This has been a thought I've wanted to give out as recognition for some time. It is not a recognized thing in writing to have a moral center and message, but it is an important one. Stories, and comedy for that matter, have, even going as far back as Gilgamesh, been about two things: 1. Explaining something about the universe in a less boring way or offered insightful perspective. 2. To be an escape from the negativity and scope of said universe.

This is the basis of story as an art, and for many also comedy no matter how dark. Hell, Jesus himself was a comedian in His methodology. Any story has its place in doing this, whether it be therapeutic, about teaching right vs wrong, making you think about something from another perspective, or to give insight into the authors perspective of the era/culture he/she lives in. This is why mothers tell their brats the boogyman will get them if they dont behave or why santa will give coal. This is why Joker and the Martian resonate with people as the former is a lesson on the empty morals of media and government on those who need help while the latter is a lesson in handling loneliness and the power of a man over nature when he pushes his mind, emotions, and spirit to the limit. One of my favorites is Kobra Kai on Netflix because it offers three all-encompassing moral compasses and then has every character be a moral representation of those for better or for worse. Not only in what said moral compass can do to people, but also how not everyone resonates the same way with the same lesson. Then you have anime like One Piece that approach extremely moralistic, social issues like slavery, genocide, social class, extreme justice-vs-anarchy, and racism from a very right-vs-wrong approach that is low level enough for kids to understand and intelligent enough for adults to appreciate.

But so what? Why is that important? Adults can figure it out themselves and kids have their parents to set them straight. After all, kids are seeing R-rated movies like Deadpool right? Well, yes, but more and more kids are seeing more and more adult themed show and movies and many adults have the vulnerability of children. It is very important to know the moral message you give in a story because even if 99% of people are strong enough and intelligent enough to know for themselves, there is still that 1% that is in a vulnerable state. We can even push it to 0.1% so every 1/1000. That is still a lot of people. Things like that is why my former story, which was very moralistic and therapeutic in its darkness and hope, saved someone from suicide, and why I will never even consider publishing Kingdom even if the option was open because one of the things the character does is cut himself/herself and it actually helps. And I don't want even one person to be influenced by that.

It is why I utterly despise Disney. Its about money. Their messages are dogshit, politically agenda driven virtue signaling, and actively harmful many of the time. It is why I lose my shit when stories I read suddenly do the same thing. It is their way of going "oh, this has nothing to do with the story, but look at how moral I am as a person! :D"

Rant over. Lets have a looksy!

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5th place - Allodynia by Aarya2013

While this story is clunky, difficult, and has more issues than I can shake a stick at, it has at its core a good message. The message being "this is what it is like to have this disease/condition."

4th place - Stars Ascending by HearthSmith672

Heather and I don't see eye to eye. On a lot of things. But this story I'd still say is good and substantially better than her Twilight series on the ground that it has an actual morality behind it and the characters aren't batshit crazy. There are bad guys and good guys and the bad guys do bad things that creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where they get their ass kicked. Pretty solid.

3rd place - Fake Me to Church

I'd just this story as very moralistic while at the same time realistic. Its a murder mystery where the main characters uncover a lot of really dark stuff done by the villains, and find evidence. The only reason this belongs in 3rd place and below is because the message is resolved as a matter of revenge rather than justice. The story isn't afraid to poke at the hypocrisy of some churches while at the same time showing there are real Christians and that its only the fewest that are trash yet still, unfortunately, make the rest of us, and God, look bad.

2nd place - Masks and Mirrors

This was a really close tie with 1st place, but it came down to final execution. Masks and Mirrors touches on racism, genocide, slavery, xenophobia, and a whole lot more social rights at the same time. Yet, to my great pleasure, it doesn't make the opposing side look directly evil or moronic as they have reasons for their actions no matter how much you may disagree with the final execution of said actions. Both sides are merely responding defensively to the worst sides of the other and don't want to directly be elitist bastards. The final execution took the philosophy of all sides and formed it into the ultimate and physical form to be contested, which, as the author knows, is my only gripe with the story, proved to be too anime-ish for a deeply philosophical story that didn't center on violence and power levels. This took away a little bit from the overall message.

1st place - Tame Me If You Can

It was a close call with Masks and Mirrors as Tame Me If You Can has an extremely strong moral message, and, similar to Masks and Mirrors, doesn't quite land the final execution of its main plotline. But while Masks and Mirrors turned the tone full-anime, Tame Me at least kept the tone to where it had always been and wrapped up several plotlines in a satisfying manner that gave very good and helpful answers to some philosophical and moralistic questions. I truly think Tame's overall message is extremely important as it centers on self-care, self-love, and self-worth without being arrogant about it, and explores real psychological and legal dilemmas faced by many people. Perhaps even more than ever.

Honorable Mention - Fury is Born

Fury is Born is the sarcastic and tragedy form of morality. In the sense that you follow an angry child through adulthood as he enters a war torn era dictated by a priest and his blood god. The child grows in power over the series by being cruel, vengeful, and extremely abusive to his family, community, and wives. Generally he is the worst. Yet it also shows that there are consequences as his sins follow him, his life falls apart with only himself to blame, and it is all satisfying. You pity his enemies and victims and friends who can be descent people, and while it can be eye-candy and epic to follow him, he is not the kind you ever wish to win because of just how much of a dick he is. So while it isn't moral or good to see his rise to power through evil means, the story offers solid lessons as he reaps what he has sown and ultimately shows this is not the kind of life you want to have.

If you are interested in learning to write, mastering the craft, want some really good reads, or just to chat and hang out with a mature group of adults, feel free to hit me up for a smashing discord book club that has lasted years.