User blog:Corbierr/Character Arcs That Should Have Happened- Part One



'''Hey guys, I just started thinking today more about each character. One of the biggest issues is, of course, that the show skimped out on the development. Well, let's say the characters were given development arcs. These are some of the things that should have happened as a result. '''

'''-This is part one. Part two will come on Monday or Wednesday! This one focuses on the Original Sibunas-'''

Nina- Should have learned to fight for herself
To be fair to Nina, she was going through a lot more shit than anyone deserves to, and the show made a point about how she was determined to keep her friends from harm (whether or not that actually did anything in the long run is up for debate). But what we saw most was her friends protecting  ''her. '' ...And yeah, like I said, the girl was going through a rough time and she deserved to have people standing by her. But, imagine how much more satisfying it would have been if she didn't just rely on her friends all the time, and learned to stand up for herself as well as for them when the time came? The perfect opportuinity would be after the Jack Jackal thing happened. During that time, she was basically just willing to forgive Joy immediately despite having been legitimately hurt by what was written. Meanwhile, her friends did all the work in defending her (even freaking Jerome and Eddie did!). Her friends seemed more offended and upset about this than Nina herself did. And we could make the argument that she genuinely wanted the rivalry to end and was willing to bury the hatchet when nobody else was... but even before that, with the whole kiss thing and everything Jabian ever,  she got angry and lashed out...at Fabian, who was really just the victim of the whole thing. Long story short, had she just stood up for herself and told Joy flat-out how she felt about these things, it would have been MUCH more satisfying!

Also...she's the goddamn protagonist! At some point, the heroes are supposed to take charge of their stories. NINA WAS PRETTY PASSIVE FOR MOST OF IT! She spent way too much time relying on her friends to help her out instead of learning to rely on her own strengths and virtues like real heroes do. Yes, Sibuna is there to help and balance each-other. Yes, the situation was one where Nina could NOT just control her own destiny because of a certain evil ghost. But she could have and should have been the one MOST DETERMINED to solve the mystery (it seemed like it was Fabian TBH) and she should have been able to at least do things without needing her friends every step of the way. A passive protagonist is okay...if they aren't the hero. Since Nina was the hero, she needed to change. And that's what her arc should have been.

Fabian- Should have learned the difference between assertive and aggressive
Fabian's arc in season 2 was learning to be less of a wimp and grow a spine. Which, well, he did. Except, he didn't...not really. He didn't become assertive like the show pretended he did, he became ''aggressive. ''Being aggressive is just as bad as being passive, if not worse. It's still a contributor to low self-esteem (or so I hear in health) and gets a person being defensive, feeling like they need to protect themselves because of others, when in reality they are the issue. The show messed up by acting like his new aggressive side was a good thing, which in some cases, it is. But passing it off as assertiveness was wrong. They acted like the only option was being a passive doormat or being aggressive and shout-y. Assertiveness is simply being able to calmly, but firmly, stand up for yoursef and others. According to health class, it makes you not only more respected, but it also can help contribute to a higher self-esteem. Fabian seemed to get higher self-esteem, which implies assertiveness, but his tempermental episodes are definitely signs of being aggressive.

My whole point is, yeah, maybe he was able to learn to stand up for himself more. But a much better arc would have been him learning genuine assertiveness. Have him start out acting aggressive, until he realizes he feels horrible about these things and how everyone becomes afraid of him when he flips his shit. From there, he could have struggled to learn to balance his kindness with his need to stand up for himself. In the end, he'll truly have become asserive. Yeah, he can get angry from time to time, just like all of us...but at least they will no longer be pretending he was assertive and not aggressive. And that's a good development arc.

P.S. Fabian is hot. (HAPPY HALEY?)

Amber- The exception to this blog
I tried HARD to think of what her arc should have been. Truth is, she already HAD a good arc. So, instead, I'll discuss that arc and why it worked so well. This arc was her learning to love Alfie for real, not because she was pressured into dating him or felt bad for him, or because the show decided to put them together just because. It was realistic. Started out dating him just because of the checklist, just to eventually break up with him (in the most hilarious way possible, I should add). And then...things happened. She began to be legitimately interested him, and instead of being jealous and petty about it, she actually became very respectful to his feelings...to an extent, of course. But even still, it was a genuinely good arc. It was legitimately one of the best handled character arcs and the best handled romance arc on the show.

So...A+ for Amber!

Patricia- Learning to accept her weaknesses
This one is something that should have been a given considering her whole reason for not wanting to date Eddie was that she didn't like feeling weak around him, which theoretically could give him power and make him get to her. But this arc NEVER HAPPENED. She never got over this, considering the reason she broke up with him (according to Jade). She managed to date him, but she never mastered the art of opening up emotionally, which just made things worse for her as time went on. A much, much better arc would have been Patricia struggling at first with her emotions and how Eddie makes her feel weak, like they had in canon. But then she'd realize that closing herself off and hiding her emotions is just making her and Eddie (and maybe her and her other friends) grow apart. She'd start trying more to accept that weakness is not inherintly bad, and instead of letting it ruin things, she should learn to overcome it, because true strength comes from a moment of weakness. Simply just admitting that being weak once in a while would not only be a good message, but also a great way for Patricia to...you know...develop and feel more comfortable with Eddie. Comfortable enough not to get jealous over a FUCKING FRESHMAN. *cough* and she could have used this arc to get some sense back into Joy, basically saying "You're feeling weak, so you're hiding, but that's not going to help you. You need to accept these sort of things...not fear them." Because Patricia herself was not being "weak", she was being afraid to open up. That's certainly a weakness, but it's not being weak. It's just something to own up to and overcome...

Alfie- Learning to be more in control
Alfie's was hard to figure out, but (after much whining on tinychat) I finally cracked the code. Alfie has always been the kind of person to just go with the flow. A lot of the time, he has been...not exactly pushed around or taken advantage of...but he has never really been the one to take charge of things. He tends to just do what others want him to, sometimes with complaint, but he will do it regardless. This is subtle, but I bet now that I've pointed it out, you all know what I'm saying. Alfie never really got to do any sort of leading. He was a big help and did many awesome things, but never really on his own whim. This was in all three seasons, most noticable in the beginning when he was getting pushed around by Jerome. But thing is, while he learned how to say "no" to Jerome when he had to, he never did that with anyone else. It's pretty much like Fabian only on a smaller scale, and never brought to attention.

What really should have happened was him being asked to do something he doesn't want to do...and maybe this time he tries to say no. But they convince him to do it anyways and things go horribly wrong. (ex: the weird phobia tunnel task, or the senet game). Angered and hurt, Alfie starts to refuse do to what they want him to unless they can prove it's not dangerous. He gets more and more assertive until he eventually ends up being able to convince other people to do things- he becomes more of a leader. Of course, not to where he can take over Sibuna. Just to where he can legitimately take control of his own life and not always be the pushover of the gang (He was more of a pushover than Fabian was, to be totally honest...)

'''So that's it for part one! What do you guys think? Stay tuned for part 1! '''

Links to things-

Character Analysis- Mara 

The Halloween Game- Chapter Two 

'''Also, make sure you check out Haley's first chapter of TTF! (I'd link it but at the time of writing this it has not yet been posted :P)'''

Thanks for reading everyone!