Jan 16, 2026
Honestly, I feel the only way I can respond to the phenomenal line from Kaburi in regards to how vile humanity can be at times is with a relevant, but long, quote from one of my characters in regards to how sadistic humanity is.
"Humans are sadistic. We take pleasure in putting down others and making them bleed. That's why so many stories have characters suffering, because it scratches that sadistic itch humans have deep within. But some humans can't control their sadism and seek to inflict worldwide pain in order to satisfy it. Sometimes, they even become so sadistic they cross over into masochism. Though masochism is just being sadistic to yourself, so the point stands; humans are sadistic. We love making ourselves feel better at the expense of others. Our sadism is so strong that it's like a daily necessity to make someone else's day miserable to make yourself feel powerful. This is why bullying will never go away, why wars will always be raged, why opposing sides will never see eye to eye. Because we are all sadistic. Who cares about right or wrong, all that matters is asserting dominance and degrading your victim to shit. Happy endings? Nah, people want to see characters suffer because it excites them. They say the only constant in life is change, but I say human sadism is the other constant. You say there are heroes that seek to save the day? Nah, they're just culling their sadism by bashing monsters and demon kings. Then there's politics. Nothing but a sadist slug-fest. "Craft better policy for the good of the populace"? Nah, more like pass OUR policies to make the other side miserable. After all, to the victor go the spoils and the power to subject the losers to hell for pleasure. Sadism is an innate human trait. Even babies can be sadistic at times, and only get more sadistic as they age. And no matter what path they take or how their life goes, there will be looming sadism. Vengeance itself is rooted in paying back those that were sadistic to you with even greater sadism. We claim to cheer for a bullying victim beating the shit out of their bully, but in reality, we're cheering because we're sadistic and we love seeing people bleed. Then there's games. They're nothing but ways for humans to soothe their sadism either by beating other humans or NPCs. Chess just so happens to be one of the most sadistic games out there due to it being purely skill-based and cutthroat. As such, the results of the game can land a critical hit on someone's mental state. More so if you beat them in the most humiliating fashion. Sadism will always be within every human, even if you actually do show someone compassion, in the back of your mind, you'll be thinking, "What if I kicked them while they were down? Would it feel great? How hilarious would it be to watch them die in agony?" Sadism is inescapable for humans. The only question is how much they let their innate sadism leak out and control their life." - Iori Ishikiridokoro, 2024.
Apologies for the long quote, but as I said before, I feel it really sums up well the sadistic nature of humans that we just saw displayed in the recent chapters.
