#just in case who knows

[shararan]

I feel like people who complain about Scaramouche "being redeemed" in 3.3 as in "not held accountable" are really like... missing the point?

So you have this creation with one foot in humanity and another in divinity, whose entire existence has been defined from the very beginning by not being enough to truly be either human or god. Who was led to believe that the sheer intensity of his emotions where the cause for being abandoned by his creator and mother. Every single time he finds a semblance of peace and belonging, it's violently taken from him.

Humans can't be trusted. Human emotion is the greatest flaw. Everyone will abandon and betray you sooner or later.

Only for it to be revealed that the entirety of this situation had been carefully plotted in advance by (from what we currently know) Pierro and Dottore, all to specifically set the gears in motion for the naive puppet to spend centuries believing that the loved ones they took from him betrayed him. Completely unaware of the fact that they were eliminated specifically to trap him in the Fatui, so that they could get access to the secrets regarding the Electro Archon's creation methods.

He only became who he was within the Fatui due to being at Dottore's mercy, and for being able to "withstand abuse better than most humans". And now it's also confirmed that this is what made it possible for Dottore to create his many segments in the fist place.

But despite all that, this is a person who sees the divinity that which is the puppet's birthright. The sole purpose of his existence. And this same person promises to unlock that power, and help him scrub away the human emotion that ails him in order to elevate him to true divinity. Infiltrating and conspiring with the leading figures of Sumeru's Akademiya for it. Even when recognizing that this is all for Dottore's goals and nothing else, Scara still accepts it.

... only for everything to collapse and burn on itself, after having a taste of the power that he was taught to covet so. And now he's in the hands of the people who tried to get in the way multiple times before, who finally emerged victorious for it. And for what purpose could he yet be kept alive if not for the potential ways they could use him?

He complies to the tasks they ask him to fulfill, including searching the Irminsul. Only to then learn that everything he thought he knew about his life, his circumstances, his pain... all of it was planned by the Jester and the Doctor before he even knew them. And the people they claimed betrayed Scara had actually defended him and his heart to their literal dying breaths. Even as Dottore revealed his identity and the truth of what went down at Tatarasuna, Niwa's concern for Scara's safety even as he bled to death.

Scara asking the Traveler if there is any chance of changing the past, this wasn't him selfishly trying to erase the errors of his past. This was an attempt at self destruction in the hopes that there was even the smallest chance of changing the outcome of what happened back then. To try and change the timeline, so that Niwa, Katsuragi and everyone who died by assocation of knowing him wouldn't have died that day. Even at the cost of deleting his own existence.

This obviously didn't work out, for there is no way to change fate, and the only thing you change by altering Irminsul is the memory around how things came to pass, not if. And so Niwa, Katsuragi and the others all still died horrible deaths... there's just no puppet to be remembered now.

And then, without his memories, Scara becomes more mellow, and lost. And when faced with the information that he's committed atrocities in the past he accepts this as truth. And this is before the strangers (as the Traveler and Paimon are to him at the time) have any sort of proof to back this claim up with.

Despite that, he asks to bear witness to his past sins. Even when it's hard for him, he never looks away from it, and by the end of it he asks for his memories to be restored even though it will bring back the centuries of pain that lead him to that point. And he's willing to bear the burden, begs for it even.

He asks Kusanali what it means to be human, and if a puppet can truly be human. This is pivotal, as Scara's entire life has been dictated by the shackles of his past, by the things he lack. For the first time ever, he senses a potential way forward, towards a more hopeful future.

And the fact that he gains his vision the exact precise moment he reconciles with his past self, and lets it take a backseat as a part of what's shaped him rather than what forever defines him, is the freedom that which Anemo symbolizes.

I don't think it's talked about enough that his mindset is so reliant on the concept of "eternity", even when acknowledging that he's Ei's creation. She made him and the Shogun as a result of her pursuing unperturbed eternity after the Cataclysm, seeing that even her vessel was not ideal for it (erosion, etc). Scara was ultimately created for that purpose, but even still he is so similar to Ei herself... Both feel everything so intensely they scarcely know how to bear it.

And seeing her own artificial creation shed tears upon receiving the gnosis, I think the "weakness" Ei could be argued to have seen was much more towards herself, rather than Scara (and who knows if his initial softness also bore a potential resemblance to Makoto.)

And so she thought she was doing the only right thing, by giving him her blessing and a chance to shape his own fate free from her influence, rather than destroying him as a "failed prototype". But inevitably, he saw this as abandonment and helped fuel the idea that his sole worth lied in being able to carry the gnosis.

Going back to Scara's vision, the moment he received it also meant that he had finally found the freedom that Ei had wished for him. Something he had only briefly known once in Tatarasuna, as the now forgotten Kabukimono.

Even though he is forgotten in the words of history, and in the memory of the world, he still asks us to tell the descendants of the Raiden Gokaden who had really brought them ruin. Even welcoming the prospect of them wanting to kill him in retribution, seeing it as only fair.

He has no plans as of now, and isn't that the first time in far too long too?

He is finally free from the prison of the past, where he saw no other way than to harm people, and is now free to atone and find himself again. He may forever be shaped by his past, but that does not mean he is incapable of making a difference for the better. Because as he learned the hard way, there is no changing the past.

I'm not sure what other way this part of the story could have been concluded, and I wouldn't have had it any other way because it's all so goddamn poetic and heart wrenching in the best of ways. Even as fate saw for all this hurt and harm to happen, there was still a chance for him to atone and improve, for himself and others.

And the trials of realizing that, and work towards doing better without expecting forgiveness or sympathy from those you hurt, is much more productive when trying to make things better. Why does one feel the need for further punishment after everything the story has told us so far? To me that's missing the point entirely about what makes Scara and characters like him so impactful.

Because nothing about this story has been inherently "redeeming", but if you work under the idea that "punishment and atonement" needs to be carried out and that even then it will never be enough to cleanse you from your past sins, what point is there to try and ever do better? This is why "redemption arcs" is such a useless topic to me and dare I say closemindedly christian

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[mamawasatesttube]

BTW... PSA.... even if we arent mutuals if youre in my notes regularly theres a Very high chance i am still fond of you. yes im vaguing someones tags on the compliment the person u rbed this from post. but like. positive vaguing? THE POINT IS im weird abt following ppl but IM STILL SENDING U FOND VIBES...

[indigo6f00ff]

need to share an experience i had 30 minutes ago

(edit: thanks to @walks-the-ages for providing and reminding me to put alt text, sorry it slips my mind alot lol)

[iamanartichoke]

I don't know who needs to hear this, but as a creator -

I am fine with "the audience" -

downloading my fics

printing my fics

copy/pasting or screenshotting my fics

sharing your saved copy of my fics with anyone else who might want them in the unlikely but never impossible case that my fics are no longer available on ao3

making a book of my fic(s) and running your fingers across the pages while lovingly whispering my precioussss

doing these things with anything I create for fandom, such as meta, headcanons, au nonsense like 'texts from the brodinsons,' etc

I am not fine with "the audience"

doing any of the above with the purpose/intent of plagiarizing my work or passing it off as their own in any capacity

feeding my work into ai for any reason whatsoever

Save the fandom things. Preserve the fandom things. Respect the fandom things.

Enjoy the fandom things.

[akanemnon]

How to be an annoying little jerk 101

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference

[ruporas]

need to exist in your warmth (id in alt)

[lungthief]

post cosmic turnabout deleted scene/fix-it comic bc damn they made miles kinda harsh to athena and then did nothing about it so i guess it’s up to ME

[chthonic-kids]

i will shove that crusty old titan back into tartarus myself to keep her happy

[cracklewink]

Harmony Syndrome Part 5/5

The last chapter of my mlp infection AU! Thank you to everyone who followed along. Some final thoughts on my twitter @cracklewink if anyone's interested : )

[caruliaa]

staff still hasn't given me polls, what should i do?

🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪 their moms 69%

🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪 their dads 31%

grace image os i get to look at her

[the-worms-in-your-bones]

The thing about doctor who is that every episode is simultaneously the best and worst episode in the show and you can’t trust anyone who tells you it’s one or the other

[ariaste]

Me: [sees everyone talking about how Assad Zaman was "literally" coming up with RPF about himself and Eric Bogosian in an interview]

Me: ah, fandom's doing its little "interpret an innocent comment in Some Kind Of Way" thing again, let's go find the video and do our own critical thinking about what was actually said here--

Assad: What would happen if I said-- [words that cannot be interpreted as anything but RPF fanfic]

Me:

Me: ok fandom gets a pass on this one actually

[egophiliac]

just thinking about hair and faces

[casualavocados]

"Tell him, he knows everything he needs to know and feels everything he needs to feel. And when the day comes, and those two pull together, he will be an unstoppable force for good."

[bamsara]

more trod au stuff specifcially: dreams

IDK if i want dream!narinder to be canon in the AU yet but it's certainly a concept to play around with because I think it's funny if Lamb's dreams are just kinda bittersweet while Narinder's is just that one audio going NIGHTMARE NIGHTMARE NIGHTMARE NIGHTM