Socrates Would Have Loved Goncherov.

Literally part of the plot of His Dark Materials season 2

I agree! Actually, the whole show kind of disproves Kant's attempt to base ethics on universal laws and reasonable choices. What actually helps Eleanor and the others become better people is:

1/ The recognition that being kind to others feels good for us as well. That we do not have to lose something by being kind, at the opposite we gain. Being kind makes us feel good, nourishes our soul, builds trust in others, and better relationships, and good relationships make us happy. I believe recognizing the connection between being kind and our own well-being is the first step.

2/ Facing the reasons why we are unkind, AKA our trauma, so therapy and personal growth basically. At the end of the show, it is what all people who die have to do to get to The Good Place. Healing, growth, and learning that being kind rules.

Not to ramble about the good place but do you ever think about that bit in season 1 where Chidi sarcastically says "do I also need to tell you not to throw sand" and Eleanor responds with "throwing sand is an excellent way to put out a vodka fire" and how that sums up Chidi's character arc so well as well as challenging moral positions like Kant's that claim that there is one exact solution to any given moment because yes, we would all immediately consider throwing sand to be bad, but sometimes it is Genuinely useful and good to throw sand and to apply the ideology of "throwing sand is bad" to Every situation will be to die in a vodka fire.

"I don't want to be a burden" By asking for help and support, you are giving me the opportunity to show up for you, to be loving, to connect, to put to good use the skills I learned in being a human, that's all a gift. If you feel safe enough to be a bit vulnerable with me, that's a fucking compliment. Can't wait for the next time you will give me the chance to be there for you.

“I don’t want to be a burden” you’re more like a relief, a gift, a blessing actually

Portal 2's Turret Opera still hits soooo hard as a closing point for Chell and GLaDOS' story dude. Right after a monologue about how after everything they've been through she realizes she's incapable of killing Chell, GLaDOS has actually.. set up a perfect, inescapable death trap. She could've easily had the turrets shoot through the glass, sent the elevator all the way back down to Old Aperture or simply gassed her without letting the elevator even leave her central chamber. She basically had her. She could've obliterated her while she was still out cold from fighting Wheatley, but she doesn't. Instead, she has them perform an opera about walking as far away from science as possible. An opera that's implied to have been rehearsed even before Chell broke out with Wheatley - was she considering doing this long before Chell went out to try and kill her again?? This is very blatantly me steering into headcanon territory, but I like to think this whole room was the "REAL surprise with tragic consequences" GLaDOS spoke of. I imagine this is exactly what she originally planned to do - give her false hope by having her ride an escape elevator only for it to stop right in the middle of a massive turret ambush. She would literally treat Chell like a fish in a barrel. Quick, easy and delightfully painful. Each instance where she escaped was either due to oversight or third party intervention - so she created a situation where none of that is possible. All that would arrive to the surface and see the sun is a bullet-riddled corpse. But that's not what the elevator brings to that dingy faux shed in the end. I wonder what she's done with this room after the elevator made its ascent. Do the turrets still stand there, waiting on the off-chance the elevator goes back down with a familiar face within? Do they still sing the same song, over and over, hoping she'll hear it up there? Do they think of her, does she think of them, does she think of her? If Chell were to step back in, would GLaDOS even have the heart to let that elevator go back down? Either way, they'd still be down there, gathered for someone that may never ever come back. They'll all be faithfully standing at their usual spots in the chambers, ready to lovingly shoot her again should she be back to test forever.

Golden potato I need your shining help, taking anything big or small

“Remember, the truth will set you free.

But first it will piss you off.”

~ Doc Sharon

Replace “what if I regret this?” with “what if this sets me free?”