'll be blunt in that I personally couldn't care less about the age gap even if people choose to abide by it whilst talking about characters and not CCs, so I'm not bothered if it isn't brought up, god knows I haven't either in my rancher art or writing. In addition, most creatives within the fandom from my judgement keep these characters as kind of ambiguous players in a game without real life counterparts and within this game world, as many other things associated with real life, specific age could be obsolete, which I think is perfectly fine as far as HC and Traffic at least go as they're all adults. I could very easily see ranchers anywhere on the platonic-romantic spectrum (and it is a spectrum to me, not a scale) because two adults, I don't care, but I can see where some people take discomfort with it, and the age gap could frankly be something interesting to comment on within their dynamic, if, again, people chose to keep it strictly true to the CC ages. I have heard of people trying to counterbalance "toxic FH" with "toxic ranchers" in retaliation and using the age gap as the reason which has probably contributed to me not being able to give a fuck, because that's just kind of funny to me

And yes, ahh Jimmy's competency... it never went anywhere, it's just the environment that enforces this anti-Jimmy pretence so it's no surprise that he's able to shine more when surrounded with people supportive of him. Or not even supportive, just not belittling. That's why smallidarity gradually became my favorite little thing because Joel's relationship with Jimmy I think is really interesting in how it's changed and what it offers in commentary of the Jimmy ecosystem that Joel has been a strong contributor to before. Like unironically I think about that tweet Jimmy made in passing all the time where he replied to Joel talking about his attempted sacrifice to him in Limited Life and how the idea was illogical, and Jimmy went "That's the point, that you tried, no one's ever done that for me"

[irrelevanthough]

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.

[like-rain-or-confetti]

I was never the Villain.

“How can you stand there with so much pride after everything you've done!?” You had chased the rogue all around the city as he taunted you. So upon catching him, you blurted out words before you could stop them. “Do you know how many people you've hurt!? Yet you're here smug!? You're nothing but a villain!” That seemed to strike a chord.

Scarecrow: "Villain? Is that what you think I am?” He scoffed but laughed. “Well isn't that typical?” He chidded. “Allow me, vigilante.” He sneered. “I am not a villain. I was abused as a child and had emotional neglectful guardians. My grandmother used her religion to excuse and justify her bad behaviour. My father didn't couldn't care less where I was, what I was doing and who I was doing it with. He gave me to my grandmother who hated me because her son had a child out of wedlock and that was enough of a reason to treat me like a rabid dog! So if I'm the villain, what does that make my grandmother? Better yet what does it make the high-school bully? What does it every school faculty member who saw the marks on me day in and day out and did nothing!? The bystander effect makes monsters of us all, dear. How monsterous can I possibly be when there are people in this world who believe that all their failings and wrong doings can be just washed away to oblivion because of the notion that ‘God forgave them’!? That all the hurt and suffering in the world is just washed away because it's ‘God's design’, ever perfect and glorious. God watched my grandmother beat me and did nothing. God watches plenty of families fall apart in the most violent and gruesome ways and we all shrug it off for God because he knows best. We're all bystanders to the cruelty of this world so I'm the villain? No, you, it is you who is the villain. You're the villain when you reap all the glory and act as though you're such a good person when we both know you've done nothing for those in perpetual suffering. You save people when it's convenient for you and on your terms and no where else. You stopped me today? That's great. What about the person who just got murdered or attacked whilst you're here giving me a spiel. I am the villain? I am the victim Gotham didn't save.”

The Riddler: “Are you such an ignoramus that you just hurl your asinine assumptions!?” He snapped and leaned forward. “I'm not a villain, I'm misunderstood and undervalued. I am the damn diamond submerged in this rock!” He jabbed a finger in your direction. “I grew up invisible to this world, city, job, school and when I was noticed by my father it was to tear me down physically, mentally, emotionally, anything he could emit from the heart of a alcohol bottle! My own mother forgot me-” He recoiled with a chuckle. “no- let's not lie- she left me! I wasn't enough for her like I wasn't for anyone else because no one is FUCKING LOOKING AT ME!” He roared. He jabbed his finger in your direction repeatedly. “You will not demonise me for surviving what others cannot! You will not put me into the category of the ones who didn't overcome their issues! I not only survived- I thrived! Just not the way you wanted and you don't get to decide that! You people want to push everyone into little boxes and say they’re healed. They're good people of society since I can understand them! Well not me! You people are pigheaded, mouthbreathing morons and I'm the last person who owes you anything! I will not go unseen and unappreciated all my life just to play your game- we're passed that! Got it, you pitiful excuse of a vigilante!? I will not drop my worth and standards for your comfort and assurance. You're nothing! Like everyone else in this city! You think me evil? You call me a villain? Yet you never considered how we got here. Not once has it crossed your tiny mind that this could just be a consequence! You know why I do these things!? I great purpose in life and villainy!?” He leaned forward. “I like the attention, you dimwitted, fake, bottom feeding vulture! It's recognition I should never have has to ask for. Yet I'm surrounded by idiots who cannot see what's in front of them! A villain? A monster. Well, Gotham, I'm the monster you made!”

Two-Face: “You know…a long time ago, i told an old friend of mine that you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the Villain. I said that like I understood anything. It's tricky you see. I thought surviving an alcoholic father gave me the knowledge of what it meant to suffer. Truly suffer within oneself. Take someone being saved from a burning building and they survived their burns. It hits the media. They have a field day. Something awful has happened but the victim has survived. Hip hip hooray for the happy ending. People move onto the next story. That is not how it really is. That burn victim isn't happy. They're covered in bandages and in pain. Their movements restricted. They could be facing surgeries, risk of 'infection. They dream of going hone and back to normal. Even when they do get home it doesn't end because they aren't the same person anymore. They're exposed to something that changed their view on life from the faintest changes to the astronomical personality changes. I wasn't not pleased to have survived because I didn't know who was left behind. The person I was before was gone. I couldn't even look in the mirror and recognise my face. Do you know what that does to someone? When they can't piece together their own reflection? I couldn't accept that this is what became of my face.” He gestured to himself. “All the inner demons I buried were to the surface. I couldn't even have the comfort of familiarity in my own face! People don't know how much of a comfort that is. They don't know it actually brings a feeling of security. I didn't have my self I didn't have my face, I was stuck with the shattered pieces left in the carnage. None of it was slow. None of it was pretty. It never ends for the victims. You just adapt to the scars.” His eyes hardened. “I'm not a villain, I'm a survivor. For better or for worse, I cannot be controlled. I will not be forced into Compliance by people who do not understand what any of this is like. How it feels to only see darkness and no end of the tunnel.”

Black Mask: I'm not a villain, I'm a businessman! See that's the problem with people. They'll sit there and chastise the free loaders, the low functioning alcoholics and the druggies for doing nothing. That makes sense. This society demands greatness and tell their kids, they can be anything they want, they just gotta believe.” He made a motion of jazz hands. He laughed with condescension and shook his head. “Then them kids grow up and realise its all a lie and they become the freeloaders, the alcoholics and the druggies! People like me keep the world turning for people like you. You hear it, all day everyday. The people aren't happy what the big mega corporations are doing. How dare they give money here when morals are over there? How dare they show up with this person and that person? Have you fuckers never heard of working with people you might not like? Are all your employers and employees all as good as gold!? Welcome to the real world, kid. Look at you, you're so good! How much of the tax-payers dollars do you cost every night you come out to break shit? How many family members do you hurt when you and the Batman brutalise their loved ones? But I'm the villain! No, kid, I'm fucking rich and the little people would do exactly what i do to keep that money growing. It's called investments. Let me ask you this, when your government raises benefits, lowers taxes gives some kind of fucking pay out, do you ask who gave that the go ahead? What budget did it come out of? Who works in your bank, what's their morals?” There was silence. “Exactly. So instead of judging me for what these mouth breathers couldn't do, why not, just for fun, turn the mirror. What has any of these people ever done to deserve an explanation, to be heard, to even have an ounce of acknowledgement? People have a problem? Go be a CEO, see how far you get.” He took a breath. “You're representing a bunch of sore losers. Im one of the big boys. The big boys have won the game that the world plays and the sore losers are whining in the only way they can without sounding entitled. With fucking morals and what they think is how the world works. When the whining is too loud, all I gotta say is ‘but daddy hit me.’”

Penguin: “I'm not a villain, I'm ambitious! I'm the underdog! Since when was that a crime!?” He scoffed and shook his head with a laugh. “I shouldn't be blamed for everyone else being so egotistical that they overlook me! This is the American Dream! Start from nothing and build your way to the top. The land of opportunity! Forgive me if my opportunities come from people who don't pay attention! I paid my damn dues. I paved my way to the top. With nobody cheering me on! Since when did we stop appreciating greatness! Since when did we fault some damn hard work!? I am a damn visionary with goals and dreams for this city and I'd be applauded had I been a damn politician! Gotham needs people like me before the so called good guys run it into the ground! All of this!? All of this is just intimidation! Gotham is intimidated by me! Threatened because I was ignored and underestimated and now they don't have a resource- they have competition! I wasn't supposed to succeed! Yet here! I! Am!” He grinned, arms outstretched. “I'm winning and I will be the winner.” He dropped his arms, walking around you. “You don't understand it. Gotham doesn't understand it but one day…one day they will. Everyone will. Everyone will see what I will do for this city and thank me. Hell. They might hand me the Key to the City and the Mayor's job.” He laughed, grinning with pride just thinking about it. “People hate change until they reap the benefits! So no…I'm no villain. I just don't play by your game.”

[ableist-cut]

"Split" and the Split Reality of Disability in the Horror Genre

Split was a 2016 horror movie directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The cinema offered many powerhouse actors such as James McAvoy and Anna Joy-Taylor. However, representatives of the disabled and mental health communities didn't just consider this movie a thriller, but also a trigger to a deeper issue.

The film is centered around a man named Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder (DID). Crumb houses many personalities that range from a little boy to a fashionista. Although one of his personalities seems to be more violent than the others, this personality is known as "The Beast." The Beast is depicted as a superhuman or monstrous creature that becomes the movie's ultimate horror device. This isn't the only horror in the movie. Split doesn't just use mental illness as a moving plot device, but rather weaponizes the mental illness.

It's very clear from the beginning that Crumb's mental illness isn't just a part of his character; it's the overarching danger of the story. Equating psychological disorders with violence or evil in general is a trope common in Hollywood media. For example, we see this in other movies such as You (2018) or The Silence of the Lambs (1991). For numerous decades, mainstream media has long painted these outrageous portrayals of mental illness, which only reinforces the public's biased fears.

The film never actually uses the word "disabled" throughout the movie, however, the movie still indicated ableist implications. DID is a complex, and at often times, misunderstood mental condition. Rather than educating the public or humanizing the disorder, Split twists the disorder into something superhuman. On top of this, Crumb is shown as monstrous yet pitiable. Some aspects of his human character are taken away through the writing of his disorder, but returned/excused when talking about his prior abuse.

Another unsettling thing about the film is how it flirts with the idea of "survival through suffering." The protagonist of the story, who also has a past of trauma, is spared by The Beast. There's an odd implication that trauma, in a way, makes people more evolved. This is a subtle version to what disability scholars might call Inspiration Porn.

Split may be an extremely popular thriller, but its twist on real life quickly reverts to ableist storytelling. It's time for a new script, one where mental illness isn't the monster, but rather the misunderstood character waiting for their own story to be told.

[cosmichighpriestess]

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. 🖤