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What are the major things to think about when writing a redemption arc<small>?</small>
<small>1. Character begins arc as themselves 2. Character has several encounters that force them to think about who they are and what they’re doing 3. Character realizes they need to redeem themselves partially 4. Character attempts redemption 5. Character realizes change isn’t enough and may suffer a setback because they don’t see any point in change 6. Character realizes change is necessary 7. Character wholeheartedly sets out on reform 8. Character has opportunity to stop their redemption and return to previous state; they refuse 9. Character redeems self (based on this post)</small>[adrotate group="5"]Jane Espenson also posted this on her twitter, back in June.
Storytelling is about arcs because characters change. And if we believe that, we believe people can change. Better to educate than condemn.
— Jane Espenson (@JaneEspenson) June 1, 2014
I think there’s a general rule when it comes to storytelling, if your characters don’t evolve or change, the reader tends to get bored with said character. Because what’s the point then of following a character from the beginning of a story to the end? Besides the plot, it’s to see how the character changes and evolves over time. It’s character growth. A character is not fascinating to watch if said character stays stagnant and doesn’t change.
And here’s another fanfiction term or two, Mary Sues and Gary Stu’s. These are characters who are flawless to a tee and the author purposely writers them that way. The problem with Mary Sues and Gary Stu’s because they are flawless, there’s nothing relatable about them. All of the characters on Once are flawed, good and bad. I haven’t seen one character on this show who closely resembles a Mary Sue or Gary Stu and that’s because everyone is flawed. So when a Oncer claims, or says something even remotely close that Character A hasn’t done anything bad, it’s simply not true because we’ve seen it! Villains would not need redemption if they hadn’t done something bad.
…despite Belle’s assessment of his heart!
That always bugged me. And still bugs me when I watch that episode. I’m sorry, but I’m glad Hook shot Belle. She’s just so blinded (stupid) by her love. How can she still think the sun shines out of Rumpel’s proverbial, esp in light of what Hook told her about how Milah died? I am totally with Hook when he asks ‘how can you fight for a man like that?’ That’s a damn good question. She thinks Rumpel has reformed, but he hasn’t. He’s still a lying and manipulative <insert-expletive-here>. Just because he hasn’t got his ugly exterior any more doesn’t mean he’s still not ugly on the inside. Hook’s heart definitely not rotten but I think the jury is still out on Rumpel’s. (Yeah I know it’s not about CS, but I needed to get that off my chest)
To be fair to Belle, a guy who she only met once before and tried to kill her has now just targeted her again and stolen the one thing that would enable Rumple to find his son. I don’t blame her for disliking the guy. Why would she immediately believe Hook, the guy who tried to kill her, over Rumple? Belle is on better terms with Hook now but at the time he’d just pointed a gun in her face so I can’t blame her for being all “your heart is rotten”. Hook then shot her over the town line so she’d lose her memory. Hook got off very lightly if the worst he got from Belle was an insult. Belle was obviously going to take Rumple’s side over Hook’s because he was her true love, to expect otherwise would be unrealistic.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of Felix…despite Belle’s assessment of his heart!
That always bugged me. And still bugs me when I watch that episode. I’m sorry, but I’m glad Hook shot Belle. She’s just so blinded (stupid) by her love. How can she still think the sun shines out of Rumpel’s proverbial, esp in light of what Hook told her about how Milah died? I am totally with Hook when he asks ‘how can you fight for a man like that?’ That’s a damn good question. She thinks Rumpel has reformed, but he hasn’t. He’s still a lying and manipulative <insert-expletive-here>. Just because he hasn’t got his ugly exterior any more doesn’t mean he’s still not ugly on the inside. Hook’s heart definitely not rotten but I think the jury is still out on Rumpel’s. (Yeah I know it’s not about CS, but I needed to get that off my chest)
To be fair to Belle, a guy who she only met once before and tried to kill her has now just targeted her again and stolen the one thing that would enable Rumple to find his son. I don’t blame her for disliking the guy. Why would she immediately believe Hook, the guy who tried to kill her, over Rumple? Belle is on better terms with Hook now but at the time he’d just pointed a gun in her face so I can’t blame her for being all “your heart is rotten”. Hook then shot her over the town line so she’d lose her memory. Hook got off very lightly if the worst he got from Belle was an insult. Belle was obviously going to take Rumple’s side over Hook’s because he was her true love, to expect otherwise would be unrealistic.
I’m not saying she should necessarily believe him right away, but if she just asked Rumple “Hey, so you mentioned that your first wife died…did you skip the part about your having murdered her because she had the audacity to leave you when you were a terrible husband and made her life miserable?” I do think her reaction to that was not realistic, or at least not healthy. I’d be very concerned if I found out a guy I was in love with had murdered his first wife…
Oh, and regarding the whole redemption thing…Hook haters keep saying that he only did good things in order to “win” Emma. That’s obviously not true because he doesn’t even tell her what he’s done. First of all when he saved Charming’s life in Neverland–yes, he said “I didn’t do it for you, mate”, but then when they do get back to the group, Hook wasn’t even going to bring it up at all. It was Charming who was all “Hook saved my life!” even though Hook said “are you sure you want to bring this up?”. And yes he then tried to get Emma to kiss him, but I got the impression that it was just his usual flirty joking around and he didn’t actually expect her to do it. I mean, who grabbed the lapels of whose jacket? It seems to me that if he did save him for Emma, then it was in an “I-love-you-so-I-don’t-want-you-to-lose-the-father-you-just-found” way, not an “I-want-to-win-points-to-get-in-your-pants” way.
And the same applies to trading the Jolly Roger for a magic bean…if he’d done it to get credit with Emma, he would’ve brought it up himself and kept talking about it whenever possible, trying to make her feel guilty that he gave up his ship and she’s not making a big enough fuss over him. But again, he only even told Emma because she asked and he had no choice. He didn’t even mention it when he was first telling the story, she had to keep asking. (“How did you get your hands on a magic bean?” “Okay, what was so valuable that you could trade it for a bean?”) If he was trying to use the fact that he’d sacrificed his home for her as a way to make her feel obligated to return his affections, he was doing a REALLY lousy job of it.
So yeah…I had to get that out because I’m sick of some of these stupid arguments, haha. 🙂
I totally agree @epona — and Emma was the one more often, who asked what he did in the Enchanted Forest during the lost year in 3B. And let’s not forget the prostitute scene from The Jolly Roger. He faked excitement for his crew but as soon as he was alone with her outside, he gave her money and walked away. Does that sound like a man who’s only after sex? And the haters when that came out in the teaser were like, ‘See! He’s not being loyal to Emma!’ And then I think it was the second sneak peak, we got the full scene of what happened and Hook walked away.
(Back “in the day”, Mary Sue was also used to describe a character put into fanfic that very closely resembled the author of the fanfic, encompassed their personal fantasies/dreams with the character involved and was decidedly, preciously perfect. (grin) I think it started with Star Trek of all things. It was not a complimentary term in any way)
When it comes to Belle, I am decidedly biased. The actress’ voice and facial expressions grate on my nerves and I think her character does and says way too many dorky, dense things in comparison with the animated Belle, who is a favorite of mine. I love Rumple’s wickedness and Gold’s quiet, very self assured darkness. It is a testament of Carlyle’s acting abilities that he appears to fit with Belle at all. She always “believes” in him but does he believe in her? Considering his easy lies, his respect for her is questionable. That may change (as in character arc) for her in season 4. We’ll see.
Hook has to take personal accountability for his past uglier actions with anyone, and he seems quite able to do that. He didn’t punch himself out in the finale just because he was drunkenly enjoying a wench. It was personal (pun intended)
In regards to Hook Haters. Pfffft. He doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone who has depth! Their opinions just don’t matter. The most verbal are desperate to make others hate all things Hook (and Emma and Jennifer and A&E) for trumped up, outrageously ugly projection and mouth-twisting sour grape reasons. The majority of what I have seen or read comes from whining killjoys whose personal (dare I say Mary Sue?) fantasies have been dashed because Neal is dead and Hook isn’t…or they have had a lousy experience in life and they project their anger onto Hook.
Hook was never Neal and thank-you for that, A&E. They both play(ed) specific roles in the life of Emma Swan. They both had substantial personalities for very different reasons.
Fans are entitled to embrace the characters they love, but without shredding some other character or attempting to make other fans feel like scum because they love someone else. Otherwise, they just look hateful and decidedly immature.
And enabling those haters is just feeding their hunger for bitter spew.
***Always in search of a good flock***
I’m not saying she should necessarily believe him right away, but if she just asked Rumple “Hey, so you mentioned that your first wife died…did you skip the part about your having murdered her because she had the audacity to leave you when you were a terrible husband and made her life miserable?” I do think her reaction to that was not realistic, or at least not healthy.
How would Belle know that Rumple was a terrible person and made Milah’s life miserable? She only had Hook’s word for it and since he’d just pointed a gun in her face and had tried to kill her in the library and in Regina’s cell……. I can see why Belle didn’t think much of Hook. Also the failure of Rumple and Milah’s marriage can’t solely be blamed on Rumple, Milah played her part as well.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of FelixAlso the failure of Rumple and Milah’s marriage can’t solely be blamed on Rumple, Milah played her part as well.
I agree.
More smoochies!!
The above could happen next season 🙂
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