#a very long rant

[dragons-library]

Im gonna rant a little bit and I might just delete this but I’ve been thinking about redemption arcs in media; books, series (animation series mainly) movies…. Specifically those with trauma or victims of a system, of their upbringing, generational trauma, etc….you know, characters that have their behaviour explained by their back story. And there’s a lot of characters that “are redeemed” just because their back story is explained and I don’t like it. I don’t consider that redemption.

One key element of redemption for a character, of growth and of healing is acknowledging the harm done to others. (Honestly this is key in real life too for people that are healing but since this is a book blog…)

Someone can’t move past trauma and bad coping mechanisms, mistakes and (harmful) learned behaviour without acknowledging that they have hurt others, because trauma responses are not excuses for bad behaviour.

They can unpack it and understand where it comes from, but ultimately that’s just a step towards making amends with themselves and others. To forgive themselves for their own mistakes and also being aware that those mistakes have had an effect on other people. It’s absolutely necessary in order to get past the self loathing and self sabotage. To prevent falling into the same patterns again and again. Even prevent perpetuating toxic cycles.

Self compassion is absolutely necessary but that doesn’t mean excusing and justifying bad behaviour and the hurt that has been done to others.

It’s the combination of both, that truly makes a character turn towards true redemption that is meaningful.

Being compassionate enough with themselves to understand that a lot of their behaviour is caused by circumstances and experiences they probably had no control over, or maybe they just didn’t know any better, but aware enough to understand that even when that’s true it does not change or negate that their actions have consequences and have affected others.

Past that, making amends when possible is important too, both for those affected and those making amends as well.

The ones redeeming themselves might have been hurt by others, and understanding that is absolutely essential. Sometimes they are victims of other victims even and it’s also something that should be addressed.

and I do believe that one does not have to forgive those who have hurt us in order to move on, some people can do it and some people can’t, I just don’t find it necessary. Especially because a lot of the times those who have hurt us will not try to remedy the pain or the suffering caused.

That said, no one is entitled to the forgiveness of others either. You can do everything to right your wrong, to make amends and ask for forgiveness, but ultimately those who have been hurt have no obligation to grant said forgiveness. Some might and others may not. That’s for them to decide. No one else.

Each person can only control their own actions, emotions and reactions, no one else’s. But this does not mean thinking only of themselves. But rather understanding that other people’s feelings matter as much as their own feelings. Not more not less.

So if a character is being redeemed, it can’t just be “they went through this and that’s why they did this bad thing” and that be the end of it. That’s just justifying bad behaviour and if accepted ultimately just grants a free pass to cause pain to others because of their own issues. That’s not redemption.

It should be, both having compassion in the story, to understand where this hurt comes from, enough self compassion to forgive themselves, enough self awareness to accept that their actions are in fact bigger than their own feelings and that their hurt does not justify hurting others to prevent it from happening again, enough willingness to do something about it, even if nothing will change or erase what has been done, and ultimately accepting that they are responsible for their own actions. Not the actions of others, taking responsibility when it’s due, not carrying the burden of the mistakes of others and accepting that other people have just as much right to their own feelings and reactions.

That being said it’s 2 am in the morning and I’m just rambling, i don’t even know if any of this makes sense

[sharkylad]

Thinking about the fact that Mabel and Dipper didn't know they had two great uncles.

Yeah they are 12 and at 12 I had a shotty understanding of my family tree- But really? Nobody brought up their great uncle? Stanley? Especially since they'll be staying with his twin brother, Stanford?

Shermie never went to Stan's fake funeral, which to me means the twos relationship was strained on some level. If Shermie is older that means his view of Stan was poisoned in some way, that even as kids they weren't close. If the Shermie is younger then he never even got to meet Stan and all he knew about him was how he failed his family. Hell, people probably barely mentioned Stanley TO Shermie.

The fact that Stan had become a black stain upon the Pines family name makes me so vividly upset. Stanley faked his death and the family just- seemingly decided to strike him from the record. To pretend he didn't existed to spare themselves the sadness and shame.

Stanford and Shermie Pines. The only children worth mentioning of Filbrick and Caryn Pines.

It was never Stanford that was lost to the world. It was Stanley, ever since he had to leave New Jersy- it was always him that had to be struck from the record. Change his name, change his state, change his affiliations, destroy the remains of ghost that was Stanley Pines. Kill him so the family doesn't bring him up, doesn't ask questions, stops asking "Stanford" about his twin.

I just keep thinking about the fact that since the day he made one single mistake all the way up until Ford walks out of that machine- Stanley Pines was killed and did not exist. And Stan himself had no one to blame, he had to play the part in his own demise- He is the only one who ever knew Stanley was alive and has been for decades.

He lives in the multitudes of every personality he's ever taken, all in the hope that he himself can stop being Stanley Pines.

[clockspur]

[anewp0tat0]

i lied i had like atleast one more weston thought to expell from my brain, before i miss this boat entirely. we're heading to green lands woooo

[littlestofstorytelling]

I recently finished the 5th season of the Crown and I have some thoughts

I liked the first three season and i think the acting really was amazing in the 4th season. And while it was clear that it was fiction, I liked the way real life events were incorporated and how it drove the story and the growth of the characters. Most importantly it (to a person who did not grow up with the British royal family) felt somewhat a well balanced perspective without clear favoritism. You could find arguments for and against the monarchy as well as arguments to like or dislike the individual characters. So, overall it was a very solid show and put my expectations quite high for the 5th season.

Season 5

I did like watching it, however, it lost a bit of that really good story telling and character growth through events that was present in previous seasons. Normally the monarch would be shaped by the events in her country since they are so closely tied, but this season that seemed to missing (the link to the royal cruise was also a bit on the nose with its parallel to the queen and they kept going back to it for some reason) as it was more about family drama and divorce, which wasn’t even very interestingly showed in my opinion.

Most of it was very propaganda-y in Charles favour this season. Last seasons he wasn’t the villain but his flaws were shown, whereas in this season only his more positive attributes were shown without showing any flaws, and even some of the more “flawed” passages like the interview he did where very down played, and smoothened. Not to mention he was played by an actor that looked a lot better than the prince himself at the time, which would have been fine if the flaws of the character had been shown more. The focus for this character was on his stances on climate change, modernization and overall being the voice of reason when it came to the monarchy. But then his flaws such as his ego, the blindness to some if his privileges and his public perception were rarely shown if at all.

Diana is where they really dropped the ball in my opinion. Season 4 did a great job with her, season 5 put her in an extremely bad light for some reason (linking back to the Charles propaganda bit). The scene that really bothered me was when she went to her friend in the hospital because her friends husband was being operated on. After the doctor informs the friend Diana can’t stop talking about the doctor and her friend has to tell her multiple times that she doesn’t care how he looks as long as his hands safe her husband. That scene was very unnecessary and made Diana out to be egoistic, narcissistic and inconsiderate as well as a bit dimwitted. The scenes where her relation with her son is shown is also reflecting negatively on her while the son’s relation to Charles is never really shown, only mentioned once in a throw away line and forgotten. Her character really did not work well for me, she barely even spoke. The only episode I liked her in was the third one.

Speaking of which the third episode is my favorite one and really reminded me of earlier seasons, even though the royals were barely in it.

All this being said I thought prince Philip was very good in the role, I liked his side plot, as did I princess Margaret. I just would have liked to see more global or national events and less divorce drama, because to me both parties were unlikable and it was boring storytelling

I think that was it

[amphibianaday]

day 1421

[slugpup2]

still feeling sick, here's a vid of all the covers of pass on (as of now) playing at the same time i made a while ago

[taythecatfey]

I just gotta get up on my soap box here for a second.

Inhales

IF I SEE ONE MORE VIDEO OR THREAD ABOUT FULGRIM BEING WEAK AND PATHETIC IM GOING TO GO APE SHIT.

Fulgrim was given almost nothing to work with and then told go perform as good as everyone else. He saved his world with innovation, and compassion. He was a diplomate who was told he needed to be a general. He was told he's made for this so of course he can't feel overwhelmed and under prepared by his new task. He's gotta work twice as hard and fast to catch up with everyone else. He can't fail cause he can't afford to.

On top of that he gets mocked behind his back and to his face by his brothers for what he loves. Even Ferrus put him down when he said he'd make the best weapon. Cause someone as pretty as Fulgrim surely couldn't know anything about working with their hands. How many of the primarchs actually know what hard manual labor is like? If I was put down and constantly stressed about not being good enough I'd be a massive bitch too! I'd go out of my way to prove I'm equal if not better.

And out of all the traitors who fell to Chaos, Fulgrim was the one that had to be driven insane to get him to fall. The daemon sword pushed every insecurity and fanned his ego. He is not mentally well in that book. He falls to Horus manipulation after being told the Emporers doesn't love him. When he wanted to speak out at what Horus was saying the daemon physically wouldn't let him. He's really only that creepy pathedic mess after he's returned from his torture session in the painting. He was been broken down and made ready for Slaanesh to rebuild as her daemon prince.

I think people see him as pathedic and weak because hes uncomfortably human. He such human flaws and fears the other primarchs don't tend to show to the same degree. The primarchs have demigod like outburst. Fulgrim is just always emotional like a normal person. He's insecure and thats why I'm so endread to him. He still strove to prove he could do anything that was demanded of him and sadly that's what ruined him

[tarucore]

ok but thinking about that one post, I think what modern Robin origin retellings get wrong is that Bruce was not a strict guardian, he wasn’t overly cold or distant from Dick, and I say this without judgement bc I love books like Robin: Year One and I’ll probably love the newest Batman and Robin series that’s coming out, but no modern comic really has a handle on how their partnership worked for the first 5-6 years

like the main problem between them in the early years is that they were best friends, partners!! He thought this kid was the best!!! Bruce was incredibly lenient with Dick if you think of their relationship as strictly father/son, and a huge part of their issues as Dick grew up was that Bruce suddenly started setting boundaries and treating Dick like a child just as he was becoming an adult, probably after he read a parenting book (joking) or realized that he was terrified of losing someone close to him again, whether that be by death or Dick moving away

I just don’t get why people are so insistent on ascribing the traits of modern Batman onto his early years, if Bruce had acted as emotionally distant and paranoid as he does now in certain comics then Dick would have never been as close to him as he is, and he would have left the position of Robin way earlier if Bruce hadn’t treated him like an equal

If you don’t want to lean into the campy, fun golden age Batman attitude that’s completely understandable but I’ve found hardly any modern adaptations that convince me Bruce likes the kid, much less loves him

[lynndy-lee]

I just want to thank the JEM community for watching out for their creatives in this circle. On the same day I finished this sketch, it was brought to my attention that someone reposted an old JEM fanart of mine without giving any credit. Most of you would have noticed in my description and now mostly in my watermarks that I do not allow any reposts of my art. Needless to say, I was upset but am very thankful that there are people recognised my art and were kind enough to inform me about it. But please know that reposting an artist's art without their permission, especially when they clearly stated it on all platforms they are using is just rude. Rude enough for me to be all petty and not share anymore fanart of my most beloved fandom. Us artists have been through a lot lately. So please. Don't push it.

And honestly, how hard is it to reblog from my own art blog.

Did a quick sketch of Kimber 💖

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[raetttriestowrite]

Me, an author, side eyeing my WIP: you're not going to do anything weird, are you? We've discussed this. There's a plan. We're going to stick to the plan, aren't we?

The WIP: *presents subplot, presents additional conflicts, presents character development, laughs in my fucking face*

[blueskittlesart]

*sigh* thoughts on Nintendo's botw/totk timeline shenanigans and tomfoolery?

tbh. my maybe-unpopular opinion is that the timeline is only important when a game's place on the timeline seriously informs the way their narrative progresses. the problem is that before botw we almost NEVER got games where it didn't matter. it matters for skyward sword because it's the beginning, and it matters for tp/ww/alttp (and their respective sequels) because the choices the hero of time makes explicitly inform the narrative of those games in one way or another. it matters which timeline we're in for those games because these cycles we're seeing are close enough to oot's cycle that they're still feeling the effects of his choices. botw, however, takes place at minimum 10 thousand years after oot, so its place on the timeline actually functionally means nothing. botw is completely divorced from the hero of time & his story, so what he does is a nonissue in the context of botw link and zelda's story. thus, which timeline botw happens in is a nonissue. honestly I kind of liked the idea that it happened in all of them. i think there's a cool idea of inevitability that can be played with there. but the point is that the timeline exists to enhance and fill in the lore of games that need it, and botw/totk don't really need it because the devs finally realized they could make a game without the hero of time in it.

[14dayswithyou]

Meowdy Saint 😼

I got goth vibes and so does my AngelOC, Elodie. So it's funny to imagine this pink boy who is secretly an emo boy in disguise next to a wednesday addams esque babe lmao. Poor boy miscalculated, I like that there was an option to be like 'Oh I like that goth style' at the cafe.

But this raises a question! Would he drop the Ren persona and aesthetic if he realized it wasn't totally necessary?

⌞♥⌝ This has been answered multiple times in the past, but yes, he'd drop the light academia aesthetic if Angel wasn't into it! ^^

However, from a game dev standpoint, it'd be extremely difficult for me to include a bunch of types and aesthetics in hopes of making Ren's appearance feel more inclusive for everyone, so it's easier for me to say, "Oh, Angel likes this one anime character" and build the lore around that.

So, for those who like Ren's real appearance and would've preferred if he introduced himself as [REDACTED] (instead of his Haruko persona), I hear you!! ^^

But please understand that if that were the case, the 14DWY storyline would be a lot less interesting and would defeat the entire purpose of Ren's motives. A big part of his characterisation is that he's more than willing to alter every part of himself to become Angel's ideal type, and if their type happened to be [REDACTED], then it'd make the buildup to his reveal in Day ??? feel far less anticlimactic.

[egophiliac]

a bunch of assorted episode 7 stuff from the last couple of days! because they're still taking over my entire brain! (I keep forgetting that the diasomnia uniform has that weird spike...chain...thing on the back. do you think when they get bored they, like, throw balloons at each other and whoever pops one first wins? is this what the dialounge is like in the off-hours?)

hey when do we get to see maskless red Lilia. please Twst I'm dying over here

[arthursfuckinghat]

"I was gonna say you're like a son to me.. but you're more than that."

"It ain't that complicated!"

How quickly that shoulder pat of comfort turned into a condescending one.

[tsukasalover]

it’s kinda stupid to call rui “sassy” or say he was acting “mean” for simply doing what any person would do realistically after tsukasa humiliated nene in the main story. i swear this fandom has gone over this a thousand times and yet for some reason it’s still so hard for people to accept that tsukasa was being a self centered asshole. that’s not even exaggerating anything that’s just the truth.

btw (if im wrong correct me) but rui has never gotten angry at someone unreasonably he’s actually quite mature and doesn’t just?? explode over things so i dont know why him refusing to work with tsukasa even after nene forgave him is seen as a “mean” thing… let’s not forget he still believed tsukasa hadnt changed at all and only wanted to be in shows for selfish purposes. it’s not bad to admit that tsukasa is egotistical and has acted much more mean in unacceptable ways than rui + has had to own up to this and work hard to grow as a person over time