As Much As I Love OG Anime Masaya, He Always Felt Too... Perfect? You Know What I Meant? Great At Sports,

As much as I love OG Anime Masaya, he always felt too... perfect? You know what I meant? Great at sports, great at school, etc. But even though Manga Masaya is like that too, there was something else I liked about him and I just realized why:

THAT BOY IS DENSE

Seriously, take one look at this boy:

Does this look like a boy intelligent enough to figure out that his girlfriend is a catgirl superhero? No. This is a beautiful dumbass of a boy, and he deserves his blissful ignorance.

Really, he is at his peak when the story allows his natural dense nature to appear.

Exhibit A: Masaya with a handkerchief:

Exhibit B: Masaya's idea of a perfect date

Exhibit C: Masaya's rationale for Ichigo's behaviour

Exhibit D: Masaya vibing with the other Mews' weird quirks

Exhibit E: Masaya vs Cat!Ichigo

Good lord, even Not-the-Brightest-Bulb Ichigo knows how clueless he is:

Ladies and gentleman, this man right here is an all-powerful evil dictator who could absolutely wipe out Earth!

Reflections on Redemption Arcs

When I think of some of the best redemption arcs I’ve seen in fiction, I’m struck by the fact that so many of them are for Ineffectual Sympathetic Starter Villains. There’s Jamack in Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Orange-kun in Code Geass, Tae-jun in Yona of the Dawn, and Yoki in Fullmetal Alchemic. And I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

When writing a redemption arc, the writer needs to really understand what drives the villains to their villanry. For literally all of the above, it’s the desire for power and the willingness to hurt others to obtain that power. (This isn’t the only villain motivation possible, of course, but it’s a tried and true one.) Now, for villains motivated by the desire for power and their willingness to hurt others to obtain that power, three things need to occur for a successful redemption arc.

1.) They need to have a moment (or moment(s)), where they have to take a good hard look at themselves and recognize that they need to change their behavior. For Jamack, it’s when Kipo tells him he needs to do some self-reflection. (And then, later, when she kicks him down that hole.) For Orange-kun, it’s learning that Lelouch and Zero are one in the same. For Tae-jun, it’s him discovering that Yona isn’t dead and him (for the first time in his privileged life) seeing that peasants are a.) people who b.) are lacking basic necessities. Yoki’s is probably the haziest here; it’s less one specific moment and more a gradual change as he finds he has no where else to go except for with Scar. But there are two moments of note here. One is when Yoki emphasizes with Scar’s loss (the first time we see him think of anyone other than himself). And the other, of course, is when he chooses to fight Pride despite the dangers. (To make it clear, this isn’t a criticism of the writing of Yoki in Fullmetal Alchemist. The points I’m describing are a summation. Specific variations are going to occur.)

2.) They need to give up the power they were willing to hurt others to obtain. Jamack joins the theatre, Orange-kun retires to an orange farm (which, in his eyes, has gone from being a Fate Worse Than Death to being a Happy Ending), Tae-jun gives up on trying to force Yona to marry him, and Yoki joins the circus.

3.) They need to be useful. Jamack rescues Kipo and her friends, Orange-kun joins with Zero, Tae-jun improves things in the Fire Tribe and helps Yona prevent a war, and Yoki saves everyone from Pride . (Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains automatically get +10 to competence upon becoming good guys.)

The nature of Starter Villains is that they don’t have to function as villains after the initial story arc. That frees them up to engage in 1.) Self-reflection. It’s exceedingly difficult to have a villain both engage in self-reflection and serve as the primary antagonistic threat at the same time.

The nature of Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains is that they suffer gloriously for our entertainment, which means they basically are halfway to 2.) Giving Up Power just as a matter of course.

So it’s just a matter of writing 3.) Being Useful.

Thus, Ineffectual Sympathetic Starter Villains are primed for redemption arc, simply by their function of being Ineffectual Sympathetic Starter Villains.

There’s something else that works to the benefit of Ineffectual Sympathetic Starter Villains, and that’s that their list of evil deeds usually isn’t too extensive, which comes from a combination of them being incompetent and them only needing to function as villains for a short time. See, the eviler a villain is, the more time needs to be spent on their redemption arc.

Let’s look at other varieties of redemption arcs. Both Tacroy from The Lives of Christopher Chant and Dr. Marcoh from Fullmetal Alchemist have solidly written redemption arcs. And in both cases, they aren’t required to function as the primary antagonistic threat for the duration of the story. Dr. Marcoh’s evil deeds occurred in the past. Tacroy is a minion with too many bosses.

What about villains that are the primary antagonistic threat? Well, if I look at the ones that are well done - Shuri from Basara, Zuko from Avatar: the Last Airbender, and it looks like Scarlemagne from Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts - all of them cease being the primary antagonistic threat at just about the time their redemption arcs kick into gear. And that’s important because, having been the primary antagonistic threat, they require more attention for their redemption arc. Shuri gets ten volumes of content. Zuko gets a solid season and a half. Scarlemagne, it looks like, is getting the third season. (I haven’t finished Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts at the time of writing this.)

And when I look at villains who got badly-done redemption arcs - such as the Snow Queen in Once Upon a Time or Kylo Ren in the sequel Star Wars trilogy - part of the issue is that they’re tasked with being the primary antagonistic threat for much of the story. For the Snow Queen, she’s the villain right up until the very end of that story arc, which is why her half-assed redemption arc is probably the worst I’ve ever seen. And with Kylo Ren, the writers first killed off Snoke to make Kylo Ren an even more primary antagonistic threat and then had to resurrected Palpatine so that someone else could take over the primary antagonistic role from Kylo Ren. (The Star Wars sequel trilogy had a major problem with not having a cohesive vision. This is also why Kylo Ren is Supreme Leader in The Rise of Skywalker…and then spends much of the movie ignoring his job.)

Actual Conversation about Inviting Mike Newton to the Wedding

Bella: Should we invite Mike? I mean, he's been a friend, but it also seems a little mean...

Edward:

Edward: No, we should definitely invite him.

Edward: Actually, we should give him a front row seat for that matter!

favorite manga [5/?] legend of basara by yumi tamura

“you did nothing! while your people were suffering you did nothing! for a man with so much power such incompetence is a sin. did you even try to improve yourself? did you even lift a finger while your country was in chaos? we all worked hard, we fought to live through loss and death. could you say the same of your life? did you even make an effort? did you fight? did you struggle? did you follow your heart? did you live a life you could be proud of? what did you do with your life?”

I resolve one day to write the strangest Tam Lin retelling this world has ever seen

Which is because a) I have an idea for it and b) the competition is fierce and I intend to be the victor triumphing above the odds

I've seen increasing buzz around here about Howl's Moving Castle (book). I think you all deserve to know that all of Diana Wynne Jones's books are filled with characters and plots that are absolutely as delightful and unhinged as that one.

Some Actual Plots include:

Dogsbody - The star Sirius is accused of murder and sentenced to exile on Earth in the body of a dog until he finds a magical item called a Zoi. He's adopted by a young Irish girl living with her abusive and neglectful English relatives. He has to balance his desire to find the Zoi with needing to be a Good Dog for the girl who takes care of him. Also the Wild Hunt is there. Hexwood - A girl finds a magical wood behind her house where she meets a wizard who thinks he's a convict of the intergalactic government, a boy created by the man to destroy said government, and a robot found in a junk heap. The magic wood is actually an alternate reality being generated by an AI who has a grudge to settle with the head of said government. The book is about abuse, PTSD, and trauma. The Dark Lord of Derkholm - Magical world is being destroyed by a company using it as an isekai amusement park for people from another dimension. Bio-wizard is appointed Dark Lord for the year, and he and his family (four of whom are bioengineered griffins) have to find a way to survive the season while everything is going wrong. Deep Secret - Interdimensional detective/diplomat/wizard needs to find a replacement for his deceased mentor. He does so at a fantasy convention, while trying to keep an interdimensional empire from collapsing into civil war after the emperor is assassinated along with all of his heirs.

She's an absolute master at weaving fantasy elements into the mundane world and writing from the PoV of kids. Her books are funny, clever, and full of delightful characters. I'm begging you all to check them out.