#we have learned time and time again that they'd do anything to justify the killing of people

[astraystayyh]

I've been debating how to breach this topic for the past days, but there is no easy or practical way to bring it up. There is an ongoing genocide in Gaza- the world's largest open air prison, as described by U.N. officials and activists. Nearly 2500 Palestinians have been killed in the course of past few days, including women and nearly 700 children. 700. Israel urged Palestinians to leave the Gaza stripe (even though they have nowhere to go to) only to bomb their "safe" exit routes. Entire civilian neighborhoods and hospitals are being targeted by Israel, and they are threatening to cut off the water and electricity in Gaza as well, turning the few running hospitals left to cemeteries.

Palestinians children are writing their names on their palms so people would recognize them, in case they end up being killed by Israel forces. Palestinians are writing their goodbye messages on social media because they aren't sure they'd still be alive tomorrow. There is so much atrocity going on, so many war crimes that the west have deemed reasonable because those are Palestinian lives that are taken, because Palestinians lives aren't as important as western ones, because international law doesn't apply when it comes to Palestinians.

it is unsettling and uncomfortable to watch these images of war, of beheaded children being carried by fellow civilians, of ambulance drivers falling to the ground from the horror of that they've witnessed, of cries of babies who are suddenly orphans, who have never known anything but violence and murder. But this is the reality of Palestinians, as it has been for the past decades. Please, I urge you, educate yourself on the ongoing conflict. There is no hard choice, there are no nuances that you need to take into consideration, there are no 'buts'. There is a colonization, an ethnical cleansing, a genocide, and Palestinians aren't the instigators of it. They are the ones paying the price.

Standing up for Palestine doesn't mean you are anti-jew, the proof is there are a lot of Jewish people standing with the Palestine cause, because they recognize the atrocities committed by the Israeli government. There were no "40 beheaded babies" by Hamas, this was a false information, consciously perpetuated by Israel then the USA so they'd be able to attack Palestine with a "reasonable" motive, only backtracking on it when the damage was already done. There aren't two sides. There is only one true side and it's Palestine.

+ u just have to click this link and the revenue generated by traction in this website will be donated to Palestine! it's only one click per day please do it

[roachliquid]

Man. It really bites seeing Maximus (from the Fallout series) be so heavily overlooked by the fandom, when he is such a well-written character. Bar none, he's one of the best fictional examples I have ever seen of someone raised in a high-control group.

The Brotherhood of Steel, in their entirety, are given all the classic traits of a cult or HCG. They boast about having these grandiose ideals, all of which revolve around controlling other people's behavior. They use those same ideals to justify abusing lower-ranking members, implying all the while that it serves some greater good. And despite their supposedly rigorous beliefs, they're happy to turn a blind eye to unsanctioned abuse - because it serves the same purpose of keeping people "in their place".

Then we're introduced to Maximus - a young man who has made the mistake of taking those ideals seriously, but due to the environment he's been trapped in, was never taught how to act on them in a real and meaningful way. And in the process of figuring that out, he fucks up. (He fucks up a lot, because the Brotherhood wouldn't dare teach him anything that might help him function without their support.) But he genuinely wants to do the right thing, and we see that come through time and again as he slowly learns how to be his own person.

And yet, even with all that growth under his belt, getting away from the group isn't that simple. Because, like any high control group worth its salt, the Brotherhood doesn't want you to leave. Sure, they'll threaten to kick you out (or in this case, kill you) - because it keeps you in line. But they'd much rather have you under their thumb, so he still has to deal with the threat of getting sucked back in.

As a cult survivor, I rarely see people like me depicted accurately in the media. We're almost always either scheming sadists or helpless barefoot victims - you rarely see a nuanced depiction of how a regular person, with both good intentions and the skills needed to get away, can still end up trapped in that kind of group. Maximus is an incredible example of how that can play out, and I hope more people come to appreciate both him as a character and how well that dynamic was handled.

[third-doctor]

Where's that post about dehumanization is the weapon of the enemy, we will not use it?

We don't dehumanize anyone. Anyone. No, not even those people. Anyone.

There were members of the Nazi party who came home from the day to a wife and children they loved. There are white supremacists and Nazis today who love their pets and sing bad pop songs in the shower and enjoy getting together and laughing with their friends. All of them are people and that is the scariest part. By dehumanizing them, saying that they're all inhuman monsters, we separate ourselves and the people we know from them. I can't hold anything like these beliefs, I'm a good person. I'm not like those people. My friend Paul couldn't possibly be involved in this, he's just a regular dorky dude. To paint everyone with racist, white supremacist beliefs as an inhuman Other who doesn't even count as a person is to deny our own ability to do harm and participate in these systems and beliefs.

Besides that, if someone is a monster and not even a person, then you can do whatever you want to them. Whatever atrocities you want to commit are justified. They deserve to die slowly and painfully. They deserve to be tortured. They deserve to be guillotined in the street for all to see. They weren't one of us. They hurt us, so we deserve to hurt them in return. I've seen this play out a hundred times. One group hurts another. The other group hurts them in the same way. So they hurt them again. And then the cycle just continues. The solution is never to put the boot on someone else's neck. It's to remove the boot entirely. Nobody deserves to suffer.

Also, a lot of social justice culture has a very black and white, no nuance mentality. You're a good person or you're Problematic and you deserve everything coming to you. And heaven help you if you make a mistake.

You are one mistake, one wrongly-worded comment, one bad faith reading, one twisted game of telephone and rumors, into being labeled as a racist or a white supremacist. Because when those labels make someone something Other and evil who deserves to be killed then people will find an excuse to say that anyone they don't like is these things. Anyone even associated with them is these things. We can't justify atrocities and say that they're deserved. The people who are affected by that are never going to just be the actual assholes trying to hurt and kill and oppress people. There's always going to be innocents mistakenly labeled as them.

Anyone can change and grow and learn from their mistakes. Anyone can choose to become better. We should encourage people to become better, not shove people into the Other box. Yes, even those people. You know who else that mindset hurts? Kids who grew up in those environments. People who never had a chance to question the things they'd learned. People who are coming out of those environments and trying to unlearn things but who aren't immediately perfect. We have to give people the space to learn and grow and it is never too late to do so.

To be clear, I'm not saying lay down and take whatever shit's thrown at you. Fight back. Fight to stay alive and make the world better and support the people around you. Fight the people in power and fight to change the system. But we don't take it any further.

Anyone can change. Anyone can become better. Nobody deserves to suffer.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Damn, with your track record of unpopular opinions and hot takes, I was sort of hoping you'd be TG. Ah well lol. Have you seen the S2 trailer?

I'm not really anything.

I've certainly made a number of posts supporting Team Liquorice over Team Broccoli (I prefer to use those names as I am uncomfortable calling any faction that House Velaryon associates with "The Blacks.") and I stand by pretty much everything I said in them, but if you want to see some Pro-Broccoli posts, I can make those too. I know it's cliche to call myself "Team Smallfolk" but I really am first and foremost on their side. I've always said that this war did not need to happen and it was within the Highborns' power to stop it, to prevent the common people from having to go through The Dance. All that needed to happen was for someone to concede. That's it. Literally all it would have taken, and to her credit, Rhaenyra considers doing this.

Team Broccoli have it tricky, because the show is framed around Rhaenyra, it centralizes her as the protagonist. It puts Alicent and her faction in the role of antagonists of Rhaenyra's story. Additionally...it' would be difficult to identify as a Green, because right out of the gate, you'd have to defend yourself and clarify that of course you're NOT a misogynist. The Broccoli faction is heavily associated with misogyny as they are trying to prevent a woman from taking the throne. Naturally, this doesn't mean that people who support Aegon over Rhaenyra are sexist - and if you're one of the people saying that...um, stop it. They are fictional characters in a fictional war. We really shouldn't be taking it that seriously, and it's disingenuous to act like misogyny is the only reason a fan might choose Aegon. Even the Hightowers don't really care that Rhaenyra is a woman. That's the basis they're using to seize the throne, but that's nothing more than a means to an end. If Rhaenyra were a man, they'd still want to seat Aegon, they'd just have to think of something else to justify it.

I have seen the trailers, and I love just about everything about them. I especially love how they gave us one for each team, that is genius. The only thing I don't love is how we're already getting a reduced count of episodes, from ten to eight. Particularly since this show is apparently only going to be four seasons or so, this hurts. Like, did you guys learn nothing from the last two seasons of Game of Thrones? All the negative reception they got for how rushed they felt? Even if they wanted to say, push certain battles back to Season 3 for the sake of budget, they could have stretched things out a little more, given the episodes, characters, and plots time to breathe. I don't know, it also just depends on how much content is available to be adapted.

Hey, here's a nice thing I can say about Team Broccoli. Your trailer slaps. Team Liquorice's trailer is just kind of average. Then again, the main reason the green trailer is better is because of the Aegon content. He's everywhere in this trailer and he is killing it, so I really hope this is a sign that they'll make him more important. Also, he now has the funniest line in the entire show so far. "To war then!" Like. Oh god. You absolute idiot, you slay me. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra's trailer is...fine. There's nothing wrong with it. I'm just glad they fixed Jace's hair. (And ruined Criston's, it's a tradeoff.) I love everything to do with Alicent and Rhaenys in these trailers, they really are setting up to be the voices of reason. How bout that scene of Alicent in the dress she wore back in episode one? I'm thinking dream sequence, because why would she still have that dress after all this time? There's also poor Helaena with a knife to her throat. That kills me, because I've read the books and I know what scene that is...

[kellterntempest]

OKAY *breaks down door* Time for my sad Boom!Stobotnik au thoughts!!!!!!

@inkbats-writing 's tag killed me in best way and inspired me

Stone is the one who filed the divorce.  

He believed everything they built together was broken, that he felt broken. (Hello internalized ableism) He thought he'd become just like another of Eggman's malfunctioning projects that the Doctor needed to fix. Stone tried to carry on like nothing happened, but Eggman refused to let it go.

"We can't just go back to normal villainy again! You almost died, just look at what's happened to you! You're acting like nothing happened!"

Nearly losing the love of his life had changed something in Eggman and he reacted in extremes. 

Out of guilt, and fear, Eggman forced Stone out a huge part of his life - swearing up and down it was because he was protecting him and also, that he was the supervillain husband and he always knew best. but the trust in each other was crumbling.

Stone kept refusing Eggman's helicopter caretaking, feeling lower than he'd ever felt in his life. Feeling rejected, useless and distrusted. He couldn't sleep, barely eating, and his recovery was hell. 

Pain, jealousy, bitterness, and resentment all winding up in both of them. 

Eventually at one point, Eggman's feelings of self righteous resentment finally slip through. "It wouldn't BE so difficult if you weren't dragging me down so much! After all I'm trying to do for you, you just don't seem to appreciate any of it! It's just mope 24/7 with you!!"

"Me? I don't appreciate you? You've got it the wrong way around!"

Throwing words that cut, out of pain and frustration. Needing to feel seen and heard, without either really thinking about the damage hurled.

"What was I thinking – I should never have given you a part in my plans. You should have stayed where you were, as my accountant!"

"Do you really think you can win anything without me? Without my designs? My ideas? Where would you be without me?"

"You arrogant prick! You think that lowly of me, all this time? I'm the brains, I'm the brawn, I don't need you to be a big bad supervillain!"

Silence. Then, "Sometimes I wish I never met you."

After days upon days of this spiraling and endless fighting, Stone called his lawyer. He decided to leave. They'd be better off apart, he didn't want to hear any more of what Eggman had to say, didn't want to hear apologies, or promises to fix things. He'd take his chances alone. He thought he would finish recovering on his own and be rid of it all. No more powerlessness, no more pain, no more feeling small and smothered. He thought for sure that Eggman didn't want him anymore, not in this state. 

And after the long, arduous and stressful divorce proceedings happening over months and months time, they finally both signed the documents….

And Stone regretted it instantly. Every day, he wished his old life back – he wanted his body back and their relationship back too.

But there was no going back. He had to learn to live with and accept his present life, what he lost, and his injury that would never heal.

And it was a brutal riot. Stone, a usually quiet, polite and composed man, went off the rails like a complete wrecking ball to cope. One can only bury feelings underneath for so long before they explode.

Meaningless destruction, senseless arson, sabotage, all sorts of skullduggery to get back at Eggman.

It's just what supervillains do. 

Stone dove back into the world of villainy headfirst, back into his circle of mafia friends on the mainland and started his own villainous campaign. He'd prove that he would be just as powerful and unstoppable. Chasing his dream for reasons that he told himself were right and justified.

But deep down Stone missed Eggman so, so much. Cried so many tears, angry and heartbroken. He kept his wedding ring on his person, in a locket attached to a silver cord. Half in spite, half in heartbreak, to remind himself what he needed to do. That he couldn't give up, and fail Eggman, again, like Eggman had said he would (at the end of one of their heated fights)

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I never gave this panel much thought, even though something I'm about to show/explain in a moment shows that Buffy didn't know about "Not Fade Away" in season 8. (The above panel is from season 9.) I just assumed Angel and Spike must have finally filled her in about it here in season 9.

So, yeah: the proof that Buffy didn't know about it in season 8, and isn't letting Angel tell her about it at the time (though Buffy is definitely justified in her anger here atm and in not wanting to talk/listen):

But now I'm thinking that when she does finally learn about it in season 9, it was probably just Spike who just told her about it--which is really kind of sad, when that whole thing was Angel's whole idea and major sacrifice, really--since she and Angel aren't talking at the time.

But, yeah... everyone in the comics who didn't live in L.A. didn't know about "Not Fade Away." For months, the entire city gets sucked into Hell at the end of that episode. At the end of "Angel: After the Fall," which covers that whole thing, Connor dies. And Angel is unwilling to accept that, of course. And he and Wesley very cleverly realize that Wolfram & Hart want him for their plans and won't just accept his death and will be willing to do anything to stop it, should it happen. So, he then kills himself. And then in order to save him/bring him back, the Senior Partners have to undo the past months, and they essentially make it so everything that happened in "Not Fade Away" (following the alleyway fight) never did. And because of this, only the people in L.A. who had gotten sucked into Hell remembered that L.A. had ever disappeared and that they'd been gone. So while Buffy probably did know that Angel and the crew were gone at the time it happened and mourned them, by the above part of S8 she no longer does.

And while we're at it... let's just talk about the comics hinting at the information that was passed along from the Buffy group to the Angel groups--and vice versa--as a whole. Because I've meant to discuss this for a long time:

So, Angel and Spike clearly told Buffy about Illyria. And since Buffy flat-out says Angel was part of that, this was undoubtedly in season 5 that that discussion happened.

Angel must have told Buffy stuff about Connor (who then told Xander). There can be no other explanation for the above scene, really.

I will say that one thing that kind of saddens... actually, even ticks me off a little (though at least where the shows were concerned, there were legal issues involved, in which it got to a point where Buffy and Angel couldn't appear on each other's shows anymore--at least not very easily--because they were on different networks), is that after Buffy and Angel breakup he shows up a number of times to help Buffy out with her apocalypses or to be moral support for her when she needs him. But Buffy only ever shows up to help Angel once. (Edit: And this is why, even though it's not the canon verse, I actually kind of prefer the "In Every Generation" timeline where Buffy took an army of Slayers to help Angel and the A.I. team in the "Not Fade Away" battle.)

I've seen the argument that it's because the one time she did go to help him (the Faith thing in "Sanctuary") it didn't go well, they were on two different sides of that argument, and just ended up fighting with each other. But that's not a good enough explanation for me. Really, I feel like that's just an excuse to try and justify it, when really it makes no sense and kind of paints Buffy in a bad light.

And we see in the comics that there were definitely times when Angel wanted Buffy's help/could've used her help, but didn't get it (though of course, once again, he goes to help her with one of her apocalypses in the comics. And is treated kind of badly while most people there while doing so. Which I do get after the whole Twilight thing, but sheesh!):

(In the above panel, Dawn's beginning to fade away--and people are starting to forget her--as the world no longer has magic in it anymore.)

Which is why I'm actually kind of glad we get this moment in season twelve, where Angel takes this apocalypse he needs help with to Buffy and is basically like, "Yeah, you're all going to help me with this, and I don't want to hear it."

Anyway...

Edit: However... in the classic comics, at least, Buffy went to help Angel a few times (which I so appreciate!). Thank God.

1.

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[deathdxnces]

Irelia’s people were peaceful and sought harmony with their neighbors, but rumors of foreign invaders sighted off the coast unsettled many at the Placidium. Irelia returned to her village to find it already occupied, with steel-helmed soldiers from distant Noxus shoving unarmed civilians through the streets with the butts of their spears. The Noxian Admiral Duqal had seized the Xan home to quarter his fleet officers. Irelia’s brothers and her father Lito had evidently protested; her entire family now lay in unmarked graves, in the gardens.

both her bio and her short story note irelia's family had followed karma's teachings of non-violence regardless of circumstance for generations. she was raised in that belief — that violence is never justified, not even when it's used against you. it's what she's certain her family believed in, and it's a philosophy she not only went against but led many others to do the same (on top of not regretting her use of violence and growing ever more ruthless against the noxians)

personally, i don't think her family would've hated her for it as much as she ends up thinking they would (which easily turns into self-loathing, in some ways). her family may not have protested violently (there's nothing beyond the line that says they protested), but at least some of them did not passively accept to let the invaders do as they pleased, her father (and at least some of her brothers) included.

it's suggested that's why they were killed, which seems all the more likely with the fact that when irelia arrives, the noxian soldiers are handling people roughly, but they're not killing everyone. at the same time, it wouldn't have taken anything extreme in their act of resistance to get her family killed, so it could've been a non-violent protest (she, a girl of 11, takes her family crest from the hands of a soldier and that's enough for duqal to order them to kill her). i think it's likely lito didn't use violence, but protested still (and while we have no official ages, my hc is that zelos and kai, being the oldest and already adults or nearly so, followed suit - and maybe they turned to violence when the soldiers killed their father).

regardless, i don't think they'd condemn her for standing for ionia, even if her stand was bloody. i do think her father wouldn't approve of her ruthlessness and resentment towards the noxians, as well as her taste for violence against them; but not in a you're no daughter of mine sort of way and more in an attempt to lead her towards a better path, to understand this isn't the way and why, had he lived. while entirely self-indulgent, i also like to think zelos wouldn't be judgmental at all. he loved his little sister no matter what, and he'd have understood her anger and where it turned to.

her mother is always difficult because she's not mentioned at all (and i always assumed she was alive, but checking the bio again, the number of graves is never specified so maybe she had already died long before the invasion). a lot of her people's traditions she learned from her grandmother, though, who is suggested to deeply believe in old myths and generally be very tied to tradition (being the one who first taught irelia to dance and who spoke of their dance's connection to ionia itself, something irelia didn't really believe in initially). so i guess one of them would have been deeply saddened and disappointed at her still, possibly, but for the most part i think irelia's idea of the judgment they'd pass onto her is far harsher than reality would've been, and that she's very... inflicting punishment on herself and making herself suffer for not being what they'd have wanted while they wouldn't have been so harsh on her.

[nostalgia-tblr]

I find Mobius fascinating because he does do terrible unforgivable things while seemingly being at at base a fairly decent person. Mobius completely believes that he has the moral high ground when he calls Loki a bad friend and puts him into a torture time-loop. That's so amazingly fucked up.

Currently I'm not actually sure what I'm supposed to think about Mobius ie what was the intent behind the character, and it's interesting that fandom has such wildly differing takes on him - to some he's irredeemable and just appalling in every way, and then to others... well, most of the lokius fic I've seen are very fluffy and he's a supportive boyfriend in them and etc. I fall somewhere in the middle I suppose, but I can see how people get to these varying conclusions.

Mobius is the small cog in the big evil machine and we all vary on how far we'll forgive those small cogs, often dependant on whether those small cogs will forgive themselves. Mobius by the end of the series definitely regrets some of his actions but not all of them. There's still plenty of stuff he doesn't think was bad. I reckon if anyone asked Mobius to defend his treatment of Loki at the TVA he'd be a bit confused by the idea that he was cruel. In his own mind he did good, because the TVA was just going to kill Loki before Mobius got involved and he'd probably defend a lot of it as "well it made him a better person." I very much doubt that Mobius was ever trained to act a therapist, but he probably learned how to torture people (though the TVA wouldn't call it that. They'd have a nice euphemism for it. "Aggressive persuasion" or that sort of thing.) He doesn't seem able to separate the two concepts at all, which again is interesting to me.

The TVA present themselves as defending literally everything from chaos and destruction, which means there's very little that their workers can't justify to themselves. Mobius being more or less normal-leaning-to-nice as a person aside from all of this means he'd spend more time and effort telling himself this is all okay, so by the time we meet him (goodness knows how long he's been there) he's mentally in a place where almost anything is morally okay in service of the TVA. Being "a good person" just made Mobius get even more tangled up in the web of justifications and excuses. If he was innately "bad" he wouldn't care if any of this could be defended and made 'acceptable' he'd just do it. If you enjoy being evil you don't need to make excuses to yourself when you do evil things. (Interestingly this is something Mobius seems to understand about Loki in that initial interrogation - that he'll have *reasons* for all of this and the key is to make him question those reasons.)

There's some things I don't think Mobius would (at least currently) even think to apologise for, because he doesn't realise how fucked up they were. Adding to this is that Loki probably thinks (rightly or wrongly doesn't really matter) that he deserved a lot of it. 'Oh well of course he put me into the time-loop of being repeatedly tormented, I hurt him and his anger is something I can understand and the moral of the story is that I should never hurt him again.' Which, yes, is very much the logic of the abused attempting to absolve their abuser because they're emotionally attached to them. Possibly neither of them will ever realise this, which is depressingly realistic but then you're back to whether everyone should be clearer about how fucked up it is.

I mean, there's a reason people are so shocked when a 'nice' neighbour kills his entire family. He didn't seem evil, he was so normal! He was just like us! And the most fucked up thing about that is... he probably was.

rewatching the Loki series, and the more I watch, the more I realize that Loki was not as OOC as most people say he is. Yeah, there are a lot of "he would not freaking say that" moments, but there are fewer than I remember. (Sylvie is also less annoying, but I'm only on episode 4, so that may change.)

What I am watching is Mobius systematically breaking down Loki psychologically and Loki desperately trying not to die or get beaten up the entire time. Loki would do anything to keep Mobius happy and Mobius knows that and exploits it. He manipulates Loki and never apologizes for any of it. Mobius is horrible.

The plot is still an absolute disaster though.

[desertdragon]

Two headcanons

After the events of Shadowbringers and having put all of the residual Warriors of Darkness souls to rest, Vaste finds each Source version of the relic weapons they once used and brings them to the First

She goes to the spot they originally died, by a hill in Kholusia, and stabs each weapon beside one another at the crest- this is their memorial where everyone else let everything they did besides their sins be forgotten

She visits them as frequently as she can and especially to mark milestones in her life, since we see their spirits at the end game cutscene I imagine they're capable of reappearing in the world from time to time, and they'd probably figure out what she's done for them, learn through her that Cylva is still alive too

They talk to her on these occasions, either as individuals or in pairs and as a group, but half the time it's empty, and that's still ok for Vaste because there's still the idea that they're listening whereever they are now- other times when they come down I'm sure they'd check on Cylva now and then too

All she ever wanted was to be their friend, she gets her wish

--------

Her relationship with her younger brother U'ingwe was very much influenced by the positivity and support her older sister U'rahtalo gave her whenever she was down- with her brother being born rather small and initially reserved even for a Drake, she felt a commonality with them both being separate in some way from the Normal of everyone else (at the time of course she didn't know she was mixed heritage and just figured she'd been born a little different)

In a way interacting with him showed and cultivated the first signs of her ability to lead people through kindness; even after they've separated he embodies her old self, the kinder, open, and more gentle person, back when her worst experience was the guilt after killing an old Sundrake for her huntress trial- that's the person she wishes she still largely was without faking most of it as she tends to now

She would do nearly anything for him and her sister despite the huge differences between their places in life

In the events I have conceptualized for after her goal for a world without Primals and magic, I imagine she slowly relearns those parts of herself, though forever afflicted by her traumas yet working past them with her loved ones and herself- she would vow never to kill again and cultivate life than end it, all the killing during the fighting previous weighs hard on her, there was so much of it it feels pointless and as if she's drowning in death itself seeing so many lives ended, justified or not she'd want an end at last to so much carnage and no more souls added to those haunting her mind after she killed them

I feel like most regular people would think she died in changing the world, so her resolve to be more pacifist just completes the deception that she's just some farmer or whatever exactly she chooses to do as a civilian, that's ok by her, people can have the myth, they don't need to throw themselves at her feet and she never liked that anyway

She wants to go back to being nobody and live life how she pleases above all else