#me and harker are discussing it in the dms

[sanguinaryrot]

for the love of fucking god: loustat painter/muse au

[mcousland]

🍓 for Maeve, Theo, Emma, Ellana, Greer!

Oh hey thanks :3c It said facts so I'm gonna give 'em 2 each and also bc I am incapable of shutting up // Give me a 🍓 and one of my OCs, and Ill tell you some random facts about said OC!

Maeve —

When she was originally created, I think that I said Maeve doesn't sing much but?? after the months spent with her I think that's way off base and I couldn’t have been more wrong with my initial vibe check of this bard. I actually believe that she’d be quite talented, though doesn’t rely on its as her main source of bardic talent because she prefers her writings. She’ll sing for plenty of other reasons, but the most notable occasions I think would be during the downtime she has while traveling with witchers, where she sings to fill a silence or lighten the mood. 

Maeve almost always hums a little tune to herself while tying up the laces that keep her stockings in place because her mother would sing a song every time she did it for her growing up, just a short thing to help remember the steps of the process that she never quite shook off.

Theo —

She and her brother, Alec, have come up with a truly ridiculous amount of silent gestures to communicate with each other without alerting others. Sometimes it's used to avoid starting a whole argument back at camp, but more frequently it's used in gambling to better each other's odds at winning.

I know that I joked about her being fine with Phineas up until he tried to fuck with her memory and that just ruined the entire understanding she had with him,,, BUT. One of Theo’s whole things is that she was raised with the belief of “do what it takes to survive” and though she may disagree with her mother on a few things, that’s not one of them and it’s fully why she started going along with whatever Phineas was telling her in the first place. So give her another day or two to process and get around to the “he was just doing what he thought he Had to” conclusion, whether it's right or not, and she won’t have any real hard feelings against the beach boi. Still some feelings, but not hard ones lmao

Emma —

Let me take this opportunity to say that Emma’s distaste for lying is truly Not That Deep. I just thought it’d be funny to add as a little trait that her paladin mother is firmly against deception and it was something that rubbed off on Emma as she grew. She gets Uncomfortable if asked to lie and does Not Like being lied to because she’s been told for so long that it’s not a good thing to do and there’s simply no reason for it, the truth is always preferable.

In my heart I just know as a truth that Emma had her own little square of garden back at home, separate from everything else so that her own progress and skill could be tracked on its own. And I also know that she had cute little signs that she made herself for identifying different plants when younger so she wouldn't forget what was what. She never got rid of them because they'd always get a little smile from her parents and she's a Sucker. There is also 100% a little patch dedicated and decorated very close by for the animals that would approach Emma and chat with her because of her speak with animals spell.

Ellana —

She’s one of my characters that suffers the most from the “if I don’t try to save the world, then who will?” syndrome and it’s fully because I enjoy exploring that theme and the different routes that can come from it. Ellana’s is a continual loop of having a heavy burden placed onto her shoulders and deciding to bare it because she thinks that no one else will, and if she’s perfectly capable of handling it herself then there’s no reason for her to complain or offload the work onto anyone else. Which may or may not lead to a couple of breakdowns in the dead of night but that’s none of anyone’s business and frankly I’m offended that you’d even ask about it tbh

I could write an entire essay of her feelings on the topic of justice, but I think a very telling fact is just that when Erimond was kept within Skyhold’s cells to await her judgement, Ellana very nearly throttled the man through the bars of the door because she foolishly let herself get riled up by his nonsense. She shouldn’t have been down there in the first place, Blackwall and Leliana remind her that she only gets upset every time she visits the place (whether it’s empty or not), but damn if she hadn’t been weak that day and positively shaking with her rage over what the man had done to countless Wardens.

Greer —

Greer had been fighting in her Circle for years against the iron first that the Templars there tried to control her and her fellow mages with, and it landed her in the dungeons more times that she can count. It became a bit of a sad but common bit of knowledge that if somebody couldn’t hear Greer by midday, she had a 90% chance of being imprisoned for one of the numerous crimes the Templars liked to accuse her of. … Well, usually they were right about the accusations, but that’s not the point. This all led to her becoming the Libertarians leader of her Circle, and later a very loud and proud Apostate when the Mage-Templar war came about.

In the world of dnd, Greer is actually the daughter of my other character (Elide Harker-Westenra Andar) and her husband (Tyrus Rhogar)! While discussing what their kids would be like with the DM, we jokingly pointed out that a lot of the traits of Greer and her twin, Cormac, fit both Elide and Tyrus and it kinda spiraled from there into being a pretty set-in-stone thing. It was a funny whiplash for a while there going from thoughts of Greer having a quite estranged relationship with her parents in Thedas, and then swapping over to Andaria where she’s the biggest papa’s girl and is constantly spoiled by her mama.

[thenightling]

A study in character growth: Morpheus from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (a fan’s long rant)

When I first got into Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (before i shut the anonymous messages feature off here on Tumblr) I received a very condescending message asking me if I acknowledged the horrible things Morpheus did or if I ignored them because he’s my “fave.”

Tonight while listening to The Dreaming: The Sandman Read-a-long podcast, the readers were at part 6 of The Kindly Ones but Sasja Smolders, the new reader, (it’s a man who previously read it, and a new reader team) had seemed to have forgotten a lot of the earlier comics, including the entire premise of Season of Mists.  They (Sasja is nonbinary, I think) went as far as to say “Hashtag: Dream’s a bad guy.” while they were recalling Nada and reminding us that they’re still angry about it.

They also briefly forgot that the plot was resolved, which bothered me a bit, since I had liked Season of Mists so much and they had done several episodes about that storyline.  

Read under cut to get full tangent.

How is it that people who made it that far into Sandman can’t comprehend redemption or character growth?  I don’t deny that Morpheus has a dark past.  That’s kind of the point.  The character changes- whether he wants to or not.

It’s a depressing reality that a lot of people are growing up today without a grasp of the idea of compassion, empathy, mercy, redemption and forgiveness.   We’ve reached an unfortunate point in our culture where even Disney films have lines like “People don’t really change.” (Song: A bit of a fixer upper from Frozen).   And I know this is meant to discourage people from staying in bad relationships where they try to change their partner but it also undermines the idea of people bettering themselves, of self-improvement, of becoming more than you are.   It’s a self-defeating statement that is irresponsibly being taught to children.  I much prefer the line in the animated Beauty and the Beast.  (“Bittersweet and strange. Finding you can change. Learning you were wrong.”)

I try talking about Goethe’s Faust here on Tumblr or even back when the Internet Movie database had forums and I’ll see comments like “I don’t like Part 2.” And I’ll ask why and get answers like “Because Faust doesn’t deserve to be forgiven.  He’s done too many bad things.  He shouldn’t get to go to Heaven.”  When did we (People in general) get so judgemental?  

Faust realized for himself, that for him, the best experience- the experience he liked above all others, was caring about others. That for him there was nothing better than selfless concern for others, love, and compassion.   A soul that sees that as the greatest thing in all the universe doesn’t deserve Hell. He deserves mercy. That was Goethe’s point.   But we’ve reached a point in our culture where forgiveness is a foreign concept. 

I was discussing literary canon characters in the role playing games forum for IMVU (before they “updated” to the new format) and we got to talking about the literary Dracula.   I mentioned how I don’t like when people come in with characters who can sense who is damned and who is saved and how over-powered that seemed to me to be able to determine that without the consent of the character’s player or the game’s DM / GM.  One person said “Why?  You play Count Dracula.  It’s not like he’d go to Heaven.”  Actually if you read Bram Stoker’s novel it’s heavily implied that his soul IS saved.   Mina shames the men when Jonathan Harker talks about wanting to send Dracula to Hell and they weep at her merciful and sympathetic words about how his better aspect might be saved.   Later they are relieved by the look of peace on his face when they finally kill him- suggesting that Mina was right all along.    There are even people who insist Gary Oldman’s Dracula AND his original wife went to Hell even though the DVD commentary literally tells you otherwise.     

Now back to Morpheus.   Sasja Smolders of The Dreaming Podcast didn’t even remember that the events of Season of Mists were resolved.  It seemed that all they could remember was that they hated Morpheus. This was troubling since they had several episodes of their podcast dedicated to The Season of Mists and it really wasn’t all that long ago.    

When I received the previously mentioned anonymous message asking if I ignored all the terrible things Morpheus did “because he’s your (My) fave” I felt insulted.  I felt insulted for myself and for Neil Gaiman.   Does no one believe in redemption anymore?  Is character growth something that incomprehensible that people cannot move past first impressions?

I came across a few people who insisted the Frankenstein Monster in Penny Dreadful was evil because his first appearance was the killing of Proteus and later Doctor Van Helsing.  They completely ignored his later showing of remorse and extensive character growth right into Season 3.  They just couldn’t get over their first impressions.  

I think part of the problem is there aren’t very many successful redemptions or character progressions in pop culture lately. The most recent one I can think of is the humanization (in personality) of Dracula in Netflix’s Castlevania but after his wife’s death he immediately backslid into violence and madness.   

The first time I saw a truly well-done character redemption in modern fiction was when I was about ten-years-old watching Highlander: The Series, of all things.  The character of Methos was revealed to have had a very dark past.  He had been one of the Four Horsemen, not only that but he had raided and pillaged villages, taking slaves, skinned people, raped, and at one point even psychologically broke a woman he had taken prisoner.   After five-thousand or so years the character had undergone an amazing transformation and showed genuine disgust at what he used to be. 

 When this backstory for Methos was revealed I remember my reaction.  I feared the Highlander writers had done this just to kill off Methos.  I thought they were going to reveal he was secretly still evil in what today I know to call a “retcon.”  (I didn’t know the word back then).   I found it hard to reconcile the character I had grown to love with the dark past they revealed for him two seasons into his presence in the series.  (The revelation about his past was in season 5 and the character was introduced in season 3).  I had seen Methos fall in love with (and try to save) a dying woman.  I had seen him offer up his life to protect humanity against Kalas (an evil immortal).  I had seen him give Duncan (the main protagonist) sage advice many times.  I had seen him show compassion, selflessness and love (and a great snarky sense of humor).  So it was hard for me to accept the dark backstory they gave him.   

Once I finally accepted the backstory of Methos I realized how powerful the message was.  That people can change.  That if you realize you are doing horrible things and don’t like it, you can better yourself. You can reject your own past and write a new future for yourself.  People can grow and goodness can sprout from the greatest darkness.   

I had seen redemption stories before, but they were on a much more petty scale, like Charlie in All Dogs go to Heaven, or broody reluctant vampires... still being broody an reluctant vampires (but now giving in to the bloodlust less often!  i.e. Forever Knight).   Methos was the first real big character growth I had seen.  And you don’t really get that anymore today because people seem afraid of “Problematic” backstories tainting the view of a character forever.

But that’s just it, you can’t have a good redemption story without problematic behavior being established first.  I look forward to and dread when Sandman finally gets a film or TV adaptation.  I dread it because I know there will be people who can’t get past first impressions- people like Sasja, who remember hating the character but not any effort the character made to change and better himself.

Here is a list of ways Morpheus evolved in the course of Sandman:

1.   When Morpheus defeats Doctor Destiny (John Dee) he guides him gently back to Arkham asylum and once he finds out how hard it is for characters like Jonathan Crane to simply sleep there, he grants all the prisoners (and stuff) a peaceful night’s sleep.  This is a surprising act of compassion from someone who very brutally punished Alexander Burgess for holding him prisoner, not long before this.   

2.  You see a major growth in Morpheus when he comes to Calliope’s rescue.  Sasja was particularly obnoxious in the podcast about this issue because when Morpheus said he knows how Calliope feels, Sasja used this as a new excuse to hate him.  Ranting that he was held captive in a glass bubble while Calliope was being raped and he does not know how she feels.  That she would probably have preferred a glass bubble.   Sasja used this as an excuse to further resent the character.  

 Meanwhile the reality of the scene was that Morpheus was saying he knew how it felt to be a captive, to be dehumanized (De-personized?) and stripped of all clothes and property and held prisoner.  Not that he knew how it was to be raped.  

We are taught, through the events of the comics, that Morpheus had been quite a terrible father to Orpheus and terrible husband to Calliope.  The “old Morpheus” would never have come to Calliope’s rescue like this.  But Morpheus had grown as a person, and now he rescues her without question and even takes some revenge on her captor for her.   

When Calliope’s captor insists he can’t release her because he needs the creativity, Morpheus drives him mad with intensely creative dreams and then after the man finally releases Calliope, Morpheus takes away all of the man’s creativity as punishment for what he did to her. 

In this very story and later during The Wake, Calliope, herself, acknowledges how much Morpheus had changed for the better even though Morpheus originally denied that he had changed. 

3.   You learn in issue 39 of Sandman that during the beginning events of issue 2 (Imperfect Hosts, in Preludes and Nocturnes) the reason Morpheus was so weak that Gregory had to present him to Cain and Abel like a lost chew toy, was because when Morpheus happened upon a lost Marco Polo in The Soft Places (A place in The Dreaming where reality and time are distorted) things transpired. 

 Marco had been kind enough to offer the weakened Dreamlord water.  And in return Morpheus took pity on him and felt honorbound to use the last bit of his own power to help Marco get home to his own place and time, at great cost to himself.  Morpheus thought he might never be able to make it home but he was willing to make the sacrifice because of the kindness Marco Polo had shown him.  This is a pretty big deal.  Selfishness and arrogance are discarded for a humble act of honorable self-sacrifice.  Morpheus had used his last strength to help Marco Polo, making himself too weak to travel on. 

If Gregory hadn’t found him there’s no telling what may have happened.  Though not revealed until later in the series, this was Morpheus’ first big act of change in himself.   And this was his first self-sacrifice for another.

4.   When Morpheus is presented to Cain and Abel by Gregory the Gargoyle, it is one of the few moments where the proud character actually admits to needing help.  

  5.  Morpheus holds himself accountable when he learns about several dream entities having gone missing in his absence.  Lucien tells him that it is not his fault and Morpheus says “No? Then whose fault is it?”  Well, an obvious answer is Morpheus’ captors, the ones who took him prisoner. But here he holds himself accountable and is determined to set it right.

6.    When Constantine helped Morpheus retrieve his pouch of Dream Sand (issue 3) Morpheus obviously would have been willing to leave Rachel to suffer her death unaided.   But a short chastising from Constantine was all that was needed for Morpheus to show her mercy and he seemed to be more merciful toward those who are suffering after this point.  Morpheus learns.  He grows.  He acknowledges when he is wrong.    

7.   After Morpheus uncreates the sinister and homicidal Nightmare known as The Corinthian, he takes it upon himself to punish the attendees of the Serial Killer Convention.   This is not Morpheus’ business, nor is it his obligation.  And yet he does it.   He sees to it that they see themselves for who and what they really are.  And later he even recreates The Corinthian with a slightly more human personality, essentially reincarnating him, giving him a second chance.  

8.  When Rose Walker calls out to Morpheus for help while she’s being attacked by “Funland” Morpheus not only rescues her but also heals her. Keep in mind, at this point, he already knows that she is the Dream Vortex and it would (in theory) be in his best interest to let someone kill her (as he doesn’t like to kill).   But no.  Instead he rescues her.

9.  Later when Rose’s grandmother takes the Vortex into herself to spare Rose’s life (Morpheus didn’t want to have to kill her anyway) we learn that Unity (Rose’s grandmother) was granted the ability to stay in the Dreaming as she pays a brief visit to someone in The Kindly Ones.)

10.  In Season of Mists the entire catalyst for all that unfolds is Morpheus finally learning and accepting that he was wrong and dishonorable in how he treated Nada.  And despite being terrified of Lucifer he descends into Hell to rescue her from the fate he condemned her to, because despite his fear he is determined to set things right.   

11.  In that same storyline when the demon Azazel has both Nada and   Choronzon (the demon that challenged Morpheus for his helm) Morpheus takes pity on Choronzon despite what he had done to him. Morpheus shows pity and mercy and compassion.   He rescues his own former enemy from Azazel while he was rescuing Nada.  He did not have to do it, but he did it.

12.   In the Victorian era Morpheus had stormed off after a conversation with his immortal friend, Robert “Hob” Gadling.  Hob had figured out that Morpheus only met with him once a century because they were friends and Morpheus was lonely but Morpheus was too proud to admit it.  

Morpheus is too proud to even admit he has friends, let alone that he needs them.  By 1989 Morpheus shows up to his and Hob’s usual meeting and finally admits that yes, they are friends.   It’s really sweet.   

13.    Morpheus is very reluctant to apologize to Nada (the lover he left in Hell for rejecting him) but after she slaps him (well, deserved) he swallows his pride and apologizes properly to her.  What many people don’t realize is there’s a culture among royalty and in many governments that no one apologizes publicly because it’s taken as a sign of weakness and of wrong doing - something no country wants to admit doing because they think it will make people question their competency as leaders.  Morpheus helps Nada to finally move on and be reincarnated.  And after this instance he becomes more willing to apologize to others that he has wronged.

14.  Morpheus apologizes to Delirium when he accidentally hurts her feelings in Brief Lives.   At first Delirium thinks he’s making fun of her because as far as she’s concerned he never apologizes but the reader may have noticed he apologizes more and more often after that first apology to Nada.  It’s as if after that one big apology that he probably did not think he deserved forgiveness for (and many readers may agree) and yet he was forgiven anyway, that he is finally able to humble himself and apologize to others he has wronged. He had needed that forgiveness that he did not think he deserved, nor would he receive. 

15.    Morpheus apologizes to Thessaly (AKA Larissa) for their failed relationship in The Kindly Ones storyline even though it appears he’s not actually accountable for it.  He apologizes for hurting her even though it’s obvious he was the one most hurt by the relationship’s ending.  And the way Thessaly treated him is a mirror inversion of how Morpheus had once treated Alianora when he fell out of love with her (See Overture).  

16.  In The Kindly Ones Morpheus accepts it (and even seems touched) when he realizes he and Matthew are friends.  This is a big change from the version of Morpheus that threw a tantrum in The Victorian era at Hob suggesting that they were friends.

17.  The one and only time Morpheus kills is to free his own tormented son, whom Morpheus had wronged in the past.  It is thanks to Morpheus being willing to let him go that Orpheus was finally able to find peace after suffering for thousands of years.  It is also the first time we see Morpheus weep.

 18.  In Overture you see Morpheus slowly form a protective bond with a small child, Hope. You can tell he’s on the verge of adopting her.  Not only does he allow her (begrudgingly) to come with them on their quest but he also becomes protective of her. He answers her questions.  He tells her a story about himself (shortened to have a happier ending than what really happened).   He also gives her happy dreams where everyone is kind.  And he promises (and does) remember her name...

It’s a tragedy, to me, that the co-host of The Dreaming: Sandman read-a-long podcast doesn’t remember or appreciate the evolution of the character of Morpheus.   

To again answer the long ago question of if I acknowledge all the bad things Morpheus did: I answer: How can I not?    How can I appreciate his growth as a character if I don’t acknowledge the bad?   I love redemption stories.  I love character growth.   

If you don’t see and accept a character change over time - and that was the intention of the author- then you are missing out on a very important aspect of the story.  

Did Morpheus do really horrible things?  Was he an asshole?  Absolutely.  But he grows. He changes. That is the beauty of Sandman, watching him change, watching him evolve and learn and become a better person.  

Acknowledging change and growth is important.  It’s the same as acknowledging... well... hope.  Hope for others and for ourselves.   

We need more redemption stories, more stories of characters growing and bettering themselves.  And we, as an audience, need to learn to appreciate and accept that change and growth rather than condemn fictional characters (or even real people that reform) for the evils they once did.  And we, as a culture, need to move past, somehow never seeing how they may rise above it.  

I love redemption stories because there is something profoundly beautiful in seeing someone learn they are wrong and growing as a person.   Of course one might argue that it’s better if they were good all along.  And that is true but people aren’t perfect.  People make mistakes and there is a profound beauty and message of hope in seeing someone right the wrongs of their past and become something better than what they were- even if they don’t want to admit it to themselves.   It’s a tragedy if you read such a story and don’t acknowledge when it is happening. 

[hqassemble]

𝑨𝑺𝑺𝑬𝑴𝑩𝑳𝑬, KEVIN FORD & KANE HARKER. the avengers need you. you have 12 HOURS to report to headquarters, or they might find a replacement. YANIS ZAOUI & MAX DANZIGER are now taken

( could kane’s mun please dm the main when you get the chance ?? we’d like to discuss your power choices ! thanks !! )

( YANIS ZAOUI + HE/HIM + CIS MALE ) ; couldve sworn we saw KEVIN FORD on the news the other day. they were TALKING WITH A COUNSELOR at NEW HOPE RECREATIONAL CENTER, and all they told me is that they’re called WITHER. i can’t quite remember much about the interaction, but they WEREN’T dusted during the time of the snap, and WERE brought here when the multiverse opened. they’re doing their best to stay true to themselves lately, trying to stay HEEDFUL but sometimes, they can’t help but be DETACHED. whenever i see FAUX LEATHER GLOVES & A FLOWER FIGHTING TO GROW IN A SIDEWALK CRACK, it always reminds me of them. they’re known around the world because of their ORGANIC DECAY. it looks like they are a part of the VILLAINS group. i hope they survive everything that’s coming next & adjust to changes on the horizon. ( north, 18+, est, she/her )

( MAX DANZIGER + HE/HIM + CISMALE ) ; could’ve sworn we saw KANE HARKER on the news the other day. they were GETTING IN BETWEEN AN ARGUMENTATIVE COUPLE at EMPIRE STATE UNIVERSITY, and all they told me is that they’re called HAVOC. i can’t quite remember much about the interaction, but they WEREN’T dusted during the time of the snap, and WERE brought here when the multiverse opened. they’re doing their best to stay true to themselves lately, trying to stay CONFIDENT but sometimes, they can’t help but be MANIPULATIVE. whenever i see pink and purple dusk/sunsets, bow & arrows, the mention of archery, it always reminds me of them. they’re known around the world because of their DREAM MAGIC & MANIPULATION, SLEEP INDUCEMENT, REALITY WARPING & SUPERNATURAL ARCHERY. it looks like they are a part of the VILLAINS group. i hope they survive everything that’s coming next & adjust to changes on the horizon. ( t, 18+, aest, she/they )