#wanting to stop people who hurt others isn't controversial or shouldn't be

[torgawl]

never thought i'd see people try to argue or analyse wriothesley's murder in regards to his personality. i think people are missing the point. the situation has nothing to do with him and has everything to do with an extremely traumatic environment that made a small boy think the only solution so save himself and the people he cared about was to take the life of his abusers. it's not supposed to be rational, it wasn't premeditated, it wasn't about getting away with it. if you read his description of the murder you can see how out of it he was. his goal was to protect himself and his siblings and that's what he did. that's why he admitted to the crime so easily and why he is keen to associate the fortress as a rebirth place. he was just young, lost and traumatised and that's about it when it comes to the extension of it all.

[fangsandfeels]

"Everyone gets along because there is a threat", yadda, yadda, yadda.

Bullshit. This is not how real scenarios work and it has never been.

russia is a global threat right now, but the world can't decide between sucking its dick and politely asking it to stop because the mere thought of confronting russia makes it shit its pants. The very few countries who scream into the void, warning about russia and telling people to wake the fuck up are ignored and viewed as crazy doomsayers.

This is how real crisis looks like. Nobody works together against a threat because people are spineless cowards who would rather throw their neighbors under the bus than fight. Nobody learned anything from history lessons, books or survivors.

The only difference in a fantasy game is that NPCs end up having more spine and moral principles than real people.

But in Veilguard, everyone gets along because they have NO reasons not to.

Davrin has no real reasons to beef (if you can call it that) with Lucanis because he is a Grey Warden. He knows where Grey Wardens take their conscripts from. He knows that Grey Wardens regularly recruit mages who are a lot more likely to get possessed if they're not careful. Working with an assassin who knows friend from foe isn't the worst thing ever. One subtle warning about taking action if demon takes over is enough.

Taash has no reasons to antagonize Emmrich aside from horrible writing.

Neve gets along with Bellara because writers gave Bellara a happy childhood with her family and turned Dalish artifacts into Apple store gadgets, while refusing giving Neve any nuance as the citizen of Tevinter.

Emmrich gets along with everyone because he is generally a kind and well-mannered person who doesn't like to stir the pot.

Any companion who could have had a sharp edge, got that edge ripped off and a cartoon band-aid slapped on.

Never doesn't deal with people who don't know about Shadow Dragons (and they probably shouldn't know much because when you work against a powerful government who wants to destroy you, you shouldn't show off), so she constantly has to deal with the fact that people assume she is a noble or a slave-owner because she is from Tevinter; that they don't know that she had to literally fight against being enslaved herself because in Tevinter mages who refuse to use their power to dominate others are turned into slaves as well.

Bellara isn't conflicted about working with humans, especially Tevinter humans at all. She seems to never have dealt with oppression her whole life and she is super quick to write off Cyrian as evil even though there are clear SIGNS that he was tricked and controlled by the Forgotten One. But no, she never thinks "He is still there, I can save him, I won't lose him again", she goes straight to "Oh nooo my brother is dead to me".

Emmrich doesn't get burdened by people reacting to him and his sincere intention to help with fear, because of all the sinister rumors revolving around necromancers and Nevarra. He isn't hurt by people assuming that he loves death and things dying. If even he openly admitted that he is deeply terrified of death, they wouldn't have believed him.

Harding isn't burdened by the revelation she learned and what to do with it. Should she storm her way to the Orzammar? Should she talk to fellow surface dwarves and reconnect them with their history? Should she never breach the subject because the truth hurts and it's too much pain, too much anger to live with - and maybe she shouldn't let other dwarves go through it?

We don't even have a party divided on what to do with Solas (kill or talk it out)? Even though it's logical to have companions who are convinced that Solas has to die and those who think that he is misguided and can be convinced to stop.

Also, there are NO companions whose background, viewpoints and attitude would rile other companions up. We have no controversial characters whose interactions with the crew Rook would have been forced to intervene in unless they want their team to start throwing hands with each other.

We could have had Imshael - to give EVERYONE a reason to worry, and argue, and have conflicts. We could have had an ex-Venatori Calpernia bashing heads with Neve, Bellara, and Emrich. We could have had a Qunari spy who'd make Lucanis' dagger-arm itch.

If writers didn't forget about the Architect, we could have had an intelligent Darkspawn companion Davrin could be losing his shit around.

Or heck, we could have had a former red templar who got partially (magically?) reversed from their mad state and is now not a mindless beast, but still is on a borrowed time, probably needed due to their strength, but barely tolerated by anyone.

Who is fanatical, mostly because they have to believe they made a noble sacrifice, that it all was for the greater good -- because the truth scares them to their core. Who gives Lucanis shit for being an assassin and abomination, who bashes necromancy, and mages, and talks about purity, while downplaying their own actions as "Yes, these are my sins, but they are for the better world, and I would be proud to die for that world unlike you heathens who would rather ruin it than repent for your flaws". The kind of companion you'd initially want to do nothing with, but who can reveal an entire gallery of fucked up contradictions and trauma if you decide to keep them around.

However, writing such companions takes skill, courage, and requires absence of greedy corpo "we don't want to scare away new players with all that moral nuance" thinking.

[euniexenoblade]

I debated if I wanted to mock this post/screenshot for a couple hours and i decided I was just gonna go in line by line and dissect it

"being poly is a choice you make. not an identity you cannot change."

I disagree. I struggled with this through most of my teens and early twenties. The desire to be with multiple people was strong and the concept that I couldn't be with all of them was very confusing and hurtful not just to me, but the people I was with. Had I been taught what polyamory is younger and had known that monogamy is not actually the only way you're allowed to be, i'd have probably been able to stop struggling with this much sooner. Do I think this was as big of a mental struggle as being gay or trans? Nah. But it was certainly an issue that ate away at me.

As much as polyamory was a choice, so was me being trans was a choice. I would say both are inherent to who I am. Just because something isn't inherent to your identity, doesn't mean it isn't inherent to mine.

The second paragraph is a gross misinterpretation of what was said. I said abused poly people in relationships they cannot escape will likely cheat when they do find love. The same is true for monogamous people who cannot escape relationships. This happens all the fucking time. To women. To gay people. To trans people. To poly people. This is so utterly common it's an overused trope in story telling.

"OBVIOUSLY abusive situations aside"

The post was about abusive situations. You're already throwing away the core concept to the post.

"why are you staying with someone you are completely incompatible with"

This shows how this person has no value for relationships. Just because you realize you're poly doesn't mean your feelings for an individual disappears. You want to see if this relationship can still work, whether monogamous or polyamorous. Not to mention so many people would find themselves homeless or penniless by just leaving. There's no actual understanding of love and relationships and the heart here.

"you don't need to pursue any kind of relationship ever"

And gay people don't have to be in gay relationships. Trans people don't have to transition. Doesn't change the longing to experience what you want to experience.

"where exclusivity is agreed upon"

I know poly people who entered relationships under the premise the other person was poly, just for that person to decide "actually I'm monogamous, and I'll kill myself if you leave me." You have no understanding or empathy.

"wanting to be poly does not excuse cheating what is wrong with you people"

Look I agree cheating sucks and violates trust, but acting like it's the worst thing in the history of ever is just childish. I get it hurts but at the end of the day, you do not own another person's body and sometimes shit happens. I just do not care what other people do with their own bodies and you cannot make me believe I'm supposed to care. If my husband goes and fucks someone without my permission (which he commonly does) then that's rad. I hope he has fun. If my wife goes and fucks someone I don't know (which she regularly does) then fuck yeah I hope they both had fun. Y'all are too fucking uptight.

Also the tags

The "monogamous people are losers and shouldn't get a say in anything" was something I said in reply to a heckler on my 'monogamous people often abuse poly partners' post. To take it solely as 100% serious opinion is foolish and childish.

"I cheated cuz waaa"

I've never cheated on any partner. The post isn't even saying it's ok cheat, it's saying that poly people get branded as cheaters whether they do or don't. But I'll say it here just because it's so controversial that it pisses losers off: it's ok for polyamorous people to cheat on monogamous partners. Get out before they abuse you.

[citrus-blade]

'Quackity probably didn't even know!'

It's his server. If he actually doesn't know, then that's a problem. It's neglect of the people who play on and work for this server. This dude can't constantly say how proud he is of his project and then not be involved enough to know what is happening behind the scenes.

People weren't allowed to talk about Wilbur or Forever because it was seen as CONTROVERSIES. That is actively protecting abusers from being deplatformed! That's also not controversies; those are actual abusers who hurt people and shouldn't be swept under the rug!

When you want to start a project that is about connecting people from different communities and in different languages, you can't make your admins sign an NDA! You can't force them to not talk to each other when it comes to said projects and therefore stop them from knowing about events soon enough.

This isn't some school project where someone puts zero work into it and then takes all the praise for it. This is about people who try to make a living out of this, and paying them minimum wage is vile. They do so much work! And the admins on Twitter who look for clips and make edits, etc., don't even get paid AT ALL. One admin drew a commission and never got paid for it!

Also targeting certain Eggs where the streamer will have the most emotional reaction just for content is disgusting. It gives off emotional manipulation vibes. Some streamers were actually in distress because of this and all for content!

One admin was afraid to talk about the 🍉 genocide (don't wanna get this into the tag cause it's more important to use it to spread awareness) because they feared getting fired! Don't you see how fucked up this is?

I just can't believe that Quackity wasn't aware of ANY of this stuff. And again, if he was, that's just as problematic!

I really hope that all admins will start a strike to finally get the payment they deserve. I hope the CCs playing on this server aren't aware of any of this (but considering how some said how tiring they felt from the egg stuff only for one day later to praise it, I doubt they don't know at least a bit). I hope Quackity finally has the fucking balls to talk about this. Just ONCE he should open his mouth and address this.

And if y'all don't see it the same way, then I have lost all hope in humanity.

[dorianwolfforest]

So I was given this response by a dev about the AI thing who I have since blocked, primarily for what I'm about to talk about in this post.

I want to talk about your right to absolutely be critical, mean, negative and angry about star stable online if you want to, and why that in no way, shape, or form is "harassment".

There's this saying in bookworld, "no authors in review spaces, reviews are for readers". Its intention is to say that, no matter how much you as an author want to know how people are reacting to your book, you do not go chasing down reviews because they're not meant as a learning opportunity for you, they're meant to let others know more about your product. You do not watch videos reviewing your book. You do not read through your goodreads. You do not intentionally seek out the two or one star reviews. You are, however, encouraged to find a friend who can look through the reviews for you, find positive or constructive ones, and give them to you.

If you want to learn how to improve for your next book, you make use of the beta readers. You make use of the sensitivity readers. You make use of the editors. There is nothing a review can say that will help you, because the book the review belongs to has already been written.

In a similar vein, I do not believe developers should involve themselves in fandom spaces. Yes, I will be overjoyed at an Ismael tweet, because that is Ismael's own space. That's his world. That's his presence, he's allowed to exist online if he wants to and Ismael is still allowed to talk about SSO on his account like how authors are allowed to talk about their books, because he does not go chasing down sso neg about his own work, the server upkeep. I, as the "reviewer", do not go into his tweet replies and let him know how much I hate the most recent quests or how bad a horse breed is (much like how I, if I don't like a book, don't go on twitter and tag the author to tell them that their book sucks). I save that for my space, the reviewer space. SSOblr, in this instance.

In our own space, as reviewers, we are allowed to be critical and negative about the product we consume, because we understand that it's about the work, not the people behind it. In many instances, we don't even know who the person behind what we're critiquing is. There is also the assumption, the hope, that the person will never see it, because developers, like authors, shouldn't hunt down reviews of their work, and if they do find something that is critical, it should be a standard that they either ignore it, or read it but don't respond to it.

We've had a grown woman on this platform beef with and publicly call out a teenager for expressing the opinion that the quests she made weren't good, with the justification that the review was "hurtful". Plenty of reviews have the potential to be hurtful, it comes with the profession. That's why you don't read them. Even then, no one who expresses critical thoughts does so specifically to upset or hurt the person behind the work, far from it. That's why we stick to our tiny individual corners of the internet and don't chase you down to tell you our opinion.

Within Star Stable Entertainment, the friends an author might use to collect positive and constructive reviews are your support team (which, unfortunately, isn't all that great. Hooray for being told to overlook antisemitism) and social media accounts. All you need to know about how people react to you and your work should be filtered through them.

If the person who used AI art feels targeted and harassed, that is on them. We didn't know it was even one single person who did it, you as a company singled them out to us so that we'd stop blaming you as a whole. Furthermore we don't know who it is, we physically cannot harass them. Who do we tag? who do we send messages to in order to harass them? No one. They would need to go on SSOblr and look through the tag after a massive controversy caused by them, purposefully searching for outrage. That's not on us.

You are fully within your right to have public opinions about the content you consume, and if a developer oversteps the creator/reviewer boundary you are not the one who should be apologizing.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck Week 2024

Day 2 - Favorite Moment: C'est la Premiere

There are countless good moments in UU, so it was difficult to even figure out where to start with this prompt, but as someone in a polyamorous relationship, there isn't a single moment that I reacted to as strongly as the Rip x Mirah Sisters wedding

The fact that Jump allowed a major character to canonically hold a polyamorous wedding onscreen is simply astounding, and as I said in my review for that chapter, it's a perfect summation of UU's central theme of defying rules that inhibit happiness

Ideally, rules and laws would only be in place for the sake of protecting the populace and keeping the peace, but when a rule's only function is to limit freedoms for the sake of maintaining "tradition," then what good is it?

Marriage as an institution is a great example of how tradition, for whatever value it had when initially conceived, cannot be translated 1:1 to modern-day values and needs. Gay marriage, polyamorous marriage, even divorce are taboos that have been slowly but surely eroded over time, though in many places are still denied to those who need them

I do understand the legal headache that polyamorous divorce would pose to lawyers, but I don't think that's worth inhibiting peoples' freedoms and happiness. As long as you aren't hurting people and you're living happily, you should be able to do whatever you want

The wedding became highly controversial, unfortunately putting a bit of a sour taste in my mouth when thinking of it, but in a sense, that just goes to show how necessary this event is. We still haven't reached the point where people can marry who they want, denied by both law and society, but that can't and shouldn't stop people from doing what makes them happy

Whether Tozuka will let any other characters with multiple love interests be polyamorous remains to be seen, but even if he doesn't, he's made it clear that this form of love is valid, and nothing can take that away from us

[radinclus-not-radqueer]

If you used to identify as a "transnazi" due to OCD or intrusive thoughts, please know that your intrusive thoughts do not define you as a person and having OCD or intrusive thoughts does not make you a nazi, nor does it mean you secretly want to be one. You are wonderful and amazing and don't listen to radqueers when they tell you that intrusive thoughts are "secret desires" or who you "really are".

If you used to identify as a "transnazi" due to trauma, I'm so sorry that people weaponized your trauma against you. You are not your abusers or oppressors, and you are not going to become them. You didn't deserve your trauma, nor did you deserve to be convinced that your trauma makes you "secretly a nazi". You are amazing and strong for surviving discrimination and/or abuse, and you shouldn't let anyone tell you otherwise.

If you used to identify as a "transnazi" because you thought it'd make your oppressors stop hurting you, you are not a bad person for giving in to their demands. It can feel impossible to keep going when people are hurting you, and it feels so much easier to give in and join your oppressors just to escape the pain. It's okay that you gave in. It doesn't mean you're doomed to be a nazi forever, it just means that you made a mistake. You can always go back and change your ways, you are never doomed to be a horrible person forever.

If you used to identify as a "transnazi" because you wanted other people to like you, I completely understand you. It's so easy to get caught up in the radqueer cult and become convinced that identifying as "edgy" or "controversial" things is the only thing that will make people like you. Often, radqueers will try to convince vulnerable people that identifying as stuff like "transnazi" is cool when it really isn't. It's in no way your fault for falling victim to radqueers' lies. Regardless of whether you fully believed it was okay or if you only pretended to, you're not a bad person.

If you used to identify as a "transnazi" for any reason, you are loved and you are amazing. Whether it's from a combination of factors, whether you 100% supported it and believed it wasn't at all harmful, whether you knew it was wrong but pretended to support it anyways, your past does not define you, and you can always become a better person. Even if you supported "transitioning" or tried to "transition" yourself, you know now that what you supported was wrong, and you can always recover and be better. I (and the rest of the anti-radqueer community) love you and we're always here for you <3

[lupon]

I agree that Mike still hasn't had a realization moment, the moment he realizes will be the moment when the audience realizes at the same time imho, and tbh Mike's situation seems to be a parallel to Nancy's situation in the love triangle. Ofc the difference here is that Mike and Will have a mlm storyline, but the love triangle positioning is the same. Nancy thought he liked Steve and while she has some sort of an attraction towards him, she came to realize in S2 that she liked Jonathan instead. They are conditioned to be more compatible in terms of being in a relationship. And most 'Mike already knows he is gay/bi' readings stem from the S3 finale scene, but that moment seemed to be more about Mike being stunned and it inserting a *doubt* to the scene like you said, it's not about him realizing his sexuality or his feelings for Will. I feel like the way the writers are approaching this situation is making Mike and El's romance as a past thing (like Steve and Nancy's thing) and them portraying Mike and Will as a likelier and more compatible option (like Jonathan and Nancy). It seems like they're gonna give Mike a realization moment after El breaks up with him, and he'll have a moment similar to Nancy's in S2. And my controversial opinion here is that I think Mike will be easier to accept his sexuality and will be the one to act on his feelings easier, and that the writers won't portray him as secretly gay since I seriously do not think they're planning on completely discarding Mike and El's romantic relationship, but they're rather planning to make them incompitable and a past romance.

THISSSS 10000% agree. I don't think the "big bad" of Mike's story is internalized homophobia, I think it's change. I used to be a hard-core gay Mike truther, but now that just doesn't make sense to me anymore. Mike and El did love each other, but they just don't make a compatible couple. Their relationship problems aren't caused by Mike's awareness that he isn't in love with her, it's that they're just different people with different interests who want different things out of a relationship.

Same with S2 Nancy and Steve. Steve didn't realize that he was unintentionally hurting Nancy by trying to pretend they were normal or saying they shouldn't try and speak out about what the lab did to Barb. And Nancy thought she was in love with Steve, until she started hanging out Jonathan, who actually listened to her concerns, was able to understand how she felt, and aided her in getting the justice Barb deserved. I definitely think Byler is going to be a lot more like that.

I can totally see where people got the idea Mike's self-aware. But the more I'm looking at the scene, the more I think it's actually pointed a lot more toward showing how he's stuck in denial out of fear of things being different from what he's used to. "I've been stuck in one place" "If I'm being really honest, that's what scares me. I don't want thing to change" "That's why I came in here, to try and maybe stop that change" "Turn back the clock, make things go back to how they were" Him not being saying ily to El or kissing her back was a sign of him starting to doubt his feelings. Hopper's letter was honing in on the fact that he doesn't like the change he's feeling. He wants things to be normal. He's scared of what could happen to himself and his relationships if he accepts change.

I'm glad I'm finally finding some like-minded people out of this.

[from-my-gabriel-notebook]

A soft comfort

Word count: 3642

Content warning: panic attack, age regression (not sexual in any way, but due to high levels of fear)

Author's note: I know the topic of age regression can be controversial, but this fic is very close to my heart so please, be kind.

Sam and Dean were fighting again.

You shouldn't be surprised, really. You knew they cared about each other, and they showed it in multiple ways, but they were also incredibly quick to anger and blaming each other, years of untreated traumas and codependency certainty not doing them any favor beside telling them where to hit to hurt the most.

The fight had started in the drive back to the bunker from an especially challenging case, and the chance of going to their own room to calm down hadn't stopped them from keeping on their shouting match.

You were hovering, unsure if you were allowed to leave or if they would take it the wrong way. The shivers had already started, and you flinched every time one of them would wave their hands around. You kept running your hands on your arms and tights, fingernails pushing in maybe a little too much, but you needed to anchor you in the now.

And you were fine, really, you were, as long as they didn't drag you into it-

"And you? What do you think?"

Dean's voice, still loud and sharp, cut through your mind. You startled, looking frantically at Sam, but he was just as riled up as his brother, so no help would come from him.

"Wh-what?" you stuttered.

"Who do you think is right, me or Sam? Whose side you're on?"

Nope, you were not answering that. You didn't even know what they were fighting about, half hyper-vigilant and half dissociating, recognizing words and gestures just long enough to be able to tell if they were a danger to you before discarding them.

And even if you knew, picking a side never ended well.

"I'm - I don't think - I mean," you tried, but you couldn't find the right way to put it that wouldn't make it worse. Dean urged you on, not caring for your struggles, so you took a deep breath and tried again.

"I think this is an issue I shouldn't be involved in? I mean, this was mostly between the two of you, so my opinion really isn't that important?" you said, voice tilting in a question like you used to when you tried to be safe. Not that it ever worked, but you were still clinging to an old hope it would help.

No such luck, not then, and certainly not now.

Dean scoffed and turned towards Sam, animosity momentarily forgotten to have someone to complain about you with.

"Oh, they don't want to get involved.". He turned back towards you. "You never do, too concerned with being above us to step in. Do you even care about us?"

Do you even care about this family?

You froze, similar words running through your mind, and suddenly it wasn't Dean you were seeing, and another voice was screaming in your ears. So many similar situations, and how they ended, flashed through your mind, and you wanted to run, to hide, but your legs were locked in place, so you closed your eyes, hoping they'd forget about you if you stayed still enough.

Snapping, loud and sharp, right by your face, and then a hand shaking you, and something inside you snapped.

Your eyes shot open and you turned and run away from them, trusting your instinct not to crash into walls when your vision was blurred by tears.

You didn't know how long it had been (not enough to make them stop, to make it safe to take up space again) when a soft knock came from the other side of your door. It rang like thunder in your terrified quietness.

You curled up in a tighter ball in the corner, hoping that whoever it was would leave if they got no response.

Another knock sounded, then the door slowly opened, cutting a blade of light in the otherwise dark room.

"Cupcake, it's me. Can I come in?"

You wanted to be by yourself, but you also didn't. You wanted to be away from the danger, but you didn't want to be alone with the dark thoughts running in circle in your mind. People meant the risk of making them angry, but Gabriel was safe.

You were too conflicted to answer, so you let him enter the room and close the door behind him.

Darkness draped you again in its comforting embrace, and you were glad Gabriel didn't try to turn the lights on.

It was easier being ignored in the dark.

You heard him walk towards you, somehow avoiding tripping on all the mess littering your room.

He stopped in from of you - you thought, at least. Your head was still hidden against your legs, eyes pressed tightly shut.

You heard him sit down, far enough to leave you in your safe bubble but close enough to feel his presence.

A particularly loud, even if slightly muffled, sound came from outside and you flinched, hands covering your ears. You didn't want to hear them, you just wanted them to be quiet.

Something shifted in the air. You let go of your ears and realized with a jolt that no more voices came from outside anymore. You started to panic. What if they were coming to you, to scream at you for hiding? What if they left while they were still upset? You couldn't decide which option was worse.

"Hey, hey. It's okay, nothing happened. They're still arguing, I just thought you didn't need to hear them."

Gabriel's soft voice was a sharp contrast to the wheezing sound that bounced off the walls.

It took you a moment to realize that sound was your uneven breathing.

You tried to take deeper breaths, but it only seemed to make it worse.

Suddenly there was something taking your hand, trying to pry them from where you had them wrapped around your middle. You tried to resist, sure your lungs would burst if you didn't put pressure on them, but the force was firm yet kind. It didn't stop pulling until your hands were resting on something solid and warm. It was raising and falling. You could feel a strong heartbeat under your palms.

Gabriel's chest.

"Hey. I'm here, you're safe, focus on me. Breath with me."

You tried, you really did, but it was so difficult, like there wasn't enough air in the room. It took you so long to make even the smallest improvement.

He was there with you the whole time, encouraging you, never raising his voice or getting angry, not even when your breath would speed up again after almost calming down.

At one point a faint, warm glow started breaking through the dark. A shy golden light, seemingly coming from Gabriel himself. No, behind him. Around him? Then you realized: his wings.

They were beautiful, bringing you comfort just like the angel's presence always did for you.

You stared at them, mesmerized. They distracted you enough to stop worrying as much, and your breath was able to calm back to normal.

But the peace wasn't going to last.

As one storm passed, another was quick to manifest. Your fingers curled up in his shirt as your shoulders began shaking.

A loud, choken sob left your mouth. Your hands flew up to try and smother the ones you knew would follow.

He opened his arms, inviting you to go in his lap but still giving you the final choice.

You hesitated and glanced at the door. He noticed.

"Do you want me to leave?", he asked. Your eyes snapped to him again, afraid he was going to get angry at you for being rude, but he didn't look mad, only attentive.

You thought about it. You didn't want him to see you like this, when you were so weak, but being alone would be worse, and he was comforting.

You gave the tiniest shake of your head.

He smiled at you. "I'll stay then", he said.

He opened his arms again, and this time you inched closer. He offered one of his hands and intertwined your fingers when you placed yours in his, while the other went to gently wade through your hair.

The dam broke.

Your grip on his hand turned crushing as you pressed it against your chest and curled around it. Broken, ugly sobs tore from your lips, your shoulders shaking with the force of them. He never once shushed you, instead telling you sweet and encouraging words, his other hand never stopping its soothing motion.

After a time that felt so long the sobs died down, even if your breaths kept coming out in uneven, wet sounds. Your shoulders still shook, but you didn't know if it was for the sadness or for the cold.

When had it become so cold?

You had barely began to tremble that the glow from before came back. Gabriel's wings were around you, hugging you in a world of soft light and warmth.

You looked at them, then at him, and his smile was blinding even through your blurry eyes.

"Hi there. How are you feeling?" he asked.

The tiniest bit better, thanks to him, but you still couldn't find in yourself the strength to talk.

He seemed to understand the problem.

"Speaking is hard, isn't it?"

You tensed, waiting for the anger that was sure to follow, but he surprised you again by saying "It's okay. But there's a way, if you still want to comunicate. Can I...? I'll only hear what you want me to tell me, I promise. " he said, raising a hand near your temple.

It took you a moment to understand what he was asking. He wanted to permission to read your mind. You were unsure. Your mind was a mess, especially now, and you didn't want to burden him with it. And there were bad parts you wanted to keep hidden. But you trusted him, and he had always been so kind, so you nodded.

A tiny shock made you jump a little when his fingers touched you.

"Sorry. Let's see if it works. How are you feeling now?"

A little better. Thank you.

"No need to thank me, I'm happy I could help."

You looked away. I'm sorry.

He tilted his head. "What for?"

It's bad for people to see me like this.

He brought your hand to his lips, placing a kiss on the back of it.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of in being scared. "

It's if it's for something small. I'm big, I should have handled it. And you didn't have to-

"Nonsense," he stopped you, "When I said I would have been there for you, I meant it. For better or for worse, I just want to be by your side."

Overwhelmed, you threw your arms around his neck, holding tight and with fresh tears in your eyes. You couldn't understand how someone so... Him could care for someone as unimportant as you. Someone as weak and pathetic as you could never deserve his attention, and yet-

"What was that?"

You froze. You hadn't meant for him to catch that, but your thoughts, loud in a good day, where always the loudest when you were like this, especially these ones.

"Sugar, look at me."

You slowly let go of him, but you couldn't look him in the eyes, focusing instead on his wings.

He sighed but let it pass. "Where does that come from?" he asked instead.

It's nothing.

"It's not nothing if it makes you feel like that."

It's just something the adults used to say when they were angry.

He hummed. "Was that the only thing they'd say?"

You didn't want to answer that and think again of all the mean things they would more often scream rather than say to you, but you didn't want to have to keep pretending they were always nice.

"I guess it's not really important what they said, because they were wrong," he said, voice harsh enough to make you flinch. He immediately softened. "Sorry, that wasn't at you. It upsets me knowing you were treated so poorly. But really, whatever they said, you are not like that."

But they were right. I can't do anything properly, and I just... Can't. It's so hard.

"Cupcake, stop. Listen to me."

This time he took your face in his hands to make sure you did.

"You're not a failure, weak or any other bullshit anyone may have said about you. You are strong, even if you don't realize it. You are trying, and that alone takes so much strength and effort. You're doing everything you can to fight against your own mind, and that must be so draining. It's totally understandable if you don't have any energy left to do more. But know this: if you ever need something, anything, I'll always be here for you."

There was so much conviction in his words, such surety in his eyes, that you couldn't find any words to express just how much they meant to you.

Only when his thumbs brushed your cheeks you realized you had started crying again.

"I'm not so great at comforting you, am I? I made you cry again."

You shook your head, then hugged him tight.

"Thank you."

It was merely a whisper, but he heard you. He always would.

"Anytime."

Some time passed in safe silence.

"Can I ask you something?" Gabriel said, voice soft.

You leaned back, tilted your head at him and blinked yes.

"You're mind, it feels... Smaller. What's about that?"

You flinched and looked away, worried again despite yourself, and curled up more.

It's weird. You'll get mad.

"I won't. I just want to make sure you're okay. I pinky promise." he held up a hand, all but one finger closed.

You looked at him, at his hand, away, at him again. Slowly you raised your hand and linked fingers, moving to complete the gesture.

"Now that that's sealed, is it okay to share?"

It's just. When I get very upset or very scared or very sad, I - you moved your hands in front of you, made a ball and made it shrink. It's not a decision and I can't control it. It just happens.

"And they made you feel bad enough to trigger it?" he said, voice taking an edge of steel again.

You fliched and made to move away.

I knew it, you're mad.

"Not with you, never to you, and never for something like this. Only with those two mutt heads," he said, looking somewhere past you with hard eyes.

It wasn't their fault. Dean just said some bad words.

His expression turned soft again when he looked back at you.

"Look at you, still trying to be kind, even when they were mean to you." He saw you trying to move away and added " I won't stop you from moving, if that's what you want, but you're free to snuggle for as long as you want. "

He opened his arms and wings, making way for you to push away from him, if you wanted, but he didn't seemed mad, and he was soft, and he was comforting...

Without looking at him, you gripped his shirt and shook your head.

He chuckled and closed his wings again.

You stayed like that for a while, neither of you feeling the need to move.

Until your eyelids started getting heavy.

He let out a small chuckle and pushed you back a little.

"Why don't you go to sleep? You'll feel better once you wake up."

You shook your head, fingers holding tight on the lapels of his jacket.

"C'mon. I'll be right here, I won't leave you alone."

Even with that reassurance, you were reluctant to move. There was something you wanted to ask, but you were hesitant. It felt like it would be too much, especially with everything he had done already.

As usual, you didn't even had to ask.

"What about this," he started, "You go get ready to sleep while I take care of a little thing. Then we'll have a little sleepover until you fall asleep. I've heard I make a terrific plushie. What do you have to say about that?"

You looked at him, eyes wide. He didn't have to stay, why would he offer such a thing?

" I want to," he said with a shrug, like it was the most simple thing in the world.

You finally mustered up enough courage to ask what you had always wondered

But why?

Why was he always so kind to you, why he was always there without asking anything in return, why he chose to spend his time with you, why -

"Because I love you," he said, then "Totally platonically right now, because you're small, and minds that are small must not worry about this things" he specified, booping you on the nose, "but the love remains, as it always will."

Two simple sentences that had the power to freeze any thought you may had.

Of course you loved him too, even if right now your mind felt it in a different way, but even when you were big, you had never thought he could see you as you were and still feel the same, but the deep affection in his eyes left no room for doubts. You looked away under such intense emotions.

Same.

He chuckled at your reply, cradling your face between his hands to make you look at him and leaving a soft kiss on your forehead. From there warmth spread all over your body, reminding you just how tired you were.

He booped your nose again. "Off you go to get ready so we can go to sleep, okay?"

You nodded and moved from his lap to let him stand up. He stretched, joints popping with too much gusto, and you watched, captivated, as his wings mirrored his movements. Then he rolled his shoulders back and they were gone.

He offered a hand with wiggling fingers, and you took it gratefully. You expected to feel a little rigid, as it would normally be after spending so much time curled up in a ball on the floor, but you were actually feeling very nice. You looked at him, and he winked.

"What's the point of being close with an Archangel if you can't have some benefits?"

You smiled tentatively, still trying to wrap your mind around the fact that he considered you that important.

"Get ready. I'll be right back," he said, then vanished.

The room felt colder and darker without him, and you felt the need to curl up against a wall to shield yourself come up again, but you squared your shoulders and fought against it.

You changed into the cleanest pjs you could find and went into the bathroom to brush your teeth and wash your face.

When you got back into your room, changed and cleaned and refreshed, you felt a little bit better.

As promised, Gabriel was already lying on top of the covers of your bed. He had changed too, swapping his forever attire for a more comfortable and softer looking one. He was surfing through the channels of a TV that wasn't there before, looking for something appropriate to watch, the volume just low enough to be heard without being overwhelming.

He put down the remote when he saw you and patted the free space beside him.

You crawled under the covers until only your head was peeking out a proper distance away. A part of you noticed that your room used to have barely enough space to move around, it surely wasn't large enough for a TV and a bed big enough for two people to comfortably lay with room to spare.

He noticed your confused looking around.

"I renewed your room a little," he said, "I hope you don't mind."

You felt how soft the mattress under you was and shook your head.

It's okay. It's soft and comfy.

"Of course it is. Only the best for you."

Thank you.

"Don't mention it. Now, there is something you want to watch or are you ready to go to sleep?"

You thought of your favorite comfort movie of when you were small but like, actually small, and things were well, not the nicest but nicer, but you couldn't remember the name, so you just thought what you could remember of it at him.

"Wonderful choice. Now close your eyes and let it pull you into sleep."

You nodded and closed your eyes, a hand inching towards him until you could hold a fist of his shirt. It really was soft. Just a little reminder that he was there, that you weren't alone.

With your eyes closed you didn't see him fondly roll his eyes and reach out to you.

You jumped, eyes snapping open as you felt a gentle pull.

You looked up to Gabriel, and he smiled.

"Sorry for not warning you, but, as I told you, you can come closer and cuddle to your heart's content. I mentioned to you that I'm a great plushie, didn't I? It would be suspicious if I didn't let it test it for yourself."

You had been too shy to ask, but if he was offering, it must have been okay. So you snuggled closer, your hands trading his shirt for one of his hands and curling around it until you were a tiny ball by his side, and he didn't seem to mind having a blocked hand.

Exhausted from feeling all the big emotions of the day and lulled by the familiarity of the movie, it didn't take long before you started to feel heavy.

Just before you fell asleep you felt something soft and warm cover you, and you felt so safe and loved that a single tear escaped your eyes before finally entering the dream world.

[aahsokaatano]

Click this link to give OP engagement on Twitter, but for ease for Tumblr users and screenreaders, here's a copy/paste of the full thread

The full thread is also available for free on Spider's Patreon

Screenshot of a tweet with usernames blurred out that reads "Jesus Christ never introduced himself using pronouns" and the reply "John 18:6: "Jesus said 'I am he'"

Spider's thread is as follows:

So... here's the thing.

We're getting played, and we need to stop playing along. 1/

These people don't really think that Jesus didn't ever introduce himself with pronouns, or that "no one used pronouns twenty years ago." They don't.

They're counting on you to dunk on them to get your attention and the loan of your platform/algorithmic support. 2/

Dunking on them for the easily-provable statement that "Jesus didn't introduce himself using pronouns"? Doesn't do fuck all except amplify the person making the claim. You extend their reach in a way that doesn't hurt them in any way, bc they don't care if Jesus did or not. 3/

They're not actually arguing about pronouns, and we know that. I'd call it a dogwhistle, but it's a bullhorn, and all it's saying (in this case) is "I think trans people shouldn't exist, and I think Jesus thought that too." 4/

Dunking on someone about pronouns is playing right into what they want. You're giving them a platform, amplifying their voice, and allowing them to pretend the issue is really the part of speech and not that they think we're disgusting and shouldn't be allowed to exist. 5/

So what's the solution? Well, I don't think I have a perfect solution for every instance of this, but don't give them a bigger platform, for one. There's no reason for us, as individuals, to do anything that amplifies any more of this bullshit. It's all a grift. 6/

Deplatforming works - we have seen that time and time again - as does going after people's sponsors if they make money from the right-wing gift. (Really, that's part of deplatforming. Jones, Ngo, Milo... people went after &continue to go after their sponsors. 7/

This is a grift. It's about cash, not principles.) But more important, in my opinion? Don't respond to them as though the issue is the part of speech. It isn't. Start by saying "you don't actually believe that." Call the hate out for what it is. 8/

The other thing is that this is just ginned-up controversy meant to rile the base. They may hate us and think we shouldn't exist, but all the fear and noise isn't about their hate of trans people. We are merely convenient tools, a means to an end - power. 9/

The people in power are doing their best to distract us, as a whole, from the fact that the world is on fire and we've got multiple epidemics going on and they're not only not doing anything about it but they're actively refusing to do so in the name of profit. 10/

The very least we can do is not respond to their attempts to pretend that pronouns are the problem like it's genuinely what they think. 11/

The politicians pulling this whole schtick are not dumb, they're not illiterate, they're playing a fucking part in order to play you and everyone around you into raising their profile and letting them call their fellow bigots on the back of your sweet slam dunk. 12/

This "playing the stupid hick so the media dunks on every goofy thing you say" thing has been going on at least since GWB, who was educated at Harvard & Yale & self-describes as an avid reader & history buff, started bumbling around so he seemed more "relatable" than Gore. 13/

We need to stop doing their work for them. Call it what it is. Don't get played. 14/14

Stop dunking on bigots. They're counting on it.

[awed-frog]

The frustrating thing for me, when people use Dean's issues to point out WHY he handles emotional situations badly is that the sympathy isn't with the people that suffers because of it (like Cas). It's with Dean. An explanation for Dean's behaviour shouldn't become a justification. If Dean loves Cas but treats Cas badly, why should we root for this relationship? Him almost killing Cas is about CAS' suffering, not his. But his reaction is not about what Cas deserves, but about his wants. IMO etc.

I’ve been trying to come up with something clever about this ask for a few days, but I got nothing, so I’m just going to tell you what’s going through my mind in the clearest possible way.

1) The viewers will often have a favourite and defend them to the death, and if you find it frustrating, there’s not much you can do other than unfollow people or blacklist some tags. I understand where you come from - I also get annoyed when people justify everything’s a character’s ever done, even the most twisted and problematic things, just because they like him or her. To be honest, I think I stopped caring when I saw a discussion about how Tate Langdon was the perfect boyfriend - some part of my soul just shrivelled and died and I decided that yep, some people are batshit insane and most people get unreasonable around stuff they love, and what can you do about it? 

2) If you’re talking about the writers/creators of a show, on the other hand, I think it’s important to remember where is our POV and what kind of story those people are telling. Like, Supernatural is not House of Cards: whatever he does, Dean will be written as sympathetic, and since we see this world (mostly) from his POV, everything is reflected back on him. I know some people get angry about this - characters getting killed to make the Winchesters feel bad, or simply to advance the plot - but that’s how you tell a story (everybody does the same thing, and if you don’t see it, it means they’re doing their job right). Your main characters are the ones who matter, and the ones whose emotions we care about. So, even when it comes to someone as important to the story as Cas is, Dean will get most of the plot, and this is just how things work.

The next point might upset some people, so I’ll place it under a cut. Stay safe.

3) On placing sympathy on the abuser, rather than the victim - I think there are several reasons for this. One is that, traditionally, our stories in the West are about the conquerors and the victors, not those who have been defeated (when Euripides wrote a tragedy about the Trojan noblewomen being sold off as slaves after the war, people were not happy, and that play is still controversial today). At the same time, we all realize, because we’re not psychopaths, that violence is not nice, and that’s how you end up with this compromise narrative best summarized by Frankie Boyle.

Another aspect of this is that many victims are women (or people ‘outside’ a community, such as queer people or POC), and many abusers are men, and, again, traditionally we give less weight and importance to the feelings and wellbeing of women than we do to those of men. Combine that with the fact many storytellers (I use the term loosely) are men, and you get where we are today: a story about a woman being beaten by her husband is ‘boring’ and not something the audience will want to watch, but the story of a tortured man who can’t help but beat his wife because demons is ‘interesting’ and worth everyone’s attention.

Finally, I think there’s a combination of these two factors in play as well - we mostly want to see stories about people acting, not reacting; about people being brave and fighting and winning, because we generally identify with the main character and we want some sort of happy ending for them. And the problem is - a victim of violence who overcomes this violence - that can still be perceived as a bleak story, right, because abusers are often a solid part of the community (husbands and fathers in family dramas, soldiers and commanders in war movies), which means that this kind of stories are, in their very nature, unsettling and revolutionary, because what they’re telling you is that the community was wrong in trusting those people. It’s no wonder, really, that Francesco Rosi’s Uomini contro was threatened, sued, and had great trouble to find distribution in Italian cinemas: despite being a movie about a century old war, it sided - very clearly - with the soldiers who’d been brutalized by their own commanders, and while the situation was well-known and mostly accurate from a historical point of view, the backlash was still enormous. And this is the same reaction you get, not only towards fictional stories, but about real ones too. All those murder-suicides - ‘normal’ men killing their wives and children before shooting themselves - both the media and the public’s reaction is inevitably incredulity and a refusal to dig deeper. We want to believe our societies are healthy and we want to believe that men (unlike women, those fickle and untrustworthy creatures) are mostly right about everything, and this is what we get as a result. We’re so good at ignoring violence it sometimes comes back to haunt us (is it just me or all the latest US shooters had priors of domestic violence?). So, you see - a man coming to terms with his own anger and becoming a better person, that’s an inspiring story we’re all okay with; but a woman standing up to her husband, that’s a bit different. There’s a seed of revolt there, a sort of If she did it, why can’t I? that we really don’t want people to see.

(In case it’s not clear, I’m violently against all of this. I’m sick of this kind of stories, and I do think that we need some waking up and some revolution in our communities.)

4) You say an explanation shouldn’t mean a justification, and I totally agree, but I also think it’s hard to do this right, both IRL and in fiction, because the more you know about someone, the more you empathize with them, which means any villain can become redeemable with the right background story - just ask Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. As for Dean and Cas, I don’t think Dean ever justified his own behaviour; in fact, he even atoned for it, in his own Dean way, when he allowed a crazed Cas to beat him up and insisted in keeping the bruises. It wasn’t perfect, but, then again, neither is Dean.

5) Why should we root for this relationship if Dean treats Cas badly - does Dean really treat Cas badly? I don’t think so. Dean is a MESS, all capitals. He tries his best, and I really feel for him, but the truth is, he doesn’t know how to do this. As far as we know, he didn’t have any friends or significant relationships growing up, and by the beginning of the series, the only person he seems to connect to in any healthy way is Bobby. Honestly - it takes years for Dean, who grew up as a soldier and a conman and a loner and never had a right to his own childhood and a life that wasn’t taking care of his brother and helping out his father, to get better at this. And, sure, the relationship with Cas is no different - at the beginning, Dean is confrontational, a sarcastic little shit, occasionally cons Cas into having his way - but the magic of what happens between them is that pretty soon, all of Dean’s traditional walls and posturing take a step back. What’s really special here is that Dean is honest with Cas in a way he isn’t with anyone else, and despite the fact he loves Cas so fiercely, he mostly tries to respect his decisions, and is never harsh with him if not in very extreme circumstances. Personally, the one moment between them I truly hated was Dean’s Nobody cares that you’re broken, because, OUCH - looking back, I can see that this was Dean channelling John, but still - it was an incredibly dickish thing to say (and it must have haunted Dean in Purgatory, especially since, as far as he knew, Cas had died - because of him). As for the rest of it - I doubt we’ll ever have fluffy lines between them, but that doesn’t mean they’re not incredibly soft with each other. I don’t know if you were referring specifically to S12E19, but Dean pushing Cas against a wall in anger - that’s not abuse. He knows he can’t hurt Cas (physically) unless he really tries, so that scene was about Dean needing to put his hands on Cas, to feel him, to make sure he was there and he was okay; and also a harmless way to let his frustration out, to say what he doesn’t know how to put into words (that he cares, that is, and that he doesn’t need Cas to bring him back any win, the dumbass, because that’s not what actually matters). And maybe that reaction doesn’t seem soft to you, but this is Dean Winchester, right, the killer even demons are afraid of and the guy who basically doesn’t trust anyone - Cas just spent weeks MIA, never bothered to call, didn’t tell them he had a line on Kelly, stole the Colt form Dean knowing full well how much that weapon meant to him, collaborated with Heaven without telling him one word about it - and, on the whole, Dean’s not even angry. He’s worried, and he’s frustrated (with Cas; with himself), but he understands why Cas did what he did, and that makes all the difference. 

“Dude, if anybody else - I mean anybody - pulled that kind of crap, I would stab them in their neck on principle. Why should I give him a free pass?”

“Because it’s Cas.”

You know - I always felt that for Dean, who’s always been coded as the ‘female’ character both with Sam and with Cas, the Mark of Cain was the ultimate undoing precisely because it took from him all those ‘feminine’ traits which are such a profound part of who he is. The fact that it all culminated in him beating the hell out of Cas, in a reversal of their traditional ‘fights’ (I’m inverted commaing this because most of those happened under some sort of mind control, so they weren’t really fights), was, in a way, a complete assertion of his new role of Alpha Male - while Cas had stepped back into a more traditional ‘feminine’ role the whole season. In this sense, I understand that the narrative focused way more heavily on Dean, because he was the one acting out of character and doing ‘weird’ things - but ideally, yes, I would have wanted to know what that beating meant for Cas, what he was thinking as he healed himself, and everything else. So, yeah - it’s a mess, and it’s not a traditional love story, perhaps, but I still think they’re right for each other and they do make each other happy, so personally, I’m rooting for them. There are tons of abusive relationships on TV that are passed off as normal, even romantic, but this isn’t one of them.

[vaspider]

So... here's the thing. And before I start, this isn't aimed at this one person or this one post: this is commentary on this trend in general.

These people don't really think that Jesus didn't ever introduce himself with pronouns, or that "no one used pronouns twenty years ago," and dunking on them for the patently untrue and easily-provable statement that "Jesus didn't introduce himself... " using the grammatical class of word 'pronoun'? It doesn't do fuck all except amplify the person making that claim. You extend their reach in a way that doesn't hurt them in any way, because they know that Jesus used that grammatical function.

They're not actually arguing about pronouns, and we know that. I'd call it a dogwhistle, but it's a bullhorn, and all it's saying (in this case) is "I think trans people shouldn't exist, and I think Jesus thought that too."

Dunking on someone about pronouns is playing right into what they want. You're giving them a platform, amplifying their voice, and allowing them to pretend the issue is really the part of speech and not that they think we're disgusting and shouldn't be allowed to exist.

So what's the solution? Well, I don't think I have a perfect solution for every instance of this, but don't give them a bigger platform, for one. There's no reason for us, as individuals, to do anything that amplifies any more of this bullshit. Deplatforming works - we have seen that time and time again - as does going after people's sponsors if they make money from the right-wing gift. (Really, that's part of deplatforming. Alex Jones, Andy Ngo, Milo... people went after and continue to go after their sponsors. A grift only works if it's making you money.)

But more important, in my opinion? Don't respond to them as though the issue is the part of speech. It isn't. Start by saying "you don't actually believe that." Call the hate out for what it is.

The other thing is that this is just ginned-up controversy meant to rile the base. They may hate us and think we shouldn't exist, but all the fear and noise isn't about their hate of trans people. We are merely convenient tools.

The people in power are doing their best to distract us, as a whole, from the fact that the world is on fire and we've got multiple epidemics going on and they're not only not doing anything about it but they're actively refusing to do so in the name of profit. The very least we can do is not respond to their attempts to pretend that pronouns are the problem like it's genuinely what they think. The politicians pulling this whole schtick are not dumb, they're not illiterate, they're playing a fucking part in order to play you and everyone around you into raising their profile with a sweet slam dunk. This "playing the stupid hick so the media dunks on every goofy thing you say" thing has been going on at least since GWB, who was educated at Harvard and Yale and self-describes as an avid reader and history buff, started bumbling around so he seemed more "relatable" than Gore.

We need to stop doing their work for them. Call it what it is. Don't get played.

I hope she never lives this down!!!

[crossdressingdeath]

At the end of the day the tragedy and hardship in the backstories of the vast majority of the cast as well as the tragedy and hardship that befalls the cast over the course of White Clouds can largely be brought back to either Edelgard directly or her allies. And by Edelgard's own reasoning things done by the allies of a person are that person's fault and the victims of those acts can seek vengeance against a person or group for things that said person or group had no part in if their allies did, whether that person or group knew about it or not. That... kiiiiiinda means she is to blame for all of it, no matter how often she tries to pass that blame onto others.

Any attempt to justify Edelgard's actions goes both ways, is the thing that the writers and a lot of Edelgard's fans seem to forget. If Edelgard is innocent in what happened to Remire and to Jeralt because she "doesn't condone" Those Who Slither's actions, then Rhea is innocent in what happened to Edelgard! Conversely if Edelgard shouldn't be held personally accountable for Byleth's father being murdered in front of them by her allies (which is clearly her opinion on the matter), then she has less than no right to invade the Kingdom and Alliance or try to destroy the Church because of what Those Who Slither and the Adrestian nobility did to her. Her reasoning for what she's doing (or at least the excuse she provides most often) is literally that a vague, distant connection to the people who wronged her is enough justification for her to do whatever she wants to the Church, and Those Who Slither are the Church's enemies! Her then turning around and saying her hands are clean of the blood Those Who Slither have spilled as her allies working to achieve her ends along with their own because she doesn't like it (but isn't going to do anything to stop it so long as it benefits her) is blatant hypocrisy at its absolute worst. Hell, it's not even her real (or at least only) motivation; isn't there a bit in that little "I'm going to take over the world" speech where she explicitly justifies taking the Kingdom and Alliance by force with the fact that they belonged to the Empire 200 years ago? And sure, she talks about making a "better world", but I see no solid plan for what it'll be; it seems kind of pointed that for all she talks about getting by on merit and Crests being a bad way to measure worth the Black Eagles have only one non-noble student. Sure, Edelgard doesn't control that, but the writers sure as hell do. Sounds to me like the implication there is that the Adrestian Empire under Edelgard is likely to go from Crest-based to a more standard nobility-based system.

I mean... empires are bad. This should not be a controversial statement. Empires are a really, really bad thing. Edelgard wants to control all the territory in Fodlan largely because she's mad that she doesn't. There is zero moral justification for this that doesn't come off as petty and grasping at best! For all her big talk about the Church being evil for not magically preventing what the Adrestian nobility and Edelgard's own allies did to Edelgard (while also saying that the Church has no right to have as much power and control over Fodlan as it does, which would seem to be directly opposed to "why did they let the nobility of a sovereign state that I belong to hurt me and not interfere in the running of the country to stop it" but whatever, no one here is claiming that Edelgard's arguments follow any rule of logic), at the end of the day Edelgard's goals are 1. usurp the land and power of two sovereign nations who do not want her there and 2. commit genocide against the Nabateans basically just because they're not human. Those are not sympathetic aims! Hell, I'll go one step further: those are villainous aims! They fit right up there with the goals of pretty much any previous Fire Emblem villain! Hell, most of them were if anything better than her, because most of them did not want to wipe out an entire species based on what THEIR OWN ALLIES DID.

Every time I try to work through the justification we're given for Edelgard's actions, I'm just brought up short by the utter hypocrisy of it all. There isn't a single excuse she gives for why what she's doing is okay that both holds up to scrutiny (I really don't think I need to go into detail on why "Well that land belonged to my ancestors 200 years ago and I want it back" fails that one) and can't also be used against her. Hell, she tries to justify her involvement with Those Who Slither, the group explicitly 100% responsible for what was done to her, by basically saying "Well I don't like what they're doing, but I need them" when she needs them... in order to wipe out the Church... in revenge for what was done to Edelgard as a child... which was done by Those Who Slither. In other words she needs the torturing, murdering group of absolute monsters so that she can successfully scapegoat the Church for the actions of... said torturing, murdering group of absolute monsters. Explain to me how this is sympathetic reasoning for not attacking them immediately. It feels very pointed to me that Crimson Flower is in the half of routes where Those Who Slither are not dealt with on-screen, and that in the half where they are dealt with it's due to a letter from Hubert pointing the victors towards them with no evidence that Edelgard even knew he wrote it. Like, the most sympathetic reasoning Edelgard can offer is "I don't like letting my allies torture people for little to no gain and with no intention of stopping them until I've got everything I want handed to me on a silver platter, but I need them so I can take my revenge on other people for said allies' actions". Sure, the game pretties it up and makes it all tragic with, let's be honest here, some really good work in the writing department. Can I sympathize with the pain Edelgard has been through? Of course! But the fact that "I was hurt so now I'm using the people who hurt me to hurt others" is the absolute best reasoning she can offer, and that that's treated as sufficient by the narrative, just makes it all the more obvious that Edelgard isn't in the right. She doesn't have the moral high ground, or even a leg to stand on morally speaking. She's wrong to blame the Church, and she has no right to take that blame out on everyone in Fodlan for daring to say that she can't have their land, but the route isn't written like it's the villain route; it's written like we're supposed to genuinely side with her. For contrast, when Dimitri does shitty things the narrative makes it clear that they were shitty and he shouldn't have done those things, and once he begins to recover he deeply regrets what he did. And what he does is... what, kill a few people? I mean, sure he should've tried other options and I don't agree with how murder-happy he is for a while, but if we're talking unnecessary, violent deaths I'm pretty sure plunging the entire continent into war caused just a few more of those than Dimitri's spear did. Edelgard isn't magically innocent just because she didn't wield the sword herself.

Meanwhile all the other routes end just as happily for Fodlan as Crimson Flower without the house leaders spending all of the first act committing and condoning various atrocities (I don't care how many times Edelgard claims she doesn't condone what Those Who Slither are doing, the fact that she continues working with them without hesitation and makes zero attempt to stop them until she has what she wants means she does); hell, I'd argue they end better, since a peace created by subjugating everyone who disagrees with you is inherently tenuous at best. Sure, the epilogue is written all happy, but how long do you think it'll be before the Alliance, the Kingdom, Brigid, all those places trapped under the Empire's boot or menaced by its power get sick of it and rise up? Meanwhile if one of the other houses wins their power is gained at least partially peacefully; I'm not saying their victories are guaranteed to be peaceful, but they definitely have a better chance at stability and/or a peaceful separation than the warmongering empire that subjugates every other country on the continent for daring to say no. And it feels pointed that both Dimitri and Claude have to either die or straight up abandon Fodlan for Edelgard to create any sort of peace. In Azure Moon it's made pretty clear that Dimitri and Claude could work together for peace in Fodlan; Claude chooses to leave and give the Alliance over to the Kingdom, but that was not necessary (in-universe; out of universe the setup for the victories of each house require all the other potential rulers out of the way) the way it's necessary for the other lords to be out of the picture for Edelgard to triumph.

Although I will admit, I do take a certain joy in the knowledge that for all Edelgard's talk of creating a better Adrestian Empire three out of four routes end with the Empire gone completely, apparently forever, as a direct result of her warmongering. Should've left well enough alone, Edel!

One of the major problems with Three Houses is that sometimes it tries to make you feel bad for poor Edelgard and how alone she is (now that I've stolen her entire house out from under her, anyway) and how much she hates what she "has" to do. I don't feel bad for her, game! This is entirely her own doing! If she didn't want to have to fight her school friends she shouldn't have declared war on her school friends! No one is making her try to subjugate the entire bloody continent, that was entirely her own decision!

The typical Fire Emblem lord discussion of the horrors of war and how terrible it is to have to fight and kill rings just a little hollow when the lord in question declared war on the rest of the continent without provocation and with the aid of the people ACTUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EVENTS SHE'S USING TO JUSTIFY HER INVASION, is all I'm saying. Also, the Black Eagles seem a lot more comfortable with the side they chose in Silver Snow than they did in Crimson Flower. They're still not happy about it, but I don't get the same sense of conflicting emotions that I did in Crimson Flower; same with all the other houses' units, who while conflicted about leaving their homelands at least didn't actively betray them. Basically no one seems happy with how things are going in Crimson Flower (on a much more... moral (for lack of a better word) level than how they're unhappy in the other routes, which is more "we're having to fight people we went to school with" than "oh fuck I think we might be the bad guys"). In Crimson Flower everyone seems miserable with their choices the whole way through. Except maybe Hubert. And I feel bad for all of them! They all had to make the difficult choice between their loyalty to Byleth/Edelgard (mostly Byleth I'd say given they turn on Edelgard the moment Byleth does in Silver Snow) and their loyalty to their classmates/families/the Church/the general concept of peace in Fodlan with zero warning (because Edelgard and Hubert didn't bother to warn any of the people whose support they were planning on what they were doing)! But I don't feel bad for Edelgard, and that's the main failing of Crimson Flower for me; a lot of the impact of the routes is tied to how you feel about the main lords! When they talk about how awful it is having to fight their friends and former classmates it matters that you feel for them and connect with that struggle! And with Dimitri and Claude (and Seteth, who so far seems to be taking on the lord position in Silver Snow, although I'm not very far in so I don't know if that changes) I do, but every time Edelgard starts going on about how hard it is having to fight her "friends" and how she wishes it wasn't necessary, she doesn't mean she wishes this war had never started; she means she wishes they would just hand their land over to her without a fight. She wishes she didn't have to fight to steal their land from them with no justification. When she talks about how bad she feels all I can think is that this whole situation and the misery of all the other units across all four routes is all her damned fault. And that makes it just a little hard to feel bad for her when she's sad, or when she dies in every route but her own. I hate Dimitri dying on the other routes, because I care about him and want him to be happy and you only get that on his own route! I wish I could convince Claude to stay and help me make Fodlan better in Azure Moon! Even when I'm fighting them in Crimson Flower they don't feel like enemies! (Also it still makes no sense that they fight each other but that's not the point.) But I damn near cheer when Edelgard goes down. I get the same joy I get defeating Grima in Awakening (still my favourite FE, not gonna lie). She's the antagonist, she's the problem, she is the biggest thing standing between Fodlan and the peace that already existed before she decided she wanted the Empire to control everything. Basically she feels more like Walhart than Chrom, and that... makes it really hard to want her to win even on her own route.

Honestly? The only reason I'll ever play Crimson Flower again is if I decide to do a M!Byleth run to get all the route-exclusive supports as a dude, because I don't like feeling like the bad guy. And subjugating an entire continent by force because one woman decided she, with the aid of the group largely responsible for her suffering, should be put in control of everything, with the major support of the people responsible for all the experiments she went through? That feels pretty fucking bad to me.