#I genuinely think he’s justified if his intentions are true

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I don’t understand Zut’s obsession with bloodbending. This technique, as we can see, is used for taking control over other body for the purposes of fighting the enemy, torture, abuse. We see Katara’s horror at having to learn and use it in the Puppetmaster and her disgust of the idea that someone should invade the body and control other being against their will. We see her using it in Southern Raiders and realizing that she went too far from the line she drew for herself – and it works to show her pain there. But to take it and say she should have used it more, for healing and power? I don’t get it.

Their logic is "This looks cool, therefore it is empowering, and she only ever used willingly one time, when Zuko was around, so OBVIOUSLY that means Zuko empowers her."

Nevermind that, like you pointed out, Katara did NOT feel empowered during these moments: on the first one she felt coerced, abused, terrified, and manipulated, and on the second she felt like she had betrayed her core vallues in a moment of blinding rage.

And it's just crazy to me to notice how zutarians are constantly trying to force parallels between Zuko and Katara - yet they are ignoring the one that is right in front of their faces.

Zuko was disfigured by his own father, who justified his abusive behavior as being for his son's own good and "teaching him a lesson. Hama masks her intentions of forcing Katara to learn bloodbending by claiming she just wants to bond with her as her teacher.

On the day of the eclipse, to keep Zuko around until he's able to try and kill him, Ozai manipulates his son by using his love for Ursa against him, offering to tell him what actually happened to her. To force Katara to bloodbend, Hama uses her love for Sokka and Aang against her, controlling them so they'll kill each other unless Katara steps in.

When Zuko has his Agni Kai with Zhao, he almost gives him a scar as well, but decides to spare him at the last moment because, even though he's still in denial about being abused, deep down he already knows he doesn't want to be a monster like Ozai. When Katara uses bloodbending on who she thinks is her mother's killer, then realizes her mistake, she gets quite a brutal awakening that makes her realize she's not simply going after justice or even revenge, but rather allowing herself to fall victim to cycle of violence and abuse like Hama did.

This is a genuine, not at all forced parallel between Zuko and Katara, and that the writers basically handed to the shippers in a neat little bow - and they threw it in the garbage because it did not allow them to glorify violence, romanticize Zuko's past as a villain who was prone to violence, pretend Zuko and Katara only have positive traits in common and could only ever bring out the best in each other, and demonize Aang as this abusive person that wants to control what Katara can or cannot do.

And ironically enough, in doing so, they not only disregard the meaningful theme of an abused child refusing to repeat the same mistakes of their abuser, but they also make excuses for the ONE person in the entire show who was everything they claimed Aang is.

Hama felt entitled to Katara's loyalty, obedience, admiration and respect. She felt she had the right to dictate how Katara should or should not fight, what was or wasn't against her moral code. She was deliberately manipulative to get Katara trust her, then waited until there was no one else around to help her to make her true intentions clear - and then proved she was VERY willing to react with violence if she didn't get what she wanted.

Zutarians go on and on about how their ship is the "feminist, pro-Katara ship" and how Aang is totally abusive, then turn around and glorify the actions of the ONE person in the entire show that fits the definition of "Katara's abuser."

#anti zutara #pro kataang

[kirain]

Wall of the faithless isn't canon in bg3. They changed alot of things actually. So no Gale isn't "scared" he's just an obsessed asshole who doesn't learn from his mistakes.

Oof...

There's really nothing I can say except: you're wrong. The City of Judgement and the Wall of the Faithless are canon to BG3. If you don't like Gale, that's fine, but you don't have to make things up or completely disregard the lore to do it. Larian Studios literally hired people from Wizards of the Coast—the company responsible for all the canon lore, characters, and campaigns in D&D—to help them with the story. It took them five years, I believe, to fully study and understand the lore. They constantly conferred with the team to double, triple, and quadruple check every slice of content they added to the game, and parts of the game are now considered canon to D&D 5E.

As for Gale "not learning" from his mistakes ... when you first meet him, he literally admits he made a mistake with Mystra. Though personally I don't see it as the "power-hungry" move people seem to think it is. Gale simply wanted to be considered an equal to his partner (really his groomer), which is a perfectly healthy and normal desire for anyone in a relationship. Your partner should treat you like an equal, but Mystra very clearly saw Gale as a pet. A trophy. A worshipper. Subservient. Beneath her. A silly mortal with delusions of grandeur (which she cultivated), which is really rich when you learn she was once mortal herself. Mystra is a hypocrite.

Gale tried to prove himself worthy of equality by trying to bring Mystra what he thought was a piece of her missing Weave. For anyone who doesn't know, the current Mystra was torn to pieces by Cyric and Shar, then put back together by her Chosen. Though back to full power by the events of BG3, she's still technically missing pieces of herself, and Gale mistook the Karsite Weave for one of those pieces. Instead of simply telling Gale it was corrupted Weave, she let him go on believing it was hers. Personally I think that's because she was tired of him (maybe he got too old for her 😒) and was hoping he would do something that, in her mind, would justify abandoning him—but I admit that's full conjecture on my part. What is true is that she knew the orb wasn't hers, but for some reason she let Gale think it was. Even after she abandoned him and left him to die, she never told him. Not until she realised she could use him.

In Act 3, while the argument can certainty be made that he's thirsty for power, Gale ultimately becomes fed up with the gods because, as he knows better than anyone, they treat people like commodities. While I have no intention of ever ascending him myself, it looks like he actually makes good on his word. He doesn't threaten or toy with his followers, he inspires people to walk their own path, he only asks for prayers as payment (as without some form of devotion, gods in D&D cease to be), and if you romance him ... he ascends you into godhood as his equal. Mystra could have done this for him, she just didn't want to. And if you don't want him to ascend, it's genuinely so easy. I don't understand what people are complaining about. It takes one conversation with zero checks to convince him to completely abandon his ambitions. One. If he was truly "power hungry", it wouldn't be that easy.

Again, I would argue that Gale's true goal isn't really power, it's freedom, and divinity gives him that freedom. He has many conversations where he makes it clear he doesn't want to live under the gods' thumbs anymore; which, in a world like Faerûn, is extremely understandable. As I said in my Wall of the Faithless post, he's scared. Eternal torment for a simple mistake, one of which could've been avoided if Mystra told him the truth or treated him like an equal? When your partner is a goddess, how can you not feel inadequate? And if you convince him to give up the crown, he's perfectly content with Mystra's forgiveness. Even in the Early Access, that's all he really wanted.

Gale's far from perfect. He's arrogant and overconfident and insecure and he can be prone to emotional outbursts (most of which he apologises for, however), but he's nowhere near the heartless, power-hungry monster the haters seem to think he is. He is, in fact, one of the most compassionate companions in the entire camp, to the point that he accepts everyone, including Minthara. He votes for Astarion to stay when you find out he's a vampire. He gets mad at you if you surrender him to the Gur. He's one of the only companions who will openly marry/stay with you if you become a mindflayer. He's willing to sacrifice himself to save the world, and willing to damn himself to be with you. He loves every act of kindness, while hating every act of cruelty. I understand that the bugs from launch ruined a lot of people's perception of him ... and unfortunately some of those glitches are still present even now, but he is a good man.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #karlach #karlach cliffgate #wall of the faithless #city of Judgement #wizards of the coast #dnd #d&d #dungeons and dragons #astarion #minthara

[franklespine]

You know I think you guys might be on to something when you call Sam woman coded cause - genuinely - how do you, as writers of a show, be so misogynistic as to not include any female characters asides from damsels and hookups (specifically referring to the early seasons), and yet need so desperately to have a outlet for macho masculine patriarchy power dynamics that you have an adult male character experience misogyny?? How do you mess up that badly??

It's like, although they thought that putting female characters in the narrative other than to exist as sexy distressed lamps wouldn't appeal to the true blooded 2000s American audience. But yet it was completely necessary for there to be a bottom rung in the masculinity pyramid because - well how else can we as a society function!!

Anyway, ik reading too far into things is my special talent, and in most circumstances all of this stuff is just a joke in the show but wow they really had Dean poking fun of any of Sam's characteristics that don't fit into this Hyper True Blooded American Masculinity ideology as a butt of jokes for 15 years. The fact that he has longer hair, that he cares about his hair, that he's tidy, that he likes salads and isn't a big meat eater, that he's sympathetic, that he's a bitch. And of course these are just silly little jabs that Dean makes in sibling-like fashion but like wow 15 years. Damn.

And of course it's not only this that leads to the rather odd interpretation of a woman-coded Sam, but also the way he is treated directly by the narrative. Like, for example, being the family's possession, rather than an equal member. Dean has seen it as his job to look out for his little brother since he pulled him from the fire and the wellbeing of this infant was thrown onto his shoulders at age 4, and this has created a lot of ricocheting effects on both of them. This isn't to say that Dean doesn't love, care, respect, and value Sam, but it does mean that sometimes he treats him like a possession rather than a person. He makes a lot of crazy decisions in the show that he justifies as being for Sam's own good, even if it goes directly against Sam's wishes. After Sam leaves a note to Dean telling him he's going out for a bit to handle a case, Dean weasels his way in, not trusting him to handle it due to the mental issues Sam is facing at the time, and kills Amy, despite Sam begging him not to. Even though Dean knows Sam would never consent to an angle possessing him, he tricks him into it anyway. He does these things, and many others because he believes that he is acting in Sam's best interests, totally disregarding the fact that Sam has capacity to make judgements and handle the consequences himself, even going so far as to oppose what he directly knows or Sam tells him he wants.

Then of course there is the fact that the fear integral to his character - a loss of autonomy (bodily autonomy, but also autonomy to make his own decisions about his future, to be good, to be pure and faithful), is an explicitly feminine one. Then there is the strong subtext in his story of SA themes, I think in s4 a demon even refers to Sam as a 'whore' or that he's 'whoring it up' (with respect to Ruby), and the interesting prevalent idea of Sam questioning or going against the ideals/ideology of the masculine figure head (which would be Dean I guess) and getting punished for it. Sam suggests that maybe they take a more humanitarian approach with the cow blood drinking vampires in s2 and Dean punches him, Sam tries to get him to talk about their Dad and Dean punches him, Sam tries to get him to talk about Lisa and Ben and Dean punches him, Sam gets caught simply using his abilities and Dean punches him - twice. I think you get the picture.

Anyway. This post comes off as rather critical of Dean, which wasn't really my intention. It's more sort of a broader criticism of the rampant sexism that had its part in shaping the show - being one to come out of the early 2000s. Ideas such as this - you could really go on for hours as its fascinating how ideological frameworks are presented certain ways in media - and the way masculine and feminine social dynamics, to list only one, is presented in supernatural is definitely a can of worms.

#also dont take this too seriously LMAO its late and I am just thinking about woman coded sam #seriously - how did this happen #saw someone else talk about that scene in s7 after sam finds out dean killed amy and dean says something along the lines of #be pissed all you want but dont be a bitch about it #like wow he really called sam a bitch in the way that woman are called bitches #stop being overdramatic and having an irrationally emotional response to the horrible thing i just did to you #crazy #maybe it was the time it was made but genuinely the amount of times dean punches sam in the early seasons #just for having an opinion or wanting to talk about feelings #i was actually surprised #supernatural #spn #sam winchester #dean winchester #spn meta #i guess #again dont take this too seriously lmao #just a pondering

[spacexseven]

to let a good deed go unpunished

NOTE: for the anime-only's, there may be a few spoilers about tecchou below, so please keep that in mind. i and Hopefully this isn't too ooc lol :< still waiting for more tecchou content ^^ i'm spelling his name as tecchou here, instead of tetchō :>

REQUEST: general y! tecchou headcanons from @shumidehiro

CW: yandere character, manipulation, unhealthy relationships, obsession, jealousy, stalking

- an encounter with tecchou is an opportunity that is hard to come by outside of his work, since he's more devoted to his duty of upholding justice more than anything

- that's not to say it's impossible. besides, as long as he recognizes you share the same values as him, you'd easily make an impression on him, even if you didn't plan to do so

- due to tecchou's nature, he easily focuses on things that pique his curiosity or admiration. he can spend hours watching you display your sense of justice or leadership (much like the ants he watched without moving)

- while tecchou can be either a platonic or romantic yandere, his overall intentions are the same. he wants to protect you from the cruel, imbalanced world he's used to. he knows your beliefs can change in a moment once you realize the true nature of people, and doesn't want that to happen

- tecchou doesn't like lying to you or deceiving you. he's an honest person by nature and hates using force or mind games to get you to do something. since he believes sincere discussion is the best way to ease tensions, arguments with tecchou never get out of hand - most of the time he's not able to pick up on what you're feeling, nor does he stop to consider how you're affected as a consequence of his actions. in fact, he's surprised to know that you actually feel more paranoid than safe because of his constant surveillance - because unfortunately, as you'll quickly realize, tecchou genuinely believes his actions are helping you. you may be upset at his rigid rules but he only wants to protect you - he thinks you don't understand that his actions come from a place of good intentions, so while he's ready to hear out your concerns, it's impossible to get him to change his ways when they're so rooted in his personal values, and so he'll keep justifying his own actions to you. - tecchou feels responsible for protecting you from the evil intent of anyone else. due to this, he indirectly restricts your social circle so that all your friends are all either in the hunting dogs or involved with them in some way

- tecchou doesn't ever toy with you or harm you. however, that's not to say he won't hurt others...

- he revels in his ability to make any potential target tremble in fear from just his glare. and even if they don't back down from that, he has an array of methods to silence anyone who dares come in his way

- while tecchou doesn't consider himself violent, he's willing to dirty his hands to protect you. but at first, he doesn't actually consider hiding it from you

- it's likely a hunting dog member (jouno) would be the one to advise him about keeping it a secret. jouno's the one who explains to him that even if he was protecting you from who he deemed as 'evildoers', you'd probably not appreciate the sentiment

- in fact, you'd likely be horrified at the thought that tecchou would be so cruel as to harm someone who only wanted to talk to you. you could only justify tecchou's actions if you believed he was only truly apprehending criminals, which is ultimately why he makes sure you never catch him hurting someone else

- he doesn't want you to lose your trust in him, which is why kidnapping and imprisonment are also not in tecchou's plans; not unless he absolutely has no other choice. he fights off the evil from your shadow, and ensures that you are none the wiser

(softer hcs below that i felt didnt match with the rest)

- tecchou's not used to physical affection, but will quickly adapt to your preference. since he's physically a lot stronger than a regular person due to his modifications, it'll take him a while to figure out if he's holding you too tight or if he's hurting you

- he'll be happy if you want to join him while he's working out. whether you want to help out, watch or try working out alongside him, he'll appreciate the company

#yandere bsd #yandere bungo stray dogs x reader #yandere bsd x reader #yandere bungo stray dogs #yandere bungou stray dogs #yandere tecchou #yandere tetcho #yandere suehiro tecchou #yandere tecchou suehiro #tecchou suehiro #tecchou x reader #bsd tecchou #suehiro tecchou #tecchou hc #bsd tetchou #tetchou suehiro #tbh i like suegiku a lot so i prefer tecchou x jouno x reader more than just tecchou x reader #but also the hunting dogs are so angst coded with their monthly modification thing and their jobs that i just feel sad writing for them #bsd 🐟 #tecchou 🐟 #req 🐟 #hc 🐟 #its hard to write for him cos we dont really know much :/ #yes title is a play on That One Line #i absolutely adore it

[utilitycaster]

Hi I’m a new critter and I love your account and both your meta and your takes on “drama” I genuinely want to know (if you don’t mind saying of course) what you consider to be the most egregious, bad faith cr take that you’ve ever seen. I just like reading your criticism because it’s both incredibly articulate and smart but also very satisfying

Hi anon,

Thank you! I do have to say this is a difficult question with a boring answer but I'll give you a tangential one as well to make up for it.

Obviously, the misogyny and death threats in C1 are the worst! Anything that rises to the combination of structural oppression and literal death threats is going to be the worst, even before you factor in how utterly tiny the stakes were here (and, frankly, you shouldn't factor that in; doesn't matter what the cause is, big or small! Do not send death threats!)

The reason I tend not to talk about that is because there's very little to say. It's misogynistic death threats. That's awful, inexcusable, and dangerous in any context. But if someone doesn't understand how terrible this is, I don't think I can say anything to add to that.

Anyway because that was true, but obvious and not terribly revealing, I have been thinking a lot about mean-spiritedness in the fandom and I'll talk about that here. It's something I try to be cognizant of, because here's the thing: I talk a lot of shit. I'm aware I talk a lot of shit. There's many reasons why I talk a lot of shit. But I do try very hard not to be mean-spirited. I think there is a very clear distinction between criticism, even harsh criticism, of things you don't like, whether it's in execution, concept, or they just aren't to your taste; and mean-spiritedness, which is much more based in a desire to do harm to others.

I think again the example I've mentioned recently of people harassing Liam until he took a song off a Caleb character playlist is the pinnacle. This doesn't have any real goal re: criticism - it doesn't address an issue with the character nor the narrative and the only personal preference it reveals is "I, a random fan, don't like that this song was used in this context" which is not really relevant and you can skip it. Harassment is never justified, and even behavior that skirted harassment really served only to be a dick to Liam. It didn't have a single result other than "Liam takes the song off and feels kind of bad for a while," which I suspect was in fact the goal for most people, and that's pretty abhorrent.

Harsh criticism is not necessarily constructive, but it is with the intent to reveal - either a personal preference, or what you believe to be a flaw (structural, thematic, etc) within the story. It might not have a goal - personal preference really is just "I don't like this guy" and that's fine. Mean-spiritedness, however, exists just to spew bile and do harm.

So the following (most of which are paraphrased, but all are things I've personally seen on Tumblr alone, and nearly all are from the last year or so) aren't per se the most egregious or bad-faith takes, but they are absolutely mean-spirited. They have all destroyed my estimation of the people saying them for the most part beyond repair, and in many cases, if they have not hurt my estimation of the ship or character they were intending to support, they have certainly increased my estimation of the things they were intending to oppose. (And it goes without saying: any harassment - any - is automatically mean-spirited).

"I hope Fjord and Jester have divorced [author's note: they were not married] and I hope it hurt."

"I hope Caleb and that floaty fuck have broken up by the solstice."

"I hate Ashton, and Campaign 3 wouldn't be any different if they weren't there."

"My wishlist for this episode is that Chetney hits on Fearne and Ashton cockblocks him"

"I hope Fearne makes that robot eat his stupid coin"

"I'm not surprised that Yasha missed, because Yasha is bad at everything."

"Funny how Vex goes against her husband but does everything that Keyleth says" [Author's note: later proved to be hilariously untrue]

"No one cares about Travis's characters."

"Oh, Liam meant that Essek's own guilt would still exist by 'It won't help the inside?' I thought he was just being a fucking twat."

I think some people go into fandom not because they want to talk about characters, but because they see it as an opportunity to hit someone. I think some people believe they are entitled to a "win" (not normal to want nor possible to achieve and often less about the story and more about the fandom agreeing with them) and will engage in any tactic no matter how underhanded if they don't think they're getting it. That's what mean-spiritedness is in the end. It's not a single opinion, and often it goes under the radar compared to more stupid but less clearly unpleasant takes - a lot of the above didn't result in a ton of discourse because most people see these and rightfully go "oh that person is a tar pit" and block them - but it's certainly, outside of bigotry (which is also frequently also mean-spirited) - the most bad-faith approach to fandom on the whole.

#answered #Anonymous #cr discourse #cr tag

[pommunist]

I don't wanna say this under my own name because I'm friends with too many Quackity fans, but god, everything about his actions just makes me think that what he cares about is just avoiding legal trouble and protecting his own public image

And maybe also about his friends to be fair

(I mean to his credit, I don't think he cares about money either)

He says he's doing all this for the viewers, but I guess that doesn't include the viewers who care about the French streamers or the French characters

And I don't see any hint of him genuinely caring about the workers. This is not how you treat someone you care about. He keeps implying that he can't talk to anyone because of "leaks" but what the fuck could be so bad about the "leaks" that it justifies this kind of disrespect? Why is this secrecy more important than the needs of the workers?

Nobody's asking him to reveal his biggest secrets to the workers, everyone is just asking for him to TALK to them at least, and hearing them out

He also says he can't talk because he doesn't want to make false promises, then just say that! Again, nobody asked him to promise them a job in the future, we just want him to be honest and respectful! Just tell them directly that you don't know yet and listen to their thoughts on the situation! Ask them how you can alleviate the inconvenience if it's within your means! Just talk to them like they're fellow adults who are capable of having a reasonable conversation! Because they are!

The union mentioned that some of the workers had basically been told by management that they should be grateful to be allowed to work for Quackity Studios and ngl, I wonder if this is not only the view of higher management but of Quackity himself too. That's the question I keep asking myself and not daring to say out loud: does he see the lower level workers as just fans who should be happy they were even allowed to participate at all?

- 🐧

First I never mind anonymous asks so no problem dont worry !

Second I tbh don’t want to assume what Q true intentions really are because heavy speculation isn’t productive and can lead to more stress in general. However I think that we can agree that he isn’t doing it all for the money, given that we’ve always known QSMP was never and problably even supposed to be a profitable thing (just the hosting and translation costs alone point to this).

That said, I do agree that everything that has been done up to this point and since Lea started to reveal things seems to be more damage control and trying to avoid legal issues than actually trying to be fair to the workers. This isn’t even speculation if you consider the sudden firing of Twitter admins and the silent towards all the other admins.

Obviously, when you’re a company or an individual you wanna avoid a lawsuit at all cost. It is a logical business move, morally I don’t agree with that mindset ofc, and I also feel like it’s a misunderstanding of the intentions of most of the admins.

I don’t know any of them personally but none of them, so far, have publicly said they wanted to take the legal route or even sue Qstudios. In fact, most if not all of them have expressed their love of the project and wished for it to continue with better working conditions. Some admins also said they didn’t care about getting paid, that volunteer work was fine if they had done it without the stress and pressure. Side note if it ever comes out that some admins want to take the legal route to make their rights be recognised and be compensated then my full support to them.

As if he is doing all this for preserving his image (i say IF) then what a terrible job he’s doing. I hope I’m making very clear that QSMP and Q’s image with french speakers fans (and non fans, and other French Ccs) is in literal ruins.

Also I feel like there was a genuine wish to add different cultures, I’m talking specifically about the French and BRs here, but an underestimating of the work it takes to actually merge people from different backgrounds and that it goes beyond just putting CCs from all over the world on minecraft with a translator. The fact that there was no FR, PT or KR speaking upper admin at all in the team baffles me to this day.

Worst thing is that we probably only know like a fraction of the overwork, miscommunication and intimidation that went on behind the scenes. Heart aches for all of those who went through it. All the love to them ♥️

#qsmp discourse #quackity crit

[stromuprisahat]

Question: how do you justify what the darkling did to Genya, Alina and Nikolai? I don’t even mean this to sound rude, but I’m just genuinely curious how you just brush past that when you say the Darkling never did anything he’d have to apologize for 🙃

I'd start with stating that I don't like the word "justify". Google says its meaning is "to show or prove to be right or reasonable", which to me sounds like something that's expected whenever you're about to do something that might offend or hurt anyone. Like pre-made apology you owe people even though you might not have anything to apologize for in the end.

It's really about lack of better words. Czech dictionary translates "justify" as "odůvodnit" or "ospravedlnit", out of which the first one is strictly without that moral baggage. Closer to "give reason".

Aleksander's actions are often perceived out of context, as malicious crimes he committed for his own enjoyment, or whatever suits the antis best, while there are plenty of factors we shouldn't fail to consider.

Ravka- The country he loves, even though it doesn't love him. Rarely peaceful- according to Shadow and Bone, current wars last for over a century. Drained by both its neighbours, split in two for long enough it's pretty unbelievable the West is only planning to secede, poor, with ruling class, who doesn't care and has no reason to.

Grisha- From outright hated to respected, but in constant danger anywhere else, Aleksander manged to carve out a place for them under conditions. The Crown allows Grisha to live right on its backyard (to better keep an eye on), safely train and serve as soldiers or servants of noble houses, as long as they're useful, but... also has no need or intention to take it further. Grisha are glorified, envied serfs in fancy clothes. They're used by monarchy, despised and distrusted by masses, as proved by several little things throughout the first book and instant pogroms once the Fold moves (And don't forget there were no survivors- no true witnesses-, aside from few of the Darkling's people.).

His own lives' experience- Let's be honest- centuries of watching his people- however close- die, drawbacks, betrayals, constantly repeating history... gives one quite a perspective. It's a miracle the Darkling is merely numb and tired, yet somehow hardly unfeeling. Unlike the young heroes he possesses enough self-control not to start begging, crying, screaming... He's lashing out, when he has a reason to believe it won't bite him in the ass, he's petty and hurts others, punishing them for hurting him.

setting- Forget 21st century morality. If we're talking about 19th century-esque world, it wouldn't only have fancy nobles, dashing princes to play pirates privateers and masses of uneducated peasants. The reason people think the way they do is they got there somehow. Ravka still has servitude, for gods' sake! Lives don't matter the way people want them to today! It won't be only about some being rich and some poor, there should be huge differences depending on one's circumstances of birth, bloodlines, wrongs or slights generations old... I'm aware we're suppose to pretend Alina get a pass, because she's "Living Saint", but for example slapping a member of royalty should cost her. Bastard or not, you let it slide once, and next thing you know people are getting ideas and building guillotines.

Now to your question:

Genya is the easiest. She got punished for disobeying direct order, betraying the Darkling for a girl she hardly knew and who was too self-involved to truly act like the friend Genya for some reason suddenly feels her to be.

Aleksander let Genya close enough to be considerably honest around her, at least regarding his intentions with Lantsovs. Dangerous thing to do for a man in his position (and although I have my theories, this reply is no place for them). That's why he made it personal. She didn't only abandon their cause, she hurt him, so he took what she valued most about herself, fitting his revenge into her expectable punishment.

He could've had her whipped. To death even. Instead he chose more personal approach.

Alina's the messiest, because way too many feelings got involved and Aleksander's shit in handling those. His only lasting relationship is his abusive mother, others tend to die on him. Alina's a personification of a dream. Someone to keep him company for the rest of eternity. A companion he longed for for so long, he's not able to handle the bitter truth. I don't think he ever considered his "One and Only Equal" might not be interested in his goals and while he might rationally understand Alina's so much younger, he quickly loses his patience and decides to speed up her development because her young self is interfering with his general plans.

Now, while younger Aleksander might have been more passionate, he was never allowed the luxury of recklessness or even childhood, as a consequence of which he has no idea how to handle hormonal teenagers. Alina's worldview is incredibly narrow and she has several mental mechanisms to prevent her from changing that, while Aleksander's living in constant paranoia, possibility of fight or flight 24/7. They're incompatible the way they are- Alina unwilling to change, Aleksander too rigid and lacking the luxury of choice- yet in each other's way too much to merely split up. The Darkling needs the Sun Summoner as a tool and a symbol, and as long as he breathes, Alina won't have a chance to regain her beloved anonymity.

What he did to her?

The Collar was his hand forced. Unreliable deserter possessing the power he needed to ensure ceasefire.

What else is there that couldn't be explain by simple "They're on opposite sides of a conflict."?

The only other moment that comes to my mind is him burning down the orphanage, one of my favourites. The situation is thus:

The Darkling occupies the Throne (Yay!), but he lacks wide support, numbers and resources, therefore he's forced to rule by fear, which is no way to go, when he wants to build future, where Grisha are accepted. Who does have the love of masses, is an undeserving "Saint" and rogue prince, starving his own people, while being cheered on for it, because he's thwarting the Darkling at the same time. I'll ignore Nikolai for now. So, how do you catch a single person, who could be hiding anywhere, with help from anyone, while you can count on no one? You make them come to you. You make them show themselves under circumstances you control.

Alina already fled slaughter of others three times, one she even directly caused. She might pretend to be a do-gooder, but she truly cares only about herself and her otkazat'sya past. Threatening Malyen already proved to be fruitful, but that one's out of Aleksander's reach, so he tries the next best thing. Destroying her "home". There's also poetry in it- he lost his mother for Alina, it's only fair she'd lose hers. As a symbol of the past Alina's so stubbornly clinging to, there's even some chance it WILL really hurt her, which is certainly plus for his vengeful self.

Eventually it proves to be ruthless, simple and utterly brilliant. Alina falls for his threat and meets him in the Fold.

It's a beautiful example of sacrificing a few (The Grisha teachers probably stayed with the children for their sake, and residents of the orphanage were also just doing their jobs as far as we know.) to end civil war and bring the other side to heel. Ravka wasn't able to handle two-front war, opening third one was insanity and I'm genuinely surprised the country didn't fall (or that West didn't use it to finally free itself from East). With Alina's power under control the Darkling could've attempted "Peace or the Fold" again, perhaps even succeed this time.

And then we have Nikolai.

Second-born Lantsov thwarting his plans, proposing "his" Sun Summoner, loved by masses and army alike because unlike Aleksander, he's otkazat'sya. Goals? Same. Positions? Incomparable. Willingness to give everything? Yes for both.

In better world, they could've been allies. One easily accepted, the other highly experienced. But the story doesn't want that, so Nikolai is serious contender and an obstacle in Aleksander's way to "Fine, I'll do it myself.". He needs to be gone. Killing him would be easiest and most permanent, but Kolya fucked up, when he made it personal.

Tricking the Darkling, shooting him, proposing to his "not"gf, evacuating royal family AND Baghra, starving his forces once Darkles sits on the throne... taking away Nikolai's most valuable quality, while keeping him conscious enough to comprehend it is the way to go!

There's also a POV that says showing your essence down your rival's throat to irrecoverably change him might be seen as a romantic gesture or outright foreplay, but I happen to be a Fannibal, so I'm aware the majority of Grishaverse fans might find my ideas of romance a bit harder to digest (pun absolutely intended).

To sum up: Most of the Darkling's actions corresponds with his position of 19th century-esque war general and revolutionary attempting Coup to save his bankrupt country, while hated by masses and lacking resources. Plus a drop of clever, petty vindictiveness.

(And whole bucket of bad writing, because there are things that just DON'T MAKE SENSE- both regarding worldbuilding and characterisation.)

#reply #Grishaverse #The Darkling #Genya Safin #Alina Starkov #Nikolai Lantsov #Darklina #Darkolai #grishanalyticritical #Ravka #Grisha #self centred and paranoid #degraded!Genya

[antianakin]

@theneutralmime

Okay, we've got a lot happening here.

First, why do people demonize Obi-Wan keeping the truth about Anakin's identity from Luke. I'm probably not the right person to ask given that I'm not one of those people who demonizes him, so I can't speak to that mindset very well, but a lot of just feels like basic bad faith interpretations of Obi-Wan's motivations. Some of it might be the assumption that, if Obi-Wan or Yoda had just told him the truth, then Luke wouldn't have had to be told by Anakin himself and had that particular bombshell dropped in the worst possible way. Which, you know, MAYBE. But we also don't know precisely how Luke would've reacted to learning that information when he was younger or how that would've impacted his Jedi training, something both Obi-Wan and Yoda were fairly worried and cautious about. They're presumably TRYING to give Luke his best chance here. Of course then you have people claiming that Obi-Wan and Yoda lie because they don't CARE about Luke himself and only care about raising Luke as their personal weapon to take down Anakin and Palpatine, which is obviously ridiculous.

It's also just ignoring how much Obi-Wan DOES tell Luke. He explains a lot about what "Vader" did, how he was once a Jedi, how he betrayed them, etc. But he also talks about "Anakin" who he describes positively. He gives Luke the most complete and nuanced picture of Anakin that he can. Imagine Luke being told straight-up in this moment that his father is Vader. He'd likely never give Anakin a chance to be good at all because that information would, for good and obvious reasons, override anything positive Obi-Wan might have to say about it. But leaving that piece of information out allows Luke to continue remembering Anakin as a good person for a while longer, even after he meets "Vader" in person, so by the time he has to face this particular truth, he's in a better place to consider the ENTIRE truth rather than just get stuck on his first reaction.

And like you said, Luke himself clearly gets it. He's clearly not HAPPY about being lied to or the revelation itself, but he's not all that angry either and he gives both Obi-Wan and Yoda multiple chances to explain why they did it and their perspective on the situation without getting particularly accusatory.

So I dunno, maybe some people feel like Luke SHOULD be more angry than he is at Obi-Wan and Yoda and just project the way THEY would feel about the issue onto Luke himself. I can't say I don't do similar things myself. I often feel like people should be more angry at ANAKIN than they are in canon and like to just project that onto the characters when I can (like Obi-Wan, or Ahsoka, or Rex), so that I can explore the situation from that perspective. But, you know, Obi-Wan lies a tiny bit with the best of intentions and Anakin commits multiple genocides and enslaves multiple entire populations for several decades in a row, so I feel like one of these is more justified than the other lol.

I THINK what you're saying next here is that Obi-Wan might genuinely believe Anakin is dead, which... is likely only true for a certain amount of time. As per Disney canon, he discovers this 10 years after ROTS. Within Lucas canon, Obi-Wan is clearly perfectly aware that Anakin is still alive and out there since he discusses Vader pretty candidly as the person who betrayed him, so he knows that Vader and Anakin are the same person when we meet him in ANH. What isn't clear (if we don't take the Kenobi show into account) is precisely WHEN he finds this out, but he knows it by the time he's talking to Luke about it all. This isn't just a genuine misunderstanding on Obi-Wan's part.

As for whether I think things would've been better if he'd killed Anakin on Mustafar, I mean... yes? Kinda, yes. The thing about prophecies in Star Wars is that they tend to be kind-of nebulous things. Anakin IS the Chosen One, he absolutely is, but that doesn't mean he has no choice in his own fate. Anakin could, theoretically, defy that prophecy until the day he dies. Choice is really important in Star Wars, it's a major theme that Lucas chose to put in there, and so the prophecy is not DICTATING what Anakin ends up doing. Anakin was not always going to fall to darkness, the Republic falling to the Sith was not "meant to be" and neither was the destruction of the Jedi (if you've seen the Ahsoka show, you'll know that Filoni doesn't believe this and he's peddling a different story, so this is primarily within Lucas canon and the better shows like the Kenobi show). That prophecy isn't going to kill Palpatine, it isn't a guarantee of his eventual demise that the galaxy just has to wait long enough for. AT BEST, I think the prophecy is a guarantee that if ANAKIN tries to kill Palpatine, he will succeed. That's it. And I think he also has to be killing Palpatine FOR THE RIGHT REASONS or it won't work (for example if he's trying to kill Palpatine so he can become the Sith Master, he'll fail; it HAS to be done out of selflessness or the prophecy doesn't kick in). This also means that Palpatine could, theoretically, be killed by someone or something else. It's not IMPOSSIBLE for it to happen, just immensely more difficult and extremely unlikely.

All of this is to say that if Obi-Wan had killed Anakin on Mustafar, it doesn't like... doom the galaxy to be ruled by the Sith forever necessarily just because the Chosen One is now dead. It won't slow Palpatine down much, he'll still have the stormtroopers and the Inquisitors and people like Tarkin and he's still working on the Death Star. But it takes Vader out of commission, it's one less weapon of mass destruction on Palpatine's belt that he can deploy as desired upon the people of the galaxy. And it's one less threat aimed at the Force sensitive people of the galaxy. Palpatine can always pick another Sith apprentice, but they'd never be the same level of power as Anakin. So there's a lot of positives to Anakin being removed from the playing board a lot earlier, even if it means taking out Palpatine himself potentially becomes a lot more difficult.

That being said, it's a lot easier than when Vader is standing between Palpatine and the galaxy, so, you know, pros and cons there too. Not a single person is actually counting on the prophecy anyway at this point, so the changes are all fairly positive as far as the galaxy is concerned. But whether Palpatine would've actually ended up killed or not is entirely up to speculation. It could go either way, with Palpatine being more vulnerable and so he gets killed earlier, or with Palpatine being able to rule even longer than he does in canon. I like to think that Palpatine could be taken out by other means, even with Anakin out of the game entirely, that he's not incapable of being killed.

Also, there's nothing saying that if Anakin fails as a child of prophecy that the Force and the midichlorians couldn't just... try again and pick/create a new Chosen One as a reaction to Anakin's death.

#star wars #obi-wan kenobi #luke skywalker #anakin skywalker #sheev palpatine #palpatine

[to-mah-to27]

I truly don't know if I have to will to make this into a full fic but I can keep continuing the plot

for those of you who did not see it, I'm talking about this post au where Shun is the main character and it is the story of the Jet Black Wing

Ok so season three comes to a head when Aren finally catches Saiki in the act, but Shun isn't there and he confronts Saiki. And Saiki says "You have no idea the complexities of this problem. Just a naive kid playing hero." and Aren tries to fight him but ends up getting hit over the head and his short-term memory erased.

THEN

The beginning of season four is a replay of that confrontation but from Kusuo's point of view. And we're like whaaaat because in all three seasons prior we have never been in Kusuo's point of view before.

In season one it seemed like it would only be from Shun's point of view because he is the main character. But then after the reveal, it makes more sense that we don't see through Saiki's point of view because we aren't meant to root for him after all. And then in season three the point of view regularly shifts between Shun and Aren, further emphasizing that Saiki isn't meant to be there.

So when season four starts in Kusuo's point of view it is a big deal. And it is the same fight but from his point of view and Aren confronts him, telling him the same things he's been listening to Shun say for the past three seasons ever since he got Black Beat in his arm and he had to start following him around to make sure that he couldn't interfere with his plans. "Why are you trying to destroy the world! There are so many innocent people who don't deserve to die! What could you possibly hope to achieve?" And Kusuo responds the same as he did in the finale that Aren doesn't understand and he's just naive and wants to play hero. But even as he says it he is thinking that it isn't true because really it's -Shun_ who he believes this about. And he's been saying in his head over and over and over as he justifies that he still has to do this.

Because the world is a terrible place full of selfish, greedy people who pretend to care on the outside but will take any chance they can to use people and then backstab them. And since humanity has so clearly failed they need to be eradicated and start over from scratch.

And in all the time he has spent with Shun, he has seen all the ways the hero breaks that perception by being kind and giving and genuine in his intentions to help, expecting nothing in return. So he has been telling himself that Shun doesn't count, that he's just some naive kid who doesn't get all the evil in the world, who doesn't understand it or see it and he's only acting the way he is because of a sense of pride at being a hero.

But since Aren joined, he's had a sense of inner turmoil about this that he's been trying desperately to ignore, because Aren has those same kind, honest intentions Shun does.

Aren, who was one of the power-hungry people he employed to help him destroy the world, only for them to realize in the end that they were going to be destroyed too. Aren, who is strong and perceptive and who readily knows about the ill intentions of many of the people they meet. He isn't naive. He isn't even trying to be a hero. He just wants to help Shun, whose forgiveness gave him a new chance at life.

Then he erased Aren seeing him use his powers to sabotage Shun and for the rest of season four every once in a while there will be an episode from Kusuo's perspective, showcasing his inner conflict about these two people disproving what he knows to be the dark truth about the world.

Shun can tell that his good friend and ally Saiki is struggling with something, and he tries to help and to get Saiki to open up about it. But Saiki has never been the talkative type, so he can't quite get it out of him. Not knowing of course, that it has to do with something Saiki would never tell him, that he is the very enemy they have spent so much time fighting. And Shun's words of faith in him from season two echo is Kusuo's mind.

Is there a way to destroy this world without destroying these two honest people? Does he have to make them hate him in order to do it? Will Shun's spirit break when he finds out the truth?

#saiki k #kusuo saiki #shun kaidou #aren kuboyasu #The Jet Black Wing #Dark Reunion

[brachiosaurus-on]

/gen, i saw the “uncharitable jedi takes” in response to that last ask (i love it), and i just had a question about the “war crimes” box because it’s the only one i feel has a bit of… validity i guess? i know the typical response to that is the geneva conventions don’t exist in star wars and therefore stuff like false surrender isn’t a war crime but it still feels weird to me? i guess i’m just interested in the deconstruction of that accusation? again, /gen

Hello anon! Thank you for a genuine ask! I will try to give a decent breakdown of why I find the accusation flimsy.

So, "war crimes" is a box on the card because it's often thrown around as a very serious condemnation of the Jedi without consideration for what makes the accusation so serious. Usually the accusation is thrown with the intent of evoking an emotional & moral reaction against the Jedi through the same emotional & moral reaction one would have against war crimes. This tends to gloss over what actually makes a war crime.

War crimes are a rejection of the concept that war justifies brutality and inhumane atrocities. The root of this is harm done to people. This article is from the BBC and gives a brief overview of what a war crime is, why they were codified into international law, and some of what constitutes a war crime. (The article is dated from 2014, so you may want to find more up to date or detailed sources if you're doing more research, but I thought it was a concise & well-written overview that helps explain the point I want to make. It's a quick read, check it out before you continue.)

When people make this accusation against the Jedi, they often cite examples where the Jedi are fighting a droid army. Battle droids are not people. Battle droids are machines designed to autonomously kill people. These machines do not have any true choice or free will of their own. "We're independent thinkers. Roger, roger," indicates that each machine is individually autonomous and will carry out its designed function & programming as long as it remains functional. That programming is to kill and destroy. I reiterate: it will kill and destroy, on its own, until it is deactivated, destroyed, or given other orders.

Now I pose the following questions: is it a crime to deceive and destroy these machines? Should these machines be given the same regard as any life form? Is there harm done when these machines are destroyed? Should the safety of these machines be given equal consideration as the lives they are programmed to end?

Star Wars is not science fiction. It is fantasy in a science fiction setting. The sentience of droids is not the point and battle droids especially are not treated with any form of sentience in the narrative because they are not sentient life forms.

Should the Jedi treat machines with the same respect they treat living people? Or, do they have a duty to protect life from killing machines? Should they use the same tactics on droids that they use on people? Or, do they have more options to defeat the onslaught because they do not need to consider enemy lives as there are no enemy lives?

If the Jedi are to be accused of "war crimes" at least put a living enemy on the other side. Ki-Adi resorting to extreme weapons against the Geonosians? Sure, there are questions to be asked about the ethics, but to respond fairly, the full circumstances must be considered, and if it's to be called a war crime there's a higher bar for that argument. Should he prioritize enemy lives over the lives of his own troopers? When the willing enemy combatants are defending factories that build extermination machines? There is no perfectly moral answer; there isn't always a perfectly moral answer. These are situations where you get to make your own judgment call about the story. Do you think it's unethical? Do you think it constitutes a war crime? Do you think it's worthy of prosecution? How do you weigh your personal opinion against the narrative intention in your interpretation of the story?

When the accusation of "war crimes" is thrown at the Jedi, it's very often not accurate to start with, and ignores the reason that war crimes are so serious. I've seen many accusations of "war crimes" thrown that tell what a war crime is, but don't talk about why it's bad, because when you consider why a war crime is a crime, the argument against the Jedi starts falling apart.

tldr: is it a "war crime" if the victim is a non-living machine designed to kill living people?

Other people have written some good metas that explore this question from other angles, I'll link some below the cut if you're interested in further reading

This one (by @trickytricky1) goes into whether or not Obi-Wan actually commits perfidy in the TCW Movie.

This one (by @writerbuddha) is similar and includes an example of Anakin in TCW.

This one (by @monjustmon) explores what we know of in-universe laws regarding war crimes.

This one (by @smhalltheurlsaretaken) discusses characters that are portrayed as war criminals.

This one (by @lethebantroubadour) provides a list of acts committed by the Separatists which do have living victims and should constitute war crimes.

#thanks for the ask anon! #this was fun. I'd been meaning to write out my thoughts on this for a while but hadn't gotten around to it #with an engineering background I sure do have opinions about the design and construction of killing machines #but that's a topic for another time #also I'm glad you liked my last ask i had so much fun with it #brachio answers #prequels #clone wars #tcw #star wars #jedi #in defense of the jedi #brachio's meta #meta

[fugamsemidei]

He shuffles nervously. The little group waits for him to elaborate. He isn't sure if he should. He isn't sure if he can.

Victoria flicks an ear, speaking evenly. "Listen to me Paleo. I give all who come here the benefit of the doubt....but this is suspiciously timed of you. Sunset has just accused you of something dire, and the moment she's gone, you tell me you want to leave? Being vague about why? It comes across as you running from a true accusation, though I'd like to believe its not."

He swallows. He'd been planning to say this before Sunset's accusation, but since he'd waited, it now did look bad of him.

"I know, and I thank you for the trust you've had in me thus far." He begins. "It's not something I take lightly." He gave a light bow of his head.

Victoria narrowed her eyes a little. "I know I cannot prevent you from doing anything, but from what you've said, you and your kids had a very strenuous time out there before finding this place. What could be so important to justify taking this safety from them?"

The genuine anger in his tone startles the group into silence. His words spill forth with little pause. "From the moment I got them out of there it has been unbearably tense between us in all but a select few moments! Ark does not want me as a father, and Alburune refuses to even talk to me! The past few weeks have made only one thing abundantly clear: I am not suited to parent anyone!" He groans hoarsely, dragging his claws across his face. "I have no idea what I'm doing. You all do. It is simple as that."

Victoria seems puzzled, but she's still the one who breaks the silence. "....is that what you were lying about? Your intention to stay here with y...these children?"

He goes quiet. It wasn't. But it was a convenient cover story, so he nods. "I...in all honesty, this was approximately my plan since we left the facility. I...wanted to find them someplace where they'd be safe, and cared for, and then...go my own way....or...." He trails off. He had no plan, really, beyond securing safety for his charges. But he knew he could not stay with them, for them to be safe.

Unfortunately for him, the others do not react with understanding. They react with disappointment.

Nobone speaks first. "There's something I don't think you understand, Paleo. The three of you share something horrific and traumatic in a very specific and unique sense. That is something that only the three of you can relate to and understand. If you leave them, it will leave them with no outlet for that pain."

"They would grow up here, feeling isolated and alone in their grief." Says Knalla next. "You'd be abandoning them to that fate out of...what? Guilt?" Her eyes narrow, judgmental.

He swallows. "I...I am not fit for this role, it was forced upon me-"

"Then learn." She cuts him off, gaze hard. "Learn to be there for them. Learn how to make them feel comfortable. It is your responsibility as their guardian. You've got plenty of role models here, and all the time in the world."

"But nothing. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain." Knalla cut him off, voice going gentle at the end. "Please. For your kids."

"They're not-"

"Did you not see how they clung to you when you arrived here?" Victoria spoke up. "Like it or not, they see you as safety in some sense. You swore fealty to me, and I am exercising that authority just this once: it would be nothing short of neglect to abandon them right now."

He was trapped by what he was hiding. But what if he told them, and they decided it wasn't safe to keep the kids either?

He sighed, the nerves fluttering beneath his skin not letting his feathers smooth. "F...fine. I will stay and learn. For them." He relented.

He was met with grateful smiles. But the only thing he felt was dread.

#fugamsemidei #Long post #Pokemon ask blog #Pokeaskblog #Paleo Silvally #Silvally #Knalla Smeargle #Smeargle #Acacia Phantump #Phantump #Nobone Marowak #Marowak #Victoria Vigoroth #Vigoroth #Mirian Houndoom #Houndoom #My art #Story

[perky89]

I want to talk Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright. Specifically, regarding its less talked about themes of religion.

Major Spoilers for Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright.

Trigger Warning: Discussions of Suicide, Toxic Religion, Heavens Gate Suicide

Newton Belduke was canonically polytheistic, as we can see in his suicide note. And his beliefs mostly likely played at least some role in his decision to commit suicide.

"I hope you will be able to forgive me for leaving this world of my own will. I have finally made this decision, having seen that accursed bell tower appear in the flames on that dreadful night. That lightning was a sign that we have angered the gods."

There's a good chance that Arthur is religious, too.

Phoenix: "What? It's (Project Labyrinthia) a government project? But what would be their stake in this?"

Arthur: "...It's all because of my beliefs."

"Beliefs" does not always have to mean religious beliefs, but in this case, I think it does. The way that Newton talks in his suicide note implies that they both share similar polytheistic beliefs. Newton didn't say "I" have angered the gods, he said "we."

Let's look at Labyrinthia itself. Arthur places himself as an omnipotent, omnibenevolent God: He controls everything. He is seen as all good by the townsfolk, who all adore him.

Adore him to the point where when Luke tries to suggest that the Story Arthur writes won't come true, he and Layton are openly mocked by the townsfolk, and then openly threatened by the knights, and would have been arrested if they hadn't run away and hid. And even then, they got hunted down until the knights gave up.

And if that wasn't enough, let's look at how the townsfolk react when something good happens vs when something bad happens.

At the Storytellers parade when Layton and Luke first arrive in Labyrinthia, we get commentary from a few people in the crowd. One thanks him for her giving birth to a baby girl. Another thanks her that her grandmother has healed from sickness. But when a witch comes and kills somebody? They blame the witch, BURN the witch even.

Even more than that, let's look at Arthur's "death" in the final case of the game. One that they know he wrote, that they know he chose. That he openly declares will happen. They still try to burn Espella.

So, what are the takeaways we get from this game? Now, I get to the points of this little Tumblr essay I've written.

Point 1, many people do bad things for the sake of a religion that they truly believe. In other words, not just using religion as a cover up to do bad things, but doing awful things they genuinely believe are justifiable because of their religious beliefs. And sometimes, those beliefs hurt even themselves. Part of why Arthur started Labyrinthia was his religious beliefs. Likewise, part of why Newton committed suicide was he believed he had angered the gods he believed in.

In the real world, many religious people preach against transgenderism, homosexuality, abortion, and other issues of human rights. I believe the majority of these people have the best of intentions. They genuinely believe that these things will send people to eternal suffering, and want to save people from that eternal suffering. Likewise, I believe Arthur Cantabella had the best of intentions as well. I think, in his eyes, his gods wanted him to give these people new lives in Labyrinthia. They wanted him to do all this to help his daughter recover from her PTSD. He genuinely believed that, and it's part of what led him to do what he did (Espella, was, of course, the primary reason, as the game thoroughly established).

People can hurt themselves, intentionally or unintentionally, for the sake of their religion as well. I, like many other ex-Evangelical Christians, when I was Evangelical, was very hard on myself whenever I messed up and sinned. I once went to a youth conference where I and hundreds of other kids and adults were preached to that whenever we committed a sin, which the Bible says everyone does, we were saying we hated God. This, of course, does not equate to Newton Belduke's suicide. My purpose of using this example was to show how people, like Newton, can and do physically and/or emotionally hurt themselves for the sake of following their religious beliefs, and also to be sure that I used common, everyday examples, and not just extreme ones.

To get into a more extreme example that more closely resembles Newtons situation, the Heavens Gate cult suicide. 39 people committed suicide under the genuine belief that after they did so, they would be taken up in a spaceship, and avoid being on the earth during it's soon to come end times. The main reason Newton committed suicide I think was the guilt of having all these people under mind control. But as we can see from his suicide note, his belief that he had angered his gods certainly added to it.

In conclusion for point number 1, one of several lessons Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright teaches us is that the misuse of religion can and has led people to harming themselves and others, as Arthur and Newton did.

Point number 2, many people can and are pushed away, sometimes even kicked out religions entirely, for questioning religions and/or their leaders. And this even happens among religions. Lots of people, if you don't agree with their exact theological beliefs, shun you and are very rude in trying to correct you. I have seen it so many times online, and it has even happened to me. Countless people have left the religion their parents raised them with, and have been cut off by their entire family. This especially happens in more strict, extreme religions, such as Jehovahs Witnesses. In some countries, you can be arrested and shot for not following that countries national religion.

The exact same thing that happened to Layton and Luke when they first entered Labyrinthia happens in real life. Like they were openly condemned for not believing in the Story, people are openly mocked online and told they're going to hell for not following a specific set of theological beliefs. Like Layton and Luke had to run to prevent from being arrested, people have had to do that in certain countries, as well.

In conclusion for point number 2, another lesson that we learn from Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright is that many people misuse religion and believe their religion is the absolute only way that anyone should live, and they go so far as to shame and hurt other people for the sake of spreading their religion.

Point number 3, the double standards in modern religion. In several modern religions, many, but not all, of their followers take a similar approach to their god or gods as the Labyrinthia citizens do to Arthur. When something goes great, they thank their god or gods. When something goes bad, they blame a negative figure in their religion, other people, or no one. Or, often, if they do attribute the cause of something going bad to their god or gods, they say that their god or gods had a good reason, or a purpose, behind what happened. While, if they blame an evil figure in their religion, that figure just did it because they were evil. If a person did it, they did so because they were misinformed or also evil.

I certainly understand why this approach is taken. We as humans, religious or not, all have bias. Me, personally, when my best friend does something wrong, I say "Well, we all make mistakes." When someone I don't like does something, I say "Well they're just a (insert one or several curse words here)." Though it's an understandable double standard, it's still a double standard.

In conclusion for point number 3, a lesson Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright teaches us is that the misuse of religion of a lack of critical thinking within can lead to it's followers having double standard about it's religious figures.

One last thing before I wrap this up. While writing the conclusions for each point, you'll notice I emphasized "the misuse of religion." Certainly, religion can be misused and terrible can and have resulted. But it is not always misused. Religion can and has been used to do wonderful things, too. My best friends mom, who is protestant, got cancer, and a group of Catholics paid for all of her medical treatment and even brought her groceries. People have used religion to publicly encourage the love and acceptance of others. Jesus, in the New Testament, preached about loving each other and about helping those in need. The United Church of Christ actively promotes LGBTQIA+ rights, diversity. Several religions promote helping people and being kind to others. Every Muslim I have every met has been nothing but sweet. Believing in a good afterlife helps a lot of peoples anxiety about death. Religion helps many people find community and friends, as it did for me, though my former religion and myself have largely parted ways now. And when I told my friends in church that I had left Christianity, I wasn't shunned or pushed away, I was loved and embraced with open arms. Critical thinking was and is still encouraged, as it anti-racism.

Case and point, religion does not always have to be a bad thing. It can be beautiful, and it can be horrid. But that's not just religion, that's almost anything, ever. The fault for bad things happening is, for the most part, not the religions, but the followers who misuse it. What Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright does is show us happens when religion is misused.

and er...that's my unprofessional essay lol. while we're on the topic of religion, Imma pray that this goes well LOL

#professor layton #hershel layton #phoenix wright #ace attorney #laywright #plvsaa #plvspw #professor layton vs ace attorney #professor layton vs phoenix wright #religion #theology

[edelbleu]

you know, even tho some people seem to think that reo's actions were selfish, i kind of get him tho... i'm not justifying him lashing out to nagi, but i do recognize that he did it 'cause he was hurt, and it's completely fine to feel like that. no one wants to be left behind by someone we hold so dearly, it's not selfish (even tho we all know nagi's intention wasn't to hurt him, he just wanted what was best for both). i think their main problem is their miscommunication, nagi failing to express to reo his true intentions and thus hurting him, and reo not being able to see past his insecurities and pain.

their relationship is a really interesting one. sorry for the rant! just wanted to add my two cents abt them ♡ really love your blog!

You're so right, anon!

I totally agree with the notion that Reo isn't the one in the wrong for their fight - neither is Nagi. It's a failure on both their parts to properly communicate and express their true feelings.

I don't think Reo's reaction is disproportionate at all - let's face it, when I first watched (yes, I'm an anime first) the scene where Nagi joins Isagi's team, I gasped out loud, because I knew something huge had just happened, and I knew Reo wouldn't be happy about it. I think that was the intended reaction for that moment; it comes as a shock for the audience, so it must've been even worse for Reo!

At the moment Reo doesn't even lash out, he shuts down and tells Nagi "to do whatever he wants", which I actually think is a much more mature answer rather than start losing it in front of them. We now know thanks to Episode Nagi that he cries after that, and well - he just lost (or he believes he's lost) the person he's been building his future dream around for the last 6 months... of course he's upset!

And really, if we hadn't gotten to see Nagi's pov of that moment.... we wouldn't have known he was doing it for their sake, either. Sure, in the main manga you get the idea in later episodes that he doesn't hold any kind of grudge against Reo and that he actually looks forward to seeing him again, but... from a third person pov, it looks like a solo move, with the goal of "I want to get stronger", not "I want to get stronger so that we can reach our dream."

And the first option would've been totally fine too, but man, cut Reo some slack. He deserves to be a bit upset. Later things get worse before they get better, and I believe that's due to Reo having too much time to wallow in self-pity and listen to his insecurities.

Reo's denial -> depression -> anger -> acceptance emotional pipeline is really well-written IMO.

In the end, I think their behavior is... human, and very realistic at that. I was genuinely impressed to see such a complex dynamic between two characters in a shounen about football of all things, and honestly, that's what got me hooked.

TL;DR: Reo isn't selfish, he's insecure, and Nagi didn't help him realize he wasn't just moving on without him.

#nagireo #reonagi #mikage reo #edel answers #thankyou so much anon! #sorry for the word vomit i hope it makes sense #also #i am looking forward to seeing the “you're a pain reo” moment in epng #but also TERRIFIED #i need to know what went through nagi's mind to tell reo THAT #personally i believe it's the worst thing he could've said #from reo's pov #bc reo's been trying all this time to keep nagi's interest #and to make him see the fun in trying #so for him to say that.... damn #anyways im shutting up now #don't hesitate to leave more thoughts in my inbox!

[sammydem0n64]

Ok no but seriously the idea that Irving did genuinely care for Lionel. This is some kid who was 11 years old max (was 12 when he made SWK, younger than that when he made root beer tender, he could've been younger than 11 who knows!!!) who unknowingly kinda set up selling his soul to the devil just by downloading the coding program owned by the devil and using it to make his games. Some kid who wanted to be successful, a coding prodigy, and he made some genuinely good games for his age. And what if Irving wanted him to succeed too man. What if he wasn't just in it to get his boss more souls, huh. What if he genuinely wanted this prodigy to make it big. This isn't excusing his actions no no no this is giving an even more fucked up flavor to his actions, because he went about securing this kid's future in the worst ways possible. He still lied about what happened to Reggie, he still literally disabled Reggie in fact, he still literally told Reggie that Lionel wanted him gone. It was still horrible, but it still secured Lionel's future. SWK was a hit. His actions, to him, a fucked up fella, were justified because Lionel won. He still ruined Bryce's life, but Lionel still started an influential franchise. And sure, everything else from then was a flop, but he still tried to make it all work. He still tried to set SOL back on course. He tried to salvage Lionel's big break. And then when I think about it, during Lionel's self isolation after his company collapsed, the only person he had to talk to was Irving. Was he there for him when he saw negative articles slandering his name? Was he there for him when Waste World was leaked? Did he help as much as he could with filing those cease and desists, because he's not letting this man who he watched grow up have his work destroyed by outsiders? And sure maybe him warning Lionel that his life may be in danger after the raid was just company procedure, but wouldn't it be better to keep him in the dark? Not make him realize the Gameworks characters are sentient? Take care of things on the side? Instead of directly telling this man he is in danger, trying to help him survive? It's so dark in this cave do you think when Irving got shot his last few moments were him realizing he failed and that Lionel is going to die very soon that his warnings came true and that everything he did for this guy everything he did for this kid who he watched grow up was for naught THAT HIS GOOD BUT STILL SO MALICIOUS INTENTIONS RUINED HIS LIFE THE WALLS ARE CLOSING IN ON ME GET ME OUT OF HEREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

#ahem. anyways #long post #unreality #< bc of the walls LOL 😭 #THE GOOD INTENTIONS HAVE LED TO RUIN. BC THOSE INTENTIONS RESULTED IN DISABLING A MAN?????

[spunkypigeon]

I never understood Reiji's goals and intentions until I came across your blog. You have literally analyzed the entire game in such a detailed way that in the end you can't help but think about his psychology and character. I admit that before I read every one of your posts about this boy, I always found him to be the most boring Sakamaki brother and I couldn't explain his actions, but thanks to you I decided to give him 1 more chance. What I like most is the fact that even though he is your favorite, you don't justify or sugar coat him like many people do with their favorite character, but you appreciate, examine and explain his flaws and mental problems, trying to analyze like a true psychologist. Respect for the work you have done. I saw that you're planning more posts like this in the future and that you're going to try other characters like Ayato, who I think shares quite a bit of Reiji's personality. I can't wait for it.

Ah! Thank you, I'm glad you decided to give him one (1) more chance [even though you shouldn't, he's very rude]. BUT your point is exactly the reason why I wanted to analyse him in the first place. He's generally considered 'boring' or 'annoying' to deal with, and his dialogue can be hard to sift through if you're only looking at him at surface level.

I know I've said many times that I wanted More Blood done and dusted before now - and I genuinely thought I'd be finished, but sadly over 100k words isn't enough words for our boy - that and I'm ☆chronically ill☆ at the moment. I feel like a sick Victorian child lmao

I am getting through the transcripts, but very slowly. It doesn't help that I was on the verge of a stroke when someone decided to ☆delete☆ a section of my work. Thank you Ctrl + Z because I was about to invoke the most destructive gamer rage this world has ever seen.

I am glad that you decided to send this ask Anon since I never really knew how much this could help people understand Reiji (even if it's just from my perspective). I feel like the best way to thoroughly appreciate a character is to acknowledge their flaws, and I'm glad you're able to appreciate them too >3<

But I do think you're right about Ayato. I feel like he definitely shares a lot of traits with Reiji, but more so as his opposite. I feel like Reiji and Ayato have a ying/yang code to them; I stand by my interpretation that Ayato represents chaos and that Rejii represents order.

[For your diligence, please take this sanrio Reiji]

Also, mini rant: I can't be the only one that instantly thinks of Zhongli whenever they see the word 'order', right? The line just goes through my head like the plague, so now my brain decided to fuse him and Reiji together, and now I'm stuck with this:

that feels like a ☆violation☆ of fandoms

#diabolik lovers asks #diabolik lovers analysis #dialovers #pidge talks #diabolik lovers #“I will have order” sir this is a McDonald's

[cinamun]

Left field thought: Ryker was just a pawn in their elaborate kink.

Now seriously…

Dira felt left out when she was younger and sometimes that forced her to draw her own conclusions about a situation since full explanations and breakdowns about what was going on didn't seem to be so readily forthcoming when it came to her, or at least from her perspective. So I wonder if she has developed a habit of seeing what she wants to see-whether it's the truth or just her version. She makes up in her mind what a thing is and just goes on that. Like with Amaya, she just refused to believe Amaya's words/that two things could be true about her: she could both want to be genuine friends with Dira and she genuinely likes her brother. So I wonder if she had just made up in her mind what kind of person Rah was or what kind of friendship they shared and just dismissed anything that was said or happened that fell outside of that definition.

And none of this is a slight against Dira, rather observations, because true or not, it doesn't make her at fault for anything Rah did or does, but I wonder if she really knows how to be friends. I'm not on Rah's side, but he actually has a valid question, in a way. They were friends, right? And she just stopped showing up for the friendship. Did she forget? It looks like he was busy training in secret, and not that he couldn't reach out to her as well, parking lot interlude aside, but she just stopped going to the place they usually interacted. No real explanation. His actual feelings for or about her aside, there are certain concessions you make and courtesies you extend in a friendship and she didn't really do any of that. I mean, she's in no way obligated to do much of anything, but how can you maintain a friendship if things are only on your terms? Or does she not value relationships outside of her family? I don't want to believe that or believe it's intentional.

And Dira is not stupid, but her convo with DJ shows that logic might fail her when it gets in the way of her doing what she wants. She can't blame DJ if she gets in trouble, DJ's not the one sneaking around. She wants to do mature things, but she's not going about it in a mature way.

Now, Rah. No matter what led to this, he should not come out of this unscathed; the ends do not always justify the means. After someone works him over and he gets out of the hospital, he needs to see about some therapy. And he needs an adult in his life that would have noticed changes in his personality and habits or would have seen such inclinations develop and could have steered him. It's a little too late because he's already gone this far, but if he sees another day, he needs to see about getting a support system. He needs someone in his life that will tell him that he does not have a say in anything she (or anyone else for that matter) does just by virtue of his existence or any words exchanged. This is all based on speculation and conjecture because he's been MIA for a minute, so we really don't know, but nothing will excuse the Ocean's 1 antics that put him in that room.

I don't even know what to sat about Ryker... Is he sleeping for a bit or has he been put to sleep indefinitely?

OOOOOHHHHH Shit!!! Readers™ sound off in the replies!

This part though:

"but he actually has a valid question, in a way. They were friends, right? And she just stopped showing up for the friendship. Did she forget?"

That is a really good question and he should get an answer for that. I just don't think he should get an answer after felonious stalking, breaking and entering, assault and she's not even fully clothed so I'm sure there's a crime in there too somewhere. Not saying you disagree, just saying bro went about trying to get an answer in a way that will put him in prison.

Also!!

"She can't blame DJ if she gets in trouble, DJ's not the one sneaking around."

Someone mentioned that the reason Dira is sneaking and asking her bro to cover for her is because of the double standard Darren set for his daughters. She might feel like she has no other way to experience what DJ got to experience without being sneaky about it. Mind you, she's still salty that DJ basically got the green light to do it complete with instructions, however her dad wasn't so generous with his girls.

OOF!! It gets deep friend!!

#We still gotta beat Rah's ass on gp tho... #story stuff