#and honestly all the female characters are underrated more than any of the male characters

[galaxyzone]

Unpopular SMG opinions

Screw it, here are my unpopular SMG opinions :)

I hate that I have to say this but please do not attack me for any of these, they are just my personal opinions & thoughts

Warning: opinions different from most people's (also they're not in any particular order, I just kinda threw them together lol)

Man of Medan is my favorite DPA game and I will NOT change my mind, it deserves way more love and appreciation and respect. It genuinely has the best variability and replayability (maybe even more so than UD & maybe even TQ tbh)

House of Ashes is my least favorite SMG game and I struggle to understand why a game so problematic is so loved

I liked Little Hope's twist ending lol. I know it's controversial, but to me, it gave the game so much more emotional weight and I personally love things that make me sad lol, so I liked it. I also think it provides so many themes & motifs, some great symbolism, and really good messages

I'm a big Emily/Matt shipper. I know they have problems but I love both of them and they have so many cute moments in the bonus chapter especially and I just want them to go to couple's therapy to work on said issues bc I love them

I'm also a big Conrad/Fliss shipper. This ship isn't necessarily hated by popular opinion, but it is very overlooked. Once again, I just love them both and I think they could actually work post-game and I simply adore their dynamic

Matt is my favorite male character, Conrad is my second favorite male, and Jacob is my third favorite male. All 3 guys are criminally underrated (and overhated in Conrad's & Jacob's cases) and I love them all

Emily is my favorite female character, Fliss is my second favorite female, and Emma is my third favorite female. Emily & Emma are so unfairly hated- they deserve so much love & appreciation. Fliss, while pretty well-liked, is still much too underrated and also deserves more love & appreciation

I love Emily, Jessica, Ashley, Emma, Jacob, Ryan, Julia, Conrad, Taylor, Angela, Andrew, Rachel, Kate, & Mark. They all deserve love & appreciation and none of the hate that they've received (also I'm not sure if Jamie or Erin have gotten hate, but if they have, they're included too)

Josh & Jason are problematic jerks. I don't understand why they're so well-loved. They're both sexist and act so disrespectfully towards women, and Jason is also racist

I think Emma & Jacob could actually work tbh, they're both just in different places at the time of the game. But maybe a couple years in the future, I could see them both giving it a try and honestly I think they would actually be quite cute (BUT I will always ship Emma with Abi above all, sorry Jacob ily)

As much as I love canon gay/bi rep and I do think the flirting between Ryan & Dylan is cute... I don't think they're very compatible, sorry y'all :( Maybe I'll make a separate post about this sometime

Alex has his issues, yes, but he's really not that bad

I used to not like Nick F, but upon replaying TQ, he's also not that bad- I think he was just screwed over by the werewolf transformation tbh

There are definitely a couple more, but I'll leave it there for now😅

[lord-squiggletits]

Idk if my previous posts were unclear but I don't remotely hate any Optimus version that isn't IDW or think they suck. Every Optimus is good and there's a fan (or multiple fans!) of every version of OP no matter how obscure or underrated (as well as all the other characters).

What's more questionable (or at least annoying) is when fandom ignores canon character personalities in favor of writing specific archetypes that are either out of character or repetitive/stereotyped to the point of annoyance. As an example of this, it would be a female character being called the Team Mom just because she's a woman existing in a group of (primarily male) characters even if she's not remotely motherly or nurturing. Or, as a more topical example, how often I've seen Transformers ships where even though both characters are canonically masculine (or gender neutral), fanartists love to turn one of the characters small and weak (or even outright feminine) to turn the ship into Strong Dominant Seme and Sweet Cute Uke to fit a specific kink or romantic fantasy, even if it's a disservice/OOC to portray those characters like that.

In other words, a fandom's popularity of certain characters, ships, headcanons, etc is often more informed by tropes and forcing canon to adhere to one's personal tastes, as opposed to approaching canon and trying to understand it on its own terms. I'm not talking about the quality of the source material, but rather the way that the fandom interprets the source materials in ways that don't make any sense, approach it in bad faith, or just generally don't care about canon at all. So I'm not saying one OP is better than another, my problem is when fandom consistently focuses on certain stereotypes or flanderizations of a character, and then any character that doesn't fit the popular (often stereotyped) mold is ignored or virulently rejected. In other words, I think popular fandom often does a DISSERVICE to characters whether they love them or hate them, it just takes different forms.

So, just as an example, I think one fandom caricature of Optimus that I see a lot (and heavily dislike) is making Optimus some sort of shrinking wallflower type who's innocent, sweet, and virginal, in contrast to an opposite caricature of Megatron that's big, strong, dominant, and rugged, and making ship art that forces the characters into some kind of seme/uke or borderline heteronormative romance. Despite the fact that canon Optimus (in, say, TFP for example) is tall, broadly built, deep voiced, dignified, assertive, and strong (physically and morally), completely incorrect interpretations of him as a shy feminized uke type are still pretty common to find. And it makes you ask yourself why it is so many people make MOP ship art of them of The Small One and The Large One or The Small, Cute One and The Big, Violent One when it's completely different from canon. It feels as if such fanart is made by people who just want to see seme/uke style slash ships, and if canon doesn't give them what they want, they'll simply trash it and replace it with their own version, even if it's completely OOC.

So when I said in my other post that people don't like IDW Optimus because he can't be fit into caricatures like happy dad or shy twink, I'm not saying it to say "other OPs who resemble that suck," I'm saying it to express "Fandom tends to simplify characters into easily palatable and comfortable tropes, and when they encounter a character they can't do that with, they respond by ignoring or even hating on that character."

Other versions of Optimus have the problem where fandom turns them into a stereotype instead of the actual character they are, e.g. portraying TFA OP as some poor abused damsel with no self confidence and crippling anxiety being abused by his superiors, and then they talk more about this fake uwu smoll bean cinnamon roll version of TFA OP than they do about actual canon TFA OP. And honestly I can't think of any prominent content/meta about G1 OP that isn't just "he plays basketball and does funny one liners and is Team Dad/Grandpa." (Hell, you even get that with non-Optimus characters that get simplified to just sexy twink, old grandpa, comedy relief, evil ex, Diversity Win-- She's A Lesbian, third wheel to the favored ship, etc even though there's way more depth to them than just their surface level stereotype.)

IDW OP's problem is that he can't be stereotyped like that so instead the fandom ignores him. He's not small, so they can't stereotype him as a skinny twink getting topped by a burly uke. He's not jovial or happy go lucky or extroverted, so they can't stereotype him as Team Dad or Comedy Relief. He's assertive, blunt, and has a temper, so they can't stereotype him as a shy wallflower in need of protecting. He makes catastrophic mistakes and is responsible for bad things happening, so they can't stereotype him into a sweet cinnamon roll who has never done anything wrong in his whole life or The Infinitely Wise and Kind Paragon. There's no Big Bad Authority Figure who was mean to IDW OP and traumatized him, so they can't excuse the bad things he did as "he's traumatized so he couldn't help it" and wave away his flaws as "it's his abuser's fault, they made him this way." IDW OP has the kind of depression where he's grumpy, shut off, and angry-- as opposed to the shy, sad kind of depression that just stares forlornly out of the window in a beautifully tragic way-- so they can't make him into a sad woobie kicked around unfairly by life.

Or I guess they just stereotype IDW OP as "evil bastard with no redeeming qualities that's mean to everyone for no reason, plus the writers forced everyone to like him just because he's Optimus Prime" even though that isn't accurate either.

Put bluntly, IDW OP forces fandom to contend with the idea that someone can be a good person with good intentions but still fuck up on a massive scale and maybe end up hurting more than they helped. IDW OP is messy, ugly, flawed, mean, stoic, closed off. When IDW OP has mental breakdowns or has his feelings hurt, he's loud and angry and harsh, and the consequences of what he did while he was unwell continue to haunt him long after. In other words, he actually experiences negative emotions the way a real person would, and sometimes when he's under the influence of negative emotions, he lashes out or does stupid things (like a real person might) instead of inoffensively crying in a corner somewhere. He isn't sanitized enough for a fandom that only wants Perfect Pure Good Optimus Who Never Hurts Anyone Even By Accident, so instead of IDW OP's mistakes and dark moments being treated as the logical end point of a person put in constant no-win situations until he breaks, he gets treated as if his mistakes and flaws make him an irredeemable bastard with no good qualities who should've fucked up less often to make fans actually like him.

And this is all in a fandom where 90% of the characters are war criminals and a good half of them have massacred organic planets. But god forbid IDW Optimus ever make a bad decision in a stressful situation. Or be mean to someone. Or have a character arc about how blindly idolizing people as paragons ends badly for everyone involved because no one can be that perfect. He is simply The Worst Optimus Ever and there's absolutely nothing about him worth discussing.

And just to be clear, the problem isn't the fact that some people don't like IDW OP, or he's just not their thing and they don't care.

The problem is the fact that he's consistently and actively hated by the fanbase who makes a concentrated effort to say he sucks and make sure none of their fan works ever include him. It's literally at a level where I stopped looking in the Optimus tag on this website because I was tired of people randomly going "and btw IDW OP sucks and I want to drown him in a ditch" in posts that weren't even about IDW, and I stopped looking for MegOP fic on AO3 because most of it is IDW Megatron/clearly TFP or G1 inspired continuity soup Optimus. Places that are Optimus friendly for Optimus fans, where I could reasonably expect to find positive conversations, but instead get sucker punched by hate about the character The Space Is About. And I can't even have conversations asking about why they do, bc the way 90% of them talk, I can tell they literally just didn't read the comics or deliberately misinterpreted the story.

I find it bizarre and frankly, tragic, that the hate train for IDW OP is so pervasive that people actively erase and replace him from fan works IN THE IDW UNIVERSE in a way that no other character is targeted in. I have tried so hard to understand why IDW OP gets this sort of hate and erasure when other characters who were as bad or worse than him have perfectly normal takes about them that go "yeah he kinda sucks but he's cool and I like him" or "who cares if he's problematic IRL, it's a story." The only conclusion I can come to is that because Optimus Prime (TM) has a specific brand image and is locked into being a cultural icon, he's held to a standard of The Ideal Perfect Hero instead of the way better standard of "Is he an interesting, well written character?"

[shiny-jr]

ooh wait have you played three houses?? i saw you mentioned it in one of your recent posts and i got curious. can i ask what are your thoughts on it if you have played it?

also also, have you played pokemon scarlet/violet at all? i’d really love to hear your thoughts on it, especially with its latest dlc ^^ (super sorry i’m grouping two different games in this ask, i didn’t wanna send messages back to back, but feel free to only answer one if you want!)

Oh boy, more opportunities for me the spout nonsense and my odd opinions. I will gladly take it. Buckle up, anon and others reading, because I have a long history with both franchises.

I've been playing Fire Emblem since Fire Emblem: Awakening, then Fates, Heroes, and eventually Three Houses. My take: Awakening is still the best one, but maybe I'm biased. I remember playing it and marrying Chrom on accident, whoops.

Anyways, Three Houses was alright, better than Fates but not better than Awakening. I remember it came out, and I was actually upset because I was in another country on the US release date so I didn't get to play it until I got back. Even when I saw the trailers, I knew I was Golden Deers all the way. Odd, I know, most people prefer the other teams. Claude, Hilda, Marianne, Lysithea, my dears. OH, and before I go on, I just want to say, I hate the female MC. And no, it's not what you think, I only hate her because literally why does her outfit look like that compared to the male MC? Robin from Awakening was always the better protagonist anyways.

After completing the Golden Deers route, I decided I wanted to try and complete all the routes because at that point I disliked a huge majority of the characters. I tried Blue Lions next. At first I didn't really have much of an opinion on Dimitri, but he grew on me eventually, because how could I resist such a miserable brooding man that later gets a soft spot for one person (plus his design was kinda badass)? But I will admit, his behavior immediately post-timeskip was kinda annoying. I thought I would dislike Felix, but shockingly, I didn't, I actually liked him. And you know what? Dedue is CRIMINALLY underrated, he's literally probably the nicest and loyalest dude of all time. He got some hate for his race from some characters, and I actually got heated.

After Blue Lions, I knew I had to play through Black Eagles twice if I wanted the last two routes. However, here's the thing. In both previous routes, Golden Deer and Blue Lions, I had loathed Edelgard. But, I thought to myself, I just needed to try her route and maybe I'll change my mind... Well, I was wrong. Edelgard is probably one of the characters I HATE most in any franchise. And I tried so hard to like her, like I would give her gifts and answer dialogue truthfully, only for the relationship thing to go down. Like damn, okay. I just couldn't stand her. The others in her route were mostly fine, I liked Ferdinand, Bernadetta, Caspar, and Petra. But because of Edelgard, I couldn't even finish her route once and it's still uncompleted to this day.

Now... onto Pokemon.

Fun fact, I completed Pokemon Black and White when I was in first grade and couldn't read everything. Don't ask me how I did it, because I honestly have no clue. I've played every gen since then: Black and White 2, X and Y, Sun and Moon, Ultra Sun and Moon, Sword and Shield, Arceus, Scarlet and Violet. I did indeed preorder the game when it was announced, as I have done for the generations before. Where do you think my username comes from? In most pokemon games, I love collecting shiny pokemon. Shiny.

I was hyped for Scarlet and Violet since the first day it was announced. I lost my mind the day it was first announced and eagerly waited months for it. When it came out, I dropped everything for several days. As a regular fan, I always set this tradition for myself to defeat new pokemon games within or around 24 hours and of course, I did so.

The game itself has a lot of issues, namely the glitches and quality of the frames. But, it's on the switch, so that's to be expected. It felt really rushed in that aspect. I just feel like they could do so much better if they really wanted to, like on par with BOTW or TOTK (those games have bad frames too but at least they look a lot better). As for mechanics, I really missed the mechanics from Arceus, but at least Scarlet and Violet improved upon the poor excuse of the open area that was in Sword and Shield.

Story and characterwise, I'm torn.

Here's what I like: (1) the multiple split routes, (2) certain characters.

(1) It made it feel like you really had a lot to do, and that combined with the open area of the entire map made it seem like a lot. It is a lot. So it's really fun to explore and try to complete everything. Even just walking about, you're bound to get distracted, lost, or find something completely new. I was just playing it a while ago after completing everything and there were still little secrets I didn't notice the first time around.

(2) Arven, my god, do I love a guy with mommy AND daddy issues. And he has a dog? I'm hooked. I didn't expect to get attached to him, but I did. I actually prefer his route purely because of the story within it with his companion. I didn't see that coming, and I was so worked up over it. Another character I like, Director Clavell. A good supporting professor, you love to see it. Wish he showed up more though.

Here's what I dislike: (1) the villains, (2) the gym leaders, and (3) other characters, (4) the leveling system. (5) I'll talk about the dlc last.

(1) We haven't had a good villain team in a while. Black and White was super memorable with N, X and Y's Lysandre with Team Flare was a joke, Sun and Moon's Team Skull with Guzma was actually good because they were funny and non-threatening, Sword and Shield with Team Yell was actual trash, and this Team Star being bad guys but not really bad guys was actually so boring. Let's roll it back to Team Aqua literally planning to recreate a great flood or Team Magma planning to create havoc with volcanoes, Team Plasma that wanted to liberate Pokemon, or Team Galactic that were going to harness the power of time/space/universe and their leader is trapped/died in an empty dimension. They don't make Pokemon villains like they used to, huh?

(2) The gym leaders are very forgettable this time around. Like, they don't play much of a role aside battling, and after that you don't really see them again at all. It's a shame, because some of them have potential for greater use and have really good designs. Not to mention, they were all weak as hell.

(3) The Champion was a let down. Geeta (I had to look up her name). I was iffy when I first saw images of her, I didn't like her design but I just decided to go with the flow and I'll probably change my mind. I didn't. She's as forgettable of a champion as Alder and Diantha were. At least we saw Leon in the SwSh a lot and we got to hear from characters about how strong he was. Geeta wasn't like that at all, her team was a joke. Nemona as a rival was annoying, she got on my nerves from the first few moments we met her. I think Penny had potential, but I just didn't like her.

(4) The leveling system was really annoying. What happened was, I tried to complete the other two routes first and save the gym leaders for last. However, when I did this, because I didn't have any gym badges, new pokemon caught wouldn't listen even if my other pokemon were like 20 or more levels above them. So I had to pause the other route, just to do some of the gyms that way I could actually use new pokemon. I know they tried the system to prevent people from just cheating the system by automatically getting high-leveled pokemon from friends, but it just got in the way.

(5) DLC so far... not a fan. I mean, it's something. It's there. It's a thing. But it has nothing so far that makes me like it. The rivals are meh, and the region confuses the hell out of me. I don't get why do Scarlet and Violet region of Paldea based off Spain, but then have a DLC with an island that's so very obviously based off Japan. They could've picked anything around Spain but go back to Japan when 4/9 of the regions are already supposedly based off Japan? Idk, it was kind of a let down to be honest. I haven't completed the dlc, so I still have to do that. The new map is small, but I heard the next dlc is supposed to be huge so here's to hoping that one is better?

[acacia-may]

Let me present you with some fruits as well hehehe.

🍒🥭🥝

If you don't mind! 😁

Hello friend! Thank you so much for the ask and for the fruit! ^^ I don't mind at all and would love to answer these questions for you 💖

🍒 What’s your favorite character dynamic to write? (Can be romantic or platonic, specific or general!)

I answered this one here if you'd like to see the full discussion, but definitely strained but loving brother relationships (Those are my jam!!) I also love platonic male-female friendships (which I think are really underrated).

I don't write a lot of romance (and honestly don't know what common dynamics there are), but I think my favorite ship dynamic is probably Edgy One x Soft One. Not necessarily in a Sunshine One x Grumpy One way but more in a one person is rough around the edges but the other one wears their heart on their sleeve kind of thing (which has more bearing on how easy it is for them to open up to each other and be vulnerable than on their personalities necessarily). I also like Badass Lady x Dorky Male Wife (which might fall into this category lol 😂)

🥭 Rank from most enjoyable/fun to write to least: Fluff, Smut, Angst, Crack.

Unfortunately my favorite genre "Slice of Life" is not listed and my 2nd favorite genre "Hurt/Comfort" is also not listed. Out of these 4 though...

Definitely Fluff, then Angst or Crack depending on my mood, and I don't write Smut 💀 (and honestly don't even like writing the characters kissing because I'm just so not into any of that) so that's a big no from me personally.

🥝 What’s your favorite trope/AO3 tag to write?

SLICE OF LIFE. Hands down! I thought it was my most used tag, but I checked and it's my second most used (but only because my most used tag is "Friendship" lol. I really am so predictable 😅). I love it because I feel like I have the freedom to really write a window into a characters' heart and their wide range of complex emotions beyond just a small box like "fluff" or "angst." Those can be good too, but I feel like when I write in those genres the focus is really narrow and I prefer the more wholistic bittersweetness of slice-of-life where the POV character can be happy, sad, angry, confused, nervous ect. ect. all about the same event without me as the author feeling like I need to focus on one of those emotions more than the others, if that makes sense? Also, I just love writing the little mundane but meaningful moments in a character's life, especially if they take place on the other side of a lot of suffering and pain (i.e. Langris and Finral just hanging out together after healing from their trauma and rebuilding their brotherly relationship. This is the kind of stuff I live for!!)

My 3rd most used tag is "Hurt/Comfort." I adore Hurt/Comfort especially between friends and family members (which is one of those things I also don't think it talked about enough. It doesn't/shouldn't have to be a romantic thing imo).

Just to list a few other tags I like, I usually throw in "Please don't take this too seriously" when I'm trying to write something silly or lighthearted, and some ultra specific tags, "Soft Langris is the Best Langris," "Hero deserves happiness," '[Insert Character Here] Is Bad At Feelings," and (a personal favorite I made up myself), "The Queen of Witches & Ledior & Liliane Vaude can all take a hike together in hell."

[only-by-the-stars]

Hiiiii, Star ♥️💖💓💗💘 Could I get 4, 9, 12, 13, 19 and 21 for the hater ask meme, please? <3 I hope you're thriving <33

hiiiiii <333 I am trying to, hope you are!

4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

it honestly doesn't tend to take much, I block with impunity if someone's being annoying/a jerk/both. this has happened with multiple z*link trolls, sigh. (and some of the irritating Mipha fans too, because not all of them appreciate her like I do. there are definitely some weird misogynist ones out there, and you should absolutely picture me yelling "YOU'RE NOT AFFILIATED WITH ME!" at them like Mr. Incredible.)

9. worst part of canon

Mipha being dead in the main timeline. TotK's entire fucking plot. Mipha not getting to fight in the cutscenes in AOC. just. everything to do with the Gerudo and Nintendo's racist handling of them. Valkyrie Profile 2's entire fucking plot. Star Ocean 3's entire fucking plot. WHAT THE HELL WAS ALL OF THAT??? whatever is going on with Chrono Cross' plot. shows getting prematurely cancelled.

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

MIPHA IS SO UNDERRATED, SHE HAS TONS OF POTENTIAL THAT NINTENDO SET UP BUT DIDN'T FULFILL AND HAS MORE TO HER STORY THAN JUST HER ROMANCE WITH LINK AND PEOPLE NEED TO BE LESS DISMISSIVE OF HER JUST BECAUSE OF HER FEELINGS FOR HIM!!!

honestly there are so many under-loved female characters I love that should get more love ;~;

13. worst blorboficiation

again, gonna cheat and say any time an underwritten male character is prioritized over all others, and female characters are dismissed/ignored

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

nothing I can think of

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

whoo. bat, meet hornet's nest.

Zelda turning into a dragon. I did not shed a single tear, yo. only thing my eyes were doing was ROLLING.

(BOTW Zelda herself. I don't hate her, and I see potential in both her flaws and good points that canon didn't deliver on, but sorry fans, she is not the deepest most nuanced best written female character ever and being meh on her doesn't mean I hate female characters with personality. she's not even the best female character in the series, and the writing I've seen for ladies in other franchises blows her away. please play some games with better writing and get some higher standards. this is addressed not to people who merely like her, ftr, but the people who look at the crumbs Nintendo has given us and treat it like the feast of all feasts, top tier video game character development.)

fucking. Sephiroth. he's not a terrible villain, but I always liked Kefka and Kuja more for Final Fantasy villains.

(actually FF7 in general just doesn't do it for me the way other entries in the series do. like, it's good! but I don't ADORE it the way I do IX, VI, VIII, and V.)

*whispers* Ancient Cistern, a little? like, it was cool, but it's no Arbiter's Grounds or Snowpeak Ruins, for me. doesn't help that I put down the game in a fit of rage when the wack controls made me have a Very Bad Time with the boss and I haven't gone back to try and beat it.

so there's this book that got hyped up as being really good and I see people rave about it still and I tried it. and. I hated it??? I don't get it??? it was called The Eyre Affair and I do not see why people loved it. bleh.

[tang3r1n]

are there any rules for making requests? like what you will and won't write about, how many characters we can ask about, if asking for more characters affects how much you write, characters you will and won't write for, any preferences for readers you'll write about like male or female, dom or sub, etc? stuff like that. feel free to include anything you want. sorry for all the questions, just want to be sure before sending anything and there wasn't any rules linked on your pinned post. thanks!

AAAAHH THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS, IM USING THIS AS THE BASIS FOR MY RULES PAGE WHEN I FINALLY MAKE IT.

(fr though i have wild and sporadic writing bouts, think like once a month i MIGHT be up for organizing my blog 😞)

but YEAH. okay so going down your list;

i write for anything that isn’t scat/vomit, incest and variances, or anything involving underage/animals. hard kink limits for me are shit like cheating and the like. other than that it’s pretty much a free for all

imma go ahead and say the limit would be 5-7 if it’s a hc style post (‘who eats ass’ for example) and 2-3 if it’s like a poly thing (like law, luffy, and kidd all liking one chick ig). literally anything influences my writing style and i bounce from one idea to the next at lighting speed so the more precise a request, the better i’ll be at understanding where i need to go with it!

i feel i pretty much can find damn near any character attractive coming from someone who thinks Charlie and Alan from Smiling Friends are hot as shit. my main focal points will always be anime since…idk they’re easy to write for lmao. my biggest eye-catchers are One Piece, JJK, MHA, Haikyuu (timeskip only cause yeah), AOT, Dorohedoro (my underrated love), One Punch Man, and Sakumoto days, but feel free to request anyone and if they tickle my fancy i’ll write a little smth smth <3

i’m honestly more of a verse irl and i flip a LOT in my writing. one smut blurb is reader chiking the shit out of a guy and the next is them whining and crying while they get spanked, it’s all up to the audience and how i particularly feel at that moment!

i’m an afab fat reader blog, gender is more loose as i’m fine writing for both masculine and non-binary presenting readers as well, but i feel weird writing for a body type/genitalia that i don’t possess. the same goes for other specifics like black or poc readers, disabled or autistic readers, and readers with very specific niches like ‘lolita’ or smth. i try to keep all physical markers neutral as i am pasty as SHIT (never refrencing skin tone or hair texture, using ‘feeling hot in the face’ over ‘blushing’, stuff like that so anyone can read) and i stick pretty heavily to using fat/plus size descriptors. that being said, unless the request is specifically for a fat reader or i specify it as a plot point, the reader’s weight will NEVER be a focal point and anyone can imprint on them as they’d like.

also, i tend to forget very quickly and get side tracked a lot, so PLEASE LLEASE PLEASE do not feel afraid to check in and be like ‘yo girl get on my shit’ trust me i’ll understand!!

also, the more i like your request, the more ill write, i literally spent like 7 hours STRAIGHT on a sir croc smut once all from Nasty’s ear worms she gave me<3

[diznam]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks....

Oh! Thank you for such a great and difficult question!

A looong text awaits heh (and I could certainly write even more!!)

I think I'll limit myself to only one character per fictional universe, and I'll only choose from internationally famous works to make it easier. I will surely forget someone and I will never be able to choose if I think it over for too long... So, without contemplating too much, and in no particular order (except for the first one), i'll go with this:

1. Dustfinger from Inkheart -- This man was probs my first fictional crush ever and my forever nostalgic number one. He's a morally gray character, deeply troubled, kind, selfish, painfully human, but also gorgeously magical. Oh, and fire loves him. Can’t beat it. Even though for children, Cornelia Funke writes and illustrates beautifully. If you haven’t read any books of hers, you should try one!

2. Fred and George Weasley (yes i'm sorry but I will write them as one unit) from Harry Potter -- Need I say more than that they make everyone laugh in times of darkness? As the youngest, and only daughter among numerous siblings, I relate a lot to Ginny, and really love these two - the ultimate big brothers.

3. Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece -- The perfect paradoxical mix of incredibly selfish but with a huge heart. Luffy just lifts everyones spirits, and he's so stupid, ambitious, and wholesome that you can’t not love him. As someone who has a hard time being impulsive and living in the now, I find him so terrific and almost inspiring.

4. Sokka from Avatar the Last Airbender -- Underrated character. I would've never claimed him as my favourite when I was little (especially since i was mad for Katara), but as an adult I’ve come to see just how fuckin awesome he really is. Like, he's funny, kind, relatable, smart, strong, brave and just an all around realistic character. Love. Also, I think I just automatically love all the kind big brothers that remind me of my own ones (♡)

5. Jace Herondale from The Mortal Instruments -- Could have just as well written Will Herondale here, but I’m not going to write two Herondales on the list (especially since they are VERY similar. Will is a book nerd tho, which is like the ultimate perk). Anyways, so, after Dustfinger, my second fictional love was Jace I think. Attractive, strong, sarcastic, troubled, kind, LOVING, and with such character development and ambition. Ya. Just so so good. I think I mostly focused on his hotness as a 13 y.o tho -.-

6. Peeta Mellark from The Hunger Games -- Honestly, I just love him because he shows how truly important and helpful kindness is. Loyalty, kindness and bravery - this man has them all. Plus he's a friggin baker and an artist. Like, come on, how lovely can you get??

7. John Watson from BBC's Sherlock -- Another example of a profoundly realistic character. I thought first about writing Sherlock's name, but I think I might actually love John more. He’s just so complex, but at the same time real simple. And surprisingly funny. Much, I attribute to Martin Freeman's amazing acting skills, but yeah, John's awesome.

8. Katsuki Bakugou from Boku no hero academia -- Honestly, I'm questioning myself putting him on this list, but I think he deserves a spot simply for the fact that his character development is So. Fucking. Good. Almost as good as Zuko's from atla. And he deserves a spot purely because surely the amount of fanfics I've read starring him must be telling me something.

9. Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood -- Ah, okay, so once again an older sibling who is funny, strong, kind, brave, energetic, troubled, and who loves so painstakingly strongly (I'm starting to see a pattern here...). Idk, but I just really like him. And I felt like I had to include someone from Fmab because the show slaps.

10. Victoria Spring from Solitaire (and the Osemanverse in general) -- Honestly, Tori is just such a great character, because in all her melancholy, depression and numbness, you can still find so much to love about her when reading from her perspective. Also, shes an older sibling who adores and takes great care of her little siblings. I've struggled a lot with mental illness, and I can teally relate to both Tori and Charlie's problems. So finding that I can love these two characters so much despite all their issues, makes me realise that maybe I can like myself a little bit more too

THAT WAS TEN! I could easily write more, but I’m gonna stop myself now. Sorry if this was a lot longer than you expected, but I really liked this question.

Thank you for asking it! Hope you got what you wanted. Have a great day/night wherever you are :) <3

[buriedinbaltimore]

for the ask game- nicky is one of the most underrated characters in aftg (in my opinion)- what do you think?

First - thanks for participating! (especially because I had two answers to asks I sent other people in my inbox that tumblr decided not to notify me about, lol)

On to your opinion, one of my favorite things about aftg is I feel like all the foxes have so much potential to be really interesting and complex characters. Like, every fox is, in my opinion, three dimensional enough to be a protagonist of their own story, if anyone ever chose to tell it. None of them are throw away filler characters, and with that I feel like all of them are underrated to an extent.

If we were to rank how the fandom views the characters, Neil and Andrew get the most attention (they are the protagonist & love interest, so naturally they get far more attention than the other characters), then next I would say is pretty obviously Kevin. Then I feel like Nicky and Aaron get fairly equal attention from what I see, then Matt is next, followed by Renee and Allison and finally Dan. (Seth gets honorary mention because I love him and there are a few others who do too but since he does die in book 1 after being in like 3 scenes I understand people having little interest in him.)

So I wrote out the above paragraph based on my impression of the slice of the fandom I engage with, and then I decided to check and compare it to the amount of fics tagged with each character on AO3. The order there is Neil - 6126 Andrew - 6117 Kevin - 3385 Aaron - 2719 Nicky - 2609 Matt - 1930 Renee - 1842 Dan - 1693 Allison - 1457

So I was actually pretty on point by that metric*, just apparently Dan is more popular than Allison.

Going back to how I was saying I think there is enough content from canon about all of the foxes that they are all three dimensional, there still is more about Andrew's lot than there is about the Upperclassmen, so like I understand why more is written about them too. I really do think I lot of it has to do with what we are provided by canon.

But now going back to your actual opinion - Nicky is one of the most underrated characters - I 100% agree Nicky is underrated, but I don't know if I would agree that he is more underrated than any other fox outside of Neil, Andrew, Kevin. I've seen some meta about him on here, and there are a few Nerik fics out there, but yes, I would love to see more!

Especially I would love to see people thinking more critically about the Nicky we actually see in the book, rather than who they think Nicky should be. The Nicky that is deeply flawed and trying his best, who has done both wonderful things and harmful things. Who has a complex relationship with his race and ethnicity, which is hinted at more than once in canon. Who has been traumatized and brutalized for his sexuality and is still flamboyant and proud in spaces that are traditionally hostile towards queer people.

There are so many layers and possible interpretations of his character, and while comic relief is often necessary in this fandom that deals with so many heavy issues, I for one really enjoy when there is space for Nicky to exist beyond just that.

*Idk what we can actually learn from AO3 character tags, but it was the only quantitative data I could think of.

send me a ☕️ and an opinion (popular or unpopular) and i’ll say whether i agree or disagree

[allthewhumpygoodness]

Intro:

Hello there! So you've found my whump blog. I post mostly prompts and sometimes stories with generically named characters (A/B/C etc.) with very occasional fandom/canon character mentions.

I will take asks/requests, just be clear on what you'd like (list of prompts, fic, or just my thoughts on something).

Here is a list of things I won't write, due to anxiety about certain tropes or just general distaste.

And here is pretty much this blog in short form, a masterlist of highly specific things I like in whump if you've got any interest in reading:

Sickfic

Potentially life threatening but not get-them-to-a-hospital-immediately-or-they-will-100%-die level wounds and injuries

Crying >:)

SHIVERING, feverish chills, whumpees trembling from being out in the cold, shaking from shock and fear, chattering teeth, when they literally can't stop shaking

Very weak whumpees being fed soup, or water or medicine

"Cottagecore sickfic" ie they're sick and being taken care of (or all by themselves) in some rustic/rural cottage and all that implies

Nightmares, not being able to get comfortable enough to sleep, dreams brought on by a high fever that aren't so much scary as just weird and unsettling

Near. Drowning. And shipwrecks. Preferably in a cold climate, with the whumpee struggling through near-freezing water to get to shore, coughing up water, cuts and bruises all over them from being battered against rocks and debris, violent shivering as they're soaked to the skin, exhaustion so extreme they can hardly move, possible pneumonia later on, salt water aspiration syndrome (!)

On that note, pneumonia

Honestly, old timey diseases? Like I love a good flu or pneumonia and those are probably my go-tos, but there's such a variety of old illnesses most people don't get anymore (ngl my favourites are measles and scarlet fever) maybe that's why I like reading historical fiction so much, it's not at all uncommon for someone to catch something like that (Outlander is fantastic for this)

Coughing + sore throats, underrated symptoms if you ask me

When the whumpee tries to take care of themselves on the down low and is like, relatively pragmatic about their illness but when anyone else asks them about it they clam up and refuse help

Gruff strangers finding whumpee injured or sick in the middle of nowhere and taking them in to nurse them back to health

The phrase "nursed back to health"

Hypothermia

It's not *realistic* but being out in the cold and wet causing them to get sick later on

Sickfics set in winter

Delirium, whether it's severe enough that they have no idea what's going on and are barely conscious at all, whimpering and mumbling to themselves as a very worried caretaker sponges their forehead, or if they're just a little tired and confused and anxious and a little more clingy than usual

Mounds. Of. Blankets.

Forcing themselves to work even when they're sick

Medieval era or fantasy style whump

Male whumpee + female caretaker, I know it's kind of a cliche but it's my favourite

And honestly my favourite thing is mother figures or older sister-type figures as caretakers rather than love interests (though romantic caretaking has its own wonderful thing going on)

Cuddling, holding or cradling a sick or injured whumpee, especially if they're too delirious to know what's happening

Friends Coming Over To Check On Sick Friends And End Up Staying The Whole Day

That thing when a feverish whumpee has something cool placed on their face (a cold cloth/compress, someone's hand) and they melt into it because it's so soothing

Or they flinch away because it feels too cold

Large caretakers propping up small whumpees/letting them lean on their chest/shoulder so they can breathe easier

Fainting

Whumpees being bridal carried

When they've been unconscious for whatever reason and wake up all weak and confused to someone taking care of them

Dizziness, lightheadedness

Whumpees where if they give any complaints at all the caretakers worry because they know it must be really really bad if they're talking about it

Being hurt AND sick at the same time

Delirious or hallucinating whumpee mixing up the caretaker for somebody else, or begging to see someone who isn't there

Whumpees who are so weak and exhausted they don't want to do anything but sleep

Disorientation

Temperature taking

Infected wounds

Cold cloths on the whumpee's forehead and neck

Feeling foreheads, feeling swollen glands on the sides of their neck

Using pet names for a whumpee when they're miserable

Whumpee who's so out of it they only have the energy to speak in their native language and can't manage to translate what's being said around them

Whumpees who never get sick but then they do get sick and it's real bad and nobody knows what to do because they're not used to them being the sick one

Tol Caretaker With Smol Whumpee

Sweaty. Hair.

Snowed in while someone is sick or injured

Different caretakers trying different things to comfort their hallucinating friend

When they get beaten up/mugged/attacked or just have a bad fall on some ice or off their bike and come home late at night covered in cuts and bruises

[moscnios]

ONE PIECE CHARACTERS AS KPOP FANS+ / ☻

☻  /  commentary . . . full title would be one piece characters as kpop fans i’ve encountered. being kind of in and out of that community for the past 7 years now, i’ve encountered my fair share of fans. plus i just wanted to make some kind of shitpost between posts. kind of a call out post but all in good fun

NAMI

solely a girl group stan !!

doesn’t have anything against boy groups but she prefers girl groups

has a soft spot for 2nd and 3rd generation girl groups

her fave groups would be sistar, after school, t-ara, and exid

she knows their most popular choreographies

she would eat up touch my body by sistar

buys albums, lightsticks, and other merchandise in BULK, just to scam...i mean sell them to other fans online

ROBIN

a casual listener

she’s more of a ballad person as they soothe her and make nice background sounds

btob and iu are her go-to’s.

doesn’t have a preference over boy or girl groups. she’s honestly just there if the music is good

i like to think of her being a fan of groups with brighter/cuter concepts

enjoys late 3rd and 4th gen groups despite all of them being younger than her. she’s like a little proud mom watching them achieve their wildest dreams

“good for them”

SANJI

like nami, solely a girl group stan but for all the wrong reasons

is like those male fans you hear at the beginning of an idol’s performance who are screaming the fan chants. he knows all of the fan chants by heart

loves all girl groups

his fave group would be twice and no one can tell me otherwise

his phone wallpaper is a picture of either sana or nayeon during the feel special era. yes, feel special is his favorite song

camera roll is full of female idols, he could run his own update blog/fansite

album collector. buys all his merchandise from nami who overcharges him BIG time. but he’s too busy trying to buy every version of each album that comes out to add to his photocard collections

ZORO

could care less about actual fan culture, he’s just there for the music

was an AVID hater of kpop, thought it was dumb and he didn’t understand the appeal of it or why people dedicated so much of their time and money into these groups

until he discovered ateez through a fancam and he’s been a fan ever seen

his favorite song would definitely either be wonderland or answer

listens mostly to the title tracks, could hardly be bothered to listen to the b-sides

has a workout playlist full of energy-boosting songs that he listens to while he’s training

definitely shows luffy ateez music videos

USOPP

the gatekeeper.

you would think it’s his goal to go out of his way and stan groups who are underrated

and when they finally blow up, he’s always quick to remind people how much they slept on them

his pfp is definitely somebody from loona holding a gun

is a tiktok editor. all of his edits are amazing and always get a lot of love within the community

also posts videos of him doing girl group choreographies with chopper and nami

cannot name a single member of any boy group

CHOPPER

teen crush concept/bright concept enthusiast !!

his fave group is stayc

“stayc girls...it’s going down”

pretty much the opposite of usopp in this regard. he loves when his favorite groups get more attention and love because they really deserve it

definitely helps new fans with learning members’ names and personalities

is always getting into concerts, fan meets, and fan signs ( spending robin’s money on getting into these )

carries a photocard in the back of his phone case that he switches out every two weeks

LAW  (  me lmaooo  )

the secret stan who would rather die than admit they are a fan

looks around and makes sure everyone else is not around before he slips in his earphones and puts to love bomb by fromis_9

so help no one discovers he loves cute girl groups.

on the outside he’s just 😐😐😒😒 and then the music in his earphones is ✨🌸🎀🍬💖

supper yuppers is his most listened-to song right now, knows the choreography by heart, and every time he hears it he can’t help but do it. secretly he’s a really good dancer

has been caught by the other heart pirates who never let him live in down

KID

the toxic twitter fan who uses charting and views as a defense against other groups and their fans that he doesn’t like

“FLOP”

not only is he fighting other fandoms, but he is also fighting other fans within his OWN fandom

refuses to accept the fact that his faves have released a song he doesn’t like. therefore he will force himself to listen to it 20 times and like it just to be different

broke as hell. will probably never be able to get tickets to any of his faves concerts, is always watching them illegally on someone’s live stream

has a fake light stick because he’s too broke to buy the official one plus it looks real enough 

VIVI

the dance cover stan who learns the choreographies the day they are released and post them on tiktok and instagram

tends to dress in similar outfits as the members of the group

she posts a lot of those “kpop in public” videos to her youtube channel of half a million subscribers

was a big wiz*one. was absolutely devastated when they disbanded

loves female soloists, chungha and somi are her faves

JINBE

the well-seasoned fan who has been here in the community for YEARS

misses the good old days of when 1st gen was coming to an end and 2nd gen was starting up

a sechskies fan, nearly cried when they got back together for a reunion

is still around, isn’t really stanning any new groups though. kind of just there for the music. last group he stanned was probably girls’ generation

the one at the concert who doesn’t record or hold his phone out because he just wants to enjoy the moment

also, the protective one at the concert who doubles as security and makes sure everyone around him is safe and not in any need of medical attention

KIKU

the stan that other stan look up to and aspire to be despite her usually always being broke because she spends any money she has left on merchandise

she’s the one who has a fandom of her own somehow

has the aesthetic room you’d see on pinterest with posters, tapestries, and vinyl on the walls

is always dressed her best

she’s an f(x) and red velvet fan. f(x)’s pink tape was the first album she ever listened to and she hadn’t looked back since

does the fandom selca days with all of her biases from every group she stans

decorated her photocard toploaders with cute little stickers and they always look so pretty

© MANGEKYUOU. / ☻

[kdramaxoxo]

Hi!! Just wanna say I love your blog. I was wondering if you can recommend some shows that have wholesome male friendships? or shows that focus on family and friendship in general?

Awww thanks so much for the blog love! :)

I'll admit that I pay much closer attention to female friendships but let me see what I can do *rolls up sleeves* 

K-dramas with Wholesome Male Friendships:

Run On: Y'all know I love this slice of life rom com for so many reasons, but you might not know that Kang Tae Oh's character (the painter) is like one of my dream boys. He's super loving, passionate and honestly an amazing friend! When the male lead moves into his apartment they are both seriously cute together and when his gay bestie confesses he's like "let's hug!" *SOB* There are also great female friendships!

Reply 1988: This coming of age classic is a must watch. It's all about the friendships in a small neighborhood and the different relationships they all have with one another. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it (though the episodes are annoyingly long lol). It also features a lot of family moments and super interesting historical elements.

Hospital Playlist: I’m starting to see a theme here where any show that has found family friendships tends to include some great male friendships. But seriously this show has some of the funniest most brilliant characters and a TON of great friendship moments between a group of four men and one women who have been friends for years.

Laughter In Waikiki: A group of friends run a boarding house/homestay in this super silly comedy. You have to really be ready for some ridiculous set ups, but it’s actually a super fun watch and the guys are always sharing funny moments together. 

Chicago Typewriter: One of my favorite dramas of all time, this fantasy romance features one of my favorite friendships: A writer and a ghost who has moved into his house. You’ll LOVE the ghost so so much (it’s what made me love Go Kyung Pyo!

Extraordinary You: Yes, I know...this drama is on literally every list I make but like: Haru and Lee Do Hwa are the cutest together! I absolutely love them so much (platonically and romantically) and this is the hill I’ll die on.

Goblin: This fantasy romance has what I think is one of the most iconic male friendships in any kdrama. The Goblin and Grim Reaper are frenemies that live together and this bickering couple is hilarious to watch. Some of the funniest gifs I’ve ever seen on tumblr are of these two.

Light On Me: This super cute and fluffy boy’s love takes place in a high school and features a group of four friends just trying to figure stuff out. Shi Won is the comedic relief but also a Very Good Friend. Honestly this bl is a lot more than just a romance - it’s a light coming of age and one of my favorite bls ever.

Reunited Worlds: This k-drama is super underrated in my opinion. It’s a fantasy romance about a high schooler who has a mysterious accident. 12 years later he returns to visit his friends who are all much older and trying to figure out their lives. He brings literal sunshine and wholesome healing pretty much everywhere he goes (yay Yeo Jin Goo!!) and it’s got a noon romance too! 

Still Seventeen (Thirty but Seventeen): This romance with found family has a special place in my heart. I know the premise freaked everyone out but hear me out: It’s not creepy okay I promise! The Male lead and his nephew have a lovely relationship AND his nephew and his friends are super fun and wholesome too.

Enjoy! 

[kimbapmmbapbap]

More k-dramas y'all should watch

So, at the end of 2017, I created a post going through my favourite dramas of all time. Obviously, I have watched more dramas since then so I have a few more dramas that everyone needs to watch!!

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon

This is an obvious one, so if you haven't watched it, have you been living under a rock?? When I first heard of it just before it came out, I thought it was going to be a rip off of weightlifting fairy Kim bok joo. But boy, was I wrong!! This drama has the perfect amount of romance, comedy, thriller and crime, so it is a good all rounder drama!! The whole cast (not just the leads) had amazing chemistry. The only flaw with this drama is that it does queerbait a little. I wish they either didn't add it in the story or fully went with that the main lead is Bi.

The story surrounds a girl with superhuman strength who wants to be a video game designer. She has always hid her strength due to fear if hurting others and losing her power. She in a unrequited love with her childhood friend who is now a police officer. She then crosses the path of a CEO of a video game company and her starts to become more chaotic. With a serial killer on the loose, Do Bong Soon needs to decide if she will keep a low profile or use her powers for the better good while also falling in love on the way.

While You Were Sleeping

Again, an obvious one, but it has to be watched!! Like strong woman, I was a little apprehensive of this one. Mainly because I hadn't heard good things about Suzy's acting before this came out. But it really surprised me and I really loved it! I'm a sucker for anything crime related, so with a really cute love story as well, it was amazing!! It has really good chemistry and likable characters. The second male lead is also amazing!! I usually don't get second male lead syndrome, but damn I felt it even though I also really loved the main lead. I can't really find any faults with it.

The story surrounds two people who can see the future through dreaming. This includes good and bad things. When the female reporter about dying while on the job, she quite her job to try and changes her fate. A prosecuter move across the street from her, initially they do not get on and their bond starts to grow. Together, they use both of their skills and their power to help change the future and solve crimes along the way. They also soon realise that this is not the first time they have crossed paths.

Psychopath Diary

I cannot recommend this drama enough!! Honestly, it is so underrated!!! Yoon Shi Yoon's performance is incredible, he really embodies the role here. It is so funny, and sweet. You also see a serial killer low key but high key fall in love with the male lead, so there is major gay vibes. The only issue I have with it is, I wish there was a little romance involved. But it is a not a major want.

The story surrounds a pushover who is working at a stocks company. After a major issue arises, he becomes the Scapegoat of the company and is being blamed for it, even though he tried to prevent it. Due to this, he decides that he will end his life. On the way to do this, he witnesses a murder and accidentally picks up the serial killer's diary. While trying to escape, he gets hit by a car and gets amnesia. When he wakes up and reads the diary, he believes that he is the serial killer.

Honestly, please watch this drama, it is so so so funny, the chemistry of the whole cast is incredible. It also possibly has one of my favourite villians in any drama.

Your Honor / Dear Judge

Yes, I am a simp Yoon Shi Yoon. He is just so good and thus role just confirms it! His acting is incredible, king of the double roles! He plays twins and you really tell when either pop up on screen which one he is. This is a really wholesome drama that makes you cry. It has some really sweet moments in it, the leads have such good chemistry. This only issues with this one is that the ending felt rushed. I hate that the TV company changed it from 20 eps to 16 eps.

The story follows a set of twins. Twin A is a top judge in Korea, who is incredibly smart and is living a rich life. Twin B is a criminal who has been screwed over multiple times by the justice system and Twin A. Their mother always sides with A and will tell B not to bother him. When A goes missing, B goes undercover and takes his brothers place. He soon learns about the corrupt world of the court system and his brother. B meets a law student who is meant to be shadowing A. Like B, she has also been affected by the corrupt system and is wanting to be a judge to convict those who have wronged her. Together they fight the system while also falling in love.

Because This is Our First Life

This is a slice of life drama so will have some heavy moments in it. But on the whole, it is just so lovely and cute. The acting is incredible, they really take on the role. It also has one of the best female friendships which is not toxic, they all genuinely care for eachother and want eachother to achieve their dreams. It also has some true badass moments in it as well! I feel like all slice of life dramas have this, but it does have some frustrating moments where the characters are almost purposely making their life's difficult

The story focuses on a woman who is a drama script writer. Due to her patriarchal family who always favour her brother and being let down by her crush, she wants to move out. She ends up moving in with a friend of a friend of a friend. It is to her surprise that the person who she is moving in with is a man who is very much stuck in his own ways and likes to stick to routine. Due to their own desires to be on their own, they decide to get married to relieve the pressure that their families are giving them. This (of course) causes issues and both have to learn about their new feelings for eachother while trying to get through the struggles of life.

Thirty but Seventeen

This drama is the definition of wholesome and cute. I feel that while I was watching it, it went by so quickly and I always had a smile on my face. The romance is so cute and lovely and you could tell they really cared about eachother. The side characters were also amazing and sweet. Honestly, the acting is incredible. The female lead does an amazing job.

The story follows woman who as a child was involved in a bus accident and fell into a coma. She wakes up over ten years later and learns that her family have stopped coming to see her. While on the search for her family, she resides with a man and his brother who are now living in her old family home. The two soon learn that there are more connected than they thought. With the man trying to push her away, the more his feelings grow for her.

Introverted Boss

This is a revenge to love story. It on the whole is a really cute drama where you get to see the leads grow for the better. The acting is incredible and you really fall in love with the leads and the support cast (except for the second lead). It is not a perfect drama, but it is a really easy watch with an interesting story.

The female lead is a stage actress who quits her job to work at a marketing firm. This firm happens to be where her sister used to work. She is out to get revenge against the CEO of the company who she blames for her sister's death. She learns that the CEO is extremely introverted and becomes confused by how he was responsible for her sister's death. As the story goes by, she becomes more intrigued by him and focuses less on revenge and more on helping him open up.

Vincenzo

Ahhhhh, how do express my love for this one!! It is just amazing!! The story was so well thought out and the actors did a fantastic job. It was so satisfying to watch, I wanted to be a member of the mafia lol. The villians were also incredible, like I just love this drama so much. Like Your Honor, the only issue with this one is that the ending felt rushed.

The story surrounds a Korean man who was adopted into an Italian family and became the consiglerie of the mafia. After an issue with his adoptive family, he travels back to Korea in search an insane amount of gold bars which happens to be underneath an unsuspecting block of flats. He then gets involved with a major legal court case with a pharmaceutical company. As he delves deeper into the case, dark secrets start to get revealed.

[hwapyungah]

I watched The Guest two times it was so awesome. I loved the trio especially the female lead was so cool in it. And I have no words for the bromance ( or romance maybe* cough) between the two male leads. Is there anyone active in this fandom ? I want to talk about this show with someone but there's barely anyone available. Why The Guest is so underrated I want second season asap😔

this is a legitimate mood, though. laksdjfklajsd the guest is such a good show, but it's also such a niche type of drama that it only attracts a certain audience. which sucks because it totally deserves more attention. between the characters, the story, and the general message it conveys...ugh, i could go on and on

hwa pyung is my comfort character even outside of my obsession with the guest. he and a character from the devil judge are probably the closest things i have to blorbos lol. but legit his little scrappy ass just got cooler and cooler the more trouble he got into. and i absolutely love that gil young couldn't escape him because of said trouble he kept getting into. i also love that she was the one who convinced choi yoon to try and get him out of jail. and it all comes full circle when choi yoon becomes hyper protective of hwa pyung after that.

what i'm getting at with that paragraph is that the best part of the show is the bond between the three of them. like they are all really cold and rigid toward one another at the beginning and it honestly looks like they're never going to get along, but then they wind up getting attached to each other and seeing the person beneath the aggressive demon hunting psychic or the cop who doesn't believe in ghosts or the priest who would just rather work alone, they're inseparable.

honorable mention to the lovely yook gwang too. his and hwa pyung's friendship was top tier, and their scenes were some of my favorites in the entire show.

(also yes definitely romance those two are in love and i refuse to see it any other way)

you can always come to me with whatever feelings you might have about the guest. i'm still obsessed, even if this blog runs slower than it used to. with it being such a small fandom, it's difficult to keep it running at the pace of my other blogs. i do have a couple of fic requests that i'm working on so hopefully there will be updates here soon!

welcome to the fandom, though, and don't let its small size scare you away! there are some truly amazing people here, and even if you gotta dig around a little to find them, they're totally worth it!

[dangermousie]

2020 End of Year Post - cdrama edition

This is only going to cover cdramas that aired in 2020; if I had to make a post about all the cdramas I watched this year, I would still be doing it in three months...

Overall it’s been a fairly decent cdrama year (certainly better than the very lacklustre kdrama year.) It’s no miracle that 2019 was (so many excellent dramas!) but overall pretty solid.

DRAMAS WATCHED

(In order of liking from least to most as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

44 The Legend of Jing Yan - the worst cdrama I have seen this year, and possibly the worst drama of 2020, period. The hero and heroine were both uncharismatic, incapable of acting and saddled with such shrilly moronic characters, the only suspense was how they haven’t both perished long since from forgetting to breathe. Nor was anyone in the rest of the cast much better; the screenplay was written by a lower mammal and the cinematography was the best a third-rate wedding cinematographer could offer. Stay the HELL away from this one.

43 Unicorn Girl - the only unicorn about this bland yet irritating piece of pap was the fact that I was supposed to believe the leads are hockey players.

42 Autumn Cicada - I like spy stories, Allen Ren, and Republican Era settings. I can tune out Communist propaganda with the best of them. Yet, the propaganda ate the story to such a degree that there was nothing left; pre magic change Pinocchio was less wooden then this narrative.

41 You Complete Me - no you do not.

40 Skate into Love - the only positive thing I can say about this is that at least it’s better than Unicorn Girl, if for no other reason that only one of them is supposed to be a hockey player.

39 Irreplaceable Love - how do you make a story about fake siblings with a mad mother falling for each other boring? I don’t know, ask the makers of this.

38 Eternal Love Rain - I hate to rain on their parade, but these two actors cannot act, have about as much chemistry as a piece of bread, and are trapped in a story perfect for entertaining the mental abilities of the leads of Jin Yan.

37 For Married Doctoress - ummmm, you could do worse I guess. It only made me break out in mild hives. The sadistic ending did make me laugh though.

36 Dance of the Sky Empire - why you get Xu Kai and waste him in this insipid mess of a story is beyond me.

35 Love Designer - it’s inoffensive except to my sense of entertainment. There is nothing wrong with it but oh God is it bland.

34 Love a Lifetime - It felt like a lifetime watching this, but I didn’t love it. The story is incoherent, the actors have no chemistry and it’s all an epic waste of time.

33 Love is Sweet - so sweet it gave me diabetes. I like Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu, but there is literally no plot. I don’t need to sink into a plotless morass to watch pretty people engage in PG-rated make-outs. I am an adult with access to stronger stuff if I am thus inclined, though to be fair they could get x-rated and I still wouldn’t be able to sit through so many episodes of plotlessness for that.

32 Fake Princess - I love Zhao Yi Qin, but the guy needs to pick better projects. The female lead in this one has the voice and personality that can strip paint but the story is also doing nobody any favors.

31 The Changan Youth - I lost my brain checking this out. I had to go and read a dense treatise on medieval coinage or Mayan farming to try to recover it.

30 My Dear Destiny - kinda cheesy fun. It honestly shouldn’t be as low except it really feels like community theater.

29 Handsome Siblings - why is the Nic Tse version so good and this one so bad? True mystery for the ages. Chen Zhe Yuan is the sole reason this isn’t lower, because that kid tries SO HARD to make this drama bearable and almost succeeds. I can’t wait to see him in Sha Po Lang which actually will give him something to do.

28 In a Class of Her Own - see my comment on The Changan Youth. But at least Song Weilong is gorgeous to look at.

27 General’s Lady - inoffensive, pretty and so utterly pointless.

26 The Blooms at Ruyi Pavilion - those two leading actors are a no go to me but at least they considerately acted with each other instead of ruining two dramas for me. It’s very pretty though.

25 Jiu Liu Overlord - it’s a mess and I bailed, but I placed it this high merely due to the fact that Lai Yi finally gets a leading role and he’s sexy as fuck and I am shallow. Whoever styled Bai Lu should never work again except at a circus, however.

24 Cross Fire - not my genre and Luhan will always look too much like my cousin for comfort, but it’s a surprisingly gripping and dark drama. I liked it!

23 God of Lost Fantasy - if you want to watch a mediocre wuxia/xianxia, this is not a bad choice. Probably better than Legend of Fei actually, because at least it doesn’t have an A-list cast to waste and gives us Sheng Yilun himbo and shirtless.

22 Renascence - the insane cuts (it went from 70 eps to 36!!!) made a fairly cheesy story into a total mess. But I had a good time until I finally bailed mainly because of the male lead (Chen Zhe Yuan yet again carrying a not-good 2020 drama on his shoulders; the guy should be nicknamed Atlas) and the insane but in a fun way story. The female lead (both the character and the actress) were not up to par but oh well.

21 Legend of Fei - only this high because objectively there is nothing I disliked it. But there is nothing I liked either. The most uninspired drama on the list. If you could eat cardboard, this is what it would taste like.

20 Ever Night 2 - compared to EN1, it’s a waste of film. On its own merits, it’s not very good (the cast replacements are uniformly inferior and Dylan Wang is so wrong for Ning Que I cannot even put it into words; the script is useless.) But it had some parts I loved so very VERY much (all the shippy stuff was perfection) so I don’t feel too bitter.

19 Castle in the Sky 2 - a lovely if not too complex fairy tale. It is inferior to its prequel because it doesn’t have Zhang Ruo Yun who elevated it, but it’s still a solid bit of fun.

18 The Great Ruler - it’s very high fantasy, very pretty, and surprisingly involving.

17 (tie) Legend of Two Sisters in the Chaos - the secondary couple steals the show but the rest is not too bad if not too involving.

17 Legend of Awakening - a solid bit of fun with a seriously BDSM streak (theme this year apparently - but come on, the lead’s powers only activate when he’s in extreme pain!) It’s a bit generic and the costuming is done by a blind person, not to mention the OTP is a NOTP, but the rest of relationships (romantic and platonic) are wonderful (I live for the found siblings story in this one) and I like most of the characters.

16 Consummation - a rare modern cdrama I liked; a sweet coming of age story (and love story) even if wrapped in a pretty weird virtual reality concept.

15 Oops the King is in Love - this is how you do a low budget, sweet, silly piece of fluff. Our heroine pretends to be a eunuch and crosses paths with a powerless young king and they are adorable, even more so than the drama.

14 Song of Glory - pretty solid, though draggy and I didn’t love the toothpaste filter. But A+ cast, excellent leading couple chemistry, Li Qin being a BAMF and a leading man (Qin Hao) who is actually an adult.

13 And the Winner is love - objectively kind of a mess (and the heroine has the brainpower of a gnat), but the OTP chemistry is excellent and Luo Yunxi fighting and flirting with a fan as finally a leading man is worth the price of admission.

12 Miss S - snazzy and snappy and stylish and whatever else starts with S.

11 Eternal Love of Dream - I don’t know if it would work for you as well if you weren’t a hardcore shipper for this OTP in Three Lives but I was and this was such a darling, wonderful, shippy delight; plus I love this type of high fantasy.

10 (tie) Maiden Holmes - solid and sweet and a wonderful OTP. Proves that functional doesn’t have to mean boring. If you watch one cross-dressing drama this year make it this one.

10 Qin Dynasty Epic - srs bsns history epic. I am not far into it but it’s so good and smart and visually stunning (if you love battles, this one is for you.)

9 Love Lasts Two Minds - I adored this so much more than I should objectively have, but it’s so beautiful (and no I am not just referring to Alan Yu’s face) and the OTP has wonderful chemistry and the story is solid, and the whole trope of her memory being wiped but falling for him all over again while he’s constantly and utterly devoted is a fave; plus he’s in pain and semi-dyng for most of it so sluuuurp (happy ending, don’t worry)

8 To Love - yes, a modern drama is this high! But it involves intensity, tragedy, genuine adults and sexiness that is Lin Gengxin. And there is an actual plot and darkness OMG!

7 Legend of Xiao Chuo - so beautiful, so fun, so full of gorgeousness of Shawn Dou. Plus, Liao is a rare setting for a cdrama and there are a lot of characters and stories I liked a LOT. Less ship content than I wanted but more than I expected.

6 The Romance of Tiger and Rose - so so delightful. I was literally laughing out loud. I have no idea if it will work as well if one isn’t a seasoned watcher of period cdrama/reader of web novels, with bonus for watching/reading Goodbye My Princess, but it was a complete delight for me (and yes, I shipped for real, as well. Best of both worlds.)

5 Twisted Fate of Love - Jin Han gets a leading period drama role! And he’s enjoying it to the hilt, excellent as a smart, twisty bastard who is also charming and so madly in love with heroine. Sun Yi is beautiful and tough and her chemistry with JH is on fire, the story never drags, and it’s so twisty and fun and just awesome.

4 Love In Between - the most underrated drama on this list. It has no big names or big budget, but it’s wuxia that’s clever, driven, tragic, hopeful and so beautifully shot. Three separate (amazing) OTPs, a leading man who is so not typical (a doctor who cannot fight and who never acquires this ability) and who is intense and smart and damaged, a heroine who puts her quest ahead of her emotions, an unhealthy degree of involvement by yours truly. This is a drama Fei should have been.

3 Love and Redemption - such a lovely, addictive, utterly romantic fairy tale. I was obsessed with it for a reason. All the tropes you love and some you didn’t know you did, a star-crossed OTP to the nth power (and a secondary OTP I hardcore love), a twisty yet coherent plot, some insane chemistry and so much whump and hurt/comfort they must have bought blood packets in bulk.

2 Go Ahead - yes, I can’t believe it either. A contemporary slice of life cdrama made it this high on my list. But the way it feels so real, the found family perfection, the characters I love and loathe, the perfect cherry of a wonderful OTP that hits my narrative kinks on top, and just a perfect storm of loveliness all around with this one.

1 The Wolf - is that any surprise to anyone who’s checked out this tumblr for the last couple of months? Tragic, intense and gorgeous; so romantic and angsty and passionate it made me lose my mind (though some of it was gone the moment the camera panned to Darren Wang) - all my favorite tropes and then some; this is a drama that may not be perfect but it is 100% and then beyond perfect for ME.

FAVORITE DRAMA

The Wolf - I have seen objectively better cdramas; even this year. But it has been literal years since I have been this hardcore obsessed, this utterly pleased, this emotionally catered to and devastated at once. A beautiful dark fairy tale that manages to own me despite the storytelling gaps due to censorship, it took me for one of the biggest emotional roller coaster rides of my drama watching career. Visually gorgeous, poetic, intense, and so romantic it took my breath away, this is not just my favorite cdrama of 2020, it’s my favorite drama this year period, and the one cdrama this year to make it into my permanent Top 10 cdramas list.

WORST DRAMA

Legend of Jin Yan - see my write up for it for why as I refuse to waste more time on this stupid mess.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Wolfie, The Wolf - he is such a haunted, tormented, complex, dark mess; loving and violent, severely damaged and with a hidden yearning softness, longing and aloof. And the amount of charisma and sheer masculine sex appeal Darren Wang brings to the role is insane and not something I see much of in a cdrama. Plus, that character arc with its rapid fall and slow painful redemption is A++++

Runner Up:  Sifeng, Love and Redemption - has a male lead ever loved more utterly and selflessly, suffered more thoroughly and beautifully, and managed to have such chemistry with both his leading lady and his leading man (that his leading lady temporarily turned into) at once? The answer is no.

Almost made the cut - Feng Xi, Twisted Fate of Love, Han Shuo, The Romance of Tiger and Rose, Qing Ci, Love in Between.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Xiao Qian, The Romance of Tiger and Rose - so funny, so much the reason this drama was such a delight. I adore her beyond words.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Murder Daddy, The Wolf - I am sad the censors robbed us of seeing him die on screen. He was fully human but nonetheless managed to be the worst monster in a drama full of literal ones.

Ling Xiao’s Mom, Go Ahead - I hate her so much I don’t want to look up her name. She abused the kid, the disappeared and came back to abuse him some more. I mean she literally gave her child mental health issues. She is the WORST.

FAVORITE SHIP

Xing’er x Wolfie, The Wolf - are you kidding me? Who else could it ever be for me? They destroyed each other and saved each other, sworn enemies and childhood lovers, soulmates and epic messes, they couldn’t live with or without each other. The longing, the passion, the intensity, the angst, the epicness. LIKE THERE ARE NO WORDS!!!!

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Si Yuan, Shen Manqing, Love in Between - I loved them as much and often more than the main OTP. So much angst and passion and a happy ending! She is a seeming sect darling (except the sect is horrible and also sexist so her only worth is as a marriage candidate) and he’s an information broker who is actually one of the members of a destroyed sect that’s blamed for the massacre of her family. That chemistry and yearning is insane. The scene where she touches his face when he’s unconscious was in serious running for my favorite scene of 2020.

NOTP

Legend of Awakening - I have never seen a couple that didn’t just have no chemistry but exhibited actual revulsion towards each other before watching Chen Feiyu and Cheng Xiao try to act as lovers in this one. It was almost entertaining to be honest.

FAVORITE SCENE

It’s a tie and both are from The Wolf. One is a sequence where Wolfie marches to the walls alone, seeking death at Xing’er’s hands and the whole sequence with the battle and rescue follows. The other is the intercut between Xing’er going to her wedding and Wolfie going to his execution, and the auto-da-fe being intercut with her wedding.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Wolfie, The Wolf - Ummm have you seen this tumblr lately, it’s basically a drool shrine to the man.

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Yelü Yansage, The Legend of Xiao Chuo - I have loved this actor since The Myth and he continued to competently steal every scene he was in.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

To Love - come out of the coma, dammit!!!!!!!

NEEDS A DIRECTOR’S CUT

The Wolf - duh. It started out as 59 eps and got cut to 49. I reaiize some stuff is never gonna get put in due to censorship, but some of the stuff that got cut got for time reasons because they were deluded and hoping to get a TV broadcast so ep count had to be under 50. I mean I doubt the censors would care if they kept scenes of Wolfie building her a swing or whatever. I really really want a director’s cut the way Goodbye My Princess did even if like with GMP it’s only three extra eps. Hell, I will take extra three minutes, as long as those three minutes are Darren Wang shirtless or with a sword. Ahem.

NEEDS SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

The Song of Glory - it’s a fairly solid drama but honestly it didn’t need to be as long as it was and kind of got draggy and I got lost interest. (I could have gotten snarky and said all the dramas I didn’t like needed scissors taken to them in their entirety but decided to play nice.)

TOO MANY SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

There are a number of dramas I could complain about with regard to this (hi there, darling The Wolf!) but this award goes to Renascence - poor Renascence was never going to be a masterpiece, but it had the potential to be a bit of good cheesy fun until it had its run time cut by more than half and became an incoherent piece of insanity.

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Dumb shrill innocent heroine who can’t tie her shoes - see basically all the cdramas I didn’t like this year.

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

Male lead torture - I mean it’s always open season on that in cdramas, but between Love and Redemption, The Wolf, Love Lasts Two Minds, Love in Between and so on, it was a banner year!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Legend of Fei - what a waste of that cast; what a waste of our finite time on this Earth. What a waste of my intelligence to hope for something better and stick with it for a dozen eps. I have had stale wonderbread that had more personality than this drama.There is absolutely nothing that stands out about this drama in any way,  from half-dimensional characters, to actors who are sleepwalking, to a plot that moves at the speed of an arthritic snail, to uninspired cinematography and direction, to lack of any chemistry between anyone in the cast. If paint-by-numbers was done by a group of particularly linear robots, it might come across the same way as this drama.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

The Wolf - honestly, I did not expect it to come out AT ALL EVER let alone to become my favorite drama of 2020. I was not familiar with the leading man (hahah), I liked Li Qin but wasn’t yet obsessed with her, and Xiao Zhan was excellent in The Untamed but I was hardly going to follow him from drama to drama (and I don’t do SLS any way.) And the trailer was enjoyable but unlike seemingly everyone, I didn’t think it was going to be some epic masterpiece. And then it came out and while it wasn’t objectively an epic masterpiece, it pulled out all the favorite tropes, shippy and narrative kinks from the deepest darkest recesses of my id. And I fell harder than I have in years. 

2020 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

None. Covid Year gave me PLENTY of time

BEST NON-2020 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2020

Novoland Eagle Flag and Joy of Life - they are in my Top 10 dramas from anywhere now. They are quite different except being smart and giving me protagonists to obsess over.

ETA: Also The Untamed because @idlewilds3 pointed out I actually watched it in 2020 even though I didn’t think so because this hellyear has lasted about three decades.

MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2021

I am gonna limit it to dozen and leaving out ones that aren’t necesarily supposed to air next year (Joy of Life 2, Love in Flames of War, Novoland Princess from Plateau.)

Monarch Industry, Novoland Pearl Eclipse, Silk Washing Stream, Dream of Changan, Sword Snow Stride, Wu Xing Shi Jia, Ancient Love Poetry, Immortality, The Long Ballad, Mirror Twin Cities, The Imperial Age, Fall In Love

[mattelektras]

any recs for women in comics (marvel specifically) that are just like, normal people and don't exist because of make superheroes?? I've been looking and idk if it's either too specific or I'm just forgetting about someone but idk. I love elektra but sometimes I still feel like she's so much in Matt's universe? idk if this makes any sense but I just want an interesting story about a girl who isn't (primarily) on a team and just does superhero-ing in the city but isn't based off of/tangential to another superhero.

((I try googling this and usually just get articles for "10 Most Powerful Girlbosses in Marvel History😻" and that's not really what I'm looking for. but I'd love recs from you or anyone else that sees this))

to be fair that IS the nature of comics like. i think you can apply Girlboss Who Date[s/d] Male Hero to almost every female comics character in existence and marvel is probably the WORST for that. marvel is very much a one trick pony. they don’t really go outside of the superhero genre which means the girlboss/girlfriend rule is almost universal. the one thing that comes to mind is alias w jessica jones. she’s on her own for pretty much the whole story and it’s focused in detective stuff more than in fights and blowing buildings up etc. the only dude in it is like cage which isn’t even him as a superhero, he’s literally just there as luke and as far as men in comics go u got one of the best ones in him.

dc tends to go outside of superhero a lot more so you DO get a different brand of women. lois lane had a solo recently which involves a lot of journalism and sleuthing, and although she’s lois lane, superman really isn’t there much at all. and again, it’s a luke cage situation. he’s not an overpowering presence

gotham academy is a teen mystery

prez was super underrated. it’s kind of a fun political satire

and then non marvel/dc is honestly your best bet without fail

something is killing the children is horror/mystery

revival is detective/horror i guess?? it’s a zombie comic but. not what you think a zombie comic is

coffin hill is a favourite of mine. it’s a witchy gothic kind of story

rat queens is kind of. vulgar d&d style with a team of 3 women

shutter is adventure/sci fi

homesick pilots is about a punk high school band w a female lead singer who do gigs in a haunted house

[mexicancat-girl]

Sooo I read your take on the bakugou vs uraraka in the sports festival. i personally agree that you’re right when it comes to bakugou being overpowered (like when he fought todoroki, his quirk shouldn’t have worked at all with all the ice) and the fact that the females here are underrated and are not written well enough. Also I hate that fan service scene with the cheerleading outfits. However when you called him entitled and said that the narrative is favoring him, i dont agree there. horikoshi has made it blatantly clear that he wrote bakugou with the intent of making fans hate him on purpose. It’s why he’s portrayed as such a asshole in the first place, then horikoshi proceeds to show us that bakugou has complexity later on. He basically wants to humiliate him and make him slowly see his errors, and then basically give him slow character development, which is apt for bakugou since he’s been like this for 15 years. Like you said, bakugou logically should have been tired out near ochako’s fight, owing to quirk weaknesses and all, but honestly, it would also be unlikely for bakugou-trained-since-the-minute-i-got-my-quirk to also lose to ochako, owing to the fact that she wasnt as experienced as him or as physically fit, also for her to win by fighting a “weak” bakugou would make fans claim sexism too due to the fact that he still had to be weak for her to win. Also having him win again would have the same issue. So I didnt mind bakugou winning, and appreciated that ochako did her utter best to do so and nearly won, which I felt was a realistic move by horikoshi to avoid as much as possible a sexist situation. Tho not gonna lie, why isnt there another female like bakugou or todoroki in this class? Makes me upset thinking about it but like you said, horikoshi cant write good female characters, so he does as much to avoid so.  Unlike miraculous ladybug which has so much crap going on with so called female strong leads and is slowly becoming so cringey to watch.

Horikoshi may claim he writes Bkugo for fans to hate him…But Bkugo is literally a fan favorite. He keeps getting top 3 in the popularity polls, if not outright winning them. 

Bkugo is Izuku’s childhood friend/rival, making him a core part of the series. He’s inescapable if you consume the media (manga, anime, promo materials). He’s presented as an equal to Izuku, and yet never once actually respects Izuku as a person. But Izuku keeps making excuses for him, as do the other characters, painting him in a better light than what’s actually shown.

Bkugo keeps having very small glimmers of moments where it seems like he’s learning from his mistakes. But then he goes right back to square one. 

(rest under cut)

During the license exam, he storms off on his own because of his belief he’s better by himself. He ends up having a plan to work with Kaminari and Kirishima, but only because they followed him and put themselves in a dangerous situation alongside him. Then during the last phase of the exam, he tries to take things on his own again, which results in him not getting his license. 

Which is a great moment, it seems like he’s getting actual development here! He has to work on remedial exams, puts some ounce of teamwork into getting his license…but it’s all for his own benefit. Everyone praises him over out of their asses over how he’s changed during the training with 1-B, but he still treats everyone like shit. He just sees the benefit of using people on his teams to help him instead of tearing them all down, because he can’t win if he does that. 

He still makes everything about himself. Even when something doesn’t revolve around him, he keeps inserting himself into the narrative. He forces more of Izuku’s secrets from him, forces himself to be there when Izuku talks to All Might about One For All, not for Izuku’s benefit, but because he feels entitled to know about Izuku’s quirk. Even during a discussion which should center around Izuku asking questions and finding out more about his legacy and quirk, Bkugo takes the reigns and takes nearly all agency away from Izuku.

As for the Sports Festival, Bkugo would get more humbled by losing. It would show both Bkugo and the viewers that not just offense-based Quirks (or the male characters) are capable of winning fights. Things like planning and pacing yourself can help just as much. Which would tie into Izuku not knowing how to control OFA during that stage as well, using his mind and ingenuity to get himself to the Third Round without needing his Quirk. It would’ve worked really well narratively! And tied things together!

It also would’ve provided more tension for Bkugo if he’d lost the Sports Festival. When he’s kidnapped, the LOV could’ve used that loss in order to entice him to join them. The only reason he didnt join was because he thought they were ‘losers’, both because All Might stopped the USJ attack and Bkugo has a strong quirk that won him the Sports Festival. If he’d lost, he’d be vulnerable and have had do show some struggle over whether he was going to take up their offer, and gotten some character growth from that. Because he’s cocky and strong, we already know from the beginning he isn’t going to actually accept their offer in canon.

As for Horikoshi’s lack of female characters–especially those that actually battle or do anything significant to the plot–I’m not 100% surprised. Shonen anime in general has a bad track record of writing female characters, if they’re included at all in the narrative. 

My problem is that Horikoshi has a decent cast of female characters with unique powers, and he goes out of his way to sexualize them and make them damsels/nearly useless in fights and scenes that actually further the plot. Just. Goddamn, let the female characters actually do something instead of standing around being support for the male characters, or having catfights with female villains (ala Ochaco with Toga). 

Even Ochaco, the main female character of the series, barely gets any development other than “struggling with crush on Izuku” and “I saw someone die and don’t want that to happen again”. Izuku, Shoto, and Bkugo get entire character arcs and countless chapters devoted to them, and we only get a few pages for Ochaco, if we’re lucky.

Miraculous Ladybug is another beast entirely ngl. I’m not going to touch that for now.