The idea that redemption plotlines are bad is really toxic but it fits bad Tumblr culture so well. It’s the idea that you can never make up for the bad things you’ve done, and yeah, that includes poor mistakes too. It’s the idea that you’re branded a bad person after a single wrong thing and the idea that people can never change. It’s so shitty, someone isn’t always going to be set in stone, people change and make mistakes. That doesn’t mean you need to forgive them but it doesn’t mean it never happens. Someone won’t always be a saint and they won’t always be a villain, that’s not how people work. Outside of this blue site isn’t just black and white, people and characters don’t exist on just one side or the other.
i think it’s at least in part b/c people think that if someone who hurt them becomes a better person, all the people they hurt are then obligated to forgive them and accept them back into their lives. and b/c people who have not in fact redeemed themselves at all try to use “i’ve changed” as an excuse to worm their way back into their victim’s lives, so the idea of redemption becomes associated with excuses and returning shittiness. whereas part of genuinely becoming a better person is accepting that the people you’ve hurt may not want to forgive or interact with you even if you do become a better person.
i am not as much of an expert at this sort of thing as my tone may make me out to be though so take this with a grain of salt.
This is great, actually! It’s super important to realize that even if you change as a person the people you might have affected do not have to forgive you. and that’s okay, part of becoming a better person should be learning that you aren’t entitled to being in someone’s life if you hurt them (even if you tried to make up for it).
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Marshmellowmilktea 