Calling the Old Man Out

[foolishjustice]

[Goro has barely been seen since getting back from the Fissure, only leaving his room briefly to eat a couple times a day, coffee in hand and looking half asleep. Now, though, he seems to finally be properly awake...at approximately 8PM.]

Good...erm, evening, I suppose. I’m sorry I’ve been so absent lately, that Fissure must have taken more out of me than I thought.

But, now that I’m recovered, there’s something important I need to tell everyone. The last batch of new arrivals included a man named Masayoshi Shido. He’s my father, and a truly despicable man, who has had numerous people killed for his own convenience or benefit. He even had my mother killed to cover up the scandal of my birth.

[Here he holds up a phone, showing a picture of Shido...with what looks like avocado and cheese smeared on his face and a shrimp up his nose, wearing the most tiredly Done expression as he reaches for the offending crustacean.]

I injured him in the forest in retaliation for the things he’s done to me, one of my boyfriends, and countless others, but don’t mistake him for someone who deserves your pity. He’s physically not much of a threat, but he is a skilled schemer and manipulator, and-

[ Which is the moment that the video will shake, and a very brief flash of a familiar face (spoiler: Akira’s) can be seen. Off-screen, he’s gently pressing a kiss to Goro’s cheek, whispering that he loves him. Don’t mind the view of a ceiling for a moment, guys - it’s a nice ceiling, at least?

… He’ll properly make it up to Goro, later, if he can? For now, though, he gently brushes the fingers of one hand through his boyfriend’s hair. Akira’s face can properly be seen, after he takes a quiet breath. He looks… well, how most would remember? Only with a bit more of a tiredness to it, maybe.

Though, that’s not taking away from how serious he looks as he speaks. ]

... and, while Goro is right about all of that, there is one more detail I feel should be taken into account. Shido isn’t a good person, but he’s well-aware of that now. He’s done unforgivable things, but his eyes were opened to all of it after his ass was kicked.

[ JUST SAYING… ]

Anyway, nobody has to worry about him. Besides, he knows if he tried anything, he’d have to answer to all of us from his world, and then some.

[ JUST SAYING... ]

[This is the point where Goro takes his tablet back, looking a bit huffy.]

It’s true, he isn’t likely to be a threat now. But he absolutely doesn’t deserve anyone’s kindness or sympathy.

Comments

Private - Probablecaws

[foolishjustice]

One example, yes. I'm from before his Palace, but he's definitely behaving as if he's had a change of heart.

[founderinglight]

Interesting. I appreciate the confirmation.

Though I don't think the public shaming is necessary, he seems intent on doing that all on his own.

[Later observations will put a blunter face on it: "He's got a bigger guilt complex than I do."]

[foolishjustice]

That might be your opinion, but I've personally seen the depths of the atrocities this man has committed. No amount of shame is too much for what he's done, for no reason other than his own ego.

[founderinglight]

Perhaps so.

But in a position such as mine, I cannot ignore repentance, no matter how it is it came to be.

TW: suicide mention

[foolishjustice]

Some things are impossible to repent, Caelum-san. It's not my place to give identities, but I'm not the only child he's robbed of a mother. And with both of us, he made it seem as if they'd taken their own lives as a result of the shame of being a single mother.

cw: The Fratricides

[founderinglight]

Indeed they are. I killed my brother thirty-seven times.

But that does not mean that even the attempt to repent anyway should go unacknowledged.

...And I would think you'd know that I prefer just "Izunia" at this point.

[foolishjustice]

Formality is something of a habit I'm still working on breaking.

I don't know the circumstances of what you did, but you don't seem like the sort who would kill people for no reason but personal benefit. Nor the type who would exploit people, utterly ruin their lives, for your own convenience.

[founderinglight]

...He's still my brother. That weighs differently, heavier, than any amount of harm done a stranger.

There's no point in explaining in detail, as I imagine you'll see soon enough.

TW: more suicide reference

[foolishjustice]

And I'm his son. He can't even claim to have been unaware. He couldn't even deny when I asked if the reason he framed my mother's death as a suicide was out of hope that his little scandal would follow suit.

[founderinglight]

I am not seeking to justify what he did. Do not misunderstand.

Nor do I ask you to stop hating him.

But I will not deny kindness to the repentant. It is possible to offer understanding without forgiveness.

[foolishjustice]

I hardly see what there is to understand. He was a cruel and petty man, driven purely by his own arrogance, and now he's been forced to realize how his actions look without his sense of self-importance. Everything he feels as a result is just part of what he deserves.

[founderinglight]

And if I may be blunt, you are the person he has hurt, and only a teenager besides.

I am a man who has lived with my guilt and regret for longer than your entire society has likely existed.

I do not expect you to understand why I have the perspective I do on this matter, but it will not change. So long as he seeks to follow the path he's been set upon, the better person that he has a chance to become, I will not disregard it.

A person who sees only the weight of the past cannot move forward into the future. And I will not have it said that I did not extend the opportunity to move forward when I seek it for myself.

[foolishjustice]

You're right. It is impossible to move forward while held back by your past. That's yet another reason I can't forgive him.

Did you think to wonder, how it is that I know he's ordered people other than my mother assassinated?

[founderinglight]

It sounds to me like you're letting your past control you utterly.

You will not change my mind, Goro. No matter what atrocity it is you name. Because no matter what it is, even if I have not done more and worse myself, I can say with certainty that Ardyn has. That does rather come part and parcel with 'attempted omnicide of the entire planet via daemonification and eternal night.'

[foolishjustice]

Haven't you already acknowledged that your own viewpoint regarding your brother is distorted?

[founderinglight]

To the point that I don't know what the 'right' viewpoint to hold is.

But that does not change the facts of his actions, merely my view of them. And even disregarding that view, I am not the only one who has decided that he deserves something other than to be made to crawl and feel as though he is the scum of the earth for what he's done.

purrusu

[beguiledcard]

I do think he's an example of "can't hate me more than I hate myself, right now."

Even if it would be close to a tie, in some cases.

[founderinglight]

That is much the impression I had.

Quite aggravating when someone who does not have a concept of true isolation is telling you that they deserve it, honestly.

[beguiledcard]

Yeah... I bet it is.

In my case, I angry when people dwell on everything they did wrong, instead of putting work into making themselves better.

[founderinglight]

I dislike when people attempt to make decisions about something without understanding it entirely, disregarding the words of those who actually do.

[As you guys may have noticed from certain passive aggressive comments about certain people wanting to take down certain signs.]

[beguiledcard]

That makes the two of us.

It took me a while to really learn that the only way any world can change, is if everyone attempts to open their minds to what paths others wound up on.

[founderinglight]

It is human nature to judge quickly without understanding, because that seems easier and simpler. True understanding takes effort.

But never once have I encountered a case where someone was not far more complex beneath the surface.

[beguiledcard]

[ There's a pause before he responds again... ]

Neither have I. After witnessing the depths of people's hearts, it's impossible now for me to even imagine anyone being exactly what they seem.

[founderinglight]

Exactly so. I've seen enough people laid bare myself to know that much.

[beguiledcard]

If I'm being honest, I'm a little thankful that I was able to see the things I have. Before I was given the power to enter the Metaverse, I fully believed in the bad guys being punished... or even killed. I saw the world in "black and white."

It was easier, back then, to cling to resentment and hatred, and I cared less about other people.

But, it's because I didn't go through half as much as other people did, that I want to do everything I can to help others not feel so alone or narrow-minded. Because I can't imagine what it's like to feel worse.