English Added By Me :)

Invalid reasons for why a character should not be redeemed:

They’re too evil! - Redemption has nothing to do with how good or evil you were to begin with.

They don’t deserve it! - Redemption is not something that can be “deserved.”

Their actions are unforgivable! - Redemption has nothing to do with forgiveness.

It’s too late for them to change! - It is only “too late” to choose redemption when a character is dead (unless the scope of the story includes an afterlife in which change is possible).

Valid reasons for why a character should not be redeemed:

It doesn’t fit the themes of the story.

They’re not an important enough character for showing the process of a redemption arc to be worthwhile.

They’re more interesting as a character who isn’t doing the right thing.

It’s more satisfying to let them keep being evil.

It makes it more satisfying when they die.

There’s probably more, but you get the idea.

Remember, redemption is when someone realizes they are wrong, and takes steps to doing the right thing. That is not something that can be “deserved,” it is not something that hinges on forgiveness, and it is not something that it is ever too late for! …Unless the person is dead or something.

I’m at a sociology conference and just attended a memorial for one of the giants of our field, and one of the panelists told this story…he was at a meeting with this guy, who he got his PhD under and had a long standing relationship with, and he was bemoaning the current state of the world, and he asked this old professor, “how can you be so optimistic? I can’t ever be anything but a pessimist.”

and the old professor said, “you little fucker, I’m going to make a statement and then I’m going to take you out to the parking lot and beat your ass. What good does your pessimism do?”

and that really struck me. not the least because I also knew this old professor and he very rarely swore, so I know this was something he was really worked up about. what good does your pessimism do? What GOOD does your pessimism DO. I’ll be thinking about that for awhile.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I LOVE HOW TF1 MAKES THE CREATION OF MEGATRON AN UNINTENTIONAL COLLABORATIVE EFFORT BY OTHER VILLAINS!!!

SENTINEL WOUNDED HIM FIRST AND REPEATEDLY TEMPTED HIS WRATH.

STARSCREAM TAUGHT HIM THAT WRATH WAS THE MOST EFFICIENT TOOL.

AND THE CHEERING HIGH-GUARD TAUGHT HIM THAT WRATH WAS VIRTUOUS.

AND NONE OF THEM WILL KNOW WHAT A MONSTER THEY CREATED UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE!!

Honestly, some fanfics seriously need "AU" or "ooc" markings, because some writers try to write about these characters, but in reality, it can be at best slightly, and at worst, very different from the original character, which, frankly, is often upsetting. And I understand that some writers can simply misunderstand/misinterpret these characters, but this is also a problem that would not exist if they wrote "AU/ooc" :(

And no negativity, I know a lot of writers do try and I do appreciate writers as much as any other artist (especially, as a writer and an artist myself), because it's a hard job and it takes creativity and skill (which you gain over time, all writers started somewhere and that's okay), but it's still bad writing if you're treating and selling these characters as "canon", but they're either very different or nothing like canon at all.

This is especially a problem for me when it comes from experienced writers and it's really sad that you see something that's well written and the conveyance of the characters' emotions, the characterization and writing, and the plot are great, but the fit with these specific characters is partially/completely zero and you're like "damn, I think they got this wrong". And again, this problem can be avoided by labeling it as "AU/ooc", especially if the writer likes their interpretation of the character more than the canon one. There's nothing wrong with liking a character's version better, you just have to accept that it's non-canon, that's all.

this is ultimately a personal preference but for me fanfiction hinges on correctly nailing the character's voice and mannerisms. When I say "they would not fucking say that" it's often not about the situation that's happening; it's about little tics and preferences and above all, diction. I'm not typically huge on AUs but I can be swayed if you nail the voice. and I am personally absolutely SHIT at writing plot, there's a reason my fic is pretty much entirely one-shots of emotional conversations, but you know what I can do is match a voice. and if you can do that as well I am along for the ride and if you can do that AND write plot you are a fucking genius and if you can't do that I'm clicking out of your fic the second people start talking.

Help, I’ve been called out.

“as you get older, you realize that you’re not always right and there’s so many things you could’ve handled better, so many situations where you could’ve been kinder and all you can really do is forgive yourself and let your mistakes make you a better person.”

— Unknown

Swords are arguably the most popular fantasy weapon, but why is that?

Patreon - everything else

Tears

HEY DID YOU GUYS NOTICE MEGATRONS TEARS IN THE LAST SCENE OF TFONE???