#aspects of balance

[earthly-apples]

No I don’t want to see Enjolras change himself, he was not being a dick, there is no obligation to accept a person’s feelings because they are colored by romance. I want to see Grantaire struggle to fly in a vast sky of endless possibilities, in this essay I will

#I WANT THEM TO FIND THE BALANCING POINT #WITHOUT CHANGING EVERY ASPECT OF THEIR PERSONALITIES #Im drunk bye

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

thinking about puppet!Home. also thinking about that tidbit saying that Wally had to learn how to be gentle first as to not break things. combining both for maximum effect

#home: *struggling with suddenly having a body* #wally: FINALLY! THE STUDENT HAS BECOME THE TEACHER! THIS IS MY MOMENT! #i just think he'd really enjoy being the one Informing #hed be so proud of himself huh... #preening after telling home all about how to be a Person and then he turns around and asks barnaby what cheese is #hes doing his best. #and like... i dont think home has nearly as much to learn? #its mostly based in the physical aspect of existence #idk for some reason i see him as kind of the neighborhoods father figure?? #a very eccentric father figure. father/brother/guardian figure #but anyway mostly wallys 'teachings' has to do with like... how to control his strength. how to keep his balance. how to Do Things #once homes got it he is On Top Of Things #scribble salad #welcome home #welcome home puppet show #hm. am i about to make a little doc for the puppet!home that only exists in my head and in my lil scribbles #Yes! i Am! #boutta jot down his personality and relationships and blah blah blah #also: part (insert number here) of me being Entirely Unable To Draw Wally Consistently #i drew these wallys right after each other. back to back. #it looks like two entirely different styles lmfao

[piracytheorist]

something i love about spy family is that its a very funny manga, but it isn't afraid to be serious and talk about serious things (and its also really good at transitioning between the two)

Tatsuya Endo has an amazing grasp of balance. There are a lot of posts going around about how Spy x Family goes from something as heavy as "war makes monsters of us all" to something as silly as "Anya finds Loid's tourist fashion choices lame" and it somehow works.

It's one of the things that made me fall in love with the story from the second if not the very first episode of the anime. It dares to be realistic about how war impacts humans and how it takes them into a path they wouldn't normally take, but at its core it's a story filled with humor and love and connection, because this is how humans are supposed to live like. I mean, not to break it down to a "live laugh love" moral, but at the end of the day it does prioritize people living happily together and in peace. Even the "enemy" is shown in a sympathetic light from time to time.

And the humor and silliness attributes to that. It makes the story light-hearted despite the heavy issues it tackles. It would be hard to find hope in a story that focuses only on those heavy issues, if its vibe was constant grittiness and violence and dark themes. Not that there's anything wrong with stories with such themes; but you wouldn't usually watch such a story and expect to feel full of hope afterwards, nor expect it to have the humor that SxF has.

What is amazing is how Endo manages the balance of it all. How he works in the silliness amidst an environment of a cold war, of hardened spies and assassins, because it would be very easy to veer right into tone-deaf cheesy territory that gives you (unintentional) emotional whiplash. I think it's due to how the characters are only slightly exaggerated versions of something you'd see in real life. Anya behaves as any five-year-old would, where her focus is to work in protection of peace, make sure the family won't break apart, and above all, have fun. Yor's view of the world has been impacted by how long she's worked as an assassin, but her "naivete" is mostly her tendency to see good in everyone, even the "bastards" she's sent to kill. Twilight keeps telling himself everything he does is "for the mission" but he's only human and can't help bonding with his family even if he doesn't realize it.

The characters may behave in an exaggerated way from time to time, but they're not caricatures. The humor and ridiculousness (affectionate) in their actions are based on real human traits and behaviours we can see in real life. The want to have fun, the tendency to see the good in people, the desire to love. Endo simply takes those and has three people whose special traits clash with those three mentioned traits. Anya grew up as a science experiment in a lab where she wasn't allowed to have fun, so now that she has people who care for her emotional growth she goes all out with fun activities. Yor was forced into the choice of becoming an assassin, having to be told "This person is BadTM so you play judge jury and executioner", but with Yuri being her motivation (and later on the Forgers too) she managed to keep her kind heart. Occasionally she can't control her monstrous strength and may also consider killing people who inconvenience her and then go like "Yo wtf chill maybe". Twilight became a spy and distanced himself from human connections, but now that his job brought him into the position of staying long term with a kid and a wife and a dog, his desire for such a connection is rearing its persistent head. And so you get a Professional Master SpyTM playing "Rescue Princess Anya from the Evil Clutches of Count Scruffy Head".

It's the contrast that makes the humor of it all, and in such a way that it never takes only one character's side. I think that also adds to the "flexibility" of the story. It's easier to connect to a story when there's multiple sides explained and understood by the audience; and I mean, the only thing the story looks to be trying to "convince" you of is that humans live best when they live in peace and surrounded by people they love, and that's an undeniable fact of human nature. The characters can and do make mistakes but they're shown to be able to grow from them, and even someone radicalized and extremist like Yuri has understandable motives and a very human nature - just one that was taken advantage of by people in power.

Overall yeah, I think it's how focused on the characters' humanity the story is that it makes the balance between humor and heavy issues work. Again, though it can be exaggerated at times, it's not a caricature or slapstick, just for the sake of making the audience laugh. There's a depth and a genuine reaching out for the audience's emotions and understanding.

(Anime only fan here, don't spoil me for the manga 😁)

#ask and ye shall receive #commieorcs #this probably got too deep lmao #but yeah I do love this aspect of the story so much #and Endo deserves the praise for balancing it all out so masterfully #Spy x Family #sxf meta

[sasperine]

look i love loid x yor but if we don't get a solid one to one fight b/w them i'll be so sad bc that would go so hard

#yor would absolutely win physically #but there are def ways it could be balanced out #like any sort of planning aspect would tilt the scales in loid's direction bc he has more funding and spy experience #also also yor goes for knives and loid goes for guns and gun > knife so #same w loid and yuri i rlly wanna see them fight and it's very obviously being set up by the plot #idk who would win b/w them since we've never seen yuri in an all out physical fight but...probably loid? #twiyor #loid forger #loid x yor #yor briar #spy x family #what do y'all think? who would win

[mid-nightowl]

paramedic/EMT dick is so good omg :o i hadn’t thought about that one

i have seen social worker dick which also felt really appropriate (also love that for jason) but!!! EMT actually feels like it works better to me???

thank u for putting that thought in my head~

ahhhhhhh!! i am so ecstatic i could put the thought of emt/paramedic!dick in your head hehehehe

paramedic!dick is so special to me<3 it very much i think hits what dick needs and wants out of his civilian life but also directly influences his vigilantism too

my main three takeaways are these:

it's a highly rewarding but deeply traumatizing career and it scratches his innate need to help people without violence & fear

it's a little bit more training than a police officer but i think covers a field of knowledge dick knows but doesn't know intimately like he does criminal justice or law. it would also benefit his "night" job to be more equipped to handle traumatic injuries

ems schedules are chaotic and all over the place especially if the garage is down a paramedic or ALS provider or just overall understaffed but the overall structure of it would be good for dick (if he can balance his work-vigilantism life healthily, depending on how you write him)

#asks #ladytauria #i got halfway through an essay and decided not to infodump on you askfgsjkgbsjgb #but yeah ems is one of my niches i feel i know too much about but i am just very passionate about it #but i also truly believe it would be a better profession for dick than police officer (blegh) #like there's just so much potential in this career for him #the community aspect; the balance of heroism and trauma which parallels his trajectory as Nightwing; the balance of work and home life #(which can flip between healthy or unhealthy) #the training and the role of ems in society esp in regards to the trifecta of first responders #you can easily deal with the same things dick did as a police officer but as an ems provider and it would be better ethically and morally #also the idea of him being able to help others without violence and fear is such an interesting thread to pull on like omg???? #and then just the angst potential bc the job is just as traumatizing and frustrating as vigilantism; the cycle of burnout and exhaustion #(which can also be a downside writing-wise like he's already traumatized enough by being Nightwing maybe his day job shouldn't be) #i could talk all day about the potential akfgnkasjg apologies for the ranting-gushing lol #dick grayson #paramedic!dick grayson

[theerurishipper]

Not to barge in on the discourse, but @sokkastyles made a great post about the significance of associating Zuko with the rainbow fire, and I left a tag rant back there that I now want to elaborate upon.

Anyway, the rainbow fire is arguably specifically linked to Zuko because it connects to his arc. Not the rainbow colors themselves, but what they represent, which is the true essence of Firebending. Aang and Zuko both had to learn the true meaning of Firebending, but the moment was more significant in Zuko's arc than Aang's because Firebending is at the core of his story in a way that it isn't with Aang. Zuko's Firebending has always been a central point in his journey, and the whole scene with the dragons and the true meaning of fire is a metaphor for his arc of learning to accept and embrace that which the Fire Nation has rejected.

The two dragons have always been a motif in Zuko's arc and have symbolized the two sides of Zuko that he had to reconcile within himself. Zuko had to learn the true meaning of fire, which was rejected and erased by Sozin, and this directly connects to his arc about learning that his traits and qualities which his father rejected and punished him for were things to be accepted and embraced.

And it is also a very significant moment in his story of being the one to restore the Fire Nation's roots and the spirituality that had been lost because of the war his ancestors started. His role is to rediscover the roots of his nation and bring it back in order to restore balance and heal his nation. Him being able to bend the rainbow fire, which is the physical representation of the spiritual essence of Firebending and the Fire Nation itself that he is seeking to restore would be the perfect way to represent his arc as the one who will restore those spiritual roots. Him bending the fire with the colors, thereby bending the fire in its purest and truest form, which was formed by the two dragons merging their flames together, would be representative of him completely and fully reconciling the two sides of himself and embracing who he truly is.

The whole idea of the true meaning of fire, while being an exploration of the effects of war, is literally a metaphor for Zuko's arc of finding a new path forward while reconciling both sides of himself and rejecting the path his father set for him. That's why it's less thematically relevant to have Aang or Iroh bend the rainbow flame, because it is representative of Zuko's arc, and Zuko's role in the story is literally about being the one who embraces and restores it in order to redeem his nation and help bring balance back to the world.

#ATLA #Avatar: The Last Airbender #Avatar The Last Airbender #Zuko #Aang #ATLA Zuko #ATLA Aang #Meta #My Meta #The Firebending Masters #Zuko bending the rainbow flame would represent him embracing the aspect of the Fire Nation that they gave up which destroyed the balance #And bringing it back #TLDR Aang doing it isn't as good because it is not as important and relevant in his arc as it is for Zuko #Writing all this makes me kinda sad that we didn't get this in the show fr #They should have done it

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

You know, for as much as I didn't like all the romance soap opera drama and what happened with a lot of the ATLA cast in Legend of Korra, I can admit that just because it wasn't my thing and bothered me in a lot of instances doesn't make it necessarily bad per se. I just think there were some weird decisions character-wise

However. I did not like what they did with Wan and the Harmonic Convergence, and I am quite confident in saying that it thematically weakened the show and was a wasted opportunity to do something truly special with the concept of the Avatar itself

#storyrambles #it's been a long time since i've watched lok #so bear in mind i may not be remembering everything clearly. but. i do have a rewrite concept for this part. it's very simple. #i'm not going to pretend i'm better than the original writers or anything. but i do think in this instance it's more thematically meaningfu #anyways i didn't actually hate lok (i liked it!!! i love avatar korra actually!!!) and i don't think it deserves the hate it gets at all #it's still a stellar show. i just think it has a set of very particular weaknesses that made it less effective than it could've been #but yeah. harmonic convergence. could've been so damn good. #instead we... get rid of the whole yin-yang balance aspect to make the avatar the big good and lock half of a balanced set in a tree??? #:/ #eh. i'm not putting this in main tags because it's a criticism and also i really just intend for this to be seen by people following me

[skunkes]

this might be a silly question but U know that cute eye style u do for chibis and such. i think its adorable and made eyes Make Sense but ive never seen anyone else do it so i would feel like i was jacking your style to use it in my art too ;_; at least if i did comms or watever.. its so unique to ur art to me but i wanted to ask waht you think

hm so obvs i am not the first or last person to do it and ive also evolved it to be my own thing over the years, so wld not matter if someone did the same bc it'll (ideally) morph to ur own style eventually too... im unsure abt the wording of this tho bc recently somebody has been using various aspects of my chibi style to sell comms and it feels Strange.

Like nobody owns art styles and i usually dont care bc i myself always Frankenstein and evolve art aspects i love but the combination of (this person) using my style, style of coloring, exact same brush, and Squiggles in combination with selling em for Cheaper is making me nervous abt this ask. Ykwim. Id say go for it as long as u dont straight up emulate the whole entire thing.... If its just the eyes then yeah whatever theyre not even "mine" and I have like 20 different ways of drawing eyes on my chibis

#its so hard to find balance here like i feel snobbish and rude for being upset with the above example #bc i myself always pluck art aspects frm other ppl and integrate it into mine #and nobody owns styles but idk. idk! #anonymous #skunk mail

[dimension-20-every-introduction]

Everyone Introduced in Dimension 20′s Mentopolis episode 6 (finale)

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #d20 introductions #mentopolis #mentopolis spoilers #d20 mentopolis #HOT DAMN............. what a season #that was unbelievably goofy and looney toons level silly but like. what a fun ride #i feel like the kids on bikes system really opens the door for a lot of those moments from what i've seen it's so great #also having a secret narrative stat that uses the fucking d100 as the die roll was like VERY silly but also like. #it has me going a little bit insane about like ways that could be used in like other genres or things or whatever #like god damn that's a good way to represent some aspect of character that is just so impossibly strong that like...... #when they tap into that they just cannot fail #which kinda sucks in terms of balancing for gameplay but like god damn‚ narratively? #and like restricting it so that stat only sort of becomes awakened or usable when that sort of deeply rooted personal growth comes into pla #this might be kind of a weird stretch but like.... the crests from the og digimon adventure? #like if they managed to tap into those aspects of themselves and their crests glow‚ that's their d100 stat‚ their crests #and all sorts of astronomically powerful shit could sort of come about from them acting within their strongest parts of themselves in turn #i don't know. maybe i'm just too digimon brained maybe i'm just a little too hooked on that digimon ttrpg show that uses kids on bikes too #but like...................................... fuck. #i don't know‚ it could be something! #anyways i really enjoyed these sort of lightly animated scenes of the real world that elias hodge got to star in as the pov #very VERY fun how they played across the dome in game too #also oh my godddddd anastasia and fawnbrooke......... bro i'm gay #was this season sillier than fantasy high? or escape from the bloodkeep? probably #like the lore and worldbuilding was unabashedly bonkers due to it all existing in the mental manifestation of the human brain #and VERY funny at that #probably the silliest d20's ever been! but i loved it #alright‚ guess that's it for this one #see y'all next season!!

[my-last-brain-cell-is-socrates]

"Much as he liked causing trouble from time to time, it was just as much fun watching his father do it."

(FOTJ: Outcast)

Both Ben and Luke are such little shits (affectionate). I love them.

#star wars #star wars legends #star wars eu #luke skywalker #ben skywalker #I think Allston's characterization of both Ben and Luke is my favorite #he managed a great balance between tomfoolery and occasional solemnity #especially for Ben #as much as I like Christie Golden's focus on some of the emotional aspects of Ben's character #the way she depicts the lasting effect Jacen had on him for example #Omen and Ben's flow walking comes to mind #but I feel like she's not as adept in handling Ben's sober pragmatic nature

[queer-ragnelle]

arthurian adaptations fail the orkney brothers time and again. gawain is either virtuous or irredeemably sinful there’s never an in between which is where he belongs. he and agravaine are never the foils they should be and neither are nuanced characters at the same time. agravaine is given the murder of morgause which is missing the whole point of his character and that of gaheris. meanwhile…gaheris…exists. he should be gawain’s shadow and the most irritating person to agravaine in the universe. gareth is usually okay but his relationship with his brothers and lancelot needs to be strained to the breaking point, and I also think he should be on good terms with kay instead of framing him entirely antagonistic. mordred needs to be agravaine’s little buddy. it’s one of the best parts of the vulgate and some stories include it but they manipulate each other and that’s the wrong approach. they can’t know what they have is messed up, they don’t see it, they’re just hanging out and people die around them. none of the bros abuse their wives. i cannot stress this enough. non-negotiable. in fact their wives love them all dearly. an acquired taste. if you know you know. thank you.

#not accepting criticism #i’ve read many many adaptations #someday i will write out which books had the best of them #i liked Persia Woolley’s gawain he was balanced #lavinia collins has the best agravaine hands down no contest he’s perfect #i like gerald morris’s gaheris bc he pairs well with lynette which is hard to pull off #I liked cherith baldry’s gareth the best bc his relationship with lynors kay lancelot gawain all very deep #mordred…..haven’t found a mordred i super like tbh #he is okay in several things but none of them were great #aspects are good then he’ll do something i really hate & ruin it a little #some day i’ll find him……. #my post

[llitchilitchi]

I'm kind of going to go the opposite route to swordfright and say I'm not a fan of when c!Quackity is written as Pure Unfiltered Evil. Like, obviously he's not the nicest guy out there, he's done—let me check… *a lot of shit*. But it can sometimes feel similar to the treatment c!Dream gets from the fandom.

But then again, totally okay if that's the story you want to tell! The only problem is when people bring that stuff from fics to analysis; that goes for any character.

the ask from swordfright kinda compliments yours, really, and at the end of it all we get a complete statement that I think applies to all characters in the story

all characters are heroes of certain stories and victims of others, and they are definitely villains in many others. and all of that needs to be acknowledged, especially if we are to Discuss canon. it's valid to ignore parts of the character especially when we write from the perspective of someone they have a particular relationship with, but these fandom views don't have place in the actual story analysis

there is a lot of nuance to all characters on the SMP so to only choose one feels like taking two barbie dolls and waving them around

as one anon said, there is a line. and that applies to all of these

yes, c!Wilbur can be depicted as a hero in c!Tommy's eyes, but it would be stupid to ignore the emotional abuse that was inflicted in the process

yes, c!Quackity is a fucked up individual that tortured someone for fun. but he also underwent a lot of trauma at the hands of his fiancé and then when he got engaged later to someone else, they neglected him

yes, c!Dream was hurt in prison and reduced into a whimpering begging mess. but he also murdered one of the people responsible for the torture when he had the opportunity

it's cool to see people lean more into one or the other with the good/evil hero/victim/villain thing, but the main thing people seem to mind is when it's Just One and all the rest of the character is erased

does this make sense?

#asks #elmhat #theres a balance to keep and when someone ignores the other aspects it just kinda sucks #especially if its a long fic with several chapters like :// #tropes discourse tag

[devilsskettle]

i've watched a lot of good films lately in an attempt to catch up with a bunch of movies that have come out recently, but talk to me was the best movie i've seen in a LONG time

#i put off watching it for so long because i was sure it was overrated + i'm generally not a fan of possession movies #(because so many of them try to be the exorcist and they will never be the exorcist. you know how it is) #but holy shit. genuinely a brilliant movie in every aspect of filmmaking + completely aligned with my personal taste #+ exactly what i look for thematically in possession and/or ghost movies #+ the absolute perfect balance between psychological and gory #and like i said SUCH a good cold opening #tbh i think it's a useful trick to know how to get your audience to buy into a supernatural premise from the very first scene #i think that takes some VERY effective + skillful writing and directing #and as someone who again typically does NOT like possession movies i usually end the movie NEVER buying into the story #not because i'm a 'skeptic' or whatever just because the writing doesn't do the work #but SCENE ONE of this movie i was so in it #anyway. movee of all time to me #also from the trailers etc i had thought that that fluffy yellow sweatshirt mia wears at the beginning of the movie was a bathrobe lmao #my first impression of what this movie was gonna be like was NOT correct #anyway 'recently' means in the past 2 years i guess? #actually maybe this post was a lie because i LOVED nope which was also just an absolute cinematic masterpiece #anytime i watch a jordan peele movie it's just like. this man is so far beyond any other filmmaker out there right now #it's almost unfair to watch lol like an olympic gold medalist running laps around a middle school track team #anyway ummm. yeah talk to me was good though

[paper--moons]

not to get into spoilers concerning the latest bnha chapter, but Hizashi denying the fact that he's crying is really really making me want to give him some small time

yellow thing you are in danger

#moon mumbles #not tagging for spoilers because this is barely even a crumb #but oof the way him and Shouta are handling things is so so interesting to me especially comparatively #they share a traumatic event and handle it so differently #but the balancing aspect of their personalities compels me #also to clarify he is in danger of ME whacking him with the baby stick

[bananasofthorns]

cannot find the post I made about it before but I am once again rotating the concept of a Lord Huron dnd/ttrpg setting

#lord huron #banana made a post #IT WOULD BE SO COOL #if i ever get around to making it i think it would have aspects of the lore #but wouldn't still fully to it. and it would be ttrpgified of course #i only rlly know 5e so that is what it would be i think #the world would b a continent with different places corresponding to their albums n stuff #when i was first rotating this i had a few ideas for deities but i. did not write them down #ik the world ender was one (primarily as a warlock patron i think) #perhaps also the balancer (from balancer's eye) and death/the narrator from yawning grave #i have THOUGHTS but will they ever go anywhere? Questionable

[alexa-crowe]

only mystra would go "yes i am the source of all of your problems and am the reason you couldn't reach your full potential <3 but now you're free of me so you can do that now <3 i'm so smart and nice and am definitely a good-aligned goddess!!"

#she's not good aligned i'm arguing. she's self-aligned and the weave is. #well it's debatable whether she is the weave or whatever but it's a moot point. she and the weave are inextricable #she's self-aligned and the weave IS her so protecting the weave is obviously self-interest #at best she's lawful neutral #i lean towards lawful evil. and i think it's simply the fact that ao's commandments severely limit the gods' contact with mortals #that stops mystra from wreaking more havoc and being recognized as a deity that's more evil-aligned #similar to how god!gale thinks he's doing good but really he's doing bad #mystra thinks her self-preservation of the weave is the same as balancing good and bad uses of it but that's not true #i mean who is she to decide? clearly her decision-making skills are dubious if she cyclically grooms little boys despite dying and being #reincarnated as a different version of herself or having someone else entirely take up the mantle of mother of all magic. like!!!! #idk if i'm making sense but like. i'm having thoughts #baldur's gate 3 #also that's not mystra that's melissa. basic white girl aspect LMAO