#What do you mean the main heroine an actual character?

[fictionimitateslife]

Slam Dunk is an insane Sports' anime. What do you mean the straight romance (??) actually matters in the mian plotline?

[mamaito]

People keep questioning the otome label towards Homicipher just because it does not have dates or kissing that is commonly expected in the genre. This is a misconception and is based on common dating games and romance focused visual novels.

Otome means female targeted game, as long as the player is a heroine who can pursue male characters and end up with him then it is an otome, how it goes about it does not matter. It can be any genre and should not be trapped on simply being just a dating game.

Love should not be about constant affirmation but rather a simple validation should be what is expected.

The entire game is about doing something out of love based on action rather than words.

The apparitions in question do in fact express interest, even outside of the 6 bachelors. It's just that people are placing human expectations on individuals who do not understand nor behave in the same manner.

Mr. Silvair for example expresses his interest and affection towards you in his own way but is being brushed aside and assumed that he only wants you for researching, that is half truth.

He doesn't understand the concept of love but is willing to understand it because he does care if you saw his other ending. If Mr. Silvair was a yandere, this way of thinking would've been seen as acceptable and considered 'romantic' but since he isn't, suddenly it's not an otome.

Mr. Hood and Mr. Machete are not considered as options because their spotlight in the game is minimal at best, which is what the game's shortcoming is. Does saying it out loud need to be stated when he's going through lengths to protect and stand by your side? What matters is that he chose you and that should be enough to be seen as affection.

Mr. Gap's entire existence gives insight on how these entities take things in a literal sense and never by it's secondary meaning. He want someone's heart but takes it literally when all this time what he wanted was someone's company. If you have reached his route, he declines your actual heart, he always asks for permission but in the return end, he didn't need to anymore because he found what he was seeking.

There other who think Mr. Chopped has no route when in fact most did not trigger it during Chapter 1.

Mr. Crawling is popular because he is the one with the most screen time, most interactions are with him and he has the optional romance endings and even a confession on chapter 4, which you can still continue onwards Chapter 5 with the info that the two of you are together regardless.

Mr. Scarletella is the main plot and the reason for MC's arrival in the world, everything he did stems from obsessions and misplaced affections towards you.

All of these are otome related, I don't know why people are struggling to accept this. It's right there in front of you.

[inbarfink]

Okay, so I already wrote a bunch of stuff about how that scene, although it is really sweet, is also kind of a Bad Sign for Simon - how he refuses to learn the Obvious Lesson from the Winterworld adventure (that being the Ice King again is probably a really really bad idea). But I want to talk about it also a little more about what it means for Fionna’s character as well. 

Because while sitting around and wallowing in self-loathing is probably bad for Fionna, especially after being told that she shouldn't be allowed to exist, and Simon is right to try and get her out of her funk. It's also still worthwhile for Fionna to have some introspection about the Consequences of Her Actions. Because she and Cake really did not consider them at all at first. They have a sense of morality and an instinct towards heroism, but they also tend to kinda forget the fantastical worlds they visit don’t exist entirely for their fantasy and have kind of a Protagonist-Centered-Morality fallacy. 

Most obviously you can see it in the market in Ooo. How Cake, in her excitement, damaged and hurt and even killed

A bunch of innocent marketgoers without even noticing. And then Fionna immediately jumped to Cake’s defense against these ‘weirdos’, who were actually just normal kinda-righteously-angry Oooian citizens.

It’s actually very similar to the whole Winterworld situation. Fionna’s assumption that she’s automatically the hero and protagonist of the story and black-and-white view of the situation and her tendency to kick ass first and ask questions later meant that she just recklessly injured a lot of innocent people.

(It might’ve been worse actually cause at least in Winterworld she was at least manipulated by an evil Wizard)

Fionna and Cake clearly have a great potential for heroism, but they do need to be a bit more considerate of the situation and people around them. And it does make sense considering that from their perspective - they’ve been living a very ordinary life up until now (and Cake was literally an animal. A very clever animal, but still not bound by the same standards of morality as the talking animals in Ooo). Action and adventure and fantasy stuff has been purely the realm of daydream and video games for them - and Fionna literally speaks about it in these terms.

(also, Fionna's Main Character Syndrome was undoubtedly validated when God literally told her that she was created to be the main character of her universe)

So yeah, it takes them some time to really process how to be heroes - they need to grapple with questions that Finn and Jake already kinda dealt with seventeen years ago. And actually a lot of those; how to resolve a situation without necessarily using violence, when does a 'villain' actually deserve sympathy and kindness, the importance of the larger context of any given conflict... their confrontations with Ice King all played a big part in that. It was never just him, but he was still a very major part.

And for Fionna and Cake right now, learning these lessons require some amount of personal introspection. So while it was a sweet attempt at comforting, I dunno if Simon’s little ‘the only problem with that universe is that this Alternative Me was terrible because he didn’t even acknowledge or remember Betty as the love of our life and the light of my entire universe’ thing is actually Good. 

I’m not quite sure Simon is the best person to teach Fionna and Cake heroism 101, because he is so focused on the Crown Quest as the thing that brings back Meaning to his life, and because his fatherly instincts just kinda go “Sad Young Person???? MUST GIVE COMFORT!” and also on account of the kidnapping.

I’m sure Fionna is going to become the heroine she dreams about eventually, it’s just going to be a bumpy ride. The best we can hope for is that they accept Simon’s comfort, that she doesn't start believing that she is nothing but an Error for the entire universe like the Scarab claims, but don’t necessarily listen to all of Simon's his words either.

[anghraine]

sea-salted-wolverine replied to this post:

Wdym Anakin mind tricking padme isn't real? You could chalk it up to bad writing from Lucas who isn't quite sure that women are people, but its pretty clear that by ep III that her grip on reality is toast. Whether or not it is a conscious effect on Anakins part is up for debate, but it is definitely a thing that happened

Not really the main point of my post, but no, that fan theory is not "real" in the sense of being remotely canonical for the films. It's nothing more than a popular headcanon nowhere even slightly stated to be happening in the actual films as written and produced. There's no reason in Lucas's films to suppose that the Anakin/Padmé relationship was coerced through a mind trick, that Padmé specifically would be susceptible to a mind trick, that she does not genuinely love Anakin or have any insight into his character, that her grip on reality is ever "toast," or that the mind trick (previously depicted as temporary and resistible) would work that way at all. Padmé is underwritten in ROTS in the way that cool girl heroines invented by men are often underwritten as grown adult women and especially as mothers, but that is not attributable to any character in the story.

Yes, Padmé is tired in ROTS and misses a lot of what's going on psychologically with her young secret husband who is in a cloistered order of warrior monks fighting a long-term war far away from her, but she sees the threat of Palpatine and recognizes exactly what his accession as emperor means. Her mind is fine. And in Lucas's films, also, Anakin is never shown using the mind trick on anyone. It's not really his style—it's a sneaky short-term solution whereas he's smart and resourceful enough most of the time, but mainly reliant on overwhelming power and skill. His signature "trick" is the Force-choke, not the mind trick, and it's the Force-choke that he ultimately uses against her—not because he's been using his powers against her the whole time (including when he's not even there, I guess?), but as a mark of how far he has fallen by that point. That's lost if it's not a drastic change from their previous relationship. Padmé's own choices also lose all meaning if she was mind-controlled by Anakin the whole time, and her arc becomes deeply boring.

Tl;dr - it is very far from "definitely a thing that happened." It is a headcanon that doesn't reflect anything the movies are trying to do (whether they fail or succeed at doing those things!) and is, IMO, a pretty terrible headcanon as well in terms of the overall coherence of the story and characters and how their world is shown to work.

[glassica]

Outsiders

Notes: M!yan transmigrator x Gn!reader reincarnator, isekai, jealousy, mentions of violence

Continued from Second Male Lead, with a different yan.

"Looks like someone got rejected huh?", your best friend tucked head to the side, eyes full of mischief, didn't bother pretending to sympathize with your loss for a bit. This was why you dreaded seeing him so much. You knew well he would just make fun of your miserable love life.

"Shut up! He didn't. I just realize that I'm no match to the heroine!", you groaned, shooting an icy glare at your friend, "Honestly how am I supposed to compete with the universe's favorite?! I know she's the main character but still... isn't it too unfair for us extras?"

"Unfair only for you, I actually have a blast there. Crazy how relaxing life is when you not aiming too out of league.”

He laughed and teased you senselessly, but inside the man was breathing sighs of relief. You didn't want to know what would he do to the second male lead had you two become a couple. Nothing much, just some little stabs on the chest and limbs ripping apart maybe...

At first he was so scared seeing himself transported to this world. He knew about the isekai stuff, but applying those knowledge to reality was a different story. He had no clue about the worldbuilding nor the plot, thus struggled desperately to blended in high society. Besides, he couldn't tell anyone about him belonging to different world, he would be called crazy and outcasted from all circles.

So it was a miracle that he met you, another soul stuck in same situation. Because you had read the series and been living there since birth, you were able to provide him with necessary information about the novel. Through you, he learned about the Kingdom, the protagonists, the future events, etc. in addition to all the etiquette and secrets of nobility. At one point, you confessed to him about the second male lead, the love of your (now and previous) life.

Who you pined after was none of his business, yet the man found himself growing unbearably irritated the more he heard about that name. Your best friend always bore a bitter grin on his face whenever you gushed about your crush, sometimes he sneaked in snide remarks, suggesting the second lead was probably just a mediocre guy. “If he was really charming like you made him out to be,” your friend argued, “he should’ve been the hero instead of getting shoved outside midway to be honest.” You huffed, who he thought he is to downplay the man of your dream like that? And why did your friend like belittling your feelings so much?

No. He didn’t look down on you at all, he just hated the fact that you were paying attention anyone but not him. He couldn’t accept the sight of you longing for another man when he was right there. The one who was aware of your deepest secret, the one who witnessed all your goodness and uglies, the one who could share your struggles of adapting to new world. He knew you the best, obviously he was the right choice for you.

And perhaps the man should admit deep down, he was also terrified of the future without you. You had come and guided him through the puzzling maze of noble life, be there for him when he was on verge of giving up everything. He had been acquainted with your lovely presence, no way he would let anyone steal it away from him. Little dirt on hands wasn’t a bad price to pay if that means you would be chained forever to him.

You might be a worthless extra in their story, but always the main character in his story.

[raisedbythetv89]

The writers I think mostly completely by accident with the assistance of James charming his way into becoming a main character created the perfect storm to ensure people who love spike would reach absolute peak levels of being completely obsessively deranged about him forever

Season 2:

He’s a punk rock villain with killer cheekbones, enchanting eyes, and an absolutely DEVILISH smile - who’s an incredibly dedicated and dangerous fighter who specifically seeks out challenging fights he’s not guaranteed to win (brave and reckless - normally traits seen in heroes) hates everyone except his mentally ill physically sick wife (the statistics of men who leave their wives when they get sick in the US is horrifying like nurses literally have to warn married women who get sick it happens so often) who he’s hopelessly devoted to and unbelievably soft with and always listens to her while also exuding a psychotic amount of sex appeal and is just F U N he loves being a vampire and he loves fighting and it makes it so much fun for the audience. While still showing how much he respects and admires his enemy for her skill, strength, resourcefulness, and intelligence - NEVER underestimating her just because she’s a tiny blonde girl - and instead of destroying the world for love he SAVES the world for love - a villain doing good to get the love of his life back who essentially dumped him for her ex????????? D E V O T E D and shockingly extremely trustworthy??? And has amazing chemistry with our heroine and is there for a pivotal moment in her life and is the only one there for her when she has no one else????? *enemies to lovers girlies ENTER THE CHAT*

Season 3:

He shows he fucking MEANS IT when he says Dru is the love of his life when he shows up in Sunnydale because he blames Angel not Buffy or Drusilla but the man actually responsible for all their problems and he is the most pathetic mess we’ve ever SEEN!!!! He’s crying and drunk all the time and he’s so sad he goes to Buffy’s mom TO TALK 💀😭 our pathetic sensitive little self admitted lover boy who KNOWS he’s love’s bitch and he won’t be pretending he’s anything otherwise who shows how clearly he sees and understands other people and the depths of his emotional intelligence so much so Buffy herself admits she can’t fool Spike she can fool her friends BUT NOT SPIKE OR HERSELF EXCUSE ME MA’AM WHAT???????

AND Spike doesn’t just uselessly MOPE forever he gets some perspective and is like I know what I’m gonna do to her back and I’m gonna go do that now! 😁👍🏻 showing he never stays down for long and is always gonna get back up to keep fighting for his love while BOTH he and Buffy still honor the truce even though he’s broken it by coming back??? While Buffy’s all “I violently dislike you” YEAH OK GIRL WHATEVER YOU SAY *enemies to lovers girlies chomping at the bit intensifies*

Season 4:

CLEARLY heartbroken about Drusilla (DEVOTED!!!) but it’s turned into anger and resentment directed at Harmony who how bizarre looks nothing like Drusilla but A LOT like Buffy…… hmmmmmmmmmmmmm HOW INTERESTING *enemies to lovers girlies are vibrating with anticipation that turns into a full blown combustion when something blue happens*

Spike doesn’t pretend to love Harmony in order to get what he wants from her (shown in direct contrast to Parker) he’s ironically very honest despite being a villain - he’s showing he’s STILL loyal to Drusilla in ONLY loving her even after she’s dumped him... again!

We see Spike treat Buffy the EXACT same way he treated Drusilla during something blue reaffirming THIS IS HOW THIS MAN LOVES WHEN HE LOVES YOU. He’s extremely affectionate, helpful, protective, caring - D E V O T E D - and is truly just the most certified lover boy we’ve ever fucking seen

Season 5:

SURPRISE HE’S SECRETLY A LOVESICK MAMA’S BOY POET AT HEART UNDERNEATH THE BAD BOY PERSONA AND A PROTECTIVE BIG BROTHER AND NOW BUFFY AND HER FAMILY’S MOST LOYAL DEFENDER AND IS WILLING TO DIE NOT JUST FOR BUFFY BUT FOR ALL THE SUMMERS WOMEN AND HE KNOWS AND SEES BUFFY SO DEEPLY AND INTIMATELY AND CAN HOLD SPACE FOR HER PAIN LIKE NO ON ELSE CAN AND SHOWS THE DEVOTION THAT ONCE BELONGED TO DRUSILLA NOW BELONGS TO BUFFY AND IT IS GOING NOWHERE EVEN WHEN SHE DIES AND WE'VE SEEN IN HIM CRY BEFORE BUT NEVER HAVE WE SEEN HIM BREAK DOWN LIKE HE DOES AT THE SIGHT OF BUFFY'S BODY!!!!!!!!!!!

*all of us screaming, crying, throwing up, climbing the walls and generally just losing our minds*

Season 6:

No soul, his love is so great for Buffy as is his loyalty and devotion to her, he now helps all of his dead love’s friends fight evil and is raising her sister and dreams of saving her every night for 148 nights 🤚🏻😭 don’t even fucking talk to me I can’t take it

Forgive the absolute 180 in tone change here:

Dick game is FIRE - his touch is the only thing that makes Buffy feel alive AND SHE WAS IN HEAVEN BRO SHE KNOWS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE IN HEAVEN AND SPIKE IS THE ONLY THING KEEPING HER GOING like damn girl yes YOU FUCK THAT HOUSE DOWN!!! Also he is now just naked 50% of the time just to drive us all even FURTHER out of our minds and somehow has just gotten even hotter as the seasons have gone on like this is what’s been hiding under the leather jacket all this time! Enjoy!

And THE MOST unintended consequence of jw’s vindictive writing:

SPITE

He clearly didn’t want us to love Spike and tried to manipulate us into hating him in such a blatant and clumsy ooc attempt all that did was weed out the weakest amongst the Spuffy/Spike fans until all that remained were us:

The most devoted and stubborn fans who REFUSED to have the thing they loved ruined or taken away from us and were smart enough to see through his bullshit manipulation attempt in the first place.

Genuinely they created the equivalent of supersoilder strength level fans with this absolutely lethal combination of events 💀

AND THEN as if all that wasn't enough he goes and gets his soul on purpose for Buffy so he can be the man she deserves and she can love him without hating herself for loving him despite the immense pain it will cause him which is the most selfless thing we have ever seen anyone do for Buffy only to be topped when he sacrifices himself to destroy the hellmouth, save the world and free her from Sunnydale!!! Plus ya know once he gets the soul even though he did it for her he never tries to use that as leverage to get anything from her like he truly expects nothing from her at all but still wants to help her and James delivers the most devastating performances we've ever fucking seen, finally tells her friends off which has needed to happen for 5 seasons, the "you're the one speech" him being a dad to all the potentials with Buffy giving us supernatural parent core who made it through their rough patch with their first kid in season 6 with Dawn and now are just the beautiful team with their found family and Buffy finally has someone who can truly carry her burdens with her and just all the tenderness and devotion they both deserve after so many years of pain and fighting. Basically giving the audience the message that even if you have a metric ton of pain and trauma there are people out there who see you and understand you and there is a chance for you to heal both together and separately to build your own version of a more normal and stable life. It's a message of such hope and I personally know several people, including myself who watched what Spike and Buffy have and it inspired us to look at the relationships we were in and realize we deserved SO MUCH MORE than what we were getting and in my case it turned out I was being emotionally abused and manipulated that entire time!! Much like Buffy was by both Riley and Angel. So it isn't an exaggeration to say Spuffy saved my life in a lot of ways both in being there for me at such a dark time and helping me draw a map of how to get out. Not to mention loving them in fandom spaces has helped me connect with so many people just like me who share very similar experiences and have helped me feel so much less alone and has helped me heal in so many ways 🖤

Spuffies get "hOw cAn yOu liKe sPiKe aFtEr wHaT hE dId" all the fucking time and truly the better question is how can you NOT like Spike???? HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION AT ALL??? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT GOOD RELATIONSHIPS NEED TO WORK?? BECAUSE AT THEIR CORE SPUFFY HAS THEM ALL!

It's jw writing so NOTHING will escape his toxic bullshit but Spike - because he was hated by jw for so long - so much of the time when he tried to make Spike less popular he just kept making him better and more complex and more and more targeted to the female gaze which is exactly why he snapped and made the choices he literally forced everyone else to go along with despite their protests with that scene to make it the most traumatizing scene in all of Buffy history not just for the audience but for the actors as well because yes it is incredibly horrific and upsetting to watch (which is why I skip it on rewatches) but I still am able to see if for what it is which is a narcissist lashing out at people he hates because he hasn't been able to control them and too bad for him I refuse to be manipulated by his bullshit so it failed completely and made so many of us that much more stubbornly protective of Spike and his and Buffy's relationship not just from other fans but from the creator himself 🙃🖕🏻like he basically just trauma bonded us to Spike and Buffy which has led to the creation of one of the most devoted, loyal, intelligent fanbases who is absolutely unhinged (affectionate) with their love of this character and his relationship which is why we are all still creating and writing about this character 25 year later and show absolutely zero signs of slowing down or stopping 💀

[technoturian]

I have been thinking about this a lot. I drafted this and considered not posting it, but I read this post and I kinda wanted to add onto it and at the same time I didn't want to derail it with my own issue. Discussion of Neil Gaiman, fandom, and fatphobia below...

I was not a fan of Neil Gaiman. Not in a way where I disliked him, I just simply didn't engage with his work whatsoever. He was a non-entity to me. But when his big "Sandman" show came out I became aware of a certain incident in his show, namely the fatphobic depiction of the concept of "Despair". In an article about his work I remember Gaiman's characters in the source material had been described as fitting the aesthetic, "heroin chic". This character, Despair, the personification of human misery, was the only fat woman in the main cast.

I saw other fat folks call this out. I saw a direct response from him that, in my opinion, was smug and patronizing. But much more importantly, I saw flocks of people defending not his choice, but him personally. About what a feminist he is. About how thoughtful he is. We just didn't understand his genius. It was a misunderstanding. A misinterpretation. Because that would be bad, and he's not bad, he's good.

Some even went so far as to defend the choice as "better in the source material". You see, in the source material the fat woman personifying human misery was naked! It was better when she wasn't so sad, she simply scurried about like some hateful gremlin, shocking her victims with the grotesquity of her uncovered fatness. Isn't that better?

I researched the character and read a claim that her body was inspired by the Venus of Willendorf. The Venus of Willendorf is a historical artifact of a voluptuous woman. It signifies desire and fertility. Dare I even say, joy. And then someone allegedly saw this artifact and went, "I will name it Despair."

I was offended by reading that, but after doing so I found that I was so much more offended by the response. I mean, it's obvious that this was fatphobia, wasn't it? It was so clearly cut and dry. There was no kinder interpretation. And yet I watched as people bent over backwards, because he was so good! And he made them feel seen and so he couldn't have any prejudices that make that less true. And so when I posted about this whole situation I mainly posted about that response. Because that's what irked me most.

And after that, I decided I wasn't going to be a Neil Gaiman fan on purpose, rather than on accident. When it came to the man himself, I just rolled my eyes and put him into the box of "Not For Me". He could have turned out to be a holy saint in all other ways, for all I knew or cared.

But he wasn't a saint. He turned out to be a rapist.

I'm sorry if this comes across as a gotcha because that's the opposite of my intention. I'm not saying it to derail focus. I'm not trying to make it all about me or my pet cause.

What I'm trying to say is, people will now see things like Despair and take it as a "sign". It's going to be okay now to pick apart his work because now he's a rapist. But I didn't need to know he wasn't a good person to know this person's work wasn't safe for me. And I also knew it wasn't safe to say so, because everyone who tried to talk about how hurt they felt was told how wrong they were to feel that way.

At the same time, it's safe for me to finally vent about how this made me feel now, now that it doesn't matter because he's not good, he's bad actually.

I guess I'm just hoping instead of the usual pattern, where everyone bemoans the fall from grace and debates whether we "should have known" or "couldn't have known", people reading this can try to make space for a middle ground of criticism of the things you love now. Find that gray area somewhere between the top of the pedestal where everything the saint did was with the best intentions, and down in the muck where we should've known he was a rapist all along. Not because saints are secret rapists, but because there are no saints, and most people are there in the middle.

[yuikomorii]

// I’m making this post, as a result of seeing way too much hate and misinfo regarding every character. Nobody stops anyone from voicing their opinion but the need to degrade a character, while providing BAD reasons or stating incorrect/out-of-context facts about them only for the sake of internet validation, is such a loser move.

We’re all in this fandom to have fun and even if you have something negative to say about a character you don’t like, keep it to yourself or in private with your friends.

Ayato:

“I don’t like Ayato, he’s overrated”, omg you’re just sooo different! Definitely not like other girls/guys!

Everyone is allowed to dislike whatever they want but if Ayato is your least/one of your least favorite DL characters, then your opinion ISN’T valid. This is a franchise full of abusive characters and he’s literally the most heroic love interest. Why would you hate the hero…?

“He’s dumb and annoying”, says the person who spends their time insulting FICTIONAL characters. 1) Japanese fans like dumb characters, since they come off as endearing; 2) Ayato outdid everyone throughout the routes.

He did more good than all of his brothers and saying that X, Y or Z deserves the main role more, is fake fan behavior because at this point you’re just setting up your favs.

Kanato:

No, you’re not cool for calling him ugly. It’s okay if you’re not into that type of characters but his design is not bad at all.

“He had no development”, he does in CL. It’s not major but it can still be visible.

The whole Teddy thing might be annoying to some of you, but his fans get why he acts that way. Let’s not forget that he is a victim of neglect.

Yes, he was sexually exploited too. Don’t forget this x2.

Laito:

“I hate Laito so much, he was so cruel in HDB 😢”; stop living in the past and move on already.

His development shouldn’t be overlooked only because your opinion about him was formed on something that came out more than 10 years ago.

He’s still the most fascinating DL character and I get that he might make some of you feel uncomfortable but don’t project your triggers on a character that’s merely made after a trope.

Shu:

No, it’s not Shu’s fault for the way Reiji acted. Envy is never a good reason to hurt someone.

“Shu roasts the heroine the most!”, I get that it’s rude but his insults are actually funny?? A bunch of people will like him for being brutally honest or a jerk because it’s literally a game for players with masochistic fantasies. They WANT to be roasted by good-looking men. That’s the point.

“Shu is lazy and stupid, he’s the only one who failed his school year”, genuine question: If you were an immortal creature that doesn’t need food or sleep to survive, would you still care about grades? Besides, he’s really smart.

“Shu doesn’t care about Yuma, he just feels guilty”, in LE he sacrificed himself for him and reincarnated merely because he wished to meet Yuma again and get on well with him in another life—

Reiji:

“He hurt Shu and Yuma”, well yeah but he was shown plenty of times regretting it and trying to fix things. Stop reminding this to Reiji stans because that conflict is already closed.

“He is so mean in other routes”, obviously?? If you don’t teach him how to love, he won’t suddenly act nice towards anyone.

Without him Yui would fail her tests and the Sakamaki household would be in chaos.

Subaru:

“W-What do you mean baby Tsundere is not soft innocent virgin boy? 🥺”; he has never been like that, that’s how YOU perceived him. Stop acting so shocked every time Subaru does something bad because he’s still a vampire after all??

Also, why are so many people reducing his character to Kou and/or Yui—? He’s much more than that and has his own interests, struggles, likes, dislikes, and so on.

“He’s irrelevant”; Diabolik Lovers has 13 love interests, they can’t make everyone extremely important to the general plot. Just enjoy a character as it is, it’s not that hard.

Ruki:

The cat jokes were funny when the Meow Meow Vampire art came out but MOVE ON. I hate that scene and Ruki was in the wrong but come on now, that’s not even the worst thing he has done and MB happened in 2013.

I understand not liking Ruki as a person, because he’s mostly not a good one, but this doesn’t mean he’s not a good character.

“Ruki deserved what happened to him in the past because he was cruel towards everyone”; while I agree that Karma hit him, I wouldn’t say any child really deserves to go through that. He was just a spoiled brat, who most likely wasn’t taught by his parents about modesty or kindness.

Kou:

“He was so cruel in MB 😣”, and HE HAD DEVELOPMENT! He’s not the same anymore, nobody is.

“He overreacts”, sometimes he’s not in the wrong and has all rights to be angry.

Kou isn’t afraid of going against Ruki, even if he’s the brother he admires the most, as long as he knows that what Ruki is doing isn’t good.

Yuma:

“He beat Yui up in the MB bad ending!😡😡”, it’s a bad ending for a reason, lol.

Pretty reminder that Yuma always tries to help others with Kou and Azusa, and was even willing to save the ghouls in LE.

“Yuma doesn’t care about Shu”, did we play the same game or…?

Azusa:

“Azusa is so horrible, he threw Teddy in the fire!”; and he only did it to save Yui, it was not intentional.

While not all his actions are good, keep in mind that he never means any harm and is overall such a sweet guy.

“He is too clingy”; I know that might not be everyone’s cup of tea but is it really worth hating a character just for wanting affection?

The Tsukinamis and Kino:

“They were too easy to defeat in DF!”; Dark Fate wasn’t entirely about them to begin with. Most routes focused on the boys’ internal struggles with their trauma and how to move past it.

“Kino is sometimes mean for the sake of being mean”; it’s almost as if he’s the ✨villain✨

It’s dumb questioning the morals of characters supposed to have an antagonistic role.

“Kino hurt Ayato in LE”; out of all characters who have wronged Ayato, at least Kino felt bad and wanted to apologize.

Yui:

“She’s dumb and ugly”; Japanese fans literally love her for being an idiot because it wouldn’t be fun to see the heroine being the best at everything or not making mistakes at all. Plus, her design is definitely not ugly.

Stop creating your own version of Yui in your head and ending up disappointed when she doesn’t act the way you expect her to. No, Yui is not OOC for liking being bitten, having a low learning ability or saying things she shouldn’t in the wrong moments. Nobody is perfect and everyone has their own kinks and flaws.

“She’s too innocent”; she’s not?? If you really want to see her thirsty, go play Ayato’s routes, especially the heaven scenarios.

“She’s weak”, she’s the opposite. Yui is one of the most mentally strong DL characters.

I can’t understand people who hate on heroines when they’re present in all routes and are the most positive characters.

[anthurak]

So I have a hunch that we’re going to find out that Ruby actually has some… special connection to the Relics.

See, let’s consider for a moment the fact that as of the end of Volume 8, all three of Jinn’s answers have been questioned. Which, according to everything we know, means that it should be a hundred years before more questions can be asked, and by extension, before we could see Jinn again.

Now the thing is, I think we call all agree that it is EXTREMELY unlikely that this is the last we’re meant to see of a character like Jinn in RWBY. If for nothing else than it feels like we’re meant to get at least one more vision from her in a big ‘Once More, With Clarity’ reveal.

Like you know the theory that the main reason for the Unreliable-Narrator nature of Jinn’s vision in Volume 6 was because Ruby’s question was ‘What is Ozpin hiding from us?’, meaning that Jinn’s answer was framed ENTIRELY around what Oz knew, or BELIEVED, ie; all the info/propaganda he was told/fed by the God of Light about what happened while he was dead.

So I think it feels like a pretty natural step that we could wind up seeing someone, likely Ruby again, doing a redux of that moment where she asks Jinn a far more direct question, say; “What happened to Old Humanity?”, to get the TRUTH of what really happened.

Which all means that our heroines are somehow going to get MORE answers out of Jinn. And since a hundred-year timeskip seems… unlikely, to say the least, that leaves us with really just two options:

Time-manipulation shenanigans to ‘speed up’ the normal hundred-year recharge, which we don’t have any kind of precedent for at the moment.

Or, it turns out that there are ways of BYPASSING Jinn’s normal three-question limit.

Which brings us to Ruby, who just so happens to have a mysterious inborn power apparently originating from the very being who CREATED Jinn and the other relic spirits.

Basically, I’ve got a hunch that Ruby’s Silver Eyes, possibly as a result of developing/realizing more of their powers, turn out to give her what is essentially ‘administrator access’ to the Relics, allowing her to bypass their normal restrictions.

Like getting more answers from Jinn.

And the funny thing is, we’ve actually ALREADY seen Ruby get both relic spirits we’ve met thus far to, shall we say, skirt the rules a bit.

Ruby got what was essentially a freebie out of Jinn to get herself more time to use her Silver Eyes against the Leviathan: “And while you do not seek knowledge, just this once I was give it freely.” Also note that Jinn’s warning was merely that she would not be summoned ‘without a question’ again. What if it turns out that Ruby is actually capable of asking Jinn more questions? It’s also worth noting that this instance feels distinct from what we saw later when Hazel and Emerald summoned Jinn seemingly for free: Unlike Ruby, Hazel was ‘seeking knowledge’ when he summoned Jinn, and the fact that the so-called ‘password’ worked gave him all the answers he needed, which in turn satisfies Jinn’s mandate to answer questions. Which again feels rather distinct from the outright FREEBIE that Jinn gives Ruby.

And then of course there’s the whole bit where Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang got Ambrosius to SUPER-skirt his own rules to make Penny a new body. Which we’re still a bit hazy on HOW they got that to work. Again, given that it was Ruby who summoned Ambrosius, what if it turns out that she was able to get him to BYPASS his normal restrictions?

Another neat little detail to all this is the fact that we are actually two-for-two on Ruby being the FIRST person shown on-screen using each of the relics. She’s the first person we see using the Lamp to summon Jinn, and again the first person we see using the Staff to summon Ambrosius. So I can’t help but think we’re likely to see this pattern continue with the Sword and the Crown.

I realize some of these on their own might feel like a bit of a stretch, but taken together I think we can start seeing a pattern:

Right now, Ruby is two-for-two on both being the first person shown on screen using a relic AND getting what seems to be special treatment from both relic spirits AND just so happens to have a power that apparently originates from the very being who CREATED the relics in the first place.

I can’t help but feel like this is all going somewhere…

[susiephone]

i’m doing my annual reread of “gone girl” (happy women’s history month!) and as much as i ADORE the movie, both as a movie and an adaptation (seriously i think it’s one of the best adaptations i’ve ever seen), the book just has something to offer that i feel like couldn’t really be translated into film: the narration.

like yes there’s some narration in the movie, but films are a visual medium. for the most part, you don’t have the character tell us what they’re thinking, you show us via their actions. but a book, especially in first person POV as the book is (alternating perspectives between nick and amy), you have the benefit of having the character’s thoughts, and their actions, which can often hint at some stuff the characters don’t realize or don’t want to admit. especially because in the book, nick and amy are both aware they are telling you a story. they are both playing to an audience, they both know you’re there, and they both want you to side with them. and that is fascinating to consider as you read.

and we’ve all seen amy get made into this feminist girlboss heroine, and i know some people are joking (i mean, i joke about it), but some people are not. and that is baffling if you read the book and realize amy is also a complete misogynist. (actually she’s a misanthrope, she hates everybody, but she really has contempt for other women that doesn’t come up as much in the movie.) i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: it is a tragedy the book cut out hilary handy, because what amy did to her is an EXCELLENT example of amy’s lack of care for other women. 

the book also delves more into how amy, while brilliant and clever, is also not nearly as smart as she thinks she is, and she’s also a complete spoiled brat. the movie definitely mentions that amy was rich, but in the book, it’s clear that she’s never actually had to have job in her life (she does have one, but it doesn’t pay that well and it’s clear she could quit and live off her parents’ money any time she liked), and when she complains about being dragged “penniless” to missouri, she can still afford to not work and never has to think about the cost of gas. like she and nick aren’t RICH anymore, but they’re certainly not poor. amy in the book pays ten dollars for a carton of milk because she doesn’t realize she’s being overcharged. she expects $12,000 to last her nearly a year living in hiding, without actually budgeting (or rather, sticking to her budget) or compromising on comfort. 

furthermore, the book gets more into amy’s childhood and why she is the way she is, and also how her actions affect people who did nothing to her. the book spends a lot more time with her parents, who while not GOOD people in the book, get a lot more depth and really highlight amy’s callousness. the book does more to explore her psyche to make it clear that amy isn’t some super-cool ice queen mastermind who Does What She Wants; she’s on the edge of a breakdown basically 24/7, she’s a total hypocrite, she’s completely oblivious to her weaknesses and other people’s strengths, she’s motivated almost entirely by what others think of her, and her ego is both VERY inflated and incredibly fragile.

and in the book, amy and nick are perfect for each other. seriously. i have personally concluded that neither of them are capable of selfless or healthy love--except nick’s love for his sister, which is his main redeeming quality as a human being--but they do love each other in the most twisted, fucked-up, masochism tango way possible, and they’ll live miserably ever after because neither of them could ever be happy with someone else anyway.

like i get this stuff had to be streamlined or downplayed to make a 432-page book work in a single film. but i wish more discussion of the story was centered around the book instead of the movie, because i feel like when you have to cut down on stuff, some nuance and depth inevitably gets lost. and i wonder if amy would be as widely idolized and praised if the fanbase was centered more on the book than the movie.

tl;dr: if you’ve only seen the movie of gone girl, i implore you to pick up the book. it’s fantastic and makes an already stellar story even better. the audiobook is also excellent, although it did take me a couple chapters to get used to the narrator’s voices. they’re both FANTASTIC but it was jarring to hear nick as Not Ben Affleck and amy as Not Rosamund Pike 

[wukong-s-only-wife5000]

Hey I hope your doing well! I just wanted to say that I loved how you wrote my Request, and I’d like to show the boy some more love so can I Request First Date for Lego Monkie Kid Macaque? Have a fantastic day btwsss👋🏼👋🏼✨

LMK!Macaque: First Date.

Word Count: 2494.

Rating: Fluff.

Content/Trigger Warnings: N/A.

Authors Notes: Say.less. This came out way longer than I expected yet left rushed? Hope you enjoy it!

<---Previous | Masterlist | Next--->

“You're here early,” the voice scared you… it felt like a déjà vu moment, but you shook it off and focused on him. 

“I didn't wanna be late,” you looked at the emo monkey boy in human form and smiled a bit. 

He wore his usual puppet master outfit, but something about it this time seemed more… well-kept? Groomed, even? Right now, he had the hood down. Like last time, he looked a bit weird to you since you were more used to seeing the emo monkey boy and not emo human boy. He was handsome nonetheless, though.

“You look gorgeous,” he said as he got a look at you and you to him.

“So do you,” you said without thinking and smiled nervously. “I mean, handsome, you-”

“It’s okay,” he cut you off with a chuckle. “Thank you.”

“R-right… so, what do you have in store for me tonight?” you smiled up at him. He just stared at you with a small smile of his own before his mind finally caught up to him.

“Right, well,” he chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Well, you said that you wanted it to be a shadow play… so, I, um…” he cleared his throat. “I made one for you.”

“You… made one for me? Like from scratch?” you asked in both shock and curiosity.

Your entire face felt hot from the blush that took over when he said that. You’d never expect that he or anyone would make something like a play script just for you, granted this would be the second time he did. It was definitely unexpected and most flattering if you were being completely honest.

“May I?” he asked. You looked at his hand he held out for you, that charming yet mischievous smile made your heart race as you placed your hand in his.

“You may,” you replied with a small smile.

“Are you scared, (Y/n)?” he mused a bit.

“Me? Scared? Pft- don't be ridiculous,” you waved him off, which made him chuckle as he led you inside.

“Date never killed anyone,” he chuckled.

“You haven't watched enough horror movies,” you teased him. 

The theatre room was empty as he led you to and sat you down front and centre. Before you could question him on whether or not he rented out the room for just you two, he put his hood up and the lights dimmed a bit.

“Ladies and gentlemen… tonight, you're all in for a treat,” you looked at him in question before you noticed there were people in the room; you were the only one in the front. You were sure it was empty before, though, but you shook it off and zeroed in on Macaque.

“This story was made for the gorgeous creature in the front row,” he gestured to you with a grin, which made you shift a bit as people watched you. You gave him the ‘I'll kill you later’ eyes, but his grin only grew wider as his head lowered to cover his face except his mouth.

This story had everything you loved: action, mystery, tragedy, romance. It felt unlike him, but at the same time, how he told the story was breathtaking and had many on the edge of their seats. The main character was a heroine who fell in love with the villain and changed him… only for the villain to lose his life while saving her. 

The story had ended with the heroine marrying the villain who had actually faked his death in order to keep her safe from his enemies. It was an entire rollercoaster of emotions and maybe because it was written for you that you were more invested in the story than you normally would be. He took your breath away and his smile when he saw how much you were enjoying it shone brighter than Wukong. 

“Did you like it?” was the first thing he asked once everyone left, and he walked over to you.

“I loved it,” you smiled up at him. “I never would have thought that the Six Eared Macaque would be this good at writing,” you teased, which successfully made him all bashful and shy.

“I'm glad you liked it,” he chuckled a bit and sat to your left as he shifted back to his emo monkey form. “To be honest… I kinda made up the last part.”

“You mean you killed off the villain?!” you gasped dramatically and nudged him playfully with your shoulder. “You monster… how could you,” you said dramatically, which made him laugh a bit.

“But I saved him, don't hit me for that,” he chuckled as he put his hands up in mock surrender. 

“It was still pretty good, though,” you smiled, looking ahead at the stage. “You must really enjoy doing these.”

“It’s just a hobby,” he shrugged a bit. 

“Don't think you can try to be all indifferent now,” you looked at him with a smile and nudged him.

“Fine, fine… it's a hobby that I really like,” he admitted. “Especially now that I have a fan,” he looked at you with a small smirk.

“Oh really? And who said anything about me being your fan, hm?” you teased as you folded your arms.

“I had a pretty good hunch,” he said confidently. “You wouldn't have suggested our date be a shadow play if you didn't really like it… so you're obviously a fan of mine.”

“Fine, maybe I think that your shadows are pretty cool,” you smiled a bit to yourself. “I really like how well you use them to tell your stories.”

“I appreciate that,” he looked at you. 

Your smiles never seemed to disappear when you were around each other. Neither of you had ever smiled so much at anyone, especially Macaque. Yet, being with you like he was now… it brought him an odd sense of peace and made his insides and outsides feel warm and fuzzy, I mean, forgetting that he is fuzzy.  

“What do you wanna do now?” you asked without even thinking.

“Well, I could show off a bit more,” he said as he let a shadow clone appear on your right, which scared you at first. 

“Do you get cold easily?” you asked.

“I'm covered in fur, (Y/n),” he mused.

“Touché,” you shrugged as you stood up. 

You tried to ignore how cool you thought the clone was so as to not fill up his ego by letting him know how cool you thought it was. Sure, you'd seen Wukong’s clones a lot before, but that never meant that you always thought it was amazing every single time! I mean… they made clones! Yes, you have abilities too, but this wasn't about you.

“Did you want to go somewhere?” his voice brought you back to reality.

“We can go for a walk to the park, there was a full moon out,”

“Do you like the moon?” he asked with a small smile. You were too adorable for words.

“A lot,” you grinned a bit.

“Let's go for a walk, then,” he made his clone disappear into the dark void before he stood up and opened his hand again for yours. “(Y/n),”

“Yes?” you asked softly.

“Can I hold your hand while we walk?” he asked in a gentle tone that made your heart want to explode.

“Mhm,” you nodded. 

That was all you could get out as he took your hand and led you out through the back exit. Your insides were on fire, but he wasn't any different. He didn't know where that courage came from, but he was glad that he asked. Your hand was small, but it felt so warm and though it wasn't very soft. It was between smooth and rough, which showed you were a hard worker and he loved that about you.

The walk down the alley to the streets was as quiet as the night before when you waited for the others to arrive… which they never did, by the way.

“Be honest with me, Macaque,” you glanced up at him.

“Sure,” he gave a nod, curious of what you wanted his honesty on.

“Did you do something to MK and the others to make them not show up yesterday?” you raised a brow. He laughed a bit and lifted your hand he was holding to kiss the back of it.

“Guilty,” he confessed, which made you laugh a bit, not minding the hand kiss even though your heart never seemed to slow down.

“What’d you do?” you asked in amusement.

“Let's just say… I called in a few favours,” he grinned at you.

“You didn't!” you laughed. “No wonder Wukong was so pissed off.”

“Well, when I heard you were coming too, I wanted to take the chance to talk to you in private,” he confessed as he looked at you. “Of course, you know that if our buddy Wukong was there, he’d have made sure I was in another theatre entirely.”

“Point taken,” you smiled a bit. “Were you really that desperate to get me alone?” you teased.

“Talking to you in person is way better than talking on the phone or texting,” he stated.

“I guess,” you chuckled and shook your head. “Such a trickster.”

“Guilty again,” he chuckled as he let go of your hand and instead wrapped his arm around your shoulders to pull you closer. “This okay?”

“Y-Yeah… it’s fine,” you said softly, face bright from all the blood rushing to your full cheeks. He smelled so good, like pinewood and some amazing cologne. His body was so warm and the fur on his wrist tickled the skin of your arm.

“You were shivering a bit,”

“No I wasn't,” you looked up at him with a smile.

“Guess my eyes aren't what they used to be,” he joked.

“Real smooth, emo boy,”

“Emo boy?” he mused.

“Yeah, emo boy,” you looked at him with a slight grin.

“If you're calling me that, then I'm freely calling you plum,” he shot back.

“Macaque,” you said, which made him chuckle.

“Nah, I'm still calling you plum,” he stated with a slight shrug before he pulled you closer to him.  

“Fine,” you sighed softly. If he was anything like Wukong, he wasn't going to stop calling you that. 

“Wasn't as long as I thought,” he smirked, referring to when you told him having nickname rights would take a long, long time.

“Hey, look,” he leaned down to whisper in your ear. “It really is a full moon,” he said and pointed to the empty sky.

You didn't know when you got to the park, mostly distracted by Macaque and his voice and his body close to yours. The view of the night sky from the park was breathtaking, you mentally thanked yourself for suggesting it. 

The rest of the night was spent with his arms wrapped securely around you to ‘keep you warm’ even though it wasn't exactly cold out. You didn't want it to end, but he didn't want to keep you outside too late. 

“I don't think I can teleport…” you glanced away with a small pout. Macaque smiled a bit at your adorable behaviour. 

“Oh really?” he mused. “Do you want me to teleport you, then?”

“Yes, please,” you looked at him with an eager grin and a childish glint in your eyes.

“I don't know, plum…” he tried to play hard to get. “It might be dangerous~”

“Danger is my middle name!” you declared, which made him laugh.

“Alright, alright, I won't make you beg,” he chuckled. “But, this transportation isn't free,”

“Oh, really?” you mused as you folded your arms. “What's the fee?”

“One kiss for one portal,” he said as he looked down at you with a small smirk.

“W-What?” you stuttered slightly, not expecting it but not surprised either.

“What? I'm sure a beautiful woman such as yourself has kissed someone before,”

“Of course I have! But that isn't the problem,” you said defensively. Sure you've kissed people in your long life… but this felt different for some reason.

“What is the problem?” he raised a brow, his smile never wavered.

“Well…” you trailed off, not really knowing what to say.

“How about… since it’s our first official date, I give you a small kiss,” he suggested. “Sound good?”

“Okay,” you nodded, you were sure you hadn't stopped blushing since he asked to hold your hand back at the theatre.

“Great…” he held that same hand while his other hand held your chin. “Can I kiss you, (Y/n)?”

“Yes…” your voice was soft, your eyes locked onto each other like you were the only beings in the universe.

“Alright,” he smiled a bit before he leaned in close, placing a kiss on your forehead before he pulled back and let your hand go. You were… flabbergasted. You never expected that… 

That tease!  You thought to yourself as you looked at him as he stretched and cracked his knuckles.

“It’s really late,” he looked at you with that cocky smirk. “I’ll need your address.”

“Oh… right,” you nodded and gave it to him, you were surprised that he knew the area.

“If you're scared, I can go with you,”

“Nope,” you shook your head as he opened the portal. Your heart was beating too fast all night for you to think about him being in your home… Alone with you. 

“Suit yourself,” he struggled with a chuckle. “If you're scared, you can close your eyes and jump in,”

“Okay…” you nodded… only for him to move it below you. “Jerk!” you yelled before you fell in and, thankfully, landed on your couch. You stared ahead and cupped your heated cheeks. “Stupid emo monkey,” you puffed your cheeks a bit before your left hand moved to touch where he kissed…

That dork… you smiled a bit to yourself.

He teleported you to your place with a smile, but when the portal closed, he frowned. He held up the hand that held onto yours most of the walk and narrowed his eyes at it. It felt cold now, his body felt cold, and he hated it. He mostly hated himself for opening his big mouth and sending you home. He hated himself for being this hung up on you… but he would never trade the feeling you gave him for the world. He wanted to be selfish and let you stay with him till the sun came up…

His fingers lifted to touch his lips and a small smirk formed. The warm touch of your skin still felt tingly against his lips, he wished he’d kissed your lips, but that was for another time. You were so nervous, and he didn't want to do something that would make you uncomfortable. He had to be patient with this and go slow… thankfully, he was a very patient emo monkey.

Silly plum…  he mused to himself.

[dollypopup]

hey why do people get so mean about having a more interesting, occasionally fucked up, mistake making Colin Bridgerton written in fanfiction? What happened to liking complex characters? Just curious what your take was since imo you have some of my favorite diverse takes on colin that ground him in reality

Awww, thank you <3 I appreciate a lot that you like my takes on Colin

I have a lot of thoughts on this so I apologize for the super long response, but tbh, I think it goes back to the writing of the show itself. Since Colin wasn't given many opportunities to be fleshed out as a character on the show, people don't necessarily want him to be a full, complex, well rounded character in their fics, either. Unfortunately, Colin is framed largely as an accessory to Penelope in the grand majority of stories and to most fans: Pen is the main character, and thus Colin is the sexy lamp or the trophy or the prize for her narrative. Most people won't admit to that, but even from jump when he was courting Marina, his story wasn't about him. It was about her. She's living the love story, and he's the love interest. JUST the love interest. Not one with depth or a strong circle of community or even screentime. But an attractive One Day for our Heroine. Most people don't WANT him to be complex or a full character in light of that, because they never took him off the initial pedestal of it all. If he's not perfect, then he's not worthwhile. If he's not perfect, he should be punished.

And one only needs to look at how fans reacted to his 'I would never court Penelope Featherington' line in S2 and how everyone reacted. It was like he physically slapped her round the face and kicked her in the river by the way people responded instead of being a young man navigating patriarchal society and trying to fit in with men he's been told he should be like. But no one cared for the Why of Colin. People only cared about how it affected Penelope. Not how it contributed to his character arc, or how it showed us a glimpse into Colin the pretender, Colin the Chameleon, Colin the People Pleaser. Colin's actual motives and characterization has no bearing to most fans. Immediately afterward it was 'He doesn't deserve her' and I definitely saw how fast everyone was to ship Penelope with everyone and anyone else, including the most cardboard cutout NPC ever, Lord Penguin whose only character traits were being dry and vegetarian. Penelope and other cardboard cutout OCs. Penelope and OOC versions of Colin's own brothers. Anyone but him. Because how dare he be a character outside of his ascribed role of Love Interest?

Everything about Colin that's good is down to Luke Newton's acting and understanding, not from the writing. And I love him because I like to dig for that understanding, but the grand majority of people want it spoon fed to them. Unfortunately, that's hard to do with limited time. From the very beginning, Colin was truncated on the show. And the writers' lack of respect for him as a character in his own right didn't stop even when it was his own season, and he got the least amount of screentime of any lead in any season. Colin didn't really get to build relationships outside of Penelope. Though there were plenty of opportunities to highlight companionship he might have had with others- Phillip, Will, his own family, the show wasn't interested in showing us such things. Instead, Colin is a loner whose only real connection is Penelope. His emotional journeys are cut short, unseen, alluded to. And to make matters worse, fans scoffed him off because they 'couldn't even thirst over him', as he's the only member of the ABC club who didn't have a sex scene in S1. Or even a kiss. (well. . .I still thirsted, but that's because that face card never declined in his LIFE, Lukey boi, congrats on your genetics).

From the MOMENT we're introduced to him on that dance floor, through her eyes, in the warm light as he was dancing with a group, we were meant to see him as the perfect, pure prize for our darling Pen. So, he's not allowed to be much else to most fans.

It's weird to say that Anthony fucks and that's why people are less harsh on him for how he treated Kate and Edwina (that and the fact that he was also a production fave so he got a ton of screentime), but because Colin was set up to be this chaste, more wholesome character, fans are extra harsh whenever he has any slight with Penelope but like. . .that's partly what I think it is.

So when he does anything that is in any way an opposition or even not entirely in fawning of her, people get furious. Bridgerton fandom is. . .weird. Maybe it's the genre and what comes with it, maybe I'm used to seeing romance from other angles in which there's a long time to build to it and the personhood and characterization comes first, and the romance builds on top of it, but with the romance being the primary and largely only goal, and him not getting to really have many relationships outside of that romance, as soon as he shows any signs of being a character existing away from it, he's demonized.

And this even extends to Luke, I think. People have done the same to him: they want him to exist as a romantic option for Nicola, and so when he does anything, like just living his life in a way that doesn't subscribe to that fantasy, he's hated on.

I think people don't want to face the fact that Nicola got to play two characters, and Luke barely got the chance to play one. That he had to build Colin from the bones up largely on his lonesome. It isn't that one is a better actor than the other- it's the material. Colin and Penelope are both good character, but Penelope got development in the scripts and narratives, and Colin was largely ignored. Nicola and Luke are both good actors, but Nicola got screentime and Luke didn't. He got snubbed. And people are seeing it more and more because it was obvious. Same for Colin and Penelope. It's really, REALLY obvious who writer favorites are. They're the characters who have the most time on screen. The ones with a variety of stories. The ones with lots of relationships outside of their romance. And Penelope is undoubtedly a production favorite. Thus she gets the most narrative. Thus she has the most fans. And Colin, being her love interest, does not need to have character development or complexity for those fans to ship them. I mean. . .Colin isn't even allowed to have a friend who isn't Pen. To most fans, he exists FOR her. Not for himself. So they get mean when a writer doesn't see it that way. Many, MANY writers write him largely as whatever they want Pen to have, and many many fans prefer it that way. Colin isn't really Colin, to them. He's not a real character in their minds. He's an ideal. And ideals do not fuck up. Or, when they do, they are egregiously punished for it. Shoutout the rise of puritanism, I guess?

If the show itself won't take Colin seriously as a character in his own right, I'm not surprised the audience and fans don't, either.

I just wish it was different, is all.

[when-wax-wings-melt]

Keeper of the Lost Cities: A Love-Hate-Love Relationship, And What It Can Do To Your Psyche 

This is the essay you guys wanted to see after this presentation dropped; to be clear, this is the final draft. The presentation was made from the rough draft, so it's rather different.

Also, the essay prompt was to make it personal. So the italicized bits are where I was trying to do that, and they are both separate and a part of the essay. They break up the flow, but are also a response to the normal bits of the essay. You get it. Here we go.

In total, the Keeper of The Lost Cities (KOTLC) series by Shannon Messenger has over 7000 pages, split between nine and a half books (Book 8.5 was, uselessly, a novella) with a planned tenth coming in late 2024. It’s the kind of series that hooks you the same way a fisherman hooks a fish: with a promise of a treat that goes very, very unfulfilled. This is to say: KOTLC is a good series, at least at first. It’s certainly been my core obsession for a good (or bad) five years. It’s a hook because you can’t escape once you’ve begun. It’s my own personal brand of heroine, as Edward Cullen might say if Bella were a too-long book series that doesn’t resolve any plotlines or character arcs and instead piles more information on top of worldbuilding until contradictions are more plentiful than the packed main cast.

KOTLC is a good series, but the idea of recommending it feels like I’d be violating several articles of the Geneva Convention. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, and yet the thought of it ending is an impossibility on the scale of the apocalypse and I hope (I’d rather) the world ends before this series does. KOTLC is a minefield of sloppy worldbuilding, deeply compelling characters, and---where am i without it?---bits of myself woven into the many, many words, sinking under my skin and revealing what I think I have to offer. 

Sophie Foster is the protagonist of the series, trudging the long, never-ending path to what hopefully will be a happy ending. Like the author, Sophie has blonde hair and brown eyes, making her unique among her fellow elves, who all have blue eyes, including the rare-among-the-main-cast people of color.

There are so many things that make Sophie weird, strange, unique, attractive to every boy who sees her, and otherwise out of the ordinary: for example, she has five special abilities that allow her to teleport, read minds, inflict pain, speak any language, and enhance the abilities of others---i cannot do what she can, but she breathes and i do too---There are certain things she has very much in common with her fellow elves, such as her slender build and flawless skin, but much more makes her, as her childhood bullies would say, “A Special Sophie-Flake.”

Sophie was raised by humans, which not only means that the steadily growing pile of unique traits is now tottering dangerously above my head, but also that she’s clumsy and wildly insecure. This insecurity has a purpose and a source, making it one of the most annoyingly (and terrifyingly) accurate depictions of teenage anxiety in middle-grade media (if I were a vampire pulled from normal vampire lore rather than Twilight and I looked at her, I’d be invisible)---so do you get it? do i? 

which one of us is me---Sophie has intense imposter syndrome, never believing she’s worthy of the overwhelming support, approval, and desire heaped upon her throughout her years in the Lost Cities. In Book One, four teenage boys were no less than obsessed with her, possibly because she, presumably, talked to them sometimes. Valin, a “drooly boy” (named due to his constant drooling, as one might expect), is forced to ballroom dance with Sophie in detention, and later gives her a card and a bracelet professing his admiration. Dex Dizznee manages to sustain his crush until he finally makes his move in Book Six, and is rejected in humiliation after she kisses him to make him realize his feelings aren’t actually real---when I know that he was lying to himself, is lying to himself. truth is a phase and it ends once you hit age eight---After Book Six, only two remain: Fitz and Keefe, each of whom has made their crushes very, desperately, embarrassingly clear to someone who very clearly returns both sets of feelings.

“Sooner or later you're going to have to solve the triangle. Or should we get real and call it a square?” (Messenger Neverseen), notes Keefe, with his usual subtle confession of his feelings---only leaving me with questions: did he want her to know at all? is he chasing the person or the change? the girl or the excitement? the wanting or the wanted?---The love polygon of however many vertices is both acknowledged and not by Sophie— she’s aware of her feelings for Fitz from chapter two of Book One, becomes aware of her feelings for Keefe in Book Nine, and mentally friend-zones Dex every other sentence, even when it’s not really relevant to the rest of her inner monologue. Her inability to believe with confidence that she might be worthy of a crush (or any sort of positive acknowledgment) is layered beneath every thought where she considers the possibility of being liked, and then promptly dismisses it.

---she knows that admitting it means being wrong. i will be wrong, unless i guess right and am big-headed, full of myself. who am i---

Sophie’s oblivious nature stems from her human upbringing, directly resulting from the trauma of developing the ability to read minds at age five. She hears her parents wishing she were normal or better at making friends and fitting in, her sister complaining about her presence, and her classmates at school judging everything she does.

She sticks out like a sore thumb in the human world, only to come to the elven world and be called a freak, malfunctioning, a genetic experiment, and a failure, just when she thought she might fit in---when i am a puzzle piece, a corner without the connection---Her alienation in the human world (referred to as the Forbidden Cities in the series) comes from her level of success, skipping five grades due to her elven intelligence and photographic memory, and getting into Harvard at age twelve.

While she hates the combination of jealousy and admiration she’s constantly showered with there---who hates it and loves it at the same time? isolation and contradiction---in the elven world, she’s hated for other reasons: accidentally breaking laws, making mistakes, or simply being a blip on the seemingly perfect streak the elven world has for peace and security. Is there any mystery as to why she would never believe that people actually, genuinely care for her? She’s formed her protective coating of denial that lasts her through every time Fitz gives her a gift and she convinces herself it means nothing, or every time Dex shows his jealousy, or every time Keefe goes to her before anyone else.

Even when she kisses Dex, after he tells her in anything but words that he likes her, she doubts herself—are two sides of the same coin, where heads is insecurity and tails is egotism. question: who is she?---She doesn’t think he actually likes her, appreciates her, admires her. This doubt works its way into everything she does, every relationship she has, platonic, romantic, or otherwise. Yet again, she shows her status as a reflection---answer: she’s a mirror. i know who i am because she exists---reading into everything and still not believing or trusting that it truly exists outside of her imagination.

Any time Sophie sees a girl she perceives as prettier, more elegant, or smarter than she is, she instantly develops a jealousy complex—relating either to how Fitz acts around them, or how they project the confidence and normalcy she wishes she can achieve---to tell me whether or not i am alone---She surrounds herself with people who are described as incredibly stunning even in a world where every elf naturally matches the ideal Western beauty standard.

Yet she refuses to believe that she, too, might be beautiful, and instead considers herself dull and boring next to Biana, Linh, Marella, and Maruca---(and ten books later, i still do not have an answer)---Even Stina, who has committed the number one crime (it’s a federal offense) of having “a mass of frizzy curls” (KOTLC 164), is considered beautiful when her hair is “tamed” and slicked back. This framing of beauty applies to the boys, too, but none of Sophie’s descriptions are quite as detailed, quite as admiring, or quite as wistful as when she’s describing Biana Vacker’s heart-shaped, perfectly glossed lips---so, yes, i look at her and see myself. is that what i’m trying to say? is that what i am?---

But the queer-coding doesn’t stop (or begin, really) with Sophie’s dedicated denial of both her worth as a human being and her desire to kiss her pretty girl friends. A connection called a “Cognate Bond” is often referred to in the text as the closest two elves can become, emotionally and mentally.

Cognates exist when two Telepaths (such as Sophie) have such a deep and unbreakable trust bond that they become more skilled together than they were apart. In creating and maintaining this bond, they have to complete trust exercises and not hold back secrets keeping them from total confidentiality---she thrives on secrets---Sophie’s cognate is her friend (and love interest, and, debatably, ex-boyfriend) Fitz, whose romantic relationship was in a large part focused on their cognate one. Their trust exercises involve staring into each other’s eyes, holding hands, having matching rings, and Fitz telling Sophie that she’s the only person he can truly trust.

Fitz also asks his father at one point if cognates are allowed to date each other— his father affirms the statement. Notably, Alden has the authority to do so since he himself was a cognate, only undergoing a nasty breakup— sorry, only losing the bond, after his cognate, Quinlin, kept too many secrets. It’s implied that two other characters were once almost Cognates, only to grow too far apart when one of them, Prentice, had his sanity forcibly shattered and was locked in prison, leaving his (gay lover) best friend, Tiergan, to raise his son---while cognatedom thrives on truth, and also regret, and also the denial of both---The choice to parallel Fitz/Sophie, Alden/Quinlin, and Tiergan/Prentice was possibly not a conscious one but it still resonates with hundreds of queer teen readers who look at the portrayal of utter devotion and trust between two men and think, Wow. This is what I see in myself---but without the denial, without the regret, what are we left with? what do we see?

we see the truth.

We see ourselves.

There are so, so many other issues that I could easily delve into in this series (such as the strangely Western portrayal of gender roles, the racism concerning the Song family, irresponsible adults and the ethics of genetic experimentation, the girlboss and cardboardification of quite literally every woman, etc) and just as many things that make Keeper of the Lost Cities worth it (Fitz’s anger, the development of villains, Sophie’s trans-coding, Keefe’s trauma, physical ramifications of guilt, Marella and Fintans’ pyrokinesis/queer-coding, whatever Dimitar has going on, etc).

The series tends to skew to the “not good” side, although on occasion it will topple abruptly into the “incredible work of art and exploration of wildly interesting character dynamics” before rising like an angel back to heaven into its original position as “questionable in terms of taste.” Mostly, what defines KOTLC is how it’s interpreted rather than the content itself. Someone far different (and with far worse taste) than I might see Fitz’s quest for vengeance and call him a red flag in elven form, while I call it a ridiculously interesting exploration of what grief, near idol worship, toxic standards, and guilt can do to a teenage boy past his limit.

But I am not the voice of the fandom (even though I definitely should be). I look at Sophie Foster and see myself, but that does not make her me. These characters always feel so painfully real, desperately relatable, as if Messenger cobbled together a main cast from bits of my life, but they are not. In the end, they are just characters. In the end, it’s just a series made for middle schoolers, in the same way the sun is just the sun, and the stars are just there to twinkle merrily and not to be explored.

(where am i without it? I cannot do what she can, but she breathes and I do too so do you get it? do i?  which one of us is me when I know that he was lying to himself, is lying to himself. truth is a phase and it ends once you hit age eight only leaving me with questions: did he want her to know at all? is he chasing the person or the change? the girl or the excitement? the wanting or the wanted? she knows that admitting it means being wrong. i will be wrong, unless i guess right and am big-headed, full of myself. who am i when i am a puzzle piece, a corner without the connection who hates it and loves it at the same time? isolation and contradiction aretwo sides of the same coin, where heads is insecurity and tails is egotism. question: who is she? answer: she’s a mirror. i know who i am because she exists to tell me whether or not i am alone (and ten books later, i still do not have an answer) so, yes, i look at her and see myself. is that what i’m trying to say? is that what i am? she thrives on secrets while cognatedom thrives on truth, and also regret, and also the denial of both but without the denial, without the regret, what are we left with? what do we see? we see the truth. We see ourselves.

[aspoonofsugar]

Hi, what do you think Yang's future arc might be, besides the whole Team STRQ background?

Since as of now, there is something that I still feel that Yang lacks compared to the other three heroines. I mean, all three of them have a much bigger role to play in the story compared to Yang, who is just Ruby's sister and being a child related to Team STRQ. And I know that it's probably because of the Citrinitas and Rubedo dynamic in alchemy. But isn't acquiring gold one of the results desired from the Magnum Opus?

Anyways, I also want to ask if you think that there should be more Chinese elements through Yang's story besides her name. I mean, why name her after a Chinese Dragon (who is the most revered mythical creature in China) if they aren't gonna apply it to her story? If Yang's focus is her main fairytale Goldilocks, then why not just name her that is reminiscent of the hot-cold-just right dynamics present in her story? The three other heroines has other fairytales associated with them and I wish that Yang has that too (instead of being just a part of their tales i.e. Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Wizard of Oz).

I guess that I wanted the writers to explore more of Yang's ptsd arc, like maybe have Yang practice shui-mo or water and ink painting as a coping mechanism; to essentially help her control her emotions or anger. Instead of Taiyang seemingly looking at Yang through other people's lenses instead of through his own (which might be even worse, like hello mini Raven lookalike).

Anyways, thank you for entertaining this ask of mine. Hope you have a great day.

Hi!

Thank you for this rwby ask :D

So, tbh I don't feel Yang's arc is lacking compared to the others. I would say so far she and Weiss have my favorite arcs among the protagonists tbh (and they are 3rd overall).

Anyway, to address your different questions...

YANG'S ROLE

I think Yang's arc will focus on Ruby and Blake, other than Raven and Summer:

She needs to overcome her contradictive feelings towards Ruby

She needs Blake's help to reconcile her feelings for Raven and Summer

If Weiss and Blake's subplots are linked to the world, as they used to represent two extremes of an ongoing conflict (the Schnee Family and the White Feng), then Ruby and Yang are tied to the conflict through their mothers. So, Ruby will have to overcome Summer, as Yang will have to aknowledge she is projecting part of her feelings towards Summer on Raven. You say Yang has no other role, than to be Raven's child, but if so, then Ruby's own subplot ties to Summer. I don't think there is much difference between the two sisters. It's just that Ruby is also the titular character to an extent and the main hero. That's why she is set up to save Cinder together with Jaune. Anyway, I am expecting the STRQ's subplot to actually be pivotal in volume 10 (and hopefully 11 :P - let's dream big). So, I am not worried about Yang's screentime. I actually think there is more of her arc left than Blake, who just needs a wrap up. As a result, I am expecting Blake this time to be the one that ties into Yang's arc.

In short, I would like a repetition/inversion of their Beauty and Beast motif. Throughout the Mistral Arc Blake is the beast having to deal with a corrupting Rose:

I wonder if this time Yang will be the one having to face her "roses":

After all, it is clear Yang has still to fully deal with her conditional idea of love:

Jinxy: The bidding starts at- Yang: No! I was the first one to- Jinxy: …knowing… what it is to feel loved.

Which can only be resolved through Blake, Ruby and her two mothers. In particular, the fact Jinxy asks for Yang's "knowledge about what it is to feel loved" in exchange of her arms says a lot:

Firstly, Yang lost her arm to protect Blake, so it is like her arm in exchange of love. Secondly, in that moment Yang is slowly figuring out her romantic feelings for Blake, so in a sense she is still figuring romantic love out. Finally, Jinxy's items are metaphorical representations of what they ask:

The mouse is exchanged in exchange of a hug, as a reference to the fact Little is Ruby's inner child and needs to be protected

Ruby is asked hope in exchange of Penny's sword because Penny gives her hope

Finally, Yang is asked for the knowledge of being loved in exchange of a part of herself because unconsciously she thinks she has to give up parts of herself to be loved. That is what conditional love is. You can be loved only if you are good, not if you are bad. It is clearly something Yang believes unconsciously and that stems from her abandonment issues. In short, in Mistral she thinks Blake leaves because she doesn't care. I am expecting Vacuo to be about Yang thinking she has to be perfect for Blake to stay, in a sense.

I think realizing she does not have to be would tie nicely with her Goldilock's allusion:

Vale is the TOO HOT: The Yellow trailer has Yang meeting up with Ruby (red=hot) and asking for a beverage with no ice:

Yang: Strawberry Sunrise. No ice. Oh, and one of those little umbrellas.

(Let's highlight Strawberry Sunrise alludes to both the Citrinitas and the Rubedo phase (yellow + red), which ties into the two sisters, as Ruby loves strawberries and Yang is associated with sun)

Throughout the arc Yang shows her strength (body) and her refusal to tame her own feelings, which end with her losing an arm surrounded by fire:

Mistral is the TOO COLD: Yang's search for Raven leads her to Weiss (blue=cold) and into a bar where she asks for some water to cool herself down:

Yang: A water. It's hot out.

It ends with Yang and Blake together and safe, while surrounded by water:

Atlas can be seen as Yang having found an inner equilibrium towards the JUST RIGHT. After all, the arc ends with Yang and Blake (purple= just right) at balance, surrounded by both earth and air (opposing elements)

However, Yang's equilibrium is suddenly disturbed by Ruby's spiral and I am expecting this to have some kind of lasting impact on Yang. So, I am expecting Yang to quickly go over the three stages again, so that she can realize she is in fact just right, without having to always be right at everything :''')

As for the major plot, it will mostly depend by how Raven and Summer tie to it tbh. It is possible that whatever Summer's plan is, it gave Salem's the idea to use Cinder as a vessel for the Maiden's powers (hence linking Ruby and Cinder together even more). Still, there are still questions related to Raven's past, which will probably find an answer and tie to the main conflict. In short, I really see Yang involved with Ruby in the main conflict concerning Raven/Summer and Salem, which will be pretty relevant plot-wise.

After that, Ruby will probably have the peak of her arc, where she saves Cinder. This fits, as Ruby has had less development than Yang, as her arc has been saved up for the end, so that it resonates more, as she is the main heroine.

YANG'S CHINESE INFLUENCE

Yours is a great question! I am not sure tbh! I have wondered myself if there is some kind of allusion hidden behind Yang's chinese influence, but I could not find it. Maybe someone else did or will! Or it will become clear later on.

In general, I think martial arts are a strong inspiration for Yang's character, so she might have been given Bruce Lee's name. After all, another inspiration for Yang is dragon ball's super sayan:

And someone suggested she might allude to Yang Guo from the return of the Condor Heroes, but I have not read the novel, so I am not sure this is true.

I also don't think it's a problem she isn't called after her fairy tale. After all, only Weiss is directly called after it (Weiss Schnee as Snowhite literally). Blake's name means both black and white and it alludes to Blake being both Beast (black) and Beauty (White). However, it does so indirectly. The same goes for Ruby, whose name and surname are much more tied with alchemy, then her fairy tail. She is the philosophical stone (a ruby) and she is tied with rubedo, whose main flower is a red rose.

Yang's name alludes to:

Her being linked to Citrinitas and to gold

Her being the sky-woman (a sunny dragon), so the Wise Woman in juxtaposition to Raven's Bad Mother

Her being the yang to Blake's yin

It ties indirectly to her allusion in how it alludes to the too hot (sunny dragon), which Yang definately is

Probably something else I am missing :P

YANG'S ALLUSIONS

Yang has actually many allusions:

Goldilocks

LRRH

Beauty and Beast

She isn't only a part of her loved ones' allusions, but she shares them, which meta-narratively might tie with her Goldilock's inspiration. As a matter of fact Goldilock has no beginning nor end. We do not know from where Goldilock is from and we have no idea where she goes after she escapes. RWBY gives Yang a beginning and an end in other fairy tales:

She starts as Little Red Riding Hood (Summer's daughter, who loses herself in the wood, while looking for her mother and meets a big bad beast with ferocious eyes)

She will end as Beauty and Beast (the Yellow Beauty, who burns gold in Blake's happy ending)

In general, all the protagonists have secondary allusions, which tie into their loved ones, not only Yang:

Weiss's secondary allusion is the Snow Queen, which is really Winter's primary allusion. That is because her bond with Winter ans her family is key in Weiss's arc.

Blake's secondary allusion is the Jungle Book, which ties to Menagerie as a whole.That is because Blake's arc is about her whole community.

Ruby' secondary allusion is the Wizard of Oz, which ties to the main conflict with Salem, but is also Oscar's main allusion. So, Ruby too ties into someone else's inspiration.

As you can see, RWB too are parts of their loved ones' allusion. Still, since they are protagonists these allusions end up being just as important for them, as they are for the other characters. Yang is the same, but in her case her loved ones are Ruby and Blake, two of the main heroines, hence she ends up sharing the spotlight with them. Again, it is not really different from Ruby sharing the spotlight with Oscar in the Oz's allusion (Oscar too is a main character, after all).

All in all, each protagonist has their own set of motifs and chosen imagery, which is similar, but also different. It is interesting to understand why. I mean, to this day I keep seeing people getting annoyed Blake shares her trailers with another character (Adam and Ilia)... whereas Blake sharing the trailer ties with her shadow motif and with her beauty and beast allusion. Hers is an allusion, which needs to be shared. Just like Yang's allusion needs to be completed by other stories.

YANG'S PTSD ARC

I love your headcanon and it would have been a great idea! That said, I don't dislike what we got. I also disagree about Yang and Taiyang's confrontation tbh.

First of all, Yang's recover does not start with her father, but it starts with Ruby. She feels responsible for Ruby and decides to get herself back together, so she can go find her sister and protect her. It ties with Yang's big sis complex, which still needs to be addressed. That said, it is a good example of Ruby being Yang's too hot. After Adam's attack, Yang is left depressed and symbolically her hair is tied (her flames are not burning). Thanks to Ruby, she finds new drive and starts her journey of recovery.

Taiyang's advice is thematic in nature rather than psychologic (like RWBY as a series puts more focus on themes, rather than psychology). It tells her she needs to control her feelings better and it is an invitation to find inner balance. This sets up Yang's objective really, more than anything. Finally, Taiyang actually discussing Raven with Yang is necessary and healing. Up until that point Yang's attempts to discuss her mother were always shut down by her father, which clearly made her suffer. Taiyang's inability to address Raven (together with his shutting down) is what leads Yang to put herself and Ruby in danger in a misguided attempt to locate her mother. Not only that, but it is also what leads Yang to repress herself to an extent. She forces herself to be the good daughter and strong big sister, but deep down she too is a child, who wants to know why her mothers both left her. Taiyang could help her to come to terms with it, but he stubbornly avoids the topic. That is why him finally addressing it with Yang helps her. It is also a sign Tai is aknwoledging her growing up. I also think Tai's line about Raven is actually telling:

Taiyang: Your mother was... a complicated woman. Like everybody, she had her faults, but those faults are what tore our team apart. And, it did a real number on our family. You both act like the easiest way to tackle an obstacle is through it. That strength is all that matters in a fight. But if you just take a second look, then maybe you see... there's a way around as well. Come on - one more before dinner.

Does this description fit Raven in your opinion, because imo it does only to an extent. The Raven we meet surely does believe in strength, yes, but she also invites Yang to question things and to look at things from a different perspective. Actually, this description not fitting Raven is also brought up by Yang herself:

Yang: You're right. I don't know you. I only know the Raven dad told me about. She was troubled, and complicated, but she fought for what she believed in, whether it was her team or her tribe! Did you kill her too?

Raven might have learnt knowledge to an extent, but she lacks the wisdom of truly understanding herself. She gives up what she believes in out of fear aka she lacks to take her feelings in check. Not only that, but she needs Yang's perspective to truly see the truth of things and to better understand what strenght and wisdom truly are.

Thank you for the ask, it was fun! Even if I am not sure I gave you the answer you wanted :)

Have a great day as well!

[lunaneko14]

The most embarrasing thing for me in the story is the moments with Sakura, when she tries to stand on par with Naruto and Sasuke or do something her own way. Like when Kakashi saved her from Sasuke the first time. She didn't learn her lesson, and the next time Naruto saved her ass. Another moment was, when Naruto said that if he and Sasuke die, they will become friends in the next life. Sakura immediately began a mental monologue about Team 7, thinking that Naruto meant her too.

Some moments in the war, when Naruto told her to rest, she got offended, saying that she was also part of Team 7. She hit the ground once, and after her self-praise, Naruto and Sasuke had to save her from a monster. After the summoning technique boys went to fight Obito, leaving Sakura behind again. The moment with Madara, when she decided that she was cool, but in the end boys had to save her ass and went to fight Madara without her AGAIN. After that, they fought Kaguya again without her participation. In this battle, the only thing she could be praised for was helping Obito save Sasuke, because the moment she hit Kaguya, I don't even consider as something outstanding. I don't know about the anime, but in the manga, it's clear that Kakashi, who was sitting in Obito's Susanoo, threw her into Kaguya. Here, the only thing we can say is thank you for helping Obito.

Her fans praise her for everything. And I look at her and feel ashamed. I know she has moments in which she was good, but most of the time I sat there facepalming.

But the funniest thing to me is when her fans try to pick her out over supporting characters like Hinata or Ino. There's just one caveat. While Sakura has appeared in all arcs, these two girls only played a big role in three major ones, their total screen time will be less than Sakura's alone. And instead of comparing her to Naruto, Sasuke, or the main female characters of other stories, they try to win at the expense of secondary characters.

This.

Sakura is hella overrated by her stans and they never learn that they’re actually setting her up because anyone with a brain can see that she’s the most useless in major shounen both in her series and in comparison to others.

But you see, if you can read the patterns of Sakura in the story, usually her fans are the same way. Here’s what I mean:

Sakura loves to strike enemies that are distracted or what she thinks are easy targets that she thinks are beneath her and weaker and usually she gets owned and has to be saved.

Her stans are the same way with other heroines and the other female characters. They see they don’t have as much prominence in the story so they think it makes them easy targets to bash to uplift Sakura but like Sakura they get owned.

[dtriad]

《早安！三国打工人》 Good Morning! Workers of the Three Kingdoms, written by 蒿里茫茫

here to shout into the void with a cnovel rec!

The world is boiling, the people are suffering. In truth, Lu Xuanyu didn't quite understand the meaning of those eight words. Ever since she had landed face down in the dirt of the sixth year of the Zhongping era, the fleeting dream she'd once held had scattered like ashes and vanished into thin air. She had a plain face, low EQ, no family background, and a baffling debuff that made everyone mislike her—but it didn't matter that she wasn't treated as the white moonlight of whatever duke or prince. She could work hand and foot, balance the books, butcher hogs, and even had a sword that was enough for her to walk alone in a chaotic world. Her goal was also very simple: a small house, some close friends and neighbors, a room full of food, and a courtyard where she could enjoy the cool breeze at night. So—in the end, just what had gone so wrong for her path to turn entirely in another direction? "I am ready to die here." She held the Black Blade, fully focused as she stood amid the flames, and looked arrogantly at the tide of Danyang soldiers pouring in. "If you want to seize Xuzhou, be ready to do the same."

I have a weakness for the sub-genre of cnovels that's about the main character transmigrating into a historical setting, preferably stories set in an actual historical dynasty (tagged 古色古香) instead of an invented historical setup (tagged 架空历史) or in-universe fictional storyline. And even more specifically, the kind that deals in infrastructure building or military conflict. Conveniently, JJWXC has tags for specific periods, e.g. Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties—and of course the Three Kingdoms period, which is how I came across 早安！三国打工人 aka Good Morning! Workers of the Three Kingdoms while on a historical transmigration reading spree, and consequently fell down a very, very, very deep hole orz

Among the stories that I’ve read in this sub-genre, 3K Workers really stands out to me as one of the best (imo!). The MC Lu Xuanyu doesn’t transmigrate into someone native to the Three Kingdoms period, but as her own DnD character with high combat and terribly low charm per the debuff from the summary. 😂 There is no System, only her sentient sword—the Black Blade—that may be as much of a hidden existential poison to her as it is her one “friend” in the beginning. Slowly, she makes an ordinary life for herself in the capital city of Luoyang, with sufficient food and necessities, a decent-paying job, friendly and nosy neighbors, a small home of her own… But none of it can last, because these are the deathbed years of the Eastern Han dynasty according to history—and the people are suffering.

Over the course of more than a decade, from a lone hunter to a butcher, from a handyman to a refugee, from a night watchman to a general—who’s responsible for the lives of many thousands, both soldiers and civilians (the line blurring as ever between them)—Lu Xuanyu never forgets why she decided to step up and fight: to save people. And her struggles in the attempt, both internal and external, comprise the propelling force of the story, as we can see from the author's notes in which they say up front that Lu Xuanyu will join Liu Bei’s team, and then add:

The heroine is an idealist unto death; don’t think about using reality to change her.

(no way!!!! I love her as she is.)

Some things I really like in 3K Workers:

Lu Xuanyu starts out as a true no-name, rather than someone with an established and/or influential family background (b/c lbr that is quite common for this sub-genre). When she appears through an outsider's POV in Ch. 1, she’s been living alone in the wilderness for several months and is a little desperate for some kind of positive human interaction (the low charm debuff does her no favors, which makes the instances people overcome it more notable—it either says something about the impact her behavior has on them, or their ability to disregard inexplicable annoyance). She doesn’t have power or influence to leverage; she doesn’t have the ambition to do something great or world-changing. She simply wants to live a normal life. It’s just unfortunate that “normal” in the 3K period easily leads to death. Her abilities make her abnormal—she is, quite literally, something like an android according to Word of God, a superhuman who’s a wrinkle in the fabric of this timeline’s reality—but she feels and thinks as a 21st century human, with the assumption of a common humanity that makes her a fish out of water.

There's a strong focus on the consequences of war for the common people, and the PTSD that is a simple fact of existence for those exposed to the conflicts; it consistently turns its lens back to look at the farmers, the soldiers, the people who are treated like trampled grass, and shares their perspectives as well. I recall seeing this done in a few other novels, but iirc the framing in those cases was set up more as a way to show people reacting to the changes wrought by the MC, whereas here the framing allows the MC to better understand the attitudes & status quo of the period.

A lot of stories in the sub-genre have the MCs quickly adjusting to the past on the outside and leveraging the power of their position (again, typically based on preexisting family clout) to proactively push for changes, whether it’s to protect themselves or drive swift societal/technological change. In contrast, Lu Xuanyu doesn’t ever truly adapt to the values of the past, is clearly an oddball to others in her behavior and actions, and has enough on her hands with battles without any time or attention to initiate some golden-finger-boosted upheaval of norms. But the ripple effect of her existence is such that other characters, native to the period, are the ones who see clearly what changes they can make and want to make, and pursue those goals of their own accord: reducing the power of the gentry, sharing knowledge more widely, establishing a strong foundation to support better opportunities for women… They come self-motivated to their own enlightenment, which I feel really enriches the story—Lu Xuanyu is the match that lit the fire, but they keep the fire burning. A special shout-out to Lu Bai, who proposes and leads the women-only Jianfu Battalion; her character has some fantastic development throughout the book ♥

I consider this novel very anti-war in attitude—even though we want Lu Xuanyu to win her battles, by the end there’s only bitter weariness rather than delight in victory.

It’s the Three Kingdoms period, so if you like loyalty kink then this naturally caters 300% to that!!!

Ft. great content about battle strategy, tactics, and logistics that makes my inner history geek super happy, and it's combined very effectively with character portrayal and development shown via battle; outside of battle, it gives attention to rebuilding during the rare periods of temporary peace in a historically grounded way.

Plus the tension in the (im)balance of power—there’s the imperial court, the various warlords, appointed officials, aristocratic families—and how the norms of society slowly, slowly start to change...

Despite the subject matter, it is also incredibly funny 😆 Lu Xuanyu's 21st-century-shaped outlook does not jive with period attitudes, and the resulting disconnects in communication are hilarious if you enjoy dry humor; the low EQ squad, ft. founding members Lu Xuanyu and Lü Bu lololol, are an absolute riot, whether they’re interacting with each other or anyone else, and outside their low EQ sphere of immediate influence the story doesn’t shortchange readers on everyday absurdities either, whether it’s the internal squabbling within Yuan Shao’s harem of strategists/advisors or the 3K period take on “lying flat” among certain scholars (paging Zhuge Liang’s uncle…)

The events and historical characters are based on actual historical records rather than fictionalized Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but you don’t have to be knowledgeable about 3K history at all! Lu Xuanyu certainly isn’t! (And if you are, you’ll enjoy all the references to 3K memes & whatnot… actual lol at the “burning of the thatched cottage” in 3K Workers @ 2010 Three Kingdoms drama do you see that!!! do you see what proper plot logic is!!!)

Technically it falls under JJWXC’s m/f category, but I consider this story essentially gen with background UST at most. Lu Xuanyu is very shippable, in the sense that she has lots of interesting relationships with characters in roles ranging from loyal subordinates to tsundere colleagues to ideologically opposed enemies. (And I was pretty satisfied with the endgame ship, though it really isn’t the focus at all during the main story.) She passes as a man for the first ~20% of the cnovel before revealing she’s a woman, and while the f/f potential is limited (alas!), I do love the supporting female characters.

The bad news: … it’s long… and untranslated… /cries/ I want to translate some excerpts as I reread it, but I gotta be realistic—despite my love for this cnovel I just can’t sign myself up rn to translate 2.7 million Chinese characters over 700+ chapters. If you can read Chinese or if you’re ok with reading via mtl, then you can find it at:

JJWXC [how-to guide]

OR here, Ch. 1-601 (Parts 1-5) and Ch. 602-757 (Part 6+extras)

OR you can message me for a formatted ereader-friendly file >_>

Additional links (potential spoilers)—

Reviews on Weibo & Lofter (one) (two) (three)

Review - Peking University Online Literature 2022-23 Biennial List

Interview with the author 蒿里茫茫

Lu Xuanyu's Pathfinder character sheet

Meta re: Lü Bu

Maps of Luoyang; army movements in the years 193, 195, & 199 CE (+zoom in on Puyang); Emperor Xian's journey 195-199 CE

Translated excerpts—

Ch. 13: LXY defending the neighborhood

Ch. 23: Mei-niang invites LXY over

Ch. 66/73: "you cannot retreat, you cannot lose, and you cannot die!"

Ch. 99: funerals for the dead

Ch. 210: Lü Bu's innate taunt skill

Ch. 679/687: the two sides of Sima Yi

Audiobook adaption (in progress)—

Ximalaya homepage

Bilibili playlist (eps 1-1110+, updating)

Youtube playlist (ep. 1-550)

[last updated 1/17/2025]