Annamlynska - Tumblr Posts

Hi Anna! Glad to see you on Tumblr - it’s so much easier to share longform thoughts here than on Twitter, lol. Always glad to see your take on things.

As for your thoughts:

I think the fact that perpetrators of domestic violence often experienced it themselves as children is relatively well known. 

Indeed! I was going to bring this up initially but then didn’t, some things just slip the mind. People often reflect the behaviors they see in their family and environments, etc etc. So if someone grows up seeing violent behaviors...

The mere fact that I know of the perpetrator that he himself has been subjected to violence does not make his act less cruel or excusable. [...] As if his own suffering should not only explain his actions, but even legitimize them. As if his campaign against heaven, lined with hundreds of dead, made him righteous.

I do wonder: do you mean that you get the impression that Father’s suffering should not only explain his actions but even legitimize them, making him seem righteous, in regards to my theories or in regards to the story content itself?

If it’s in regards to my own POVs: I said all I had to say in my disclaimer, aka “this viewpoint is not meant to ‘justify’ Father’s actions but explain them in a broader context.’“

If in regards to the story: I would have to disagree, especially on the “making him seem righteous” part. Noragami continually goes out of its way to hammer in the point that fighting fire with fire is a road that just leads to more fires (think Bishamon’s grudge against Yato and how that turned out); moreover, the manga also continually shows the deep, lasting, harmful effects that Father’s behavior has had on people, especially Yato and Mizuchi. In no way is his behavior ever excused or justified in the manga.

But in the same breath, like I explained in my post, Adachitoka also goes out of their way to show that Father isn’t wrong about Heaven and that his anger comes from a deep-seated issue that needs addressing and is not something that should be ignored, either.

...but from a moral point of view, the latter is more acceptable to me.

This is really where we disagree as well, I think, because... Heaven is 100% the obvious bigger villain here, for me. Even if their actions are not “targeted” like Father, they cause infinitely more damage than Father ever could - Heaven is not only individual gods but a whole entire system that perpetually enables toxic views and is capable of causing destruction on a scale much greater than Father could ever hope to aspire to, just as this chapter has already shown. Their ideology encompasses a vast amount of people. It’s systemic violence, as opposed to individual violence.

Besides that, the really insidious thing about Heaven is that, sure, gods may care about the Near Shore (presumably) but... in the end, Heaven is always just and must bow down to no one. It’s one thing to be destructive and be honest about your intentions, which Father has been (”I just want to torment the hell out of them” from 60, and now him admitting his anger has been driving him), and completely another to be destructive and say that it is not wrong, because Heaven can do no wrong.

That absolutely constitutes greater evil to me. Not to mention that almost everyone in this series is suffering from what Heaven(’s ideology) is doing, both gods and humans alike, but that’s a topic for Part 2 of my meta, lol.

I think it is quite ironic that you bring up the Takemikazuchi panel because in that same arc, we see him destroying the forest, frying the power lines, and going berserk near a school. Last chapter, too, showed the same irony: “Heaven’s judgement should only fall on those deserving of it” and yet, the entire town is on fire.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts <33

Villains and victims

https://kanotototori.tumblr.com/post/667575977543647232/chapter-97-1-thoughts-part-2

I considered for a long time whether to engage in this controversy or not, but in the end I decided to try to explain my point of view. Just because someone is a perpetrator of violence does not mean that they cannot be their victim at the same time, and vice versa. I think the fact that perpetrators of domestic violence often experienced it themselves as children is relatively well known. The same is true, for example, of children who bully others. Nora could serve as an example in Noragami. She herself is undoubtedly a victim and at the same time capable of quite cruel acts. 

The mere fact that I know of the perpetrator that he himself has been subjected to violence does not make his act less cruel or excusable. And I have the impression that it happens with  father sometimes. As if his own suffering should not only explain his actions, but even legitimize them. As if his campaign against heaven, lined with hundreds of dead, made him righteous.

 Which brings me to another problem: Father versus heaven, who is the bigger villain? We can talk about conscious and targeted violence, and we can talk about violence, which I try my best to avoid. As a result, there will be no difference, and for the victims the original intention is no consolation, but from a moral point of view, the latter is more acceptable to me.

I certainly do not claim that my interpretation is correct or that another should be wrong. Don’t take it too seriously.