#and if you want to read a noco fic where sierra is taken seriously

[noco7]

NO BECAUSE YOU'RE RIGHT: Sierra didn't have character development, like, at all. It kinda made sense: abusers often don't change.

I feel like the whole Cody-Sierra sub-plot could have been an amazing opportunity to show us something really mature about consent, trauma (remember Cody is supposed to be a child-neglect victim which btw explains some behaviours of his) and victim-blaming.

The actual thing wasn't only rushed and as we say in Italy "written with the asshole", it was straight up offensive. As a SA victim myself I felt MOCKED.

It's so sad, I wonder what happened to Cody by the way, like. We saw him naked in the shower on Sierra's phone in All Stars so it means she not only knows where he lives but also stalks him. Such a terrible ending for a character like him. :[

I agree completely, anon. Also I have a habit of making really long posts, so here's a read more link:

I really really agree about it being C*derra being an amazing chance to write about serious issues, and could even act as a guide to recognizing abusive relationships, and how to help someone you know get out of them. Also could say smth about the nature of parasocial relationships. In my fantasy rewrite of TD, C*derra starts as a relationship that goes sour. It begins with Cody in a bad place , for several reasons, and he latches onto his fan, Sierra, for comfort. Things seem to be going smoothly, until he realizes that Sierra is a terrible abusive person. And there's a lot of victim blaming and manipulation, a lot of guilt-tripping, but he learns to raise his standards and escape the relationship. So in essence, the flipside of what happened in canon.

To me, it's really hard to advocate for platonic C*derra. I understand that others love the idea, but it's really hard for me to look past her actions. I'm not a survivor, but imagining a friend of mine going through what Cody went through, and then them calling me and saying "well she made me a birthday cake, so I've forgiven her for everything and we are BEST friends now." I don't know. It seems terrible. I don't think Cody should have to do anything with Sierra other than leave, and honestly for Sierra to grow as a person, I also think she needs to take herself away from Cody until she is ready to act healthy to him. I don't think they should grow together - like, what, is Cody supposed to be like "yeah she grabbed me today, BUT she didn't kiss me! Woo! Baby steps!" ??? There is no reason for Cody to be there for Sierra's character growth - and for me, the real sign of character growth would be Sierra admitting her presence was unhealthy and removing herself. And not in a "let me die," situation, but a "let me go to therapy first," situation. To be fair to TD, it is a kid's show and maybe they couldn't talk about topics like consent and trauma. I know some kid's shows talk about that, like She Ra, but TD was before that, and also it had a completely different focus. Still, given that, perhaps they shouldn't have introduced a stalker to the show in the first place, when they couldn't deal with her properly.

It could be even considered irresponsible, considering it could trigger real Survivors, or give the entirely wrong message. I've actually seen real people say they used to think Sierra did nothing wrong.

At the very least, I don't think they should have rushed the best friends angle as they did. Yes, there were times Sierra was nice to Cody, but they weren't really differentiated from how she normally acted. She always compliments Cody, so for her to praise him with Duncan is nothing out of the ordinary. And neither is the birthday cake. It's like they didn't know Sierra was going to end up being friends with him until that episode. It's weird.

The solution would be to slow down her character development until it's an actual ARC. Or as most people in the fandom do - change her actions so they aren't that extreme in the first place. I'm not really a fan of that last option, because Sierra is kinda defined by how extreme she is, and I personally think an abusive antagonist makes for a better story then a mildly annoying girl, but. I understand why others wouldn't. But that's why I write Sierra like I do.

I'm very sorry you had to go through that, and that you had to watch WT and see it happen. Dealing with a topic respectfully is something you should do, not just because it's better writing, but because it's the moral thing to do when you're writing a CHILDREN'S CARTOON.

As for what happened to Cody after WT, I believe that his friendship with Sierra didn't last long, and she proved herself to still be as possesive as she once was. That's what happens in my fic, and that's whats backed up with the weird shower photo. However, extra clips reveal that after her elimination in All Stars, Sierra lands back into Area 51, with all the Cody aliens. Perhaps she stays there, and Cody is effectively free.

Also, I have to admit that as a Cody stan, that guy's arc with Gwen also had problems. Cody's still not Sierra level creep, but it's hard to argue that he's learned from his own actions in Island, considering how he acts in WT. And personally, and this is my hot take for this post - I'm not even sure his character developed during Island.