#why we walk
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it's extremely critical that you see the photo of the perp walk for luigi mangione as being propaganda. i've seen so many people wave it off and instead fawn over his looks. and trust me, i know it ended up being kind of pathetic and weird - but please don't brush it off as a "modelling opportunity" for him. it's a fucking terrifying message the police are sending.
i want to make a few comparisons here, in case you're not from the US or familiar with why the perp walk thing is something to pay attention to. just to set the groundwork for why this is a purposeful, unusual, and cruel act by the nyc police - for why this is not a common occurrence and for why that matters.
the prosecution alleges the show of force is due to the charge of "terrorism." for comparison, in june 2015, tsarnaev was found guilty for the boston marathon bombing, which killed 3 people and injured hundreds. his actions are considered to be an act of domestic terrorism. i have spent the last hour looking through google for pictures of similar to mangione's perp walk - and so far, i have found zero. i also just do not personally remember a moment like that, despite living in boston at the time.
they allege that luigi is a stone-cold killer who carried out a longterm plan, making him particularly dangerous. again for comparison: in nyc, recently cory martin was found guilty of the killing of brandy odom. the murder was planned and premeditated to steal insurance money. and yet no staged perp walk. why didn't her life matter enough for a "show of force"?
but mangione gets paraded by a veritable army of police officers as if he is a rabid animal. for a single citizen who allegedly killed one other single citizen, the "largest perp walk ever" occurs.
so what is the "strong message" that the mayor and the police were trying to send here? the mayor speaks as if mangione is already convicted of terrorism. there is a very thin number of people who feel threatened by the CEO's death. none of us felt like mangione needs to be under massive armed guard.
the message is that you shouldn't resist. they are trying to "make an example" of him - that if you behave badly and kill a single rich person, you'll be treated as if you killed hundreds of people. you will be treated worse than a man who was found guilty of terrorism. you will be considered guilty without trial. the message is that the rich are a protected class, and you cannot touch them without massive punishment. they are trying to prevent a revolution by showing dominance and force against you.
the message is that the police are a puppet of the wealthy and that the law is not equally applied across class disparity. it is "some are more equal than others." it is "one life is more precious than another."
the show of force wasn't for luigi. it was for us. it was a warning. they are trying to remind us who is really in control.
#i bring up tsarnev only bc i feel like people DID want blood. i lived in boston. people wanted to rip him apart.#i do not personally remember a moment where he was paraded around like that. and the fact we gave more dignity to him#than luigi .... is startling.#and i just realized last night i was like - i don't really remember a perp walk like that. maybe im misremembering#but i went to google and i was like. wait why the fuck was it so fucking big.#it WASNT a random act of terror. it WASNT to injure/kill as many as possible.#even if we consider it to be premeditated murder: when have we ever done this.#so brandy's life didnt deserve “a show of force?”#the mayor doesn't say ''our city wont stand for this'' when it's a planned murder for insurance money????#anyway . ur not immune etc etc etc#but i also wanted the comparisons in here in case ppl aren't from amercia etc#this ISNT normal or usual. this was overkill by like a million#on the other hand they gotta do this bc they're scared :)#i kept this bc i had ppl ask me not to delete this but i just felt like#it wasn't really poetry just talkin
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How Galinda gets ready for bed knowing she's gonna homoerotically argue with Elphaba all night once again
#i know the reason why her hair and makeup are done with when she's in bed in What is this feeling is because its a movie#but obsessed with that fact that she's all done up and then starts the fight that gets them out of bed#and makes sure she's all nice and her hair looks good in her robe before walking over to Elphaba just to say she hates her#like ok Galinda we got it we got it#you definitely hate your roommate#who notably you keep turning to watch while in bed#Elphaba turns away from Glinda#but Glinda turns to face Elphaba#she's so normal about this you guys its normal#wicked#gelphie#elphaba thropp#glinda upland#wicked spoilers#wicked part one#wicked movie
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Oooo I love the way you draw Jeff he's cute <333
I hope I did Jeff justice.. gotta love tired men
#ask reply#I’m unsurprised that yall here were immediately into Jeff#we love some pathetic guys#TBH I ACTUALLY really like Jeff’s character#despite being so tired he actually really nice to Oswald#never scolding him or questioning hard to why he’s at the pizzeria#mean from his POV he probably just sees Oswald needing a place to stay#while his parents work so why ever integrate him#Jeff doesn’t even mind when Oswald walks into the backroom to talk to him#JEFF IS chill he’s a homie#no doubt I’ll be drawing him and Oswald again soon#I’m a sucker for tired incompetent adult and their spunky more competent kid#Mike and Abby now Jeff and Oswald#peak I love them all BAHA
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Hello Madam. Sorry Madam.
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#poorly drawn mdzs#mdzs#wei wuxian#lan wangji#madam jin#jin zixuan#jiang yanli#'Hey what is WWX trying to do here?' some kind of grab-and-twist maneuver that would be very upsetting to watch.#I know LWJ technically assists WWX in this scene in terms of blocking someone's blow on his behalf -#- but let's be honest. Real friends stop you from doing the truly stupid things.#Or maybe it was envy. Penis envy. The non-freudian kind.#Regardless...man this whole scene was just full of “and then someone else walks in”.#I swear to god every cultivator who is supposed to be hunting ends up wandering into this part of the woods.#a bonus for me because it gives me several good joke opportunities.#Madam Jin gets top prize for best entrance and exit. I wish her all the best. And a divorce…madam please leave him…#And can we please address the horses? I love horses. But why...why do they ride in on horses when they HAVE FLYING SWORDS?#I can only imagine it is for the dramatic flair? It just feels so jarring hearing someone clip clop in#and then another person swoop in on a sword.#The rules of mdzs's world can get fuzzy and I have to nod in an impressed manner at how much MXTX gets away not explaining.#Maybe the sword gets tired after a while and they need to give it a break? Maybe there is a sword union that dictates working hour limits?#…Would that make Chenqing a scab? Oh god it would… unions *hate* this flute!
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the most difficult thing about growing as a person socially, as in getting out of your shell and noticing that you are, is that there will still be times when it doesn’t feel like you’ve grown at all! times when you can’t really connect with anyone around you, times when you fail to enter into an existing conversation, times when you say the wrong thing (or nothing at all when in hindsight you probably should’ve). but that’s also kind of the best thing, because that’s the thing that helps you realize that sometimes, it’s not you or your lack of skills or any shortcoming. sometimes certain environments just aren’t for you and certain people aren’t your people, and that’s okay. that’s human. it’s okay to not feel the progress you have made all the time.
#and that goes for every type of growth#backstory of this post:#after I came back after a few months of doing my international internship I felt so much more confident#it was easier making friends and walking up to people#i took more chances#and generally just heard it a lot from those around me who kept telling me how much i’d changed#this was further supported by my first office job that went pretty well#but then came my grad internship. and while i love the work and have met some great people I noticed it was difficult again#there was one office lunch where no one spoke to me at all! it was my first week and I didn’t know what to say#if i should even say anything#we were all sitting at the same table#not one person even glanced my way#it made me doubt myself; i was doing so well before#was that even real? why can’t I just speak up? this is not the way to connect with people#especially in my first week!#but you know what#i was still doing well. i just had to factor in the fact that these were all middle aged people talking about reality shows i didn’t watch#and bikes i knew nothing about#as well as people who knew i was the new intern yet didn’t speak to me at all even though I’d introduced myself to them all individually#and even so#people I couldn’t really talk to about MY interests outside of work either#my point being:#it’s okay to not feel a connection with everyone you meet#it’s okay to fall back into old habits even though you’ve developed new ones#it will never unravel the process you’ve made and the connections you’ve built#you’re doing fine#after this internship I will surround myself with people who reaffirm that belief#growth in the self#self love#positivity
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“Who the hell is Bucky?”
#bucky fanart#bucky#bucky barnes#fan art#Sebastian Stan#sebstan#marvel fan art#mcu fan art#the winter soldier#winter soldier#james buchanan barnes#sketches#comic fan art#hail hydra#captain america fan art#we love Bucky#fan illustration#if evil why hot#bad boys#death walk#super soldier#Sebastian Stan fan#my current obsession#thunderbolts
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GUYS I AM BEGGING YOU!
STOP FUMBLING THE LIFE SERIES OMG-
Genuinely we're not having another one after this if ya'll keep up with this bs
Just be nice oml, like team predictions are all fun and games until you force people to be together because of your deranged fantasy land that you've created in your head in which everything has to go your way, and has to follow your structure.
No because if pearl wants to team with Scott and Cleo again pearl can team with Scott and Cleo again.
If scar wants to team with Grian you shouldn't be making it into a "oh them again"
BE HAPPY Y'ALL ARE GETTING A SERIES OMG
#this is genuinely why we can have a Life series with gimmicks that the fans choose#it's because some of ya'll a so unprofoundedly rude that it makes them feel down for just wanting to have fun#get your shit together#Seriously#YOU MADE SCAR AND PEARL UPSET#THIS IS WAR CRIME TERRITORY HERE WALK WITH FUCKING CAUTION#respectfully of course#mcyt#pearl life series#trafficblr#life series#wild life smp#wild life#pearlescentmoon#goodtimeswithscar#gtwscar#gtws#Life series scar#pearl mc#hermitcraft
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Rin, smiling, and nagging
Rinsha Fana’s character is summarized in a couple facts thrown here and there. Because she worries for him, she follows Kabru to help his cause and protect him, and to nag him. She’s a grumpy angry tsundere, but it seems not only rooted in her attitude but on a deep rooted physical level, to the point where any intense emotion she feels will make her frown and scowl even if it’s genuine joy. Her childhood was half spent ostracized in the tallman community her family lived in and half with the elves, where she’s said to have been treated like an animal.
We don’t know how she was raised exactly or who it even was, but knowing she was "treated like an animal" by the elves taking care of her…
Elves are shown to have a highly hierarchical society, not only with their concern with status such as nobility and the purity of bloodlines but also reflected by its social culture imo. They have high society and etiquette, upmost devotion to the queen, very role-oriented, like cogs in a machine, and as such, it’s a bit skewed since most of what we see of the elves is in a military context with military people but they seem to value having emotions under lock and key to be efficient and not bring dishonor, Flamela is an interesting character on this. Don’t be a bother and do your job until you’re called on, fulfill your role, everything else is extra at best inconvenient at worst.
Personally I do think the canaries kept Rin, it’d make sense that whichever canaries got stuck with the job at the headquarters would be barebones with her and treat her like an ‘impounded article’, they couldn’t find another place for her and this way they can get her report on the events whenever she can speak again in however many years, and this way it makes sense that she could keep in touch with Kabru too. They’re used to prisoners, not kids. Being raised in a military context rather than at some orphanage would shape her further.
All of this to say…
She’d already seen the world’s harshness to those who don’t conform in her hometown, but with the elves? Her disdain for those who had formal education at a magic school?
Wouldn’t she become very concerned with proving she is not an animal, proving that she’s smart and skilled in her own right on her own merit, even without schooling. And to do this she nitpicks and nitpicks, because even being pristine isn’t enough to be respected, but at least it’s not giving others reasons to disrespect and dehumanize her. Learning to school her emotions, to scowl as a defense mechanism because anything else makes her vulnerable, because they don’t care about her as a person with feelings, because showing other expressions was dangerous or punished in some way: because it was fit in or don’t fit in and that’s the difference between having your house burnt down and being tolerated, between getting her food or having her questions answered and being yelled at to shut up… Because all her life she’s been surviving in hostile social environments and at the mercy of others, but unlike Kabru she doesn’t become a people pleaser but becomes very self-reliant and wary of socializing.
So she nitpicks and nitpicks and nags, because she’s worried. Because flaws are dangerous. So she has a hard time smiling and laughing, because it’s dangerous to allow yourself to feel safe in being authentic.
It would be nice…
Is my red, red enough? I'm waiting for your teeth at my throat. It’s only good manners. -Stephanie Valente
#Dungeon meshi#delicious in dungeon#rinsha fana#rin dunmeshi#character analysis#Kabru and rin have many parallels where they kinda take opposite routes on the same problem#Rinsha fans how are we feeling#Theory/speculation#Overcompensation i love you……… god she’s such a survivor. The refugee trauma i 😭#Is my red red enough is her blood human enough i’m gonna walk into the ocean#Wether or not her nagging actually promotes upstanding demeanor is another topic but I do think this is why she DEFAULTS to nag n scold#I don’t think she’s self-aware about her thinking like this. It’s all just the obvious way to be for her
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clean your sword
i. Peter had thought many times about dying for his brother, killing for his sisters, as all oldest children do.
ii. He'd imagined it a hundred times: how if his mother and father were ever killed, he'd get some low-skill job and make sure Lucy's clothes still fit her as she grew. How he'd make fists and fight dirty if Susan was ever threatened. What he'd do if Edmund ever had to flee the country on a dark, windswept night.
iii. Yet when he heard Susan's horn that day, he still froze. Only for an instant, he thought, "this can't be my job, right?"
iv. The blood on his sword shone red when it was all over. When he wiped it on the grass, the stain it left was almost black.
v. They'd put Susan in his arms when he was two years old. Peter didn't remember it, but he knew he'd been waiting for her till then. He wasn't a real person until he was a brother.
vi. And when they walked back to the pavilion, Rhindon bumping Peter's hip, all he could say to his sisters was, "I'm sorry I didn't come faster."
vii. The High King was almost obsessive in the way he cared for Rhindon. When he grew older and required weapons larger than those made for a child, he obsessed over them too.
viii. He told the others, in no uncertain terms, that if it ever came to it in battle, they were to leave him and live. As their brother and high king, he commanded it.
ix. The first time Edmund risked himself for Peter's sake, Peter didn't speak to him for a week.
x. He was oiling his sword when Edmund found him. "See, the thing is, Peter, being brothers goes both ways. If you can love me enough to die for me, than I get to love you just the same."
xi. Peter agreed with him then, to avoid the argument. He was sick of not talking to his brother. Yet privately, he knew that Edmund was wrong. That sacrifice was Peter's special prerogative, as the first-born.
xii. Back in England, his mother noticed that Peter had become more fastidious. She didn't notice that his protective streak has grown - and maybe it hadn't, really.
xiii. It was uncanny, how Peter would always show up just when his siblings needed him. He'd round a corner, and there was Lucy stamping her feet and scowling at a bully. There was Susan, crying, and now his knuckles were bloody.
xiv. He cleaned the blood off in the sink so carefully. The water ran red for a second, and it almost seemed black.
xv. When Caspian asked for the High King's advice, looking so very young, Peter jerked his chin towards the sword a Caspian's hip. "Be ready to use that," he said. "Keep it clean, and close."
xvi. Susan forgot Narnia and she forgot Aslan. Yet selfishly, Peter still hoped that she would never forget how quickly he came when she called.
#Peter's whole personality is Big Brother and everything else stems from that. this is why i love him#like. the age gap between my sister and me is not large but i can't think of a time in my childhood when I didn't have contingency plans#for what I'd do if i needed to protect her. or like if we got kidnapped and i needed to fix it. or if mom and dad died what i would do#even when we weren't getting along. i am convinced it's a primal Oldest Sibling instinct#whether these plans were even marginally executable is. another thing#high king over all the rest#narnia#pontifications and creations#leah stories#no one will ever walk the earth so close to you
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(disappears for a month and reappears with a slightly obscure hyperfixation) Hey guys
#★ my art#art#dandys world#dandy’s world#Is that it What do i even tag..#idk why i called it obscure it has 10mil visits on roblox but i Dont see it anywhere so. Whatever i say what i want#★ arin rambles#Oh boy here we go#so i found this game like. The day before yesterday. So ive known this game for 2 days. Dude#DUDE. DUDE. my friends call this game my baby rattle its so absurd#the way this garbage mascot horror has ensnared me. i feel like a fool#Just hold on let me paint a picture for you. So just listen (<- aka read but just pretend)#So i press this game not knowing what on earth is in store#and me and my bestie choose our basic boring loser starter. And we walk into that elevator. and im walking around just Amazed…#And i look over and theres like A tv on the floor. And theres the most jaw dropping smooth animation on there im like OKAY THIS GAME IS FIRE#and i see the funny rainbow flower#AND RIGHT NEXT TO HIM…. THAT BORING BASIC BLUE HAT..#I SAW HIM. I WAS GOBSMACKED.#We lost the game cuz shrimpo jumped me because i was So distracted i took like 20 screenshots of astro#And thats how it all started#i didnt know his name..#in fact i didnt even know if his cover was purple or blue#but i knew 1 thing for certain..#THIS WAS LOVE!!!!!!!! AND I WANT TO BEAT HIM WITH A ROCK😭😭😭😭😭😭#dandys world oc#dandys world astro
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shout out to the lyric theatre for giving us the authentic hadestown experience by making us watch a little man walk endlessly through hell with no hope and no end in sight 🙏🙏
#hadestown#why get tickets when we can just watch Little Guy Walking from the comforts of our home it's almost like the real thing ahaha. ha.#please send help#also hey did anyone reach the end of the second queue ???#i'm stuck in the second queue on my pc so i guess i'm a bit further over there ??#my ramblings
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i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".
it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.
do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.
but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.
do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).
you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.
walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.
no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.
do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."
you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.
there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.
i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.
he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."
#spilled ink#warm up#“why did u tag it warm up” bc i wrote it off the cuff while drinkin coffee lol#btw the 30 dollar buy in for the dog walking is bc they pay the organizer a small pittance so she can#run fb ads and stuff and like she does put in a lot of work i don't mind paying her#but that's exactly what im fucking talking about like.#ppl can't afford to volunteer their time anymore and we all understand it!!! everything costs money for everyone!#like we didn't have to use to say ''do you mind paying me back for the stuff we ate''#we used to be able to afford to feed our friends once in a while!!!
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been doodling some bri'ish wildlife - love seeing these guys. because they are the classics aren't they?
#my art#animal art#illustration#''love seeing these guys'' has only ever seen 6 of them#as if the elusive dormouse would ever grace my presence. and i still doubt the existence of snakes in england#drew the fox and pheasant because they're symbolic for two of my silly ocs then was like why not make a whole page of these suckers#lots of fun! if anyone's interested i'm gonna open up some slots to draw animals like this on kofi or something soon#can be pets etc. ocs too maybe but they'll be more expensive. not sure how much i'll charge for them but we shall see#lots of art to come...........i swear on it...........i'm about to go for a walk and maybe i will finally see a grass snake#(it's raining so this will not happen)#animals: ring necked pheasant. grass snake. european badger. red fox. barbastelle bat. mole. red squirrel. hazel dormouse. and hedgehawg#i had to compress this to hell it's so large#i need to take like a base photoshop class to learn how to actually use it cause the size of my files is actualy getting ridiculous#if i didn't compress this it would be 30 mb. this cannot be normal
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pov you do ur gay little run cycle into the war room unexpectedly insp this painting and remembering this screenshot/post as well
#dragon age inquisition#dai#cullen rutherford#leliana nightingale#josephine montilyet#dragon age#dragon age fanart#art#my art#SORRY LELIANA WAS SO HARD TO DRAW i redid her face at least 3 times. gave up bc i have work in the morning#and cullen looks too good he needs to look more like shit esp at haven like#alas. anyways i saw the painting on my dash hours ago and immediately thought of THEE Advisors and then searched my archive for THE s#we look at gay people screenshot. and then decided fuck work tomorrow im drawing.#thats scroll and map storage under the table. looks like a wine rack but that shape was used for storing scrolls.#and yes they WERE talking about you.#thats why the expressions fit so well liek Cullen uncomfortable being caught gossiping. Josie. amused and ready to charm. Leliana. making#the same expression she was making before you walked in but ready to say it is for a completely different reason.
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Tis but a flesh wound!
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#poorly drawn mdzs#jin guangyao#lan xichen#mdzs#wei wuxian#lan wangji#JGY's little shawl waits for him at the front entrance. It's for him to wear in the cloud recesses because he gets cold easy.#Lan Xichen personally hand knit it for him. This is canon within this universe now.#JGY is failing his little chess game so bad in this scene. He walks up and cutely pouts at LXC to pwease help him in his schemes#And when LXC rightly points out the holes in his reasoning he gets his back up!#But *dude* how the hell are you going to explain how WWX has been doing all these crazy things when the guy was Passed Out.#LXC can even attest to it. Back to JGY holding the idiot ball here; why make a point to press about WWX staying at CR#And not take into account the fact the lan brothers have an incredibly tight bond?#Why was he even *attempting* to drive a wedge between them?#Honestly I know we love to call JGY a schemer but he was so sloppy at so many points. Everything post secret room reveal-#has been a messy scramble to cover up his past transgressions. He is struggling to keep things under control!#He currently is staying in the public favour solely on the quality of his melancholic wet eyes.#You dare accuse jin guangyao of murder? When he's so sopping wet? When he whimpers and whines without a little treat?#To bad he's shown his teeth! Sorry you aren't old enough for dentures and can't put those teeth right back in your mouth.
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I get that in general a lot of kids shows do utilize the protagonists ('good guys') in ways where they're supposed to be role models, particularly because some do have a "lesson of the week" where the character does bad things, then clearly learns and explains what they should've done instead by the end of the episode.
That has just... never been how TDP has operated, and I don't get how and why people think we're supposed to take what anyone does in the show as being unilaterally good or evil. Particularly in arc 2; any moral simplicity that was hanging on by a thread in arc 1 has been taken out back and shot numerous times by now.
TDP very rarely calls anything Evil or Good, and when it does, it's always filtered through the characters' biases, and rarely does more then 2-3 characters ever have the same opinion on something for the same reasons. Soren and Rayla, who have inverted character arcs, are some of the only characters to ever use the term villain / good guys or bad guys, and are two of the most staunchly black-and-white thinking characters, heavily to their detriment, I might add, in terms of coping with the increasing complexity of their lives. They have cognitive biases. They're not always right, and are frequently wrong. This is true for everyone in the show.
The show refuses to condemn murder, indirectly and directly condemns the expulsion of humans from Xadia routinely (Evrkynd being a city for everyone, Ezran arguing with Karim, who is the most wrong about the most things), and shows a variety of viewpoints on all things.
The show understands that the choices people make—whether the same character trait is a flaw or a strength—as well as 'moral' choices are all circumstantial.
Are you wrong to burn people alive? Mostly yes (2x07, 6x08) but also no (3x09). Are you wrong to kill people? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes whether it's 'wrong' or 'right' doesn't even factor in. Are you wrong to use dark magic, or use the dangerous Staff of Ziard, or coin someone and condemn them to a 'fate worse than death'? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Is lying or hiding the truth to protect someone wrong? Sometimes yes (1x06, 2x03, 3x03, 5x01, 7x04, 7x06) sometimes no (1x02, 2x03, 6x06, 5x08, 7x08).
Are you doing the right thing?
Do you have no choice? Is that true, or is that just what you think, or how you rationalize it yourself?
When is it right or cowardly to leave (Viren, Lissa, Rayla, Callum, Ezran, the Cosmic Council, the offer made to Karim's troops)? When should you stay? When do you decide to share resources (2x05) to your potential detriment or withhold them in the name of protecting yourself and your own people (Xadia and magic)? At what point(s) do you prioritize your own pain and grief, or someone else's (i.e. the Keeper vs Callum vs Ezran)? At what point is someone too dangerous or 'too far gone' to keep alive (Runaan about Harrow, Ezran about Aaravos)? At what point do you decide someone cannot change? When do you refuse to change (Karim, Terry) who you are no matter what happens, and when do you decide that you must (Ezran, Soren)? When is it wrong to use illusions to trick someone (3x09 and 7x06) and when is it more reasonable (2x03)? When should you be willing to sacrifice others (Rayla with her family, Runaan and Rayla with Callum, Soren with Viren) and when should you refuse? When should you sacrifice yourself, and when it is wrong to? Did you betray them, or did they betray you, or both (usually both)? When should you betray or stay loyal to your family? What is the right thing to do?
The show, tbh, doesn't know, at least 90% of the time. It's not interested in knowing. It's interested in exploring. That's the whole point. At most, it says you should work towards harm reduction, but what constitutes harm, and what peace looks like, is also something that greatly differs for all the characters.
Rayla is willing to sacrifice the love of her life, Ezran is willing to create weapons of mass destruction and wield one, and Callum used a torture spell on someone when he absolutely did not have to. The idea that any of the protagonists are meant to be paragons of unblemished virtue who are always 100% right, or that any of the antagonists do not canonically have a good point of contention with anything that's happened and are always 100% wrong, is reductive to everything the show is and explores, because it is Quite Literally not what the show does, ever tbh.
They literally spelled it out this past season as a core theme; I don't think they needed to have a character directly point it out every time a main character did something that was Kinda Fucked Up or Complicated But Understandable to know that the show knows it was Canonically Fucked Up or Complicated But Understandable.
There is not a single character or action in TDP that is always right, and there is not a singular character or action in TDP that is always wrong. Hell, even narrowing it down to "this is 'right' or 'wrong'" feels counterintuitive because it's so subjective within the narrative.
Every choice the characters make is often well reasoned, aligns with their values and world views, and fits into how they work through problems. Every choice has benefits and consequences, for them or for others. That doesn't mean it's Right for everyone involved. That doesn't mean it's Wrong for everyone involved. That's what makes the show interesting. Everything has nuance. Everything has Complexity. I'm not interested in a simplified version of TDP. I'm interested in the show as is.
I hope you are, too.
#tdp#the dragon prince#analysis series#analysis#mine#im so tired#s7 spoilers#like i truly cannot fathom watching viren walk away from claudia or the illusion plan in 7x06 and thinking#'the show wants us to think this was 100% the right thing to do no ifs ands or buts' like. what#like rayla thematically has always been an antagonist#it just always seems like ppl are like. the show doesn't know the magic system is unfair#or the cosmic council are gonna be good guys. and it's like. the show has known the magic system is unfair since s2#that's the point of s2. the cosmic council will be dismantled. they have to be. that's why they're there#it's a hand of god narrative structure. they executed a child for no reason. where else would we go#have a lil faith#'humans can do whatever they want bc they were oppressed' that's not how life & morality works#just look at world affairs (atrocities in gaza)
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