#this is what is genuinely impressive about zuko's redemption arc

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

zuko: makes the conscious decision to leave all his luxury and privilege behind to confront his father about the war and right his wrongs, does his best to make up for his actions

catra: only apologizes to adora and does a good thing when she has run out of options and will likely be cast out by horde prime, immediately goes back to her toxic nature as soon as she's rescued

[spacecasehobbit]

I think, perhaps, what I actually dislike about Zuko's S3 fieldtrip episodes is that he doesn't get nearly enough credit for what he does in them. Zuko has spent three years struggling with shame, anger, and feelings of inadequacy over his bending. Yet in the three field trips, he becomes for the GAang the person he had needed during those three years. He surpasses his Uncle in a way, and he is able to give the GAang the help he had not been able to give himself back then.

1. Aang has been struggling with fire, because he tried to do something he wasn't ready for, tried to jump ahead in his lessons without fully recognizing the possible consequences of his actions. Because he lacked sufficient self control for the lessons he'd argued his way into with someone older and doubtful of his skills, an innocent person got burned for his recklessness. After getting an innocent person burned, Aang becomes afraid of fire and struggles with how to move forward from his own actions.

In S3, Zuko struggles with his fire, too, and then learns the true meaning of fire alongside Aang. Nevertheless, he is still also able to guide Aang, to provide knowledge and insight that expand upon the lesson from the dragons, and to teach Aang how to master the fire that he now better understands and is no longer afraid of.

2. Sokka has recently experienced a terrible military defeat. He blames himself for his people's capture and possible deaths, and he becomes impulsive and reckless due to his feelings of shame and his loss of confidence in his leadership skills. He even emotionally manipulates Zuko, claiming that he lost his honor to ensure that Zuko won't tell the others about his dangerous, impulsive, reckless plan to heroically accomplish an impossible task that will impress his father and thus give himself back the confidence he has lost in himself.

So Zuko helps him plan and execute this impossible, ridiculous task. Because of Zuko's help, not only does Sokka succeed at freeing his father, he also finds and frees Suki - getting Zuko found out and temporarily captured in the process. Finally, Zuko helps Sokka escape the prison they'd walked themselves into, even though Zuko had been discovered and captured, and Sokka even gets the chance to save Zuko's life after having gotten Zuko captured with his impulsive actions in the first place.

3. Lastly, there is Katara. Katara, who is angry and hurting and lost. Katara, who feels alone and like no one appreciates or understands her anger, like no one is taking her fear and frustrations seriously. Katara, who still struggled with the loss of her mom to powerful forces she couldn't fight when she was a child, and who pushed her fear and pain outwards as anger whenever her compassion was returned with unexpected pain. Katara, who felt betrayed by someone she had trusted (someone who the people around her have come to trust and believe in by TSR episode), and who as a consequence had lost the ability to trust in herself.

And Zuko validates her anger, gives her the chance to face the man who had caused her life's greatest tragedy, and validates her too when she finally chooses to value life and compassion again over her need for revenge.

Anyways, Zuko is an amazing character and his redemption arc is genuinely so well done.

[askyourwritergrandma]

What are underrated tropes you would like to see more in books?

Hello Anon!

My answer is W O M E N. I could write a whole novel about how angry I still am to have discovered I genuinely, whole heartedly believed that male characters were better and more believable to tell stories with. I mocked, belittled, abused and ignored female (and any other gender) characters or relegated their stories to romance and/or domestic nonsense because I thought those were the only stories women were fit to tell.

So I crave every well-done trope about women (and/or any gender not male).

My favorites:

Not a Housewife - a woman how had, at some point, made the attempt to be married/a mother/a wife but realized that her dreams and aspirations lay in not doing that and she unapologetically leaves to live her dreams.

The Beefcake - any woman who works manual labor jobs and is strong, muscled, possibly vaguely dirty.

The Wild Woman - lives in a forest, built her own house. Will help you track down your missing relative and probably unnerve you because she doesn't look that impressive but then she saves you from a wild animal attack and defeats three burly type men in hand to hand combat

Bad Moms - BUT NOT IN THE WAY WHERE THEY ARE SHAMED FOR THEIR FAILURES, just like take all those tropes you've ever seen where the father is busy with everything else and rarely home and replace it with the mom. she's busy but she loves her kid mostly. I think there's a huge well of interesting stories to tell here

Plant Witch - woman who is or is not a witch but is constantly 100% surrounded with plants at all times and is secretly sought out to heal everything.

Better than all the rest - a woman who has worked her ass off to prove that she is the best, and is still considered less than the mediocre male counterpart and her entire story of finding a way to push him down a flight of stairs (not literally) and finally take her place at the top. That moment when she gets to tell everyone to shut up and listen to her and they do because they realize she's better than them? OR even if they're a little afraid of her? Poetry. Perfection. Beautiful.

An old time favorite not related to just women is found family. I could read 100% books about this. Its just so good.

You didn't ask but my least favorite is the redemption arc and not because it can't be amazing (Zuko from Avatar) but because its usually rushed and unfulfilling.

Thanks for the ask!

[mojjisxng]

Cravity reaction to their s/o looking like a baddie but actually being soft and sometimes even shy (basically jennie from bp lol I am whipped) I hope u have a good dayV●ᴥ●V

thank you so much for requesting anon❤️

i’m happy that i’m getting a few cravity requests because i didn’t get that many before

serim

when he saw his s/o sobbing over the movie ‘up’ (honestly me), he’d be shocked

they don’t usually express a lot of emotion

so he’d be questioning his whole existence

but would think they’re adorable and loves their duality

allen

he would think it’s so wholesome

the fact that his s/o looks like they could kill someone but are just a tiny shy bean

panics if anyone decides to pick in his s/o just because they look super intimidating

jungmo

questions how he didn’t see how soft they were before they both started dating

is impressed at his s/o’s duality

babies them to make them embarrassed about it

woobin

is low-key relieved that they are cute and soft

because he was worried that he couldn’t match up to their baddie energy (we all know he can though)

finds the contrast really adorable actually

wonjin

is 𝓯𝓾𝓬𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓯𝓾𝓼𝓮𝓭 at first

like ‘how can they look like a bad bitch but they act like a tiny soft baby...AAAA’

finds it quite funny that they won’t order takeout themself becaus they’re too shy (just called myself out there)

minhee

teases them so so so much

is genuinely amused by the fact that his s/o is the polar opposite of how they look

“not you crying over zuko’s redemption arc. there’s nothing sad about it you crybaby hahaha!” “it’s emotional minhee, i can’t help it🥺”

hyeongjun

he was so scared to approach them, before they started dating

but when he plucked up the courage to actually do it, he was taken aback by how shy his s/o was

enjoys being cute bubs together

taeyoung

one minute they are both acting like models in instagram and tiktok

the next minute they’re acting like total goof balls with each other, watching cartoons and laughing at memes

he honestly thinks they ‘match each other’s vibes very immaculately’

seongmin

another one who was terrified to talk to them at first, because they gave out regina george energy

loves being the one to see their real personality, while everyone else judges what they’re like from their looks

also finds it funny he’s the loud one yet looks soft, and they’re the baddie who is painfully shy

[hello-yue-here]

The Great Comet is my favorite musical ever D:::: so great to see anyone talk about it ever haha. But I wanna hear you talk about the sokkla and wicked song! also the zutara one is spot on

great comet is LITERALLY tied for my fav musical (les mis is the other it was the first show i ever saw and it was amazing and enjfoaiend so many feelings for that musical)

i am SO GLAD you asked ab sokkla and wicked because that along with the yuekka great comet no one else song is what inspired me to make that list

so without further ado: sokkla: as long as your mine

one of the big things with sokkla as a ship is that most of the fics i read and most of the art i see if that many sokkla fans and artists rlly play into the whole forbidden romance theme; moreso than any other fm swt pairing in the series (ie zutara zukka azutara u get the gist)

and this song is ALL ABOUT THE FORBIDDEN ROMANCE

you see: fiyero in wicked is a carefree guy who plays up his charm and plays dumb a lot when in actuality i think hes a very smart character. i know sokka doesnt pretend to act dumb and thats a difference between him n fiyero: but the fact that theyre both pretty smart strategic characters is why i associate them with eachother

azula as elphaba?? HANDS DOWN AMAZING. elphaba is an outsider. she isnt liked by many people. she is very thoughtful and precise with her actions and has shown she can be cunning and manipulative when she needs to be. sound familiar? consider a post-redemption arc azula for this role. just just think of it.

now onto the lyrics:

"i need help believing your with me tonight / my wildest dreamings could not foresee / lying here beside you / with you wanting me"

elphaba in this moment cant rlly believe that the fact that she is with fiyero is reality. azula has been seen in the finale of atla to struggle in terms of reality and people wanting her (ie her mother saying she loves her and azula not believing it because it isnt real) i know this is a bit of a stretch because elphaba isnt hallucinating and has never been known to do so, but azula and elphaba definitely both have issues with people genuinely loving them and wanting them.

"maybe im brainless / maybe im wise"

LJGFJHGF my favorite hc that i have for sokkla is that while they are the two smartest characters in all of atla: they become dumb when it comes to each other. thats personally a hc i have for this ship and this line just supports that wholeheartedly. Sokka becomes a lovesick idiot when it comes to azula and he knows this. so is he dumb for acting like an idiot around her? or is he smart for loving her anyways. (both. its both.) also just the symbolism and implications of sokka saying this line when we all know hes a genius but in the show hes seen as insecure in his abilities and strengths just.... wow. this line is so sokka it makes me lakshfgwky

"say there's no future for us as a pair" "just for this moment / as long as your mine"

this is less to do with the ship itself but moreso with the fandom ab the ship. lots of people dont like this ship (and thats fine! not every ship is for everyone) and they think that it wouldnt work out and while i personally disagree i think this line is good for pointing that out. because ppl think it would never work and that its doomed and maybe since sokka and azula are both geniuses they recognize that their relationship may look that way to other people too. they arent dumb. theyd know how people would look at them as a couple and theyd realize that hey maybe this wont work, but i dont care because right now im with you anyways: sokkla core

and finally, the most iconic line in this entire show, literally where the title comes from

"for the first time, im feeling, wicked"

im sorry but azula would def say something like this. ugh i have so many emotions about this show and this ship and i love this musical and i rlly love this ship. wicked sokkla au anyone? goddammit im adding it to my list of fic ideas rn. sokkla wicked au is something i desperately need right now. zuko nessarose? suki glinda? morally grey aang wizard?? somehow katara fits into this?? idk i became inspired by writing this post to actually think about a sokkla wicked au. ill get back to this one day. maybe. idk. yeah.

ALSO YES FIRST DATE/LAST NIGHT IS SO ZUTARA

like the vibes???

bad first impressions, he made her cry because he was an ass, she gave him a second chance, extremelt awkward first date??? TELL ME that isnt how a zutara relationship would start. tell me. i dare you. also this fucking song is just so cute and well written and beautiful and yeah. first date/last night is fucking zutara to a T

thank you for indulging my theatre kid atla rambles :)))

ask me about why i think these songs go with these ships :)

[technospotatoes]

C!SAM - Redeemable Qualities Analysis (Dream SMP)

Hallo! I’m back with another brain rot post for ya’ll instead of doing my schoolwork :] 

Recently, I’ve been doing some thinking and theorizing with some friends on discord following Quackity’s huge lore stream (if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you watch it). I woke up this morning with a head full of many thoughts about C!Awesamdude and where his story could take us. Seeing as how there is going to be lots of change in the future with the server, there must be changes in these characters as well-- evil to good, good to evil, and the like. With these changes comes my thought: “can these characters be redeemed?” Here are my thoughts on how this applies to C!Sam.

Please let me know your thoughts and theories, I’d love to discuss with you! As always, strap in, it’s gonna be a long one :]

I hope you enjoy!

Author’s note: I want to start this off by saying that all of the contents being discussed are fictional, and are from the Dream SMP universe. I do not support the actions of these characters, but merely have interest in analyzing them through a lens of psychology and for entertainment purposes. Content of this post will contain spoilers up to 3/25/21 of the DSMP lore. I will also talk about ATLA a little bit ;)

Content warning: mentions of torture, manipulation, death, possible psychological trauma

(pls be safe ily)

What makes a redeemable character? 

  Redeemable characters are some of the most pleasing and favored characters in modern media. Their stories are rich with emotion, and they can even evoke some form of catharsis within the most skeptic consumers. Redeemable characters are memorable and inspiring, and without one, a story can feel empty. Before we apply this character trope to the Dream SMP and C!Sam, we need to answer a basic question in order to fully understand the complexity of redeemable characters and how they are so universally significant. 

What is a redeemable character?

  Simply put, a redeeming character or characteristic counteracts or corrects something negative. From a storytelling standpoint, a redeemable character is someone who has roots in good qualities, turns bad, and has the ability to revert their wrong choices to become a better person. 

Examples of redeemed characters in popular media include: 

Zuko - Avatar the Last Airbender

Boromir - Lord of the Rings

Kylo Ren - Star Wars

Severus Snape - Harry Potter 

  Zuko, for example, starts his story off as the villain. He tirelessly hunts down the protagonist, and will stop at nothing to achieve his goal to please his father. However, as the show progresses, we learn that Zuko wasn’t always bad. He was only driven to his path of villainy because of his fear of failure, of his father (the firelord and true antagonist of the show), and of a greater punishment than what he had already received. With the help of his uncle, Zuko learned to push through and accept his past, while also making amends with his wrongs and coming to the realization of who the true enemy was; ultimately choosing peace and unity over destruction and fear.    Zuko’s story is so appealing because it was drawn out. It was raw, it was real, and it was a genuine telling of how damaged people can heal, change, and come to accept themselves. Because he went through the process of redemption, he was not only able to be loved by those around him, but also by his audience-- And I believe that this can be the same case with any redeemable character. 

So how does this relate to C!Sam? How could he possibly be redeemable if he is not evil?

  C!Sam has become increasingly interesting to me in the DSMP lore, and he has shown how complex his character is-- in contrast to many first impressions that people have of him. Based upon his actions from the past, and his willingness to remain neutral in times of conflict, we can conclude that he sustains both “neutral good” and “lawful neutral/good” qualities. This means that Sam is a reliable character, driven by his own personal values, and is devoted to helping others (when he sees fit). Evidence of these qualities emerge…

When he sided with Pogtopia during the Manberg War to maintain good relations with Tommy and Tubbo. 

When he saved Hannah from the Egg

Created Sam Nook to assist Tommy in building his hotel

Built Pandora’s Vault for Dream

Showed concern for Ranboo after one of his denied prison visits

  Sam’s moral code is deeply rooted with good intentions; he keeps an eye out for his friends, maintains his relationships, assists in builds/projects, and also serves as a “stable adult figure” for some of the younger members of the server. In contrast to his logical outward appearance, C!Sam lets his emotions drive his decision making-- which can lead to many severe consequences depending on how he acts. However, recently Sam’s actions indicate that he is experiencing a flip in morals. 

Below are incidents that have led to C!Sam’s recent change in moral code. 

Incident 1: Trapped with the Egg

  Many weeks ago, during the height of character involvement with the Egg lore, C!Sam was lured into a trap by BBH and Antfrost. He spent about a day trapped in close contact with the Egg, and after he was saved by Puffy and Tommy, he was clearly changed. It is likely that the Egg is behind these sudden changes in character motivation for Sam… similarly to how it corrupted BBH, Ant, and Punz. Whether this is the case with Sam is unclear. 

Incident 2: Tommy’s death

  C!Sam and C!Tommy’s relationship within the DSMP lore is one of my favorite things to talk about. After his victory over the disk war and finally landing his nemesis in prison, Tommy was left empty, without much to do. He decided to take upon a new project to incite a new era of peace, and was able to enlist the help of Sam with building his hotel. Throughout this process (and under the watchful eye of Sam Nook), Tommy and Sam were able to develop a bond with each other through their work, along with their interactions at the Prison. 

  Sam has made it clear that he intends to defend Tommy no matter what-- but after his untimely death at the hands of C!Dream, Sam was deeply wounded. He felt as if he failed his promise to keep Tommy safe, and he made it clear that the blame for the “security issue” and C!Tommy’s death should be placed fully on him. No matter how selfless and responsible this makes his character appear, this event will only serve as the basis for severe consequences in moral change in the future. 

Incident 3: Confrontation with Quackity

  Following the large emotional impact of Tommy’s death, C!Sam is very vulnerable, because he is still within the stages of grief. C!Quackity came to Sam for a partnership, to take advantage of Sam while he was low to gain the upper hand. It’s no question that Q’s character is a talented manipulator, we can see that clearly in his interaction with Sam. Q restates again and again that Sam failed, further cementing Sam’s existing guilt and desire for revenge for his failure. Sam gives in to the manipulation, and somewhat reluctantly allows Quackity to torture Dream to get information and to get payback for what he did to Tommy... which completely goes against what his responsibility of Warden entails. 

  As Warden, C!Sam is supposed to uphold the law and rules of visitation, but because of his leniency with Quackity (in breaking the rules) and because he is still emotionally raw, he no longer defends good from evil, but is now biased against it. C!Sam probably wants Dream dead, but as Warden, his opinion shouldn’t matter. Because Sam fully blames himself for failing Tommy, he's lost the "lawful good" in his character, meaning Warden Sam (as a set of morals) truly doesn't exist anymore.

Incident 4: Ponk’s mistake

  To recap a stream briefly, Ponk did a prank on Sam a couple days ago, and stole a few of the expired keycards to Pandora’s Vault. Rightfully, Sam was very angry, and not only took back the keycards, but also imprisoned Ponk. However, where this interaction should have ended, C!Sam only took it to the extreme. (TW!!!!) Out of anger and frustration, C!Sam tortured Ponk for his wrongdoing by setting him on fire, and amputating his arm (END TW!!!). 

  This only proves my point from Incident 3. Warden Sam is fading, only bits and pieces of his morally neutral character remain within him for basic tasks. His encounter with Quackity had a huge impact on his psyche, not only is he allowing the torture of the prison occupants, but he is doing it himself as well. C!Sam is now starting to believe that pain and torture are the only solutions for punishment, which is the complete opposite of what he believed before Dream was imprisoned. 

In short...

  C!Sam is losing his grip on moral and mental stability because of his emotional insecurity due to his psychological trauma. Because of this, I believe that it is entirely possible for Sam’s character to explore the route of evil and unlawful values-- which furthers the possibility for a redemption arc. Even currently, Sam is eligible for redemption as well.

  If C!Sam is willing to acknowledge his wrongs from today and improve himself upon them, he will likely become a more memorable, lovable, and even more human character than we’ve seen in the SMP before. 

SIDENOTE!

IRL Sam recently posted in his discord talking about his character. Here are a few key things to keep in mind as the story goes forward: 

“There is a LOT of things in the plan for me as a character and a very big change is coming about for me as the story moves along.”

I believe this change could be a villain arc, or a turn towards evil that incites the possibility for redemption. 

“My character is playing a role that I think is VITAL for the server and a role that I like to think was a good one for me to pick up and accept.”

You can read the reddit post I referenced for this here (ty to my friend on discord for providing me with the link <3)

TYSM FOR READING!! <3 <3 <3

[tuiyla]

She-Ra’s like, really good, people

It’s been over a week since She-Ra season 5 came out and I binged it and this is not going to be coherent but I just want to rant about it a bit before writing some more structured metas. I deffo wanna write about Catradora and how I think SPoP is the true spiritual successor to the Avatar.

But first, let me just scream about how good this show is. I already started rewatching it, pretty much straight after finishing it, and I don’t rewatch tv shows often. The exception is Avatar (seen it like 15 times) and sitcoms. But She-Ra is so layered that I felt like I needed to watch it again just to appreciate the dynamics even more.

I already enjoyed the first season but it kept getting better and better. I’m not in love with the art style and it’s definitely for a younger demographic overall than my other favourite animated shows, but like any good kids’ show it balances tone well. It doesn’t talk down to its target demographic but also includes more traditionally mature themes in a digestible and entertaining way. Not all the jokes landed for me but as the series went on I learned to appreciate the tone and the type of humour She-Ra goes for.

It’s funny to me because this is definitely the type of show I would have rejected as a kid, with all the princesses I would have deemed it “too girly” and therefore not for me because screw gender roles. There’s a degree of internalized sexism to that, for sure, a rejection of the feminine because it’s always been seen as less somehow. But there’s also a truth that, at least in my childhood of the late 90s and early 00s, children’s media targeted at girls often had a poor quality to it, at least when compared to “boys’ stuff”.

She-Ra is not only a clever, heartfelt, complex story, it also transcends that binary of having to be either for girls or boys. I know most of modern animation rejects that as well, but She-Ra embraces so many traditionally feminine qualities while also going beyond gender roles and even the gender binary. This show is so queer, man, and I love it. It’s especially impressive when you consider the source material that was literally just the girly version of He-Man. I have no beef with 80s She-Ra, haven’t seen much of it, but this is such an upgrade.

That being said, I would have loved to watch She-Ra as a kid. I’m so incredibly envious of kids, aged around 10, who get to watch this show as they’re growing up. But I am so, so, so happy for them and for the future of animation that shows like She-Ra can be made now, that they’re being made. I’m going to go into spoilers soon, but just before that: She-Ra’s a perfectly enjoyable show in many aspects. I think the worldbuilding’s pretty cool, the story feels coherent and planned out, it’s lighthearted and so genuine. That’s the word that I ultimately choose to describe the series: genuine.

I feel like so much of TV aims to be dark and gritty nowadays, animation included, and though that’s slowly turning to dark comedy or a balance between fun and serious, it’s still the norm. At some point in the last decade, creators became terrified of being judged as cheesy. Even something like the MCU bathes in bathos to avoid being cheesy. But She-Ra proves that creators shouldn’t be afraid of being genuine, of basing characters and storylines on the simple power of love. Like, it’s such a cliché trope but I think that’s mostly because it has become stale.

Noelle Stevenson has talked about the importance of love in her story and I’m so grateful for that. Through, She-Ra, she’s truly proven how powerful love can be in a story and how it doesn’t have to be cheesy. It’s just so unabashedly genuine. The power of love and friendship literally saves the day several times but it’s always so genuine and more importantly it always makes sense that it doesn’t get boring. If the foundation wasn’t there, then I’d say “well this is just super cheesy”. But the show makes a point of building relationships and making them the focal point of the story.

Alright, so, spoilers because I need to talk about character arcs and THAT KISS and just everything. I really need to write more in depth about Adora and Catra and their relationship but for now I feel like it’s so important to appreciate how they’re developed. Everything from their shared childhood to their trauma with Shadow Weaver and the finding their way back to each other, it’s just *chef’s kiss*. It’s so well-written and believable. Ngl, I do have some minor issues with Catra’s redemption arc. Let’s just say that on a scale from Kylo Ren to Zuko, she’s definitely closer to Zuko. I also appreciate Shadow Weaver’s death scene and how it allows them to move on. I didn’t see that one as Death as Redemption and it shouldn’t be. Again and again the show made it clear that she was abuse towards both girls and nothing will negate that.

From what I can tell, the fandom really latched onto Catra, even when it wasn’t clear whether she’d get a redemption arc. I think that’s important, because unlike some characters in animation, Catra’s actions were almost always framed appropriately. There was always an understanding as to where she’s coming from, how she’s acting from a place of hurt, and yet her actions weren’t justified. They weren’t suddenly all okay just because she’s hurt, too. I especially loved in the season 3 finale when Adora was allowed to finally say no, to say that Catra’s actions were not her fault. That season as a whole was beautiful, like, episode three when Adora’s struggling so much and Catra has the opportunity for a better life but she still fails to choose her own happiness because she’s too bitter over SW and Adora? It’s poetic cinema. I love that angst, so well done.

It would be so easy to misfire in Catra’s storyline and either a) write off all the awful things she does because she’s just “misunderstood” or b) irredeemably stuck in her abusive environment with no hope of escape. They balanced quite well there and managed to handle such a complex character with delicacy. I’m quite happy with how Catra was portrayed because on the one hand, she’s painfully relatable to me and I assume to many others. The audience can see their own mistakes reflected in her character because we’ve all been too stubborn, done things out of spite, refused to acknowledge that we were wrong because we were hurting so much. At the same time, I always felt like the show gave me enough space to judge Catra’s actions and acknowledge that she was in the wrong. I honestly think I would have been a better adjusted teenager is if saw this show just before my angsty years, lol.

I’m going to write more about Adora at some other point but I love how vulnerable she’s allowed to be. Protagonists never used to be my favourite characters because they all seemed the same, with two major categories: the stereotypical male hero who can do no wrong or the angsty boi who can be shitty and the text still frames him as awesome. It’s only recently with series like The Legend of Korra and She-Ra that I go “damn, protagonists can be like that, huh.” Adora is a dumb jock who tries so hard and she deserves all the hugs in the world.

Also, Catradora? Breathtaking, amazing, groundbreaking. No doubt She-Ra needed shows like Adventure Time, LoK, Steven Universe and the likes to pave the way but still, it went there. I saw people be anxious about whether they were gonna be queerbaited, but I always, idk, knew? Trusted? That She-Ra would follow through. I didn’t wait six years for Bubbline to happen for Catradora to not get their big damn kiss. The series has been so effortlessly queer from the get-go that it just made sense that they were always heading there. I did see a gif of the kiss before watching s5 and ngl, that spoiler kind of bummed me out in a way that I wanted to be surprised. But even before I saw that I wasn’t worried. And the context of their journey in season 5? That cannot be spoiled by a simple gif. You have to experience that to fully appreciate it and that is the marker of good storytelling.

I understand that, though this should be the norm by now, Noelle Stevenson still had to be smart about how she approached the execs and she wasn’t sure this could happen. I cannot tell you how happy I am about what she said regarding how Catradora was so integral to the story that the execs couldn’t not allow it. That’s so brilliant, and it feels so natural in the story. Queer love saves the day and it’s not ambiguous, it cannot be censored because you lose a part of the story without it. You did it, Noelle, you funky little lesbian, what an icon. I can’t wait to see more stuff from her.

In other news, I appreciated other characters as well, like how all the princesses got to be different and awesome in their own unique way. Season 5 was great for so many characters, Mermista got so much to work with and Spinnerella and Netossa got so much more characterization than in previous seasons. Glimmer continued to be the third most important character in the story and I’m happy about all the relationships that also got to be canon. Good characters and dynamics all around, no wonder since the show is built on that.

Such a satisfying conclusion and one that makes you feel like this is just part one of a much bigger story. Such genuine, heartfelt moments, well-developed characters, complex themes explored in a respectful and digestible way, and such an unapologetically fun show. Melissa Fumero as a side character? Yes please. Catra’s new haircut? Heck yeah! She-Ra’s new design? Oh my.

I’m not even like, super into She-Ra, and I usually don’t write so much about things I only watch casually. But this show is so good and important that I had to rant. And I will write more about it eventually, but for now I needed to get all of this out. I’d give it a better structure but if I really get into I might never end up posting it so for now here, have this ramble of love. She-Ra, of all shows, deserves that.

[satanfemme]

first of all, yall were, literally, asking for this essay. second of all I’m aware that it’s wordy, my brain has adhd in it :pensive: so for those reasons I apologize for nothing *hands u this* *hands u this* *hands u th-

Okay so I’ve been thinking about val velocity’s “redemption arc”. 

everyone kinda universally hates it a lot and nearly every time I see val velocity hate, right before I unfollow I notice that it (almost always) involves criticism irt his “redemption”, calling it rushed and not thought through and etc etc etc. 

and then that writing criticism is almost always pushed onto his character, saying that since his redemption was shitty, that’s just reflecting how shitty val is himself. 

I’ve also seen some (v interesting) posts comparing his “redemption” to korse’s redemption, with the conclusion always being drawn that korse was ultimately a better person at the end of the story than val was, specifically because korse’s redemption was handled much better. idc about korse tho, this post isn’t bout him.

So Ok, I’ve Just Been Thinking About It, thinking it over, and all the discussion surrounding it has been rubbing me the wrong way for a long time now, not because I think it’s wrong to say that it’s a shitty redemption arc, but because I Think y’all are approaching it the wrong way entirely. I don’t think it’s a redemption arc at all to begin with. And idk (and tbh idc) what gerard’s true intent was, but imo the impression I get reading the comic is that I don’t think a “redemption” was ever really the intent.

I Think, imo, yall get caught up too much in the redemption arc trope. I’m constantly seeing people shit on the trope and compare less successful iterations to the successful ones (ie: zuko, lmao), but I think yall need to take a step back out of the trope for a bit cause, in this case at least, the reason you think the redemption is so shitty is cause it’s not a redemption to begin with!!! like of course it’s a shitty redemption! cause it’s not a redemption! fkdhghdfj 

I think val’s apology at the end is supposed to make him more sympathetic, that much I think is accurate, but I don’t think he was intended to be hated so intensely to begin with. he was, imo, always meant to be a more complicated and complex character who represents what war/tragedy can do to a person. kinda the “bad end” option for a killjoy rather than a true villain 

(you know, the usual shit I’m always  constantly  saying: he wasn’t an irredeemably evil person, he was just trying to save the desert/was suffering from paranoia and illness/genuinely thought he was in the right, etc, if u follow me u know the drill)

and I think when you approach his “redemption” through that lens and mindset, it begins to make a whole lot more sense. val thought that everything he was doing was “right”, not even in a selfish villainy way, he was convinced that he was going to save the desert and everyone in it through his actions. those actions being, obviously, storming the city and killing everyone inside. all the way up until the end, he not only thought that this was the correct and heroic thing to do, but he thought that it was the only way. he was so caught up in his own vision that he refused to acknowledge that there could’ve been a nonviolent solution to defeating bl/i. literally as the girl was getting drac’ed, with a scarecrow pointing a gun to his head val told her “you led us in here thinking we were going to finally put a stop to bl/i, but you gave up without even trying. not even one gun was fired” 

literally even with the girl telling him that she had a plan, because that plan didn’t involve violence he didn’t think there actually was one (and to be fair! it didn’t really look that hopeful either jhflkjghfdj)

so the way that I interpret him watching the girl do her magical exploding bit, and then him saying to her “I’m sorry... for everything I’ve done.” is less so “oh he’s a good person now, congrats on being a new good guy 🎉” and more so.... “oh he’s finally just realizing that he was wrong to begin with”, because that hadn’t occurred to him before. 

Building Off Of That, my point: it’s not a redemption arc, because it’s not a redemption. It’s literally just an apology. whether the girl (or the audience for that matter) chooses to forgive him or not is left up in the air. in a true redemption arc it would not be so unclear. a real redemption arc would’ve have him and the girl being best friends as if nothing happened because he’s a Good Guy(tm) now. but we don’t get that, we just get an apology, an acknowledgment that he now knows he fucked up, and then a panel or two of him doing puppy dog eyes presumably because he’s now feeling guilty about fucking up so bad. sure, that could lead into a future redemption arc, but as it stands rn at the end of the comic, it’s a kicking-off-point for a redemption at most.

tldr: val velocity doesn’t have a redemption arc. he only has an apology. and  my #HotTake is: I don’t think it’s bad writing Nor something that inherently proves val was the Worst all along, as long as you let yourself view it through that lens and just take it for what it’s meant to be. fjhgkdjfh

[bakugaykatsukii]

I Talk About Bakugou Because I'm Bored

Bakugou. He's best boy. My son.

No, actually, I'mma explain in as few words as possible why I absolutely adore his character.

Oops this got long.

Okay, so it's the first chapter/episode (I'll go off the anime because it's practically identical and more widespread) and it opens with Deku narrating. This is to establish an immediate connection between the audience and the main protagonist; it conveys how important Deku is. Plenty of shows do this so it's not really a big deal, just common practise. HOWEVER, the second character we hear speak is Bakugou, who is insulting Deku.

This is framed in a way that's supposed to make us dislike him, and continues all throughout the first episode. He's presented as a four year old trying to beat up our main character, and then his next scene is being ten years older and Still Trying To Beat Up Our Main Character. This makes him seem rotten to the core, as his character hasn't changed whatsoever in that time, and as an audience we know very little information about him.

On top of that, within this first episode he is deliberately made to have no redeeming qualities, nothing that could make him sympathetic in any way. The Sludge Villain fiasco isn't until ep2, and in this one he literally tells Deku to kill himself, reaching peak middle school bully. He destroys something the Main Protagonist clearly treasures and is privelaged in every conceivable way, even his (later obviously intense) desire to be a hero is simplified to monetary gain, with "I'll be even richer than All Might himself!!!" (or something to that effect). Later on I'd explain such a line to be a result of young Baku trying to quantify his future success, something he never mentions again after the Sludge Villain.

In these first twenty minutes of the anime, he's been absolutely dragged through the mud. Not only is he this arrogant, selfish, mean bully, he's also the sort of bully we can all relate to having, making him even more dislikable! It's so easy for an audience to write him off as irredeemable almost immediately.

But then comes ep2. Seasoned anime watchers likely brush over some small details, but the fact that the Sludge Villain attack happens when Bakugou is 14? Wow. At this point no one likes him, and to many people seeing this happen could come across as a sort of karmic punishment, deserving and therefore less sympathetic. And so Horikoshi succeeds in continuing to make him dislikable but also adding depth to this character who so clearly believed he was invincible.

However, any such depth is pretty much ignored by the audience. I've watched many reactions, and, at this point, due to Bakugou's sub par personality, most people don't care about what happened upon first viewing. To be fair, it's treated as background until Deku steps in and proves himself a hero, at which point he's promised a quirk and That's all anyone can think about.

(also there's some symbolism in this ep because Bakugou and Deku were both attacked by the Sludge Villain and saved by All Might, showing they are actually equals in character and have a lot in common.)

Anyway, so for the first few episodes no one gives two shits about Bakugou because he's meant to be dislikable. He's set up to be as bad as possible without needing to be arrested/never being redeemable. Yet, he's also not clearly set up to be redeemed whatsoever. Let me explain:

Quick break from bnha to head over to atla, Zuko is the perfect redemption arc. And some of that can be attributed to his presentation in the first few episodes: where he's portrayed as antagonistic but still honourable, and has a tragic past. He's the sort of character you know isn't actually bad at heart. But Bakugou hasn't got any tragic back story to speak of, and certainly isn't honourable, so we don't expect a redemption.

That's so interesting to me, because it basically means his character could go in any direction but most shounen fans expect him to be the typical rival. He's mean now and will be mean later, nbd. Will probably betray Deku in order to gain more power. That sort of stuff.

But, as the first season progresses, we're shown that Bakugou (on top of all of his anger issues and cruelty) is also so incredibly determined, to the point where it's harmful. A lot of people, even in season three, expect him to accept the LoV's offer, but as early as ep7 he's shown to be dedicated to being the best on his own. He utterly fails at pretending to be a villain, and doesn't manage to work with his "villain" teammate. When the USJ attack rolls around, he fights alongside Deku.

I feel like I've just word babbled for a while so here's a picture:

Isn't that adorable? Anyway, I continue.

Okay, recap: Bakugou is presented initially as bad and in no way sympathetic, but throughout season one some of his good qualities do get highlighted.

The Sports Festival is probably when I was most on edge about who my favourite character was. Todoroki vs Deku vs Bakugou was a whole internal debate. We all know who eventually won though. Point is, this is the first time Bakugou is supposed to seem likeable.

Like, yes, he helped out at the USJ, but he was still reckless and angry about it. In this arc his flaws stop seeming so antagonistic (even though he's now more at odds with 1-A than he's ever been) and are framed humorously; if you think about it, the only times you're not rooting for Bakugou in this whole arc is when you're laughing at his antics. He stops seeming like a massive unforgivable bully and becomes a secondary threat behind Todoroki, even though he ultimately wins the Festival.

One of the first things he does in the season is tell people messing with their class go away, albeit bluntly, and is then complimented for it by Kirishima, who is the nicest guy in the class! No longer are we supposed to necessarily dislike him, as he's being developed after all of season 1. Him saying "I'm gonna win" as his speach is expected by the audience and laughed at- absolutely nobody watching was scared he'd hurt Deku in some terrible way due to it.

The cavalry battle demonstrates that he can work in a team after some adjustment time, and he gets his own antagonist (Monoma) who we all root against! This makes us closer to his character, as in a way we have a common enemy.

Then obviously the single battles are super interesting, his one against Uraraka especially turning people to his side. Since Aizawa, who as an audience we trust after his actions at the USJ, backs up Bakugou's actions, we accept them as the right thing to have done. Especially since Bakugou later calls Uraraka "not fragile", demonstrating that he can respect people and actually isn't as discriminatory as his earlier actions against Deku might lead one to believe. Everything about this fight is pure gold.

The rest of his fights are also very interesting, so let me go off on a little tangent. He's the only person to 1) be uninjured by the end of the festival (he did win tho so...) and 2) he's the only person to win all of his fights by forcing his opponent into submission. He knocks out Uraraka and Kirishima, goes to knock out Tokoyami but has him give up instead and then knocks out Todoroki! His fights are so much more violent than the others, who are primarily trying to win by pushing their opponent out of the ring or by immobilising them, which could make him come across as more aggressive (which he is). But it actually works for his character considering the way he demonstrates respect is by giving his all, therefore in order to show he cares about these fights he has to go for absolutely decimating the person against him.

Also, interesting side note to all that, out of our main three festival contenders, Bakugou is the only one who actually needs to use the festival for its intended purpose: impressing scouts. Todoroki, as the son of Endeavour, is already known throughout the hero community as a promising young talent, and could even get the No2 hero to coach him if he so wished. Deku even says himself that he doesn't necessarily need to get scouted when All Might is already teaching him. Out of the three Bakugou has the most incentive to actually show off here, no guilt/baggage required.

Anyway blah Stain arc blah. Bakugou picks Jeanist to intern with, which many might think makes him shallow. Their quirks are in no way similar and their images are almost diametrically opposing, and Bakugou only chose him because he's such a highly ranked hero. However, I believe the creators crafted this pairing in order to convey how good of a future hero Bakugou promises to be. BJ, in these episodes, is all talk. He's such a superficial hero that, in order to rectify Bakugou's foul personality, he gives him a haircut. He demonstrates the arrogant nature that Stain hates so much. Meanwhile, Bakugou ignores him and is still arrogant in his own way, obviously, but not for anything other than his own pride. He, when you break it down, spends all of his time working towards a genuinely good goal, just to prove to himself that he's worthy- no desire for fans or fame in there, he wants success but isn't actually looking for any of the perks that come with it. This, imo, makes him better than BJ. Also, Bakugou never actually says he is working with BJ due to his rank and could be doing it because their quirks botha require so much time, practice and effort.

Okay, so, now for the final exams. This is where I decided he was my favourite. He works with Deku etc and proves to the audience that he can work with him and won't necessarily become a villain, plus All Might lets loose a little and proves he too can be violent and mean.

What I really love is about ep24 s2 is actually the bit that makes a lot of people chuckle: where Bakugou bites AM's hand. This kid has been giving his absolute all, putting every ounce of strength into beating his idol, because, lbh, his self worth depends on his success here, until he literally cannot raise his arms to punch anymore. And yet, he still refuses to go down, despite every odd against him. Something about that tenacity is just so incredible to me.

It's almost 1am, let's have another break, shall we?

Idk I thought it was funny when it came onto my dash.

Btw, it's now I wish I knew how to hide most of a post lololol.

Season three is just Baku's season, ngl. Like,,, so many of his Stans got their start here, and it's not hard to tell why. A big reason why Bakugou felt irredeemable was because he had no reason to be so mean, but the narrative makes up for that by then putting him through so many bad experiences.

There's been a million metas on why he's so perfect in this season, and this is already abhorrently long, but ah well.

Okay so he's captured by the League through no fault of his own. As the audience when we find out Bakugou is missing we immediately think he's done the dumb thing and gone off on his own, but it's quickly revealed that he's already been kidnapped. Tokoyami is also taken, cementing that the LoV are looking for kids with some villainous feature, but also showing that their perception of what makes a child villainous is skewed, since we know Tokoyami is good.

At the hideout Baku is entirely restrained and silent, so clearly against his will. If we remember every other time he's been restrained (so goddamn many) we'll think back to the Sludge Villain, finding out Deku had a quirk, after his *win* against Todoroki and his internship with BJ. In this way, it's obvious to tell that this is all a Bad experience for him, as those were all very negative times in his life. There's no way he'll join them.

None of the pros even consider it a possibility. Aizawa defends him against the press (and, once again, we like Aizawa! So we trust him) and none of his classmates think he could be evil, they're all primarily concerned for his safety. Even BJ, who insinuated that Baku could easily become a villain, doesn't appear to believe he'll turn down that path.

Also Baku is pretty cool when he fights of the villain like I'm ngl.

And then, when he sees All Might? And his face screws up? With his lip trembling? It's undercut with a joke but he's so obviously just a scared/relieved kid in that moment and it's gut wrenching to remember that.

It's really getting late and I'm at 11% here so speed round through the provisional licence exam.

He can tell Shindou is two faced

Even though he's blunt he's still got the instincts and smarts of a hero

The class looks up to him

Aizawa has a lot of favouritism for this child, y'all, how did I not notice this?

His failure here is intrinsic to his character growth as it means he hits absolute rock bottom and we can move onto:

Deku Vs Kacchan 2

Where to even start. The guilt and pain he experiences has made me tear up several times just from thinking about them, and that GODDAMN VOICE CRACK AS HE YELLS nope it hurts too bad.

It's sort of the culmination of every emotional issue Bakugou has exhibited throughout the series. He can't find self worth without constant praise and pressures himself to be unimaginably perfect, to a self destructive point. He has no support system in place to help him with these issues. His anger stops being repetitive/funny/annoying and is finally, clearly shown to be more damaging to himself than to anyone else, as he feels the only way he can deal with his stress and hurt is by lashing out at those who try to help him.

In this fight we also learn why Deku, even though he's Baku's victim, still looks up to him so much. And the whole dynamic is so perfect I might cry rn.

I am annoyed, though, that further than that Baku's mental health has been pretty much entirely ignored for 200 manga chapters. Probably my only complaint about him.

.

.

.

At an entirely selfish level, I can relate to Bakugou. Obviously I'm not a teenage boy with explosion powers who bullies people in order to feel any self worth, but the high standards for himself? The pain at any failures? Being told through childhood how great you are only for it to be torn away in your teens? That's all so painfully relatable to me, and so I feel an even deeper connection with his character.

One last picture to finish off:

[cinderstorm]

Writing Tips #9: The Moral Spectrum (Characterization Lesson)

Hello, writer friends, and welcome to another episode of Writing Tips! In today’s lesson, we’ll discuss characters and how to categorize them on a moral continuum.

There are several dominant models when it comes to a character’s morality. Most of you are familiar with the chaotic-neutral-lawful/good-neutral-evil categorization method. That schema will be relegated to its own post, as it adds an additional dimension to this topic which would distract from this lesson. For this post, we’ll be focusing solely on a good/evil continuum, without regard to how a given character sits on a lawful/chaotic continuum.

1. The Extremes: Imagine a sliding scale in which “good” and “evil” sit at opposite ends. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll make it a scale of one to ten, with “ten” representing ultimate good and “one” representing ultimate evil.

It’s rare for a character to achieve a perfect ten on the morality scale. Like most humans, characters typically have flaws which prevent them from being perfectly selfless and compassionate. However, these characters do exist and can serve a useful purpose in your story. For instance, an angel would most likely fit under the category of ultimate good. So would certain saints or benevolent gods. These characters are kind, charitable, and loving, exemplifying perfect morality.

On the other end of the scale, we have ultimate evil. It’s easier to find characters at this end of the scale than at the other end, as they can make for interesting villains. These characters are not only dangerous, but cruel and twisted. They’re the sort of people who would torture a puppy for amusement. Any hint of kindness or compassion they show is merely an attempt at manipulation. These characters can  quite justifiably be considered Complete Monsters.

Here’s the problem with characters who sit at either extreme: they can very easily become one-dimensional. Characters who score a ten on the morality scale can (quite justifiably) be accused of being too perfect. Which is not to say that you have to eliminate these extremes from your story. A Complete Monster can make a viable final boss for your characters to fight, and an angelic character can make an excellent friend and guide (though rarely a great protagonist).

Let’s look at The Dresden Files. We have the character Michael Carpenter. A brave and pious Knight of the Cross, he exemplifies all that is good about humanity (also, he fights monsters). He is an excellent supporting character and foil to Harry Dresden (wizard and narrator), but he lacks the internal conflict necessary for an engaging protagonist. There’s very little room for a character arc, because he’s already as close to an ideal human being as a character can reasonably be. 

From the same series, we have the Denarians (people controlled by or cooperating with fallen angels), who fall under the category absolute evil. They at various points betray their supposed allies, steal a significant religious artifact, and torture a young girl (mostly for kicks).

Fittingly, the purpose of the Knights of the Cross is to fight (and try to redeem) the Denarians. This battle of good and evil is important to the overarching story within The Dresden Files, but it only becomes interesting when we see it mirrored in a much more personal way through Harry Dresden (morally, 5.5-8 depending on where you are in the series) as he struggles between choosing to accept the power offered to him by the Denarians or refusing that power at great expense to himself and his loved ones.

2. Morally Gray Characters: It’s much more common for a character to fall somewhere in the middle of the good/evil spectrum. Between notches four and six, you have your anti-heroes and sympathetic villains. Often, the primary difference between these categories is that we’re seeing the story through one character’s/group’s eyes instead of the other.

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin (or Game of Thrones, for those of you who watch the HBO series) relies heavily on morally grey characters. Granted, these characters, if let loose in other works, would probably fall somewhere between a two and a four, but in fiction, morality is relative, and the gritty tone of the series means these otherwise reprehensible characters are middle-of-the-road relative to one another. While there are a few genuinely irredeemable characters (Ramsey Snow, Joffrey, The Mountain), most of the characters are simultaneously deeply flawed and in some way sympathetic. These characters have different goals, beliefs, and philosophies which put them at odds with each other, and there are differences in the relative morality of each character, but they are almost without exception some shade of gray.

In most books, your protagonist is going to be a lighter shade of gray (6-9), being somewhat flawed and occasionally selfish, but ultimately having the moral high-ground over the villains. Similarly, most villains will range from 2-5, though this will vary depending on whether they’re being set up for a redemption arc or if they’re a Complete Monster, as discussed above.

Let’s look at another example, this time from Avatar: the Last Airbender (yes, this series is going to be a major fixture of this Writing Tips series. It’s that good). Aang, our protagonist and arguably the most moral character in the series, sits at a solid nine. In his eyes, all life is precious, even that of a Complete Monster like Ozai. On several occasions, however, Aang acts with selfishness. In “Bato of the Water Tribe,” he hides a message from his friends’ father out of fear that they’ll abandon him. In “The Great Divide,” he resolves a conflict between two opposing tribes by telling them a false story which “corrects” their conflicting histories, instead of addressing the deeper issues fueling their animosity.

Katara, too, has her moments of moral compromise. In “The Waterbending Scroll,” she steals the titular scroll from a group of pirates because of her desperate desire to master waterbending. Later, in “The Southern Raiders,” when she gets a chance to confront the man who killed her mother, she bloodbends one man and nearly kills her mother’s murderer before deciding to show mercy. And though she spares the man’s life, she cannot bring herself to forgive him.

The villains in A:tLA are all darker shades of gray (with the exception of Ozai, who actually is a Complete Monster). While trying to restore his honor, Zuko steals an ostrich-horse, disguises himself as The Blue Spirit to undermine his rival in capturing the Avatar, and betrays his uncle. Yet he has sympathetic motivations. He wants to return home. He wants to regain his status as the crown prince. He wants his father’s love and acceptance. Eventually, Zuko chooses to side with the Avatar, completing what is arguably the most satisfying redemption arc in western animation. On the sliding scale, Zuko goes from a three to an eight--an impressive character arc by any standard.

Azula is a darker shade of gray than Zuko, coming in at about a two. She is ruthless, cunning, and manipulative. Yet in the finale, when we see her emotional break-down (resulting from the betrayal of the friends she abused/controlled for so many years), we do feel sorry for her. She is not redeemed, but there is enough vulnerability in her character that we are sympathetic to her fate, which is part of what makes her breakdown so powerful.

When conceptualizing your characters, it’s a good idea to have each character occupy a slightly different position on the moral scale, both for the sake of incorporating multiple perspectives and for the sake of sparking conflict between characters (even allies/friends). In a future post, we’ll discuss how to move a character from one part of the scale to another when writing a redemption arc or a fall from grace. In the meantime, I hope you’ve found this post helpful.