the concept and idea of “you can always start trying to be a better person” is extremely important to me both in media and irl and i continue to be deeply deeply disturbed by the trend on this site pushing that these ideas in media are bad writing or even morally reprehensible
because theyd rather someone stay terrible or just straight up die than become a better person
from a compassionate point of view it’s deeply distressing and from a pragmatic point of view it’s outright frustrating
it’s fucked up.
What is the most important step a man can take?
The next.
I think part of the pushback about this is the idea that, to “redeem” bad people, their victims must first forgive them for unforgivable acts.
This is false. No one is obligated to forgive you. You can learn from your mistakes and become the best, kindest person on earth, and the people you’ve hurt still won’t forgive you, and you’ll have to accept that. And that doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to grow. Because we aren’t just “pure” or “sinful”, we’re complex.
Delighted to get an ask for our king Alice!! I’ll answer the second part of your question here, Anon.
For this question, I’d like to examine Alice’s characterization before and after losing Reko. Ironically, when we meet Alice, he has one of the healthiest attitudes towards dealing with pain. Even though he is a suffering prisoner, he doesn’t repress his feelings like other characters do. He is open and earnest. However, Reko’s death breaks Alice’s spirit like nothing else ever has. Losing his beloved sister means that he no longer sees a path forward, and he becomes desperate and vengeful. I view Alice as someone who began the Death Game with healthy priorities, but that falls apart if he loses the person he loved most.
