I Think It's Great That People Who've Suffered Religious Trauma Feel A Connection To Anakin. I Also Think

i think all quiet on the western front and the lord of the rings are in direct conversation with each other, as in theyre the retelling of the same war with one saying here’s what happened, we all died, and it did not matter at all and another going hush little boy, of course we won, of course your friends came back

forgot to say that, without Howl chasing girls and Sophie resenting him for it, the film completely erases part of the point of Sophie being old.  Wynne Jones is using an idea that Beauvoir talked about - that being an old woman is both tragic (as we lose male attention/attractiveness) and freeing (as we are freed from the male gaze).  the idea is that with being old comes liberation, and the true meaning of what it is to be a woman, as society no longer forces gender norms on us.

Sophie is free from Howl’s attentions and therefore safe from harm (a big part of the book is the fact that Sophie believes he eats women’s hearts, and him chasing girls proves this to her).  she takes solace in the fact that she’s old, and finds it freeing.  when she learns more about Howl (notably: that he doesn’t eat hearts and that he’s not evil), she starts to curse her age and resent him chasing girls.  BUT she remains old OF HER OWN VOLITION - Howl notes that she’s perpetuating the spell by wishing to remain “in disguise”.  there are SO many layers to this, and lots to do with gender politics - if she’s still old Sophie can’t get hurt, she likes the freedom, etc.  but of course on a personal level being old is her denying her feelings for Howl, and also a representation of her low self esteem - being old is a defence mechanism and protection, both on a gender level and a personal one.

and the film kinda… loses this?  the only thing that remains is being old = low self esteem.  which really sucks.  because there’s SO MUCH MORE to Sophie being old in the book (perspective I already mentioned), and a HUGE amount of this is gender politics.  that the film just erases.

bingewatching will never come close to bingereading. there is nothing like blocking out the entire Earth for ten hours to read a book in one sitting no food no water no shower no bra and emerging at the end with no idea what time it is or where you are, a dried-up prune that's sensitive to light and loud noises because you've been in your room in the dark reading by the glow of a single LED. it's like coming back after a three-month vacation in another dimension and now you have to go downstairs and make dinner. absolutely transcendental

yes im rewatching tcw again mind ur business

everyone be quiet i'm manifesting

Sith lovers need to just accept that balance occurs when all the Sith are killed.

I wrestled with the thought of sharing this for months, but I've been deep in my feels about Tech today so I figured I'd finally share.

Art by the amazing @cobaltbeam !

Flowers used:

Forget-me-nots - (self-explanatory meaning)

Sage - Wisdom, thoughtfulness

Purple iris - Wisdom, dignity, strength, courage

I also asked them to sprinkle some white flowers in there to represent his "death"/sacrifice.

Butterflies are a symbol of rebirth. I didn't think about that when I asked for one to be included, I just thought the idea of him studying a butterfly was cute. And I like butterflies. Whether or not it means Tech will be "reborn"/return later I'll leave up to you. :P

The light halo is self-explanatory as well. I'm a sucker for symbolism in art!

How To Write Trauma With Humanity

This short post is for those who think that they might be so focused on writing trauma well that they accidentally forget to write an actual character.

As someone who has an "interest" (read: deeply passionate and completely consuming dedication) for psychology and character analysis, I feel like sometimes writers don't really know how to write a character with trauma.

To quote a quote:

Don't Write A Traumatized Character, Write A Character With Trauma

I'm just trying to talk about those situations where the only interesting thing that we ever learn about this character is the fact that they have trauma and that's sad.

People tend to think that PTSD and trauma in general is just:

sit in dark, crying inconsolably about death

have nightmares

hide the fact that you have PTSD with broodiness

try to revenge

die tragically or happy ever after

Remember: Nobody has time for that

These people have obligations, responsibilities, family members, loved ones, and dreams that don't allow for this type of lifestyle.

Many people with PTSD *seem* like standard members of society. They sometimes participate in community activities. They have hobbies and vague interests that they put on their dating profile but don't really care about.

People with PTSD and trauma are interesting REGARDLESS of their trauma and trauma-related bullshit, not because.

If the only thing that's interesting about a character is what something else did to your character, it's not really interesting.

What's their dreams?

What do they like to eat in the morning?

What's their values?

Stop Trying TO ANSWER These Important Questions With:

"don't care :3 trauma will make this character complete :D"

You know ever since I started rewatching ATLA I've been wondering if the Star Wars fans who consistently complained about "filler" episodes in The Bad Batch ever actually watched that show. A HUGE chunk of the character development in ATLA occurred during the less plot-centric episodes, to the point where most of the "filler" eps were necessary to the overall story. Without them the characters wouldn't have felt as fleshed out. ATLA had a massive influence on a lot of animated shows that came after it (Tangled: The Series is one that comes to mind) in terms of how it handled its storytelling. The Star Wars animated shows, TBB included, were no exception. TBB followed a similar formula of alternating between plot-heavy episodes and character development episodes, so as an already-established ATLA fan by the time the show premiered, I took no issue with the "detour" eps that just explored the characters and their relationships. Or just let them vibe in their environment before jumping back into the heavier material. These "fans" strike me as people who would've whined about the "Tales from Ba Sing Se" episode being "pointless" or complained about the "everybody (except Toph) gets a life-changing sidequest with Zuko" storyline or, the ultimate crime, raged over Appa having his own episode about getting separated from the Gaang. All of these episodes were important to developing the characters and expanding on their relationships in a way that made the show feel more complete, so imo none of them were extraneous. A lot of the "filler" eps in TBB were the same way - I don't think I'd have cared as much about the characters OR the plot if it hadn't taken its time to sit with said characters and encourage the audience to care. The thing that ATLA is often praised for is the same thing that TBB was/is demonized for by certain pockets of the fandom, and idk it just really annoys me

The other color version of the illustration I did for Techtober 2024, prompt "monochrome". It's not monochrome, so it doesn't fit for the prompt, but force, I really, really love this one.