Everyone Talks About Kaveh’s Feeling Of Being Undeserving Of Happiness And Should Be Punished For Any

 If you are a chaser of freedom, the Anemo Archon will bless you.

Feels good to draw something stupid again

all this time i had headcanoned that neuvi kept an eye on younger wrio with the intention to take care of him and you're telling me it's true? sobbing.

i can't stop thinking about how it probably hurt neuvi so much to issue that sentence to someone so young and so hurt. even furina left the trial and was unable to keep her act. how gut-wrenching it must have been, especially with wrio admitting his crime and accepting punishment so easily. that ammount of resignation in, basically, a kid... it can only come from a place of so much pain. the chance to rewrite his own story and making the fortress his home truly meant so much to wrio. but i also think for someone like neuvillette, who is characterised for his immense love and compassion towards others, it must have been cause for great turmoil to know what was to come, and that the sentence he was issuing was just an extension of that kid's already hard life. the ammount of guilt in his heart versus the impartiality required of him as a tool of justice; in a way, a reiteration of the question that has haunted him throughout his long journey as fontaine's iudex: "is this what justice means to you? answer me, neuvillette!".

no wonder wrio is so fond of the melusines, too. we already knew from his own character story that they were the ones helping him when he spent time in the streets, but to know he wouldn't have made it without that help... of course he cherishes them so much, of course he holds sigewinne in such good esteem - who was likely the closest to a familiar embrace during those harsh days. i find it rather wholesome that wrio doesn't know it was neuvi's doing, too. neuvi was almost his guardian angel, and i'm sure the melusines were also happy to finally be able to do something for a human in need.

i had always wondered if neuvillete's help with giving wriothesley his duke title came from a place of wanting to fix what felt wrong so long ago during that trial because it felt deliberate, like the good deed of someone who intentionally kept an eye for the other and was proud of their journey. having sigewinne confirm neuvi's concern and curiosity with wrio's experience in the fortress is very dear to me. it reminds me of how genuinely happy neuvillette was when he noticed wrio's vision the day he gave wriothesley his title, like a silent aknowledgement of how far wrio had come and the good man he had become. you cannot tell me neuvi wasn't filled with pride seeing that former small hurt kid become someone so genuinely good-hearted, doing something as great as reforming meropide. maybe even relief, seeing things had turned out well for him despite his disturbing past and neuvi's own hand in his fate, in such a heartbreaking way.

their relationship has always been so intriguing to me because there's so many layers of complex feelings throughout their timeline. i find that most people ignore neuvi's struggles with his own 'humanity' and the constant theme of heart versus judgement, and how it likely played a role in his interest in wrio as well as their later nurtured friendship. but i also find wrio's reluctance in accepting neuvi's concern for him quite telling. he's reserved and we don't really get any insight besides what he tells sigewinne and his almost dismissive response, but i am so sure he feels grateful for neuvillette's unconditional support. neuvillette almost filled the empty place wrio's family left behind. not in a literal way, but how he kept an eye out for wrio is akin to how he keeps an eye out for the melusines. and can we talk about how neuvi was likely the first 'human' (in his own perception at the time) or older adult to be consistent in his life? i cannot imagine the weight such 'simple' things like consistency and unconditional love - and i mean this in an all-encompassing way - have for someone with the family-related trauma wriothesley has. wriothesley says it himself, his childhood has left permanent wounds in him, one of which is not being able to trust others. but to be able to find such reliability in someone else, that may also be healing to his inner child. they're very dear to me!!

Ma’at

Egyptian goddess of truth, justice, harmony, wisdom, morality, balance, and divine order

The goddess Ma’at is truth and justice herself, perfectly embodying these noble virtues. She was said to regulate various cycles and actions such as the cosmic bodies (planets, stars, moons), seasons, human behaviour, relationships, and the afterlife. It was this goddess who protected creation from isfet (chaos and injustice). Each god and human was believed to be duty-bound in preserving and defending Ma’at, with the Pharaoh perceived as her guardian. Without Ma’at, Nun (the primordial waters) would reclaim the Universe and purge all into chaos. 

Ma’at is the wife of Thoth (god of knowledge and wisdom) with whom she bore eight children known as the Ogdoad and a daughter named Seshat (goddess of knowledge, wisdom, writing, calculation, and sciences). Ma’at is most often depicted as a winged woman seated or standing, with her wings stretched out wide. Adorned upon her crown is an ostrich feather (a sacred symbol of hers) and she may rarely be shown to have an ostrich feather as a head. In one hand, Ma’at holds a sceptre while in the other, she holds an ankh, the symbol of life. Other times, Ma’at may be seen with a plinth atop her head, which may suggest that Ma'at was considered to be the foundation of Egyptian society.

Myths: At the beginning of all things, Ma’at is said to have been born by Amun-Ra (king of the gods) when he rose from the primordial waters of Nun. In the moment that Amun-Ra spoke the world into creation, Ma'at was born. Her essence filled creation with harmony and the ability to operate with good-will and wisdom. Thus, she brought order and peace from the nothingness of chaos, and created safety for all living beings. Her importance can further be seen in how Amun-Ra had stood upon her own pedestal in order to bring all of creation into being. As a daughter or “Eye” of Ra, Ma’at was thought to chart the course of the Sun god Ra during his voyage across the sky each day. During this voyage, Ma’at remains ever-present at the side of Ra, assisting him against the snake-god of evil, Apep, along with the help of the warrior god, Set. 

Judgement in Duat: Another role this goddess held was being a judge of the Underworld (Duat), within the Halls of Ma’at. When a soul was to be judged, one of her white feathers would be placed on the Scales of Truth, in order to see whether or not the person’s heart was full of evil or not. 

Upon reaching Duat, the deceased spirit would come before a council of fourty-two Judges (led by Osiris), and would have to recite the Negative Confessions where they must honestly claim to be free of guilt against certain crimes. After this, a feather of Ma’at and the heart of the spirit would be placed upon the golden scales of truth and weighed by Anubis- if the heart was heavier than Ma’at’s feather, it showed that the spirit had been evil during their life, and was then thrown to Ammit, the goddess of doom and retribution, who would devour them into unending torment. If the deceased was simply neutral, they would be sent into reincarnation until their karmic debt was paid off and they had learnt their lessons. If the spirit was found to be pure, they would be sent to the Field of Reeds, which is the realm of Paradise. 

Personal experiences: Ma’at is an extremely noble and virtuous goddess who values things such as compassion, courage, honour, wisdom, honesty, charity, knowledge, self-improvement, and the ability to accept responsibility for one’s actions. She is usually reserved and serious, though enjoys gentle music such as harp melodies. She also enjoys logic games such as senet and chess, as she values all sorts of mental actives and strategy. In her divine role, Ma’at presides over all the Judges of the Underworld and ensures that each spirit receives correct acts of justice. She does not punish the corrupt, as this is a task for vengeful deities such as Sekhmet, Nemesis, and Ammit, but she assists in swaying chaos into order and working against crimes. Ma’at is the patroness of judges and all those who seek to uphold justice and nobility. She may not be a judge herself, but is the Universal power that keeps all in balance and under moral guidance. 

Some of her Epithets:

Directress of the Underworld Justice

Lady of the Hall of Judgment

Lady of the Heavens

Queen of Earth

Ma’at the Beautiful

Perfect Measure

Right Order

Sustainer of the Sun

The Changeless

The Good Gift

The Undeviating

That which is True

Tracer of the Course of the Sun

Twofold Truth

The Measure of the Heart

Offerings: cold water, tea with milk, herbal infusions, vanilla cream soda, fish, chicken, pheasant, fruit (especially dates and plums), lettuce, chickpeas, olives, olive oil, vinegar, eggplant, hummus, barley biscuits, pistachios, walnuts, almonds, sistrum, scales, ibis feathers, reeds, small ritual drums, white marble, gold jewelry, sun pendants, white linen, clear quartz, selenite, white howlite, amethyst, angelite, banded agate, geodes, olivine, smooth river stones, and statuettes of herself *no alcohol or drugs (she hates these and always wants clarity of mind)

I wanna know ur Fontaine msq criticisms 👁️👁️👂I’m all ears

I'm not sure if you wanted me to talk about this secretly or publicly but! Here I go!

The TLDR: Fontaine MSQ aestheticised prison, poverty, child abuse, the justice system/court and didn't properly address any of it.

More:

Focalors/Furina has way too much of a sympathetic angle for a dictator who's lets people drown with her inaction.

Neuvillette feels Bad for sentencing some people to death/prison, but that's it. He's one of the most powerful people in Fontaine. If he felt like there are systemic injustices, I.E sending an abused Child to prison, he should be the first person to DO something about it, not just cry and be sad so the audience can be like aw, that's complex character writing isn't it? No it's not! And guilt doesn't absolve you!!!!!!! (These are stuff we deal with in OTCOJ read my fic now /j)

Meropide has children in it, both Sentenced there (Wriothesley) and BORN THERE (Lanoire), and this is just a quirk of the place. Not only that, Meropide accepts prisoners of all genders and crimes. There are abusers and abuse victims in one place. Do you know how bad that is? How much potential for crimes to happen in a place like that— oh wait, Meropide isn't under Fontaine's jurisdiction. If you are assaulted as an inmate it literally means nothing to the court.

Wriothesley had no qualifications when he took over. Depending on how long he lived on the streets, how old he was when he killed his parents, how old he was when he was first taken in by the orphanage, etc, the man might never have more than 4–5 years of formal education. Sigewinne probably had to teach him how to write reports. And do Meropide's spreadsheets. Edit because I forgot to elaborate on this one: This isn't a point brought up anywhere, which is bad, because when poverty and incarceration robs you of a proper education (and the rights to vote in many places too, too, by the way), it reduces your prospects for jobs, reduces many people's ability to get a home etc etc. Wriothesley was just, narratively, Given his position.

Meropide is an industrialized prison, and they portray this as a good thing. Prisoners are paid in coupons for their labour, and this is also portrayed as a good thing.

The One-Meal-A-Day reform was something Paimon gushed about being so great of a perk, that people might want to go to jail for food (could be interesting and reflective of systemic poverty if MHY had brains, but they don't, so I was just Pissed because essentially all Paimon wanted to say was "Prison isn't so bad, but still don't go to prison guys! Prison labour is really hard!"). By the way, in most real-world prisons they are obligated to feed you three meals a day. Because that's how much food a human needs. MHY went with one meal just so they can say "if you want to eat more, you have to work." And then the welfare meal is a goddamn gacha. So imagine you're a starving child who's too weak to work in the fucking robot assembly line, and you wander up for your first meal in 24 hours, only to luck in with a shit one. I'd kill myself.

They wrote Wriothesley, who's a victim of the system, into a guy who's say shit like "I'm the Duke I can do whatever I want" for a cool moment where he choke-slams an inmate (I know he was a bad guy. But also, in copaganda when cops are violent/disregarding protocols, they are always only portrayed to do that against bad guys, so what does our critical thinking tells us about this one?) They wrote Wriothesley, who was an inmate of a prison so bad, so notorious that it is the literal boogeyman of Fontaine, that has a legal (???) fighting pit, with an administrator who abuses his position to be unreasonable, to willingly stay in the place and become an Administrator who would choke-slam an inmate while saying a cool line about how he has the power to do whatever he wants. They wrote him, the guy who had to be fed on the streets by melusines, to think one-meal-a-day was a good enough reform (while he spends god-knows how much on his boat). This wasn't a victim-turns-into-abuser narrative either, they want all this to be seen as positive character growth.

And then, the final kicker is, they gloss over his entire abuse. You can only read about these shit in his profile, which most people don't because they don't Have Him or doesn't care to unlock it/read it online, and they jammed his entire backstory into a flaccid info-dump at the end of his character story quest. This man isn't Allowed to feel abused and neglected and show any reaction to it within the narrative of Fontaine itself, because if they actually Gave Weight to what happened to him, they'd have to confront THE FUCKING JUSTICE SYSTEM they had NO PLANS on criticising. I don't think they ever explicitly said the fucking Crime-Theatre nonsense was Bad either.

I could go on, but this is already so long. But yeah, I hope this gave you an idea.

based on this comic (x)

Harm & Mac's Love Language: Hands.

this tweet is so kageyama coded

Girls be FWB with a guy and get no benefits, girl that's a parasite 😭

Thinking about how it's possible that Wriothesley's trauma manifests in him being a man of action. He's always so decisive and tends to handle anything dangerous personally. It makes me wonder if he always thinks about the other children that he wasn't fast enough to save before he managed to kill the people that raised him. Perhaps he's not intentionally self destructive, but I feel like, perhaps, he shoulders the weight of every failure and keeps it with him, reminding him that he needs to be better, DO better, despite him already being enough.