#they are their own people with their own ideals and they have to suffer a bit but breaking from their Fate is what matters...

[potionwine]

#ethically i am opposed to monarchies and empires. i think being born into a royal bloodline is inherently traumatising #which makes for the juiciest tastiest drama in stories obviously #either you become a bad ruler and people will suffer at your feet. or you become a good ruler and you no longer belong to yourself #how much will you sacrifice at the altar of your ideals? #It Compels Me. Narratively

(tags from op)

#I read 2 stories about royalty/nobility recently #And one of the central things in both of them was like #You can't choose your own life because you were born into the job and nobody will let you be anything else #And I think the contrast between having immense power and yet very little agency to exercise it is compelling

(tags from tlitookilakin)

ok so i think that my favourite fantasy subgenre is The Inherent Tragedy Of Being Born Into Royalty. which mostly means that i like to read about gay princes but with some nuance

[call-me-insane-but-wth]

How do i put this... In the past, I've always agreed that Medias/mediums are free hunting grounds in terms of derivatives, interpretations, and recursiveness, but imo, mdzs is different. The expression, 'Death of the author'... After all. the story of mdzs is about real-life concepts like oppression and classism. The story explicitly details what was wrong, from whom, and the futile but morally ideal thing to do in the face of said oppression and classism.

In my opinion, the real objectivity and neutrality that Jiang cheng apologists and reformists (lol) should aspire to is accepting Jiang Cheng's character in all his idiosyncratic behaviors instead of retconning, and redistributing 'Wwx's' characteristics and narrative points towards him. Because isn't that another way of just validating the moral ideal that is Wwx and disregarding Jiang cheng?

If Jiang Cheng was no longer the young master of YunmengJiang, if his narrative journey was not rife with inferiority and entitlement towards another, if he was not someone who was able to rise above all of that (his past resentments) and come into his own once he had all the information and context (as per the canon)* then is that still Jiang Cheng?

*(which isn't to say that Canon jiang cheng agreed on any meaningful level that he WAS in the wrong for not repaying his debt to the wen siblings and, by extension, the wen remnants. I'm referring to his resolution towards Wwx and the futility of his previously deeply held resentment and blame, now made and recognized as defunct with the knowledge of the golden core in his belly)

If Jc-stans rejected the canon Jc and all his impact upon the narrative of Mdzs, to the point where they draft an entirely different version of Jiang Cheng, then isn't it reasonable to infer that what jc stans are stanning* isn't even the complex Jiang Cheng of Mdzs, but their own 'self' that they'd created in the guise of Jiang Cheng?

I've noticed that oftentimes, they'll take the criticism of Jiang cheng the character on a personal level. Or worse, because they have identified so much with their personal version of Jc, they will feel like their* vested interests have been intruded upon, and retcon all of canon so that by extension, they will feel justified and benefited.

Which is a level of meta that is disturbingly realistic.

Mdzs is a fictional story. It's a fictional story where the mmc doesn't even succeed in his ideals because the world is so harsh towards the just and reasonable. Wwx isn't rewarded for his principles. So, for us as readers, watchers, and fans, there are no real benefits. No real vested interests to defend. No real economic impact. Whether to side with the weak or root for the aristocrats, it doesn't matter at all bc it doesn't affect reality.

And yet so many (real life) people are determined to win, even though they haven't suffered a real loss at all. In other words, they seem to reject the narrative of Mdzs altogether. That the poorest, lowest rungs of society have any right to freedom and justice at all, much less deserving to be defended by someone.

If you were to observe their interpretation of Jiang Cheng, then it's the only reasonable conclusion to be drawn.

Maybe their moral ideal IS to be the prince in an ivory tower. Never questioned. Never forced to grow. Never have to develop a conscience much less be forced to consider the thoughts and feelings of others.

(Before any sensitive hearts bleed out, this post is just observational yap and speculation. If it doesn't apply, let it fly.)

[maxdibert]

For all that it’s said about James that he’d consider it dishonourable to distrust his friends, I think it’s clear from Lily’s omission of Remus in her letter that she and James agreed with Sirius’ assessment that he was the traitor.

Which means either James’ progressiveness was pretty paper thin, and he suspected the marginalised member of his friend group without reason.

Or - and I think this is worse, because even the best of us have ingrained prejudices we don’t catch until we’re called out on them - he did have reason. And that reason is that Remus was the only one who (very) occasionally expressed misgivings about James’ cruelty. Which means Remus was suspected because he was the least sycophantic about James’ greatness and goodness, and he misses that this means Remus has a moral compass making him LESS likely to be the spy, because his self-conception as a hero won’t allow him to consider that violently treating people beneath him like dirt isn’t a heroic deed.

James has extreme moral luck. He ends up on the right side of history because he was born into the right family. His teenage self displays greater sadism and instincts for humiliation and control than any other kid in the book save young Tom Riddle. He’d have made a fine Death Eater. The only reason he might not rise to the very top like Bellatrix is his lack of regard for authority, but it wouldn’t be due to any moral qualms.

It’s made quite clear that the first to distrust Remus is Sirius (ohhhh the Wolftar lololol), and he’s the one who suggests Peter as the Secret Keeper. And James and Lily agree. And the reason? Remus is a werewolf, and werewolves, in general, had sided with Voldemort.

So all that supposed ideology, all that so-called progressive mindset, all that supposed moral righteousness that made them part of the “good side” because they didn’t discriminate or hold prejudices—it was all just a facade. Nothing more than a performance to justify doing whatever they wanted, like being violent sociopaths as teenagers, while still telling themselves they were the good guys.

Remus was supposedly their friend since they were eleven. They had known him, seen everything he suffered because of his condition. They had spent full moons with him, shared countless experiences with him—and yet, they had no problem turning their backs on him the moment suspicion arose. Not because of any real evidence, but because of what he was. Because of his difference. Because of the very thing that everyone discriminated against him for.

His own friends discriminated against him.

Pure hypocrisy. And the worst kind, because this wasn’t just some random werewolf—it was their friend. That’s where they show their true colors. Everything they supposedly believed in was just a front. Deep down, they were nothing more than privileged rich kids playing at fighting for ideals they didn’t understand and didn’t care to understand. They just used those ideals as a way to dress up their egos and narcissism as good deeds. But in reality? They didn’t give a damn about doing good.

James only cared about reinforcing his public image. Sirius just wanted to piss off his mother. And Lily? She gives the impression that, after getting married, she simply did whatever James told her to.

[eidolonlathi]

The Parallels between the Sanguinarch and Lettou

It is an ironic thematic parallel that both the Sanguinarch and Lettou are the two people during the Victoria arc whose motives are almost solely driven by the catastrophic defeat their respective people suffered, and yet they are two of the most isolated characters during the arc and only really have each other. And it’s interesting how chapter thirteen makes a point to show this.

During the entire Victoria arc we can see that the relations of the Vampire court with the rest of the Military Commission is rather bad, up to a point that it comes as little surprise when it is implied that Theresis set the Sanguinarch up for failure at Brentwood to get rid of him entirely. But it is interesting that Babel clarified that these tensions were nothing new and the relations of the Vampire court with the rest of the Sarkaz had been terrible for at least centuries. These tensions make you wonder why the Sanguinarch agreed to go along with Theresis plan in Victoria to begin with. At least you do until his fight with team Amiya on the Command Tower where there is so much old and pent up bitterness coming out of him. He blames the Ancients and Elders for driving the Sarkaz into a corner He has not forgiven Kal’tsit for mobilizing entire armies on Kazdel during a time the Sarkaz were just trying to mind their own business. And it is interesting the people he seems to despise the most are the Sarkaz denying their heritage by trying to make peace with just those outbloods: The Sanguinarch made it quite clear he found Theresa’s ideals and those of the Sarkaz siding with her ridiculous.

It is a mindset similar of what’s going on with Lettou, really. It’s maybe just not that obvious because from the first moment we see him Lettou has been lying and keeps lying. He has to. Given his situation he has to hide the depth of his sympathies towards Gaul. Otherwise he would endanger the power his position in the military is giving him and the trust he established among Victoria’s nobles. Those are the tools he needs to drive his revenge against Victoria for making Gaul fall, and this is what still makes him useful to the Military Commission. Because just like the Sanguinarch it is mostly revenge that is driving him: He lied to Theresis when getting asked if he wanted to win back the Gaulish platforms, admitting much later to Clovisia he never had any hope of this succeeding. He lied towards Catherine about feeling remorse the Sarkaz were taking over Victorian factories, even though he very much did not mind the humiliation the destroyer of his fatherland suffered in that moment. And he lied to Golding about having lost all former goals and aiming for nothing but his own survival. – Since the moment her deep ties to the Self-Salvation Corps became apparent he deliberately and intentionally drove her into a corner. Even though she was a former acquaintance, even though she too had Gaulish roots, from the moment on she had sided with the country that had destroyed Gaul she had to die.

Lettou being so callous for the sake of Gaul is making even more sense now that Doc’s operator record of all people provided us with much needed context of how Victoria is treating its Gaulish inhabitant. Doc’s Operator Record is about him giving medical care to a village of Gaulish descendant in Victoria and it is quite depressing. They live in dire circumstances, have problems growing food and their attempts to improve their situation by paying for their own infrastructure etc. go nowhere because for some ‘mysterious’ reason the caravans don’t want to go to that village and do business with it. The reader also learns it is a widespread practice that people of Gaulish origin under the suspicion of still feeling ties towards their home country are forced to spit on a portrait of Corsica to prove that their loyalty is now with Victoria. If you read Golding’s lines in the main story how all people born in Victoria are the same, you would think Victoria would make no difference in how they treat their citizens. But Doc’s OpRec makes it very clear that the opposite is the case: The Victorian bureaucrats actively sabotage every attempt the villagers in Doc’s story make to try and improve their lives. No surprise the main story never showed that, I guess that would have made Lettou’s motivations too sympathetic. Circumstances of Gaulish survivors in Victoria so dire, they had to put its details into the operator's record of a true limited five star barely anyone will bother to E2, sad.

With these details giving much needed clarification, it’s impossible but to not see this as yet another parallel the writing established between Lettou and the Sanguinarch. It is made clear how thoroughly the Sanguinarch detests non-Sarkaz, but he feels repelled by the Sarkaz who try to find peace with them and subjugate themselves to them even more. He won’t take someone like Siege seriously, while mere mentions of his brother during the wrong time will make him lose his calm. On a similar note, it is interesting to see how most of the time Lettou will appear emotionally aloof, but will show instances where he clearly does feel a lot for the people who are by definition his enemy. He is betraying his soldiers in a long term way but loses it when he sees how they are getting slaughtered on the Command Tower. He is more than ready to kiII people who are part of the Self-Salvation Corps, but feels conflicted when seeing the wife and children of some noble are getting slaughtered. Both times it almost ended as a disaster for him that he felt pity for these Victorians during the wrong moment. In contrast he felt no regret but only exhaustion over Golding’s death. He might wish there could have been an outcome where kiIIing her wouldn’t have been necessary, but from his conversation with Clovisia where he impatiently rejected the ‘atonement’ she offered him, we can see that given the choice he’d do it all over again

I find it interesting how the writing made both Lettou and the Sanguinarch kiII people they had used to be close with to illustrate how they put the legacy of their home country above all else. Golding had sided with the Self-Salvation Corps, so Lettou drove her to her end. The Sanguinarch was convinced that his brother was putting the interests of the non-Sarkaz above the wellbeing of the Sarkaz, so he kiIIed him. Even the way Golding and the Toppled Blood Prince are characterized resemble each other. Throughout the Victoria arc we learn that Golding yearns for peace. That’s the reason she joins the Self-Salvation Corps, that’s why she sets up a stage play with her students that is supposed to teach them noble values, that’s why she keeps debating with Lettou about her ideas of peace and civilization, even though by this point in the story she long since feels repulsed and disappointed with him. Her ideals eventually crumble when confronted with the fact an undercover Damazti posing as Molly used her to gather intel used against the Self-Salvation Corps, and maybe worse, she realizes that her attempts to shield her students from the reality of war always had been futile.

Characterizing the Toppled Blood Prince is a bit harder, as we can only do it indirectly. The bits we know about the Sanguinarch’s brother are not really there to deepen his own character, but to show how evil the Sanguinarch was for rejecting a ‘peaceful’ future as a doctor and for kiIIing what chapter thirteen basically portrays as a proto-Theresa. It’s interesting though that whatever feelings Duq’arael once used to hold towards his brother, he is making it very clear he feels not a shred of regret for kiIIing him. You get the impression that the frustration towards his brother must have been brooding in him since ages before he had decided kiIIing him was the only option. There are glimpses of it when he recalls how he had to face on his own the Feranmut who was threatening Kazdel, and how even the barely lucid Feranmut was agreeing with Duq’arael that defending Kazdel actually would have been the duty of the King, his brother. You’ll get an idea why the Sanguinarch keeps complaining about the Vampires who are hiding in cozy castles while forgetting their origin as warriors.

That frustration echoes in what emotion we saw Lettou display towards Golding towards the end of her arc. One gets the impression he is feeling a not small part of satisfaction the moment he reveals to her Damazti had been deceiving her since weeks. Sympathetic as her motives are, in hindsight she appears almost painfully naïve, almost detached from the dirty realities of war. I wonder how her insisting all Victorians are born equal must have sounded in Lettou’s ears when in Doc’s OpRec we saw that this is very much not the case. No, Golding's attempts to discuss the morals of war never had a chance. Lettou knows he is right to avenge Gaul’s fall. Just as the Sanguinarch knows the Ancients and Elders deserve the blame for driving the Sarkaz into a corner. Both the Brother and Golding had made themselves a threat to their people by putting compromise and what the Sanguinarch calls a false “peace” as their priority. Therefor they both had to go.

It’s interesting though that the story keeps hinting that neither Duq’arael nor Lettou can fully face that they’re both the kind of person to drive someone to their end they used to be close with. There is this interesting scene during Babel where the Sanguinarch slays two Sarkaz who made fun of the fact Theresis and Theresa have become enemies. Nezzsalem believes that this outburst shows that Duq’arael feels just as sad about Theresa’s death as he himself. As the former teacher of her and Theresis, this conclusion would feel most natural to Nezzsalem. This claim Duq’arael neither confirms nor denies. The only thing he justifies his outburst with is that whatever their motivations are, in the hour of death the life of those siblings is not a subject to be treated lightly. Yeah, that’s vague. What siblings did you just mean, buddy? Could it be that being faced with another pair of siblings in lethaI conflict the memories of your own brother you’ve kiIIed got a little bit too intense?

This outburst at the same time manages to echo and contrast Lettou’s thoughts about Golding after he runs into Clovisia. He wishes there would have been an outcome where she still would have been alive and teaching her students but otherwise… he doesn’t know what to feel about her death. Given we have just learned that he handed over his own soldiers to the Military Commission makes me think he is less grieving her as struggling to come to terms with the knowledge that he is the kind of person ready to kiII old acquaintances for his goal. As Lettou admits towards the old Youth Vanguard he looked after, at this point in time he is just tired. He has done all he could for Gaul and yet he admits he is having doubts the Gaulish people will have a future. The only two things he still cares about are mercy-kiIIing the Vieux Vanguard before the Sarkaz have a chance to get him and then he is going to meet the Sanguinarch one last time.

Or as Lettou put it to the Sanguinarch, he was always going to find His Highness. You know, at this point in the story Lettou finally had reached a point where he no longer had to lie about his motivations. He just mercy-kiIIed his last ally, he rejected Clovisia’s offer and with it got the chance to tell Victoria’s ageless a piece of his mind and he broke all ties to the Defense Forces. Lettou no longer needs to hold up any lie for the sake of keeping his position of power. It feels fitting he feels the urge to return to the Sanguinarch. He is by that point the only person left who fully knows what Lettou’s actual thoughts had been all along. And it is interesting how their last meeting stresses that point. Duq'arael tells Lettou he believed in him to defeat his enemy, the nation of Victoria. And that the mere thought of going to witness more of his revenge was already filling him with affection for Lettou. And it is no coincidence that just in that moment the Sanguinarch, who so rarely bothers to address anyone by their name, calls Lettou by his full name – René Lettou. Yeah, nice of the story to tease the reader with all this potential just to let Lettou kiII himself seconds later.

But Duq’arael’s reaction to this is revealing. He had not seen it coming. He had seen that Lettou had been driven by lethaI intent, but Duq’arael had been so convinced that aggression would be going to be directed at him that he didn’t see the possibility of Lettou kiIIling himself until it had already happened. Duq’arael’s reaction is to deny that he cares in any way. He denies that this René Lettou is worth to be remembered – while still using his full name, entangling himself in a contradiction. And apparently not realizing what it signifies he bothers to remember and use Lettou’s name to begin with. Yes, it feels fitting that the Sanguinarch picked up that ability to deceive (himself, in this case) Lettou had always known to display when he still had been alive. Because if chapter thirteen hit something home then that René and Duq’arael had always been supposed to resemble each other.

[medicalunprofessional]

never change, man !

[kurthummeldeservesbetter]

To me (because I like making myself suffer) there are 2 other types of universes where Jayce and Viktor make hextech. If Viktor is always the mage, able to go to all universes where Jayce gets stuck in that blizzard with his mom, maybe he doesn't exactly know how that particular universe ends and is just searching for the exact one Jayce (and also Ekko) can save.

Viktor dies before Jayce can save (also doom) him with the hexcore. Maybe it's before the explosion, maybe he dies with Sky, maybe he just goes to bed and doesn't wake up. Jayce deals with this however you interpret. Maybe he goes crazy and destroys universes trying to find a healthy Viktor who won't die before their dream can be fully lived. Maybe he intentionally creates The Machine Herald this time. Maybe he stops inventing and just. Becomes a loner.

They are able to create hextech without any death/damage at all. Maybe Jayce and Viktor (who could find out about it before Jayce's place is robbed) and discover it's potential somewhere else. Maybe they start in Zaun and end up improving the lives of everyone there that Silco and Vander reconnect, Powder and VI stay sisters, everyone stays alive. Maybe Viktor is able to find a cure for his illness (and therefore find no need to experiment, since the fear of death will no longer control him.)

[notmoreflippingelves]

Obsessed with the dynamic (not romantic, not platonic, but a secret third thing--both and yet neither) between two characters who knew and cared about each deeply years ago when they were both younger and life was much less complicated.

But then, tragic, transformative circumstances separated them. Assuming that this separation was certainly permanent, because how could it not be?

And yet, somehow finding each other again years later, and sometimes they aren't sure whether the reunion that they once longed for with every fiber of their beings is a blessing, a curse, a joke, or a punishment.

Because they've both changed in the intervening years--largely because of the hellish circumstances that caused their separation. They've both changed completely and irrevocably, even if one of them has changed much more noticeably and dramatically than the other to the point of seeming a complete stranger. It is about leaning to see and appreciate all the things that have changed about the other and all the things that have not changed. It's about learning to reconcile beloved, often rose-tinted memories with the complex, yet-equally-compelling reality of the person those memories are about.

[featherymainffins]

Honest to god might go nuclear and just drop out of university.

Like fuck that noise I tried it didn't work out now it's time for plan "I get to live my life."

[arthallea]

there's like, a million horrible and exploitative and inhumane things that i hate when it comes to living in a rented apartment, but one of the ones i really hate is that i really cannot, in good faith, want to risk reporting neighbors because i know that it could, in the worst case scenario, result in homelessness for them and there is nearly nothing they could do that i would want to risk that for them. and that subsequently means i have to suffer if they're doing things that really affect my disabilities because i don't wanna risk them being homeless for it. AAAUGH

[snekdood]

when ppl are like "do u know ppl of x minority that ur still in contact with" as a gotcha ig to say ur not actually as open and progressive as you say you are but bud... i dont talk to anyone from my past, lmao, I dont think thats a fair metric to go by quite frankly

[timeskip]

OC thoughts once more but it's so fucked up that Ry and Tempest's thoughts on Storm (their predecessor, the one they took the place of) were decided for them. Like!!! Ry was never given the chance to see Storm as a person because they were programmed to see Storm as a monster!!! Tempest was never able to see Storm as a person because they put them on a pedestal, too strong in their hero worship of what they THINK Storm is!!! And this is designed to tear the twins apart, to force them to go their separate ways because Ry is destined to follow his Fate away from Storm, while Tempest suffers because Ry left them. And they never had a chance to make their own choices. Never ever ever. And Mother Nature did this on purpose because she needs them to never put together the pieces of how she lied to them.

[dirt-str1der]

Quivering and hooking my fingers into my mouth and biting down hard on them sobbing because the anime

[unmaskingdisability]

A rock was thrown through the window of our local trans resources office.

My trans and Disability Group was attacked by a dozen troll accounts last week talking about how trans people are into beastiality and child porn.

Troubleshooting, a coworker told me "if these are the worst things that happen this year we'll be getting off lucky"

I know he's right. And the fact that that's true terrifies me.

[mariocki]

Play for Today: The Cry (BBC, 1984)

"It's best forgotten about."

"You're not gonna be making a complaint?"

"Complaints? We're not making any complaints! We don't want to know about any complaints."

"Complaints against who?"

"Well, the police."

"Who should I complain to about the police?"

"Well, the police, I suppose."

"What good would that do me?"

[edge-oftheworld]

starting to have a way of processing my reaction for when i see what i call 'shallow hearts for shallow minds' takes on here like. do you not know how when you don't feel something at the time it catches up with you later? do we not understand the cumulative nature of nervous system stress and how. sometimes it gets worse before it gets better. sometimes getting better isn't about being happy, it's about feeling things as they come rather than trying to force yourself to be happy. making choices that will lead to the most happiness, even if they're painful at the time. i won't know exactly where an artist is at, neither do you, but I can trust that they're making the kind of decisions that are a step forward in self care in times where I see something that looks familiar and i'm like. i think i've been there. i know it doesn't make so much sense to everyone, but, that's what the fandom's for right?

[pezpenser205]

me being largely nonhuman/antihuman and a lesbian, therefore being forced by my brain to be attracted to humans has actually allowed me to fully understand how men attracted women who say they wish they were lesbians are real and based and do not deserve the hate they get. like girl i get it thats literally how i feel about you.

no offense to the good humans out there #notallhumans <3