#like. the demons commit genocide. actively farmed humans.

[fullscoreshenanigans]

I appreciate that Shirai didn’t think this was a satisfactory conclusion to a conflict that had been simmering in the background for twenty-five chapters, but this was still one of the most disappointing moments of the back half of the series for me, especially when he notes Ayshe contributed to saving Norman in chapter 6 of the mystic code book.

“Recover from the stigma of slaughter” is an interesting way of phrasing it because as @hylialeia​ concisely phrases it in this post, Norman and the Lambda kids do deserve the chance to do this:

#this is why I feel he's so similar to scar from fmab #like I love the demon characters in tpn but it would have been extremely iffy if the writing had decided they were all suddenly innocent #overall the narrative does a good job of balancing that complexity #without veering off into that self-righteous bs so many stories try to pull #like. the demons commit genocide. actively farmed humans.experimented on them. brainwashed and enslaved a good portion of them.and that happened when there were alternatives! #even the more sympathetic demons are guilty of complacency in the face of this #and the reason I'm still able to root for them is because that sympathy #doesn't require norman or the other lambda kids to be demonized (pun not intended) #so yeah I'm not onboard with the idea that norman didn't ~suffer enough~ for his actions #the kid was raised as food and turned into a human experiment and tortured #the idea that like. musica or sonju should have been meaner to him or whatever leaves such a bad taste in my mouth #(ayshe is valid tho.)

But Ayshe is only given one impassioned sentence in response to her father being slaughtered that’s enough to make her fist clench in anger before the narrative pushes onward.

(Chapter 139 & Mystic Code Book Chapter 6 Q&A)

And it’s made even more tragic because Ayshe’s father was largely reclusive already after a lifetime of being made fun of for his misshapen face

Adopting Ayshe pushed him further to demon society’s outskirts, potentially not speaking to any other demons after quitting his job except possibly at the rare market exchange for goods he might need for her. There was no one he was going to tell about the Lambda escapees.

(Shirai does state he was part of the aristocracy at some point to explain why he knew the demon language:)

(So between that and working at the farm, he did implicitly uphold the system without questioning it, but by the time he leaves his job we can assume he’s only eating humans to maintain his sanity, or he’s somehow related to the group of aristocrats who drank Mujika’s blood 700 years prior so he has no need for it. He wasn’t actively fighting against it, but he wasn’t contributing to it in the last twelve years of his life.)

But while most of the Lambda crew doesn’t know any of this backstory, Shirai also notes that Norman knew the demon language by the point they meet Ayshe thanks to Smee:

So he knows exactly what she’s saying as he stands before her in the wake of her father’s murder. He doesn’t make any attempts to correct the others’ inferences based on their own experiences with the demons at Lambda. Ayshe either quickly composes herself and goes along with them without a fight or another word, or Norman plays her reaction off as her not being in the right mind after being her held captive by a demon for however long as they carry her off to the paradise hideout (I’m assuming it’s the former though because her dogs would likely attack in the latter scenario). And he lets all of this simmer for potentially months (the timeline’s not exactly clear on how long Ayshe has been with them)

(Mystic Code Book Chapter 7)

instead of talking to her about any of this despite knowing they made a mistake. Upon meeting with her again after the events at the imperial capital, he takes a few panels to collect himself before deciding on a single sentence to say to her, and then moves on. Ayshe contributed to saving him per Shirai, but we’re not privy to any attempts at him repaying her or trying to make amends. It’s a shame such a promising, nuanced conflict that should not have an easy, immediate answer was sidestepped to save on page space and expedite the series finale.

I do think it’s interesting that despite whatever he said being infuriating to her, Ayshe is willing to be in physical proximity to him during the timeskip, and her and her dogs allow him to hold a puppy.

(Chapter 181; fucking rip Vincent getting a new scar on his head)

Like many people I’m defaulting to him providing her with some form of a short apology in that chapter 160 exchange. He’s accepted that Ayshe might kill him one day, though after everything he’s gone through in his arc about the flawed thinking of sacrificing your life in pursuit of a cause, I don’t believe he offered her his life in exchange as part of any honor customs, or at least not while he’s still able to do some good in the world. Ayshe has accepted this, albeit not happily by any means.

Finally, all that said,

(TPN Exhibition Booklet: Tracks to the Neverland (Dec. 2020) Interview)

Really fucking glad these didn’t happen ldskfslk

[hylialeia]

okay but as someone who's tired of media doing the whole "the oppressed people were too mean to their oppressors" bit I'm thrilled that Norman and the Lambda crew didn't have to give a half-assed apology for fucking up the royal capital. like the narrative still makes it clear their overall plan was flawed and morally Not Good but the characters themselves don't get shamed or condemned for doing it because it's clear that they were the actions of 1) severely traumatized children who, 2) were actively pushed to those extremes by an immensely cruel and fucked up system. and even though it’s a small thing it just. makes such a huge difference to me

and that will always be better than stories trying to pull the rug out from under people and saying "see? they're all just as bad in the end~~" because if anything it goes to show that The Promised Neverland actually understands the power dynamic that it's crafted. even if it makes the choice to portray the complexity of both sides, it doesn’t pretend they're even remotely the same. one group, even if the situation isn’t black-and-white, is ultimately upholding systematic oppression and the other is fighting against it, and within the narrative that context is actually allowed to matter. there's a balance between showing that Norman's plan is wrong in principle while also being entirely understandable in context and it culminates in him being allowed to change his course without being forced to grovel for actions he took against his oppressors. finally some good fucking writing

[loominggaia]

Anonymous asked:

Inspired by another anons post and everything mentioned here about the green pact and advanced tech. I’m guessing it would not be to big a stretch to say that many of the nymphs heavy handed approach’s to making the peoples go green are actually having the opposite effect? Like nymphs overly bitch about and take action to demonize technological advancement, but the harsher they become about it the more and more it drives the people away from Gaia and towards tech?

 I know a similar phenomenon happened in the lore of Werewolf the Apocalypse, being one of the major defining historical events in werewolf history that drove humans away from Gaia and the Wyld and right into the arms of the Weaver and Wyrm. Basically ancient humans where growing to fast and were being swayed by the tech of the weaver and the corrupting power of the wyrm, werewolves being Gaia’s warrior and servants of the wyld thought they could restore balance by an event called the “Impurgeum” 

Basically the werewolves committed recurring genocides against primitive humanity in an effort to keep their numbers under control and violently remind them of their place on Gaia. The Garou believed this would actually keep humans under control and keep them in line with gaia and the wyld, of course it had the opposite effect. It drove humans away from the wylds influence, making them fear and hate wild places. Diving deeper into the weavers influences to build cities and weapons for defense.

And under the wyrms corrupting offers of power in exchange for destruction, many leaders took to actively destroying these wild places with pollution in the wyrms service. Ultimately the werewolves hade to call off the impurgium as by that point humans had unintentionally with the werewolves help become so powerful and defiant towards nature the werewolves could no longer contain them and where at risk of humans claiming revenge against them. Is something like this happening on Gaia right now?

Actually yes, this is basically what’s happening in the Zareen and Damijana Empires (and the ruins of the Burmek Commonwealth, to a lesser extent).

At this point, Zareen and Damijana are just too advanced to ever go backwards. It’s too late. They’ve polluted their territory so badly that they can’t farm on their soil or drink from their rivers anymore, so they can’t return to stone age living even if they wanted to. The pollution they caused will take thousands of years to break down.

Because of this, these nations are stuck in a war with the feral nymphs that has no end until one faction completely destroys the other. Either these empires collapse or all the nymphs die. At this point, these empires feel they have no choice but to actively pollute the land on purpose because pollution keeps nymphs away. Zareen Empire actually salts the earth around its borders to prevent titan nymphs from growing there. They refuse to impose restrictions on industry because they WANT a certain amount of smog in the air at all times--it chokes out any nymphs who may attack from the air.

I think in “Chains of Melody” it’s mentioned that feral undine are struggling to attack the villages of southern Evik because the waters are so polluted, they can’t stay in them for very long. So while the pollution is killing the Zareenites, it’s ironically also protecting them from nymphs to a degree.

Obviously this pollution makes things worse for everyone in the long-term, but Zareenites don’t really care about long-term consequences because they’re short-term people. Their civilization thrives on capitalism and short-term profits. The lifespans of their mostly-commoner populations are short. So ultimately no one here really gives a shit about Gaia as long as they die with a coffin full of money.

The Damijani have more of a long-term plan by colonizing the moon.  They’re just throwing trash everywhere because they’re leaving this planet anyway and don’t care what happens to it after they’re gone. Chieftess Serafeen actually has plans to ditch this pollutive way of life and create a green, self-sustaining utopia once they arrive.

Hope that makes sense!

*

Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

[blodreina-noumou]

| the 100: “for my people” | a definitive list of lives lost and bad decisions made - part one |

by character, in alphabetical order, and in chronological order by season

featuring: Major Members of The Hundred aka The Delinquents

tl;dr

Bellamy Blake

s1 - Took Octavia to a dance, leading to the death of Aurora and the imprisonment of his younger sister; told Charlotte to “slay her demons”, leading to the death of Wells; incited disobedience and chaos among The Hundred, leading to the death of Charlotte and the near-lynching of Murphy; destroyed Raven’s radio when she landed, leading to the Culling of the Ark (300 deaths); ordered The Hundred into a dangerous search for his sister, leading to the deaths of Mbege, Diggs, and Roma; tortured Lincoln to get information about the grounders out of him

s2 - Participated in the genocide of the Mountain Men in order to save Arkadians from bone marrow harvesting, leading to the deaths of nearly 400 and completely wiping out the population

s3 - Sided with Pike politically, leading to the deaths of 300 more grounder warriors, some of which he personally killed while they were unarmed and taken by surprise

s4 - Agreed to blow up the water-filter machine in Farm Station to save the slaves there, making it impossible to use in Arkadia during Praimfaya 2.0; resisted Clarke’s attempts to seal the bunker from the grounders, leading to the deaths of hundreds

s5 - Encouraged Madi to take the Flame, burdening yet another grounder child with the responsibility of being a warlord

Total (Estimated) Body Count For His People: 1000+

Octavia Blake

s2 - Provided combat support to Clarke, Bellamy, and Monty in the genocide of Mount Weather, contributing to hundreds of deaths and killing several people personally

s3 - Warned grounder villagers of impending Skaikru attack, leading to the death of Zoe Monroe; maintained pro-killing stance, further convincing Luna not to take the flame and defeat ALIE

s4 - Won the Conclave, killing Luna (who was, unfortunately, one of the only sources of their salvation aka nightblood) in the process

s5 - “You are wonkru, or you are the enemy of wonkru. Choose.”; started the fighting pits as means of population control and reduction in the bunker; “eat or die”; burned the crops Monty had nursed back to life and forced wonkru to march against Eligius, leading to the deaths of nearly 1000 people total, and the near-genocide of wonkru

Total (Estimated) Body Count For Her People: 1000+

Finn Collins

s2 - Shot an unarmed and bound grounder in the head; massacred 18 unarmed grounders in Tondc while searching for Clarke

Total Body Count For His People: 19 🙃

Monty Green

s2 - Reversed the air pumps in Mount Weather, allowing Clarke and Bellamy to genocide the 400 people living there

s3 - Killed his mother to save Octavia

s4 - Convinced the others to blow up the water-filter machine

Total Body Count For His People: ~400

Clarke Griffin

s1 - Promised to tell the Ark about what Jake Griffin discovered, leading to the mission which sent The Hundred to the ground, and nearly all of their eventual deaths; incited a mob against Murphy for the death of Wells, leading to Murphy’s near-lynching and Charlotte’s suicide; banished Murphy afterwards, leading him to being tortured by the grounders, who then had enough information to siege Camp Jaha; encouraged the delinquents to leave the camp, leading to the deaths of a handful of them; pulled the lever that closed the dropship doors, leading to the deaths of 300 grounder warriors and dozens of delinquents in the ring of fire

s2 - Allowed the bombing of Tondc in order to protect Bellamy’s status as infiltrator of Mount Weather, leading to the deaths of hundreds; killed Dante Wallace; pulled the lever that irradiated Mount Weather, leading to the genocide of 400

s3 - Convinced Skaikru to join the Coalition, leading to Pike’s emboldened rebellion; remained with Lexa after the kill order was in place, leading to Lexa’s death; made the choice, alone, to terminate ALIE, one of humanity’s last chances for salvation against the coming second apocalypse; 

s4 - Lied to Arkadians and grounders alike about likelihood of surviving Praimfaya again, forcing them to work for the remaining days of their short and tragic lives; stole the bunker without waiting to see if Octavia could win the Conclave

s5 - Killed several Eligius prisoners to protect Madi; left Bellamy, Gaia, and Indra to die in the fighting pit; sided with McCreary to protect Madi, allowing him to bomb the last remaining livable space on planet Earth

Total (Estimated) Body Count For Her People: 1000+

Jasper Jordan

s1 - Pulled the trigger that caused the bomb on the bridge to explode, killing many grounders, including young apprentice warriors; spliced the wires necessary to cause the rocket to “blast off”, contributing to the deaths of 300 grounders and dozens of delinquents

s4 - Convinced dozens of others to commit suicide using jobi tea

Total (Estimated) Body Count For His People: 300+

John Murphy

s1 - Peed on that one guy who wanted a water break to force him to keep working; incited mob mentality against Charlotte, causing her to commit suicide; broke under torture and revealed all of The Hundred’s secrets to the grounders; returned to camp with the blood sickness, infecting dozens and causing the deaths of a few more; murdered two of the boys responsible for attempting to lynch him; attempted to lynch Bellamy for revenge; shot Raven while she attempted to free Bellamy, permanently disabling her; activated many of the mines near the dropship camp, likely leading to the deaths of many delinquents in the coming battle

s2 - Convinced the others to trust Emori, leading to her robbing them and causing the (offscreen) deaths of several Arkadians

Total Body Count For His People: <12

Raven Reyes

s1 - Planted the bomb between the dropship camp and the grounders, killing many grounders, including young apprentice warriors; fixed the rockets to “blast off”, creating the ring of fire that kills 300 grounder warriors and dozens of delinquents

s2 - Caused damage to the dam at Mount Weather, allowing for the genocide to take place

s4 - Pushed Clarke hard to make The List, forcing her hand and then letting Clarke take all of the blame for it; changed her mind about surviving Praimfaya 2.0 when it was almost too late, which leads to Clarke being stranded on Earth for six years

Total Body Count For Her People: ~700

Before You Reply:

all data taken from The 100 Wikia and/or my own memory

some of these are up for debate and include actions which indirectly impact deaths of other characters; some don’t lead to death at all, but are abhorrent enough to warrant inclusion anyway (seriously Murphy?? peeing on someone who wants water!?!? he was such an ass in s1)

choices made solely for selfish reasons not included; i.e. Clarke leaving Arkadia at the end of s2, Finn hiding the existence of the “art supply store” bunker, Octavia assaulting Bellamy, etc

if I missed anything, lmk and I’ll add it

I will also update as the show goes on, as of right now this list includes only s1-s5

I will make other lists for other groups (Team Adult, The Grounders, etc) if this gets reasonable traction - it took a long time and it’s probably going to open me up to some angry reblogs, so I’ll only do it again if people find it useful. 🙃

Feel free to link back to this anytime someone says “X did this which makes them evil!” while ignoring that Y did the same thing two seasons ago...

[phgq]

PH gov't partner, protector of IPs contrary to Reds' claims

#PHnews: PH gov't partner, protector of IPs contrary to Reds' claims

MANILA -- Contrary to claims made by Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) and its allies, the Philippine government is not the enemy of the country's Indigenous Peoples (IPs) but their staunchest partner and protector.

This, according to Secretary Allen Capuyan, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) chairperson, in his speech during a side event of the 42nd session of the United Nations Human Right Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday.

Efforts to demonize the Philippines, Capuyan said, is part of the ongoing efforts of "certain interest groups" who are working to overthrow the country's democratic institutions and using alleged abuses committed against IPs as one of their weapons.

"In every UNHRC session, they have waged massive heavily funded disinformation campaigns that purvey falsehoods on alleged human rights violations by the Philippine government against indigenous peoples, with the sole objective of shaming our country before the eyes of the world," he said.

Capuyan added that it high time that the Philippines do something about the lies and deception being perpetrated by the CPP-NPA concerning the government's alleged ill-treatment of IPs.

The government is combating these lies by telling the truth, he added.

"The Philippine government is a promoter, protector, and fulfiller of the rights of every Filipino citizen, especially its indigenous peoples. And it does so guided by a clear normative framework on indigenous peoples rights," he said.

This is proven by the country's adherence to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ especially on its inclusivity provision on the coverage of rights and freedoms, principles which Philippine commitment remains firm and unwavering, Capuyan said.

"We are a State party to the eight-core human rights instruments, foremost in this regard is the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination as it applies to indigenous Filipino peoples," he said.

This, he said, is very important as these are the foundations that define the 1987 Philippine Constitution as a human rights and freedom instrument.

"In 1997, from out of these directions emerged the Indigenous People’s Rights Act, predating the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by 10 years," he added.

IPs protection

Capuyan is also pleased to note the country has set appropriate mechanisms to protect its IPs.

Part of this effort is the creation of the NCIP which is mandated as the Philippines' lead agency to recognize, promote and protect the well-being of IP with due regard to their customs and traditions, he said.

"The State-led Indigenous People’s Participation Framework sustains the active involvement of Indigenous Peoples in government decision-making, especially in self and community development," he added.

With these mechanisms in place, Capuyan said significant milestones for the IPs have been obtained like recognition of the indigenous right to native titles, the sustainability of development and protection of ancestral domains, mandatory representation of indigenous peoples in local governments, recognition of indigenous governance structures and systems, and improved access to education.

"These milestones are reflected in the Philippines’ periodic reports to the UN, specifically to the UNHRC under its Universal Periodic Review, as well as in State compliance reports that are regularly submitted to the relevant treaty bodies. And we are proud that the Philippines is now in its fifth term as a member of the UNHRC," he added.

CPP-NPA threats destroying PH gains

While the Philippine government can be commended for its sterling achievements in promoting and protecting IP rights, its human rights obligations are being threatened by the CPP-NPA-National Democratic Front (NDF).

"However, as the Philippines takes pride in what it has done and achieved thus far in promoting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of its indigenous peoples, it continues to confront threats that disrupt the State’s effective compliance with its human rights obligations. And these threats come from local terrorism perpetrated by the CPP-NPA-NDF. This triumvirate is referred with disdain as the Communist Terrorist Groups or CTGs," he said.

Capuyan added that atrocities committed by communist rebels and their allies have resulted in the summary execution, enforced disappearance and thousands of IP leaders and members over the past 50 years.

"There has been a genocide of members of indigenous communities, including beheading/ mutilation even inside places of worship," he added.

Aside from these, there is an ongoing effort to indoctrinate IP children to terrorism through hate speech, exploitation, including sexual abuse by the CPP-NPA and its allies.

"Our IP children have been taken away from their families and communities and trained as armed combatants and as makers of bombs/explosives. Our IP children have been trafficked and sexually abused; with so-called human rights defenders being caught red-handed. Our IP children and youth with high scholastic marks have especially been targeted for recruitment," Capuyan disclosed.

He added that IP leaders are being forcibly replaced and even killed so that their posts can be given to communist lackeys and sympathizers.

"They have also been used in kangaroo courts to sentence fellow IPs for execution. And IPs have also been deprived of their right to suffrage," he revealed.

Aside from efforts to eradicate and replace legitimate IP leaderships with their supporters, he said communist rebels have also established camps and strongholds inside sacred ancestral domains.

"Our ancestral lands have been converted as detention farms for indigenous peoples who oppose terrorists. Our policy of Free and Prior Informed Consent has been totally disregarded. And labor and safety equipment in indigenous communities have been destroyed," said Capuyan who is also an IP by blood as he comes from the Manobo Tribe of Agusan del Sur, 

Aside from these encroachments, communist rebels and their sympathizers have been hard at work coercing IP youths and students into joining violent political and terrorist actions against the government, he said.

"IP groups have been mobilized in support of terrorist cells. And our revered indigenous term 'Bagani' has been misused to refer to terrorist death squads," he added.

The CPP-NPA is also destroying IPs means of livelihood by extortion and by destroying their properties if they refused to give in to the rebels' illegal demands, he lamented. 

Reds misrepresenting IPs

What is much worse, he said, is the misrepresentation of IP as anti-state supporters of the communist groups in international forums.

"IP issues have been falsely used to vilify government in international forums, such as the UNHRC, resulting in weakening the integrity of the same as a human rights institution," Capuyan said.

He added that all these abuses can be confirmed voluntarily by the IP themselves.

"I wish to emphasize that the CTGs which are behind the human rights abuses and atrocities against our Indigenous Peoples are unwittingly supported by funds from international donors," he said.

Deep respect

Capuyan said the Philippine government deeply respects the important role of the IPs.

"We highlight the importance of protecting the civil society space from abuse by those who purport to be human rights defenders but who actually perpetrate these atrocities against our indigenous peoples," he said as he appealed to the UN to listen and appreciate all of the country's efforts in promoting and protecting IP rights.

"I call on the various Permanent Missions, the UN Special Rapporteurs and Independent Experts, and especially no less than the High Commissioner on Human Rights to listen and appreciate the truth regarding the Philippines’ efforts to promote, protect and fulfill of the rights of IP in the Philippines," he added.

He also called on all Permanent Missions to tell their capitals not to support the front organizations of the CPP-NPA-NDF.

"And I make a special call for Permanent Missions to convey this truth to their capitals not to support the front organizations of the Communist terrorist groups," he said.

"We need you in this human rights campaign. Thank you for having the time to listen, and the heart to act with resolve," Capuyan said.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United Kingdom, European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)

***

Reference/s:

Philippine News Agency. "PH gov't partner, protector of IPs contrary to Reds' claims." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1080613 (accessed September 17, 2019 at 07:52AM UTC+00).