#ender wiggin

When I think of doomed siblings I start thinking of the Wiggins from Ender's Game (I know Orson Scott Card was a bad person and his later books apparently sucked but this one was really good). Peter, who lacked empathy, who craved power at almost any price, but who regretted his actions but who couldn't bring himself to stop them. Valentine, the soft, kind, yet cynical and snarky one, Ender's hero, who could be as, if not more manipulative, as Peter.

Then there's Ender. Constantly bullied by Peter and others for being a third child in a world where that's unacceptable. Ender who is the perfect balance between them. Who has compassion but is ruthless in self defense. Who at the age of 6 killed another young boy so he would never be threatened again, who felt so much love it was both the ultimate flaw and strength.

Yet when Valentine talks about three of them, she refers to Ender and Peter as "two sides of the same coin, and I am the metal in between." Because though she isn't a mix of both Peter and Ender like Ender is of Peter and Valentine, she is caught between them. She is one of the few who remembers Ender, but who has developed a close relationship with Peter which a large part of her hates. She was the one who tried to protect Ender from Peter's wrath. Later in life she made herself the villain: the violent Demosthenes to Peter's peaceful Locke, to better the world.

Ender's response to this is "the trouble with coins is, when one is up, the other is down."

Ender remembers Peter's jealousy of him, the fact that he ended up being the one to save the world and not Peter. And now he sees Peter planning to take over with Valentine while he is still an outcast, even if a more respected one now.

Is Ender and Bean core before Ender gave him a toon

exhibit A

Exhibit B