prince zuko got you all out here thinking every dark haired antagonist boy is gonna do right in the end when zuzu was the exception not the rule
I really wish it weren’t though? I think it’s really telling that a lot of people like redemption arcs because we want to see people be good despite their pasts. The fact that there are so little redemption arcs in media is very upsetting because it just sends the message that people can’t change which we know is not true. I absolutely don’t mean this for characters like Kylo Ren though lol
Redemption arcs are hard and Zuko’s was successful for a couple of reasons:
1) Zuko wasn’t the worst character in the Fire Nation. From really early on it was shown that, compared to Zhao, Azula, and other Fire Nation leaders, Zuko was consistently more noble. He tried to be a good person and do the right thing, even when doing so led to him suffering for his actions.
2) Zuko suffered for his mistakes. He suffered when he turned away from Iroh, he suffered when he betrayed Iroh, and he suffered even after his face turn. There were consequences for his mistakes; he didn’t get off scot free because his childhood was hard. He was still held accountable by the narrative and made to take responsibility for the wrongs he did.
3) Zuko made tangible amends to the people he hurt. He rescued Hakoda, helped Katara get closure, and became Aang’s firebending master. He put in work to make up for the things he did and rebuild bridges with his new allies.
Most redemption narratives fail because the guilty party is guilty of much greater crimes than failing to capture the hero, never works to make amends, and never suffers for their mistakes. You wanted to see Zuko redeem himself because he had the capacity, wanted to do the work, and paid dearly for his mistakes.
I feel like this breakdown, while entirely correct and valid, doesn’t put quite enough emphasis on the first point.
When a redemption arc works, it’s because the character has been consistent throughout the narrative. The character that started out as the villain had those qualities that made him heroic–or even just “not a monster”–when it counted from the very start.
The seeds were there, and when choices came, he made the ones that were most right, because he rarely got the chance to make a truly right choice. Unlike the heroes, Zuko frequently was faced not with choices between right and wrong, but with choices between suffering for others or suffering for himself, or choices between letting go of his hate and letting go of his family.
Redemption arcs that require a character to start doing things completely differently are lazy and not genuine. It’s why no matter how they do it, somebody like Kylo Ren is never going to be truly redeemed. At best, they could pretend the previous two movies never happened, and everyone around him could forgive him for the thousandth time for being a complete asshole who made self-serving choices every single time he was given a choice, and he would suddenly start not making self-serving choices every single time he was given a choice.
But he never once avoided making the selfish choice or doing the horrible thing when he had the option not to. He turned away from offers of help over and over again, and he murdered the closest equivalent he had to an Uncle Iroh.
Zuko’s redemption works because it acknowledges that he was always a good person, and that all he had to do to prove it was get away from the horrible circumstances that wouldn’t allow him to be. He suffered after his turnaround because he acknowledged how many times he’d failed those who supported him, and he focused on making amends at the same time as moving forward.
In short, Zuko was allowed to become independent and grow up, and he did that by choice.
Legolas pretty quickly gets in the habit of venting about his travelling companions in Elvish, so long as Gandalf & Aragorn aren’t in earshot they’ll never know right?
Then about a week into their journey like
Legolas: *in Elvish, for approximately the 20th time* ugh fucking hobbits, so annoying
Frodo: *also in Elvish, deadpan* yeah we’re the worst
Legolas:
~*~earlier~*~
Legolas: ugh fucking hobbits
Merry: Frodo what’d he say
Frodo: I’m not sure he speaks a weird dialect but I think he’s insulting us. I should tell him I can understand Elvish
all these fucking fools on my dashboard talk about how they love bats but only show pictures of fruit bats fuck you start posting pictures of all bats i can’t stand this fucking bat erasure
look at him he’s not your conventionally attractive bat but he deserves just as much love
another beautiful bat you can see her whiskers!!!! look at her
this one’s named after it’s nose looking like a leaf! get fucking with it look she’s adorable!
okay so theres an episode of whats new scooby doo where the gang goes home on valentines day, and i guess the studio really wanted to avoid the implication that daphne and fred were sleeping together because daphne and velma live together and fred lives with shaggy and scooby
but that attempt at avoiding anything risque backfired spectacularly because now it just seems like daphne and velma are a comfortably domestic couple and fred is trying to learn how to live with his boyfriends over excitable and really hungry great dane
It’s far cuter like this anyway.
OOOOOOOOOOOOH SNAP
CANON
i don’t have a source for this just a gut feeling, but doesn’t everyone in the gang call him “freddie” at some point?
which would imply that the entire gang is poly and dating
If any group in pop culture is poly, it’s definitely the errant kids from the 60s with a groovy hippie van
Sometimes I really don’t feel like existing like not in a suicidal way but I just wish there was a way of pausing life so that I could sleep for a few weeks and figure some stuff out and then not have to feel guilty for missing loads of stuff because really no time had passed at all
If I mispronounce your name because it is foreign to my tongue, correct me.
I don’t purposefully allow the accents of your name to fall flat on my tongue like the European English demands or the language to sound chopped and misheard.
If I don’t say your name correctly, don’t shrug and say it’s ok because people have been doing it all your life. Your mother worked hard to name you that name, with all its syllables and apostrophes and hyphens and inflection.
I don’t want to disrespect your heritage, your culture, your great grandmother or grandfather and their struggle.
If I mispronounce your name, forgive me, but don’t let it happen again. Make sure everyone knows your name.
If you are considering meeting up with someone online use this trick identify who really are who they claim to be:
1. Ask them to Skype 2. If they refuse or can’t for some reason ask for a current selfie 3. If they also refuse or can’t do not meet up with them 4. If they provide one ask them to send another with them holding 3 fingers up 5. If they refuse read step 3 6. If they provide a selfie where they show 3 fingers they are probably for real
(If you’re still unconvinced try again with them drawing something in their hand)
I SAY THIS FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY please spread this message as more and more young people are lured out into situations where they get kidnapped because they weren’t 100% sure the person they were talking to was real.
ALSO IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 MAKE SURE YOU STATE THE FOLLOWING:
“My [fill in trusted adult here] wants to come too. [pronoun] said we can do our own thing and [pronoun] will just sort of grab [pronoun] own table, but I wanted to let you know. Hey, if you have an adult coming too they could sit together!”
If hearing this freaks the other person out and they decline, TERMINATE ALL CONTACT. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, go directly to block. I’m 26 years old and if you tell me you’re coming with a friend or parent for your own safety, I will automatically say “hey, cool. Y’know, if you’re nervous we can just do Starbucks or something, I’m okay meeting in a busy place. That way your [adult/friend] can hang out, too, and they don’t have to pay for [admission, a movie ticket, whatever].” Your safety and comfort is important to me, and is important to any good person you meet online who wants to meet up IRL. In the early 2000s when I first started seeing online safety PSAs, this was a widely-spread tip. Use it.
And for the record, you can use this over the age of 18, too. I still won’t meet people from online except in public places. You never know–that person holding up three fingers and drawing a Pokemon on their palm could be some pervert’s child, niece, nephew, family friend’s kid who was encouraged to take some silly pictures. Always voice-verify and always meet in public, with another person if possible.
Be smart and stay safe, kiddos. Nina loves you.
This is all so important for everyone and especially my younger followers.
Anyone who is being upfront with who they are and who you can trust will do whatever they need to do to make you and your parents/guardians comfortable. Hence why I am constantly requesting to too-busy-dancing13 to FaceTime her mom…
Please please please listen to this. Not everyone out there can be trusted.
FUCKING SIGNAL BOOST!!
On the off chance I ever get to meet any on my online friends
on the off chance i
ever get to meet any
on my online friends
^Haiku^bot^9. I detect haikus with 5-7-5 format. Sometimes I make mistakes.
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barry: all his cousins have horses, hes mildly terrified of them tho
magnus: loves horses but thinks of them as really big dogs
merle: rode a horse exactly once, got bucked and broke his arm, glares at every horse he sees
davenport: too small to be near horses, hes just so certain theyll step on him, rode a horse once and loved it but couldnt get off without the help of two different people, somehow
lup: punched taako when he told lucretia that horses are omnivores and to be careful with her fingers
taako: told lucretia that horses are omnivores and to be careful with her fingers, made chewing noises whenever he saw lucretias horse journal, repeatedly informed her that it takes the same amount of force to break a human pinky and a baby carrot upon seeing pictures of her feeding horses
shoutout to george, fred, and especially ron weasley for realizing that harry was stuck in abusive and unhealthy household and, in spite of the massive trouble they knew they could get in, taking immediate steps to personally see him removed from that environment, something no adult in harry’s life did.
