#we want conflict in stories because thats what drives them and its not a moral failing to enjoy that

[alovelyburn]

Rambles about the Conviction Art Part 5

Dreams and Hawks and Hawks and Dreams.

Rambles about the Conviction Art Part 5

1. So there’s something I’ve always found pretty interesting about the setup of NeoGriffith and Falconia and just the world as a whole and the turn it’s been taking, and that is how... performative it is. Like, Griffith turns up and brings all these monsters into the world and then saves people from those same monsters, and he does so by physically battling them even though he probably could just stomp them from the sky. Instead he goes through this whole show of bringing humans and apostles together and fighting them side by side with a sword instead of by crushing them with his telekinesis and...

Basically, like this isn’t something I’ll necessarily get heavily into NOW, but overall Berserk’s world has the feeling of a stage play - a story that is being spun by the Idea of Evil or by the Godhand - Skull knight even refers to Griffith as the author of the world’s story basically.

And the reason I bring this up now is because while it’s true that Griffith is the Messiah/Chosen/Desired, it’s also true that the suffering that came down on the world is largely orchestrated by the Godhand - on the last page of Revelations Part 1, you see Conrad enabling the plague, you know? Plus the conflict between Grififth and Ganishka is VERY performative and highly calculated.

But the morality of that stage play remains sort of ambiguous, like what is the end goal? What place is NeoGriffith trying to bring the world to, and for what purpose? And if they get there and it’s a good thing, does that make everything that’s been done to the world to achieve that thing justified?

No?

Even though it’s what humanity wanted? Because remember the only reason the Idea of Evil exists is because humanity created it. The only reason Griffith created Fantasia was that it was the world humanity desired. So now what?

These things are basically the reason I love Berserk. That’s why people simplifying the morality in Berserk gives me hives.

Kind of a tangent but it leads to this: these three chapters are like staging - its the Godhand (and Griffith particularly) moving pieces into the place they need to be in order to create the situation necessary for him to come into the world again. And that’s very interesting to me, particularly when we get to the end.

Also that one guy kinda looks like a werewolf.

2. Fascinating that the King is still chasing Griffith down after all this time - and doing it at the cost of Midland’s military strength. Yikes.

3. You know, the first time I read Berserk, when I was too busy gawking at everything to fully absorb what was going on (and also I didn’t know what was coming so I couldn’t pick up the patterns and foreshadowing) I did kind of wonder whether this Hawk of Light thing was known to the population as a whole. From the way Laban looks at the Holy See’s symbol when thinking about the Hawk I can only assume it is - that he realizes that they’ve received a revelation specifically that their messiah is coming. And then that made me wonder, because he also says that to all of Midland there is only one person a hawk can possibly symbolize.... makes me wonder whether there were people suggestion that Griffith was the prophesied savior during his days as a human war hero.

Also, I think I’m gonna check off those predictions as I pass them. So they’re listed below with the ones that already happened noted:

-The reaper references the death of the king as seen above. -kingdom of villages dying from plague is, well that’s this chapter -an army driving mammoth beasts: Ganishka and the Kushan army -a city devastated by earthquake with towns swallowed by raging torrents - TBA -corpses of both family and neighbor-  TBA -a sun obscured by black smoke - TBA although, I mean, thats the reincarnation isnt it rofl -mobs of starving vagrant folk - TBA

4. With scenes like this, I always think of it as partially evidence that the godhand in question creates those things and part that they are inherently present in those things due to their representative nature. Did Conrad specifically send a plague or is his spirit present because he is plague and plague is present?

....I kind of used to think it was the latter but now I think it was the former. It’s staging, man. Or rather, I think it can be both or either one, and in this specific case it does seem to be the Godhand setting up the world to desire salvation.

5. Foreshadowing for the way Griffith just straight up took over when they got back together?  I mean, I suppose he’s the appointed regent.

Its just so interesting to me how Foss becomes a Griffith loyalist.

And this is what I mean about staging right, like why is the King ill now? Isn’t it because his death is a necessary component in what’s to come? Which is to say he dies to make room for Griffith. Basically. Which I have no qualms about, he was an asshole anyway besides if he hadnt had Griffith tortured for a year, this wouldn’t be happening.

Speaking of the King, though...

6. This dream sequence of the King as he’s dying is great - it’s one of my favorite scenes. I’m not trying to be a King sympathizer, I mean see above, but that said...

Hes trapped.  He's in a throne room but the throne is raised above everything and the only people around him are soldiers. Those soldiers surround him and bar his way  - essentially they are his jailers and meanwhile he’s perpetually on the edge of freezing to death. When Charlotte appears he tries to go to her but they block him with their polearms and wont let him off the platform.

So... thats how he feels. And now that hes been separated from Charlotte there's no escape from it except inward, into madness.

@zombiesgohome​ notes that this also parallels what he had done to Griffith - he trapped Griffith in a literal prison to suffer and rot, and now he has become trapped inside his figurative prison where he, too, is suffering and rotting.

Which also goes back to the parallel roles Charlotte and Guts play in the King and Griffith’s lives respectively. Because Griffith held onto Guts’ memory in order to maintain his sanity, but the King is unable to do that - he cant reach her, and so he falls apart.

It is, I think, a suitable wrap for that previously raised comparison between Griffith’s feelings for Guts and the King’s for Charlotte. NOT MORALLY, I said this at the time but I’m not implying any kind of moral equivalency between the King’s incestuous obsession and Griffith’s love for a man. Rather I’m comparing the function of those relationships in each one’s life - the way the King and Griffith depended on them for emotional stability, the way they desired without being able to fully face that desire, the catastrophic reaction when they are “rejected,” although in Griffith’s case it wasn’t even a real rejection but hell he didn’t know that.

Anyway, while I’m here. let me just say it’s hilarious to me that even after ascending to become some kind of demonic archangel demigod thing, Griffith’s still enough of a petty bitch to specifically come bother the King and smirk as he takes Charlotte away. ITS JUST FUNNY OKAY.

That said, it’s also right in line with the way he treats Guts post-eclipse. Because the people who hurt him the most get the “fuck you, I’m going to do exactly what would hurt YOU and you can’t do anything about it” treatment.

An army driving mammoth beasts: CHECK!

Not a huge amount of Deep Shit happening in Zodd’s dream, but I like how when the “camera” focuses on the Hawk’s beak, the beak itself is drawn to resemble Griffith’s helmet... or Femto’s head.

Griffith wins Zodd the same way he won Guts - by thrashing his ass in a duel. A while later, Sonia refers to Guts as Zodd’s counterpart and I’ve read some theories about what that could mean but for me its always been fairly clear: Zodd is basically Griffith’s Guts expy. He’s won the same way, and he serves more or less the same purpose. This kind of goes back to the theory that every major member of the new Band of the Hawk somehow echoes/reflects a member of the old Band of the Hawk. That I think is a little more of a stretch - not saying it’s definitely true, but it could be reading too much into things. But Zodd and Guts, I think, is a much more straightforward and clearcut situation.

Also the way Griffith’s coming is foreshadowed in Zodd’s chapters with black birds - Hawks of Darkness so to speak, is pretty boss. But remember that line - “when the sky falls at the holy ground where blind sheep gather and erect a pillar of fire...“ the line Griffith leaves with Zodd.

And then Guts has a dream too.

Its funny because it seems like the only three people in Midland who didnt just get the normal generic revelation dream are Zodd, Guts and the King, right? And then Griffith specifically visits Zodd and the King. Then Guts gets a dream too, which is from the baby but follows the same pattern as the other dreams given by Griffith. And I bring this up because after Guts wakes up and the baby is there...

The baby straight up quotes Griffith word for word - the same lines Griffith left with Zodd. 

Each dream urges the recipient to do something that serves Griffith’s purpose - the King just fucking dies. Zodd submits himself to Griffith. And Guts.... runs off to rescue Casca, right? But it’s Guts and Casca’s presence in the same place that makes the pseudoeclipse, and thus Griffith’s rebirth, possible.

I don’t like to give direct predictions or theories but I will say that’s very interesting information.

So this is kind of short because I wrote a whole thing about the Guts and Godo chapters, but it got so long and dense that I decided to separate them out like I did with the Griffith mindscape post. SO UH. Idk stay tuned. Bai.

#berserk #berserk meta #rambles about berserk #ariel talks about berserk

[darlington-v]

A Sympathetic Character is Better than a Morally Just Character

part of this was drafted from a month or so ago but i’ve been thinking about it so i’m going to finish it now and post it on this blog instead of the og ranboocore blog haha! 

i would really wish this fandom would understand though that, 

a morally good, righteous, upstanding character =/= a GOOD character like yes. they are morally good. but that does not inherently make them the better written, more satisfying character. like i enjoy characters like dream, ranboo, technoblade, wilbur, quackity, and sam (my favorites especially are dream and ranboo) because they have depth. they are multifaceted and have internal conflict and clear character flaws. 

sam is actually a good example of a character being righteous and that being a flaw. BECAUSE of his values, tommy died on his hands. because he adheres to laws, he has internal conflict as the world has shown him that maybe he was wrong. maybe it is not good to be so righteous. 

i see a lot of posts like condemning characters for their actions and i get so utterly confused because thats the point. like yes. they did the bad thing. yes. you’re right that is bad. but like... can you analyze it? can you break down the character motivations, that characters reasoning behind it, is it relatable? is it sympathetic? is it compelling to you? 

if it’s not why are you here. because these ARE sympathetic characters. they make mistakes and it is clear that the mistakes they made ARE INDEED MISTAKES. because that is human. and we can relate.  “dreams not sympathetic, he’s evil” immmmm SORRY are you telling me that if you were repeatedly told that you were an awful person, that you were toxic, that you were the bad one EVEN THOUGH YOU WEREN’T, you wouldn’t get frustrated? you wouldn’t get upset and maybe act drastically? you wouldn’t lash out? 

“i wouldn’t manipulate someone and blow up a country.” no shit! i wouldn’t either! but i would get angry! i would get mad and upset and i might say something mean or out of line or like make a mistake and start a fight. the beauty of writing is that we can exaggerate things to extremes. this raises the stakes and makes the actions so much more meaningful, but because we at our core can relate to similar actions and the line of logic, it makes it moving. it makes it sympathetic and relatable. like? no obviously, i don’t condone abuse or like manipulating someone. but i can understand and relate to the idea of “the ends justify the means.” which is the type of character dream is. in his head, the ends will justify the means. 

so i need you to understand that a SYMPATHETIC character is better than JUST a MORALLY RIGHT character. ESPECIALLY in the dream smp. this is the narrative where EVERYONE is their OWN MAIN CHARACTER. and the main character NEEDS to be sympathetic. the villain doesn’t necessarily, though a sympathetic villain is always so much better than a flat, 2D villain, but the protagonist NEEDS to be sympathetic. and by sympathetic i mean like... can i follow their line of logic? can i understand this character? like maybe i personally wouldn’t do the things they’ve done, but can i understand why they’ve done what they have? am i rooting for this character because i can relate and sympathize with them?

this is SO important in writing. it GIVES characters depth. it makes them feel real, and not just like... a 2d caricature of something. thats part of WHY i love ranboos character and WHY he is very obviously a fan favorite. ranboo, hands down, undoubtedly, PUTS THE WORK IN. his character is deeply flawed and for that extremely relatable. ranboo makes SURE that there is subtext there for you to understand it. the way his character rationalizes things is such a good testament to him providing subtext, but it’s definitely not the ONLY way he provides subtext. he doesn’t TELL you that his character has anxiety (in lore i mean out of lore he’s said it plenty of times) BUT HE SHOWS THAT. 

his character catastrophizes, his character is pessimistic at times, his character is worried pretty frequently, he displays signs of paranoia among like... so many other characteristics that are clear results of anxiety or just SHOW his anxiety. he doesn’t just SAY that flat out, but he shows it in the way he talks, the way he thinks, his actions. like YES. yes ranboo IS a hypocrite but you can understand WHY he is a hypocrite. it’s because, ironically enough, his character VALUES being morally correct. ranboos morals are important to himself and he CANNOT conceptualize being the morally wrong one. and that’s SHOWN in the way he rationalizes his acts of hypocrisy. he excuses himself because he doesn’t want to be the one thats wrong, and it’s clear that that is a character flaw of his. 

it’s intended that you pick up that ranboo is wrong, but he is excusing himself and trying to rationalize that he’s not the wrong one because thats one of his character motivations. whenever ranboo monologues and its him rationalizing, it is clearly him CONVINCING himself that he hasn’t done anything bad. he KNOWS he has done the wrong thing, but he DOESN’T WANT TO ADMIT IT.

his character HAS depth. his character feels REAL.

there are plenty of characters you can break down in this way, and i know people are aware of it because i’ve seen posts about how tubbo provides subtext through largely his actions rather than monologuing (which is a pretty good way to get across inner thought in this medium). i think that ranboo’s character is amongst the ones display depth the best because he very clearly does dedicate himself to his character and his narrative. he provides subtext and small mannerisms and goes through a monologue fairly realistically i feel where he’s working himself through a situation.

there’s also sam, who i’m VERY excited for more lore from, because he’s had a fall from grace. this is such an extraordinarily human thing that i think so many people can relate to and i think it makes him such a driving character. like no, i’m not gonna torture someone, but because i can and have fallen from grace before, i’m inherently intrigued by his story. how did he get here? and what was he thinking and where did the lines begin to break down for him? also he’s just kinda ahhah hah hah whus poppin babeyyyyyy but thats irrelevant

other characters i can think of off the top of my head are quackity, technoblade, wilbur, and tubbo but im sure there are other streamers im missing simply because i don’t watch them enough? i feel like niki’s character probably has depth it’s just that i don’t follow her character arc enough, so i wouldn’t actually know.

either way though, these characters all have depth because they’ve dealt with their issues in interesting, pressing, and ultimately human ways to their barest degrees because like i said the beauty of writing is that we can exaggerate these feelings to their extremes, but... ultimately we still experience these feelings.

like no i wouldnt do any of the shit these characters have done, but i can follow their line of reasoning and i can relate deeply to all of these issues.

and i think that’s what we really should be discussing rather than morality on the matter of like “good character” or “bad character” because i see that happen so frequently. like, in enjoying a character you’re not justifying their actions and if someone assumes that then... they should really go back to english class. that’s not how human nature works, and it’s not how literature works. 

a good character is someone i can relate to and understand. including a villain. 

TLDR; a sympathetic character is far more enjoyable and better than a morally just character. sympathetic characters are undeniably good characters because they are inherently characters you root for or simply just enjoy more. morally just characters, while they can be sympathetic, aren’t inherently good because being morally just isn’t inherently relatable. a good character is one that has depth.

#dsmp analysis #dream smp analysis #dsmp meta #dream smp meta #dsmp #dream smp #ranboo #dream #awesamdude #mcyt #long post #lmfao this is STUPID long #my analysis

[helisol]

dude im not sure you will get it after reading this either, but you Can read it now

okay so first of all do not expect me to adhere to rules of grammar or Proper capitalisation, I am writing from the heart

so it’s been said before by other people but if Quark and Odo didnt look like the aliens that they are but instead like two regular prettybois the fandom would do cartwheels over their dynamic and Not call them a crack ship. because really, their dynamic fucking SLAPS and I’m here to tell you Why.

their surface-level dynamic is “Respected and Talented Security Chief and Cunning Immoral Businessman who are in Love but pretend not to be” and that's just an off-brand version of enemies to lovers! which is excellent and for some people that’s all you really need to get invested in a ship.

but some people look at it and go “Hm, no, that’s not enough. I mean, they work as friends but it doesn’t really have to be romantic.” and to that I say you are Absolutely Valid, not everything has to be romantic.

it just so happens that these two fuckers have one of the most compelling romance stories ever, and it’d be a shame not to explore it.

so before I dive into the internalised homophobia and repression, I’d like to take a moment to talk about Quark as a character.

because if you have brainworms like me you can kind of see that its an honest to god greek tragedy.

this guy comes from a race of people where being kind, ethical and fair is considered Abnormal and Horrifying. and I’m not gonna call Quark out of all people kind, ethical or fair but,,, 

you ever notice how he’s A Much Better Person Than Pretty Much All Other Ferengi?

dont get me wrong, Quark is still a bastard, but every once in a while his True Character shines through. and I say True Character because guys,,, the way he behaves around other people is an Act. he’s pretending to be something he’s not.

he has to try so hard to be a good ferengi it’s honestly painful to watch at times. because he is a SHIT ferengi! 

he loves his friends- because that's what the ds9 crew are. they’re his friends! and it makes him miserable because that's not! normal! for a ferengi!

let’s compare Quark and Rom for a second. 

Quark reeks of self loathing because a lot of the time he just Doesn’t act like a ferengi is supposed to, and this drives a lot of conflict in the show. he knows how a ferengi should act, it’s just that he can’t!! fucking!! do it!! but he still tries and tries to fit into that mold, which straight up ruins his life on multiple occasions.

Rom is also not a Model Ferengi, but he lives without hating himself. and it’s mostly because he doesn’t care about how a ferengi Should act, he’s loved and cared for even when everybody knows that he’s a shit ferengi! because his non-ferengi-ness works to his benefit. it encourages and highlights his abilities as an engineer. the success and love he finds make it easy for him to be content with his true self. Unlike Quark, who doesn’t get unconditional love from anyone.

its so!! tragic!! because you can see what Quark is really like!! his true self!! he’s a nice guy who cares for people!

its right there all the time and it's so blatantly obvious. especially in episodes like “Body Parts”, “Bar Association”, “The Way Of The Warrior” and “Ferengi Love Songs”

his own wiki page literally calls him “a compassionate and generous man by ferengi standards” which pretty much translates to “not really a good ferengi”.

anyway so Quark is a tragic figure or whatever but we’re actually here for the REPRESSED! HOMOSEXUAL! TENDENCIES! that he and Odo both exhibit.

with characters like garak you don’t really need to have brainrot to pick up on those tendencies, because that was something andrew robinson chose to do, on purpose. 

and to be fair, Quark wasn’t intended to be Any kind of representation, not even by the actor. I’m just pointing out that he Does look and act and talk like a little gayman.

I will admit that he is Painfully Straight in the text of the show, but on a meta level he’s just. a dude who has a serious case of repressing his real personality. and taking it a step further- he also represses his feelings towards another man.

and that man is Odo.

a few things on him:

Odo is literally desperate to be a person. unlike Quark, who at least has the comfort of belonging to a society of people with a set of rules and expectations, Odo has never met anyone or anything like him in all his years of life.

like, we all know Odo basically grew up in a lab, right? 

with people who didn’t know anything about him. who he was so unalike that they literally called him “Nothing”

but he still learned to look and talk and act like them (because if he didn’t he’d feel *pain* which is very fucked up by the way?)

so we know for a fact that Odo wants to be recognised as a person- which is why he tries really hard to conform to the ideals of the society that raised him. instead of exploring his nature as a shape shifter he maintains a humanoid form, picks up a job and creates an entire personality around what he wants to be seen as. but not what he really is.

and that's the thing that causes all the conflict between Quark and Odo. the type of person odo wants to be seen as is the polar opposite of whatever the fuck quark wants to be seen as.

In the same way that Quark acts like a Normal Ferengi, Odo acts like a Normal Security Officer.  and in a cruel twist of fate, the Ferengi happens to be the antithesis of the Security Officer.

If you only look at them as the things they act like, and not the things they are, you might say they’re way too different to like each other, right? 

but,,, if you think about the fact that they’re both putting on this act,,, this performance of idealised versions of themselves,,, you can see that they are The Same. They Are Both Gay Repressed Loser Aliens Who Try To Act Like Things That They Aren’t!

Imagine you’re Odo. 

Imagine that you’re Nothing, because you’re not like anything anyone has ever seen- and because you are Nothing you don’t fall in love with anyone for years and years. since who could love something that isn’t like them at all?

But then one day this Thing shows up in your path and you just hate it. Because it’s not like anything *you* have ever seen. It��s disorderly and looks grotesque and it’s criminal to boot.

It’s all the things you learned would make a “Bad Person” It’s everything you aspire not to be, because if you were any of those things you would BE PUNISHED.

But the trouble is, eventually he’s not an “it” anymore, he’s “Quark” and you see him every day of your miserable little life because you live on the same damn station in space and it’s hard to avoid each other.

He also happens to be one of the only things in your life that are constant. He will never leave because he is stubborn and greedy and you just *hate him so much* that you’re convinced he must be doing all of it to spite you. And yet you also can’t seem to leave him alone.

So Odo Must Hate Quark. everything else is a non sequitur for him. he can’t not hate Quark.

because Quark is, and i’m sincerely sorry to apply christian fucking imagery to this, The Forbidden Fruit.

If he liked quark he’d admit some kind of moral failing. it would be the end of his act. but on the other hand...it might be a good thing, because at least he could have quark.

but Odo can never go through with biting into this apple because the consequences are horrifying to him. he could never have quark because, according to his performance, he would Never like quark to begin with.

and here’s a take for you: Odo's Brand Of Internalised Homophobia Doesn't Stem From Heteronormativity. It Stems From The Fact That He Was Kind Of Assigned Asexual At Birth.

and the show sort of alludes to this, for real! not just subtext! canon! except the writers used the wrong person. 

because instead of Odo having these Forbidden Feelings for Quark he has them for,,, Kira.

but since this is My Quodo Manifesto you’ll understand that i am 100% willing to just toss that part of canon out the airlock.

so Odo does canonically have that mindset of “no one could ever love me”  for decades he repressed any and all feelings of love to avoid getting hurt. in the show he breaks this cycle of repression when he takes a chance and enters a relationship with Kira. yay?

but we all know that aint it chief. and part of the reason why That Ship Ain’t It is the fact that Quark is Right There. and he is simply the more interesting choice for odo.

he and Odo literally share the same problem and have weird intertwined character arcs! they are both dreadfully afraid of not conforming to the ideal versions of themselves, so they reject everything that could challenge their Performance!

on some fucked up level they hate each other *and* themselves individually. and this hatred makes them reject parts of their real identities for the sake of protecting their image. which. yknow. in gay people. is internalised homophobia!

so you can see that they’re both repressing A Lot even if you view them as Friends, but the most important thing in this kind of romantic dynamic is usually,,, when the characters *stop* repressing.

and the thing is. the thing that Kills Me with these two. They Never Get That Moment. Thats Why You Need The Brainrot To See Them As Romantic.

The Ascent gives us an example of what happens when they both take their act too far. I mean, who could forget “Fascist!” and “Fraud!” That is what odo thinks of quark’s performance and vice versa, but we don’t really hear them adress the fact that they *are* playing these roles to a ridiculous extent.

We also never get an example of what would happen if they dropped their act instead of over-performing it. or rather we don’t get to see both of them drop it.

And the reason why we never get that moment is because there’s this one key difference between Quark and Odo. 

Quark knows that he’s constantly repressing his true nature and his feelings for odo. We pretty much hear him say so in the iconic root beer scene in Way Of The Warrior. he knows that he’s not a good ferengi but he keeps up his act.

So quark is aware enough to feel that sweet sweet self loathing. But Odo isnt self loathing as much as he is just self sabotaging.

and this subtle difference between them is why, at the very end of the show, we get “That man loves me, can’t you see? It was written all over his back!”

this moment is quark dropping his act and asking odo to do the same. he wants to hear a genuine Goodbye from him because they have known each other for Decades and they are Friends. but odo is so unable to express the feelings he’s been repressing all these years. that he self sabotages again and just walks away.

even though this is like. very anticlimactic. considering I just spent 2000 words talking about how Odo and Quark are Most Certainly Gay For Each Other.

The fact that their ending is so Weird is the reason why quodo is so engaging and appealing to me? especially post-canon quodo.

like, the amount of “what if’s” this ship has are Astounding.

What if either of them had dropped their act a little sooner? What if they both did, for just a moment, and it was the straw that breaks the camels back?

What if Odo comes back after a few years? What if Quark comes to get him?

What if, in that moment in the finale where Quark drops his act, Odo had returned the gesture? What if Gag-Reel Quodo Kiss.gif Real?

with the depth that I read into their relationship, those what ifs are really fun to think about.

anyway its 1 am and i’m not an english major so literary analysis is not like, my strong suit. plus most of this was written in a late night screaming session with a friend who has the exact same opinions as me. i just think aliens hot and in love. thats all.

#the SOUND of my HEAD hitting my DESK with TERMINAL VELOCITY #quodo #star trek

[safetyrat]

My take on the Jack Manifold being killed by Tommy discussions

This is written so someone who isnt caught up can understand, so lets start at the beginning, Jack Manifolds ad Tommys relationship. Irl Jack and Tommy are very close, but I don’t think they had a strong established relationship in character before exile, especially because Jack was mia for a lot of lore? Many relationships on the smp get taken from the ccs dynamics before the smp (wilbur and tommys mentor/brotherhood, puffychus date), which is why they have been interpreted as close? Jack was part of lmanburg and they have interacted for sure, so I think its fair to say they were friends in roleplay, even if not like,, best friends

during exile, jack visited Tommy- well, tried to visit. Tommy punched him off the bridge in the nether and made sure he died. Jack lost all his stuff and was pissed offed - but that was about it.

The tone of the visit could maybe be compared to the one with Mamacita and Mexican Dream? It was in character, but it wasn’t... serious?

It feels wrong to call it “friendly banter” when mexican dream died, but you cant call it a “Building Character Moment For TommyInnit” either. Jacks visit was similar.

At that point, neither Jack nor Tommy refered to the death as “canon” - the wiki did, however. Not sure what happend there, but it was listed as Jacks second death and when he died on Doomsday, went to hell and back - that part of lore doesn’t work without Tommy killing him.

After Jack came back from hell, he started a bigger character arc with Niki revolving around taking revenge on tommyinnit. Killing him until he is dead permanently. And while that is not presented as the right thing to do - both niki and jack consider their characters villains - its not irrational or without motive.

Tommy has made mistakes and hurt people - whether these were justified is in the eye of the beholder.

For Jacks arc right now, Tommy killing him is an important motivator and a driving point for his plot. Nothing about Jacks current character would be the same without it. Because he acknowledged the death and it was on the wiki for the longest time, its generally considered canon by the fandom.

So, case closed? Tommy killed a man while depressed in exile- yeah, that doesn’t sound right.

A Tommyinnit analysist pointed that out,, earlier today? Thats why we are having this discussion right now. I’m not sure they would appreciate me mentioning their username here, but ive read their analyses before and theyre great, they have a lot of interesting thoughts, and i agree with them bringing this up!! please never send hate to anyone about character analysis!! some people (like me) actually do this for fun.

so, i dont want to touch exileinnit to much, there is a lot to talk about, but... TommyInnit would kill somebody without a second thought. Canon deaths are heavy, theyre big, theyre- and you cannot compare this to punz killing wilbur! Yeah, that wasnt a big character moment for punz, but on one hand hes a mercenary, killing people is kind of part of his job, and on the other hand- the story around lmanburg is not a character focused one, thats a big part of wilburs writing. His main goal is progressing the geopolitical plot and let the character be shaped by it - themes like personal conflict seem less big when there is the fate of a country on your hands.

The exile arc is an entirely character focused story. It deals with themes like mental illness and inner turmoil... do you think it would pass the chance on discussing tommys feelings about killing someone? A past friend, no less?

Murdering someone, on purpose, completly changes the morality of tommys character, and im not ready to commit to that.

There are more reasons I think this, ask me to elaborate if you want, but in my eyes there is no way that Tommy could kill someone in exile with it still being consistent with his character.

So, whats the conclusion?:

TommyInnit killing Jack Manifold is canon in Jacks story, but isn’t canon in Tommys. There is no other way eithers devolopment makes sense otherwise.

This is it. An inconsistency. A plain old plothole.

Oh no, the cinematic masterpiece (/s) that is the dream smp has a plothole, what do we do now?:

...move on? There is no way discussing this will change anything. This type of inconsistency is unique to the dream smp as a medium where the creators have a direct dialogue with the fanbase. This is not the first or last time the wiki has made weird deaths canon, I personally disagree that quackity and schlatt died in the explosion of tubbos execution. This doesnt do against the wiki writers or anything, you guys are so important for this community, but you do stand in direct contact with the creators - an active fan would have probably more, but more importantly different, knowledge of the lore than 90% of the members.

Dont be harsh on the fans, dont be harsh on the ccs, we are exploring a new type of mass reaching story telling here guys.

how do we still make this consistent for the storyline?:

this is where the analysis ends, we are diving more into headcanon territory, but I choose to believe that this was a canon death, but tommy didnt realize it is. In my opinion this just feeds into Jacks themes of being ignored, not taken seriously, etc.

tldr: while tommy killing jack was considered canon for a long time, it doesnt work if you want to have tommys character make sense. Instances like this, where dubious canon gets reinterpreted later happen because of the dream smps unique type of storytelling and should not be a reason for conflict in the fandom.

Thanks for reading, if any of this doesnt make sense after tommys last stream, that I didnt watch because writing this, youre allowed to personally come into my house and assassinate me.

#this is a 1000 words long... i wrote this on a whim... I havent done homework in months... why am I like this?? #discourse #negative #depression mention #dream smp #dsmp #dream smp analysis #tommyinnit #jack manifold #long post #critical #dream smp meta

[blondebooklion]

why it drives me crazy when people say c!ranboo has no morals but think c!wilbur and c!ranboo could still have potential to be narrative foils

morals:

loyalty to family/friends: in both his normal functioning and his enderwalk stage ranboo is incredibly defensive of his loved ones. this is 100% the center of his moral compass. he doesn't do certain things he fears will upset others (thus succumbing to peer pressure yes) but i deeply disagree with people argument that that is proof he has no moral backbone. particularly due to a couple of instances:

ranboo visiting tommy in exile: while not directly breaking the rules there was a general expectation, especially the people ranboo spent his time with, of not really visiting tommy. it wasnt really a set rule or anything but ranboo was definitely putting himself at risk by doing so.

protectiveness over michael: when sam and puffy showed up to prank ranboo, he was incredibly defensive over his son. he was ready to kill to protect his son if it came down to it.

rescuing tommy+tubbo: while we have it confirmed this instance was in their enderwalk stage, ranboo going both proves ranboos values in the enderwalk are the same (or i'd argue strengthened even) ranboo moved protectedly in front of tubbo when he and tommy had separated

forgiveness: he is willing to give people more than one chance, he is incredibly quick to judgements but for the most part he does not rely on other peoples opinions of each other to dictate the way he feels about them, he does take it into account in his overall image of them, but like with revivebur, he is willing to offer him a chance.

reciporcity to kindness: when people are kind to him, he is kind back. y'all let this slide as a moral with techno. it counts here. no im not counting it as necessarily loyalty because he is polite and kind even to those he isn't close to.

self-reliance: for better or worse ranboo does not think he needs other people to survive, in many instances he has displayed thinking he and everyone else would be better off if he were isolated. he does not want to depend too much in anyone, which can especially be seen in his desire for wealth. i think it has always been more about i dont have to rely on others, if things go south i can still survive (obviously part or it is needed something to do on stream, im applying other characteristics of ranboo to infer) but we can also see this in him retreating to himself (panic room, not telling anyone about his book being missing) when he is threatened because he believes the best way to handle it is himself

security: ranboo is incredibly driven bu his desire for safety and stability for both himself and for his loved ones. he thrives on consistency. he struggles the most when things begin to change.

difference between foil and antagonist (just for clarity cause some people have been switching up the definitions)

"an antagonist is a character who is in direct opposition to the protagonist. their actions deliberately hinder the protagonist from achieving her goal. this relationship helps build conflict and propels a story forward."

"a foil exists simply to shine the spotlight on certain traits of another character, without necessarily creating opposition or conflict."

credit: masterclass

the opposing traits/beliefs that i think will cause the most conflict between the two (ranboos will be written like this and wilburs like this to differentiate)

leader vs follower

probably the most obvious contention point, pointed out on 5/05 stream by wilbur pressing ranboo on what he stands for. wilbur wants to be in charge. but i think ranboo is how wilbur wanted people to value him. wilbur wanted to be the guy that everyone liked because he believed being liked comes with power. ranboo does not necessarily want to be well liked by everyone, but he wants to at least be neutral so he does do things in order to keep them on his side

conflict driven vs conflict averse

wilbur thrives on chaos and conflict, much like dream he is willing to manipulate situations. rqnboo does everything he possibly can to avoid it

cockiness vs insecurity

wilbur is obviously bold and arrogant. he thinks extremely highly of himself and the postions he does and could potentially hold. he is ruled by this factor and often does not think about the consquences of his rashly made decisions(thats not to say he isn't calculated or intelligent, he is, he just focuses on how things affect him rather than others)

means to an end vs no ulterior motives

all of ranboos bonds are strong because when he cares about people he does what he needs to to take care of them, they usually initiate out of instances of kindness, but he does not seem to expect anything in return. he cares about people because he loves them, nothing more nothing less. wilbur however while some of his relationships were initially based on care the motives became corrupted and its hard to say whether there are any relationships he has at this point that aren't ruled by some kind of benefit for him (my only guess for that would be phil)

similaries: paranoia, trust issues, secretiveness

ranboo and wilbur really are two sides of the same coin, yes they are opposites in a lot of aspects but despite the differences in their values orginate from the same place they jutted of in two completely different directions, they tried to solve the same issue in vastly different ways. ranboos paranoia was attempted to be solved by isolationism, while wilburs mainly tried to solve it through manipulation. ranboo pushed people away and wil tried to force them to be around. both backfired for them and caused them to retreat further into the paranoid states demonstrated by wilbur blowing up l'manburg and ranboo catastrophizing with hearing dreams voice.

I think wilbur's main contenion with ranboo resides in wilbur thinking ranboo glazes through life easily, and that they disagree on what morals means. being more confrontational does not mean you are more or less moral than another person. wilbur does not understand that differing morals does not equal none at all.

I don't think their relationship is going to act as an antagonist because while ranboo is actively keeping an eye on wilbur it wouldn't really make sense for ranboo to suddenly be more confrontational. I know a lot of people are citing the Burr vs Hamilton relationship as parallels in their dynamicI want to remind you that narrative foils are not conflicting in nature. conflict can happen. but the point of them is to highlight the differences in character traits.

likening to burr vs hamilton

burr wanted power but he wanted it to come to him vs hamilton wanting power and actively chasing it

yes this makes sense for wilbur, but it doesnt for ranboo. ranboo doesn't want power. he never has. the reason burr waits on the sidelinesnis cause he is waiting for the chance to act, but ranboo is not waiting for something to happen, in fact he would rather have the exact opposite, for things to be as uneventful as possible.

"Hamilton’s success at the expense of his personal life is countered by Burr’s relative lack of success and his happy family life. Both of these are directly due to the two’s differing goals and approaches to life. Burr and Hamilton are two side of the same coin, opposite results with the same starting conditions."

source

this is exactly what I referenced earlier between the two. ranboo cares about family, wilbur about career. while a lot of their behavior originated from a similar place, their paths rapidly diverged.

hamilton's downfall at burr's hand

i'm gonna be honest i find it extremely hard to believe that a situation will exist where wilbur waits and ranboo acts. however, if one does i still firmly believe it will be revolving around (likely in defense of) the people ranboo loves and cares about, specifically michael, tommy, tubbo. it would be where he is cementing his views of choosing people. but wilbur being hesitant is still difficult for me to think of a scenario on which he would that hesitant? for it to be his downfall?

important to note: ghostbur did also akin ranboo to burr so it is definitely possible that this dynamic is going to countinue to playout in the future

I will shut up now thank you for reading. reminder that this is just my interpretation and analysis, obviously looking at different details could lead to different conclusions. i'm super willing to discuss as long as we are both going to be respectful of each others opinions and courteous <3

#ranboo #wilbur soot #revivebur #long post #also let me know if i need to tw anything else #tw paranoia #tw anxiety #tw death mention

[zed-36]

@ 18: the questions weren't actually that strict! you could interpret them however you liked :) that said, im curious what you would add to the story? i love reading ur ideas and interpretations of the characters n stuff!

oh no prob, i did enjoy thinking of what i could change without adding anything new (i will talk too much if i dont contain myself) BUT since you have asked...

ill share these ideas as a general change to the series as a whole (WR and Acceleracers- also i will call Acceleracers AC for short if i need to).

There is a lot i feel needs to change- but two major points are lore (and direction of it in the story) and characters.

The lore of the series is all weird due to what changed between WR and AC, but its also too surface level. its for kids, its probably why its not so expansive. but it does leave a lot of confusion to me and while i would have to spend much more time to fully “rebuild” the world, i will give some ideas on what i would see changed.

One, at least making it make sense all the way through. i think Acceleracers had the best ideas but it shouldve been expanded on in WR- WR barely touched on actual Acceleron lore. Overall i would like to see the Accelerons 100% remade from the ground up. i LOVE aliens and alien society but i feel all we know of them is they race. and thats its. and sadly AC wasnt seen through to where we may have seen a bit more. but they need to be redone, with lore also point to exactly why the drones woke up when they did, what their drive is, etc. Why is Gelorum the way she is too, very important lor aside from characters. I wouldnt want the series to become a huge Lore Dump but there are moments where they intended to drop lore and they just. dont really do that, at least not well. Imagining the series with more extensive lore would obviously see it being longer than what it is, which i think makes sense. in the end if i was to properly write out all lore it would be a huge rebuild of 1) the Accelerons as an alien society, in depth 2) the full origins of the Drones/Gelorums (how they ended up where they did, what makes them how they are now and 3) a more cohesive plotting of events that would lead to lore revealed. also developing what “Scrim” and “clyp” were, along with the actual depth of Silencerz and how far back they go has been on my mind a lot. scrim and clyp just vanish from lore but in my headcanon backstory for Gelorum, i mention how those things existed too. if anyone has more specific questions on lore tho i can answer those individually! its just a lot to go over lol.

The characters though, oh god where do i start. not gonna touch on every individual (feel free to ask about someone and how i would rewrite them/change them), but theres a lot i would want to see different.

Theres some good ideas in the series that are just not explored much, or the actions dont feel like they have impacts. And many characters have literally zero backstory to go off of... Everyone needs at least some kinda origin in mind, doesnt have to be said but knowing where they come from is one key detail that i think is nice to drop some times. characters referncing locations, where they went, etc... its little but its good to have. In the WR comics, most of these characters do have origins! but theyre completely forgotten in the movies it seems. it would have been cool it WR tied together some of these ‘really good drivers’ and maybe they were in the same races together or something. there are 35 people and none of them seem to know each other at least not in detail- other than Vert and Alec who are clearly friends. Kurt Wylde was written to have done some “illegal” modifications in a race, what is someone there knew him? what if it brought up tension/suspicions? Things like that, its all part of where they come from and its a shame the movies just dont connect them very well.

I think theres some specific characters i will give examples to ‘rewrtiting’ and most of it is AC focused!

Kurt & Markie..... i love them, really do! but after WR i just did not like where they went. i get it, kinda ironic for Markie to become such an opposite. buuuut it was a bit much to me. first off, i would actually expand on the “crime” and that would 100% change the outcome of the two. the period between WR and AC shouldve gone different and in turn, i think wouldve changed up MM and Teku completely! i want to imagine Kurt is trying to get away from bad habits after WR but, perhaps has a really good deal with someone who had also gotten him into illegal car part business in the past. he is tempted and ropes Markie in with the idea they could do so more secretly but are caught, and while Markie is nervous and young he spills all the beans, but none of that evidence goes to Kurt and he stays silent, managing to get out of it. However instead of Kurt going to Teku and Markie going to MM.... Kurt tries to join Teku in the idea of joining a less rowdy gang, but Vert believes full Kurt let his brother take all the blame- so they dont allow him in. He goes for MM, which takes him easily but this team’s energy really doesnt help him. In turn, Markie leaves jail and Vert is swift to allow Markie into Teku because theyre friends! and it helps keep Markie in a better place, not wanting to get back into bad stuff. The important thing is tho, this switch up wouldnt result in super harcore, asshole Kurt. i feel like instead, he would be in an awkward place of wanting to improve himself but MM’s rebellious attitude coaxes him into worse attitudes. AND... very much an oppurtunity for Gelorum to manipulate him once more, as the accelechargers are much more important to acquire, with multiple, we’d loop back again. in the end though! i could imagine the story would still bring in the same scenario- Markie gets taken by drones, Kurt saves him, they rekindle and Kurt also comes to realize he shouldnt give in to the ways he used to practice.

i think for AC, in order to find more interest in the characters,  a switch up with the teams would be neat. Markie and Kur swapping was always on my mind, but i have thought about Teku!Taro. I think it would’ve been cool to throw in an background guy from WR into MM... like Harrison Lau. some more familiar faces would bring interesting dyanmics considering their backgrounds. and it think it wouldve fleshed out the teams a bit more in places they lacked.

Another thing i think is clear is there is lots of unexplored potential. Like dyanmics i express with Markie, characters like Lani, Karma, Tork, etc... oh there is so much i would add for them. Karma has a weird thing with being mentioned to look like Gelorum, and her prefectionism too but it was never touched on. What if it caused conflict? What if it made her question their morals? Or with Tork- i would honestly just rewrite how he tackles Tone’s death and the resolution, that whole thing in movie was weird and messy and made no sense to me imo. Lanu had something going for her but she felt so disconnected from the WR characters in AC, which is a shame! oh there are so many to go over lol. i hope to tackle some of these loose ends in the fics i have in mind but yeah... there is so much to say about changing these characters!!

#headcanon #theory #wr #acceleracers #hot wheels #tomiyeee

[archer3-13]

Puttin my finger onto what exactly always kinda bugged me about the loaded [at best] praise of the last jedi bringing the theme of anyone can be a hero and bloodlines don’t matter into star wars is that it completely ignores that was already in the series dna. Han came from nowhere, had dubious at best origins and patterns of behavior and yet his narrative arc was about rising above that past to become a hero and genuinely invested in the empire v rebel conflict as opposed to simply pocketing money from the sidelines. Luke came from dirt farmer origins as far as we knew in new hope and was later recontextualized as being the son of one of the galaxys most evil and despotic overlords and his narrative arc was about rising above that legacy of hatred and evil to become a hero and redeem his father/save anakins soul as it were. 

It was always a component of star wars is me point anyways, of people rising above what their histories suggest of them to do good, or conversely in the prequels case of people failing to live up to what those promises entitle. anakin being the ‘chosen one’ is a bit silly, but its there to emphasize the expectations of people around him and those he holds of himself. That he feels he deserves to be on the council not out of a desire to serve responsibly on the council but because he feels he deserves it for his capabilities and natural talent. Hes Oedipus as it were without the incest, so naturally talented that he feels he deserves to be rewarded and praised but he becomes frustrated when others try to hold him accountable and in check or when he fails and isnt able to live up to his destiny as it were until things finally snap and he falls kicking and screaming. The council not giving anakin a seat on the council and reluctantly giving him the rank of master is thus not the council being dicks to anakin to be petty but because anakin shows no respect for the position itself, only wanting it as a badge to prove how awesome he is for instance.

sorry for the diversion, but to return to the main point and bring this a bite more together i feel when people use the argument that thematically last jedi brings the idea ‘anyone can be a hero and bloodlines don’t matter’ They more so mean that last jedi brings the idea that ‘anyone can use the force and bloodlines don’t matter’ instead. Which i feel is a bit of a silly argument to make because well... it hinges on the idea that the force was inherent to certain bloodlines and thus reliant on inheritance in previous movies which was never the case. Sure its always been stated in the movies that some people can use the force and others can’t, that its not something anyone can just learn and thats a consistent fact. The last jedi breaks this consistency however in order to pretend that the fact ‘not everyone can use the force’ was a lot more stringent then it actually ever was so that its thematic constructs hold more weight in its own story. 

And a part of that is the fault of other movies, as early as a new hope it was effectively established that force powers can be inherited, that since anakin was a jedi luke being a jedi was a natural and not unexpected occurrence. force awakens went a step further by throwing another ‘skywalker lineage’ force user into the mix with ben solo. One who could trace his ability to use the force back to anakin in effect. If all you understand of star wars is the original trilogy in the loosest possible sense then it makes sense to undermine a seeming running theme of force inheritance and bloodlines by making rey have no bloodline to draw her power from. Even more so if as i suspect a lot of the narrative decisions of the last jedi were based upon undermining popular fan theories that arose from the force awakens rather then substantial meta narrative text of star wars as a series.

But then that runs into the essential problem about how rey and the reveal of her lack of bloodline was handled. Because, in effect and in consideration of the history of the series narrative, it effectively makes rey the chosen one in the exact same manner as anakin was. Someone who comes from ignoble origins but possesses immense talent in the force in stark contrast to those origins. Anakin, but lacking the actually interesting narrative subversions of the chosen one that existed in anakins character. Gifted her immense power and capabilities in the force as per the needs of destiny as opposed to working for it like luke or developing a massive chip on her shoulder from it like anakin.

And to clarify, if this was just about her own characters progression no matter how little of that actually exists, about a lonely girl desperate for some form of affirmation in her life about the struggles shes gone through to have that torn away from her cruely and harshly. It would be, theoretically, a similar gut punch as luke learning vader is his father. The revelation that the foundation of his moral or driving principles as a hero being torn away from him cruely and harshly in the reveal that the heroic father he thought he had was in fact one of the monstrous villains tormenting the galaxy all along. But in reys case, thats not really how its framed in application. in reys case its more so framed that the revelation of reys parents being no one is more important then the revelation that they didn’t love her, that she is not destined being more essential to her character then her belief in herself and her moral drive being shattered. Its in effect presented that her sense of self is dependent on her being a chosen hero of the galaxy, of being loved by the masses in and out of universe, rather then her desire to connect with family and the acknowledgement that she wasn’t abandoned callously. 

And putting aside that the defiance of destiny, which is in effect what rey being no one is likely suppose to represent on rians part, is a tricky thing to actually bring across properly, because in most instances that same defiance can in itself be constrained as destiny in motion rather then putting a spanner in the works. So putting that aside, it shows a rather amateurish approach to the narrative conventions present that rian is trying to mock and undermine that that is what he ultimately comes up with. That the horrifying reveal is in fact kylo ren turning to the audiance and straight up saying ‘all your fan theories were wrong. is your mind blown yet?’

and rey being devastated by the notion that she isn’t special is an interesting aspect in itself because its a very selfish motivation and character aspect similar to anakins own sense of entitlement. The notion that she is special, so she deserves good things. But unlike anakin its a selfishness that is goes relatively uncommented on because her search for that meaning and specialness is framed as a positive self affirming thing. The horrifying reveal is uno reversed that the specialness was already inside her all along, that she is powerful and special because she was born to be powerful and special. She deserves good things just for being her. Her might makes her right.

So no, quite frankly i dont think the last jedi introduces the notion that anyone can be a hero and bloodlines don’t matter. I feel, if anything it introduces the notion of the importance of bloodlines and emphasizes that fact well codifying rey as the beginning of a new lineage through casting her as a chosen one in the same manner as anakin but without the baggage anankin was intentionally saddled with. Well simultaneously failing to shock with the reveal in the same manner as lukes parentage did in empire strikes back.

[eastendies]

Imo people enjoy toxic relationship more especially gay couples,thats something i noticed.The problem with Ballum is that their relationship is not really presented as a toxic relationship so its not fun to watch.The writers just use theses outbursts as a way to add drama for Ben but they don't think about the long term consequences for Ballum and Callum. The writing is just bad.I would like a toxic relationship for Ballum if it was clear enough, and if we could see the feelings of both sides

You're correct when you say that the writing team just isn't thinking abt the long term effects of Ben's outbursts outside of the drama they cause and that does hurt their relationship considerably and makes it uncomfortable to watch. By making the relationship MORE unhealthy and recognizing the flaws of the writing since December, the writing team could make a pretty neat storyline about unhealthy relationships: how they form, and how to fix/leave them. I'm sure there is a subset of people who do want a storyline where they address those flaws that the writing team have made up to now, and I'm definitely one of them. It would be interesting and again, show that gay relationships can be messy and unhealthy, just like straight relationships.

However. Even if people enjoy watching a relationship more because it's unhealthy and is very dramatic, that is only to a certain point. Callum and Ben are generally well liked characters among the viewer base, and nothing pisses off a viewer base more than seeing one of their favorite people kicked around. Again, people generally like fun content. While drama can be fun, there's very little you can make fun about a toxic relationship.

While it would definitely be interesting to watch, eventually people are going to lose interest in the drama and in the relationship if it's just toxic for toxicity's sake because the writers think it would be neat. People like unproblematic content. People want to relax and laugh at funny jokes and gasp when Phil does something stupid. Even if there is an ending in sight where they're all happy, people might still be mad just BECAUSE their favorite relationship isn't fun to watch anymore. You can't just say "Oh yeah I like this relationship and them together" without thinking "does that make me a bad person?" (Hint, it does.)

And people don't like when they can't support/love what they have always had. Instead, there's all this baggage, and people would rather watch something else. Toxic relationships are also super uncomfortable to watch, even when you know the storyline is going to end with the relationship being healthy again. The degree of damage you can do to one's self worth and mental state is incredible and extremely unsettling. I know I don't want to watch Ben gas lighting Callum or emotionally manipulating him because that stuff makes me SUPER uncomfortable, and should make everyone uncomfortable. I know I still want a storyline where they address their issues, but that's because I've been banging this drum for a long time. They're ALREADY unhealthy and making me uncomfortable and I desperately want the writing team to fix that.

Even more unsettling is when you remark about how people like watching toxic relationships more than healthy relationships, which I very much don't believe since toxic relationships are usually in the minority of overall relationships precisely because they make people so uncomfortable. When was the last time you saw someone hoping Gray and Chantelle would still end up together? People like CONFLICT in a relationship because that drives forward a story, NOT unhealthy relationships, because, again, it generally makes people very uncomfortable to watch someone being abused or manipulated or gaslighted or made to feel worthless or lied to or lash out at others, to name a few. People who DO like toxic relationships really concern me because it shows a real lack of empathy and that they're romanticizing something that is incredibly harmful. Would I date someone who liked watching abusive relationships on TV? Very much no. Some people also fetishize these relationships as well, which is super disturbing. Ben and Callum already are pretty fetishized by this fandom (it's gross and I try not to look at it but it's definitely there) and the thought that some will still do so even after they are declared toxic is disgusting to me. People who DO want a relationship to be toxic and not because they want it to be fixed are generally a romanticizer or a fetishizer and I have enough good sense to want to stay away from both. If you romanticize abusive or toxic relationships, PLEASE go to therapy.

So I don't know where you're finding these people who like watching people being hurt for the drama of it anon, but they don't reflect the majority. Like I said in my last post, people LIKE being happy. They like it when content is fun, not problematic and morally repulsive.

People won't like a relationship more just because the writers addressed that their dynamic is insidious and creepy, nor will they feel comfortable supporting an unhealthy relationship. People will like Ben and Callum's relationship more when an unhealthy relationship storyline ENDS and they're healthy again so they're fun to watch.

So while I would LOVE a storyline that actually addressed the couple's deep seated issues, I don't think that storyline will be popular. Though thinking abt how some Ben stans would try and spin it so Ben is still the good guy is kinda funny.

#eastenders #ben mitchell #ballum #callum highway #ee #tw unhealthy relationship #tw toxic relationship #anon #ask #this was longgggggg #but its here #sorry it took so long to answer #but yeah if you fetishize ballum pls get the fuck off my blog and unfollow me. you wont be missed #i have to doubt that if the veiwer base for this fandom was younger you ppl would call it 'yaoi' just ughhhh #like i ever wonder if ppl who like abusive/toxic ships think 'are we the baddies???' #but yeah pls fix ben and calllums relationship ee i beg of you even if ppl hate it #like let them be happy ee #its hating ee writers hours #ill never get why ppl think abuse is hot like what is wrong with you people

[sodasyrup]

I love,,,,, domestic lava au... You should do more of it. I'd love to know more about reka and monty too!

BWAAA...

Okay as I said it’s an au with kittie (6kuro) so I’m gonna grab the things it said and I said lmao

warning its a LONG disjointed post bc im too tired to make. a good post fdhghdf

lovelypeaches08/28/2019cole and kai would settle down real late like....in their late thirties because they want to keep their children as safe as possible, being elemental masters and having enemies and all

at first wu wants them to fight longer and shit but hes OLD so who cares and theres probably conflict on thatbut kai and cole are old enough to realized they dont have to be controlled

so they get married, symbolically if anything, because they've been dating for probably a little over a decade now and known each other even longer, AND been living together for the same amount of time

theyre the first of the ninja to settle down, and they buy a small house in a village thats maybe an hour away from ninjago city

the tininess of the house is made up for by the largeness of the yard, where cole likes to garden, especially fruits and vegetables

cole works as a stay at home free lance artist, doing stuff like commissions, book covers, comics, etc for moneykai does something that puts his charisma to use, probably something in business that lets him advertise and talk a lot..he could never settle down for a stay at home job or anything, even with all his thrilling ninja stories

they have enough money from donations and awards to thrive off these jobs, and ninjago probably pays them kind of like retirement

cole cooks for kai so he always has a meal ready when hes home, so then kai cooks on the weekend

anyways, they have two kids, about 3 years aparti haven't figured them much out yet, but kai and cole cook and bake with themcoles parenting style is very protective and rather spoils them, while kai lets them do whatever as long as its not immediately dangerousthey balance each other out well, so their kids grow up loved and well rounded

lovelypeaches08/28/2019coles always buying them sweets and treats and Kai pretends to be annoyed but thinks its really cute

the kids go to a small school on the outskirts of ninjago city, and get asked about their parents a LOT. they kind of like the attention but it gets irritating

moving on to the other ninja who also start to settle down,jay doesnt really want kids, so he passes on his powers with ~science~ or something, but only when hes a lot olderhe does engineering at borg industries or something, and he messes around a lot but gets away with it bc hes the blue ninjahes like kai and coles kids Fun Uncle, since he lives in a big apartment in downtown ninjago city, with a bunch of cool techkai and coles family often take elongated road trips therejay thinks hes a cool relative but besides being super lenient hea actually kind of embarrassing lol

nya settles down a bit later than the rest of them, because she wants to live her ninja days to the fullesti could go on about my domestic samurai au but her and pixal have a kid who gets nyas water powersnya is much more eager to train her kid than cole and Kai are (they want to start properly training thwir children when theyre like 16, much to wus disappointment)nya doesn't force anyrhing on her kid but she doesnt protect her kid from the fact they'll have to train sooner or latershes determined on still changing the world, so she's a strong political leader, with innovative ideas who doesnt approve of ninjagos government and wants to change it for the betterShe also lives in downtown, but isn't as fun as jayher kid is younger than kai and coles, but kai and coles kids look up to them because they're very independent and skilled! their mom is also super cool, but not in a silly way. she rocks leather jackets and drives her kid around on a motorcycle

lovelypeaches08/28/2019zane is tricky for me...i like to imagine him sticking with lloyd to being a ninja or whatever, since hes going to be alive a lonnggg timehe also wants to respect wus wishes, so he teaches students and fights alongside lloydhe does so much less however, and finds a lot of time to visit his friends

kai and coles kids are shy around him at first, him being a nindroid whose still a ninja, but hes so much nicer and softer than expectedhe always brings them presenrs and enjoys quality time with them, so he's basically their favorite uncle

now lloyd continues his master training, to become the next master after wu dies. hed be the one to guide the next generation of elemental masters as well as their parents in training thembut don't worry, he gets a break too, since the other ninja help him out. hes much less burdened then wu was in the later years of his lifeok thats all i think

My commentary now

little boy whos like 3 and super wide eyed and excited and loves pink (when he foudn out zane at one point had a pink gi he asked if he could get one too)older girl around 6 whos a big daddys girl and loves to garden with cole and make mud piez

the little girl is the fire em - she had temper issues linked to autismz which they worked through her with early and never thought of it but she has a big passion for gardening they mistook for elemental connection when rly she just LUVS IT

little boy is em of earth - hes a natural born leader and stubborn, wide eyed and excitable. again bc they worked w both their kids about their tempers and such they never realized he was just naturally good at keeping his composure. also a lot like jay keeping morals upnaturally strong but both their kids are and i hc the super strength doesnt come in until peubertyz

shes a bit of a late bloomer with em powers but one day their little boy accidentally makes a pot hole inside the kitchen bc he was excited over zane cookingthey took too good of care of their kids and his true potential was simple bc he was a litol kid which was im going to live my best fcuking life with friends and family *rips a hole in the ground

kai and cole are the gross sappy parents that trade kisses n their kids are like thats DISGUSTING youre DISGUSTINGLY IN LOVE

Kittie pointslovelypeaches08/28/2019YEAYEYAYAYYEYAYAYEoh god the little boy is part scenecorelikenot full on scene but like punk y2kwhich is a part of scenealso at first cole and kai are super concerned being a ninja will be as mentally damaging and ack as it was for them at times, but lloyd and zane are genuinely good mastersbutnot to get sadbutwhen tragedy does happen somehow, since neither Lloyd nor zane can ease that, cole and kai are so good at helping their kids e thatthey help them recover from it without downplaying their kids concerns and feelings amd give good advice and loveand make being elemental masters a lot easier for their kids than it ever was for them

me again.....

they always get so fucking scared thokai custom makes weapons for themarmor too he spends hours upon hours making sure its perfect and even prays over them to keep their kids safe

anyway when kai n cole visit w them (idk if theyr just adopted at their current age or like.... adopted as babies or surrogate or?? idk but) they visit lloyd and kai softly says "Look! its uncle lloyd" and lloyd starts SOBBING hes just fucking bawlinghis eyes out and when kai offers to for lloyd to hold him lloyds just like are you suure arre eyyuuu thherye so smsmm all kaiii are yoruur suureee thheyrey babbeises

nya is hesitant but ends up being a really good aunt, i meanshe took care of kai /j

zane is a fav uncle and hes always making sweets for them jay is. also sorta a fav bc where zane comes jay follows and jay has a sweet tooth and also makes Cool Toys + hey wanna prank your dadsalso im dramatic and likekai and cole sitting down and having a convo about master wubc he was sorta a shitty mentor and they really REALLY dont want their kids going through any self confident issues nor over stressing bc theyr KDISeventually kai and cole talk to master wu and actually has wu face his terrible practice towards kids and wu accepting he was.............................a bad 'parent' in a senseblebleblelelelelelellekai works but cole absolutely watches over any training when wu is there at first but lloyd is the master now and lloyd is like..........................i dont want kids to go through what i went through kai is like i trust you but also i will murder every single one of you in this dojo if you ever hurt my little girlim doing what i do and taking an au and running im sorry ghdghdfhJACK RAMBLES....their son refuses to wear shoes he lieks dirt on his feet they never really think much of it but its actually really comforting for him to feel the earth under his feet and feel stablethey think its just a stim thing maybe? theyr unsurebut! turns out him Element(also a fear of heights)lloyd tries to be a serious master but hes a big ol goof and can easily be manipulated

ironically.......its the lil boy who often is like HEY!!!!!!!!!!! WE GOTTA TRAIN!

kai and cole agree not to tell anyone what theyre thinking of naming their little boy until he arrives so when the day comes kais holding this tiny little boy and holds him out gentlyand lloyd is already EMOTIONAL because this is a BABY and lloyd softly asks his name n cole cuts in like "hes named after a really brave dude, montgomery. but we're thinking monty as a nickname"lloyd, choking up:(hc garmadons first name is montgomery)

the girl is Reka which means sweet in maori (a personal headcanon for cole) and shes their sweetheart

lovelypeaches09/04/2019bhrnrng this is in domestic au but col and kai teachign their kids instrumentscole and reka wud play piano duets togetherand monty doesnt like instruments much but he likes to singlike a LOT he belts out a song for everythinghe just lieks his own voice

burdletutt09/04/2019HNGGG HFHMONTY LOVS BEING LOUD

lovelypeaches09/04/2019YEAAAHhes like the type who makes a song for everythingmonty voice we rr goinggg to the parkkkkk and the grass isss.........GREEENNNNNNN and there are LOOK THERE ARE SQUIRRRELSSSS and a playground and the skyyyyy isssssssssssss...*deep inhale* BLUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE1E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!kai and cole: you are literally so talented

jay tries really hard to be the Cool Uncle at firstbut Monty just :^TReka gives him an awkward chucklewhen jay stops being Cool ™ hes goofy and thats when they start giggling and liking him more

#sodask #Anonymous #dads au

[roxannepolice]

Long asks anon again, here to offer my opinion on the current wank. Rey as a character is rather blatantly breaking sw story rules and nothing is going to get SFF fans hackles up like rule breakage. This is root of both the MarySue accusations and current wank. Rey has a tragic backstory thats doubling as the only failure she can call her own. But its a) damn near entirely offscreen and b) serves as convenient justification for why shes competent at near everything that comes up.

Reys instantly good at the force because of a convenient force download that to the best of my knowledge only occured in the noncanon KOTOR II and quite frankly cant blame most of the general audience for not getting because without prior knowledge or the novelizations why would they? She has darkness in her but as so far used and touched it consequence free and its almost entirely symbolically externalized on the Kylo (and in SW symbolism is Real in a way it isnt in other narratives) Shes strong in the force because Light rises to meet Dark but to quote the current crop of movies ‘thats not how the force works) or at least thats never how it worked before. Shes the first SW protagonist to go behind enemy lines and come out with both hands in the second movie. For ppl wondering how come Luke and Ani never get labeled MarySues, this is why, they got thier asses handed to them, Rey hasnt. There /is/ something /off/ in Reys story, and ppl pick up on it. if you can make a post (w/ over 1k notes!) about how great it is that a character meant to prop up 7hrs worth of movies has little to no character development to go through, somethings off. If multiple ppl can make posts about how its neat Rey can tap into the darkside (still characterized as evil in ST) consequence free (with some quite frankly stupid justifications, 'shes disciplined’ really? jedi lacked a lot of things thats not one of them) somethings off and again, if the only failure your main heroine has is /entirely retroactive something’s off/. If the story were getting with the is the story most ppl think we are, a 'female empowerment’ (i dont feel particularly empowered by being told I have an equal chance at being a deus ex machina but ok) than well, her story is over and theres no need for IX (hell it could have been over in TFA, most ppl assumed she had accepted her place as the future jedi in that one) and no need for reylo The ST was always gonna deconstruct all that came before it purely by virtue of being a sequel. The tragedy of anakin skywalker is now a farce, the happy ot ending now a tragedy, and the mythopoetic structure shot to shit in the name of serialization and perpetual warfare. this stand true for all the sequel characters including rey and ben. the only question is are we going to get anything out of it? I compare it to home renovation. You can knock out a wall and the walls gone, but new opportunities arise. With Benlo, I’m reasonably confident that there will be at least some attempt to take advantage of the new space. With rey and the resistance kids? not so much. it just feels like they knocked down a blue wall to rebuild it as pink one and at the point it just feels like a waste of time because ive seen this before. Ive seen pure cinnamon roll desert orphan reform jedi order If this was all youre going to do that the fuck was the point? which circles around to my problem with team good guy this go around and That Scene. JJ twisted the story into a pretzel to justify the winners of the last round being the underdogs again and then rian twisted so much further the storys head may as well be up its own ass. And then at the very end he shoots it all to shit and rushes to reassure us its all gonna be okay. He removes the entire point of the underdog trope /the tension that comes from the fact that they might lose/. I mean there wasnt a whole lot of that to begin with already but really? So theres no tension that Reys gonna win so her journey feels frictionless, and theres no question where shes gonna end up so full offense why give a shit? Thats where the whole 'can rey lose a fight?’ thing comes from. Ppl want conflict in her arc to justify its existence and give us a reason why this her story to begin with. if the only character going through growth for all three movies is ben, if the only characters whos fate is up in the air is ben, and if all the tension in the reylo relationship comes from ben, then why is this /reys story/? why not just make it about the character actually driving all the drama and thus, the story?   As a final thought, im going to add that having Kylo be aware and insecure that hes never gonna be as Iconic as Vader was a great story choice, regardless of where ends up. Current Rebels, on the other hand, seems to have not gotten the memo that they are never gonna be as iconic as Original Rebels, and the story itself seems to being trying to sell them to me as being better. Rey is Luke but better, Poe/Finn are Han wo the smuggler grit, and id be lying if i said it didnt piss me off.

&

Long asks anon to kick down ur door again, AND ANOTHER THING. SW is a lotta things. Subtle aint one of them, and St hasnt changed in that regard. If you have to debate it chances are either a) ur arguing counter to the text in which case mor power to you but not really helpful for predictions or intended meaning or b) /it aint there. A bunch of ppl didnt like anidala, but nobody doubted we were supposed to think they were in love by the end of AOTC, bunch of ppl didnt like poes arc, but no one doubts he fucked up by not listening to holdo was the intended take away. Which brings to rey and flaws or lack there of. Were told rey has flaws but she has yet to suffer any real consequences from them with the exception of The Damn Parentage Wank, which again, pulls the double duty of making her hyper competent at everything. Because rey has no consequences for her flaws, from a story function pov there aren’t any. If rey did have a flaw to overcome, we would all agree what it was

Now won’t you all just look at this beautiful, spot on rant which has been lagging in my askbox since the last time Rey’s flaws or lack thereof were the discourse’s focus (November, I believe?) and suddenly became a thing again, courtesy of Tweetgate. I think you really summed up the crux of this debate wonderfully, anon.

I particularly agree with the part about Rey not getting narratively punished for whatever flaws we’d like her to have (great point about returning from behind the enemy lines with both arms still in place), when SW don’t stay away from allowing characters to get “punished” even for otherwise applaudable features - vide Padmé, whose idealism is what Palps manipulates into gaining more power (this is why Padmé will never come off as a Mary Sue or too perfect, btw). But I’ll say even more - Rey doesn’t even get called out on her flaws, except for by Ben, who’s mostly dismissed as a baddie like Palpatine saying Luke was foolish to rely on his friends. Let’s just consider one thing - both Anakin and Luke get called out on their flaws by Yoda (Anakin repeatedly and by lots of other people for that matter) whereas with Rey, the same grumpy-yet-jolly senex pops up from the afterlife to further inform us what a great jedi material she is.

TBH, I have a very cynical theory as to why Rey is being pushed as the main character while it’s difficult to deny that it’s Kylo Ben who does all the plot heavy lifting. I’m pretty sure Ben’s arc was the first one DLF thought out (and the big question is, was it the only one they thought out) and only later on decided to make Rey the main character, which also involved much less spontaneous writing. Mind you, it’s not as if benepemption didn’t have a manufactured subtaste to it, but with Rey’s heroine’s journey stiff structure occasionally substitutes any in-world explanations of her actions (this is why I have to hope renperor has some narrative purpose rather than happening because lovers need to be separated and anti-hero needs to achieve what he wanted in 2nd act). I feel as if whatever potential her character had (and hopefully still has, pending IX) got smothered by layer upon layer of making her likable by everyone, which largely relied on negative characterization: she’s not helpless, she’s not too naive, not cynical, not too emotional, not too emotionless, not morally corruptible, not anything you’ve ever complained about regarding any SW character, not falling for the bad boy, not not not - and in the end it’s kinda difficult to say what Rey is like and while the goal of making her widely likable was achieved, it also made it almost impossible to view her as loveably flawed/annoying like the classic characters. And on top of all this is the matter of making her a nobody just like you!, as DLF appears to say with uncle Sam’s gesture (which also kinda assumes the existence of a Star Wars fan as some uniform entity? because if you identify with her, good for you, I just don’t understand why the franchise assumes I’ll identify with her by the grace of being a SW fan alone), because, as you excellently put it, the message here is that everyone can be chosen by God - which again, it’s not as if the saga ever contradicted this, so why the hell make a case of it? I can’t agree that it’s made into Rey’s flaw, though, imo her low birth only serves to further frame her as an oppressed virtue. And I definitely agree regarding too much of her growth being left off-screen, or before the story ever begins. The problem here isn’t even that it is left off-screen (it’s not as if we had huge insight into any of the pt or ot characters) but rather that her characterizations is left off-screen while being depicted as at least untypical (unique to put it bluntly) for her situation (same goes for Finn). A hopeful, kind person growing up on her on her own in slavery under a nicer name is a rarity and DLF makes a case for it being a rarity - and this sparks up curiosity in her past, as if market pandering to Re/sky wasn’t enough. So from this pov her un-reveal being frustrating isn’t just a case of not wanting to love her or her self only a potentially deeper psychological question getting answered with well, light.

I should add, Ben’s arc feels like the most spontaneous one (though Finn’s may yet be a masterpiece) and he’s the one to admit his fear of not living up to Vader’s legacy, because I think he’s the character serving as the creators’ vessel, more or less like Luke was Lucas’ avatar in ot. In his fear regarding Vader’s legacy one can feel Disney’s fear due to having bought popculture’s holy grail and not being entirely sure what to do with it. On this background, Rey (a literal scavenger of OT’s pieces) and rebels 2.0 repeatedly blessed by Leia come off as what DLF would want to be. And the result is that the character which was supposed to be Vader 2.0 proves the most original and surprising one, whereas “breaths of fresh air” come off as room aromatizers with “fresh” written on them.

And as far as the plot being bended into a pretzel and then disappearing up it’s own ass, well, a part of me is still hoping that taking virtually the same villains as before is a mythological-psychoanalitical metaphor of a nigredo repeating itself until the unconscious gets accepted by the conscious…. but, tbh, as the leaks flow this hope is withering.

#asks #cleaning up the askbox #long asks anon #sw negativity #let rey free from the corset disney

[nabtime]

Reasons I Very Much Disliked the 10 Years Later Video Butch decided was probably profitable and decided to post. Like.... Let’s start with characters...

Jazz. My sweet fav Jazz. All of the designs felt pretty wrong and out of character but this one felt the most so. Butch didn’t even mention psychology, which offended me the most, and it’s like, yeah maybe Jazz grew out of her love for psychology by the time 10 years later rolled around but considering how central it was to her character? Doubtful. Like??? Butch do you know these characters at all? How in any way shape or form was Jazz technologically inclined? To the point she’d be as hooked up to wires and such as she was? That didn’t make sense at all. Maybe for Tucker, the most tech savy person ever, but not for Jazz. 

Yes she wanted to help her brother out and nearly desperately wanted to be part of team Phantom but I don’t think she’d give up everything she loved for it. Also Jazz would absolutely not want to be on the side lines. Even when she was messing up with the weapons she was still right there in the middle of the action. We also know she can kick butt physically, like her mom, even if she’s bad with weapons, like her dad. 

Honestly? I would see Jazz as a top researcher on the Psychology of Ghosts. She would most definitely have the drive and the passion to be able to not only spearhead a new avenue of research based on everything about a ghost’s brain/feelings/thoughts/etc but also be a sort of permanent head of that department. Ghosts are a sentient species that are also completely separate from humans. That’s GROUNDBREAKING. 

Not to mention that it’s a way she knows she can help without completely resorting to violence. Jazz is compassionate and nosy. She’s a busy-body that wants to fix everyone’s problems. She’s both sensitive and insensitive. She’s aggressive about being caring. And I don’t think that would be something that would just go away. I know Butch has already stated that Ghosts aren’t Ghosts but Monster (Yeah, okay man) but ignoring that I think Jazz would most certainly offer Ghost Therapy sessions Pro Bono to help them pass on. And even with the Monster thing, I still think she’d offer therapy, even if it’s just to offer comfort and the ability to integrate within human society. 

Anyway, I was real mad about how badly Jazz was treated. Her entire character was made some two-dimensional sidekick with no substance. The depth of the female characters is what made DP so great, Butch, we don’t need you ruining that just to make things look cool.

Jack. I... guess I agree with him that Jack would think being a half robot is cool, but like... Why? Why would he have gotten that scarred up? Yes, I get it, the usual “When you’re famous you make a lot of enemies.” But like.... I dunno I think the show wouldn’t necessarily take such an edgy dystopian turn like he wants us to believe. He kept just... talking about action and action scenes. And, honestly? That’s incredibly boring. And completely unnecessary. Action scenes are good but you have to have something to propel them. Something to make you care. One would think that Danny and his crew would be working to make the world a better place. To make it more peaceful. That’s what heroes are supposed to do. Not gratuitously get into fights with anyone who’s trying to pick one. Like??? 

Also this completely would take away character growth, both with Jack’s design and Maddie’s. Why are they still treating ghosts like subhumans? Like evil monsters? Since they’re literally wearing the DP insignia I’d assume they know about Danny’s half-ghost persona, so why would they still be hunting ghosts the same way?????

Honestly, with the way the show was headed before it ended you could tell there was a lesson in there about how there’s humanity even in beings you think are monsters. These mecha-ultra-action-oriented designs leave no room for that. I want to see a peaceful ambassador Danny trying his best to negotiate between ghosts and humans! I want to see Jack and Maddie supporting him! The conflict shouldn’t come from random fight scenes, but from things going awry! Let me see negotiations go sour because Jack accidentally said something loud and obnoxious. Let me see him resolve it after some character growth. One of the things about the original DP was that the grown ups had no accountability. Let me see them grow too. Show me that even adults can learn from their mistakes. 

In the end Jack looked like a horribly colored Santa that’s too trigger happy. Also? With the way everything was action oriented and revolving around violence... I dunno, when you treat your enemies like targets and forego all compassion, are you really the hero anymore? Even if he escaped the fate of Dan, it seems to me like Danny is still a bit of a villain like this. :/

Maddie. Just. Let me. AAAAAAA. No. First of all that haircut. Maddie would never. There’s no reason for her to change her hair that drastically and just, ugh. And those clothes on a 50 year old woman? I dunno, women can wear what they like at any age but it just doesn’t fit Maddie’s style. Anyway. Also, Butch totally degraded Maddie’s character to just “bad-ass action woman that fights a lot, has big weapons, and is bad ass.” Totally taking away her maternal side. Totally disregarding the fact that she’s often the brains of the operation behind the weapons. And totally making another awesomely dimensional female character flat and without substance. Congrats Butch.

Secondly, can we talk about those ghosts on a leash? Omfg. Whoo boy. Let’s talk about how many things wrong with that there are. Just. Yeah, remember a few paragraphs ago I was talking about the “humanity in monsters” bla bla bla. WELL. One: cruel. Two: weird. Three: wrong. Like on a basic moral level. Anyway, like I’m going to stop there with that because I don’t want to think about it anymore. Eugh.

Vlad. Lmao, let’s take one of the best motivated, best background story given child’s cartoon character and say his most interesting trait is his being a Greenbay Packers fan. Like, yeah it’s a pretty cool thing about him, but come on Butch. 

Also, i like how even you are ignoring Phantom Planet and you made that horrible mess. You dug your grave now lie in it. 

A clone??? Can we talk about the moral implications??? Like yes, I know Vlad is a villain and he does bad things but like??? We already went through this as a plot point we don’t need to go through it again. Vlad may be obsessive but he’s smart enough to know when to give up a failed plan. He’d start a new one. But anyway the moral implications of a clone. I’m not talking about Vlad, I’m talking about society. That is obviously a clone of Danny. That was obviously unconsensual. Vlad would blow his cover as a civilian and be revealed as a villain to the public this way, assuming he still has a cover. How does he live?????As a constant villain??? Wouldn’t he be arrested??? I just. Logistics man. And with the weight of Danny as a trustworthy superhero now, and the fact that its pretty obvious everyone knows Danny’s identities, Vlad has no leverage over Danny to keep his secret. Danny could full on spill everything about how evil vlad is. And what about team Phantom?? Wouldn’t they try to take the clone away from an abusive asshole like they did with Dani?? How does the clone feel??? This is a literal whole new character!!! 

I’m not even going to talk about the tiger.

VLAD. DOES. NOT. WANT. TO. BE. A. KING!!!! That’s so totally not his villain MO!!!!!! What was so great about Vlad was that he didn’t want things like that. He wanted power, yes. But only to further his plans. He wanted three things: Maddie, revenge on Jack, and Danny as his protege. That’s what made him interesting!!!!! Not every villain has to be power hungry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Medieval vlad having a sword so he can just go into battle and just smash things. Wow, okay, right back to the action with no substance and also totally ignoring the classiness and finesse that vlad usually utilizes in fights. but okay. 

Oh! Well look! Phantom Planet actually mentioned!!! Also the alien enslavement thing was actually a pretty cool plot thing so KUDOS TO YOU BUTCH SOMETHING I LIKED!!!! But, how, may i ask, are you going to deal with aliens existing? are they going to never be mentioned again?? are they going to come looking for vlad on earth? how will they clash with the ghosts? will danny have to reluctantly notice that his once archnemesis is not who he used to be and take pity on his wretched new state in order to help fight against the aliens? will vlad beg for dannys help or want to fight him for revenge? that’s some good plot right there.

Side note: “Maybe if I do a Danny Phantom 10 Years Later part three video, I’ll do an aged up version of Young Blood.” Butch. The whole point of Young Blood is that he’s young. Like forever young. BUTCH. THIS IS YOUR OWN SHOW. BUTCH!!!

Anyway. Dani. Is she evil? She was under the influence of Vlad after all. NO???!?!?! Literally that was the whole plot of her character arch Butch. She was taken away from that influence and allowed to roam free, If anything I think she’d gain lots of wisdom and worldly experience from her travels. 

“I kind of buffed her up”  👀 👀 👀 👌 👌 👌 👌 💯 💯 💯 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 !!!

But also back to, “By party I mean she likes to destroy ghosts” BUTCH. I already went over this. Everything action oriented like this totally takes away from the original series and makes everything boring with no purpose. No drive. Also while yes I love her design, i think its ignoring whatever experiences she might have had while traveling. and makes her yet another flat female character. She’s there to look sexy and hit things and thats it. there’s, again, no substance. Whatever.

Also, how does she make a reappearance in the series??  Has she integrated into the family? (Thatd be rad). Does she just pop up from time to time? is she there for back up in case theres a need for reinforecements?

i have questions butch.

Anyway

this has been long. bye

#danny phantom #yes im sure everyone has posted their opinions by now #but i needed to vent #naps hc

[cheerisuu]

Im Back.

Boy, how time flies fast when you’re busy keeping things feel right. I mean, they’re supposed to be. I’m going to make this update as quick as i can and as precise as i can, bet i cant do both tho lmao.

It has been approximately 3 weeks since Rock Bottom (i guess it’s what you call it? Well, close.) and things has been quite, nice.

The month of July has really been a journey of what felt like forever. Today is the 12th of the month and i have come to the point where i realised that the mind is the only thing that keeps us from doing or achieveing something that we want. And this applies to a couple of situations:

I learned how to do a buck tuck.

This is one of the few things i achieved as i underwent through a “therapaeutic healing” after the incident. I surrounded myself with the few people that im friends with in our Pep Squad and fortunately my friend Dapitanon, P. also had a common friend which made our days more progressive. Just the act of cheering for each other to do one’s best really lifts everyone’s morale.

“It’s really all in the mind.”

We ARE physically capable of doing things but our mind seems to think that there’s an invisible obstacle that prevents us from pursuing what we want to achieve. I realise this as we were practicing for a back tuck, which i proudly achieved (with a spotter pa hehe). But that achievement was already some proof that if i can have control over my body, i can do all things if i just believe just enough to do it right. Heck, I think I’ll attach my tuck video somewhere on here.

1st of July.

We went to a dog cafe.

Idk what’s with me but i really like to do something special at least once a month with him and WITHOUT telling him. After all, I can’t just let myself be carried away with the emotions that lead me almost to the verge of thinking it was over, right? So despite our awkwardness and difference of treatment (slight), I still picked him up (with miraculously good timing too) with our Navara and was able to use it for the whole day before returning it back to my Granddad’s. Did i mention he got car sick? It was the cutest. (Am i weird for saying that? Doesn’t matter tho lmao) i thought of going to the dog cafe cause i was thinking, “Hey dogs can like help with your mental and emotional health right? So why the frick not.” Im surely going to post a little GIF here somewhere on how cute the doggos were. And when i tell you, dogs CAN bring the purest out of anyone. We literally were like talking to babies man and boy the dogs were HUUGE, only the pugs were like “hey hooman u can luv me unlyk diz oder bitchez” haha. But if ever things do go well for us in the future, we are DEFINITELY going to get a golden retriever man. It’s my dream!

Anyways, we also got to watch our first movie as “barkada pero gusto ang isat isa” or BPGAII, it was Toy Story 4. And bitch, dont get me started on how we were wondering if it was a child’s movie or not coz boi, we did NOT like the jump scares at ALL. But still, me being an emotional, soft potato, it still made me cry in the end. The meaning behind was great it was all about taking the risk, which was kind fitting? For him at least hekhek. Basically Woody chose to be with his hoe, Bo, for Buzz, his bro. But this aint no movie review so, *boop.

I gave him my skin care?

Ok tbh this was so random right. He realised my skin was glowing better (coz bitch, we aint lettin no sadness ruin this skin ya feel?) so he asked what was i using cos he was contemplating on his gorgeous face that he was getting ugly now. (The audacity, am i right?? Lol) so i CLEARLY (no pun intended) put into the effort of giving him some travel bottles and put in some samples of what moisturiser and micellar water i was using right, and i guess it worked out well? I also got to drive it TO him still. But the good side of this was i was able to be with my Granddad and spend some time together as his driver hihi.

LADY DRIVER.

So I’m getting good at this driving thing right, as driving from Malaybalay to Cagayan, Davao to Tagum and vice versa, Tagum to Maco and back. So i might as well be good at city driving and yall cant tell me otherwise lol,

(SIDENOTE:except for the fact i got stopped by the Yellow Ranger in Ecoland coz i was at the left lane at a traffic light and my mom told me to go straight WHICH WAS WRONG I GUESS THATS A THING RIGHT, so i was almost charged 1500 pesoses. But thank Heezuz i was with my mom and she was able to talk through the officer but sadly we had to name drop my Granddad since he was a known regional director at LTO before. Sorry Pops, i swear it’ll be the first and last time.)

Back to real time, i helped him with his errands and was really lucky with the timing coz my Dad went off for a trip and my mom was left with his car. So yup, got the chance to borrow it for half of the day and drove all the way to Maa to get a keyboard his friend is letting him use for the mean time, her name is Jen and she’s the sweetest. (No backstory will be dropped for privacy). Aight, so we drove back to their house at Magallanes but didn’t have enough time to say hi to his folks coz it was noon and they were on siyestas, right. I still regret why i didnt like fake-pee or something tho. HahahahahahahDONTJUDGE. We ate for some late lunch at SML and felt korek coz before we joke about “asa ta nag park?” And now we get to be in the situation haha. It’s funny coz just when i thought things were detoriating between us, the world just chooses to keep things tight and close and say something like “oh, u guys are having an emotional conflict and struggle about ur relationship? Here are things that only REAL couples do and i hope u enjoy em!!” Dumbass. Jokes aside, I drove him home and goodbyes are still awkward, but i was starting to understand the type of ‘low-key’ he means.

Usapang Gym.

Oh wow it’s already the fifth point. If you manage to read this far, congrats! You get nothing but to keep on reading this rollercoaster wreck lmao. I wasn’t expecting he would pay the whole month at our gym and expects me to come with him. And it came to me: i kept on thinking that i should ask for assurance but in reality, he really does mean what he said about just being “me”. Things were different but things also got better. It’s like losing some and gaining some right? Like a body excrcising, losing weight, gaining muscle, idk its a weak analogy but its close enough for yall to understand. It’s our first week today, (it’s Friday) i hope i could keep up tho haha. I guess I’ll keep progress updated? Idkidkidk. Also, i got to mention thats he is VAIN af. Idk if its a good thing or just a tragedy waiting to happen haha. I also became his coach, (oha san kapa haha), he told me he wanted help with increasing his verticle as he would help me with abdominals. So i bought sets of ankle weights only to find out the first one didnt suit him so i had to buy another set. AND IT WAS HALF THE PRICE I BOUGHT THE FIRST SET AND IT WAS BETTER. Prices will be disclosed. (250) So i like, i do my own workout right and he suddenly shows his hot-headed side of things coz he was upset he had to go home early coz there was this no-towel-no-workout policy at my gym so we had to cut our day short.

In times like these, my mind just goes to places to different situations. All the what-ifs start filling up my mind on how he could react to other situations that would cause a similar effect on what his character was showing right. But in the end, i still give kudos to myself coz im able to keep up and cope with how quick his personality changes sometimes. And sometimes, im the one with a crack on the head lmao. Well, most of the time.

TAKE AWAYS.

Fast forward to this very moment, its 11:30 in the evening and im recalling all of this on a positive note. Today was an addition to a great day we had as a rest day from gym. We watched Spiderman: Far From Home and i guess its now my current favorite and HAD to watch it twice.

Speaking of Twice, bruh i want to do a dance cover so bad of #Fancy or #YesOrYes coz i been itching and the choreo is sooo goood! Not to mention Twice was in Manila last 29th of June. *sighs in broke* but i cant say it was the best concert from them coz there were complications like Jungyeon had a sty and was wearing an eye patch the whole concert, Dahyun got sick after along with Mina who wont be attending the 2019 Twicelights Worldtour because she gets anxiety attacks and feels insecure about performing on stage suddenly. I mean i know you got no idea what im talking about but its just sad to think of the fact that even someone so adored by many people, someone who has great physical, social and emotional support, can still feel the lack of these mentally. And if you’re one of those people who feels anxious about anything? I hope you get well soon and i hope you find the true meaning of your purpose in this simulation, because you are not alone. x

In addition to almost wrapping this up, i also treated myself again something from Adidas (coz again, bitch, if no man gon treat me i gon treat myself! HAHA!) which i later on realise i now own 3 bags from there and thinking to get a fourth one....someone help me¿ i also have to mention i already treated myself about a week ago (🎶) by waxing my own axillae, grooming my own brows, a gorgeous lippie from Beauty Cottage called Elegant Impressionist shade #9 Byzantine for half its original price haha, nothing beats fishing me through a sale. Speaking of treat, my Dad gave me my first pair of Tigers man and i cant help but tell yall its the same pair that the He wanted and it totally pissed him off that i got the pair he wanted first so bad and now he doesn’t know what to do coz he’s afraid if we have the same pair we might wear it at the same time and it would be cringy and weird (now for normal people that would sound cute right, matching kicks and all. But no. Not in this lifetime.), since im just blabbering of how im spoiling myself might as well end it here folks.

Guess I’ll keep you updated on how stuff might go on from now since class is fast approaching. Tomorrow I guess I’ll be attending a send-off party for our friend she’s going to the U.S soon. Oh, did i mention the re-run for Endgame is out? 🤔

[informally-young]

Against the duality of man

Hundreds of years removed as we may be from Hobbes’ musing on the unity of man, that we are not so much body and soul as we are one, Unified being; there is still an appeal to duality. Body and soul good and evil right and wrong

We look at these concepts as being separate from us, as if it is not only possible to lead a good life but there is some agreed upon moral arbitrator of what is good and evil. Owen suggested in 1816 that ‘The history of man informed me that innumerable attempts had been made, through every age, to lessen these evils; and experience convinced me that the present generation, stimulated by an accession of knowledge derived from past times, was eagerly engaged in the same pursuit’ and you know what fair enough good for him and good for the world, sometimes our belief that there is an evil to be conquered can spur us to be more than we are, it can spur mankind to such great heights.

However there is a kind of duality that bothers me deeply, the idea that there is definable and universal good and bad in everyone one, that this duality, stands not in a historical and social context but it is universal. We are not wholly virtuous or purely sinners, we are made of a duality. We have a light and a dark side. Buzwell explores this in relation to Jekyll and Hyde ‘Throughout the story, respectability is doubled with degradation; abandon with restraint; honesty with duplicity.’

There is a strong draw to this concept, we can clearly see that people are not wholly one thing or another, and we can also see such good acts contrasted by darker acts. So i’m not saying there is not a contrast between these concepts, or that as a human  I am not capable of falling short of my own moral goals, but I would argue that this is defined by my own sense of morals and ethics. Things that I have learnt, absorbed and crafted; it’s not inherent to my nature as a person. So its not an issue of an inherent duality of man, it is a result of a complex set of inputs from birth to now.

Jung argues eloquently for examining and addressing our own inner darkness ‘Unfortunately there can be no doubt that man is, on the whole, less good than he imagines himself or wants to be. Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. If an inferiority is conscious, one always has a chance to correct it. Furthermore, it is constantly in contact with other interests, so that it is continually subjected to modifications. But if it is repressed and isolated from consciousness, it never gets corrected.’ This can almost be a call to action, for self reflection, there is so much of value to be found in Jungs call to cast out our inner shadows by acknowledging it’s existence, however to often the duality of man is used in a different way,

If we acknowledge a dark side, some people then take this to look at humanity in a different way. ‘We have to look after number one, life isn’t about helping other it’s about looking after the only person who's important’ duality then becomes a get out of jail free card, a reason to treat others less, when we strive not toward compassion and care but we swing back to duality, I'm a good person but i’m a bit of a dick sometimes, we all have a darkside after all. Don’t get me wrong here i’m not suggesting we should all be saints, more that we can’t be, for we are not a mix of saint or sinners, we exist outside of a world the can make these distinctions, that we don’t exist according to some internal moral forces pulling at us, there is no deep duality of man.

Morals and ethics, alongside values and beliefs are malleable, they change with the culture and the time that they are set in. The christians of today are morally a different animal to the christians of 6th century Rome. Thats not to say that one is more righteous than the other, but that teaching and values changes over time, thats fine, thats good.

In another example our fictional tales deal with such light and dark concepts in a certain way, in Jekyll and Hyde this is presented as a difference between our expected and acceptable behaviour and the more animal and primal instincts of man, that human-beings are caught between the goodness they want to be within the world while trying to surpass their impure and evil thoughts, it is no surprise that Stevensons work comes from the Pious victorian era. A time of where the values of goodness were seen as going hand in hand with restraint and a pious attitude.

To many this might still seem right and proper, but the hippies of the 60’s would have seen goodness as going hand in hand not with restraint but instead with freedom; freedom of thought, freedom of the body, freedom of sexuality. Traits that would have been seen previously as evil were now to be celebrated as goodness and light.

So the duality of man is not a fight between a good and restrained attitudes and a dark uncontrolled force, but in this context goodness is an unrestrained light to the world, a free spirit and a free mind, now the previously moral pious and restraint is reframed as the evils of conformity and national order; of a world that is willing to engage in world devastating wars.

In this world the restrained men in suits were not the heroes but the villains. I know this is an over simplification but bear with me a little here.

In this way we can see that there is no historical or religious basis to a inherent duality of good and evil. Simply because the terms good and evil have no value outside of an agreed upon social order they cannot be inherent to us because good and evil change with the time and the culture. They are not inside because they are a construction, and abstraction, a model for understanding the world but like all metaphors ‘you have to be careful which metaphor you choose, because it matters. If you choose [humans as having] strings, then you’re imagining a world in which you can become irreparably broken. If you choose the grass, you’re saying that we are all infinitely interconnected, that we can use these root systems not only to understand one another but to become one another. The metaphors have implications.’ (Green, 2016). Without other people that agree what good and evil is there is no duality, the duality is not inside us, it is constructed by people, duality is a way to understand the world, but like any model a model train is not a train, and a toy barbie does not represent a real girl.

I believe there is a good, a set of moral, values and belief that coupled with learning about the nature of humans can help us treat each other better, but this is socially constructed and individually internalised, it is a mix of a social order and individual codes of ethics. it is not some lasting concept that will stand up to history, but will exist in the time and place were it makes sense as a trade between the social order and the individual. I also believe that no matter how strong our moral convictions, we can fall short, but not because of the duality of a human beings battling between is dark side and his light side, but because of a complex mix of short term needs and desires, long terms hopes and wishes, biological needs programmed into our DNA, cultural expectations placed on us by society and sometimes that our values and beliefs might be in conflicted, additionally the actions we take in the moment, and the actions we take after considered thought may be different, Khannman has explored this different type of duality as a difference between the system 1 and system 2 thinking ‘System 1 is fast; it's intuitive, associative, metaphorical, automatic, impressionistic, and it can't be switched off. Its operations involve no sense of intentional control, but it's the secret author of many of the choices and judgments you make System 2 is slow, deliberate, effortful. Its operations require attention.’ (2007) In this way if there is a duality, it is not between good and evil but between automatic thoughts our brain take almost without conscious effort, and the slower considered thinking, that we might identify as being us. The we, we are when we actually stop and think and aren’t on auto pilot.

Khannman theories are interesting but avoiding the good and evil duality is more than seeing our thinking as a mixture of impulsive and considered action, we can also see Jungs call to address the shadow inside of, without seeing it as a shadow, we can look at it instead as reducing dissonance or disharmony of thought. for example I can believe that all life is precious, and also believe in the right for women to have a choice over there body during early pregnancy. For some the right for individuals to have a say over the own lives and bodies, and the sanctity of life will lead to a different conclusion, but we have to balance these two competing values to do this, we have to reduce the disharmony on conflict in these two competing ideas.

When we believe that there is a greater force, and cosmic karma we can defend our own idea and knock down others because of a belief in a cosmic balancing. We can see the different balancing as moral not as an act of looking at values and coming to conclusions but of a level of evil, we can also do this to ourselves when our world feels our of order. ‘All of this shit happens to me, i must have been a serial killer in another life.’ comes the calling card a light hearted stab at both our belief in a greater justice that good people should have good things happen to them, and the reality that terrible things happen to people who are only trying to do there best all the time. This actually points to a deep cognitive dissonance Festinger's (1957) cognitive dissonance theory suggests that we have an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and beliefs in harmony and avoid disharmony (or dissonance). We tell the lie as a joke because it reduced the dissonance between the beliefs and the consequences.

We can see Jung’s shadow in this way to, the shadow is not in-fact a reflection of an inner darkness but the distance between what we believe deep down and some of the aspect of our personality that do not match with how we want to be in the world. Took would see this a critical to self reflection it ‘“enables an understanding of the way (socially dominant) assumptions may be socially restrictive, and thus enables new, more empowering ideas and practices. Critical reflection thus enables social change beginning at individual levels. Once individuals become aware of the hidden power of ideas they have absorbed unwittingly from their social contexts, they are then freed to make choices on their own terms.”’ In this way there may be a shadow but it isn’t darkness it is of ideas that do not match the ideas we think of as core to our values.

We cannot always live without such dissonance John Green say’s “Like, in general I think people have very complicated reasons for wanting things, and we often have no idea whether we’re actually motivated by altruism or a desire to hook up or a search for answers or what. I always get annoyed when in books or movies characters want clear things for clear reasons, because my experience of humanness is that I always want messy things for messy reasons.”

It can be easy to sort our thought in retrospect to blame certain actions on a inherent darkness of the human spirit, or to re order actions that turn out well as being motivated by our goodness. The reality is we are all confused people walking through this world and trying to do our best. in this was looking at the world without this duality can be freeing.

So why even bring this up, why does it matter in the end if we are a mix of good and evil or something slightly less easy to define? Why  even care what mixed metaphor we use to find our way through the world? Firstly because there is an appeal to the good vs evil narrative and that gives it a power over our actions, it is something that is woven deep in to culture and as a story it’s great, I love a good hero vs villain story, but theres a deeper issue at play.

epistemic responsibility argues that it is wrong always and everywhere for anyone to believe anything upon insufficient evidence. Not only that but that ‘there is no such thing a a private belief because we all talk about our beliefs some of us do it a lot and it causes our beliefs to spread.’   So even if you don’t talk a belief can spread through our action or in fact our inaction. our views always have an effect on others. you should morally not have an opinion until you have evidence to back that up, blind faith leads a person to ignore other facts and arguments causing them to live an unexamined, unthoughtful life. when you adopt a belief you have options and the nature of those options can basically determine the moral defensibility of the beliefs you end up holding. (Taken from brilliant crash course video on epistemic responsibility)

In this way in our attitude when we believe that there is a duality of good and evil can lead us to be less critical and more judgmental of others and forgiving of our own flaws. This deep contradiction exist in the unexamined belief of the duality of humans. We can minimise the hurtful actions of our own by choosing not to reflect and grow but instead to say that we all have a dark side, we can see our good actions as not based on our notions of good but being part of something more a cosmic justice far above all mankind. We can see others actions as objectively evil not from our and our culture point of view but from a view that we are right in a cosmic sense. This as an idea leans into something called the just world fallacy, were we believe that the is a cosmic justice and it leads toward favouring the good and the just. We are right because we have goodness on our side, and good things happen to good people and evil people get was they deserve. The poor are not poor there lazy, the beaten are not undefended there weak, the hurt are not betrayed they need to toughen up.

We also tell ourselves and worse we tell our friends that they did everything they could, if a situation between your friend and someone they might have hurt happens, we instinctively tell them, they are a good person, that they shouldn’t worry about it and they should move on.

Now imaging that billions of times a day, two sets of friends both telling there friend that they did everything they could and the other person if wrong. Sometimes thats true, but sometimes a combination of our bias towards our friend and our desire to help them leads to nuance being lost. Both people leave that situation believing they were right, they were the just ones. Reflection helps us examine these beliefs.

We can see how such a world view can be harmful, not in a big way but in lots of small way every day, when we buy into the idea of good and evil as eternal and unmovable we can end up sitting in judgement on others, and removing ourselves from judgement. Reflection however is not an answer to all of life's problems it is not a replacement for a belief in good and evil, reflection on its own can be harmful as we cannot reflect on things that we have a blind spot for, things about ourselves we are not yet able to face. ‘personal reflection should be used not as an end-in-itself but as a springboard for more general insight, personal growth and professional development.’ (finlay, 2007)

In this way the concept of a inherent dark and lightness in character needs to be replaced with conversation with peers, friends and even those who we disagree with about what a humans we value and why, and internal reflection on our own values, our own dissonance and an understanding that falling short of our goals in not having a darkside, but it is a chance to learn and grow.

I believe strongly in the my conception of good as I assume many people do, but it should and must be malleable to evidence, we must never believe that our conception of good is somehow universal, that we know enough about the world to be able to judge others on little or no evidence as evil. I get the appeal in a complex world we want simple answers we want to believe in these universal truths we want to support our families and friends, I’m not arguing for a complete reimagining of our relationship with the world, but instead for a little more grey. constant reflection and growth can be draining and difficult, sometimes we don’t want to talk to our political opposites about values, but to retreat and talk to friend about how they other guys don’t get it. We need to do this to stay sane, but let us not mistake is as virtue, it is not the good speaking to the good, it is us being human with all its inherent flaws and promise.

Man is not good or evil, humans instead exist in a sea of complexity, of shifting and turning multitude of greys that can change on the winds, and the tides. Todays grey might look white in a few years time or it may seem murky and black in retrospect. but if we look to duality, actions of ourselves and others can be reduced to good and evil, Jungs shadow becomes not the thing within us that we seek to work on, but darkness becomes justification for acts that we would see in others as wrong, but that we cast away from ourselves to maintain our own image of self as saintly.

‘Though sour grapes will turn to wine its all just vinegar with time And oh, I want to know, we all want to know How can anybody treat somebody so?’

#youth work #informal education #informally young #reflective #practice #duality #darkness #light #good #evil #learning