“Not Leadership Material”: How Institutions Crush the Vians of the World (Yugen and Real-Life Betrayal)

If you’ve ever watched someone far less ethical leapfrog into a promotion above you, you know the peculiar mix of rage and self-doubt that follows.

You start wondering:

Am I not ambitious enough?
Am I the problem?
Do I just not “get” how this place works?

In Yugen, Vian is the kind of person any sane order would want to promote: disciplined, gifted, fiercely loyal. Instead, he’s systematically sabotaged and discarded. And that’s exactly how many real institutions treat their best people.

Step 1: Turn the Ethical Person Into “Too Much Trouble”

The more you:

Ask uncomfortable questions
Document abuse
Challenge unfair decisions
Protect vulnerable people

…the more you show up as a risk. Not a risk to the mission, but to the comfort and image of those in power.

In Yugen, Vian becomes dangerous the moment his integrity collides with the Guardian order’s corruption:

He refuses to ignore the truth.
He breaks sacred rules to rescue people in danger.
He protects another Guardain at enormous personal cost.

On the values poster, that’s heroism. In the actual system, that’s insubordination.

Real-world equivalent? You become:

“Difficult”
“Negative”
“Not aligned with our culture”

Your performance reviews subtly shift from your actual results to your “tone.”

Step 2: Make Their Work Invisible While Others Take the Credit

Ethical labor is often quiet, unglamorous, and hard to quantify. The people who:

Stabilize teams
Mentor new hires
Take on extra emotional labor
Protect others from harm

rarely get metrics or headlines to show for it.

In Yugen, Vian keeps putting his body and soul on the line:

Guarding others from danger
Absorbing guilt that isn’t his alone
Doing the real, messy work of justice

Yet the institution erases, punishes, or outright condemns those actions — while still benefiting from them.

In real life, the pattern looks like:

You fix a crisis; someone else gets a promotion for “leading change.”
You call out a predator; leadership quietly moves them and calls it “restructuring.”
You protect students/clients/patients; you’re labeled “emotional” or “over-involved.”

Step 3: Break Their Sense of Self

Long-term institutional betrayal doesn’t just damage careers; it corrodes identity.

You start asking:

“Maybe I am too sensitive.”
“Maybe that wasn’t really abuse.”
“Maybe I should just keep my head down.”

In Yugen, we watch Vian spiral:

Isolating himself from his friends
Questioning his sanity and worth
Carrying unbearable guilt that the institution is happy to let him shoulder

His trial is a grotesque culmination of that process.

For a lot of people, burnout and exit from a toxic institution feel like a kind of death. You walk away exhausted, ashamed, and unsure who you are without that place’s approval.

Why This Matters (and Why Yugen Refuses to Look Away)

One of the reasons Yugen is so powerful is that it doesn’t soft-pedal institutional harm. Fortress Frozen Stone isn’t “a few bad apples.” It’s a culture that:

Enables predators
Rewards silence
Punishes the protectors

That’s not an exaggeration of reality; it’s a clear, unflinching mirror.

If you’ve been the Vian of your organization — the one who tried to do the right thing and paid for it — your pain is not a personal failing. It’s a predictable result of how corrupt systems treat anyone who puts people above reputation.

If you’ve ever been sidelined, gaslit, or broken by a system that claimed to value you, Vian’s journey in Yugen will resonate deep within your bones. This isn’t just a fantasy novel; it’s a testament to the resilience of the human spirit against overwhelming institutional betrayal. Ready to see a hero rise from the ashes of a corrupt system? Purchase Yugen now and witness Vian’s unforgettable fight for self-worth.

If this sounds like something you’re interested in you can Pre-Order Yugen by clicking HERE. (Link goes to Amazon.)

If you want to read Yugen, but you just can’t swing the price. That’s fine. I still have space on my Advanced Readers Team. Apply by Clicking Here.

In the next post, we’ll dig into what this does to your mental health — and why stories like Yugen can actually help survivors name and process that damage.