#piggybacking

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Exactly! A lot of writing relies on what is unsaid. A lot of fanfic is inspired by that and wants to put it into words; poorly written fanfic bites the apple and actually does it.

I see this with a lot of fic in which the author clearly has strong views on the characters and their motivations, and writes them into the story directly through character exposition, not realizing that the characters themselves would not be able to express them because they are simply not self-aware enough.

For an example I've noticed recently, take Jean Valjean. He is a complicated case--he is very introspective at points, but often only to evaluate his sin and criticize himself. When he feels emotions like fear, jealousy, or even love, the narration indicates he wouldn't be able to explain what was going on in his head if someone asked him.

Furthermore, he is very consistently portrayed as dissociating almost immediately when placed in a difficult situation, and goes into either a survival mode (i.e. his conversation with a suspicious Javert, his flight to the convent, his escape with Marius into the sewers), or, more frequently, a self-harming mode (his desperate escape attempts, stealing from the bishop and Petit Gervais, the brand incident, his implied-suicidal presence at the barricades, giving Javert his address...and many more). This is repeatedly described as animalistic and instinctual; it is not a conscious process that he could explain. JVJ has a lot of unprocessed trauma, and it comes out in these latter incidents, but rarely (save isolated, odd instances such as the Montparnasse traumadumping, and even that is in a distanced third-person manner) is he able to articulate anything of the feelings, reasoning, or experiences behind his actions.

So when I see a fic in which Jean Valjean is able to easily explain that he has "always felt so afraid," or to freely articulate his concern and care for someone else, it reads as inauthentic. Yes, perhaps we, the readers, know that his fear or affection are primary motivators in a given instance, but Valjean himself would not (or at the very least, would not admit it). It feels almost gratuitous to see him laid bare--his inner character is what makes him so compelling, precisely because it is deeply buried. The same is true of almost any character, and that tantalizing inner experience that tempts less-experienced writers to turn them inside-out; but sadly, in doing so, they inadvertently make the character unrecognizable.

there are some things a character should not be able to tell us about themselves EVEN with a gun to their head. depending on the character that could even expand to include "most" things

[oneinchbarrier]

[kendyroy]

they should’ve kept this in the movie

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Read for filth

[chloesimaginationthings]

I would of loved this scene in the FNAF movie

[distorted-prince]

Started watching critical role C2, i love these two

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Love this!! It's also in Valjean's Soliloquy, making this the only time he ever sings the "Law/'Justice' Theme." That sounds significant, so of course we must ask why he sings it!

It's in exactly the same place of the song as it is for Javert: at the end, when both men are despairing over their derailment and the collapse of the worldview they've known. Javert, of course, ultimately does fall, as he sings, being unable to make peace with the changes happening within him and to his way of viewing the world. The law has failed him.

And the law has failed Valjean too! Now he knows "how freedom feels, the jailer always at your heels, it is the law--" and his status as a criminal is what has defined his life, that has pulled him down. So he sings the "Law/'Justice'" melody on those words, "I am reaching, but I fall," just as Javert does. Ultimately, the law has ruined both their lives (there's a wonderful quote from the brick about how Valjean is the law's subject or target, and Javert its slave).

But in this moment, unlike Javert, he is able to accept the change to his worldview, which the Bishop sparked in him. Instead of clinging to the law and its failures, to ultimately sing "There is no way to go on," he sings: "Another story must begin!" Which is why their melodies diverge at the end! Javert's final notes are a haunting howl, while Valjean's Soliloquy ends with an inspiring, high crescendo.

Just. The parallels between these men!!!

ok, little rant about a use of a leitmotif in les mis that i think has slipped under most people's radars!

so you the know the police leitmotif? the "tell me quickly what's the story/who saw what and why and where/let him give a full description/let him answer to javert!" tune that appears whenever somebody gets arrested?

now turn your ear to javert's suicide, specifically the "i am reaching but i fall/and the stars are black and cold" part. it took me a while to notice, but this whole section of the song is just a snippet of the arrest leitmotif:

but he never completes it. the snippet repeats and repeats. try as he might, he finds himself unable to sing the same old song of Justice and Law and Righteousness and Order. he's like a jammed cassette player spitting out the same second of music over and over and over and over again, unable to follow his old ways, but unable to let them go. he's stuck, but he will keep throwing himself against the walls of the cage.

javert is desperately trying to run on his old tracks of thought, but, as vicky h puts it, he experiences "the derailment of a soul, the shattering of an integrity irresistibly propelled in a straight line and dashed against God".

: )

[weeblmaodotcom]

Piggybacking on the last tiktok share , Meme by Weeblmao.com

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The dog days are over.

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[words-writ-in-starlight]

listen I expected literally Nothing from the D&D movie okay, like I can't make it clear enough that I expected the most soulless money grab with a good cgi budget imaginable, I went in having already gone through every stage of grief and landed on acceptance and LISTEN

I fucking CRIED during this dumb RPG movie. it wasn't just "not terrible" it was objectively good with a clever plot and compelling characters and sincere emotional beats. this movie loves D&D so fucking much and it NAILS the "a bunch of goobers try to be cool and accidentally discover The Power Of Friendship And Also Great Violence" classic D&D party vibe. their barbarian's last name is fucking Kilgore and my entire family cried in the theater.

I hope they make twelve of these motherfuckers.

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

So fun fact the word for "carpenter" is more properly translated "craftsman," which since Galilee/Nazareth are very rocky and trees are sparse means that Jesus likely worked mostly with stone (although he may have worked with some wood).

Anyway what if what really reminded Him of home was the inside of the tomb

why is religious Christmas imagery all so joyful and pleasant? where is the inherent horror of the birth of Christ? A mother is handed her newborn child, wailing and innocent. Her hands come away sticky. Red. Simply by giving her son life she has already killed him. He is doomed from the beginning. Her love will not save him from suffering. Because the thing cradled in her arms is not a baby, it is a sacrifice: born amongst the other bleating animals whose blood will one day be spilled in the name of what demands it. the night is silent with anticipation. Mary, did you know? That your womb was also a grave?

[shiftythrifting]

Southeast PA

This piggybank will haunt my dreams.

[theanxiousbookdevourer]

I leave them alone for ten minutes…

[fisherrprince]

more scribbles including stuff based on this post!

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

"There is a place called ‘heaven’ where the good here unfinished is completed; and where the stories unwritten, and the hopes unfulfilled, are continued. We may laugh together yet."

J.R.R. Tolkien

apparently i’m a millennial woman

[maiaczy]

Uuuhhhh finally a blog of culture. I love the diversity of your drawings and your sketches are so clean😔🙏

Can you draw Polnareff and Sherry together? I want to see this man happy🥺

Thank you so much!! And absolutely, this guy deserves happiness after all the Horrors Araki put him through