only talked abt this in rbs before but it lives in my brain and i need to fully DISSECT
tv and movies and books etc dont need to be endlessly hopeless and end in despair to be good!!! you dont need gratuitous violence and death and misery to have character arcs or plotlines or a good narrative!!! in fact, over using that shit can makes writing predictable and lose meaning!!!!!
if everyone expects certain characters to just be sad all the time and never have anything go right theyre not going to be shocked when more bad shit happens. it can totally negate the emotional value of the characters struggles if they Never have any wins. (even super tragic characters we usually start by seeing them doing well?? and then descending to shit??? not just starting shit. shit through the middle. and shit at the end. where tf wld the story be. u cant have an arc if its flat😭)
interrupting character arcs with death can be a good strat to emphasise the sadness of a character death OR it can just make the writing seem wasted which is what happens in most cases
killing off every character isnt shocking its boring.
HAPPY ENDINGS ARENT BAD WRITING. WRITING HOPE IN FICTION IS REALLY SLAY ACTUALLY. STOP MINIMISING HAPPY ENDINGS JUST BC THEY DONT RIP UR HEART OUT. NEGATIVE EMOTIONS ARENT THE ONLY WAY TO BE EMOTIONAL ABOUT MEDIA. (look at how many people cried over heartstopper. emotional. no deaths(except immys dog #rip) and happy endings)
SO NO. GIVING WILL BYERS A TRAGIC ENDING INCLUDING DEATH OR TURNING AGAINST EVERYONE HE LOVES OR HAVING THE PEOPLE HE CARES ABT SUDDENLY OUT OF CHARACTER NOT CARE ABOUT HIM WOULDNT BE GOOD WRITING. MAKING EVERYTHING HE FINDS HAPPINESS IN SUPER SAD ISNT GOOD WRITING. ITS BORING AND STUPID AND I HATE IT. will byers defense foREVER. anyway just let him be happy and let him have his bf it will work out much better for both of them. "mike should reject him" no actually ur wrong bc ur wrong.
AND HONESTLY. SAME FOR STEVE IDC IF PEOPLE SAY HE HAS TO DIE TO COMPLETE A CHARACTER ARC. DEATH ISNT THE ONLY CONCLUSION FOR EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER. like if he dies thats fine but saying its the only valid progression for him?!??!?! stupid take.
