#static & unsympathetic villains can still be good villains

[littlefoxwithbighat]

Hi! This is talking about the plot of the dream smp in a meta sense and its a bit negative. The person behind this blog wants to remind you that you can skip if it's not for you and they still love the SMP. :)

ALL DISCUSSION IS ABOUT CHARACTERS. DON'T ATTACK CCS OR I WILL STEAL YOUR KNEECAPS.

I can't lie; I'm really annoyed and worried at the way the writers are handling Tommys character at the moment, and am increasingly concerned about it messing up the plot.

I wasn't very happy with the finale. I don't think that means all is lost, I think they can pull it back but it's going to take some work. I was worried about the way that things were handled before but the green festival was actually very well handled, so my worries were mostly assuaged. But yesterday? I don't know.

The fact nobody lost a cannon death is kind of disappointing. The weight of blowing up an entire city/ (country?) brutally is somewhat lost if there is no human loss. Nobody was hurt physically and the only people this had a big mental impact on was Tommy and Tubbo, everyone else wasn't very attached to L'manburg or had gone rogue, or were detatched from the while situation. And maybe it's the fact it's happened to them before or that they still have each other or that it seems odd/ frustrating that they still care so much about this place or that it was always a losing battle and they knew it, but I dont find myself really pitying them like I probably should. And I think that comes down to character growth or lack thereof, which I'll discuss later.

Niki and Fundy have started a villain arc, or at least a violent nihilism arc, and I actually don't mind it, in fact I'm a fan but it wasnt really foreshadowed, or really just showing them cracking as much as it should have been. I would guess this has mostly been started for both of them to tie Niki into the plot and I can't blame her for wanting that. Fundys acting is very good, and I REALLY hope the writers handle this well. For Fundy, regarding the fact that his father is going to be resurrected and that Fundy is following in his footsteps... If the writers don't realise that connection and make this a big step in Fundys narrative I will scream. Also Funboo bros are very interesting character foils and I hope their relationship is maintained so that they can play of off each other and also man I just really want them to keep being friends, it's a generally positive healthy relationship that makes both characters sympathetic and we need that right now. As for Niki, her character motivations seem to be mostly centered around Tommy and on the one hand I'm like ehhhh, because Tommy's character already gets a disproportionate amount of attention in terms of narrative, and I get it, but recently he's been a bit TOO much of the protagonist for a multi-person POV improve server... and I'm apprehensive. However on the other hand this has potential for a nice confrontation between Tommy and Niki. If that happens I want Tommy to be aware that this is going to happen and not talk over Niki, and I don't want it to be brushed over. I think it would be best if it was just the two of them. This also gives a nice chance for Tommy to examine his trauma with Dream and explain his motivations and Niki to get her anger out. I also want it to end positively, because it absolutely can and lack of communication when the viewer knows how to fix it is OK as a plot device sometimes but incredibly frustrating if it keeps happening (cough, Tommy and Techno).

Ranboo is reacting to the plot amazingly and I have as usual only praise for him, go, you funky enderman boy, go.

Wilbur is getting resurrected which is a thousand percent because Will wants the plot back and honestly I don't really mind, I think he'll do a good job. However I really hope he speaks to everybody about their characters, particularly Fundy, Ranboo and Niki because I don't want their characterisation and arcs to be thrown away.

Tubbo is doing very well, and I don't have many complaints to be honest. I hope he continues to get in with the acting with no shame, because he's an amazing VA when he wants to be, but sometimes he undercuts serious moments a little too much by laughing. Same criticism for Phil actually. But both are doing good.

On the theme of that, while I don't mind tension relievers or humour in serious moments there are sometimes too many. It was a lot worse about a month back and it was improving, but it seems to be creeping back in and ehhh. It's kind of Marvel-esque and not in a good way? I think it has a lot to do with bloopers and for some reason there are loads at the moment? Like Wilburs arc had almost none and this arc there's at least 2 every moment. Which isn't always their fault but maybe they need to take more steps to prevent them.

Techno is doing OK, he's quite a meta character so I'm not too mad about him undercutting serious moments but sometimes he does do it too much or in the wrong place. Like making jokes about Connor completely over the top of Tommy and Tubbos reunion, you know an event which has been foreshadowed for yoinks, prevented them from getting a proper flow going and kind of ruined it. And that made the reunion really dissapointing, which is a shame because it could have been so cool. However his characterisation is consistent and dedicated, his goals and relationships are clear and he's getting humanised more which is nice, and his monologues are great. I'm curious to see what he does now NL'M is gone but I have total faith in him.

Now Tommy. Oh Tommy. His character is such a mess at the moment, which is a shame because there were moments I saw people doubting his character choices and I was behind him.

Firstly the relationship with Techno fell apart. That was inevitable. Tommy didn't care about anarchy and Techno didn't care about the discs and both of their goals would impede the others. But the way Tommy talks about Techno is so... No? And now I understand that Tommy is going to have a biased perspective on the whole situation, and that's fine and good, but his character is so wrong about Techno it feels weird and painful? Like even from his perspective it went down differently to how he talks about it. They don't listen to each other and it's like watching two people scream at a wall.

The issue is the relationship was fairly well developed. I struggle to see Tommy saying he saw Techno as a friend but Techno never saw him as a friend because hold on, what? Techno, here's a respiration helmet because of that one of thing you told me about your trauma, a disc because those make you happy, plus top tier armour and weaponry, plus I'm going to spend time with you, calm you down from panic attacks, hide you and protect you from Dream, let you wander around L'manburg and achieve your own goals and help you plan things out Techno and Tommy didn't get ANYTHING from that? Plus after Techno opens up about his goals and his trauma, do the one thing that would hurt him the most, (use and then betray him) and then directly oppose his goals after he helped me? Ugh. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I know he would never let Tubbo get hurt and thats fine, but there were ways around that. If you're framing this character as the protagonist, then he needs to be sympathetic or at least grow and Tommy using Techno again without remorse and then refusing to listen to his perspective or show any gratitude for anything makes it difficult for viewers to empathise with him in my opinion. Have him betray Techno and then listen to Techno when he explains why Tommys betrayal hurt him and apologise, fine. Have him listen to Techno and try and find a way to keep Tubbo safe regardless, fine. Have him betray Techno but apologetically and still trying to avoid Techo getting crushed or killed, fine. But THIS? Im sympathetic towards Tommys character but this throws away so much potential character development for Tommy, where at least he saw Techno as a person, and not only that but a nice person who despite everything has set aside everything to help him? And then for him to be exactly where he was at the end of season 1, both literally, and emotionally ? I understand this is a child soldier with trauma but this is supposed to be our protagonist and if he doesn't grow, and isn't sympathetic and destroys someone we care about, how can we root for him?

Now all of this could be forgivable, not great, but forgivable, if Tommy had moved on from the discs. The Goddamn Discs™. And the worse part is all the dominoes were lined up to suggest he had! We had his moment of "he watched me" where he realised Dream was the villain and controlling him, "I've become worse than everyone I hated" good, amazing, I see where this is going, "The discs were worth more than you ever were!" and then he retracts and apologises and you think horray! Tommy has realised the discs were being used to control him and if he doesn't care about them, they hold no value! Now he's going to realise that his friends are more important and he's going to stop going after the discs. His new character motivation can be killing Dream and protecting his friends, especially Tubbo. It's clearly angled this way, and this way the plot progresses and Tommy with it. What marvellous character development. Look at him go.

And THEN, after everything that's happened he says the most important thing is the disc and I want them back!?!? EH !!? Why... Who... Who gave the OK on that writing decision? That's so static and boring and unsympathetic! And then he's back to asking people do fight for L'manburg? What?

I'll be honest I was kind go hoping either Tommy or Tubbo would die with L'manburg. I didn't mind it they didn't, there are a thousand ways to make the plot work without them dying, but this was not a great one.

PLEASE let Tommy have some growth. Yes he's had some from not caring about L'manburg to fighting for it in season one, but that was ages ago and he doesnt seem to have changed since then in any way that really counts. And I know this is harsh and he's traumatised but you have to understand I am talking about this in a sense of characters and narrative and NOT in terms of real life. Tommy needs to be better and dynamic because he is a charcacter and I want him to be a good one.

Having said all that, here are my thoughts on the future of the SMP.

Firstly, I am worried that becuse it is such a good source of content, especially for Tommy that they will never ever kill his character and leave him fighting with Dream for eternity. And I love the Dream SMP but I've seen stories that get dragged out for plot or content, and however much you think you want it to never end, let me tell you, yes you do. It will get stale and repetitive and I want the dream smp, or at least Tommys arc to go out with a beautiful and brilliant and fabulous plot ending instead of being dragged into the dirt. And then maybe new characters take the spotlight. Just please god give it a goode ending.

I also really hope they don't throw other things away to make Tommy the centre of attention, especially if it's destructive to the plot, or kind of weird and obnoxious.

Secondly, I am intrigued about the prison and Schlatts book to Dream and Technos favour and the egg and what that entails and I hope they really think through those plot points carefully and make them work, and don't forget them or throw them away.

Thirdly, I am intrigued for Wilburs return and hope that he manages to fix it cohesively without too crazy a change of pace and style and keeping characters (especially Ranboo and Fundy and Niki) consistent.

I hope they prep for the future and think things thought and communicate with each other.

It might be interesting to see other countries finally discussed but I don't know how much that would intefere with other plot points so we'll see.

That's all! Reminder that this is about characters and plot and this is just a few criticisms. I love the dream smp, but there are somethings I wanted to get of my chest. Please be respectful and feel free to discuss in the notes. Also, again, no hate to any CCs!

[aster-aspera]

Seemed the Better Way

CW's for this chapter: major character death, unsympathetic sides, violence, murder

If you're uncomfortable with any of this, feel free to skip this chapter. This chapter isn’t part of the main story in my superhero AU and isn’t connected to the other chapters.

Relationships: romantic LAMP/DLAMP

The idea for this chapter was given to me by the lovely MizzMarvel on ao3

Chapter title is from 'It seemed the better way' by Leonard Cohen

Masterlist

“V? Virgil? Come on, wake up.” Roman pleaded as Patton cradled Virgil against his chest.

Blood, so much blood was spilling over Roman’s hands, onto the dirty concrete under them.

Logan sat a little distance away, his face a blank slate, his eyes staring past the blood and pain into something only he could see.

Patton sobbed and pressed his face into Virgil hair matted with sweat and blood.

“Come back to us.” He whispered around the tears.

But Virgil didn’t stir, he just stayed there, his chest ripped open, his eyes unseeing.

Roman screamed, a scream filled with agony and loss and Patton felt it echoed in his chest.

This couldn’t be real, not Virgil. Not the strongest, fastest, most experienced of the group. The one who always knew what to do, who had taught Patton how to fight, how to run over rooftops. He couldn’t be so small, so empty. He couldn’t just give up like this, he had survived so many impossible things before, he had to survive this. The duke couldn’t take this from them too.

“I’m going to kill him.” Logan said, his voice flat and robotic, not a trace of human emotion.

“What? You can’t.” Roman protested, his voice wavering.

“He’s taken enough from me. This is the last time.”

“Seriously!” Roman yelled. “Virgil’s just… He just… And you’re already…?” Roman broke off with a choked sob.

“Logan.” Patton tried, but he didn’t know what he wanted to say. Did he really want to stop Logan anymore? Had it been any other day, Patton wouldn’t even have hesitated to stop him but now, with his lover’s body cooling in his arms, what did those rules even mean anymore? The duke had no regard for them. What was the point of following them if this was the price?

“Don’t, Patton.” Logan snapped.

Patton looked around, at the chains on the wall, the instruments that he didn’t want to examine too closely, at the blood pooling at his knees and finally at the fine boned face of his lover. He thought of the fear, the pain he knew Virgil must have felt.

Grief threatened to pull him under, to drown him in her dark, choking waves.

They had been too late, always too late. And the duke had beaten them again, taken the light from their lives yet again. It wasn’t enough that he had killed Logan’s parents, that he had ruined Roman’s life, he wouldn’t rest till he had taken everything good and happy and wholesome from them.

Well, if that was the case, then Patton wouldn’t have mercy anymore. Nobody hurts his family.

“I’m coming with you.” He snarled, anger so unfamiliar to him coursing through his veins.

Emotion broke through Logan’s façade at that, surprise and pain.

“Patton.” He whispered brokenly.

“Save it, you’re right Logan. I’m done with letting him hurt people.”

Patton looked at Roman.

“Roman?” He asked.

Roman stared at the floor, debating with himself.

“Can we bury him first?” He whispered.

Logan finally softened and wrapped his arms around him.

The three heroes sat in the darkening warehouse with their grief.

~

Roman should feel something, anything at all.

His brother had killed Virgil, his own brother had killed him.

It kept repeating through his head, all through the funeral and night afterwards, while Patton and Logan started planning.

Shouldn’t he be angry or sad? Shouldn’t he feel something? It was all just static, just a fuzzy blur of words and the memories of finding Virgil in that warehouse playing in a loop.

They were going to kill his brother and Roman couldn’t find it in himself to care anymore.

It was over, Roman had tried long enough, his brother was lost to him now.

He watched as Remus smiled at them, made a comment about Virgil. He watched as Patton took out the guards, this time not just blowing out kneecaps.

Roman sidestepped a charging guard and stabbed a knife into his guts. They took down the guards with a scary efficiency, their ruthlessness unexpected.

Remus turned tail and tried to flee and Patton shot two bullets into his legs. He went down with a pained cry.

He smiled up at them as they gathered around him.

“You won’t kill me.” He panted.

Roman looked at his brother, lying there on the ground, still so sure of his victory For the first time, when Roman looked at him, he didn’t see all the memories. The memories of the orphanage, of his brother protecting him, of sneaking out at night to go to the city. He didn’t see the person he had tried to save, the person he had convinced himself was still somewhere deep inside his brother.

He just saw what he really was, a murderer, a criminal. Someone who would never stop hurting and destroying. Roman had enabled him long enough. It was time for it to end.

He nodded at Logan.

Remus’s eyes widened as Logan lifted his dagger and slipped it neatly between his ribs.

~

Logan squared his shoulders against the rain beating down and the cold curling into his jacket. He clenched the flowers in his hand so tightly the stems had bent.

The graveyard was empty, nobody willing to brave the rain for a few corpses.

He breathed a sigh of relief, the last thing he wanted right now were random onlookers. With their annoying sympathy and their curiosity.

He knelt at the small grave in the corner of the graveyard. He laid the flowers down on the cold, wet marble and traced the letters on the headstone.

“I am the soft stars that shine at night.” It read.

Patton had picked it out.

Such a pretty lie. It was tempting to imagine Virgil looking down on them when he stared at the stars at night. To recognize the sparkling of his eyes in celestial bodies billions of lightyears away.

Logan wished he could believe it true.

“I’m sorry, my love.” He repeated the phrase he had uttered every time he visited the grave. An apology, for being too late, for not being able to save him, for not stopping the villains who had so cruelly ripped his lover away from him.

He had had so many chances, so many opportunities to strike, to end the fight once and for all. And yet he had never been strong enough to do it. Even after he had found his parents in a puddle of their own blood, even after all the atrocities the monsters in this city had committed, he had never broken that golden rule. And this was the result: a cold grave, a snippet of a poem, a cold space in their bed.

He would not be so merciful again. The duke might be gone but the city contained other monsters. Monsters who had taken lovers and brothers and children from other people. He knew more than anyone what that grief felt like and he felt disgusted with the fact that he had let them continue inflicting it. As a hero, wasn’t it his job to protect those people, no matter the cost?

The news broadcast from yesterday flashed through his head. The city rejoicing over the death of the duke. But a note of fear had tainted the celebrations. Were their heroes to be trusted if they could kill so ruthlessly? What separated them from the villains?

Logan found the whole debate ridiculous. The duke was gone and heroes had finally had the guts to stand up to the vile villains that infested their city. Why would the citizens fear them? They were on the good side.

They were going to take down all the people who had hurt and killed and destroyed, regardless of what the people thought. They would be grateful one day.

He walked out of the graveyard, throwing the old flowers in a trash can by the gate.

~

Janus ran. Ran from the people who were supposed to protect the city. He had looked up to them once, admired them. They brought light into the dark streets, beat out the shadows. Now they were nothing more than dark, washed out versions of themselves.

Whatever had happened to the purple hero must have been terrible. Janus ached for him, wished he’d known the duke’s plans, had found a way to prevent this happening.

The city was falling. With the heroes killing indiscriminately, people were terrified. This would only end in tragedy for everyone. And right now, that tragedy seemed awfully close for Janus.

A shot rang out and a sharp pain exploded in his leg. The light blue hero certainly knew how to aim Janus thought detachedly as the heroes gathered around him.

Sharp fear shot through him. He wasn’t going to get out of this one. He could expect no mercy from these heroes.

“It’s over, snake.” The red one snarled.

“If you do this, the city will burn. Can’t you see you’re destroying it?” He knew it would get him nowhere, but he had to try. As it was, he was the last one standing between these heroes and innocent civilians. Janus had long lost the hope that they would stop at just killing all the criminals.

“We are saving it.” Logos snapped.

“You are no heroes, not anymore.” Janus panted.

“And what would you know about that?” The light blue one asked, pointing his gun at Janus’s head.

“More than you apparently, you can’t save people by killing them.”

The hero paid him no mind and tightened his grip on the trigger.

Janus’s breath hitched.

God, he didn’t want to die. Not yet, not like this.

“Please, just think about what you’re doing.” He begged, staring into that bright blue domino mask, hoping to find a glimpse of humanity.

The gun went off.

~

Logan stared at the monitors flashing warning signs at him.

“What’s going on?” Roman asked him from where he was draped sideways on the office chair.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, that’s a first.” Roman laughed.

“Ro, don’t be mean.” Patton chastised.

“These readings look similar to Vortex’s teleporting abilities, but I’ve never seen them at this magnitude before.”

“Didn’t we take care of Vortex months ago?” Roman asked, joining him at the monitor.

“It’s unlikely it’s Vortex. It seems unlikely they would magically come back to life and even then, they wouldn’t be able to produce readings of this scale.”

“I guess we’ll have to go check it out.” Patton sighed.

“Shame, I was looking forward to movie night.” Roman sighed.

“There will be enough time for that later.” Logan consoled his boyfriend with a kiss.

They suited up and headed out into the quiet city.

In the alleyway the readings had originated from, five figures argued among themselves.

“I told you we shouldn’t have trusted them.” One griped.

“Well, sorry for trying to save the goddam city.” A familiar voice replied.

Logan couldn’t see them properly, but there was something very familiar about them. He strained to make out their faces in the gloom.

Then, a voice he had thought he would never hear again broke through the arguing. A voice that made his heart beat with happiness and his chest swell with grief.

“Guys, stop arguing, it’s not going to get us anywhere. Lo, do you have any idea what that was?” Virgil’s voice asked as he stepped out of the shadows into the pale light of a distant streetlight.

Next to Logan, Patton’s breath hitched and Roman shifted forward.

He looked the same as the last time Logan had seen him, before the duke had gotten his hands on him, his body all tense and wary lines, his eyes scanning the area, looking for threats. Not that empty, lifeless husk that was all that was left after the Duke was through with him.

I took all of Logan’s willpower not to surge forward and wrap his lost lover in his arms. One of the other figures stepped into the light too, tapping away at a screen. Patton gasped, and when the figure looked up, Logan realized why. That was the face he saw in the mirror every day. The figure was him. But how?

“What the hell?” Roman muttered as someone who looked exactly like him stepped into the light too.

“The readings that portal gave off are similar to the ones Vortex produces.” The other Logan said.

“Vortex teleports to different places, this looks like the exact same alleyway we were in before.”

A figure Logan had last seen begging for their life at their feet stepped into the light.

Deceit, the serpent, the snake, looking at ease surrounded by these alternate versions of them.

“My technology isn’t interacting with anything, I can’t even access satellites.” Other Logan sighed.

“Strange.” Deceit said, looking over Logan’s shoulder at the screen.

“Have you tried turning it off and back on again?” Patton, the other Patton, asked.

Just as other Logan was about to answer that frankly ridiculous comment, Virgil’s eyes snapped upward, focusing on the spot they were crouched.

He motioned for the others to shut up and they obliged, immediately falling into a fighting stance.

“Who’s there?” Virgil called out.

“I guess we should go introduce ourselves.” Patton whispered shakily.

Logan took a deep breath. On one hand, the prospect of seeing Virgil again, of being able to talk to him and hold him, was something he had dreamed of every night. But on the other hand, it all felt wrong.

Virgil stood there, surrounded by alternate versions of them and a villain who had died years ago. This wasn’t their Virgil and Logan was scared of comparing them. It felt too much like chasing after a quickly dissipating dream.

But Roman was moving forward already, swinging off a pipe and landing on the ground in a controlled descent. Logan and Patton followed suit.

“Hello.” Patton greeted them awkwardly.

The others all stared at them for a long moment, dumbfounded, until other Roman muttered. “What the hell?”

“Umm, Lo, what is this?” Other Patton asked.

“Time travel?” The snake suggested.

“They look the same age as us, I must have aged well.” Roman remarked, Deceit rolled the one eye that was visible behind the mask.

Other Logan stuttered for a moment and then managed to compose himself, or appeared to at least, Logan knew himself well enough to recognize the uncertainty in his posture.

“What day is it?” He asked.

“The twenty ninth of october, 2020.” Logan answered.

“Same day.” The snake muttered.

“So not time travel.” Other Logan said.

Logan knew there were dots he should be connecting, theories he should be formulating that could explain this.

But all his thoughts were occupied by the man standing just a few meters from him. Virgil, who was still looking at him like he was a threat. Virgil, who looked healthy and happy and alive.

“So they’re us, or at least, they look like us and it isn’t time travel.” Virgil said, seemingly noticing the way all three of them were staring at him as he shifted awkwardly.

Patton made an aborted motion towards him.

"Alternate universe?" Logan suggested.

The others seemed to become aware of their fascination with Virgil.

“Um, everything alright?” The other Roman asked, shifting so he was positioned in front of Virgil. Virgil glared at him and stepped sideways.

Logan almost laughed, the non verbal conversation the two had was so familiar. He had seen his Virgil and Roman do it so many times.

“Yeah, it’s just…” Patton tried to explain, his voice wavering, on the edge of tears.

The snake connected the dots first. “Where’s their Virgil?” He asked.

Roman’s breath hitched and Patton sobbed. Logan felt the ragged hole in his chest tear open even more as he stared at the other Virgil in front of him. Comprehension was slowly dawning on his face.

“Murdered.” Logan managed to say.

“Oh.” Other Patton gasped sympathetically.

Roman approached Virgil and the other Roman hesitated, making to stop him. Virgil shook his head and the other Roman stepped aside. Logan felt his feet carry him forward too, towards this mirage of their lost lover.

Virgil shifted awkwardly but let them approach. Roman took his hand and Virgil squeezed it.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” He whispered.

Roman just smiled tearfully. Virgil drew the three of them into a hug and for a moment, Logan let himself forget. Forget about the fact that they had buried Virgil years ago, that this version wasn’t theirs, that there was no way he would ever choose to stay with them.

He just savoured the feeling of those familiar arms around him. This was home.

They walked back over the rooftops together, an air of awkwardness over the group.

“It’s quiet.” Other Patton remarked.

“There’s a curfew in place, research has shown it reduces crime rates.” Logan explained.

“Research also shows enforced curfew has negative effects on the economy and psychological welfare and increases traffic, not to mention the ethical implications of constraining peoples’ freedom.” The other Logan countered and Logan cursed himself for being such a smartass.

“Well, we judged the pros and cons and judged that the curfew would be beneficial despite the drawbacks.”

“It really helped lower the crime rates. Look how peaceful the city is.” Patton chimed in.

“It’s disconcerting.” Deceit remarked.

“Yes, imagine that, no crime in the city, that must be a nightmare for you.” Roman said snidely.

The snake drew up his shoulders and turned away from them. Other Patton’s face hardened.

“He’s not a criminal anymore.” He snapped.

“Leave it, Pat.” Deceit admonished.

“No. Maybe in your universe it’s different, but you guys need to know that in ours, he’s a part of our family.”

“You just let a villain be part of the team?” Patton asked.

“He proved his trustworthiness.” Other Logan said.

“And he’s a good friend.” Virgil said, looking at him fondly.

Deceit shouldered him. “Sap.” He muttered.

Logan felt a flame of jealousy burn in his gut. Looking at Roman, he saw he felt the same.

“So I gather my counterpart didn’t really do much to land himself in your good graces, judging by the way you look at me.” The snake remarked.

“He’s dead.” Patton reported lightly.

Logan took a small pleasure in the shock on the villain's face.

They made it home and got their counterparts settled, watching with disappointment as Virgil disappeared into their room.

~

Patton stared in horror at the file laid out in front of him.

“No.” He protested weakly, trying to find an explanation that wasn’t this .

Janus turned away from the file and leant against the table.

“The file is pretty solid evidence, I don’t know why they would fake that.” Logan said, looking at him pityingly.

“They, we wouldn’t do that.” Patton said.

“They’re not us.” Roman protested vehemently.

Logan just sighed.

“I wish I could be so certain of that. Yes, their actions horrify me, but you have to remember that they lost their lover in a very traumatic way. Try to put yourself in their shoes, how would you react if you lost Virgil?”

“I wouldn’t do that.” Patton protested, but he knew how weak it sounded.

He tried to imagine Virgil dying the way the others had described. Tried to imagine the grief, the anger they must have felt. The pain felt worryingly familiar. He found he had almost no trouble placing himself in their shoes.

He stared at the picture of Janus, the other Janus, splayed out on the ground, a dark puddle of blood around him, his eyes open and accusing.

In one day, he had found out about the death of two of his lovers, one at the hands of himself. And he knew they weren’t the same people, he knew it was a different universe, but it still made him feel sick and angry.

Was he truly capable of such horrendous acts?

“Janus, you know I’d never do that, right?” He begged.

Janus smiled weakly at him.

“Not in our universe, mon amour.” He consoled, drawing Patton against his chest.

“We can’t let them continue with this.” Virgil spoke up for the first time.

“What should we do?” Roman asked.

“We take them down, the way we’ve taken down so many villains over the years. They’re not much better.”

~

Virgil sat on the roof, watching the quiet city from above. He thought about his less fortunate counterpart. He tried to imagine what it would feel like, to lose one of his lovers. It didn’t excuse their actions, he told himself. But maybe it explained them, another part of his brain whispered.

The entrance to the roof opened and Other Patton sat down on the roof next to him. Virgil tensed.

“Hi.” Patton said, his voice wavering and his eyes glistening with tears.

They sat in tense silence for a while. Virgil tried to ignore the quickening breaths coming from the other and the soft sobs.

Eventually, he cracked.

“Patton…” He said gently, turning towards him.

Patton choked on a sob as he looked up at him.

“I’m sorry, I just miss you so much. Well, not you you, the other you, our you.” Patton babbled.

“And you look so much like him and it just…” He sobbed.

“There’s just so many things I wish I could tell him.”

Virgil stared into those bright blue eyes, spilling tears. Those eyes he looked at every morning, that sparkled with joy whenever he made a pun. And he looked at the unmeasurable grief in them. And that was his Patton, staring into his soul, not this dark twisted version.

He wrapped him up into his arms.

“It’s okay, just tell me… Tell me all the things you want to tell him.”

“I… I want to tell him that I’m sorry, I’m sorry for not being there in time, we should have saved him and we were too late. And I want to tell him I love him so, so much. And I want to tell you that I love your laugh and your dimples and your grumpy morning face and… Oh god, I’m so sorry.” He was shaking all over from the force of his sobs.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Virgil tried to console him desperately.

He had no idea what to do. He was torn between sympathy and revulsion. The thought that his lovers could commit acts like that was horrifying. The fact that they did it for him doubly so.

He knew these people weren’t his lovers but beside the fact that he had died, he hadn’t found any notable differences between their timeline and his. Logan had said it was fruitless research but Virgil had to know. He had hoped there would be something, some big past event or even a small change that set these monsters apart from the people he knew.

He settled for drawing the other Patton in closer, resting his head on his curly hair.

“It’ll be okay.” He murmured, hoping he was right.

~

In the end, it was almost laughably easy.

Janus and Roman went into the city. With their talents for convincing and theatrics, and the general resentment the citizens harboured for their heroes, they managed to gather a sizable army of insurgents.

Logan and Patton worked on coordinating the plan and laying the traps. And Virgil led them in.

The other heroes were suspicious of their counterparts, jealous of the fact that they hadn’t had to suffer the same loss and they seemed to notice the revulsion the heroes had to the way they had taken care of the villains in the city.

But they trusted Virgil blindly. Despite the knowledge he wasn’t their Virgil, they couldn’t help but latch onto him.

The insurgents dismantled the cameras and surveillance systems the heroes had installed.

Virgil brought the others news of a disturbance in a warehouse and they followed him blindly into the traps laid by Logan and Patton.

“It’s over.” Virgil said, looking at the three handcuffed on the floor.

“No, it’s not.” Other Roman snarled. He looked to the others for support. Patton looked away, ashamed. Logan was just staring at the opposite wall, his expression neutral.

“Janus and Roman broke through the barriers around the city. The outside world has been alerted and a specialised force to incarcerate you is underway.” Virgil’s Logan reported.

“We’ve done nothing wrong. We saved this city, you can’t lock us up for that.” Roman said.

“You’re going to prison for at least five counts of murder for each of you, and a whole other laundry list of crimes.” Patton countered. He couldn’t believe that even now, they didn’t see the wrong in their actions.

The heroes watched from the rooftops as their counterparts were led into the van, under the watchful eye of the insurgents who had taken back the city with their help.

“Well, this was fun.” Janus muttered.

Patton shuddered, he didn’t think he would ever be able to get the image of his dead boyfriends out of his mind.

Logan was quiet. He had dreamed of getting his revenge on Remus for years, but was this what it would inevitably lead to? He had always thought he was a good person, maybe not as compassionate and altruistic as the others, but definitely not a cold blooded murderer.

“Let’s never do this again.” Virgil said, his eyes still trained on the van.

“Yeah, good idea.” Roman muttered, his eyes just the slightest bit teary.

They drew closer together, hands finding hands and finding comfort in the solid warmth of their family.

[imtryingthisout]

Midnight Snacks

[Based on @nachosforfree Au @sanderssides-magicalgirlau ]

[warnings: flashbacks, refrences to past abuse, unreliable narrator, unsympathetic/evil Patton]

The apartment they lived in was modest and modern. With two large sunburst style windows that let in pale streams of moonlight into the kitchen. The silvery shadows reflected off the cool marble tile and illuminated the layout without the need to turn on the overhead lights. Which was well and good since Virgil didn’t have the energy to bother doing so.

He crept in on the balls of his feet as to minimize sound. Quiet as he could be he slowly made his way into the room- constantly looking over his shoulder, shadows swirling around his hands and feet ready to transport him away at the first sign of danger.

He was hungry, the small stash of food he had squirreled away had ran out. Leaving Patton’s room when he was asleep was always nerve racking, but there was only so many hours he could stare at the ceiling before the queasiness in his stomach became too much to bare.

(He didn’t have a room to himself here- no safe recluse or small closet to hide away in when everything became too much to bare. Just a corner in Patton’s room that he claimed. That could always be taken away.)

(Patton claimed it was like an eternal sleepover when he first came-he always wanted Virgil near by- and who wouldn’t want to room with their Best Friend? )

(He hasn’t felt like Patton’s Best Friend in a long time )

(Will he ever again?)

He was mentally praying to every God under the stars that no one was awake- he couldn’t handle getting caught by Wrath or one of the others. Dragon Witch maybe, but she would always give him this pitying look that made him think of—

Dee had the same eyes and pinched expression how did they never figure out—

Something unimportant. He couldn’t remember, but it would leave a guilty feeling in his gut for days afterwards.

He opened the fridge as slowly as humanly possible, cringing at every noise it produced. The chemical bright light emitting from the inside was harsh, and Virgil had to blink to adjust to it. But soon enough he began mechanically picking through the leftovers and forgotten meals. Never taking enough to be noticeable. To be gluttonous.

(No wonder he was losing so much weight so quickly, he’d be as skinny as Remus if he kept it up. )

(Wait who’s Remus?)

He stuffed the stolen goods into the lining of his hoodie, his pockets, under his shirt, anywhere he could really. If he rationed it right he could make it last a month at least- and it wasn’t like he never got fed. But Patton got so focused sometimes he forgot to get dinner for them both. And the others didn’t really trust him (or like him) enough to share their meals. Satisfied with his prize he was about to turn to leave when-

The lights flicked on.

The lights flicked on and Virgil froze.

The lights flicked on and Virgil was filled with pure terror.

He could see a shocked pair of (blue, cold like a frozen lake) staring at him in shock (and anger he was angrier all the time now, his saccharine sweetness barley masking the mania underneath). The figure was cloaked in the shadows of the doorway. It froze for a second before making it way toward Virgil.

“Pat” he begged, his body shaking so violently it was hard to stand. So he fell. His knees hitting the smooth tile with a resounding thud. “Pat- I’m sorry I was just so hungry- no please, no I’d never leave you I’m sorry for making you worry. I’m sorry, I’ll go back to bed, I’m sorry- please don’t I’m sorry”

Virgil felt himself being lifted from his kneeling position, but it was a distant knowing. His head placed in someone’s lap. “Oh baby” a voice murmured, stroking his hair. Virgil felt his heart plummet- Patton only got this affectionate when he was really- really mad. And when he was really-really mad he got—

Virgil curled into himself, trying to shield his stomach with his arms and legs. A broken bone could heal but if an organ was damaged he doubted he could walk it off. “I’ll be good, please don’t, no-stop! I promise. I’ll be better, please”

The hands on his head and back started rubbing gentle circles- and Virgil let out a choked sob.

The voice wanted him to open his eyes, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t look into the face of his friend, his brother, couldn’t accept the reality that he couldn’t remember his (ex) friends faces. That he had nowhere to go. That he was going to get hurt by someone he loved so thoroughly and completely that the thought of leaving was inconceivable. Hands lifted his face from the fabric he was burying himself in, gently caressing his chin and cheeks.

—-roughly pulled at his hair. So hard Virgil could feel hair being ripped from his scalp—

-Please no stop it hurts I don’t want it I’ll be better please no I’d never leave you stop please I promise-

—-Grabbing his neck possessively, crushing his windpipe. So tight he couldn’t breath couldn’t breath can’t breathe —

Gasping for air, his chest convoluting spasticity. He pawed starts himself trying to get the imaginary hands off of him. He needed air.

Someone tried to grab his arms to stop his clawing. Tried to hold him in place in their chest. Virgil struggles more and more till the damn broke and he could finally breathe in the sweet scent of roses, charcoal and petrichor.

Wait what?

Patton had many things, but he did not own the rosey perfume that Diana Anxiti favored. He did not have the feeling of static and rainfall that laid underneath whatever fragrance she wore, no matter how much she put on, there was always a smokey undertone.

“Mom?” Virgil croaked out, looking up, and sure enough there was the face of his mother.

Diana has spent years training her senses as a magical girl, so when she heard someone moving about in the Kitchen, she went to investigate. Most likely it was Andy coming to get a late-night snack. She never thought she would see her eldest child slinking about, never thought she would have to hear him begging for mercy to someone not there.

“That’s right baby, I’m here,” her voice was deep and rich like honey seeping into the wounds of his soul. “Do you know where you are Virgil?”

Where was he? “I’m… home?” He wagered, his mom must have heard the uncertainty in his voice. “Mhm do you know where that is?”

(Home had been synonymous with Patton’s embrace. Holding his hand at the playground, drying his tears after a nightmare. Later home became him and his team, Disney marathons. Ranting with Dee and Logan. Laughing at the twins antics. Home was his and Remy’s coffee-scented backroom- stolen kisses and witty banter. Home had never been a place for Virgil)

“Your house.. I’m at your house. In the kitchen.”’

“That’s right baby. Can you tell me why you’re in the kitchen?”

“I woke up hungry, and then I was- I was back there. What happened Mom? What happened to us?”

Diana had felt much pain in her life. Injuries after Villain fights, having to bury her mother and father, waking up to find her husband had disappeared without even a note explaining why. Yet none could quite compare to watching the boy she had accepted into her home, had loved as her own flesh and blood, become the person he was. The person who hurt her son.

She cradled her eldest child against her, like she did when he was nothing more than a mere babe, and tried to gift him some comfort.

“Sometimes people aren’t who we think they are baby, that maybe they never where, and sometimes we gotta learn to let them go”

She hasn’t married young, wanting to continue her career as the herald of the night for as long as possible. But she fell in love fast, fast and quick, with a man she thought she knew. Thought she made a family with.

But he vanished like a phantom, yet his echoes still lingered, he and her little blue eyed boy still haunted her home and heart even after she tried to scrub both of them away.

Dawn would break upon the horizon, blazing strands of orange and pink would stream through the window, painting the room in their vibrant hues. And mother and son would still be locked in pieta-c embrace, trying to find solace in each other’s arms from the cruel world that lay outside their door.

[brynwrites]

Writing Engaging Antagonists

@devils-songbirb asked:  

HI! I really love your advice!! I was wondering how I could write a good villain? I've noticed that in most of the stories I write the antagonist always seems to have the same motives and I don't know how to alter it enough so that it's different and interesting.

Before we get started, I want to clarify two things:

- Antagonists can be of any moral alignment. They can be also be non-human things, such as monsters, nature, inner demons, etc. The antagonist is simply the primary thing your protagonist fights against.

- For the course of this article I will be talking about villainous antagonists who are human or human-like. You could use most of these tips for villainous protagonists as well.

There are two broad categories of villains: sympathetic and unsympathetic. I’ll talk a little about both, but I primarily write and prefer to see the former, so that will be the focus.

1. The Unsympathetic Villain.

Unsympathetic villains are evil for the sake of evil.

While these villains can be horrifying when done well, they tend to be the least intimidating type of antagonist. The most common mistake is to try to make an unsympathetic villain feel as heinously villainous as possible. 

A villain who oozes darkness and villainy and nothing else will come across like a machine with a program that just reads: Be Evil. The genuine threat of these characters is often lost, because there’s no real life equivalent. In order to pull a villain like this off, the story must either perfectly suspend our disbelief or find a way to connect the villain to an antagonistic force the reader experiences in their own lives. 

Often, the fictional antagonists you’ve sincerely wanted to murder are self-serving, hateful people you’ve met similar, real life versions of before, doing the things those real life versions continually get away with. 

Since I don’t write unsympathetic villains often, I won’t write a more detailed guide on them, but I encourage you to think deeper into why some unsympathetic villains work while others don’t. Consider your favorite unsympathetic villains. How does the story present this villain? When have they drawn up intense emotions in you? Where did these emotions come from, and why?

2. The Sympathetic Villain.

The sympathetic villain is intimidating not because they’re evil, but because they’re both evil and human.

They represent what every one of us could easily become under the right circumstances.

They prove that your hero is not good simply because they fell into that alignment by chance, but rather because they chose it.

They show that a little good and evil exist inside every one of us, and it’s what we decide to act on and what we choose to compromise for which determines who we become.

Generally, they’re more interesting and fleshed out than un-sympathetic villains.

How do we write an interesting, sympathetic villain?

Note that you still need all these aspects for any sympathetic character you write, but the explanations are veered specifically towards villains.

Character traits.

Just like your heroes, your villains need an even dose of strengths and weakness, which should be no more villainous than your hero’s traits. Sympathetic villains aren’t people born with “evil” traits — they’re people who use their naturally neutral traits to accomplish terrible things.

It’s easy to look at the actions a villain must take and immediately ascribe traits like cruel, ambitious, vengeful, cowardly, angry, or crafty, to create a stereotypical slytherin villain. But villains can be soft, and humble, and forgiving, and brave, and quiet, and creative too. 

Just as too much of any strength can become a weakness, all “good” traits can be used for an evil purpose if someone believes fiercely enough in what they’re doing.

Villains can also deny their natural, stereotypically positive character traits in order to achieve their long term goals. There’s nothing so heart-wrenching as a villain who know what they’re doing is wrong and is visibly hurt by it, who only keeps themselves in one piece because they’ve put all their faith in the idea that their end goal will be worth their current pain.

As a side note, stay away from traits related to “insane” villains whenever you want a fleshed out and sympathetic antagonist. While they have their place, they’re vastly overused, largely unsympathetic, and are generally an excuse to not bother writing a consistent character.

Motivations, stepping stones, and goals.

Since sympathetic villains aren’t evil for the sake of evil, they must have specific actions or goals which are villainous and something powerful driving their villainy.

Motivations.

Finding the right motivation for your villain can be tricky. Abuse and vengeance are rather popular motivations for antagonists and protagonists alike, and while they can still be done well, they are far from the only motivations a villain can have. Here’s an incomplete list of some, perhaps more interesting, motivations...

Love, for someone who will benefit from their end goal.

Fear, of someone, something, of some concept.

Betterment, for the world as a whole.

Responsibility, for someone, place, society, action or tradition.

Devotion, to a higher power, controlling force, or concept.

Keep in mind that these motivations can (and should) be combined to create something heavier and harder for the villain to ignore!

Stepping stones and goals.

For this section, we will refer to goals as the final, end result the villain wants to achieve, and stepping stones as the intermediate things the villain must accomplish in order to achieve that final goal.

Both of these may require evil actions, but it’s not necessary that they both be villainous in nature.

Evil stepping stones can lead to good goals. These villains are often the most sympathetic, because their end goal is the same as the heroes — the villain is simply willing to go farther and commit more heinous acts in order to achieve this goal.

Any stepping stones can lead to (misunderstood) evil goals. This situation is often created by a villain whose past pain or distorted view of life makes them believe strongly that their evil end goal is a good and worthy outcome. These villains often motivated by the same desires as the hero, but they believe those desires will be reached by this evil end goal. 

Basic human actions.

Sympathetic villains are above all, human, (or at least, aliens and mythical species which reflect the basics of humanity.) They may have goals which are villainous, or they may be willing to do villainous things to reach their goals, but they have decent, even desirable qualities too. These can come across in the most insignificant places, or in small hints at humaness.

Some random examples:

They get tired, sometimes downright exhausted. They yawn. They wear bright colored slippers.They take naps in weird places. They drink too much coffee. They work themselves past their limit.

They get excited over perfectly human hobbies and likes. Maybe it’s a new ice cream favor, the premiere of their favorite soap opera, a sport, a book series, a cute pet. They have some normal and relatable desires on top of their primary, potentially villainous, goals.

They have lives they care about. This could be specific people, like their family, but it can also encompass more than that. Maybe they get along really well with old people or children. Maybe they go out of their way to rescue wounded animals. Maybe they have a vast group of people they want to protect or support. What it is, they have connections into the world and want to do right by them.

They have academic leanings. They have a deep love for something valuable to humanity: for historical sites and monuments, or pure-hearted scientific research, or libraries, or religious freedoms, or medicine, or art, or astronomy, etc.

They have quirks. They ascribe to their own style. They use funny words or phrases. They have nervous habits. They reference That One Show way too much. They sign their name with extreme care. They pour glitter on everything they own. They carry little mind teasers around, or accidentally leave their crossword puzzles lying everywhere.

They don’t always know what they’re doing. They get confused. They stumble to find solutions. They don’t always have the right thing to say or the answer to every problem. (They still get the slip on the hero, but they work for it, just like the hero does.)

They experience the full range of emotions. They’re deeply sad, and they cry when their heartbreaks. They laugh with affection and joy. They’re angry in a rush of pain and aggression. They tremble and scream when they’re terrified. They exist through a huge spectrum of emotions: joy, love, grief, fury, fear, melancholy, and more.

Character development.

The best sympathetic villains aren’t static characters. They change, they learn, they develop. If your villain is heading for a redemption arc, that development may be positive growth, or if they’re heading for destruction, it’ll likely be a negative down slide.

As always, the key to character development is to present your character with hard choices and steep consequences. Allowing your villain to struggle with these choices — no matter if they choose to grow, stay the same, or become less moral — makes them more fleshed out and sympathetic.

Tl;dr 

Sympathetic villains are, first and foremost, fleshed out characters. They are not inherently better or worse people than the heroes, but they are driven to villainous actions because of complex and often genuinely moral motivations.

For fun, you might want to try this exercise: Think about your heroes. How could you turn them into the villain of the story? What motivations would they need to have? What goals would they take on? How would their fundamental humanity remain the same throughout the process, and what influence would it have on their actions? What choices could you present them with to either set them on a redemption arc or drive them to be increasingly more villainous?

[mild-lunacy]

Antiheroes and Pity vs Sympathy

I automatically have a flash of sympathy for anyone who’s called-- or calls themselves-- unlikeable, or unwantable, or unknowable (hi, Adam Parrish). I don’t want to seem like a bleeding heart, though, mostly because I don’t want to say that I romanticize this. So in part this is a comeback to the people who don’t understand, and in part it’s because I’m addressing it mentally to those characters and/or people who’re in that state of mind (particularly re: the Kavinsky and/or Mary Morstan discourse in fandom). It’s not about pity, when I love a dark character. And it’s not that I don’t see all the issues. I think what I feel is a desire to protect those who make themselves vulnerable, and I think to believe yourself unlikeable is ultimately to admit to a wound. In that position of vulnerability, a lot of dark things can happen. A lot of violence and hurt can potentially be perpetrated in so-called self-defense. Not all of it is forgivable, but much of it is sympathetic, to me. 

Usually. Not always.   

I say all this, but it’s by no means absolute. I like a lot of characters that are supposed to be ‘problematic’ or dark, but at the same time, if a character is essentially shallow or comfortable with their own darkness and despair, generally I don’t care for them. It’s not that I need self-hatred or something, but there’s a big difference between Draco Malfoy and Adam Parrish, or Severus Snape and MCU’s Loki (to get more hardcore), and someone like Kylo Ren or Kavinsky. What makes someone like Kylo Ren or Kavinsky different? Seemingly, they have all those antihero type ingredients of intense darkness and perhaps self-pity, but they just lash out and doesn’t make any meaningful connections. They may try, but they are abusive. Snape is like that too, with Lily-- he tries, but he’s still abusive and emotionally toxic to her, and then even to Harry-- so that his better feelings and motivations are swallowed up. The difference is that Snape ultimately sacrifices himself. He does a lot of hard things, thankless things, with little help and no acknowledgment or reward, in order to atone. This is the difference, even if he can’t unbend enough to form healthy relationships. With someone like Kavinsky or Kylo Ren, there is no atonement.

The vulnerability feels most of all like an excuse and not a burden the character bears (in this, Kylo Ren is like his grandfather). He has no obvious conflict within himself, no apparent (supposedly hopeless) desire to be something other than what he’s becoming. When a character simply chooses to self-destruct by destroying others, it’s not that they’re suffering over being unlikeable. It’s that they’re mainly making others suffer the bulk of the pain for them, leaving them only the smugness and self-satisfaction of destruction. That’s where my sympathy stops, and only the pity for the truly pathetic is left.

I’ve argued against sympathy for Kavinsky just recently, from the perspective that he’s not written sympathetically in the first place. There’s also a great post with comparisons between Kavinsky’s portrayal and the antihero protagonist in the All for the Game series. People seem not to differentiate between the antiheroes who’re written sympathetically and given proper redemption arcs and those who aren’t, except to say the ones without an arc were robbed, somehow. A lot of readers go beyond being moved to pity for the character and identify with their pain, which is understandable. Many of the geeks who read genre fiction probably have plenty of experience with feeling pathetic, left behind, unfairly maligned and so on, so there’s plenty of room for projection. However, they lack self-awareness in realizing this means they’re now bound to misread the entire story, because they’re no longer apt to align their sympathies with the actual heroes. 

Basically, a lot of misunderstandings and claims of authorial bias happen because people can no longer process a story as intended, by over-identifying and thus sympathizing with the pathetic antagonist. Note, there’s a difference between a pathetic and a sympathetic antihero, and it’s important to understand if you’re interested in following the narrative in the first place.

Specifically about Kavinsky, a lot of people point to his implied tragic backstory, and/or the sympathy the narrative should have shown for the possible trauma involved. I get pretty frustrated with that. First of all, the way I read ‘The Dream Thieves’ strongly implied that Kavinsky did a lot of unforgivable, dark shit as much or more than having it happen to him. He chose this. Give the guy some agency. This erasure of agency is something no one tolerates for the heroic protagonists, to the point where many people in fandom refuse to understand the concept of ‘extenuating circumstances’ for them. And yet somehow it frequently goes out the window for traumatized antiheroes. I also think I’m particularly frustrated ‘cause I’ve always thought of myself as having a huge soft spot for just that sort of misguided, unloved and problematic character. I don’t romanticize them, but I feel for them. I root for the underdog. I get invested. I do all these things. I am all these things. So I take it a bit personally when people make pity and entitlement-based arguments masquerading as empathy-based arguments.

The other reason I get frustrated is ‘cause I do the ‘what if’ thing, that old ‘but it could have been glorious’ argument like this one about Ronan/Kavinsky. That’s me. That’s the sort of thing I’ve said about Harry/Draco and even Heero/Duo (about whom I shouldn’t have to argue, because they’re both good guys who’re still young, who haven’t messed up that badly and haven’t finished growing in any case). Think of the possibilities! Why not grow into a glorious future? Why not choose hope? Why not believe people can change? Why not believe love can change you?  I’m not even sure what’s different here, except I’m certain it is different.

Harry & Draco and Heero & Duo (and Adam & Ronan) have all paid their dues. It’s not about one character rescuing the other. They struggle together, they help each other, and they need each other, but they each have an arc in this scenario. And like I said in my earlier Kavinsky post, a redemption arc isn’t an entitlement. It’s always a possibility, yes. But it’s not an indiscriminate process. It has to fit. It has to be fought for. Sacrificed for. Both Adam and Ronan are portrayed as fundamentally different from Kavinsky, basically.

The thing I love about Adam Parrish is that he’s always striving. He’s trying to prove himself. This is a quality he shares with a lot of Slytherin types, from Draco and Snape to Loki, or Tyrion Lannister in The Game of Thrones. These are all characters who’ve been on the ‘losing side’ for a long portion of their life, and they try to do something about it (something that usually involves more mistakes), but you can sympathize. It’s not enough that they were wronged, though. It’s not that I’d sympathize automatically just because a character goes dark after being wronged. That kind of narrative is all too common. The thing is-- the whole secret here-- is that any old villain thinks it’s Not Their Fault. 

It’s never their fault, is it?

Of course they’re the injured party. If that’s all you need to empathize and over-identify, then you’re creating your own prison along with the antihero in question. Then you’re just always going to be identifying with the so-called victim, full stop, and that’s a dark path in and of itself. It’s a small hop, skip and a jump from that into the moral quagmire these characters wind up in, because the dark choices they make are all about them. Who wronged them. What’s best for them.

By contrast, the best characters, the sympathetic ones, are not defined entirely by their trauma. They may think they’re unlikeable, or unknowable, or untouchable, but they still do some good in their life, they still want to achieve something constructive, and they’re still capable of love in spite of themselves. There’s still some core of them that’s untainted, that’s genuinely vulnerable, human and just a bit hopeful. They keep their eyes on the skies, not locked in with their inner darkness. That’s what works for me. They’re fighting for the future, even if they think it’s probably hopeless. That’s the ‘hero’ part of antihero.

This is not the same thing as wreaking revenge, like Kylo Ren or Kavinsky after Ronan rejected him. He didn’t have to do that. Ronan never did, and he went through some pretty bad shit himself, and has a lot of the same tendencies (as we know). There’s a difference between fighting for something and just succumbing to destruction. Destruction is an ugly thing. Of course, it’s a pitiful thing, too. It’s a natural part of humanity, a part of grief and rage that can be inevitable. But as a state of being, though, it’s static and unsympathetic. It’s movement that I like. If a character isn’t moving, my sympathy for their pain soon evaporates. They have to be running to something, away from something; they have to change.

One major reason I grew to love Adam as I read The Raven Cycle is because of his arc; you get the sense he’s always growing. He’s always changing. With Draco Malfoy (whom I adored), this was more of a potential than a reality in the books, so his story was a lot more frustrating except for the movement we got in ‘The Half-Blood Prince’. We did get a piece of the growth I think the character was capable of there. I understood, though. It was Harry’s story, so Draco was always an afterthought, more or less. I’ve accepted and made peace with this. I’m a Draco fan, but I actually sympathize with JK Rowling saying that Draco fans romanticize and victimize him too much. As written, Draco is more potential than reality, and a completed story that doesn’t explore that potential has effectively defined itself. 

There’s no point to responding to the story you wish was there instead. You can imagine alternative paths for the character, but they’re not actually real; you don’t get to argue that the author somehow robbed you-- or the character. 

Does the actual Draco Malfoy in the actual Harry Potter books deserve redemption? Well, he hasn’t done anything that awful; he was just an ineffectual bully who was merely manipulated into killing Dumbledore. He’s a pitiful figure, but no, he doesn’t have enough of an arc or enough evidence of an inner life to say he’s got a ‘heart of gold’, fanon aside. He’s just human, so he makes some positive choices-- he cares about his family, and does protect Harry from Voldemort to a minor degree. Beyond that, there’s absolutely no substitute for good characterization, and an actual canon arc. We can see Adam and Ronan’s interior slowly revealed throughout four books; with Draco, we barely got to the point The Raven Cycle got to in one book. Even with Snape, who doesn’t have a heart of gold either, at least there’s more genuine attention to interiority. While you can fill in the blanks, I’ve never felt like fighting the writer and the writing to do so after all is said and done. I’m not going to try to love a character in spite of the way he’s written; that seems pointless.

I do love Draco for who he is-- a slippery, whiny little shit who’s clearly desperate for attention and overwhelmed by the expectations placed upon him. I don’t need pity to appreciate a lively, if problematic, character. I do acknowledge that fandom is a wonderful place, where you can explore the potential backstories and give characters like Draco or Kavinsky (whatever their differences) the redemption arcs they didn’t get in canon. That’s a good thing. But that’s a separate thing from claiming the canon wronged them somehow. The canon was telling its own story, that has a logic and a rationale. Understanding this is important to understanding the rationale behind all the other characterizations involved, so I certainly wish the antihero fans took more of an interest. Alas....