If a white character saves a brown character from a perilous situation, would that necessarily be the white savior trope? The brown character (I'll call her Z) is badly injured and the white character (I'll call her A) kinda rescues her from a very dire situation. They eventually end up as a couple, both ruling over a country (they're both from that country), but the rescue is how they first meet. Sorry this probably isn't enough info. Do you have any like general tips for avoiding the trope?
It really depends on how you set this up.
Will Z always need to be rescued afterwards? Is she a bumbling character who can’t find her way without A’s help. Is Z entirely dependent on A, and there’s no balance of power between them in their relationship? Does Z’s shortcomings come from the fact that she is brown?
The issue with White Savior stories is the fact that they prop up the white protagonist as the only source of solution to get the poc character out of their predicament, while creating very passive poc character.
-jeriorliz