goomba
Pamela Anderson choosing to wear no makeup (not “natural” makeup, not a “no-makeup makeup” look, but actually no makeup on her skin) to events and letting her wrinkles and age spots be clearly visible is actually groundbreaking and anyone who paints it as not a big deal, or worse, as somehow an attack on some other group, is a moron
Something I'm fond of saying is "The villain drives the plot but the hero sets the tone." Something that's very important about this is that the resolution to the conflicts presented need to match the hero's tone. If your story doesn't believe problems can be solved the way the hero wants to solve them... why is this the hero?
If you want your problems to be solved with brutal catharsis, then your hero should be someone who believes in brutal catharsis.
If you want your problems to be solved with forgiveness and reconciliation, then your hero should be someone who believes in forgiveness and reconciliation.
They don't have to begin there. This can be something they come around to over the course of the story, as they grow and change per their character arc. But by the time of their ultimate encounter with the villain, their values should be the values that drive the story forward.
There's this thing in D&D that some DMs do. Where, when you roll enough damage to deplete the monster's hit points, they'll turn to you and say, "That's a kill. Describe for the group how you take the monster down." And you're allowed to come up with some cool maneuver or something that your character did in order to deliver the finishing blow.
The hero's ultimate triumph over the villain is a lot like this. More than any other part of the story, this moment is their apotheosis. It should be a celebration of everything they are and everything they stand for.
You have defeated the villain; Now describe for the group what form that victory takes.
pegging isnt gay. if you're a guy, and a woman pegs you, that's heterosexual, not gay
Yes, sure, my trauma affected me.
Do you know what else affected me?
Dancing under the glow of LED strip lights with my best friend at 3am. The pair of shoes my godmother gave me with the cute little bows that I wear for good luck. My girlfriend laughing so hard at my joke she had tears on her face. The hours and hours I’ve spent scribbling in the margins of books. Buying the ugliest sweater at goodwill because it made all my friends grin. Listening to that song on repeat while I swayed through the halls at school, smiling in response to all the weird looks people sent me.
I’m never going to just be the bad parts. I refuse to be boiled down to just the bad parts. Every moment of my life has affected me in some way, more than even just the parts I remember, and there has been beauty contained within and surrounding all the grotesquities.
If you can't take the clowns, get out of the circus