#hierarchy vis

[abitterberryblog]

heavy is the crown —

— and the head who wears it

vis telimus / twotm art by yours truly. took me days but .... worth it. hell yeah.

[xylavie]

“I’m going to make sure you burn for this.”

The Will of the Many by James Islington

I cannot stress over much I love this book. And the chills I got when this scene came up? I just HAD to draw it omg.

Can't wait for the next one! 🤩

[inuyana8]

Emissa and Vis. Still thinking about them

[lyssq]

I think it's very funny how basically everyone who matters knows Vis is a lying liar but they're all just dead wrong in guessing the truth

[dothestarsshine-art]

EDIT: definitely turned into a massive rant about Vander's politics, I tried to not be petty and I failed, I can't fix it with another draft, he drives me nuts. In this unassigned essay I literally will...

Vander criticism incoming because I re-watched the Sevika rematch in the last drop and holy moly did he do Vi dirty (What his guardianship style meant for Powder, Mylo, and Claggor all deserve their own posts) and I can’t think about Vi’s struggles without thinking about VanderLand™. Not saying he didn’t do good, not saying he couldn’t have been worse, just that…:

Vander preached against fighting, but lived (comparatively) large off of his reputation for fighting AND through the exchange of a blind eye from the enforcers in return for keeping his own community under heel. Grayson saying, “I keep out of your business and you keep your people off of my streets” or whatever, suggest to me the passes that Vander has enjoyed in his interests over the years.

His thriving business, the life he projects, no fighting oppression, only bar-keeping, but we see him throw his reputation around as a favor to to his friends, like Huck and Babette. Would the undercity merchant/business owner class want your protection if they knew what was up? Maybe, Benzo was on board. What about the rest of the undercity that aren't enterprising? Silco saying, "Not JUST for the Lanes, but for the whole of the underground," is huge.

It pays to be Vander’s friend, but no one else could possibly realize the success that I think he pretends he did. The lifestyle he's trying to get Vi to subscribe to (VanderLand) doesn’t actually exist. Everyone is seeing that but him and Vi is boiling over in confusion and frustration and self-doubt and anger.

If any other kids had caused the damage in Piltover that made Marcus go all ham, their parents would not have had the luxury of negotiating with Grayson, and I honestly don't believe that Vander would have turned himself in to protect them. When Vander or Grayson die, the little pocket of safety that he's carved out for the lanes will be lost, this only benefits a select few for as long as Vander can pull it off.

Bless you Sevika for leaving him behind, my god. The way he claims all responsibility for the day of ash is honestly just insulting. If you hadn’t led them across that bridge, maybe someone else would have, my guy.

Look at the lengths Sevika and others go to to fight YOU so they can have another chance to fight the real enemy without you protecting your cushy life (and kids, yeah, yeah, but it’s still painfully short sighted. People had kids the first time around, some people in the bar calling to fight back with Sevika surely also have kids. That’s -why- they want to fight) all over the conversation. He talks to vi like he opened and closed the book on revolution - get out of the WAY OLD MAN.

To Vi he’s like, Yes, I live a better life for myself, my family, and my friends leveraging just the sheer -memory - of when I used to fight, but you can’t.

There's a difference between self-defense in dangerous streets and planning a heist to steal your way through life, but he seems to lump them together. Then in the same conversation telling her that fists aren’t the answer, he checked quality assurance checked that she kicked Deckard’s ass, because ultimately that is what he expects from her. Attacking the root cause of gangs like Deckard's is immature and selfish, but you better be a good enough fighter to beat the shit out of them on call. WHAT a moving target.

What I saw in Vi’s delirium in the bar in the Sevika rematch was Vander dissing her guard and telling her she has no choice but to keep fighting, that she’s needed, whether she’s wanted or not. And yeah, it’s not Vander that said that, it’s in Vi’s head, but it's reminiscent of things we did see him tell her as a teenager, that message of “you are the only hope that the people you love have, you're responsible for everything that happens when you interact with them, you're not allowed to not interact with them, in fact you must -lead- them. Also, you're stupid.”

For that to be what her brain cooks up for her mentor to say to her to stay conscious and in the game, the way that she accepts it with a huffed laugh and it actually HELPS HER is so gaahhhhhhh.

Fundamentally, (in the admittedly very little we saw in act I of uniquely stressful time,) I feel that he offloaded the effort and responsibility of mentoring, nourishing, and raising all four kids individually, to Vi. He literally made the others leave the room before giving the soft side of his lecture in the basement, then barked at, confiscated from, and threw stuff at the Mylo and Claggor on his way back upstairs. To expect Vi to take his guidance in, make sense of it (impossible), and redistribute it to the others is not cool, and that's why he makes me grump.

[asoulwithoutdirection]

Never underestimate Vis's anger issues

(I didn't name the other guy as anyone in particular because, let's be honest, he goes berserk in every single one of his fights).

[beforetimes]

super fun how you can see the way the writers switched-up on vi's character through literally like. two lines. one from s1 and one from s2

line from s1 [paraphrased]: "we don't mix. oil and water" from the break-up scene

line from s2: "i am the dirt under your nails, cupcake"

oil i ascribe specifically to vi and i think that story does too, as the only time it's previously mentioned is by vander's when emphasizing the importance of vi's role to the kids that follow her around.

"you ask for a fire, they show up with oil" (also paraphrased). you could characterize oil as something inherently impure when compared to water and that it's used to degrade her but oil in the earlier way it was mentioned contextualizes it as a spark that lights a fire and is ultimately useful in the undercity. water as ascribed to caitlyn when looking at oil as a spark can be seen as pointing to an inherent unavoidable nature to extinguish vi's fire but whatever. that is not the point of this.

when vi compares them to oil and water it emphasizes the separation of the two and that they'll never mix, but something to note is that oil sits atop water after settling when someone attempts to mix them together. when vi takes agency to separate herself from caitlyn she compares herself to oil, this metaphor does not situate vi as someone lower than caitlyn despite the inherent purity associated with water versus perceptions of oil as dirty

the line from s2, though, spits on this by directly characterizing vi as dirt, to start off with. then in her specifically being under caitlyn's nails, she places herself as physically lower than caitlyn. like, she describes herself as this dirty inconvenience that can not be dug out. very stark contrast from the way she displays her agency in the break-up scene from s1.

i think the lack of care the writers put into her character in season 2 can be seen in much larger ways but its also shown through something as small as the non-living things vi compares herself to

[hvkno]

@asoulwithoutdirection @fantasmaglory y'all seemed interested 👀

listen, if i could make this edit with all of the hierarchy characters I WOULD. but i can't. so i picked my fave trio pls (also i'm still holding a grudge against emissa for [redacted] action)

READ TAGS I KNOW THIS SHIT IS MEANT FOR INSTAGRAM IM A COWARD WHOS AFRAID TO START AN EDIT ACCOUNT JUST LET ME POST IT HERE

[kweenluxa]

TWOM Rant: Rebellion

this is going to be me rambling but the way The Will of the Many by James Islington talks about responsibility and rebellion is so interesting because even though they realize that the people at the top are corrupt and the system they built is terrible, the anguis despises people at the bottom for being complacent in the system.

page 172:

"They were innocent"

"Innocent?" Estevan has just been listening thoughtfully but he stirs at that, offended. "Were they not Octavii and Septimii, ceding their Will to Canten, for Canten's purposes?"

...

"Should we not hold others to the standards to which we hold ourselves? Anyone who does not resist them, Diago, is lending them their strength. Is complicit in all that they do. The Octavii are not just guilty - they hoist the entire Hierarchy on their shoulders."

Estevan/Melior knows that the lower-ranking members of the Hierarchy outnumber the higher ups. It's important to recognize that when you are at the "bottom" rung of society you have so much more power than you realize. The Hierarchy has 24 million people and people ranking above Octavii make up barely 2 million people. They would be terrified if people at the bottom ever joined together to overthrow them because when the Octavii die, they are losing the amount of Will being ceded to them, making themselves weaker. It would be extremely complicated to go to war with the Octavii and keep their power because the more casualties there are the more exposed they become; either way it would make it easier for some other group to take power.

pages 281 - 282

"Based on a standard pyramid, how many people out of every hundred would you expect to be Ovtavii?"

"A little under ninety?"

...

"About ten should be Septimii, a couple of Sextii. Quintii and above don't even factor into it at those numbers, but you get the idea. Given that, with twenty-four million people in the Hierarchy, how many would you expect to be Octavii?"

"About... twenty-one million?"

"A little less. Then two and a half million Septimii. About half a million Sextii." He jots the numbers, then glances up at me to check that I'm following.

"So?" The rations do sound a little off to me- I'd say that Sextii were more rare than that- but then, I've hardly shared the same space as senators and the like over the past few years.

...

"Regionally, most communities are arranged so that the Sextus is the highest position; everyone else of importance out there is a Septimus. Census data from last year said that there are only sixty thousand Sextii, eight thousand Quintii, and about two hundred Quartii in the Republic. Not in Canten, or in Deditia. In the entire Republic" He looks at me significantly.

I frown, doing the calculations in my head. "That's..." I shake my head. "That doesn't change the Octavii and Septimii numbers much, but it means that one person in every thousand is a Sextii. Not one in every hundred."

The illusion being sold to the people of the Hierarchy is that anyone can become a Sextus based on merit, anyone can climb the ladder to become a high ranking member of society, is based on false claims. The people in charge of the system are greedy, ensuring that people have false hopes or believe that society is somewhat fair helps squash feelings of resentment towards the Hierarchy. If you are an Octavii it's not that hard to move up to Septimii?? You're just not cut out to be a higher ranking member of society. If you believe that you aren't worth that much to the Hierarchy and that you are weak and replaceable it crushes your spirit to rebel against them. This mirrors how people are sold the false narrative of how anyone can become rich if they just work hard enough. The factors that limit opportunities and growth are ignored, success is in reach and it is your responsibility to take it. Additionally, because they are so "weak" they need to continue ceding their Will to the Hierarchy in order to protect them from threats like the Anguis, like people who have to work in low-paying jobs with limited protections in order to keep society running. But this is why Vis is sympathetic towards the Octavii and other people who are complicit with the system the Hierarchy has put into place, when you have nothing, why would you care about issues you aren't aware of? The Hierarchy is corrupt, but it is a way of life for these people.

page 280 - 281

"A fair system only works if there's an unbiased means of assessing merit. When there is no pride or selfishness involved." He gives a soft snort, shaking his head. Which means that fair systems cannot exist where people are involved"

...

"The Academy's a perfect example of what he talks about; we're meant to be the brightest of the Republic, but almost all of us here are the children of senators and knights. We've been trained, educated, since we could walk. Of course we're going to be 'better' than some fifth son of an Octavus who's been ceding half his life, just so his family can get by. Especially at tests which are devised by the same people who trained us. Who decide what merit is"

They were born into a world where it is normal for you to give up half your life force in order to "benefit" society as a whole, "Stronger Together" and whatnot. If they don't cede their Will, they'll be whipped until they comply. They aren't aware of the disparities in the power distribution, the corruption going on with Military and the Anguis, or the horrors of the sappers. Even Vis and his peers are barely aware of the census data and the only ones who know the true horror of the sappers are Vis and Eidhin. Vis and Estevan are able to see the corruption of the Hierarchy from an outsider's perspective- a prince and an advisor who know the horrors of Will. But Vis' time in the Republic mingling with people who were born and raised with the ideals of the Hierarchy showed him another side of these people. He wouldn't have been able to get by without the help of the villagers when he had just escaped from Suus, but the Anguis had burned their village down. (pg 171) It is impossible to fix a broken system without violence. It is also impossible to have a successful rebellion without good people dying. What matters more? Human life or ending human suffering?

page 486

"No country's governance is perfect. Anyone who looks at a system of people and thinks the system is the problem, is a fool. But I also want you to understand that the Hierarchy's is far more insidious. Because it's not imperiled by flaw. It is built on one."

"The Hierarchy?" I was puzzled. The Hierarchy were a wall, smooth and strong and impossibly tall. They were an insurmountable obstacle, a force beyond my comprehension. "What flaw?"

"Greed." My father turned to me then, and his dark eyes held mine. The wind whipped us, a chill to it that far up. "Greed is by definition the moral ruler of the Hierarchy, Diago. All decisions are based upon it. It is not the strong who benefit in their system, no matter what they say- it is the weak. It is the ones willing to do anything, sacrifice anything, to rise. It rewards avarice and is so steeped in a wrong way of thinking that those within it cannot even see it"

Estevan and Vis’ father, Cristoval recognize the way the Hierarchy has brainwashed its citizens but still hold them to a higher moral standard. Vis recognizes the issue but is torn on what to think (I would be too if I was a double agent and always on the verge of death) 

However, he sees the way the Anguis works and how the people within it have to cede to its leaders. 

even tho they hate the system of the hierarchy they use it nonetheless with sedotia ceding her will to estevan

they have birthwright that means you can't kill people

"hate is a form of violence"

quote about the right to die from edwin

them working with the high ranking officials in the senate quotes

shows how rebellion is complicated and there are many aspects to it that are ugly but would you rather be in a world where you have to kill people to get the freedom that you deserve of be complicit in the suffering of 22 million people

hard choices to make

did I say anything meaningful at all? probably not but I finished this book last night and cannot stop thinking about it

[lanadel-heyyy]

close enough, welcome back peeta mellark!

[rocinanterising]

My interpretation of Diago/Vis from James Islington’s book The Will of the Many.

[abitterberryblog]

"caught in a landslide, no escape from reality."

silly little doodle, inspired by @lyssq 's tumblr post about his rad identity issues <33 (featuring how i imagined him, but close up!!)

[splankie]

i miss these guys already

[inuyana8]

Vis Telimus my son. I’m just finishing wrapping up The Will of the Many and I have been loving it so much! More art to follow.

[brblovin]

Oh Vis…Vis with his heavy heart full of so much goodness and resilience and anger and pain. He who is stuffed to the brim with a love that splinters out to make him vulnerable or capable—or both, really. Diago with his constant-whirring mind split in two…three? Four? He who chokes, gags, struggles, but swallows. Always.

[lyssq]

If I had a penny for every book about a boy of noble birth who watched his whole family be killed in front of him and narrowly avoided death himself, ran away and hid in an orphanage before someone unaware of his true identity recruits him into the regime that murdered his family (said regime presents the idea of everyone being equal while in reality being deeply flawed) and now has to work alongside people who would likely kill him if they knew who he really was, I’d have two pennies, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice