itchymatchoo

[itchymatchoo]

six same sound

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we need more pathetic female characters written by authors who don't hate women

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The bride and her ugly ass groom <3

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(Posting my threads on tumblr so I can talk to fellow Akane/Rankane enjoyers, part 2) (manga exclusive, I haven't seen the 80s anime)

Love, attraction and image with Ranma and Akane:

Akane wants to feel beautiful and wanted. She dresses very cute and feminine, but she doesn’t necessarily believe she’s beautiful as she is. She's sensitive to this but she's mostly just going to punch you and move on if you insult her. Her world doesn't end there.

A key experience for Akane is feeling like she needs to stop being herself to get the love she wants. I think this is part of why she can be clueless and/or has no fucks to give about male attention. It’s not "validating"…. but she cares if it comes from the boy she likes.

Akane is not looking for validation or to be aspirational, she's looking to be loved/wanted by the one she wants. Ranma helps her develop ticker skin as he constantly teases her (because he doesn’t know how else to get her attention) it’s pigtail pulling, but she has limits.

Ranma wants to be handsome/beautiful too. He’s as sensitive as Akane (maybe even more) but for him, attention is as validating as fighting and winning (being aspirational = winning). It's all he’s ever known, so he’s terrible with feelings: everything must be a challenge

This has nothing to do with Ranma being interested in anyone but with his confidence and image.

He deeply cares about his girl form being pretty.

Feeling pretty is tied to getting male attention (and using it to his advantage) even if he doesn’t want them. Even if he likes girls, it’s the same with them: having attractive girls fighting over you is a huge ego boost, even if he feels uncomfortable or annoyed by them.

Female attention is tied to Ranma feeling “manly” and “aspirational,” it’s not just a simple ego-boost, it affects his general confidence too. This is very clear when Shampoo “rejects him.” Her wanting him? other boys envy him (manly, aspirational). Her rejection is tied to public judgment.

Ranma knows he can be a jerk, but caring about his image is also caring about being likable. Also, Shampoo is very forward, which flusters him, but he’s not truly tempted as he only cares about being interrupted and/or tries to initiate or go further with any contact when it's Akane.

Ranma is ambushed or put into situations against his will a lot. Even if the naked female body (outside his own) gets him all blushy and shaken (and if the following is also part of A Plot) the only person he shows that he wants and cares about seeing naked is Akane.

(Much to say here with this two pages. Akane walks a fine line between being perceptive/getting clouded by her insecurities. She does and doesn’t let Ranma’s taunts really get to her. Ranma is on his knees, crushed by not seeing her naked – similarly to how he's also all pouty and sulks because he didn't kiss Akane for real when Akane uses tape in whatever the fuck that school play was– while she’s like “damn maybe I AM uncute”… but then she’s goofy lol)

It says a lot that he doesn’t care about Shampoo’s cute bridal look (he does when it’s Akane in both European and Japanese styles).

When Shampoo shows him her interest/feelings, Ranma is put-off and pulls away. When it’s Akane, he pulls closer. now he's the one ~staring~

It’s a shock when Shampoo is suddenly hateful (tbf it shocks Akane too) but the focus for Ranma is on his image. "Am I not attractive? Am I a bad guy?" but when it’s Akane, Ranma is in shambles and it’s all about Akane’s feelings. He's in love with her... but does she love someone else?

Akane figures his shit out, but when paired with her insecurities (and Ranma going too far cuz he isn’t thinking of anything but wining) it pisses her off. On the other hand, I think part of why Akane likes him is that he can be strong and confident where she isn’t.

Part of Ranma being a jerk is that all his functioning braincells are dedicated to martial arts and winning no matter what. He starts to learn as Akane gets through to him, but having such strong feelings is difficult to manage. The more he likes her the harder it gets.

Even then, when Ranma crosses a line and really hurts Akane, he can’t about anything but how to fix things with her, even if he doesn’t fully get what he did wrong or how to make it better. He tries anyway.

It's easy to say words with no feelings attached to it, but when the person he’s in love with hears it’s too difficult because it matters too much, it’s too vulnerable (which can feel like the opposite of the manly strength he’s been taught he needs to have). The stakes are too high.

Same with calling her cute. It's *hard* because of all the feelings attached to it. telling her she's not cute (even though she very obviously is) is not just pigtail pulling, it's also armor. Look at him "taking it back" with her rejection (though it's his own fault)

Still, Ranma shows he’s in love constantly. He gets into fights for Akane, not just when it’s serious (Herb throwing her, Shinnosuke because he's jealous) but even because she lost a non-consequential volleyball match… because it made her cry (challenging the girl he sees as responsible for Akane's tears to a cheerleading match).

It’s the type of thing that made Akane fall for Ranma, even if he puts his foot in his mouth a lot. she can count on him/trust him when it matters the most. alas he’s a teenage dumbass so she can’t trust him on the little day to day details that would reassure her (tumblr has a limit on how many images per post I can post lol maybe I should link them).

Part of it are her own insecurities clouding her judgement (worsened by Ranma being an idiot) cuz what if ranma prefers the “cuter” girls? she’s the “uncute” one after all. What if it’s not just a taunt, what if he means it. What if he’s just trying to win some stupid fight again... (worse example of this would be Ranma "trying to steal her heart" so the suit that boosts her strenght would get jealous/leave her, and in the middle of it regrets it, thinking "I'm such a pathetic loser for doing this," etc, and then he's the one being charmed/having his heart stolen by Akane's cuteness/sincerity and wants to hug her because he wants to, not because of the plot... but then she finds out about the plot and thinks Ranma didn't mean any of what was happening between them)

I think that's why she’s so quick to agree to marriage at the end (even though it's still too soon) after his tearful love confession. She’s his ride or die, ready to do anything for him (just see how far she goes in that final arc) she just needs the reassurance that he really does want her (same goes for ranma with her).

Love this moment because Akane doesn’t play about Ranma. he might be an idiot but he’s her idiot. It also says so much about the characters: it’s not that Akane has a problem with Ranma getting into challenges for the sake of his image in general.

Her problem is when he jumps into challenges (that could be taken as romance) without checking with her first, to agree and honor her terms/limits. the times it ends with her sending his ass flying is when he gets carried away without thinking shit through, crossing her lines.

As much as Ranma cares about his image, he will make a fool of himself for the sake of winning a challenge... and akane. He doesn’t play about her either. He keeps running headfirst into situations he’s not crazy about just so Ryoga can’t make a move on her.

A running gag is that every time Ryoga tries to touch Akane, Ranma gets between them in female form, even though he's no fan of being ~romantically held~ by other guys. Watching her hug another guy is the bigger torture for him (he gets just as pissed as Akane when she's jealous)

Ranma cares about his image, but even if validation can come from others, the one person he cares about impressing is Akane. He gets the most angry when he feels humiliated in front of her (and in turn cares about nobody disrespecting her just as much)

He deeply cares about how Akane sees him. She's the one he cares about impressing the most (he doesn't say this shit to his rival Ryoga or to Ukyo who's also seeing him in that weakened state etc)

Also about image: no one in the circus after them sees the full picture of who they are, they idealize them. Akane and Ranma see each other's true selves, not just at their best but also at their very worst/most pathetic/embarrassing... and they still love each other

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I know who could save him

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Chainsaw man manga hello??????!!!

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ARE YOU A BONE OR BLOOD PERSON.

ARE YOU A VOID OR ABYSS PERSON.

ARE YOU A ROT OR DUST PERSON.

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when i was in middle school Rude by bruno mars came on the radio in the car with my mom and at the chorus it goes “why you gotta be so rude, don’t you know i’m human too, i’m gonna marry ya anyway” and my mom now had her Disapproving Aura on and sighed and said. see this is why [my divorced uncle] married [his mean ex-wife]. what a sad way of loving. and 13yo me was like Oh Damn That Deep. and mentally filed away the lesson Popular Music Promotes Toxic Behavior Therefore Don’t Marry Someone Who’s Mean To You. and ever since then rude by bruno mars has made me just a little bit sad. cut to 5+ years later the song is no longer popular. i happen to hear it over the tinny speakers in a random fast food place. all at once i realize the lyrics are not, in fact, about marrying a girl despite her hating you (gonna marry ya anyway), but marrying a girl despite her parents hating you (gonna marry her anyway). 13yo me and my mom misheard the same lyric and never paid attention to the rest of the song. i am flabbergasted. one of the pillars of my childhood development has just crumbled in a Subway. i am frantically realigning my entire internal ethics system. the cashier still wants to know if i’m getting a cookie. nothing is real

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mitsumi and shima’s little dance ヾ(｡･ω･)ｼ

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still thinking about wolf 21

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The thing about Katara is that she was angry.

She was angry that the Fire Nation killed her mother.

She was angry that her father left them.

She was angry that she was the only Waterbender left in the south pole.

She was angry that the only person her age was her brother, who constantly disregarded her interests and her role in the tribe.

She was angry that what little waterbending she knew, had to be self-taught and how she struggled with that.

she was angry that a twelve year old instantly picked up what had taken her a long time to learn.

she was also angry that her tribe wanted to kick that twelve year old into the wilderness over a mistake.

she was angry over the earth-benders the fire nation had captured and put into a metal box.

she was angry.

And she knew she was angry.

Because she knew her own anger, she was the first to empathize with Aang when he got angry.

And it was because of it she could tell Aang forcing himself to lock his emotions up was not the answer.

Because she knew her own anger, she kept herself under control in the dessert, when everyone else was a mess.

Her anger empowered her. where anger was a tool of self-destruction for firebenders, for her it was what helped her push forward.

It was her anger that freed Aang.

It was her anger that helped her stand to Pakku.

Her anger was her strenght.

She was angry. And this was neither a mistake, nor a writing flaw.

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there’s a reason why the entire story of avatar the last airbender begins and ends with katara. there’s a reason why we are introduced to katara first before we are introduced to any other character. there’s a reason why katara is the narrator. there’s a reason why the creators have emphasized over and over again that katara is just as titular to the story as aang - she’s the other main character.

when you water down katara - remove her compassion, her ability to connect with others, her nurturing role, her ANGER and RAGE and DRIVE - you water down the very fundamentals of the story. you drastically and severely alter the core dynamics of the gaang, because katara was so important to the development of every single one of them. she was the rock and glue that held team avatar together.

katara was unlike any other character to ever appear on television; she was a young brown girl who took no shit from anyone, yet at the same time remained kind and compassionate and nurturing. katara was a force of nature; proud of her heritage and culture, burdened by the responsibility of being the last southern water bender of the water tribe, angered over the death of her mother and everything that the fire nation took from her, determined to help every single person in need, determined to change the world, angry and resentful because old men and rules and laws kept telling her what she could or could not do, thus, she was determined to restructure thousands of years of patriarchy that stood against her from accomplishing her goals and dreams.

watering down katara into at most 2-3 tangible characteristics, stripping her away of all her motivation and agency and nuance, telling the audience that she wants to help and change the world only to have her stand in the background with an air of grief, demonstrates that the writers of the live action fundamentally misunderstand the spirit of avatar. and that’s something so unforgivable. no matter how many changes they decide to make, or how much they decide to stay true to the original story in other areas, no matter how many flashy VFX fight scenes we get - if you fail to properly understand katara, you fail to understand the heart and soul of avatar the last airbender, everything that makes avatar such a timeless classic.

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Netflix, I don’t know how to tell you this but a woman doesn’t have to be self taught to be a strong female character. It’s ok to let her know her limitation and ask for help. It’s ok to let her get angry, it’s ok to let her be jealous, it’s ok to let your female character have flaws and WORK on them. Your female character doesn’t have to become a master on her own to be memorable, it just makes her accomplishment feel unearned.

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No way they got rid of katara's anger in THE feminine rage era

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the process of starting a task