The more I think on it I have exactly 0 qualms with Rue’s actions

Like they didn’t know Hob’s mission until ep 6 at the end, and there was that moment of surprise that it was his victories that led to the almost engagement - that was an interesting moment, especially as they tell him he was used. Rue knows plenty about being used

Also the conversation got cut away from right as Hob asked if Rue or Binx knew who had done it, likely for dramatic effect

Rue’s letter after the masquerade ball talks about wanting to KNOW Hob - what would’ve happened if that letter had actually been delivered? Would they have had a version of this conversation then?

And seriously like why THIS engagement? Why was this the one they had to break up? What was different about it? There had to be something, right??? I suppose it could just be a “straw that breaks the camel’s back” sort of thing, and it seemed like they were maybe thinking of revealing themselves at this Bloom anyway and meeting Hob tipped the scales, but I gotta know what sparked it

But no matter what it was - this is a being who was ripped from their home and made to be what this court wanted them to be, and they contorted themself into that box for millennia, working painstakingly to ensure everyone else around them might know love, or happiness, all the while being kept at arm’s length in their own court because of their origins

And something, whatever it was, finally made them go, “enough!”

That’s fucking revolutionary

And it happened before the engagement was even officially announced. Still scandalous, sure, but at least gives the goblin court plausible deniability

The whole season has had significant themes of This System Sucks so I’m just not overly Concerned about the reputation of the courts

Particularly not of a court that has been happy to use and abuse a member to the point where he gets so close to almost DYING because he won’t remove the DAMN ARROWS FROM HIS BACK out of his misguided sense of honor and service (that they knowingly take advantage of)

Hob, who has also been an outsider, who has dealt with that by fully sublimating his own sense of self, a full on trauma response

Who danced with someone 6 or 8 times and could only think “how nice of them to take pity on me”

But god forbid someone inadvertently make his terrible court look bad lol

And that’s the point, isn’t it - they’re all terrible

Love and happiness are not important, only perception, and power, and influence

The only one not obsessed with power and status is Binx’s court, and they got consumed, an easy target that wasn’t even trying to fight back, was just trying to do their own thing

Years and years and years of do this, say that, smile here, play nice, don’t upset the system, most too entrenched in their own survival mechanisms to do anything but go along

Which is fair enough, but let’s not hold the person trying to change things responsible for the failures of the system they’re trying to change

If people don’t feel like they have a choice, that’s the courts’ fault

And dismantling the courts is the only way out

Rue might be one of the only ones capable of that

After all, the Chorus knows the power they hold. That’s why they wanted them to join

Burn it all down, Rue

They have it coming

I’ve been following the (very good) reviews on the anime trashfire that is Platinum End on ANN which brings up the fact that the author (Death Note Guy) seems so unable to really conceive of a good reason someone might be against killing, because they so fundamentally disagree with a pacifist worldview, so they give the weakest sauce reasons that amount to “I don’t want to destroy my own happiness” and make it seem selfish.

It occurs to me the same thing happens with how a lot of writers struggle with Batman. They fundamentally disagree with his philosophy so they can’t actually make it coherent. I remember it was clear Chuck Dixon so obviously couldn’t conceive of someone not wanting to kill people he’d give explanations like “the cops would no longer tacitly sanction Batman’s actions if he killed people so it’s an entirely pragmatic decision”. Plus, then the writers warp the villains so badly and make them so invincible and make it clear there are no other options that it becomes such a fucking joke not to kill them,. And then Batman’s speeches about why he doesn’t kill become a mass of contradictions resting on a slippery slope fallacy or whatever. And then the movies (maybe not the newest one I haven’t seen it) abandon the idea, as they have with most live action superheroes.

It actually makes me, once again, in my FMA rewatch, admire how the series handled it with Ed and Al, because it never HAS them make big speeches justifying why they won’t kill people. It’s very obviously their deeply held principle, but the series doesn’t have them try to justify it. It just shows you the inherent value of human life over and over again, and the consequences of a cycle of violence. There’s a lot you can infer- they are children and shouldn’t HAVE to kill people, Ed and Al both had their lives fucking ruined when they were judged guilty and punished for a “sin”, how can they feel the right to judge others enough for sins to condemn them to death?, that they were taught a philosophy where every small life is part of the flow of the universe (Al praying over the rabbit they had to kill, seeing the fox feed her kids with their food and eventually sharing it...), they repeatedly see the good things that can come from giving people second chances or how killing leads to vengeance and even more violence, they’re aware they’re part of a corrupt military complex and don’t want to kill under that authority- it goes on, but the series doesn’t spell it out for you these are their reasons. It allows the philosophy to stand unexplained and respected on it’s own, but then demonstrates why it might be held with the plot- for instance, with how the world would have been fucked if Ed or Al or Winry had been like “I’ll kill Scar”, and how it would have continued the cycle, and so on. 

At the same time, it doesn’t really have Ed or Al go out of their way to impose their values on anyone else- they’re obviously surrounded by people who have killed and continue to kill (even Al’s gf does, never forget when May casually wasted a couple dudes in the manga). But they don’t actively lecture people for having done it (Ed has traumatized reactions to people being killed in front of him, but jesus, of course he would). However, they won’t generally to be party to murder and try to find another way if possible- and the whole thing with Ed and Kimblee demonstrates that even when you’re careful trying to find another way (Ed tried to isolate Kimblee and keep him away from others he would hurt when he tried his just-capture-him gambit, but it still led to Ed nearly dying and Kimblee escaping, and he acknowledged these were the consequences of trying to be merciful and that if had a cost and he had to bear the responsibilities), it can blow up in your face. But...Ed sticking to his principles at cost to himself did impress Kimblee enough he was saved Ed down the line. That probably wasn’t worth the people Kimblee killed after escaping (or is it since Ed went on to save the country? This is what happens when you try to weigh human life- ultimately, you can’t do so reliably, and once you start treating it in terms of numbers, and it can be to say what could or should have happened)..,,, but he also might have escaped if the murder plan had gone down as expected, so there’s nuance  Al also has no comment when Lion Guy (sorry Im Ed) kills Kimblee. It’s not something he might have been able to do himself, but he recognizes it’s the only option they might have and doesn’t protest when it happens, even was the one who created the opportunity, etc.

Anyway, Fullmetal Alchemist understands nuance a lot more than people give it credit for imo, and it does a lot better job creating representing a coherent philosophy on why human life is valuable that other media of the same ilk, mostly because Arakawa seems to actually???? agree???? with the concept, it has a more nuanced plot than presenting endless trolley problems the characters have to nope out of, acknowledges realistic consequences and differing values, and most importantly the characters don’t need to give endless speeches about why they hold the principle, they can just hold it and their background and experiences can demonstrate why.

A PJO/HoO - Danganronpa fusion

Because there’s very little I enjoy more than crossovers when it comes to fanfiction, here’s one of the many headcanons I spend way too much time thinking about when bored at the gym.

And hey, no one will ever see this so I don’t feel too self-conscious sharing it!

Komaeda is a child of Tyche, the most powerful one in recorded history—but his incredible abilities come with a price, in the form of his unpredictable (and devastating) endless cycle of miraculously good and catastrophically bad luck. He was born a danger to himself and all those around him, and so unsurprisingly was never welcome at Camp Half-Blood. After his parents died and he was turned away from Camp, he simply grew up wandering about alone all over the country, living off the considerable inheritance from his late parents and his own strokes of financial luck. This wasn’t particularly dangerous for him, as, unlike most demigod children, he didn’t even need to lift a finger to survive monster encounters, more often than not: his luck would take care of the beasts for him. However, while his luck always protected his body, his heart was left undefended: he soon came to see his inborn power as more of a curse than a blessing, as it always resulted in damage to himself during monster attacks being redirected towards innocent mortals. Komaeda leaves his resentment towards his godly mother carefully unspoken, but he has no love for Olympus; to him, the true God, the true absolute good, is the abstract concept of hope, as it’s hope that his life will one day get better that gets him through the day far more than the luck that protects him from monsters. (Thus, by extension, he’s Hestia’s most devoted follower, as she was entrusted with Pandora’s pithos near the end of the second Titanomachy. Hestia is very grateful to be worshipped again after so long, especially by such a kind, albeit…unusual demigod. But she worries deeply for this incredibly messed up child who adores her so unconditionally, almost seeing him as a son.) Due to his sickly body and the fact that he was banned from Camp and thus couldn’t receive combat training, he was unable to ever learn to defend himself in such a way that his luck wouldn’t need to protect him by causing harm to others in his place. This destroyed his self-esteem at an early age, and resulted in Komaeda forcing himself to develop a mentality of complete disdain towards mortals, so that their deaths in monster attacks aimed at him would no longer tear at his conscience. He greatly admires all demigods who possess powers he sees as more useful and remarkable than his, and will go out of his way to help them in their quests if he happens to come across them in his travels. As a child of Tyche, he’s able to control his luck to an extent, at least long enough to ensure that his temporary companions will only experience excellent luck while by his side; he reaps all the damage from his resulting bad luck afterwards, once they’ve left safely. Unsurprisingly, rumours of a “pretty but almost creepily helpful Tyche kid with incredible power, who’ll lend a hand on quests for free” spread around both Camps quickly.

Hinata is a clear-sighted mortal. Born and raised in New York, a city full of demigod and monster traffic due to its proximity to both Mount Olympus and Camp Half-Blood, he grew up watching heroes flit in and out of his life battling monsters, living fantastical, exciting lives so unlike the mundane humdrum of school, homework and more school that was his own—and came to envy them. He runs into Nanami by chance one day, and after befriending her, eventually finds himself dragged along on one of her quests, at the end of which he’s brought back to Camp and made the newest host to the Oracle of Delphi. He then soon comes to understand the true meaning of the adage “be careful what you wish for”, bitterly regretting his inability to be satisfied with not being special. The Oracle, having settled into his mind as a separate entity that calls itself Izuru, is cold and unfeeling and so very, painfully bored of a world that holds no secrets to one with the power of foresight. His apathy constantly bleeds through into Hinata’s heart, leaving him struggling with depression; Hinata is also tormented with traumatically bloody dreams every night, and feelings of guilt whenever he delivers prophecies that foretell a young hero’s death, knowing that his words won’t be enough to change their sealed fates. So it’s unsurprising, of course, that both Hinata and Izuru would be thrilled to meet Komaeda and become fascinated with this singularity who will never be killed by anything but old age or his own hand, who is so chaotically beautiful in his blessed, wild unpredictability.

Souda is a son of Hephaestus, obviously. He insists despite all evidence to the contrary that Sonia is obviously a child of Aphrodite and thus is meant to be with him. Despite acting more like a child of Hecate or Hades, Tanaka has an inborn connection with animals thanks to his father, Pan. He can tame any beast, no matter how wild, though he’s soft-hearted enough that he hates making them fight for him. Nanami is a daughter of Athena, gifted like no other at the war table. Despite her undeniable talent, some of her siblings are annoyed by her spacey personality and her tendency to treat all strategy meetings as preludes to games. She’s also uncommonly sweet and friendly for a child of the somewhat stuck-up cabin. Sonia is a spiritually begotten daughter of Hera (not conceived the usual horizontal tango-induced way because hey, goddess of marriage). She inherited all of her godly parent’s commanding presence and motherly kindness, and none of her overbearing possessiveness and bitterness. Kuzuryuu is a son of Zeus, but dislikes the pressure this puts on his shoulders to always take on leadership roles. He also hates being teased about being “pretty tiny, for a child of the King of the gods”. Unfortunately for those naysayers, he certainly inherited his father’s temper, if not his imposing size. Pekoyama is the quietest, coolest daughter of Ares you will ever meet, but make no mistake, she’s deadlier by far than all of her uncouth and bloodthirsty siblings. She’s also Kuzuryuu’s terrifying self-appointed bodyguard. Koizumi is a daughter of Clio, and loves immortalising little bits of history through her craft as a photographer. She has no inborn special ability for battle, but, being scarily protective of her loved ones, made up for it by training hard and is a master of knife fighting. Saionji is a daughter of Terpsichore, and thus a fantastic dancer. She wields tessen just as sharp as her tongue and adores Koizumi, firm in her belief that daughters of under-appreciated muses should stick together. Tsumiki is a daughter of Apollo with the strongest ability for healing seen in millennia, but can be surprisingly sadistic towards those she sees as enemies. She’s very self-conscious when chanting hymns, as her mousy voice isn’t much to write home about despite her parentage. Her half-sister Mioda, by contrast, has a voice like an angel and can make any instrument sing for her like a lover. Shame she’s a fan of screaming, growling death metal. Ah well, at least it does well in making attacking monsters’ eardrums and brains explode. They just “can’t handle how hard [she shreds]”. Owari is a daughter of Hercules, bronzed and beautiful, ditzy and fight-crazy. Instead of being satisfied with her inborn super-strength, she trained hard to surpass her limits since early childhood, and is all the more terrifying for it. Nidai is a son of Chiron, able to switch at will between human and centaur forms. It’s in his nature to push heroes to be the best they can be, and he’s always vocally thrilled to work alongside his exasperated but loving father in training demigods. His bulging muscles aren’t just for show, but he’s surprisingly pants at archery. Hanamura is a son of Demeter, and can work magic in the kitchen with just a handful of grain and a few veggies. He deeply respects life and is a bit of a wimp when it comes to blood, but is deadly with a meat cleaver. The Impostor is a child of Aphrodite who defies common standards of beauty by being noticeably overweight. They have the strongest talent for shapeshifting ever seen in a demigod, and is a surprisingly excellent leader. Yukizome, the ultimate homemaker, is a spiritually begotten daughter of Hestia (because hey, maiden goddess). Sakakura is a son of Hercules and Munakata, a son of Athena.

All the Dr1 cast are children of Roman gods. Naegi is a son of Fortuna (and thus Komaeda’s sort-of brother/cousin); Enoshima is a daughter of Venus who betrayed both her camp and the world by deciding to revive Kronos, who blessed(/cursed) her with the ability to see through time at an early age.