Sliding Scale Of Idealism Versus Cynicism / Fan Works

• Kanashī, Wütend, Desolato is an Alternate Universe Fic that starts off on the other side of the pendulum.
• The Better Bones AU falls somewhere in the middle, but leans towards idealism, noticeably more so than the books it is based on. Many idealists end up as Doomed Moral Victors (Deerfoot, Larkstripe and Ripplestar), falling prey to people who want to manipulate their goals for cynical ends (Sleekwhisker and the rest of the ShadowClan rebels) or suffering for their determination to change things until they completely break (Bluestar), but others like Firestar transform their society for the better in a way that sticks, even if they get eventually killed for it and the cruel mindsets they thought keep resurfacing as threats over and over again, unlike in the canon series where the thread of changing the system largely seems to be dropped. No one is inherently evil, unlike what is implied in canon, groups of foreigners can be negotiated with rather than canon's use of invading hordes that can't be reasoned with, and many characters change for the better, but it is also shown that some cats are Beyond Redemption because they choose not to change and trying to redeem them will only lead to heartbreak. Supernatural threats are often too powerful to be beaten, leading to the bad guy winning or sacrifices for a temporary victory. Many characters perform awesome and sometimes self-sacrificial acts of heroism that generally matter and achieve their intended goals. Honor Before Reason can sometimes pay off, but sometimes Violence Really Is the Answer. The resident Wide-Eyed Idealist, Tallstar, is not naive because of thinking he could improve the world but naive for not going far enough outside of his ingrained cultural mindset to make lasting change. The overall message is that cultures constantly change, whether for the better or for the worse.
• A Crown of Stars: The pendulum swung hard back and forth here. “A Throne of Bayonets” -the previous story- was as cynical as it gets. The After the End world was a nightmarish place inhabited by starving masses scavenging the ruins and ruled by blood-thirsty dictators. Shinji and Asuka were turned into war tools and Asuka was two dictators' sex slave for three years. Although they finally met again and were determined to stick together they were so burn-out than having a real relationship seemed impossible. The present story is fairly idealistic, though: Shinji and Asuka meet a powerful ally who is determined to set things right for them. They finally have help, start to repair their relationship, and prepare to other war, this time with a cause is actually worth fighting for, an army at their back and gods on their side.
• ''A Song of Metal and Marvels: With the strength of the Marvels moving the needle, this fic is already several notches up on the idealism scale. Fewer people overall have died, new characters are now part of the Game of Thrones world to act nobly in the face of misanthropy and cynicism, and some who die differently die in a more positive fashion. However, that darkness won't be too easily overcome, so there are still issues that are being worked out in the process.
• Advice and Trust: This story explores what could have happened changing a single event of the Eva canon. The result so far is a more idealistic story where the main characters learn to communicate and face their troubles together rather being unable to understand each other and falling apart due to loneliness, lack of communication and hurt.
• Hetalia: Axis Powers fanfic Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità: Between idealism and cynicism, this story is far to the idealism side, seeing as Germany and Japan agreed to share Italy, everyone accepted their relationship, and they were able to get married to each other.
• Last Child of Krypton: Shinji believes wholeheartedly that everybody have some good in them, a person can change fate, and courage and hope shall eventually triumph over fear and despair. Since he is Superman, he is proven right.
• Kings of Revolution shows what happens when the cynical world of Code Geass and the idealist world of Lyrical Nanoha blend. Their perspectives swtich.
  • To start with Code Geass, the supposedly Diabolical Mastermind wields a much friendlier power and has allies he can trust. And speaking of trust, he has become more stable and honest with himself, reinforcing his ties with the Black Knights. HE overall makes a lot more gains towards liberating Japan and suffers far less losses.
  • Whereas in Lyrical Nanoha, the TSAB utopia becomes shattered over the emerge of an international terrorist organization that appears under their nose and declares to the world that Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters. They kill Mages easily, practice Loophole Abuse and Pragmatic Villainy to avoid TSAB persecution, and deep corruption burrowed into the police force. Plus, the Alien Non-Interference Clause keep the heroines from helping the Japanese suffering under Britannian rule and former friends are bent on revenge against them.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: Genocide sits comfortably in the middle of the scale. The story is dark but hopeful, and although bad things happen, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
• Scar's Samsara has a very cynical main character as well as many dark scenes highlighting the crapsack nature of the setting, but the overall message is still very much on the idealistic side of the scale.
• Oyabun tends to slide up and down the scale but keeps the point of middle on the cynical side. Considering it's a story about Naruto's descent/ascent (depending on the reader) into the Yakuza and criminal underworld with a mess of Grey-and-Gray Morality, it's to be expected. It becomes jarring to watch the optimistic Naruto slowly becoming a I Did What I Had to Do-type Anti-Hero/Villain Protagonist who is a little disillusioned with the world. He even considers making plans to kill Konohamaru, Sakura, Sasuke and Hinata when they find out he's still alive (he had to fake his death upon joining the Yakuza). He's like Pain minus the God complex.
• Shinji and Warhammer40k and Fairly English Story are both cynical, with heroes that do awful things and who have significant character flaws. However, both have a brighter aspect in that however monstrous the heroes may be, they are dedicated toward making the world a better place and have the strength and skill to do so. In Shinji and Warhammer40k, this makes it slightly more idealistic than the original. Where Fairly English Story lands in relation to its parent source is...debatable.
• Superwomen of Eva 2: Lone Heir of Krypton: The Evangelion setting is dark. So what happens when you throw elements of the Superman canon in the mix? A character was a Broken Bird and a Child Soldier and whose Abusive Parents had broken her and turned into a terrified, lonely, fragile, angry little child that drove people away to not be hurt again and thought she was worthless unless she was the best at everything gained super-powers, learnt to be a real heroine and better person and set to make her world a better place.
• Thousand Shinji: It is hard telling what side of the scale this story falls into. On one hand, at the end of the history two billions of human beings have died and the survivors are ruled by dark gods that are preparing the human race for a war against a race of merciless murdering robots determined to kill everything. On other hand, it is a happier end than canon for both the main characters and humankind.
• Ranma ½ fanfics in particular are known for being more cynical than their source, often playing the more comedic elements straight.
• Miraculous: The Phoenix Rises is probably somewhere between Berserk and Warhammer 40,000 on the cynicism side of the scale. While mostly played for laughs, the story has the jackpot of Adults Are Useless, Humans Are Bastards, Crapsack World, and Humans Are Morons. Corruption s seen from virtually every authority shown.
• Necaberints Phalanx is an interesting case. It's military sci-fi with a child soldier set in the Gears of War universe and things keep getting worse. The main character has had a terrible life, like everybody else, and he's a going rather insane. It sounds like a complete wad of Dark Fic. It's actually rather cynical for a fic about a video game set in a post-apocalyptic hellhole where the good guys are Fascists. The themes of friendship, love, loyalty, camaraderie, and trust appear often and frequently, without the characters being True Companions, they would have all certainly died by now. It's a realistically idealistic work with cynicism jutting into it.
• A good study on the differing ends of the scale occurs in Tiberium Wars. On the one hand, the story is cynical itself, with cruelty, necessary evils, senseless death, and disturbing brutality and violence. This is shown particularly well in a brutal moment where a Nod officer has to execute his own wounded because they'll slow his able-bodied troops down while retreating. On the other hand, the story also shows compassion, loyalty, and friendship are powerful forces that can let leaders command their men successfully and can let the dog soldiers on the ground survive the worst. The idealistic side is shown in a scene where Commander Karrde addressed a unit that had been mauled under his command, asking for volunteers for a dangerous mission. He expects them to refuse or deride him for getting so many of the troops killed, only to have the entire unit volunteer, believing that his command was the only thing that got them out of the battle alive.
• Although never idealistic, With Strings Attached has the four gradually move from wide-eyed wonder and genuine heroic tendencies to exhausted cynicism by the end, to the point where they refuse to rescue Lyndess, who saved their lives in the First Movement. Slightly justified in that A) they didn't know if the curse on her had ended when the Dalns gods left, and it would have taken them weeks to get her home if it hadn't; and B) she was a skahs, and they were sick, sick, sick to death of skahs.
  • On the other hand, The Keys Stand Alone: The Soft World starts off with them being cynical and quickly sends them far down the scale, to the point where they decide that the so-called good Pyar gods and the White Tower are almost as evil as the Black Tower they're supposed to bring down. They aren't happy that they're being forced to support evil, but as John puts it, it would be a problem on Earth, but who cares what happens on C'hou?
    • Yet they firmly cling to their idealistic belief that violence is wrong and manage to stick to it.
• Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality plays up the crapsack aspects of the Potterverse and the story gets really dark at times... but the overall message is heavily idealistic, even compared to the original. Every aspect of evil, including death itself, is treated by Harry as just another obstacle to be overcomed. Sure, the world may suck, but there is no reason not try and make it better.
  Harry: There is light in the world, and it is us!
• Drunkard's Walk is generally idealistic. Most of the characters are shown to be (or become) decent people at heart, and it's very difficult to find character who is both truly selfish and not batshit insane.
• The Emiya Clan is all over the place on this one, probably due to the different authors that make up the community and the many different stories and crossovers being written. Some stories, focusing on harem antics, family comedy, or the power of friendship are idealistic. Others, focusing on the more traditional Nasuverse angles, wars, and the criminal underworld, are extremely cynical.
• Calvin & Hobbes: The Series starts out in the middle, just like the original strip. By Season 2, it's nudged a bit closer to cynicism than the original strip, what with all the snarkers and jerkasses, though most villains are harmless. Cerebus Syndrome nudges it a bit more, and Holographic Retro's death outright bumps it. It's still relatively idealistic, just less so.
  • Episodes like "Thunderstorm" and "Dark Laughter" definitely fit the cynical side more easily, however.
• Mortality is heavily based on he powers of friendship and love, loyalty, villains who don't advertize their evil, and doing what's right versus obeying the law... so we see this scale an awful lot in the novel. Inspector Patterson is living proof that Good is Not Nice, but Colonel Moran is something of a Villain with Good Publicity and Standards. Dr. Watson does some possibly surprisingly dark things, but he does them for Holmes. As far as the heroes' philosophies are concerned, Patterson comes out firmly as The Cynic, and Wiggins, despite his past as a Street Urchin, is probably the biggest Idealist.
• Game Theory plays itself pretty cynically, with being a deconstruction of the original Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha though it also shows some of the idealism as well. Notably, while the conflict is essentially a case of Good Versus Good, Nanoha's idealism is actually portrayed as a flaw, as it leads to her siding with Precia, risking billions of lives for the sake of one person.
  • The thing is it works; the one person is brought back to life without any fatalities.
• A in-universe debate is had between Danzo and Naruto in Naruto:Asunder before and after their fight. It should be noted that Naruto is for idealism as he sees the world in White-and-Grey Morality while Danzo is Black-and-White Morality.
• Perfection Is Overrated is somewhat on the idealistic side. It is emphasized that the world is often harsh and never can be perfect, but it's indicated that people can change for the better, and perhaps so can the world. In the end, The Obsidian Lord, the Usurper and the SUEs are defeated with the Himes managing to work together against the common threat, but the deaths of innocent people through the course of the conflict, as well as the lack of a Reset Button, results in there being more of a Bittersweet Ending than in canon.
• Sonic X: Dark Chaos lies closer to the middle. Sonic and his friends are still heroes and hold their ideals, even if several of them are traumatized by the things they see. However, the rest of the setting is very, very, very, VERY cynical.
• Necessary to Win is somewhat on the idealistic side Characters persist against considerable odds and while they may not always succeed, the fact that they are willing to try is considered admirable, and their efforts often bear fruit in and of themselves.
• Oobserver of the Adventure Time universe has created three major stories centered around the Flinn pairing (Finn/Flame Princess), each of them lying on a different scale between the twosides.
  • The Citadel of Truth firmly lies on the idealistic side as Finn and his crew goes on an adventure that remains as upbeat and positive as possible with Finn and Flame Princess hooking up early on with the majority of the plot dealing on the Ooocians dealing with the Big Bad Astrum. Most the villains also turns good via Finn's All-Loving Hero status, including the Astrum himself.
  • Yin-Yang: One to Ignite, One to Rekindle is in-between the two, as it deals with the angst of Finn and Flame Princess separating from each other, the former leaving because he believes that his actions could directly harm the two while at the same time, dealing with the issue of two featured Original Character who also has the same problems as Finn and Flame Princess in addition to their relationship problems. Of course, through The Power of Friendship, they manage to make amends to their relationship and the fiction soon becomes more upbeat as the chapters passed.
  • Ember Alias however, is firmly on the cynical end of the scale, far darker than most Flinn fan fictions you will typically see (Second only to Purpose). Basically it deals with a lot more darker and cynical Finn, whom in his attempts to escape from his heartbreak from "The Red Throne", turns into a hero who prefers to help the needs of other people over his own doused heart and employs a disguise into a Fire Elemental in order to aid Flame Princess and Cinnamon Bun against the Olympians. However, this ultimate lie delivers heaps of negative consequences towards both Finn and everyone else, from suspicion that "Fenrir" murdered Finn, to potential wars and alienation from his former friends as a result of his altered identity.
• Despite being MUCH darker than it's source material, the Pony POV Series is firmly on the side of idealism. It practically RUNS on it. It is a setting where even the greatest of tragedies can be overcome, where anyone can earn their happy ending, where the Gods (Even the scary ones) truly CARE about mortals, and where mortals can ascend to the level of the Gods by their deeds. Where every loss, no matter how horrifying or tragic, is a precursor to a greater triumph.
  • Nowhere is this shown better than in it's sixth season, Dark World. Which is all about taking a relentlessly grimdark Crapsack World of a Bad Future, and giving it a truly happy ending.
• The Pokémon Squad is fairly cynical for a lighthearted comedy series. RM and Brock can never get girlfriends (one episode had RM realize he was talking to a spambot on a dating site as a joke), several episodes end as a "Shaggy Dog" Story, several episodes imply there is something very wrong with the city (with convicted criminals able to live like normal people, most notably June and Barney) and Aesop Amnesia is often in effect.
• The entire plot of Tower of Babel can be seen as a struggle between cynical overseers, who see sacrificing millions of people as the only way to prevent the End of the World, and more idealistic Nier and his team, who are trying to find a better solution and save everyone.
• Built on the bones of A Song of Ice and Fire, it's not going to be too idealistic, but My Father's Son is actually a much more wide eyed story about Westeros in the age of Aerys "The Mad King". The presence of self interested and unhelpful men in the top positions of power makes the path of building a resistance more difficult than expected, and good people die left and right when war does finally happen. Some noble people from canon are given a much darker lens, and then there's the fact that a Death God looms in the background as the Greater-Scope Villain. But at the same time, the protagonists are filled with earnest, honorable and compassionate people. Through their skill and trust, they earn respect by their world's way, but because of their openness to help from ALL people, they begin to build a more equitable national culture in the process. Several people find unexpected love even after many years. The great hope for the future has a MASSIVE support system around him. And most of all, The Power of Love and The Power Of Hope can create the path forward for the seven kingdoms to be better prepared for the great challenges still to come.
• The Weaving Force: Alexandria’s brutal realism vs Satine’s hopeful idealism lead to them clashing very often over what to do with Mandalore’s future, though they remain friends. On one hand, Satine is right that militarizing the Mandalorian people once again will lead to bad sentiments being dug up, possibly resulting in another war. However, at the same time, considering the coming Clone Wars, the Mandalorians REALLY need to get a stable defense. Alexandria herself is right in that militarizing the Mandalorians has allowed them to create a force of soldiers capable of rescuing many slaves and unfortunates from the more evil forces of the galaxy. At the same time, her rashness in militarizing Mandalore has caught the eye of Palpatine who sees a non-peaceful Mandalore as a threat to his plans, and also has jeopardized some of Mandalore’s relationships with other planets while strengthening others.

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