Once I stopped wheezing, I went looking for what inspired this tweet. Apparently anyone consistently ripping into Biden and telling anyone why he's trash is "voter suppression". Liberals have all lost their goddamn minds.

so about norman’s ethics

The thing that a lot of people don’t understand about Norman is that he doesn’t believe in the like, political sentiments that he acts on in the slightest. Yeah, this doesn’t make it ok that he did a bunch of shitty stuff, but it’s a misconception to say norman like, genuinely believes fucking eugenics are a good thing.

And yet, he decides to act on the idea to degenerate and genocide the demons and seems not to understand why Emma wouldn’t agree with him. People’s explanations of this seem to be pretty much one of two minds, either:

His morals are corrupt: Norman wants all the demons dead because what they did makes him think they’re all bad and don’t deserve the respect humans get, which is understandable but still wrong, or

His morals are intact but he ignores them: Norman feels bad that he’s doing a bad thing and does it anyway because he can’t find a better way out, which honestly makes what he did worse, though Tragic.

The second one is more accurate, but still doesn’t completely explain his ideas.The truth is that, in my opinion, he just barely understands the concept of morals in general, and what’s ‘messed up’ is simply his priorities. That sounds like I’m saying he’s a twisted cycle path but I swear I’m not, it’s just like him having low empathy. This is another, autism thing, and it’s another thing that I have, so I’ll try to explain it as best as I can?

Personally, I understand and try to follow sociatal expectations for moral things like, you know, do not kill people and what not. Because it’s bad or... whatever. And although I can cognitively understand the reasons why people think so, I don’t value it in the same way. Obviously I wouldn’t kill a person, there’s no need for me to in a world like this, and it would be inconvenient and probably make me feel bad despite not understanding why it is bad. But I’ve known from a very young age if I had the power and reason to kill someone, I absolutely would, no questions asked. Not even the necessity, just a logical reason. Most of the time this means nothing and isn’t applicable in the real world, because most of the people around me would be negatively affected by it. But it means nothing to me personally, and if prompted I could change at the slightest reason.

This is what I think we’re dealing with in Norman’s situation. 

Norman, in grace field, has no reason to violate any intagible laws of right and wrong, in most cases, until the escape arc happens. Yeah, I do believe Norman probably lied significantly more than the average child, because he didn’t see any reason not to, but I doubt it hurt anyone bad, they lived in, well, basically a neverland. He’s just a slightly off white little man. But when he is faced with a risky and dangerous situation, he might look Correct on the outside but the closer you look the more you realize his actions are directly impacted by the situation around him, completely independent of any internal moral compass. 

Ray wants to only escape with those three, because although he feels extreme guilt for being the way he is and completely understands it’s a selfish and terrible thing to do, he’s too cynical to accept any other options. Norman initially agrees with him, because Ray explains the risks. Emma then insinuates she wants to bring the other kids, giving ideas as to how. Norman then switches to Emma’s plan because he believes it can be achieved and he wants Emma to be happy, not because it would be wrong to do otherwise. At the same time, he later ships himself out, without much consideration to the others’ wishes against it, because now that it’s gotten impossible to have both, Emma’s and Ray’s safety is more important now than their happiness. Though he can understand that they’d not like that, it’s not that important to him in the long run. He will choose the path that offers them the greatest chance, if the one his friends want isn’t good enough.

When he was shipped out and taken to lambda, what happened is he was put in a situation where the stakes become much higher. There’s a different kind of situation, and the idea of simply running away from the demons is obviously not an option. When he escapes, and basically adopts the lambda kids- now he’s surrounded by people with the opposite morals and ideas as Emma. These kids want revenge, they would be happy to kill the demons, their ideal situation involves that and trying to reach any compromise would be unsatisfactory. The overwhelming majority of the kids agree with killing the demons, and that idea makes him seem stronger and gives him more certainty and control over the situation, even if it’s difficult and hurts him personally, making him a “Bad Person” to Emma. 

Norman harbors no personal hatred towards the demons, nor any specific desire to kill them. He just doesn’t see any viable reason not to, and killing them provides both him and the people he cares about with a more beneficial situation. Emma is now the minority, and even though she provides an idea that could work, Norman, after seeing so much pain and suffering, is no longer willing to take the risk for her, like he was in grace field. He is incapable of understanding why she values a sense of right and wrong more than the actual statistics of how well one or the other could work- yes, they had different experiences, but she lost other people because she decided to take risks, and she still believes in it? It simply doesn’t fucking compute.

An important aspect to consider is that it still does make him feel bad not to follow a more traditionally accepted route. He might have low empathy but he’s not an emotionless robot. Not understanding morals doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a concience, though it’s much more ambiguous and generally equates to any other thing, such as the actual convenience, details, or certainty of a plan. It’s not of any more importance, and he is in a situation now where it’s inconvenient to pay attention to, more so than in grace field. So not following a Nicer route does take a toll on his Feelings TM, same as it takes a toll on his literal body, but that’s a sacrifice he’s fine with, it’s a sacrifice that’s significantly smaller than the chance that someone he cares for could die.

Generally, most Lukewarm Takes on Norman can be disproven with this idea (pretty much anything that insinuates he would see the demons as less or like, he’s doing it because they did awful things to him, understandable but hey this isn’t tokyo ghoul and he’s not that kind of character), though everyone is obviously free to have their own takes and I doubt Shirai took his autistic coding into consideration, so it’s obviously my own idea.

Although Norman’s actions have correlation with Ray���s before, Norman isn’t disregarding his physical needs and trying to sacrifice himself out of any idea that it would make up for what he did, he’s doing it because it gives him more control over his own situation, he values his own well being less than his family’s, and he doesn’t understand why it would be Bad to do so. If we’re really digging deep, it’s likely he doesn’t want to have to experience any real consequences for his actions. He understands that they’re Bad, but this isn’t important to him, more than anything else. He doesn’t want to see Emma’s disappointment because it would complicate things.

After Emma and Ray, well, complicate things, ie face him and force him to see there are real consequences to his actions past Ambiguous Moral Obligations (ex. “you’re Taking Advantage the lambda kids” means nothing until he sees that it’s stopped them from being able to grow as people and forgive, “you’re neglecting yourself” means nothing until there’s an idea brought up that could fix him, “you’re trying to kill so many fucking people” means nothing until he sees that it’s hurting the human kids.) and that there’s a valid flaw in his personality past that- that it’s not a strong but a cowardly move, he can move forward and attempt to change things, possibly give himself a fucking break. 

In that situation, with other solutions that Emma and Ray have opened up actually seeming to work, he no longer finds it necessary to Be Terrible and hurt himself. This makes him feel better, because he doesn’t want to be Incorrect, it’s just a difficult thing for him to understand, when most other things come to him naturally. I think in the future he can be more cognizant of the fact that he’s more suceptible to doing generally, unacceptable things, and vows to lean more on Emma and Ray so he doesn’t end up going down the wrong path again, because to him they all look the same color.

Yes, this is my long ass way of telling Shirai why the fuck did you let Norman be a CEO. That’s a terrible fucking idea, he’ll become capitalism, guys?! Don’t let him do that. He needs to be in a job where like, he can use his skills without having to make Ethical Decisions like... an engineer or something. Computer scientist. IDK. Just not a fucking CEO, not in a management position for anything.

Honestly, it’s difficult for me to even use the alignment chart because I don’t understand morals enoughto put anyone in the Evil category because the idea of ‘evil’ doesn’t exist for me. So yeah, I’m projecting, but in conclusion I just have a bone to pick with anyone who wouldn’t call norman lawful neutral. 

Friends and allies

Jirami sees Kyoji walking in the cafeteria and approaches him after she finished eating. “Nakamura!” 

Kyoji: Ah, Jirami-San! Good morning. “Good morning. This might sound kinda rushed but, may I talk to you in private for a bit? I wanna ask you some things.” Her expression and tone were serious and she tried to get into her work suit. He turns back to look at Mikan, who’s still eating her pancakes. He gives her an apologetic look and an “I’ll be back a bit” sort of hand gesture, then turns back to face Jirami

Kyoji: Of course. What do you wish to know?

She showed him the same drawing she gave Makoto and Kyouko, explaining the connections the students and some teachers had with weird incidents at Hope’s Peak. “I know this is kinda like disrespecting your privacy but in my line of work we do anything to get to the truth, help others and solve problems.” She lets him analyze it before speaking again.

Kyoji: He smirks before handing it back to her. I do the same thing in my line of work. Believe me, I’m all to happy to get the truth out there and make sure people understand what happened. I was involved with a lot of things at this school. Where do you want to start? \

She smiled while folding her arms. “I want to fill that blank with a name I haven’t been able to find and it’s bugging me. I thought you’d know since well, you’re kinda involved in my investigation.”

Kyoji: He ponders it for a moment. I can think of a few possibilities, honestly, as for what binds them together. It may be the man I helped create or the man I’m trying to defeat. 

“I see. Okay if it’s not such a bother, do you mind writing those names down? Just… Being safe, y'know?” She offered him a pencil. 

*He takes it and writes down the names ‘Izuru Kamukura’ and 'Maverick Storm’*

She chuckles when she sees Izuru Kamukura. She did investigate about the project and Hajime Hinata… But never wondered why he wasn’t here.

I’m really losing some skills…

She sighed. “What can you tell me about this… 'Maverick Storm’?” 

Kyoji: Hoo-boy, where do I start? Well, first of all, he’s the Ultimate Manipulator. That should tell you something. He ranks high on the narcissism and antisocial ranks on the personality spectrum model, bending people to his will, showing no empathy or remorse for anything he’s done. I should know, since he was one of my classmates. He put several students in the hospital countless times, including my best friend, Miaya Gekkougahara. She was left with an incomplete spinal injury thanks to him and never regained the ability to walk. Even before Hope’s Peak, there’s some evidence that suggests he triggered a school shooting and motivated one of his adoptive parents into committing suicide. He’s intelligent, determined, cruel, ruthless, but he can’t fight for shit. And as far to anyone’s knowledge, he died in a plane crash. But the odds of that seem…unfavorable, if you ask me. 

Her eyes are wide open at his explanation and frowns afterwards. “This is really bad… Even though I did not have information about him, I had my suspicious that whoever was behind this was alive and weren’t just pawns following orders from a dead leader, like what happened with Junko and the remnants of despair.” 

Kyoji: He’s less of a pawn and more of a wannabe leader. He joined the despair movement not because he was forced or manipulated into it. He did so because it seemed interesting. 

She laughs. “He sounds like the opposite of Kamukura.” After that she clears her throat and goes back to her serious expression. “Nakamura, I’m afraid something big’s going to happen soon. If there are Storm pawns here at Hope’s Peak already, then all of us are in danger. But I’d like you to go easy on them, they’re human still and can change. I think I’m asking too much, I don’t think you’d understand my philosophy though…” She didn’t make eye contact and sadness could be heard in her voice. 

Kyoji: I agree completely. Maverick’s the problem here. We get him out of the way, we can rehabilitate them. And if I may ask, what is your personal philosophy? 

She smiles. “I never thought someone would ask me, to be honest… I believe in most virtue ethics and Kant’s categorical imperative, basically."  

Kyoji: I see. Interesting branch of philosophy to follow. Kant did present some nice ideas. The idea of ethics and morality as reasonable absolutes, like mathematical formulas. Even if he was a pretty wordy guy. 

She chuckles. "I prefer not to deepen into the maths area that much though, I’m a humanist. So will you help my carry on this risky mission, Kyoji Nakamura?” She puts her hand in front of him, waiting for a handshake Kyoji:

shakes her hand

Absolutely, Jirami Senkou “…Thanks.” She wondered if it was fair to tell him her real name, but he would’ve recognized an UN and EU diplomat…

Oh well, he’d find out somehow anyway.

Kyoji: And…if it’s not too much trouble, can I share something with you? 

She tilted her head a bit as a sign of confusion. “Um, sure. What is it?” 

Kyoji: You say you want people to know the truth, right? Because there is a certain truth that precious few people know or fully understand. One that’s followed me my whole life and I want more people to understand. 

“…Yeah.” She folded her arms with a worried expression. “The way the truth is taught to us though… May differ, we come from different cultures.” 

Kyoji: Even so, I’m sure you’ve studied history. You know about Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, right? 

“Of course.” 

Kyoji: Everybody knows about them, but do you know what kind of societies they were? What sort of ideologies they embraced? The kind of ideologies that lead to the torture, murder, and genocide of millions of people. Eugenics, social darwinism, racial hierarchy, those sorts of views. It’s impossible to tease those apart from them. But they were not the ones who invented them. 

“We have to know history for we cannot afford to repeat those events… Is that what you’re trying to say?” 

Kyoji: Yes, of course. But the thing is that not many know why it really happened. World War II is often painted as the story of democratic allied good vs. fascistic axis evil. You wanna know the real truth? “

It can’t hurt to know.” She nodded. 

Kyoji: First of all, the concept of eugenics was the result of a man named Josef Galton, half-cousin of Charles Darwin. He heard about Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and choose to imbue its qualities onto the human species. His idea was that, by encouraging stronger and smarter people to breed, we could create a master race of geniuses. This view was embraced by the whole world. America, the UK, France, Japan, Korea, China, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Australia, pretty much everyone. The idea that the human gene pool could be “improved” by removing certain traits, namely by discouraging breeding in some. And by “discourage,” I mean “sterilize against their will.” In the United States alone, between 1910 and 1932, more than 64,000 people were sterilized for things like a low IQ, mental or physical illness, a mixed racial background, or even traits like alcoholism and criminality. This was before DNA was discovered and it was assumed that these traits could be passed on to children. These ideals were embraced to their full extent by the Axis powers, who followed a new form of political thought that encouraged the spread and domination of their singular groups. For Germany, it was the Aryan Race. For Japan, it was the Japanese Empire. Their views of being a master race were nothing new, but instead an extremist stance on already existing ideological values. They viewed their people as the best and that they needed more land in order to survive. This is why Hitler chose to invade eastern Europe and why Japan invaded Asia. It wasn’t for political gain. It was to acquire more land for more food production and to encourage reproduction of their people. A view of us against all. Eugenics, as a whole, is a pseudoscience and was discredited after the defeat of the Axis powers, thankfully enough. It does nothing but leave some people unable to breed. It certainly doesn’t improve the gene pool to just have smart people or strong people survive and reproduce. Galton failed to recognize that Darwin referred to survival of the fittest as being about adaptation, not strength nor intelligence. If you can adapt, you can survive. That’s what it means. You see the dangers of viewing the other as lesser everywhere in history. The idea that blacks were inherently inferior to whites is what lead to the enslavement of Africans. But people of all colors and ethnicities have been slaves in one way or another. You know why Europe was so advanced and places like Africa and the Americas so underdeveloped by comparison? Environment. There were no good animals for domestication in the Americas, no easy methods of transportation for the exchange of goods in most of Africa, and precious few crops that would grow to the extent that was needed for large civilizations. They were few and far between in some places, but that’s because they lucky. They found the necessary resources. It wasn’t a matter of White or European supremacy. Places like Europe and the fertile crescent were just places where civilization could easily take root. And people have been trying for centuries to determine the differences between people from around the world. Trying to take this knowledge and attempt to justify it with pseudoscientific racism. Skull measurements, brain measurements, skin color, ancestry, everything you can imagine. The irony is, had colonialism never taken off and humans remain on different continents, the idea of humans being split into multiple species would’ve become a fact due to geographic isolation. You keep two members of the same species apart, they will change over time. You understand what I’m saying? 

“I feel like I should be honoured by this knowledge. I understand, even though you’re not going to be our History professor you’d be great there.” 

Kyoji: The history of genetics research and medicine holds both fascinating and terrifying facts. And it’s these sorts of ideological views that lead to Hope’s Peak’s founding in 1937 

She nods and sighs. “It’s kinda frustrating what we humans must do and what we have to experience to really learn the lesson…" She folds her arms. "Nakamura, how do you think this is going to end? I mean, we already went through the Tragedy Junko created… 

Kyoji: With everything that’s happened, I don’t think people are willing to embrace a second tragedy. They will fight back with everything they have. But as for us, I don’t know how this will end. But I do know that I will see this through to the bitter end. I will not surrender the lives of my friends so easily. 

She smiled. "Oh excellent, you seem like you won’t fall to despair that easily either.” 

Kyoji: Some people can fall into despair, but I simply choose not to. Even with everything I know that’s happened, including the Tragedy and all the historical facts I’ve told you, I still believe in hope. I choose to embrace hope, kindness, and freedom. Despair is just another disease to cure, and it’s on its last legs. As an Existentialist, it’s my duty to adhere to my choices authentically. 

“It’s nice to hear that… It’s nice to hear I can trust you as an ally now, I guess.” 

Kyoji: Same here. Though we have a lot of work we’ll need to do if we want to beat Maverick. Fortunately, I know almost everything that happens in this school. And I have a tendency to plan for anything. 

 “Alright then! Now I won’t be so lost about what’s going on. Oh and… Thanks, for everything.” She bows after saying. 

 Kyoji: No problem. And Jirami-San? 

“Mm? Yes?”

 Kyoji: Be careful, okay? Try not to do anything too reckless.

He sounded just like him… She sighed. “I… I’ll try.” She turned her back to him just so he couldn’t see she was about to cry. 

 Kyoji: And please remember that you don’t have to face this alone. Remember that me and a lot of people have got your back from now on. Allies look out for each other in these kinds of situations. 

 “…Okay.” She stood silent for a while before replying. “Sorry, I just have stayed away from people for so long because I don’t want my emotions to get in the way… One can’t be unbiased if relies only on them and as a diplomat, I cannot have that luxury. 

Kyoji: I can understand that. As a doctor, I try to stay impartial as well. But still, in the battle against despair, we need to stick together. Strength in numbers. 

“I understand, it’s true. It’s just that I didn’t ask to stand alone and now I can’t see myself succeeding if there’s someone else by my side helping on this mission.” She wiped her tears with her sleeves, still not turning around to see Kyoji in the eye. 

Kyoji: Well, we’ll never know until we try. And in my experience, it’s good to have people who you know you can rely on. 

“…Even though there’s the probability they’re going to die in front of you and you can’t do anything to save them?” She turned around just to stare at him.

Kyoji: It’s a risk I’m willing to take. I’ve lost a lot of good friends already, but let it be known that I will do everything in my power to protect the ones I still have. I’m a doctor, after all. It’s my job to help people. 

“You say that cuz you’re prepared for the aftermath, you prepared for that, you know what you have to do.” Her tone changed to an American one, she would snap if she couldn’t shake off her memories. “I’m a diplomat and even I couldn’t prevent ourTragedy.” 

Kyoji: Neither could I. And neither could a lot of people. There are too many factors that go into this for you to blame yourself. Besides, dwelling on the past doesn’t solve anything. You learn from your mistakes, then you do everything you can to ensure you don’t repeat them. And I think we’ve learned quite a bit from that experience. I have faith in you, Jirami-San. 

 She sighs and looks away. “Thanks, Nakamura…”

 Kyoji: No problem. looks up at a clock on the wall We should probably head back now. I can tell we’ve probably got a long day ahead of us. 

“Yeah.” There’s a little bit of silence until she speaks again. “Hey, Nakamura? When both you and Miraz were attacked by Shirokuma, Mikan wasn’t feeling well and I wondered how’s she’s doing… If you don’t mind telling me, patient privacy I guess?” 

 Kyoji: She’s…doing alright. It’s probably just all the stress from the incident causing physical effects on her body. Nothing too serious. 

“…Good to know!” She smiles at the news. “So, what are we gonna do next? We keep checking stuff about Storm and we share our discoveries to each other?” 

 Kyoji: Sounds good. Although Hijirihara said he needed to talk to me about something after breakfast. Something very serious. 

“Well, you better not make him wait then. Unless you wanna share that info with me. Kyoji: True. In that case, I guess I’ll talk to you later. 

 "Until then, Nakamura!” She bows. “And again, thanks.” She walks away.