#i mean a lil bit

[liesmyth]

So I was thinking about this discussion about Moash’s arc vs. Dalinar, specifically the argument by @kunaiman that Moash refuses to take responsibility for his own actions in a series that is all about acknowledging past wrongs and finally growing as a person.

As I said in the other post, I actually agree with the point that it’s not about who did the most evils, but about how you handle it. Like, this is not a war tribunal, we’re discussing character arcs in a fantasy series! But because I’m approaching it as a fantasy series and looking at it doylistically, then I will say that I find Dalinar’s character arc lacking, and at the same time Moash is never given a fair chance in the story.

Dalinar: look, the guy faces basically zero consequences for anything he has done. He waged a war of conquest for purely personal reasons, committed war crimes, and suffered no consequences for it, either politically or personally. He holds a lot of remorse and that IS a good thing about Dalinar (and a core tenet of the series in general) but also: Dalinar is in a position of immense social privilege. It’s pretty easy to be a good person when you are rich and powerful, esteemed by your family and subordinates, chosen one of a demigod entity. As a reader, it made me deeply unsatisfied. Dalinar is the narrative’s designated Leader. Every time his name is brought up, characters clamour to talk about how cool he is. He commands respect. Even the people who dislike him have some grudging praise. His sons worship him even after it comes out that he caused the death of their mother – and the entire thing is swept off the carpet! off-screen! in between books! Dalinar has his big moment of admitting to atrocities and that’s it, all is cleansed. Like, I wasn’t expecting drawn-out emotional conflicts or chapters upon chapters of Dalinar grovelling (inefficient; also boring). I actually really like that the latter books are so fast-paced with so many things happening that we can barely keep track; this is epic-scale fantasy and we’re gearing up for the big show. Real wartime is all about making compromises and just keeping it together… but that is NOT how the books treat Dalinar. No one in his camp is thinking “this guy isn’t great but he's the best we’ve got in this emergency”. His children aren’t just pretending they’re over their mother’s death just to show unity – they genuinely are over it. He’s not a “lesser of two evils” wartime leader, he’s Roshar Jesus. He keeps feeling bad he did bad things, and everyone around him is all “it doesn’t matter! You’re good now!” Everyone forgave him the instant the narrative deemed him forgivable; he carries his burdens but everyone forgot about it. One big moment and then it all fizzles out. It’s not a good redemption arc – and I’m not even sure if the narrative even THINKS Dalinar had to be redeemed. At times I get the impression that his past atrocities are just window dressing for his backstory, old demons he has to defeat, like a superhero with a dead wife in his past who was never a real person to the story. Dalinar’s crimes barely hold weight in the narrative because the big redemption washes them clean – sometimes I don’t get the sense that they mattered.

By contrast, Moash. He does bad things. He was also dealt far, far shittier cards in life that Dalinar ever did. His big evil moment was a crime of passion: wanting to kill a guy who not only represents the apex of the very system that marginalizes him but also personally had a hand in the death of his family (I say this as an Elokhar fan). So yeah. He goes against Kaladin, he fails; he’s left friendless and alone and with very few options beyond falling in further with bad people, doing more bad things etc. but – what were his alternatives? Unlike Dalinar, he didn’t have a princedom or a loving family or an important destiny waiting for him. He has been personally wronged by the justice system multiple times. Pre-Kholinar, literally, how can he know he won’t be killed on the spot if he makes it to the Plains (Kaladin’s words? He saw Kaladin thrown in a cell before). What other options does he have if not the Fused? Post-Kholinar, well. He’s infamous. Even if he redeems, what does he have waiting for him? Again: only Kaladin, but Kaladin cares for Dalinar just as much. It’s not enough. And so Moash keeps digging himself down further.

To make it clear: I’m not absolving Moash of anything he’s done. He absolutely had a choice multiple times and he consistently refused to go back even given many chances. His whole arc is a massive sunk-cost fallacy, but it’s also about alienation and disenfranchisement as much as it’s about rage. Unfortunately, Brandon Sanderson misses the part about disenfranchisement because he doesn’t realize the implications of the social dynamics in the world he created. I don’t say this as a snub: he does some things very well (emotional scenes, pivotal character moments). He also does some things very badly: his focus on the characters as individuals completely fails to engage with the characters as a product of their environment, something that is true in real life and should be true if you want a well-rounded character in a story arc about redemption or lack thereof.

The story doesn’t acknowledge the fact that Moash’s is a direct product of the society he lives in, and treats his morally bad actions as if they came about in a vacuum. It’s a lot easier to say “you can do better and you should, you have the power to change, redeem, and grow” about Dalinar, who’s been metaphorically sitting on a tower in the clouds long before it became factual, than someone like Moash, whose (morally bad!) actions are a direct consequence of his disenfranchised position in society and the (completely justified) bitterness he feels. Neither the characters OR the narrative have at any point acknowledged that maybe, just maybe, there would have been no Moash if the people in power had been a bit more humane. That is a massive blind spot in a character arc that is all about how a man is irredeemable because he refuses to let go of the resentment that corrupted him.

#stormlight archive #moash #dalinar kholin #the stormlight archive #cosmere #long post #narrative themes #at some point this stopped being a response and started being a note from me to me about why that guy deserves a chance #i wrote this for me etc. #sanderson critical #i mean a lil bit

[sketchy-tour]

Thank you, Remderem!

#WALLY SITTING ON THE CLOUD I DID IT AARAAH #Ended up coming out a lil janky but we take the Ls and we post anyway!!!!!!! #and by we I mean just me #Another excuse to draw Wally with a robe on is an excuse I'll take any fucking day #He just looks SO FUCKING COZY!!!!!! #Been doing little Wally doodle studies again and this one was one of the sketches that I decided to finish! #which might be why it looks a bit jank but OH WELL! #welcome home #welcome home fanart #welcome home puppet show #welcome home arg #welcome home wally #wally darling #WH wally #wally darling fanart #my art

[lesbaurinkos]

despite everything, it’s still you.

#MY BABYYY MY BABYYYYY YOURE MY BAAAABY SAY IT TO MEEEEEEE #daniel james howell you mean so much to me is the thing. i am so fucking fond of you forever and ever and ever is the thing #and so proud and so sappy and oh man wad really has me in shambles once more #i like this guy a lil bit he’s dear to me or whatever :( #dan howell #dnp #dan and phil #phanart

[chez-cinnamon]

AUGHH The site update was sooooo good- It motivated me to finish something I've been wanting to do for a while now: tweak and redesign the RW AU designs!!

Looking at the old one it's crazy to see how far they've come, being around before the Halloween update-- idk it's fun to see, same w my art style changes!! <3

Linking the old just for comparison,,,,,

#welcome home #welcome home au #real world au #wally darling #barnaby b beagle #julie joyful #frank frankly #eddie dear #howdy pillar #sally starlet #poppy partridge #these versions feel much fresher ngl.... #i mean I didn't even change much w sally julie frank and eddie #wally only really got some paint splatters on him..... #howdy felt a bit naked so i gave him a lil cardigan to keep him warm!! #also matching fionn with that... #frank too... #i really hated barnaby's old outfit i HAD to change it- #I like it so much more!!! #Poppy didn't change but I do prefer her pose in the old one tho...

[lucabyte]

you dream of devouring your friends whole

#the 'it' and 'that' sif is referring to is the act 3 loop hangout but i enjoy being vague in dialogue it feels natural. tee hee. #serious time means everyone gets noses btw. sorry about the slow metamorphasis back into my usual style from my mimicry #in stars and time #isat #isat spoilers #isat loop #isat act 5 spoilers #isat act 6 spoilers #isat siffrin #in stars and time fanart #isat fanart #sifloop #YES IM TAGGING THE SHIP. THUMBS UP. READ INTO THAT HOW YOU WILL BECAUSE IT WAS ON MY MIND WHEN DRAWING IT AT THE LEAST #aaaaaanyway. my personal reading of loop is. how do you say... flowey-esque. to invoke a fellow antagonistic timelooper. since imo #they do seem even fuuurther gone than sasasap sif was when we saw them. and BOY DOES LATEGAME ISAT SIF HAVE SOME INTRUSTIVE THOUGHTS #so uh. who's to say what happened in there. since we know start again isnt quite congruent as loop never beat the king. #i wouldn't blame them for going maybe a little mad. just a lil #it is important to me that loop is. perhaps a bit haunted. AND THAT THEY GET THROUGH IT!!! but they are haunted #lucabyteart #anyway uhhh. probably should put a cw for implied cannibalism?? #cannibalism mention

[wildflowercryptid]

❝ just you wait, florian... ❞

how we coping tonight, kieran nation?

#i didn't mean to make my first fanart of kieran be so intense but here we are #i'll make up for it with my next drawings bc i need to see this kid happy at least a lil bit #he also kinda ended up looking a little similar to allister... which make sense i'm pretty sure take designed both of them #also if any of you fuckers make yandere comments on this post it's on sight #pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet #pkmn scarvi #pkmn scarvio #the teal mask #pokemon kieran #kieran #rival kieran #💕 : comfort characters #🎨 : mj draws #scarvio spoilers #sv dlc spoilers #sv spoilers

[ruporas]

i made a digital vw zine, there's a bunch of stuff on here that hasn't been shared elsewhere! if you're looking for a barrage of vw being really clingy and all, look no further :]

LINK

#vashwood #vash the stampede #nicholas d wolfwood #trigun #trigun maximum #trigun stampede #ruporas art #HI....... HELLO..... this is my first zine ever.... this is primarily a sketch log with a few finished stuff that i just never posted #there's a few drawings that i did share but never cross - platformed posted them before #compiled them for convenience sake in this lil zine #NEXT YEAR! i will definitely do a physical zine if there's still garnered interest in that lol... it's been in the wips but it's taking #a bit because there's long-ish comics i want to finish for it; alongside that i hope to set up sale for physical goods in general soon.. #i'm still figuring that all out :') but in the mean time - please enjoy this if u are able to buy!!

[moerusai]

Best of Peg (2/2) a.k.a the way Jessica Henwick looks at Janelle Monáe

Jessica Henwick as Peg — GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022)

#glass onion #knives out #jessica henwick #janelle monae #usergal #userbbelcher #usergif #filmedit #wlwgifs #filmgifs #dailyflicks #usernik #moerusai #gif effects #knives out spoilers #giffing this makes me realize every woman in this film #is a lil bit gay for helen #I mean can you blame them

[royalarchivist]

Pac: I said, "Hey, let's do something fun, you know? Let's kidnap the [Federation] baker!" And we are kind of like, locked up, and [Richarlyson's] even sadder now, right? Phil: I can put my hand through the bars. Pac: [Laughs] Can I ho– Please save us! Phil: Do you miss human touch, Pac? Pac: Yeah, I miss human touch. Phil: I'm here for you. [...] We can smuggle things into jail. [To Richarlyson] It's okay, mate. Pac: Can you smuggle me a cellphone?* I know information is power here.

Phil visits Pac and Richarlyson in jail.

* Pac's quote here is a direct reference to Fuga Impossivel, where Cell (Cellbit) had a cellphone he used to threaten people with his "contacts from the outside." (In reality, the phone had no signal, but that's how he earned his name "Cell")

[Full Transcript ↓ ]

—

Pac: Richarlyson feeling a little bit sad 'because 'cus he's locked up, you know? That's why he's using a different kind of hat.

Phil: Oh, Jesus Christ. Wait– why's Richarlyson's [happiness] bar gone down?

Pac:Yeah, 'because 'cus he's unhappy, 'cus, well, we kind of like, got locked up, and it's his birthday today, and he's feeling a little bit sad about like, growing up, you know?

Phil: Is that why he's got a different cow head on?

Pac: Yeah, yeah, and to try to help him, I said, "Hey, let's do something fun, you know? Let's kidnap the baker!" And we are kind of like, locked up, and he's even sadder now, right? [Richarlyson shakes his head] Yeah, but look – jail is fun!

Phil: I can put my hand through the bars.

Pac: [Laughs] Can I ho– Please save us!

Phil: Do you miss human touch, Pac?

Pac: Yeah, I miss human touch.

Phil: I'm here for you. [Cracks up]

Pac: I miss human touch. Oh my god, a hand! Richas, you want to touch a hand? Touch uncle Phil hand. [Laughs]

Phil: Yeah, right here.

Pac: Touch it, Richas! Connect with every–

Phil: I can get you out, I can get you out, I don't know if I'll get punished though, but we'll see. [Laughs]

Pac: I don't think you're going to get punished. [He looks at Richarlyson] Right? [Richarlyson shakes his head, holding a camera] There's nothing wrong about setting two persons out of the jail.

Phil: Yeah, I feel like you've learned your lesson, right?

Pac: Yeah, I won't try to kidnap the baker.

Phil: Oh, Richarlyson wants you to take a photo of, like, hands touching, I think.

Pac: Oh. Ok, let me...

[They stand there, holding hands in silence until Richarlyson takes a photo, then they burst into laughter.]

Pac: Well, Richas, you wanna do the same? I can take a picture of you! I just need a paper. [Pac checks his inventory] ...I don't have any papers, if you have one?

Phil: [Still cracking up as he holds hands with Richarlyson]

Pac: I need the paper, Richarlyson!

Phil: I have paper, there you go.

Pac: Oh, thank you.

Phil: We can smuggle things into jail. [To Richarlyson] It's okay, mate.

Pac: Look! [Laughs and throws Phil the photo] Can you smuggle me a cellphone?* I know information is power here.

Phil: I can – hold on, let me see, let me see...

Pac: Maybe like a cellphone? Or maybe a gaming setup so me and Richarlyson could put some gaming in here, you know, so we can play games?

Phil: I can – I could just break you out. [Laughs] But it's up to you – do you want to be out?

Pac: Yeah, if – Richas, you want to get out of this prison? I know it's bigger and better than our house. Look at the size of this, Phil! You wanna, like–

[Richarlyson breaks the jail bars and lets himself out, then replaces the bars to keep Pac inside]

Phil: [Dying]

Pac: ALL ALONG? Wait – we have been in here for the past 15 minutes, Richas! Oh my god. Ok, ok, I'm done, I'm done. I'm just gonna stay here. I'm just gonna stay here. [Pac walks to a corner of the cell and sits down facing the wall]

Phil: [Still wheeze-laughing] Dude...

Pac: I'm just gonna stay here.

Phil: I can't– [wheezes] I can't break these blocks, he's locked us in!

Pac: RICHARLYSON–

#Pactw #Philza #Richarlyson #QSMP #Phil #Pac #I gasped when he said the cellphone line #I was also a little bit 😒 when Phil first said that touch line but they turned that into a cute thing rather than a cursed thing #I mean I could definitely see q!Pac being a lil bit touch-starved since half the Favela is missing and his kid was missing for a long time #and Mike is STILL missing #someone give this man a hug #Anyways I NEED Cellbit to come back so he and Pac can finally have a talk about that. And Purgatory. And everything really #November 30 2023 #Phil was offline when this happened btw #This is another one of those clips where I was like ''yes this is a bit long but it's better to keep it in one clip than split it up'' #Q

[vaguely-concerned]

it probably says something either sad or deeply unfortunate about me as a person, but I'm darkly amused to see some people react to the reveal of the ultimate permeability of souls in tlt as a triumphant thing -- the "you can't take 'loved' away!!!" side of it all -- when my first reaction was such an immediate wave of 'oh, oh so this is why this series is horror, I truly understand now' distress haha. ngl the final confirmation of the self not being inviolable in the deepest way freaks me the fuck out far more than any moment of body horror in the series has managed. (these two elements are of course the two sides of one thematic coin; it's about the horror of our bodies and minds and selves not being inviolable things, and about the effect of violence on them on so many different levels. violence psychological and interpersonal, physical, subtextually sexual, emotional, medical, political, a whole unlovely smörgåsbord of indignity and violation a person can be exposed to, and on a broader scale the spectrum of violence colonialism wields). The world and other people being capable of leaving indelible marks on us for good or ill through their presence in our lives is of course a pretty self-evident demonstrable truth in the real world, but somehow having it be proven metaphysically just uh. Fucks me up! 

It also drives home to me just how perfectly Muir has captured the dilemma at the heart of human connection and intimacy: the fact that the thing that gives us life and meaning is also capable of harming us so deeply. the same thing that can be so beautiful — even in a bittersweet, violently transformative form like with the creation of Paul — when done mutually and consensually and compassionately, is the same process that means someone like John can touch someone else's soul and 'after he's put his fingers on something, you'll never find anyone else's fingerprints on it; too much noise'. I think the text itself — the whole series, because to me this is what it is ultimately about, this tension between individuation/self vs. love/connection/enmeshment — is far more ambivalent in its treatment of it than saying it’s inherently a good thing or inherently a bad thing. The only thing it says for sure is that it is always a thing, that thinking you’re ever getting away from it is the height of futility, and that through being alive (or even through being dead lol) it is something you have to engage with in some way no matter what. Contact with other people is deeply necessary — without it we sicken and die. it can be the most beautiful and meaningful thing in a human life, and the most unspeakably horrific. All of these people are searching for some way to be whole, whether in total self-contained sufficiency on their own or in melding with someone else as their ‘other half’, and stumbling around in the dark they reach for each other and score deep wounds into the thing they’re trying to touch even when they don’t mean to. Taken to horrific extremes with the form of lyctorhood John guided his disciples to when they were ‘children — playing in the reflections of stars in a pool of water, thinking it was space’, because while people hurt each other all the time with differing levels of intentionality behind it, what John did was deliberate. It weaponizes the misapprehension of what closeness must be and destroys everyone involved in the process… and all because it leaves John the one sun their ruined lives have left to orbit around, because that’s the closest thing his soul will allow to connection. He doesn’t understand that to truly touch something you have to truly let it touch you back, and then wonders why he’s never satisfied.   

‘The horrors of love’ has been memed to death, I know, but… yeah. That is what it is, isn’t it.

#the locked tomb #the locked tomb meta #the unwanted guest #the unwanted guest spoilers #I wrote most of this right after reading tug for the first time but it's been so hard putting exactly what I mean into words #this is my best shot so far haha #I feel like a lot of a people have approached this lil 'revelation' a bit too... idk mechanistically? for my personal taste #I think it's far more thematically and metaphorically true than a scavenging hunt to see who's been rubbing off on who #spiritually. of course. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

years later someone buys the plot, turns on the lights and is suddenly worshipped as a sun god by a bunch of puppets falling apart at the seams

pov you break into the spooky abandoned Playfellow Studios building for shits and giggles

#lore tidbit! the plot is not available for purchase #the building is only Technically abandoned. its still very much Owned private property! #actually ive been thinking about the Other side of this au. the people's perspective #cause in this au at least they all Knew the puppets were alive #many employees - especially the ones working 'closest' to the puppets - put up a huge fight when the show got canceled #but it was either Disassemble (kill) Them or Lock Them Away #and honestly? killing the neighbors would've been somewhat of a mercy #but the employees had no way of knowing just how Bad things would get #wh lights out au #scribble salad #and i mean. the building's electricity bill remains paid. #the employees that felt really bad kept it paid over the years - devoting a bit of their income each to it #thinking the puppets would a) be awake & b) be able to figure it out #yeah that's actually a lil fun tragic tidbit as well - if any of the puppets had found the breaker.... #or found it and Messed with it a lil... flipped the right switch... #they would've gotten the lights back on no problem #but yeah anyway ive been Thinking about the employees' side of things a lot #might tie that in with act two. it'd make sense considering the shit that happens #well either they'd help the puppets out or they'd get shoved into one of the sinkholes by barnaby. so. #bc if we're talkin seriously here. the puppets are more likely to kill a person than worship them for any reason #they'd go full 'THREAT!! THREAT!! ELIMINATE THE THREAT!!! WE'RE NOT LOSING ANYONE ELSE!!!' mode

[lavender-rosa]

Bitches say they want more complex female and non-white characters but they can't even handle Annette

#oh wahh the girl who was literally enslaved was a lil bit mean to your white boy fuck off #i just want to see some content with her but the only thing i come across misogynoir #castlevania nocturne #castlevania #annette castlevania

[benetnvsch]

thx Dazai

#redraw of this meme I saw a lil bit FJHFKH #so real of u dazai- #I mean uhh what who said that :sweats: #askjdhkd #anyway #kite draws #kite watches bsd #kunikida doppo #Dazai osamu #kunikidazai #art #fanart #I forgot to add the effects to this if u saw this for the .5 seconds it was uploaded no u didn't

[cheekylittlepupp]

you let this man bite you once and you're suddenly his favourite traveling companion... and people say he's hard to please.

#astarion #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #the silly lil guy just wants a bit of blood #astarion ancunin #guys i know there's a deeper meaning to this im mostly joking #mims posts ~

[legendoftherisingtide]

I will probably write a whole essay about this later but,,

The fact AFO is attacking Bakugou with the language Bakugou would use to demean people. The way that the downfall of AFO would be the very attributes that Bakugou had to relinquish in order to beat him. The way that he is not only fighting the big bad but is also fighting his past. The way he is again sacrificing his everything to win and for Midoriya. The way he is hearing that he is an extra, that he is a nobody, all of the things he has told everyone else, and has not only accepted it but is embracing it: He is here to support Midoriya, he is the one who needs to get out of Midoriya's way, he is not the main character of this story. And he has wholeheartedly embraced that.

He has not only taken the hand of others and realized he can't do it alone but has found the strength in doing so.

He has learned that the world doesn't revolve around him. He has learned that he needs to know when to get out of someone's way.

But not for AFO. Bakugou will still never back down from a fight. He still will go down swinging. He will not move out of the way when it comes to an enemy.

But he has realized Midoriya isn't an enemy. Izuku never was.

#this is a bit messy because i have so many thoughts but i had to get it all out there #bakudeku #<- i mean at this point its all implied #bnha 409 #mha 409 #mha spoilers #bnha spoilers #im going just a lil insane #just a lil loopy #just a lil silly crazy #i will probably write an indepth essay later #bnha meta #mha meta

[chickenoptyrx]

I was watching the grinch with my brother this morning and all I could think was how Broly is essentially the grinch and trunks is a lil Cindy Lou

An annoying kid badgering some bitter loser into being slightly less of an asshole? ... yeah I can see it :Þ

#ngl im assuming you mean the jim carrey 1 #since cindy lou doesnt really have a personality or do much of anything innthe original #aaaaanndd iv never been able to sit through the 2018 one #my bullshit #ask #btw dont expect me to do much holiday stuff guys :U #s'not my bit #but i like this idea :] #broly found a Christmas tradition he actually likes #god its like the lengths cat owners hafta go to ta keep the lil bastards from wrecking all their decorations #all evil bastards are just cat-coded