#mention of sasha

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

Oh god now that toh ends with luz being able to travel between worlds ppl are using that to dunk on amphibia. And now that belos died ppl are using that to dunk on su.

They are different shows people! They have different themes! Amphibia is a classic take on isekai as escapism! Marcy went to amphibia to avoid her real life and while she had fun she didnt mature until after she accepted she needed to embrace change in her life! Anne matured in amphibia bc she always recognized that she has her own life to get back to! Sasha matured after realizing that too! Leaving amphibia for good means to embrace the step out of childhood! Something thats inevitable for everyone!

The owl house is about finding a community in midst of ostracization! Luz stayed in the boiling isles because she found people who accepted her quirks! The boiling isles was in danger from a bigot and luz helps her new community defeat him! Its a very queer story! Community is the center of the story so it makes sense for luz to be able to go back to the boiling isles since shes maintaining her place in the community!

Steven universe is about choosing to be kind! Its that everyone has their own specific traumas that they can overcome with the right support! Its about surviving in a world of bigots at any cost, even if it you have to work with the bigots to carve out a space for the people you love! Because people like you exist and theres nothing anyone in power can do about it! Its also a very queer story! The diamonds can never stamp out the off colors because they will always be there! Steven works with the diamonds not because he likes them but because they can improve the world for his family if only he could get through to them! Hes rewarded for choosing to be kind with success because the theme of the show is hope! Hope that anyone can change! But even though the diamonds stop being fascist steven still doesnt like them because its not about forgiveness! Its about fixing things! Stevens just polite about it!

The owl house starts off with the assumption that everyone can change but its not about the potential its about the willingness to change! The focus is on belos, whos had every chance to turn his life around but will never admit that hes wrong! And the show posits that if someone isnt willing to change theyre not worth helping! Its not about whether or not the character is fascist its about if theyre willing to stop being fascist! Several characters stop being fascist and are welcomed by the characters with open arms belos just wasnt one of them! Several characters clean up their acts but dont adequately address the previous harm they did and are STILL fully forgiven eventually! For toh forgiveness is paired with fixing things you just need to give it time!

And theres an argument that some of these shows didnt do their themes well. If you wanted to portray amphibia as an escapism world that the girls need to leave behind to get to their richer futures then having them get such caring found families go against that by giving them a potential of a good life in the isekai world. Steven universe uses the diamonds as metaphors for mental illness and relationships but its hard to stick with that when you also need to consider the countless other gems they hurt. I think its also fair if people prefer one theme over another.

But a lot of stuff i see comparing these shows just go over surface similarities? Like oh shit! These two shows have the same character archetypes! They have the same inciting incident! This must mean that theyre exactly the same in everything but names and artstyle and are trying to say the exact same things! Like. No. Sometimes,,,,,two stories,,,,,,can talk about two different things,,,,,,,

#shut up pandora #the owl house #toh #amphibia #steven universe #su #emperor belos #phillip wittebane #should i tag the other characters mentioned? #not the diamonds actually #marcy wu #sasha waybright #anne boonchuy

[theanonymousclown]

I’ve been re-reading this Psychonauts fic by @magicalmilly and my GOD this scene never fails to make me laugh. Anyway this is my petition to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE continue this fic it’s been unfinished since 2022 and it was JUST REACHING THE CLIMAX OF PSYCHONAUTS 1-

Anyway the basic plot of the fic is that Milla and Sasha are very concerned about Raz because of what he shares about his family life. High key recommend, Raz gets to apologize for intruding on Milla’s nightmares.

#anon’s art #psychonauts razputin #psychonauts #psychonauts fanart #psychonauts fanfiction #milla vodello #sasha nein #fanart #bright colors #bright colours cw #eye strain tw #eye strain #child abuse mention #child abuse ment cw #idk how obvious it is but Mills and Sasha are speaking via telepathy rn

[munster0us]

Tell Tale really knows how to make some lovable characters

#we don’t mention ntftbl #tftbl #tales from the borderlands #rhys art #rhys tftbl #sasha tftbl #handsome jack #fiona tftbl #borderlands #rhys strongfork #rhys the company man #tell tale games #artists on tumblr #digital aritst #artwork #fanart #my art

[vekovoysoldat-moved]

remember when bucky's therapist mocked him for the fact he doesn't call or text people much nor does he have many contacts?

#'yOU NEED TO TRUST PEOPLE' #yeah bc thats gonna happen overnight.... #the man was a captive for eiGHTY YEARS!!! #he was tortured brainwashed and abused for eighty years #( ooc // boy meets world : sasha ) #i have bucky brainrot im sorry #abuse mention cw #torture mention cw #captivity mention cw

[threefuckencrowsinatrenchcoat]

Whenever I do a TMA s1 relisten I love love love finding things that ended up changing over the next few seasons as the show became more fully fleshed out. Tim being serious and Sasha being the joker? Iconic. Whatever the fuck entity was leaving bags of doll heads and prayers on some random doorstep? Who even are you. How could you do that. What’s your number.

Anyway I need more of these to keep going thanks

#ikik that entity is supposed to be the flesh but I literally can’t see how idk why #Kieran’s statement being Extinction foreshadowing is my fave theory (even tho it’s def not true) #the Tim thing is only mentioned once in the Antonio Blake/Oliver Banks ep #but John says that he asked Tim to do the follow up because he wasn’t sure if one of the others had done it as a ‘bit of hazing’ #and I love that #bc not only is Sasha a joker in that world #so is Martin #maybe plotholes are the real parallel universe ngl #tma #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #jarchivist #martin blackwood #sasha james #tim stoker #the magnus institute #Elias Bouchard

[psi-tanium]

just some doodles

#psychonauts #psychonauts 2 #psychonauts razputin #razputin aquato #lili zanotto #morceau oleander #sasha nein #compton boole #hatsune miku mention #doodles #my art #artists on tumblr #artist #the autism struck once again #art

[citrusbusiness]

The Jon/Sam parallels of being inexperienced, confused, too curious for their own good, doing personal research, disliking the filing systems, and actually caring about the contents of the stuff they're filing.

The Gwen/Sasha parallels of being the one with experience who is actually very good at their job, should be taken seriously and be in charge but isn't, and holding the team together in the background.

The Alice/Tim parallels of being the comic relief, being the closest to our main guy before they got this job, not taking their job seriously at all, and having little brothers who are probably going to get into a lot of trouble.

I can't easily pair Colin/Martin sadly. They're constantly angry though. One's just a bit more subtle.

HOWEVER, consider this:

The Colin/Jon parallels of being frustrated by things not making sense, their desire to understand everything, the feeling that their systems are working against them, and intense paranoia.

The minor Lena/Elias parallels of having some weird stuff going on in their past and also up front just being frustrating bosses.

#honorable mention to “the Elias/Gwen paralells of having the same surname” #tmagp spoilers #tmagp #sam tmagp #samama khalid #alice tmagp #alice dyer #gwen tmagp #gwendolyn bouchard #colin tmagp #colin becher #jon sims #tim stoker #sasha james #lena kelley #elias bouchard

[shatterdome-underscore]

So I've been operating on the assumption that the Magnus Protocol takes place in an alternate universe from The Magnus Archives for obvious reasons. Lowri Anne Davis played Celia in the new episode, and she played a character back in TMA season 5 named Celia in Georgie and Melanie's cult, which means there are stronger ties to the original universe than I originally thought. I assumed that with different fear entities the shape of reality would be different, that there would be similarities, but exact people and lives would be different. I still half expect Gwen's last name to be a red herring tbh. But if there are versions of the original universe characters like Celia out and about (and certainly aware of the supernatural to some extent) then there's a chance that versions of other TMA characters could show up, like Sasha or Tim or Jon and Martin. And given how there are statements that were recorded in the first place (like needles or the tattoo case) then there's a chance that one of the "programs" could play out a scene with a TMA character. Given that "Chester, Norris, and Augustus" are reading statements relevant to their previous lives from TMA what's going to happen if there's a phonecall recorded of Tim seeing a ghost? An episode of Georgie and Melanie's podcast? Daisy and Basira responding to a call for an avatar? What about a version (the original version?) Of Annabelle Cane?

What if they found a recording of this universe's Jon and/or Martin?

#tma podcast #tmagp #tmagp spoilers #the magnus archives #the magnus protocol #the magnus protocol spoilers #oh god mentioned so many tma characters #jonathan sims #tim stoker #sasha james #martin blackwood #tma celia #tmagp celia #daisy tonner #basira hussain #annabelle cane #chester tmagp #norris tmagp #augustus tmagp #melanie king #georgie barker #tmagp theory

[iwannarunawayandbeapirate]

How I think RQG Characters would react to being given a gun

Sasha: Fascinated by the mechanics of how it works, but doesn't actually like it as a weapon because it's so loud. she tries it out once or twice and everyone hides

Grizzop: He thinks it's more efficient and practical than a bow, but he prays to Artemis before using it for the first time to make sure she's ok with it

Cel: Immediately tries to figure out if they can use it to make their explosions bigger. Or maybe add it to their village's tank? What about if we make it shoot electric bullets? Or maybe...

Azu: Handles it very gingerly, scared of shooting it accidentally. She's not entirely sure how it works, but she prefers to kill people with her axe anyway.

Hamid: "Well, i mean, it's not bad, but i can still hurt more people with a Fireball!"

Zolf: Keeps it in his room as an emergency weapon, is actually not too bad at using it but still prefers his glaive

Bertie: Oh no. By the love of God do not give Sir Bertrand a gun. You can't even imagine the casualties

Some NPCs under the cut

Bonus:

Wilde: Uses it to threaten people (especially while he doesn't have his magic)

Barnes: Uses it responsibly, spends most of his time trying to prevent carter from stealing it

Carter: The gun has been forcibly taken away from him.

Earhart: "Nice, another one!"

#rqg #rusty quill gaming #sasha rackett #cel sidebottom #hamid saleh haroun al tahan #grizzop drik acht amsterdam #azu #zolf smith #sir bertrand macguffingham #rqg wilde #rqg barnes #rqg carter #rqg earhart #gun mention

[cy-fi-theansweris42]

Thinking about Sasha's mind and just how different it is to the other minds we see in both Psychonauts and Psychonauts 2.

There's a wide variety of worlds in both games, but from what I remember, they all have different areas that are connected to each other and you travel between. Milla has the different areas of her dance party, Bob has the different islands, Cassie different areas of the library, etc.

However, Sasha's is the only one that, even though you're inside his mind, you're not really in it. You're on the outside of the cube. There's nothing you can access, no memory vaults, no emotional baggage, no hints about his past, nothing, unless he lets you in (there's the different levels that appear in his shooting gallery but he admits to setting that up after Raz beats the course).

The potential implications of this are wild to think about, because you have to wonder just when exactly his mind became that cube, and how he managed to compartmentalize and lock everything away so thoroughly.

Personally, I like the idea that his mind was like that before he met the Psychonauts and joined the organization. We already know that his father wasn't emotionally available throughout Sasha's life, and as far as we know, Sasha didn't have anyone else growing up. That could have led to him just locking everything away, because what's the point of being open when the only family member in your life isn't truly even there? It could also be a little bit of Sasha taking after his father since his father seemed fairly stoic.

Then if he already had everything under lock and key (which is possible, remember, Raz also has high mental defenses and he's only 10 with no training at the beginning), then it could make for some interesting headcanons/ideas about his early days with the Psychonauts, especially if he already showed promise with PSI blasts or could already use them. Like they come across this young psychic who they can't learn anything about, even inside his mind, and he has a knack for PSI blasts which literally turn negative emotions into firepower? You could have some fun with a story like that.

#Psychonauts #Sasha Nein #Cy rambles #Psychonauts headcanons #I've got some rambling about potential ideas for Sasha's early days with the Psychonauts somewhere #And I briefly mention him in one of my fics that's more focused on Otto #But I can't remember everything now #If I can though and if I can come up with ideas for Milla joining and their meeting? #Then oh boy it may just be Writing Time

[eye-catching-tma-headcanons]

Tim suffered from severe Capgras Syndrome after Danny’s death, and was in treatment for years.

It was actually working really well, and he was making an incredible recovery, until Not!Sasha was revealed — when he relapsed

Oh- I…

#cw #capgras syndrome mentioned!! #the magnus universe #tma #tma headcanons #the magnus archives #timothy stoker #tim stoker #tim tma #not them #not!sasha #not!them #the stranger #sasha james #sasha tma #danny stoker

[halfsixwakeup]

just showed my friend a lineup of Jon, Martin, Sasha and Tim and she responded 'Twink twink lesbian librarian twink' and damn she may as well have already seen season 1

#the magnus archives #tma season 1 #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #sasha james #timothy stoker #Elias was in one of the pictures #'does he show up much or is he just mentioned' #funny you should ask

[supercantaloupe]

What is the antisemitism in TUC season 1? Does it have to do with Wally the golem?/gen

[ID: an ask from an anonymous tumblr user that reads "would love to hear more about the antisemitism in unsleeping city! was a while ago that i watched it and can't remember what you might be referencing but definitely want to be aware of it.]

no, it's not about willy the golem -- i actually think willy is a great addition to the season (even if i wish we got to see more of him), and an indication to me that brennan/the showrunners were definitely trying to be sincere and inclusive. i want to make it clear that i don't think anything antisemitic in tuc is there intentionally; i think it's there out of simple ignorance, which is also why i think fans don't frequently see/comment on it either. but i don't think that's an excuse, either.

my grief with tuc1 is largely centered around its portrayal of robert moses as the villain. especially by making him a greedy, power-hungry lich working en league with bloodsucking vampires. (also his mini is literally a green skinned skull man in a suit. yikes.) here's the thing; i know robert moses was a real life horrible person, who actually was racist and powerhungry etc etc. and i know that robert moses, the real actual person, was jewish. my grief with tuc1 is not that they chose to use robert moses over literally any other person (real or fictional) to be their season villain (though i'd be really curious to know what tuc1 would have looked like with a different villain), but that they chose to take a real jewish person, turn them into an antisemitic caricature, and then only barely add other portrayals of judaism to balance that out.

like, tuc isn't completely devoid of other jewish representation. as you mention, there's willy the golem -- and again, i really like willy, and i love that it's a portrayal of a golem that's faithful to jewish folklore (ie as a benevolent, guardian construct rather than a mindless destructive monster. i am not a fan of how 'golem' is so frequently misused as a generic enemy creature in other fantasy and ttrpg spaces, including other seasons of d20). but as i said earlier, i wish we see more of him in the season, because he's not around very much, and feels a little more like worldbuilding than a full character to me. also, he's not human. jews are people.

the only other human jewish character in tuc1 is...stephen sondheim. which, again, yeah, that's a real person who really was jewish. but i really wouldn't blame you if you had no idea of that when watching tuc1. maybe from the name you could guess he might be jewish, but i don't think people ought to make a habit of trying to 'clock' someone being jewish by having a 'jewish-sounding' surname. as he's portrayed in tuc1, you'd never know he's jewish, unless you happen to already be pretty knowledgeable about the man in real life. it's far more likely you'll know him as a theater legend than anything else (may his memory be a blessing).

now i'm not saying that brennan or the showrunners should have played up the jewishness of Real Person Stephen Sondheim to counterbalance the depiction of robert moses; that just feels weird to me, especially considering that sondheim was literally alive when tuc1 was filmed and released. it's a tricky thing to portray real people in fiction alongside made up characters, especially when they are contemporaries, and i don't think 'outright caricature' is the way to go about that. nor do i think that moses' jewishness should have been played up at all, because again i don't think that would have been particularly true to the person/character, and also Fucking Yikes. but, c'mon, if you hear the names 'moses' and 'sondheim' next to each other, which one do you associate more with judaism?

and as it stands, these are the only representations of judaism in tuc1. one admittedly nice but very minor nonhuman character; one human character you'd never be able to tell was jewish; and a third human character who, while never explicitly referenced as jewish, plays into some really hurtful antisemitic stereotyping. and it was a choice to not include anything else. maybe not a deliberate one, probably more likely one made out of simple ignorance than anything else, but a choice nonetheless. in a city with one of the largest and most visibly jewish populations in the country, and a culture that is inextricably influenced by that jewish population. a jewish population which has been and continues the target of rising hate crimes for years. i know that nyc means different things to different people, and everyone's nyc is their own -- but my nyc is jewish, and it sucks that that its jewishness is referenced directly in only one very minor way, which is greatly overshadowed by its, in my view, really insidious indirect references.

i don't know exactly how to go about addressing this. obviously, the show can't be changed by now. even if it could, i think the final product would be very significantly different from what it is now if the villain was something/someone else. i think including more references to jews in new york, more (human) jewish characters, hell, even mentioning hanukkah celebrations and menorahs in windows (it takes place in late december, after all; depending on the year it's not at all out of place for hanukkah to coincide with xmas!) would help. having literally any more positive jewish representation in tuc1 would, i think, help balance the bad stuff that's there. because, yeah, robert moses was real and he was terrible and he was jewish. but he's one jewish guy in a city with over a million jews, the vast majority of whom are just normal people. i don't want him to be the only vision of us that people get, in tuc1 alone or in any media. i'm not saying that jews can't or shouldn't be villains in fiction; but especially if you are a goyische creator, you should be really careful in how you're portraying us, and if there are other contrasting depictions in your work, too, in order to not (even accidentally) demonize jewish people as a whole.

#sasha answers #anon #unsleeping city #the unsleeping city #long post #sorry for not putting this under a read more but i think people ought to see this. or at least #if two people felt the need to ask me about it then at least they would want to see the full thing uncovered #also fwiw i do think that they tried to address this to some extent when they made tuc2 #with more scenes with willy (and incorporating more golem folklore with the animating word in his mouth -- nice touch!) #the jewish immigrant family in the photo flashback encounter (even if the hanukkiah in the picture isn't exactly kosher lol) #and ESPECIALLY rabbi mike. i ADORE rabbi mike. i think he's a WONDERFUL addition #i do still wish he was a more important/prominent character. cause again he isn't in it all that much. #(and he's still like. the only new jewish human character in the campaign.) #but i recognize what he represents and i am happy about it #i do think brennan & the d20 crew tried to improve after tuc1. i do. i see their efforts and i applaud them for it #but still to my knowledge they haven't ever directly addressed the errors made in season 1 #and it's extremely rare that i even see other fans mention it #and like. sorry but i am tired. i am. we deserve better. we deserve portrayals in media that show us as People #not just as evil monsters #anyway you're welcome to rb this but be cool in the notes esp if you're a goy #other jews are welcome to (respectfully) disagree with me if they want #also if you so much as mention the word israel on this post you're getting blocked end of

[opeothalmologist]

TMA reactions from a new fan who reached Season 4. 2/3: Season 2 (with spoilers)

Part 1, Part 3

“new character [Basira] nice”

“Basira isn’t smuggling confidential evidence illegal”

“Jon. Chill.” (this goes on for the entire season)

“PUTTING A KID IN A BAG?”

Imagines Mike Crew as Filipino for no reason

“MIKE”

“gerard keay world tour!”

“JARED AGAIN?”

“cool space episode”

“oh gosh not Mary making a statement—”

“Donna isn’t breaking into an ancient tomb without clearance illegal”

“NOM NOM NOM COMPUTER”

“reverse unboxing video”

No joke, I’m pretty sure I ate shawarma for dinner after listening to Ep 72…

“Oh great. My love Mike is evil now”

“Sasha :((((”

“weird underground tunnel book man is underwhelming but ok”

EXTENDED SOUNDS OF BRUTAL PIPE MURDER “REALLY? YOU’RE DOING THIS ON TAPE???”

“Elias Hate Club time”

#TW: mention of child abuse #TW: mention of murder #mike is the love of my life. #the magnus archives #tma podcast #tma season two #tma spoilers #tma reaction #basira hussain #jonathan sims #michael crew #mike crew #gerard keay #gerry keay #mary keay #not!sasha #jurgen leitner #elias bouchard

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

In your opinion what elements make a GOOD Enemies to Lovers ship? Between a Hero and the Antagonist but they’re not the main Villain

i'm so glad you asked! this is going to be a long post so prepare yourselves. i think there are a couple elements that make an enemies to lovers trope good:

Not Previously Acquainted:

this isn't necessary but i feel like what made c//a so extremely difficult to navigate was the fact that they were close friends before. especially since catra was just as hostile to adora when they were friends, as she was when they were enemies. this makes us question how healthy their friendship was in the first place (spoiler: not very). so the best way to go about an enemies to lovers relationship is to make them strangers who are on the opposite sides.

the dragon prince does this twice successfully. with both individuals only disliking each other for their community and not personal reasons, it's much easier to build a healthy foundation where they look past their prejudices and start to respect the other person.

Good Pacing:

enemies to lovers can't be just two people fighting all the time and then suddenly getting together. especially in c//a's case, where catra was supposedly in love with adora all this time, and yet showed no remorse in torturing adora. not only does it spread the wrong message of "they're mean to you because they like you", but it also shows how incompetent the writers are.

there needs to be a bridge where the two characters begin to reconcile with each other. writing enemies to lovers should have at least four stages: the animosity, the interaction, the turning point, and the mutual respect/interest.

we start off with two people hating or disliking each other. then we have them interacting a little more, preferably interactions that aren't fighting. maybe they are force to work together or one of them is given the option to save the other. they get to know each other and see things from the other's perspective. the turning point is where one or both of them decide to abandon whatever prejudices they had in the beginning, and respect the other person for who they are. and finally, the relationship starts where both of them show a mutual interest and cares deeply about each other.

c//a stuck with the first stage for four seasons, then tried to rush the entire development in s5. it doesn't work like that, even though catra and adora knew each other before all of this. especially since they knew each other before all of this. catra needed more time to repend for her actions, face consequences and change for the better.

callum's and rayla's relationship is more like glimmadora in the sense that they were not previously acquainted with each other, and neither of them were antagonists. they just came from two different cultures that were pitted against each other. and this is why glimmadora would have worked a lot better than c//a.

Less Direct Attacks:

catra could be a ruthless villain in all other aspects but if she was more hesitant to hurt adora, i believe this ship would have improved greatly. revelling in being sadistic and smiling while watch adora scream in pain doesn't exactly send the message that catra loved her, no matter how much sexual tension there is. cruelty is cruelty. and catra never once stops being cruel towards adora.

Believable Reason:

the two individuals need a strong reason to dislike each other. in most cases, people go with the prejudice route. the two people come from opposing sides and have very biased perspectives of each other, which they slowly have to overcome. there are also cases where there may be a personal reason such as someone related to one of the characters hurt the other.

in c//a's case, it's a lot more complex and thus, a lot more difficult to navigate. i can understand the feelings of betrayal playing a role, but catra has no right to blame everything on adora after the latter gave her multiple chances to join her. at this point, the conflict seems forced.

it's as if catra is living in a distorted reality, where "come with me" means "i hate you and i'm abandoning you". or, for a more simpler explanation, catra doesn't want to be with adora, she wants adora to stay with her and humor her. which, of course, turns the entire relationship toxic, because adora is her own person and should have the freedom to make her own decision.

again, this brings us to how well the dragon prince does this trope. when confronted with the fact that rayla wants to sacrifice herself guarding zubeia, callum gets angry at first.

Rayla: All of this happened because my parents ran away, so I have to stay and defend the Dragon Queen.

Callum: But you can't face an entire army by yourself, you'll...

Rayla: Die? Probably. But if I die, I'll just be paying the price they should've paid a long time ago. Just... remember me, okay? Goodbye, Callum.

Callum: Really? So, that's it? Just... goodbye. You're going to stay here and die out of pride?

Rayla: It's not pride, Callum! It's more than that. It goes deeper.

Callum: Oh? Do you have a nicer word for it? Honor? Redemption? It's just pride!

but after a bit of reflection and finding out the truth about rayla's parents, he gives her the freedom to choose.

Callum: They didn't run. They fought. To the end. They saved the egg! We're here and Zym is alive all because of them.

Rayla: What does this mean? What should I do?

Callum: I don't know. But it's your choice. No one else's.

Rayla: We should decide together.

callum obviously still doesn't want rayla to die, but he understands that it's her choice to make. and at this point, rayla is calm enough to rethink her choices and make a wise decision. this is how it should have been done. this is how you write a healthy relationship.

the third act conflict in s5 of spop could have been done like this, instead of catra making it all about herself and whining about adora choosing shadow weaver over her. yes, she went back to adora in the end but it was still with selfish intentions. it was less "i don't want adora to die" and more "i don't want adora to leave me".

spop is just one simple misunderstanding stretched out. if catra had taken some time to think about her situation and what would be best for both her and adora, none of this would have happened. but instead, she holds a grudge on adora for something she wasn't responsible for.

A Good Redemption:

any villain/antagonist that are going to be redeemed needs this, but especially if they are to be paired with one of the heroes. you can't just have the villain do one (1) good deed, mutter a short apology, and call it a day. you also can't make all the other characters immediately forgive said villain because you can't be arsed to write a realistic redemption.

in my opinion, there are 4 stages that encompasses a good redemption arc:

realization: the stage where the character is hit with the realization that they have been a horrible person. either someone calls them out on their bs or maybe they befriend someone who inspires them to change. whatever it is, this is the turning point.

reflection: the character reflects on their past and their behaviour. guilt and conscience must be shown here, through words or actions. the character figures out the best way to fix all the damage they've caused.

growth: a sincere apology is necessary. this means that the character apologizes without a. justifying their actions b. shifting the blame to someone else or c. playing the victim. it doesn't have to be a long apology, it just has to be sincere and heartfelt. not to mention, the character must of course put in work to actually follow up on their apology. an apology alone doesn't mean anything.

acceptance: this refers to the reaction of the other characters. acceptance does not necessarily mean forgiveness. it just means that they respect the villain for redeeming themselves or that they even consider the villain as a friend, even if they haven't forgiven them.

i'm sure you're all sick of hearing about how wonderful zuko's redemption arc was, so here are some honorable mentions on how to pull off a good redemption arc:

peridot: probably the only good redemption arc in steven universe. the only person who is at least a little compassionate towards her is steven, the rest of the crystal gems don't forgive her until she unlearns her prejudice and proves herself to be a valuable friend. her redemption arc takes several episodes and doesn't hinge on a romantic relationship.

grace monroe: each season of infinity train only had 10 episodes, yet they successfully redeemed a character within one season. what was that excuse about spop being cut short and not having enough time for development? grace starts off a lot like catra - manipulative, selfish and leading a destructive cult. but over the course of the series, she begins to question her choices and morality, and is on the right path by the finale. she doesn't even get forgiven by the person she hurt, she simply has to accept that and move on.

soren: not the best redemption arc, but it's good enough. soren rarely posed a real threat to the protagonists, since he wasn't a powerful mage like his sister, but he starts off as a lot more apathetic than claudia. over the course of the series, he realizes how horrible his father is and joins the protagonists. he is admittedly forgiven a little sooner than the other characters mentioned here but then again, he was just the villain's sidekick.

alice "daisy" tonner: (art by @starapture ) not a cartoon character but god, TMA did this redemption arc SO WELL. daisy was a horrible person. she is a cop who frequently engaged in police brutality and allegedly murdered many people. after getting disconnected from her entity, she goes through an identity crisis and extreme guilt. she couldn't really undo any of her previous actions, all she could do is stop and try to be a better person. and she does that. by the end of it, she basically sacrifices herself and though the main character had befriended daisy after her redemption, he still admits that he does not forgive her for trying to murder him. this series understood the assignment, forgiveness is not a necessary part of redemption. forgiveness is a choice; regardless of whether people will forgive you, you should be working on yourself.

none of these are EXACTLY like catra and adora. but they are good examples to take inspiration from. if i were to rewrite catra's and adora's relationship, there are a few things i would change:

they would not be adoptive sisters, but simply childhood friends. or preferably, they were just cadets who kind of knew each other, but didn't really have a deeper connection.

catra doesn't join adora because either she is scared to leave the horde, or she still believes that the horde is doing the right thing (instead of knowingly supporting them like she did in canon).

catra doesn't take as much pleasure in torturing adora. she only fights adora when necessary and tries to hold back a little.

after the portal thing, instead of spiralling further into the evil path, catra starts to redeem herself.

adora and the others don't forgive catra immediately. they don't coddle her and accept her as their bestie. like zuko and many other characters who were redeemed well, catra needs to prove herself to them before she could be forgiven or accepted.

#op i know you wanted me to mention the whole “friends on opposing sides” thing but i couldn't really find a good example of that #anne and sasha are the only ones i know and sasha's redemption wasn't very good either imo #spop critical #spop #spop salt #spop criticism #spop discourse #she ra #anti catradora #anti catra #anti c//a #antic//a #anticatra #anticatradora

[loveryss]

Would it be awful if I skipped Aspen's childhood and went straight to her late teens/ya life? 😩😩 I just feel so stuck and uninspired rn

#in a way I'd be sad about skipping so much time #because it would be nice to see her grow up and all #not to mention Erin & Sasha's adventures #but I'm not feeling it rn #I could do a collage kind of thing of the time skip? #to show what has happened #I'm very excited about what I have planned for aspen #loveryrambles