An art collab with @momosawr ! Thank you for humouring me when I came whining in your DMs, it means a lot lmao. I'm so happy with how these both turned out!
The mass Kouyou reblogging before was foreshadowing
Dehumanization is the process, practice, or act of denying full humanity in others, along with the cruelty and suffering that accompany it. This is the wikipedia definition word to word.
I mean, obviously, since Kouyou is a PM executive, she does technically dehumanize people, but the PM's ideologies aren't the only part of it. Kouyou has her own ideology.
"Flowers never have the chance to drop... if they remain mere buds"
"Listen to me, Kyōka. I know how you feel. But... some things are simply impossible. No matter how much a natural-born assassin like you seeks light... A flower that blooms in the dark can survive only within the dark. If you pursue the light, its heat will burn you up in the end."
Notice how Kouyou doesn’t say "natural-born assassins" can survive only in the dark. Notice how she never says "people like you/people like us" will burn up in the heat of light. Not people, not assassins, flowers.
Calling someone a flower would most probably be a compliment or even a flirtatious remark, but in this case it's neither. It could be a metaphor, but the thing is, dehumanization is often enforced using a metaphor. Metaphors are not meant to be taken literally, but when Kouyou uses it, she does mean it literally. She doesn’t mean that people are flowers, it's just that she reduces them to mere flowers.
She never says "sometimes flowers born in darkness will burn in light" or "sometimes it's best for flowers to remain mere buds". She says "A flower that blooms in the dark can survive *only* within the dark". Here Kouyou denies people of simple human individuality. All flowers of darkness will burn in light. All flowers should stay buds. *All* not some.
Individuality isn't a human right on it's own, but it is protected by human rights principles like individual liberty, dignity etc. As a human, you are allowed to be different. You are allowed to be unique, to be you. This is something you're entitled to, as human. Kouyou dehumanizes by denying people of the simple human right of individuality. Furthermore, since she is assuming all "flowers born in darkness" will burn in light and that all light is toxic, she is prejudging. In simple words, she's being judgemental. As a human, you have the right to not be judged.
"Listen to me, Kyōka. I know how you feel". Kouyou claims that she knows how Kyouka feels. Perhaps she does, perhaps not, but does she care about how Kyouka feels? Obviously she cares about Kyouka, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she cares about Kyouka's *individual* feelings and opinions. From the very moment she arrives to take Kyouka back to the PM, she enforces and preaches her ideologies, and she does not care about anyone else's opinions. She has her mind fixed.
Throughout her argument with Kyouka, she gets more and more frustrated, and begins to project her own anger with her life onto Kyouka forgetting that she is a *human being capable of thinking and acting for herself*. This is not only dehumanization, but also dogmatism.
Dogmatism is the tendency to lay down principles as undeniably true, without consideration of evidence or the opinions of others.
Kouyou assumes all "flowers of darkness" will scorch in the light. To her this is the truth and nothing will change that. She forces these beliefs onto people whether they like it or not. She somewhat even traps them in her beliefs. But at the same time she also traps herself no?
All flowers born in darkness will burn in the light; this belief was formed due to her own traumatic experience. She considers herself a flower of darkness, and thus has simply accepted that she will never find light. She traps herself with that belief, because whether she wants to or not, she will never ever find light. She traps herself in her own narrow-minded mindset and beliefs with hopelessness, and she reduces all people to flowers, including herself. She dehumanizes not only others, but also herself.
Canonically, she despises love and hope. Hence, she traps herself in hate and despair. But as much as she loathes love and hope, exactly how much is she against it?
According to the canon Bsd wiki, "Kōyo both detests and fears 'light', thinking there's nothing but disappointment and despair once exposed."
Kouyou traps herself in despair, but she also fears despair. She hates hope but she also detests hopelessness. Kouyou canonically loves Kyouka very deeply despite her toxic moments with her, despite hating love. Kouyou traps herself in despair and loathing, and she is against the very cage she locks herself in. Her unconscious hypocrisy adds to her complexity, and decorates her wonderfully-written character like a lovely red ribbon.
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THANK YOU for reading this far I yapped so much on 10% phone battery😭😭😭
