Character Breakdown - Tumblr Posts
Bless you for this post.
http://honxrable.tumblr.com/post/89126924286/okay-i-feel-the-need-to-do-a-little-rant-about-my
oKAY, I FEEL THE NEED TO DO A LITTLE RANT ABOUT MY FEELING HERE.
WE NEED TO DISCUSS THIS SCENE HERE, THIS SCENE IS SO IGNORED, BUT IT’S SO IMPORTANT OKAY. EVEN IF YOU DON’T SHIP ZUTARA, LIKE FROM A FRIENDSHIP PERSPECTIVE OR EVEN JUST SPEAKING FOR ZUKO’S CHARACTER, LET’S DISECT THIS A MOMENT,...
SERENA VAN DER WOODSEN
The story worth writing about Serena is that she still believes in love. She still believes happiness is waiting for all of us, and that our dreams are within our reach. She believes in goodness. She demonstrates goodness. She is full of hope and she delights in the hopefulness of others. That is what makes her golden.
I love love love people who talk during movies/shows!!! Oh, you have a theory about what is going to happen?! You want to do a character breakdown?! Please do!!! I can read subtitles and listen to you ranting at the same time!!! Better yet, let's pause the movie!!! You hate this character, why do you hate them?! You love this character, why do you love them?! Tell me!!! I don't tend to rewatch movies/shows but I will if you want to watch it with me and tell me what you think about it!!! You think this show is boring?! Tell me why?! How would you make it better?! You love this show?! Tell me why!! I want to know!!! (This rant may have been inspired by me reading @respectthepetty part-by-part reaction to LITA's prapaisky. Whoops. 😂)
Things I love about the developing characters on Origin SMP:
Ranboo is so fucking chaotic and it’s so subtle that it takes a while to notice when he up to shit. He’s just quietly disorderly and gives off such chill vibes. Imagine someone poking a hornets nest impassively, no emotion or reason to do it. No thoughts, just stirring the pot. That is Ranboo right now. Coolboo.
Tommy coming on and totally contrasting his usual attitude by wanting to mitigate the problems on the server before they spiral into wars and shit. That was the second warning. The first warning was Tommy’s reaction to his home being blown up. He should have either barely cared, or started screaming and blowing the whole incident out of proportion, not whatever the weak whining response he had was. The third warning was how he immediately went to contracting Phil and kept changing his cut in the contract. That was the only one anybody shouldn’t have noticed, because that can be written off as Tommy’s routine chaos. So now we have capitalist Tommy, responsible for what’s currently the biggest known crime on the server, while also being the owner of his superhero company and contractor of Philza, who is currently the only “law enforcement” on the server. He really just went, Okay, I’ll be ChickenInnit, but I’m also gonna be running this server bitches!
Philza... is honestly just vibing and playing the game like normal and I love that. His character is just standard dadza and it’s Pog. Crow father is the single best thing to happen, but even then it’s still more a gag and aesthetic than anything... for now.
Tubbo is just having fun and that is awesome. He’s been winging it this whole time. Him deciding to be a “villain” and transfering his platonic marriage to this server because, why not is a great development, because it’s just Tubbo’s out of character brand of chaos. Only now it’s canon to his character. He just wants to be allowed to fuck shit up if he feels like it and that’s that. Greatest example: helps Ranboo sell his (their?) land, so he has nukes, just in case.
Fundy... It’s like he took his normal antics and went, I’m a fox so I gotta be trouble bean, forgetting he’s already chaotic as fuck on a good day. He really dialed it all the way up a thousand. Total disregard for anyone’s feelings or property. All he know is Fox. It is the single most annoying thing I have ever seen, and somehow equal parts captivating. Fundy is casually doing actual server crime and he’s getting away with it... sort of. He clearly doesn’t actually care about his deal with Scott and will say anything so his den doesn’t get blown up, but the alliance could go somewhere. Also he short lol. Child.
Scott is actually making this server nice. He made them a community farm! He’s super OP and yet, all he’s doing nothing with that power, instead he’s vibing and making everything pretty. He’s what this server needs damnit! Also cool ass build to go with his cool ass origin story. He’s just so damn amiable all the time. But on the other hand, he does have an alliance of some sort with Fundy and owes Tubbo and Ranboo a favor... The potential of that is troubling.
Sneeg literally got netherite so fast. Everyone just here joking or cooing over his size and he’s built an entire tunnel system into all of their homes that only he can properly access. No one’s actually taking him seriously when he’s literally the henchman of the self proclaimed server villains and has a trident!!! He can and will kill. He’s ankle height, the most dangerous height. He will be their ruination. (But also literal coke addict ant. Very smol.)
Niki is so fucking adorable and Jack is chilling and it’s freaking great. Fshhh. Blazeboy. These two are literally just playing the game and I love them damnit!
Charlie is just bouncing along and cracking slime jokes. Low-key rping constantly, for the lols. It’s fantastic.
Techno... literally hasn’t streamed anything yet or chosen an origin officially. The only Techno content is from the one time he came on and other people streamed it. Which is in character, not gonna lie but also D:< The current idea of him being a humble human—nothing—on this server is interesting. But also, it’s negated by the fact he’s still Technoblade. Once he gets rich, He’s God.
Korra’s Growth (Book 3: Change)
In season three Korra is shown to be much more understanding of others right away when she connects with a random man who is scared at the top of a bridge. This is something that Korra wouldn’t have been able to do prior to the end of season two. It also shows her first major impact on the balance of the world with the return of the airbenders. She realizes that the airbenders where brought back through the opening of the portals during harmonic convergence and focuses on using it to help the world achieve balance instead of a notch in her status as an impactful avatar. She has become less focused on her possible legacy and comparisons to her past lives and instead focuses on how she can help now. The public reaction to her bothered her, but she didn’t let it drive her actions in this season like she did in past seasons. She actually thought her actions through and made sure her friends were in agreement with her and would help her before going through with a plan like in the Stakeout, In Harm’s Way, and Enter the Void. She even talks some sense into Lin over Lin’s misplaced anger alibi in her blunt straight to the point way. Korra’s emotional growth is on full display in this season. She has learned from her past actions and made a conscious effort to change. She is still emotional but has gotten much better at handling it and channeling it into the task at hand in a positive manner. This change culminates in her final decision, which she makes after seeking counsel from many other characters, to give herself up to Zaheer in exchange for the airbenders.
Her final decision to give herself up for the airbenders shows that she had really become a selfless avatar. She decides to give herself up knowing full well that she had a high chance of being killed. And for the first time in the series she is punished for a truly selfless act and is forced to endure physical and psychological torture. Her immense self doubt comes to the forefront as a result of this torture. It has been festering since the beginning, but until this point her end victory had always proven, at least to some extent, that she did have a place in the world. Through her enemies she has been told time and time again that the world would be better off without her, without the avatar. She starts to seriously doubt what it means to be the avatar and if the world really does need her. Being the Avatar has brought her nothing but pain. She has paid tolls that no one should have to, but, until this point, has kept moving forward in spite of them. Her enemies weren’t the people who pushed her over the edge during her internal crisis it was actually Tenzin. Korra is struggling to move forward after the traumatic events that the red lotus put her through and Tenzin’s final speech in season 3 echoes similar, unintentional, similarities to what the red lotus believed. In Tenzin’s speech during Jinora’s tattoo ceremony he declares that the new air nation will follow in Korra’s footsteps and step up and “take” her place in her absence working to bring peace to the world. It is one thing hearing her greatest fear from her enemies, but hearing it from someone she trusts and looks up to made her self doubt come crashing down on top of her. She is already at her lowest physically and mentally she was teetering on the edge. Tenzin’s statement made her think that her enemies were right, that the world didn’t need her, because it had people in it that could do her job for her. Zaheer preached that “new growth cannot exist without first the destruction of the old” and Korra feels like she is seeing the beginnings of a new force for change and balance through Jinora and the new air nation and that maybe the Avatar is the old, obsolete and unneeded . And in that moment she can’t hide the pain anymore and a single tear slips out. That single tear was Korra’s breaking point.
Korra has defined herself by being the avatar and once that is stripped of her she doesn’t know her place in the world or if her existence means anything. This book was about her becoming a more understanding and patient avatar but it was also about breaking down that avatar identity within her. She had begun to separate herself from the avatar subconsciously and was more able to put herself into other people’s shoes and understand others, but she continued to define her meaning in the world as being the avatar. As the avatar she has nigh infinite power within her universe which can make you distant from others especially if others around you constantly put you on that pedestal. Korra started the series having been put on that pedestal all her life while also being kept completely separate from the world and people she was supposed to bring balance to. This lead to her initial personality, attitude, and complete inexperience interacting with people. She is forced to experience the hardships that came as a result she managed to grow out of that previous mindset that was sort of forced upon her by her upbringing and be able to connect with everyday people, but to connect with her enemies she needed to discover how to define herself outside of being the avatar. She had to learn to define herself not only as a force for change but also as a force for balance. As in not every enemy needs to be defeated by force, but some can be understood and empathized with and brought down without force. That her enemies weren’t completely wrong in their philosophy and that to bring about balance their views can’t be entirely discarded. No one ideology has all the answers. And that comes with her journey for purpose and finding her own place in the world that starts out book four.