#narrative exploration

A lot of talk has been had recently as of chapter 284 of both Endeavor and Bakugo’s “redemptions”, and how they seem to be leading up to some grand consequences for their actions, a final karmic retribution of sorts. People often talk about how these two characters have never had to “pay” for their actions, and that they have never had to face any real consequences. 

Of course, this notion is flawed from the surface all the way to the foundation. Not only have these two characters suffered quite a lot throughout their stay in the story, but the very notion that characters have to “face retribution” in order to become redeemed is an odd, troubling, and frankly reactionary idea that should be discarded as childish nonsense. 

To begin with the idea that Bakugo and Endeavor have not suffered due to the consequences of their actions, even a cursory glance at the story can immediately dispel these arguments. Bakugo, due to his abrasive nature and inferiority complex, spent much of the series losing over and over again. From the initial school training arc to the school festival, Bakugo’s flaws have resulted in him failing at his goals, whether they are beating Deku or fighting Todoroki at his full strength. His anger issues and “villainous” outward appearance even led to a terrorist organization kidnapping him, leading to a situation in which Bakugo spent a good length of time wracked in guilt and trauma over his actions, which he believed contributed to All Might’s fall. This all culminates in his failure in the Provisional License Exams, in which Bakugo’s failings again prevent him from reaching his ambitions. 

It is after his second confrontation with Deku that Bakugo’s development starts picking up real speed, with the next arc that centers around him showing that Bakugo is learning that looking down on those weaker than you will only lead to worse outcomes for yourself. Additionally, it is from here that we begin seeing Bakugo both act more cooperatively with his teammates and (occasionally) prioritize saving people over winning. This is shown when he acts as a cooperative unit with his teammates in the Joint Training Arc, and he is seen saving civilians in the Meta Liberation Arc and the Endeavor Internship Arc. 

When it comes to Endeavor, he is a character that is definitely a lot more contentious than Bakugo, for a number of reasons. For one, Bakugo is an “attractive” character to many of those who read this story, thus he is able to get a lot of leeway as compared to other characters. Additionally, he is a literal child, thus he is treated with a lighter moral weight by the “fandom”. The idea that being under the age of 18 somehow makes you less morally responsible for your actions than anyone arbitrary older than that age has always rubbed me the wrong way. Yes, younger people have a less complete and mature perception of the world, thus it is generally fairer to treat them lighter. However, there are countless adults who suffer from the same immaturity problems and developmental issues as young people do. That said, this is a bit of a tangent already.

From the moment All Might retires, Endeavor has already begun suffering for his actions. He has finally reached the position of number one hero... In the worst way possible : by default. The public is at best ambivalent about his position, and his tenure as the head hero has overseen a sharp rise in crime and disorder in society. What’s worse, as soon as Endeavor finally realizes the horrible things he’s done to his family, it becomes apparent that it’s far too little too late, as Natsuo literally can’t bear being in the same room as Endeavor and Shoto is consistently coldly professional to him. Fuyumi and Rei, the two that are more receptive to Endeavor, are a) doing it out a sense of longing for a “true family” and not particularly out of a sentimental attachment for Endeavor as a person or father, and b) in the case of Rei, not even wanting to see Endeavor. Can you imagine the impact of finally growing and learning from your horrific past mistakes, only to find out that these mistakes will never be able to be moved on from? Can you imagine resolving your pride and selfish desires, choosing to leave behind the family you want to rebuild, all so that they can live comfortably and in peace? Endeavor has almost constantly been suffering since the day All Might retired, and even though it absolutely cannot be said that he doesn’t deserve his suffering, it is in fact still suffering that is being dealt to him.

There is also another argument that centers around legal repercussions for actions committed by these characters, which is something that I both concede has not occurred and simultaneously state is literally of no narrative significance. If these were in fact real people in the real world, there would be a compelling argument that Endeavor deserves to serve time in prison for his abusive behavior. However, appropriate legal punishments are not equivalent to self improvement by the method of narrative punishments. How the fuck would a jail sentence improve Endeavor’s moral character any more than it already has improved? For those who are actually making the claim that these characters should have in universe been given legal repercussions for their actions (as well as those who, hilariously, use Endeavor’s lack of legal consequences as proof that the heroes are bad), Endeavor’s actions are literally unknown to the general public. Additionally, bullying among students is pretty standard in Japan, while it is certainly not a good thing. Furthermore, I really don’t see the point in arguing about “physical violence” in terms of characters in a superhero story throwing around explosions like nothing (I am talking about Bakugo’s more abrasive nature, not Endeavor’s actual physical violence against his children, the latter of which is meant narratively to hold actual weight). People in this universe are obviously a lot more durable than people in our universe. Accept that this is a fictional story with unrealistic aspects, and that in order to critically examine it, you need to accept its basic premises at face value without assuming things using the outside world. 

Now to move to my actual argument, I see so many people obsessed with the idea of “bad” characters having to go through some sort of “trial” or “punishment” in order to become redeemed - as if that’s the way people work. While this may come as a surprise to some, bad people are in fact capable of becoming better human beings without experiencing any sort of karmic retribution. In fact, I would say that the resolve to become better, even without some outside force pushing upon you, is a far harder and meaningful journey than one in which you’re simply pummeled and punished into waving a white flag. It reminds me of the trope “defeat means friendship”, in which the protagonists defeat (typically physically) an enemy, thus converting that enemy into an ally or friend of sorts. 

Think about it like this: would you be more willing to forgive someone who committed a terrible crime, served no time in prison for it, but nonetheless learned from their mistakes and genuinely became a better person.... or someone who committed a terrible crime, served decades in prison, and then came out none the wiser to their own actions?

What makes this situation even funnier is that many of the people demanding karmic retribution for these characters’ actions would, in real life, be advocating for justice reforms that lean towards “rehabilitation” rather than “retribution”. In fact, it has pretty much been proven that rehabilitation is almost universally more effective at actually changing the mindsets of people as opposed to retribution. 

Well, I guess there is no helping it and I’ll just have to rely on my lack of ability to explain things to hopefully make myself understandable.

To wit, I happen to enjoy the perceived one-note-ness of Sonic and Amy. Now before anyone gets it into their heads that I’m taking digs at the two of them (honestly them along with Metal and Eggman are my favorites in the franchise so bear with me) I would like to highlight that when handled well, one-note-ness in a character is actually a very useful narrative tool.

I would hope if you’ve read this far already you have an idea as to where I’m going with this, but if not here goes anyway. The great use that one note characters provide to a narrative is actually multi-fold and requires understanding an anchoring concept. I won’t bother trying to fully flesh out that idea here, but effectively a note character, frequently accused of also being static and unchanging is actually able to serve as a narrative rock who holds other characters together with their stability and reliability. Both in and out of universe they are a point of stability that the characters come to expect. When overused it can become rather stale to be sure, but when understated enough it just becomes part of the world. It’s expected. When you see that character you know what to expect. Of course then when your expectation is betrayed your emotions are a lot stronger. For example, if a show is churning along at a slice of life pace and when things get serious they off the comic relief first it surprises you because it betrays your expectations. Suddenly the stability is gone and the narrative feels like it is in chaos because of that one simple betrayal of expectations. But it doesn’t even have to be so extreme of a betrayal to work. A subtle betrayal of expectations works just as well.

So lets look at Sonic and Amy and what makes them both one note points of stability. If you really have a firm grasp of the characters it might actually be harder to recognize because all of their nuances really stand out to you and you spot them everywhere. In Sonic and Amy’s case they even both have distinct character vices born from some of those nuances though their primary vices are their cheekiness and bratiness respectively. But when it comes to being one-note, for Sonic it is his chill, laid back, and in control personality while Amy though frequently having her obsession with Sonic mistaken for it (though it can be used as well depending on the narrative) is energetic, bubbly, and always positive (IDW forgot to establish this before breaking her down in the Zombot Arc but we’ll get to that later). No matter what is going on Sonic will appear relaxed and in control and Amy will be full of energy and have faith that everything will turn out okay. You can (or at least used to be able to) always expect this out of the two them. Chill and cheerful. Even their color schemes of blue and pink evoke these expectations form them. So what happens then when you betray these expectations. One word. Tension.

Though it could be overused itself, in both Sonic and Amy’s case when the expectation is betrayed their playfulness disappears and they both become more serious and focused. Depending on the degree of the betrayal of expectations you could even be really taken aback by Sonic’s rarely seen temper and indignation or you could actually see Amy not showing any energy (as a Genki Girl it actually is part of the trope that Amy is built on so it shouldn’t be too surprising but the rarity and timing of it’s use can really leave an impact). In these moments you suddenly realize that things are no longer stable, the expected has become taken for granted and you don’t know what to expect. The Sonic OVA played with this really well as Sonic actually lost to Metal Sonic in their first clash. In fact without help he was on the ropes in their rematch as well which nicely betrays Sonic’s tendency to always win. You expect it, but when Sonic needs bailed out like happens on numerous occasions in the OVA (and in his aforementioned defeat no one was able to bail him out) your expectations are lost and you don’t know how he is going to win. This creates anticipation and as a member of the audience every little thing suddenly becomes hype inducing. For the characters in universe it becomes a sign to step up or that things have become extremely dire. Their desperateness and dread only further fuels the anticipation the audience feels. And all of this comes about from a simple shift in expectations, a powerful narrative tool unique to so called “one-note” characters. And before anyone quips up about underdogs, the underdog role itself is a one-note trope of being expected to lose and either betraying that expectation to the point of cheapening it or getting frequently bailed out.

Taking all of the above into consideration, it is why I have been miffed to an extent with IDW!Sonic. The one thing it failed to do was set the expectations before betraying them with the Zombot Arc. It’s why things like Amy’s exhaustion feels hollow as we never had it established how energetic and positive she was. It also makes the whole scenario feel off key as Sonic has already been established as always winning in the end without any major setbacks to imply he can lose. Even his capture at Eggman’s hands feels meaningless unless you are very familiar with his character and history. The inability to use Infinite and the Phantom Ruby also hurts as being able to highlight that an indirect and world altering threat can defeat Sonic the threat of the Zombots feels alien to the established setting and characters. This can work though if expectations of the characters have already been established. As IDW!Sonic never really did as the aim was just to jump straight into the action the lack of concrete expectations undermines the narrative. However, if Sonic had been played up as “one-note” up to this point even in the little time presented by the narrative there would be enough expectations out of Sonic to be surprised by his reactions and lack of overall composure and chill. Alas, IDW!Sonic has not had that benefit either and as a result feels incomplete as a character in the narrative, or at least that’s how I feel.

And it is those very feelings that allows me to appreciate the one-note-ness of Sonic and Amy. When their one-note presentations becomes a point that I comfortably take for granted even the most subtle of changes in the nuance of their actions carries weight. As I mentioned above with Amy you can use her crush on Sonic to highlight a change in atmosphere by her not reacting to his arrival by being joyous. Sonic Adventure captured this well with her interrupting Sonic and Gamma’s clash. Sonic was taken aback enough to look openly confused implying that he understood the situation needed more thought and allowing the audience to understand the different weight of the situation. This is actually further supported by how Amy acts up to that point from Sonic’s point of view (and even Amy’s to an extent) as he pretty much gushes about Sonic, gets distracted by the idea of going on a date even in the middle of a chase, proudly proclaims Sonic to be her hero, and even rather openly implies that the two of them are a couple despite Sonic’s responses. So when she suddenly gets in his way and is not gushing, is not being energetic, and is not propping Sonic up, it gives huge weight to that moment. But none of this works without relying on the expectations one has of her and Sonic due to their “one-note” presentation.

There’s a new trailer out for the game I’ve been working on with my team over at Paralune. If there’s anyone out there wondering why I’ve been so quiet, this is the reason (have I said this before?). I’ve posted about it a few times sporadically, but we can finally start showing the game off and what it’s all about!

Here’s a little breakdown: 

The game's called Mythic Ocean. It's about befriending a pantheon of gods, influencing them, and determining the fate of the cosmos. We call it "Narrative Exploration" -- it's sort of like a branching Visual Novel, but also has full freedom of movement as you explore the ocean and encounter charming critters. There's no death, combat, or failure. You also play a role in the storytelling, as the outcomes are all highly unique to you.

Do you love story-based games but wish your choices actually mattered, instead of always boiling down to obvious "good" and "evil" decisions? Do you love games where you fight intimidating, godlike monsters (Dark Souls, Shadow of the Colossus) but wish you could make friends with them instead of fighting them, for once? That's the experience we're trying to create.

We've come a long way in development and we're releasing Mythic Ocean this year!

If you want to know more and follow along with the development, check out our site MythicOceanGame.com or wishlist the game on Steam! Also, come hang out with us on our Discord, it's a positive and fun little community.

Exploring Taiwan: A Journey Through Layers of Culture TAIWAN TRAVELOGUE is an evocative narrative penned by Yang Shuang-zi, with an engaging translation by Lin King. The story revolves around Aoyama Chizuko, a Japanese novelist embarking on a year-long adventure in Taiwan, accompanied by O Chizuru, a talented translator who possesses a profound understanding of the island’s diverse cultural…

(cont.) // Note: Those events could happen during Riverdale S2.//

Prepare for narrative possibilities and ranting!