#but i just hate how people forgive male characters everything while they hate on female characters for literally no reasons

[hard--headed--woman]

i will never stop hating the fact that severus snape is so loved like the guy is a misogynistic asshole who bullied kids to the point they were traumatized because of him, mentally tortured a 15yo boy with the memories of his abusive childhood and made this boy's life hell just because his dad married the woman he has a creepy obsession on, joined a terrorist group to kill people he deemed inferior and take over the world, was a shitty teacher, favoured his own house, was ready to get a baby killed and gave the information that could have got him killed without batting an eye, called his best friend a slur, told everyone another teacher was a werewolf and so made him lose his job just because he was petty, was horrible to everyone, was terrible to the woman he "loved" and her son, and didn't even join the good side because he realized his mistakes... the guy is pure evil but he's loved because uwu he was in love with lily 🥺 huh no he was obsessed with her and a bastard actually. you love him and forgive him because he's a man. can you imagine if a female character did all of this ? she would be the most hated character ever.

[burst-of-iridescent]

I’ve been reading a series where a guy is in a near identical situation to Katara was in The Southern Raiders. But what I find interesting is that no one really tries to stop him and the fandom considers it completely justified. I can’t help but think despite it being two different series and fandoms that Katara’s gender has at least something to do with this. When a male character wants to seek revenge and kill the murderer to do it, the narrative and fans justify it but when it’s a female character she’s vilified, seen as out of control and letting her emotions get the better of her. I hate when people say Aang was right to say what he did and try to stop Katara from making her own choice. It doesn’t help that we know Bryke is misogynistic based on well everything to do with their female characters post series after they didn’t have the talented writers who actually understood the characters helping them. And sure I know Bryke themselves didn’t write The Southern Raiders but we know from script leaks that there were more shippy Zutara moments that were cut and I think we know who’s to blame for that. So I wouldn’t be surprised if they still influenced the more problematic parts of that episode. Such as Aang and Katara never talking about or resolving their conflict, Sokka calling Aang wise beyond his years and never talking about or resolving his side if things with Katara, and even Zuko weirdly agreeing with Aang at the end that “you were right about what Katara needed.” Even though she literally just told Aang a second ago that he was wrong and she would never forgive him and doesn’t know why she couldn’t kill him. If you couldn’t tell I have rather mixed feelings about TSR episode.

Sorry for the ramble. How do you think their conversations (Katara, Aang, and Sokka) would go if they were to talk about it all after the episode?

oh misogyny definitely plays a part - just compare the way people react to inigo montoya from the princess bride vs katara in tsr - but i think the bigger issue is the overt narrative framing of the episode.

on a first watch, tsr appears to push a very simplistic idea of "violence = bad" and strongly favours aang's perspective, which encourages the viewer to see him as being in the right while katara and zuko appear to be in the wrong. the fact that aang never changes his perspective and both zuko and sokka are (forcibly and very uncharacteristically) made to take his side by the end naturally inclines the audience to do so as well.

it's only with a closer reading that you see a more nuanced take which highlights the flaws in aang's thinking and treatment of katara. katara herself makes it clear that what aang wanted her to do would not have helped her find closure, and she began her healing process without ever forgiving yon rha - which is exactly why i hate people attributing her decision not to kill yon rha to aang when she explicitly stated she did not and would not ever do what he wanted her to!

these are the same people who will also blame zuko for being a "bad influence" on katara, as if the only reason she hunted down her own mother's killer is because zuko convinced her to do it. katara isn't some weeping willow to be bent to the will of zuko and aang; her decisions are her own, not based on the whims of the boys in her life. can we please stop stripping katara of all her agency in the one episode that actually focuses on her trauma and healing?

rant aside, i do wish that katara had talked to sokka after this episode and i imagine there would be some apologising on both sides. sokka - a realistic sokka, because my god was he wildly out of character - would probably check in on her and admit that he was afraid for her safety and well-being. katara would likely apologise for the "you didn't love her the way i did!" remark and i think it would've been nice for them to finally talk about kya and for katara to bring up the conversation she overheard from the runaway about how sokka confessed to seeing her as a surrogate mother.

(imo the impact hearing that would've had on katara was largely downplayed in the show, and is likely part of the reason she reacted to sokka the way she did in the southern raiders, but that's a post for another time.)

the katara-aang conversation would probably have gone the same way that it did in canon, because the issues with their dynamic in tsr are part of the underlying problems with the kat.aang relationship in general. i would've liked to see aang have a little more of a reaction to katara saying she never forgave yon rha (he doesn't seem affected at all in the show), and for that to maybe prompt him to really reflect on what he said.

but ultimately what really has to be tackled here is aang's idealization of katara and his focus on clinging to air nomad values at the expense of those from the other nations - and those problems run too deep to be fixed in a single episode or conversation. the southern raiders would have been a good starting point, but unfortunately the finale never engages with these issues, and so what could've been a great arc ends up going nowhere at all.

[physalian]

Treatment of female characters in fandom

Fandom Hot Take That Isn't At All New

The floor is open for debate, feel free (but do so respectfully, yeah?). This is a pattern I notice when exploring both old and new fandoms and that’s the perception of the highest-ranking female character, with rank as in protagonist vs love interest vs secondary vs tertiary character. Upon a massive paradigm-shift I just had about Percabeth.

There is a tendency, at least as I see it, within fandom to skew in favor of the female protagonist in fanfic instead of dumping her for the two hottest male characters. This happens when the female hero is a wish-fulfilment type. As most fanfic is written by women, this tracks. The audience loves her whether she sucks or not because she's them, and they write smut and romance for her because they want to live through her. They're very forgiving to female leads in and even if the fandom argues over her, she’s still the center of the largest ships. She’s the hero, and odds are, the most popular ship is the canon pairing, with some exceptions like Zutara.

If she’s not the protagonist, look at any fandom with a male lead and she’s probably dumped for the top five hottest men in the story for non-canon pairings. She has very little slack in the fandom and is subject to incredibly critical views. She has to be on point or better than her male counterpoints (ex: Katara) to be in the top ship for the fandom, or her canon ship with the male protagonist is just that old that it predates everything else (ex: Annabeth). Why? Because they're almost always less compelling than the hero's next closest male connection, because the writer wrongfully assumes that “it’s romance, you get, it I don’t need to put in the effort” but they do have to convince you why the friendship or rivalry exists. But also, because of how fandom treats female love interests.

I don’t read a ton of original fiction romance and when I do, it’s always a lady lead. If I look up fanfic for a series and I personally think the main romance is meh, she’s still there all over the archive (TOG, Twilight, Red Queen, Outlander, Star Wars Sequels, Max Ride etc). If I look up a fandom with the same quality of problematic romance, she’s tarred and feathered by virtue of being the love interest even if her character is as deep or as compelling as her contemporaries in other works where she’s the hero instead.

As in, if Edward was the protagonist of Twilight, the majority pairing would be Edward/Jacob while Bella would be absolutely despised. Same exact personality, same exact role in the story, it’s just told from Edward’s perspective (which I know exists I’m talking the actual book Twilight). People already hate the Star Wars Sequels, but if they were the exact same movies except Kylo was the POV character, “fans” might’ve bullied Daisy Ridley so much that they killed off her character—looking at you, Supernatural fandom.

Not every single lady love interest. Astrid/Hiccup is the most popular ship on AO3 for HTTYD. Astrid is a badass character and far more than a love interest and a perfect example of writers who worked hard to make it believable (and also there’s no one really second to Astrid within the story in terms of depth and screentime, except Toothless… which is the next most popular ship so). But even when she's pretty universally loved by the fandom (ex. Hermione) that doesn't guarantee her top billing if she has a male rival for screentime.

I don’t know if it’s just different fans who pick up these different genres or double standards for female characters but it’s pretty consistent. It might just be that readers can live vicariously though a cardboard narrator but get incredibly protective of the male lead and who’s allowed to court him when they can’t. I had this debate with somebody a while ago and they argued that it simply comes down to fanfic writers getting attached to the few female protagonists they're allowed to have. But like. This is across all genres, and the idea that fans starved of female heroes will only like them if they're the main hero and not the secondar hero is not the pro-women slam-dunk that person thought it was.

I also only really participate in fandom where it concerns fanfic and not live online discourse. I write male protagonists as a female author because it’s just what I grew up reading more and I like the action adventure genre far more than the romance genre, which is usually helmed by male heroes, but my writer catalogue is nearly 60/40.

It says something pretty loud and clear about the state of Percabeth which had ten years on Solangelo, to have the gap closed between them, with some disclaimers: I’m only looking on AO3 and Percabeth predates the surge in popularity of AO3 vs FFN where Solangelo hit at the perfect time. The third most important character in the PJO books kept changing from book to book (Grover, Thalia, Luke, Rachel, Zoe, etc), so Annabeth was the only ship option, she had no big competition.

But even then, when I go out of my way looking for good Percabeth fics, they’re just not there. The ship might technically be the most popular in that it populates in the most fics, but it’s not as front and center as Solangelo, and there’s way less canon content for Solangelo. If Will had been a girl, Solangelo would not be the fandom juggernaut that it is. If Annabeth was a man and Percabeth was a gay ship, she'd probably have a lot less hate with the exact same abusive personality, simply because she'd be a man and male characters will always have more leeway.

[norringtondeservestheworld]

Markus isn't boring, you are simply racist.

Hi. I'd like to tell you all my story with Markus.

I entered in the DBH fandom recently because I recently played the game for the first time when I finally bought a PS5 (I couldn't play it sooner because I didn't have the console) but I actually was curious about this game since it came out in 2019, but at the time (and before playing it) I knew next to nothing about it.

All I knew was that the three main characters were two males and a female robots, which one was the guy from Grey's Anatomy, one was a police officer and the female one wanted to protect a little girl from her abusive father (Kara's story was actually the one I knew better, I think it's because I watched some gameplays and I remember feeling really anxious about the chapters with Todd). I also remembered there was another female android which was North obviously, but I truly had no idea what her name was or what her face was and I had absolutely no idea about the existence of Josh, Luther, Ralph, Daniel, Simon (which is hilarious since he is my fave now) and literally any other character.

And now I'll be 100% honest with you.

When I went to the store to buy the game and I saw Markus in the cover, I was annoyed. Why you ask? Easy.

All I could see was Jesse Williams.

Do not misunderstand me, I never hated or disliked Jesse Williams, I have nothing against the guy, but to me he was the guy from Grey's Anatomy.

Tbh I always hated Grey's Anatomy but unfortunately one of my best friends love it as much as I hate it, and she has the biggest crush on Jesse Williams' character, Jackson Avery, and she made me watch, too many, oh god believe me, too many times his scenes that at one point everytime I saw his face all I did was roll my eyes and sigh. So when I saw him in DBH I thought "ugh this guy again".

So my first approach to the game was being very careful and being really interested in both Connor and Kara's storylines, but when a Markus' chapter happened I just sighed and wanted it to end it to play the other two.

Then the chapter of Markus in the junkyard happened. I was less annoyed by Markus at this point because he started to growing up on me but I still had too prejudice to admit it to myself, but that chapter moved something in me. I didn't know what, but it did something, and when Markus found Jericho and met North, Simon and Josh.. well, I was curious.

And then, finally, at the Spare Parts chapter, I started to realize how great Jericho's, and consequently Markus' storyline, was. As the story progressed, I started to realize how much I was beginning to love Markus, how everytime I looked at Jesse Williams I didn't see the Grey's Anatomy guy anymore, but Markus. Suddenly, the situation had reversed: there weren't enough chapters about Markus to me there wasn't never enough of him and at every chapter of Connor and Kara all I could think of was wanting to see Markus and the Jericrew again (I still found Connor and Kara's storylines interesting, but they were nothing compared to Markus). By the end of The Freedom March I had shivers and realized how much I cared for Markus and his story and I had the realization that if my choices towards the end would lead to his death, I would be really really sad all this while thinking what a great, inspiring character he is.

The way he is the leader of an entire species and the most important person of Jericho, and yet he is ready to risk his life for every broken single android. The way he worries for North when he heard shoots, the way one of his first thoughts when Jericho is attacked are Simon and Josh and wondering if they are okay despite being in risk himself in that moment. The way he forgives Connor without even blinking even if he is responsible of the destruction of Jericho and of the death of a lot of his people, and the way he still has no hate towards him even if he tries to kill him because despite everything, he is still one of his people. The way they are in a desperate situation and he has a lot on his mind and yet he promises Kara, an android who he just met, to help her because he can't possibly not help every android who need help. The way he is scared and worried and has doubts of what to do because he just wants the best for his people but they are getting killed and yet he never asks for help because he can't let himself to pass this burden to another android he is the one who has to deal with it. The way he accepts everyone in Jericho and let androids be themselves, never forcing them to join him or die for the cause. The way he cares. For everyone and everything. He cares he cares he cares.

Markus is all of this, and even more.

I started the game not being thrilled of him being there solely for a stupid, idiotic prejudice based on nothing, and I ended it being over the moon for this selfless, brave hero.

Despite what I was feeling at the beginning, I ended being totally in love with this amazing character and surely I won't let you all classify Markus as "boring". I won't let you. Not anymore.

I won't let you call boring a character who is nothing but positive.

I won't let you call boring a character who sacrificed himself for freeing his people.

I won't let you call boring a character for whom you would all simp for if he was white.

Markus isn't boring. Just admit you are racist and leave.

[feralboo-the-weirdo]

BARBIE SPOILERS. if you have not seen it and you don't want spoilers, just skip over this. Unless you would like some prior warning for it. :)

This is honestly the only summery of the Barbie movie I can give without going into a giant rant:

Spoiler: Yes. They pushed both. I just couldn't get the other meme to work.

dang, I have a feeling this is going to garner quite a bit of hate, but as a disclaimer before I go into what I will try to keep a tiny rant-- I understand there are people who did like it and I want to like it, because it's you know, it's Barbie and the old movies were wonderful, but... the movie made itself irredeemable to me.

Yes, it was satire, but it was honestly hard to tell what was satire and what they proclaimed was truth. I hated it. Every moment I spent in the theater I wanted to leave it.

why was how they broke the brainwashing reminding women how mistreated they are? Like. HOW. DOES. THAT. FIX. ANYTHING? was it satisfying for a bit? admittedly yes, the initial rant the mom gave was satisfying.... and then they dragged out the bit and it was just like "what on earth is this?" why is this what unbrainwashes them?

Also, I know people are going to get onto the "well they were white so that explains everything" No. no it does not.

Also everything they brought up they did not go deep into. like Ken being hurt by the Patriarchy too. they spent about five minutes (if that) on it and then were like "yay! problem solved, it's barbie land again." Also mental health. Was handled VERY poorly. it's not a joke. as someone who deals with mental health struggles on the daily I did not appreciate how they presented it.

The "only baby dolls" thing. This should not have made me hate this movie so much because it's (MAYBE???) satire. But still. They have not been the only doll to exist ever.

This movie hated both genders equally but tried to make it seem like they loved women.

Also. I hated the extremes they went to in the real world. Not every man is Evil. there are some that definitely should not be allowed around women or other people yes, but not all of them are evil. And not all women are good either.

No one, the barbie movie: women are so mistreated, woah is us!

Also the barbie movie: eck! we're so powerful we can't stand it!

But mostly, I just hated it because I was promised a happy movie of Barbie having a midlife crisis and Ken coming along for the ride and instead it was like Tik tok. in movie form.

This movie did not make me feel anymore comfortable with my gender. if anything it made me feel worse. I left the theater feeling like I should have been empowered, but I just felt gross. Overall, this is probably the last post I will ever make for this movie because I want it to fade into the background and be ignored. The worst insult I could give this movie is ignoring it's existence entirely.

Does anyone else miss when movies just had strong CHARACTERS instead of it being a strong gender? like it wasn't "LOOK A FEMALE WHO IS A CHARACTER!!!" and "oh, a guy character, gross." Why does it have to be so extreme? Like I appreciate there are more female protagonists out there but I also miss when they weren't all hot headed, arrogant, jerks, and when they were FEMININE. like. what. is wrong. with. being soft??? also I miss smart male protagonists. and male protagonists in general who were good characters not comic relief. (unrelated, but semi related note: I will never forgive the Harry Potter Movies for what they did to Ron to make Hermione smart. Ron is SMART TOO. My boy deserved better!)Like there was a while there where women and men both had equal roles in stories and they were good because they were good characters and now... it's just politics. and I'm sick of it.

I don't know what Barbie was supposed to be but it was not what I wanted to see when I went to see it. I had low expectations, but somehow, it failed them. failed them hard. Honestly, I don't know how anyone likes it, and I'm still to angry at it to look for reasons why people did. Maybe in a few years after my anger at what this movie was actually about subsides.

In conclusion, I finally remembered why I don't go see movies anymore. I want a story, not a message. Barbie provided a message. a very dark undertone that hid under "discover yourself and your role in the world :)"

P.S. If you liked Barbie and wish to tear me to shreds, please remember I was not the target audience, I did not "get it" as those in the target audience did.

[ben-talks-art]

Going over tons of Webtoons I like!

I feel like I haven't really talked about webtoons as much as I should even though there are quite a lot of them that I enjoy a lot, so I felt it would be nice to go over some of my favorites, what they're about, why I like them and maybe help others discover something they might like as well.

I won't be talking about Unordinary, Trapped, or Dreaming Freedom since I basically said everything I had to say in their own posts, so if you want to see how I feel about these series just follow the links.

(Also worth noting, when it comes to webtoons I'm usually more of a fan of those that focus on drama, so things like Tower of God or Lookism that focus more on battle, while fun series, aren't really amongst my favorites and are probably not gonna be on my list. I don't really go to webtoons for action, I go for seeing people dealing with personal problems and how they handle them.)

This one is still fairly new but it's already got me very hooked. The premise is about a girl that is going through some money problems that finds out about the world of live-streaming and starts getting too into it.

The main conflict comes from how much of her own life and herself she exposes to the world and how she deals with the public while also trying to think about making enough money to take care of her family.

It can be very depressing but also very informative as it shows how ugly people's online behavior can be and how much they can affect someone's life.

Speaking of depressing, this one is a series of stories about a rotating cast of protagonists who are all dealing with some very heavy personal problems while trying to advance their love lives.

One is trying to deal with the pressure of keeping up appearances at class, another is grieving over the loss of a loved one, another is trying to recover from a past of bullying, and so on... And each one feels real and earned. The way these topics are dealt with feel like how actual people would deal with them.

It doesn't just skip over to a happy ending, it walks you through the entire process of recovery necessary to get to them eventually feeling better, and when they do feel better it's always so very satisfying because you followed through all the hardships they endured.

It's a great series with a very-needed theme of "It gets better, so don't give up!"

I think people are kinda mixed on this one? Some love it, some hate it, mostly it comes down to how they feel about the female lead.

The idea is that this girl is a victim from some sort of bug in the system of the god of love (or something like that, it's really weird...) and now she has a really hard time being romantically loved by others... So in order to fix that, she needs to raise her love score with the male leads or she will die... Also, her boyfriend cheated on her with her sister...

I just realized this sounds like the premise of a generic Otome isekai.

Needlessly convoluted premise aside, this series is actually really fun. The artwork and dialogue makes the female lead come off as really charming, expressive, and likable. Even if you don't care about the major plot with the love god thing (like me!), you still enjoy reading it because you do feel sorry for this girl and want to see her eventually find happiness.

It shows the power of a character's charm. When your character is likable enough, you can forgive how absurd and nonsensical a premise can be.

I thought I was going to hate this series but the more I read it the more I liked it.

The premise is that a broken-up couple goes back in time to when they were young and still together, except one is in the body of the other.

This setup alone is freaking brilliant, so much so I'm shocked I haven't seen it before. You can do so much commentary about perspective, the way women and men are treated differently by society, the things we never think about in a relationship, the way your actions are viewed by others, and so on.

It frustrated me at first because the characters were making some really idiotic choices to the point it made me question what was this author doing, but as I kept reading, all of their choices get addressed. They either explain why they did what they did or recognize that they made a mistake and apologize for it, and I loooooove when series do that! If I see a problem in the story, why can't the characters see it too? Well, here they do, and it feels great every time they do!

This one is the same as Operation True Love. I like how charming and expressive everyone here is, and I also like seeing these interpretations of Greek mythos.

I also really like the female lead, Persephone. I guess many people seem to dislike her but she never bothered me personally. I find her conflicts very interesting and how she deals with them is also interesting, mostly things like dealing with her trauma, the pressure from her mother, and the constant bureaucracy of the gods she needs to endure to get what she wants. She's not perfect, but I don't think she's meant to be.

The one thing I don't like is that since this is based on Greek mythos we have to go over all the stuff about the mythos we don't like but have to live with. For example, Zeus is here, and he is very unlikeable, but because he's Zeus from the mythos you know he's never gonna face any real consequences for being the huge jerk he is and we just gotta deal with it.

There are a couple things like this here and there where because it was in the mythos it has to be here and it gets a little frustrating sometimes, but not enough to ruin the experience.

Lol... "Fantasy..."

This is one I wanted to bang my head against a wall for forgetting to include when talking about Trapped and Dreaming Freedom. It's another story about a thrillingly toxic co-dependent relationship between a group of messed up people.

The basic idea is that three ladies are in love, but not in love with the one that likes them, which makes this the ideal definition of "love triangle"

What's cool about this is that not one of them likes the other for a particularly healthy reason. There is a good girl that likes a bad girl because she's a bad girl, a bad girl that likes a loner girl because she's a loner, and a loner girl that likes the good girl because she's good.

They each have some sort of obsession with their "loved one" that boils down to "she needs me" or "I need her". It's like watching a Spanish telenovela, you know this is going to turn into a mess, but you can't wait to see it unfold.

(also, one of them is a vampire, but who cares about that...)

This is another one that just has a brilliant premise. The idea is that this is a world of superheroes and this one girl has a crush on this one guy, but she's such a mess about telling her feelings that she somehow ends up becoming a supervillain for him to fight.

It's like if someone took that little segment from Rwby Chibi and made an entire series out of it. This series is so freaking funny and stupid, I just love it.

Yoo's life sucks, that's the premise.

She got ditched by her mother, separated from her sister, is forced to take care of her dad alone, struggles with making friends, gets bullied, barely makes any money on her job, people hate her for no reason, and to top it all, she gets stuck in the middle of a rich family's drama that keeps trying to exploit her personal problems to their advantage.

This is one of those "Author, please leave the character alone!!" types of stories where you just keep enduring it because you like these people so much that you just want to reach the end where they'll finally be happy and free from all this misery.

Another case of where a character being charming and likable is enough to make you keep reading because you just want to see something good happening to them because you know they deserve it.

Another case of "Just let them be happy!!"

This is a story about a woman who had to part ways with a family that she was really close with but now suddenly finds herself back into their lives.

I can't say too much about this one because it relies a lot on twists and revelations, but long story short, this is some really good drama.

You ever felt like reading a retelling of The Little Mermaid set during the time when Korea was invaded by Japan? Well, your wish is now fulfilled!

This is a tragic story about a girl that gets tangled with a man she can never have during a period of war and how they struggle to remain close to each other even though everything around them is fighting to keep them apart.

Very sad, but very emotional.

Speaking of sad...

This one is like Sohee0 where its about a girl dealing with the problems of live streaming her entire life for the world to see and slowly becoming too dependent on it.

I'm not a huge fan of thriller, but the themes this one tackles are so interesting that it made me keep reading anyway.

Keep in mind that this one does not have a happy ending.

This is a series I feel is very underrated. It's about a boy that finds out that the girl he is chatting with on his phone is someone from his class, and he decides to use this new knowledge to help out her love life and other personal problems in return for always being nice to him online, even though she doesn't know who he really is.

There is some nice commentary about catfishing, stalking, the power of social media, communication, and entitlement in here.

There is a very powerful scene early on where the main lead confronts a stalker that's trying to claim he's in love with the girl from the chat and thus has the right to interfere in her life, and when the mc calls him out on that, he realizes he's basically doing the same thing. And, again, I love when a story isn't above calling out their lead characters on their mistakes.

Giving a character flaws is okay as long as you address it, and this series addresses tons of interesting flaws on various characters.

Another story about the scary power of social media. This one is about a woman who rejected a guy in a reality show a few days before he died, and a group of people decided to use that to burn her online as if she was the ultimate monster, and the story is all about she bouncing back from that and getting revenge on everyone that did that to her.

I don't even know how to describe this one... It's just good drama.

I was going to say it's about girls facing school problems, but the problems these characters face kinda go over every possible field.

It starts with the main lead feeling like she's the only ugly girl in her group of four friends, but we kinda ditch that premise after a while and just start to focus on any kind of problem a teenager might be going through.

I find the problems they tackle to be interesting and the characters going through them are all likable, and this isn't a case of "let them be happy!" they get to be happy a lot and very frequently. It isn't one problem that goes on through the whole series but a set of rotating small problems that get dealt with one after another in very nice ways.

This one is a similar case of teens dealing with teen drama.

It starts with a boy finding out that the girl he likes is dating his sister (that's one hell of a way to start your series), and eventually becomes about people dealing with their emotions and inner insecurities.

Odd Girl Out was more about people dealing with the problems life throws at us, this is more about problems we throw at ourselves. How sometimes we don't know what we want, why we want it, how to get it, how to deal with it, and what does that say about us.

I'm just gonna repeat what I said before, I like how these problems are explored and I like how charming these characters are.

That's honestly all I ever need, people to care about and cool problems for them to face.

This one is interesting.

It's about a woman who pretends to be married so she can date a guy who is into affairs. It's like a cheater's cheat.

It goes into detail about why someone would want to betray their partner and how society in Japan puts this pressure on people to pursue marriage and building a family as the ultimate source of happiness.

I always love this kind of talk, exploring how much of what you do you do it because people tell you it will be good for you and how much you do it because you really want it.

This is one apparently a lot of people really don't like, and ironically, it's one of my favorites.

"Get Schooled" is a series that seems to start on the premise of "what if the teachers were allowed to beat up the bullies?" but once you keep reading it you see that it goes a little deeper than that.

The message I personally got from this one was "what if we had the means to actually answer back to those who do wrong?"

The thing about people who commit crimes is that we never have either the time, the means, or the exact words to address all that is wrong with their actions, we're just not always prepared for it. So in this story they just make a character that is always prepared.

Every bully in this series usually works with the mentality of "why can't I just do what's best for me?" and when the main lead appears and confronts them, he makes them realize that in a world where people only think about themselves, the moment someone stronger than you shows up, if they don't need you, you're screwed, that's why it's important to learn how to accept everyone, regardless of whether they're weak or strong.

It shows the futility of "might makes right" by showing that might can turn against you at any point, and thus it's better to create a society of "right makes right."

The conversations these characters have about morality are very interesting and give a lot to think about.

There is one arc is where they go to a daycare and find a teacher that's trying to control how kids should think, but the moment they start questioning their logic everything the teacher taught them starts to no longer make any sense and throws the class into chaos.

The kids were being taught what to think, but not the why, and once they realize they skipped this vital step, their lessons no longer held any meaning.

There is a lot of that, a lot of having bullies and oppressors facing the flaws in their own logic and addressing why it doesn't work, and it feels very satisfying each time.

Also has bullies getting beat up a lot, which also feels good.

(Edit, these were all feelings I had before learning about the recent events regarding Get Schooled 😓 I'm deeply sorry for having promoted a series that carried so much ill will inside of it)

==========

That's it for now, hope you can find something new you can enjoy!

And with that, now I wait for webtoon to officially translate the other Naver series that are still only available in Korean that I really want to read more of.

[haleigh-sloth]

I've felt for a while that Deku is like the Tohru to Shigarakis Akito lol. I feel like MHA and Fruits Basket have so much in common. I love that Deku has met all these people that need help and he is able to be there for them. But kinda like Tohru, he sacrifices his own wellbeing too much and he needs to accept help from others. I also love that characters like Todoroki are similar to Yuki. They receive help from Deku but then grow on their own as well and become a positive force to help others.

!!!!! This comparison has been in my head for a very long time, yeah.

I think that's what turns people off to Midoriya as a protag because he's far more similar to a freaking shojo female lead than a shounen male lead aks;gaskgn Personally I find that both hilarious and great but not everybody feels that way lol.

There are people who hate it because he's not their tough guy kick-ass tough exterior protag, and people who hate it because he's not as complex as the villains..or something along those lines.

Sometimes the protagonist halo of "selfless to a fault" is just who the character is. Either you like the trope or you don't, but trying to make it into some awful crime against the manga is stupid imo and it's better just to admit it's not a trope you like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But tbh I do find it interesting that ✨for some reason✨ it's perfectly fine for Tohru to have that protag halo and people receive it super well in Fruits Basket but god forbid Midoriya have the same type of characterization and because of this specific trope played into him he's just so god awfully written 🙄. What's the difference between the two characters and genre? Lol we'll be up all night trying to figure that out.

No but seriously. I 100% get the comparisons to Naruto and I've made them myself, but I find much more in common with a manga like Fruits Basket, as you said. Especially because much like BNHA, Fruits Basket covers dark topics that can be icky to think about, it covers different reactions and victims, it talks about forgiveness and resentfulness and family dynamics and relationships, connections, bonds, all of that stuff. BNHA covers interpersonal dynamics with much more detail like Fruits Basket. You can go back to early chapters, look at the characters that are in the forefront of the conflict of the endgame and see exactly why each pair of characters was matched up together.

Also you've completely opened my eyes to the Shouto|Yuki comparison. God you're so right. I've mentioned this being one of the things I liked about Shouto's healing so much but he's one of the few characters who has almost complete independence in his healing and his choices to move forward. I love a dynamic where someone is so damn helpless that they're depending on someone else's kind heart to survive, and I'm getting that with the villains, but Shouto himself is a breath of fresh air.

Tomura really is like Akito, where he fights his salvation over and over and over and rejects any implication that someone may want better for him and is just lost in self-hatred to the point that it's going to swallow him-----up until the very last second. Yeah, that's him, and Akito. It's also crazy comparing it because Tohru and Akito didn't interact much to each other, and all they had to go off of was the butterfly effects their actions had on each other and how everything they did eventually reached the other and that's how that connection was strong enough by the end for Akito to accept help. Sounds very familiar to me. Man, wild.

I said I wanted that scene with Rin and Tohru recreated with Tomura and Izuku and I mean that, but I do think Akito and Tohru are more similar a dynamic to the BNHA bunny and cat duo.

Also this is what I mean by BNHA has boiled down to "I can fix him" being the answer LOL

"I (Izuku, Shouto, Ochacko) can fix him (Tomura, Touya, Toga)" 💀

Fruits Basket was very much like that also with pretty much no irony at all 😂

[acourtofthought]

Hello!

I need to vent how horrible the acotar fandom is.

This ship war has become hell. I can't stand to see how much they chase the girls (Elain and Gwyn) and exempt Azriel's contradictory actions.

Male chauvinist is very dominant as always, especially among such young girls.

Another one who suffers a lot from this is Lucien. The disrespect in theories is absurd, I doubt that Elain would like to be talked about the way they say about Lucien. Remembering that she defended Lucien from the love of her life Greyson in Acowar.

Absurd theories that Lucien is someone like Tamlin's father, Rhys' father or like Beron himself.

They say that acotar5 will be forbidden romance. Where they'll do it all behind Lucien's back like he deserves to be tricked or manipulated.

They place him as an aggressor and harasser, and he is a sexually and psychologically abused character.

They say the bond of mates is fake like Rowan, but they forget that the bond never existed. Rowan didn't feel that thread, and yet he loved Lirya and their child.

Aelin has great respect for Rowan's history, just as he does for her past and romances, unlike Azriel who sees Lucien as a nuisance and shows gratuitous disrespect.

Elriel stan are sometimes racist and make fun of the violence he suffered and even make fun of his disability.

I as Lucien Stan get sick of these things. How do you handle this fandom? Do you have any tips on how not to fall into the desperate Elriel's traps?

How do you think Elain would react to hearing the dismissive way Azriel says of Lucien? How do you think she would handle it if she heard about the Blood Duel idea?

Vent Away!! I understand your frustration because people have blown way past reason and logic and have entered into Mean Girl territory all in the name of fictional characters.

And pitting Elain and Gwyn against one another while treating Az like a poor baby who just needs to be "wuved" is disturbing.

This man TORTURES people. He starts fights in important political meetings because he can't control himself. He disobeys orders from his High Lord and High Lady.

Yes, what happened to Azriel is terrible and it's completely understandable why he's got issues. But constantly making excuses for him and giving him repeated forgiveness for his actions / behaviors while acting like two females under the age of 30 who very recently experienced major traumas and have not yet discovered who they're meant to be are the problem is crazy.

Elain and Gwyn are extremely parallel characters right now.

Both had older sisters who protected them. We know it's a fact for Elain and Gwyn tells us:

"Catrin was always the strong one" "After our mother died, she took care of me. Looked out for me."

Catrin was Gwyn's Nesta.

Both have shown moments of extreme bravery (Elain while saving Briar and when she stabbed the King and Gwyn during the attack on Sangravah and the Rite).

But despite that, they are both still hesitant to fully embrace their futures. Elain by sort of hiding in the NC telling herself everything is fine and Gwyn (despite her proclamation that she was tired of living in the library and didn't want to take the safe road anymore) returned to living in the library and wasn't sure she would attend Nesta's ceremony after the Rite.

Again, lots of similarities between them.

One of the only reasons E/riels have a problem with Gwyn is because Az is being set up as her possible LI. No, she doesn't need to be your favorite character but it's a near impossibility to hate a character whose major role in SF was to be Nesta's support system. To have created so many slanderous things to say about her. How can you have so much hate for a character who has not been written to be antagonistic in any way right now?

And the Elain hate is also extreme. I've seen some Gwynriels (this is a very select few as most Gwynriels I talk to are awesome) say that Elain should be killed off or SA because she's worthless. This is a girl who had a special cake made for her sister because she wanted her to know how much she's always appreciated her. Elain stood up to Nesta to allow Feyre to use their home as a meeting spot for the Human Queens regardless of what that might mean for her own engagement. This is a girl who has always shown the members of Feyre's new family with respect. She doesn't have to be anyones favorite but Geeez. Saying she'd be better dead or assaulted is way out there. Of course people have things they dislike about her, that tends to happen when a character is more fleshed out. SJM has given her good and bad (especially when we are witnessing sister squabbles on page) but acting like she's a more terrible person than Az is 🤔

And Lucien, my god. His entire journey so far has been filled with impossible decisions. Constantly being put in the middle of his friend and High Lord (a High Lord who gave him a job and home) and Feyre, a friend he had just met. Always between a rock and a hard place on what she needed versus what Tamlin and the Spring Court needed. Being accused of not doing enough when, whenever he tried to do anything he was threatened and eventually abused by Tamlin. Having to reign in any emotions he may have had for Rhys and the IC, people he was led to believe were the bad guys for centuries and who really didn't show Lucien much respect in the beginning, because they were allowed to dictate when and how he was allowed to see his own Mate. He's never threatened ANYONE or brought harm to anyone Elain cared for. He freely works with Az even though Az treats him like garbage He's always tried to find balance between respecting Elain's need for space while also letting her know he'd still like to interact with her. All while he can't return to his home as his father keeps trying to kill him and Feyre ruined his name in Spring.

What tough decisions has Az made as of late? What impossible situations has he really been placed in? Az is a bit of an asshole right now for no real reason at all besides his desperate need for love while Lucien has legitimate problems and is faced with difficult decisions. Az starts fights, has anger issues, refuses to communicate, and doesn't listen to authority. Yet Az gets more respect because.......? Because he said something poetic about Illyrians and the wind and acts like a perfect gentleman around Elain?

I do think SJM will restore Azriel's character but anyone holding him in higher regard at the moment than Lucien, Elain or Gwyn is a very interesting person indeed.

To answer your last question, Elain would dislike everything about the Az that exists when she's not around. From how he talks about Lucien to his casual disregard for he and Graysen's lives. To the real thoughts he has about her, that she's the "third sister" and that's why he wonders why he didn't get a bond, that his thoughts for her really only amount to sexual fantasies. That he doesn't think she can handle something dangerous.

It's ironic because the front Az puts up around Elain is how Lucien actually is yet she's so stubborn against getting to know him that she hasn't realized it yet.

I think the reason I don't fall into the E/riel traps and bullying is because, after looking through the series over and over and OVER again, I finally feel like it's all clicked. I came up with a lot of different thoughts, even trying to prove an E/riel endgame possibility at one point but some of those things didn't feel right. I'd have an idea and start running with it but after asking other questions, the idea fell apart under my own scrutiny.

A year ago, I would have probably been uncertain on my stances and wondered if I missed something but now I do feel very confident that I'm just as versed as any of them might be (at least on the Elucien / Elriel / Gwynriel debate) and that makes it easy to ignore or argue back. That's not to say SJM can't turn around and completely change the direction of her story but as far as things stand right now, I do feel that I've grasped the hidden messages she's left us about those ships. And that in order for E/riel to ever be a possibility, she would have to go in a completely different direction and decide what's she's written so far didn't matter because what there is does not point to E/riel.

So for others out there that struggle dealing with them I think really looking back through the series and trying to disprove their arguments can help because it builds the confidence that you understand the material as well as the next person. Or, you can find blogs that resonate with you, that their logic also makes sense to yours, and use that to build up your knowledge.

But even if it's a blog you usually agree with, it's ok to question their take on it too. If I or anyone else says anything that makes you go "wait a minute", then going back to the books can again help. See if you can disprove (or even find additional supporting proof) of what they're saying.

In the end, regardless of how much effort you want to put in when it comes the series, remember that anyone who resorts to threats is not anyone you should be paying attention to anyway. They are obviously not someone you should respect and allow to dictate how you feel about yourself or your enjoyment of something.

I am sorry for the stressful nature of the fandom though. It does suck the life out of me from time to time and it makes me desperate for answers from SJM.

[monsterfucker-lisa-swallows]

female characters are always held to standards that male characters aren't and when they deign to step down from the pedestal they're called bitches and the fandom writes them off as annoying while not giving the same treatment to similar male characters

explain to me why the narrative hated fiona gallagher that much. lip and ian fucked up too but any time fiona was less than perfect the narrative made it clear that she needed to be punished and put in her place. it was treated as justified that lip would get to scream at her any time something went wrong despite the fact that in most cases she was just trying to make a better life for herself. did she fuck up? yes. more than anyone else? no. but we're expected to dislike her and forgive lip and ian for anything they do. lip screaming at fiona and throwing her out of her own house was completely fucked considering he never even expressed concern for her up to that point or tried to help her gently. it was treated as a last straw when she had done so much for those kids and was never given the space to be a person on her own. all the mistakes she made were completely understandable given that she was burdened with extreme responsibility her entire life and never learned healthy coping skills and yet she's a bitch and the narrative wants to see her suffer.

(i'd argue that within the context of the show, the women are always treated as worse for doing the same things. monica is accepted to be worse than frank, i'd argue because people get to foist all their mommy issues on her and she's less funny than frank. they both should be held accountable for their actions and i can't figure out why frank gets a pass and we blame monica entirely. "monica left and frank never did." oh is that so? i'd count leaving them in the park overnight as leaving them. how about the kids just accepting that frank was going to pop in and out and be gone for weeks at a time because of a bender? "He always comes back" so does monica. arguably both of their presences in these kids lives is to their detriment. all the female characters eventually end up reduced to selfish bitches who commit sexual crimes, regardless of how fun they were in the beginning. debbie? rapist and teen mom, derided as annoying and selfish. karen? again, sexual predator, ableist, teen mom, called a cunty slut. i haven't seen the last two seasons yet but my assumption is they're about to do this with kelly too. i didn't see a justification for vandalizing her car after she broke up with her insanely jealous boyfriend and rejected his sister's advances. i think some of you guys are bitter about girls "leading you on" when they're just living a life. so can't wait to see how the narrative makes her into a bitch.)

shameless isn't even the only example of this. i keep coming back to the quintessential girl on a pedestal, buffy anne summers. she's put through so much, so young, and is never given any opportunity to heal without other people coming down on her for being a bitch. there's a large subset of the fanbase (and the writers) who openly think buffy is annoying and less complex than angel and think it's her fault when anything goes wrong. she's the prototypical fiona gallagher - always carrying everything on her shoulders and having everyone shout at her and kick her out of her own house when she's obviously struggling.

honestly think some of you have no empathy for women and need to examine your mother wounds and hangups about past relationships because it's super clear that male characters get away with shit female characters can't and don't pretend that attitude doesn't seep into your relationships with actual real life women

[honest-moth-of-silver-grove]

Upcoming Asks List

The next asks on the queue list are (in no particular order):

Anonymous asked: Hc for Halsin, Astarion, Will, Gortash, (& maybe Damon and Raphael) caring for a loved one with chronic illness or like an illness that keeps them bedbound for an extended time?

Anonymous asked: Yooo askbox open :] Could I get a Castlevania matchup, one female and one male character? I am fine with poly, and also the more background characters :] I’m a bisexual guy. Once I’m past my initial `terrified of everything’ and ‘extremely withdrawn’ phase of anxiety, I’m very energetic (though not very loud) and flirty. l love all fields of science, especially mathematics and physics. Very nerdy/ geeky, and I also paint and practice l have a very impulsive and ADHD -type of humor, though it always takes me a moment to recognize any word-play. I’m very much a thrill-seeker, and things that tend to make other’s squeamish don’t bother me in the slightest. I suppose for the sake of the series, gore and acts of sadism don’t really phase me, at least, to the extent that I am a spectator. /// 

Anonymous asked: hi!! i was wondering if you could do a matchup for bg3 :-D my name is edward and im about 5’0 with a black curly hair that is short and i dont mind the persons gender! im also a trans man. my mbti is entp and im a scorpio. i like to anything to do with art, i love to do it all together. Im also a really big fan of music specifically mcr, tv girl, alex g, toby fox and dodie but i am open to listening to other artists if given a recommendation. Uhhhh i love to eat meat and im not really a big fan of eating veggies i hate eating them but idm potatoes or tomatoes, but i think tomatoes r fruits so nvm. I also looveee learning about history especially ancient times like greek history, i think its really interesting to learn about the past and how things were. i will waste my money on things i love, especially if it’s a show or novel or movie i will soend so much money on it. I’m also rather fond of animals and nature. And my love language has got to be physical affection and quality time. I also love trying new things even if I might have a fear of it, it’ll just take a me a bit to do it. I like to break the rules especially if it’s going against a group of people and or someone. I can be pretty reserved on the occasion but if im with someone im close too or if i feel comfortable enough i can be pretty hyper. A lot of the time though I listen to what people say and often a listener for people. Depending on the person im with and our dynamic i can be quite sarcastic. I can be very compassionate about people and even if someone did something horrible to me I can be rather forgiving unless it was toward someone i love. I am also rather forgetful and often will forget things with people I’ve spent time with even if it’s recent I can forget a majority of it. I have a short temper. Often I will be regretful of things I’ve done in the past even if it was a while ago. I have a rather low self esteem, if I feel like someone is going to abandon me no matter how close I’ll probably be silent about it and wait for a sign that the person still likes me and on rare occasions I will ask for reassurance. AND UH i think that pretty much it thank you for reading this if you are!!

Anonymous asked: Could we maybe get like snippets or blurb about Hector having a wife w/ him when he goes to join dracula’s generals? And maybe she’s really kind to dracula and then it turns out she’s pregnant and reminds him of his late wife? Does it change his plans or maybe he decides to protect her/hector more so than the other humans?

[alwida10]

I think we agree on many points here.

And while I agree mocking Loki fans is petty, I will stand by my observation that if Sylvie was played by Tom Hiddleston (heck, even another male), her reception must have been very different.

Perhaps. I really don’t know. I often feel like female characters often get less thought from the writers. Perhaps that just my perception, perhaps there is discrimination in the system that leads to it. I liked jinx from the arcane. I think she is one who got a well thought through characterization. Also, entrapta from She-Ra. If those two got hated I would agree that it’s sexism, because imo the writing and direction was done well. I‘m not active in the respective fandoms, so I can’t say how much hate they get.

[…] then why do people who hate her from a doylist perspective slander her in a watsonian perspective???

I don’t think I have done that, so this is speculation, but I think it could be pettiness and/or anger. Like so often. It doesn’t help that echochambers can contribute to creating a picture of the enemy and extremism in opinions. That���s not the mindset increasing reasonable actions. I can’t claim to stay reasonable when hurt. Craving new loki content but perceiving the one coming out as a personal attack and insult can be hurtful, even without mocking posts and tweets.

I, for example, can sympathise with why Loki did what he did but his actions were still wrong. And ngl, this is something I keep seeing in modern, western fandom where everything is supposed to be good vs evil. And if you like something, it should not be problematic.

Fully agreed.

So most people will be like if I say Loki did wrong, then I am portraying him as evil and I don't understand his trauma or anything. Which isnt true because saying he did wrong things doesn't erase his sympathetic backstory or his redeeming qualities.

I never needed Loki to be perfect to like him. Infact, I liked him because he was imperfect but I need to say he's imperfect. Liking him doesn't mean I will say he was always right.

I think this is the core of the difference. Saying „I never needed Loki to be perfect to like him“ makes it binary. I would say I like him for not being perfect, too, but I think it’s the degree where we have different opinions. I can excuse him doing things because he acts irresponsible, didn’t see events coming or because he was coerced. But the reason why I like him, is because I see him as someone who intents well, and cares. Loki intentionally plotting to harm Asgard, his family or generally looking down on people without being under duress or coerced does not fit my image. That would be a different character. I can imagine him lashing out in pain or anger, but not siding with Thanos without coercion. If that was canon (I mean, if you take some lines from the show it probably is now, which is why I can’t accept it, but that’s a different matter.) I would not be a fan of him, because that’s a character trait i find … unappealing to say the least. The difference is the intention. “Matricide“ is a type of murder which is defined by being intentional. I can forgive emotional weakness in a moment of turmoil and still like him, perhaps even more than before, but not intentional harm or being generally cold-hearted. Which doesn’t mean he would not be a complex character. Just not the type I find compelling enough to consider me a fan.

Thank you for the talk and the understanding.

It’s funny that, before Sylvie was even properly introduced in the show, she was set up as a Loki variant - you know, Loki, the guy who was a villain of three movies - and somehow people think it’s upsetting that she turns out to have villainous qualities. “Why did she have to kill her fellow variants when she could have tried to free them and join them in a revolution against the TVA?”, I don’t know Becky, why did Loki have to try and commit genocide against his fellow jotunns when he found out he was their stolen prince, instead of joining them against Odin’s imperialism? Why Loki taking out his self esteem issues on a failed attempt to conquer a planet full of innocent people who did nothing to him make him a complex and tormented villain, but Sylvie killing officers who were actively trying to harm her make her a heartless bitch?

It’s literally a theme point that Loki feels connected to Sylvie because her lust for vengeance at all costs reminds him of himself in his villain days (“I’ve been where you are”), but people somehow insist that her anger and cruelty are meant to be seen as positive or heroic, or justified, when the narrative is clearly highlighting them as moral flaws that are weighting her down and that she must put behind her. Not to mention that her arc is not done yet, and we already see the regret creeping onto her when she weeps on the floor after killing He Who Remains.

Loki stans will write walls on meta on how even smallest things about his life, like a brief passage of Heimdall being casually rude to him, or how Volstagg being casually dismissive of him, of even Sif’s brief side eye to him, equals to terrible abuse that explains how he became the bitter villain that he’s turned into. But Sylvie having her reality erased as a child because the equivalent to God Himself has deemed that her very existence was crime against Creation, which forced her to live on the run jumping from one mass death event after the other, seeing everyone she’s ever known being fated to die soon, while she’s hunted down like a dog, is something she should just get over. And that would totally not explain how she became so hardened and angry. Right.

Bottom line: moral ambiguity is for male characters only, women are not allowed to have moral flaws to grow out of, and if Sylvie has a male variant played by Hiddles himself her haters would be fawning over him as their new wobbie villain.

[fernaee]

about lenore from castlevania

tw : rape, abuse, toxic relationships, suicide

don’t get me wrong. lenore is a great character. i almost wrote was, but in the end, yes, she still is. 

but the way her relationship with hector evolved in season four is truly so f*cking messy. and this is, imo, the biggest problem with lenore.

i loved that she was this cute, seemingly soft vampire (even though it was too good to be true, yeah, i’m looking at you hector) but well, she is a vampire, part of an evil sisterhood with a super-evil vampire as its head. she had a mission, she did it in the most cruel way, that’s true, but she succeeded. i personnally despised people who use their power as she did with hector, who was abused, denied food and clothes, tortured (probably) and literally treated like a dog. it might be ~ sexy ~ in some situations (the bdsm vibes, not the abuse ofc) , it’s not supposed to be when you’re a prisoner.

that’s the key word here : hector was a prisoner. and lenore was his torturer. let’s not forget about this. PLEASE, LET’S NOT FORGET ABOUT THIS.

what happened at the end of season three is definitely super upsetting. it’s obviously very morally wrong as lenore tricked him, forced him to have s*x with her. yes, she forced him. i won’t listen any justification of what she did. it was morally SUPER wrong. it was r*pe. i only see two options here, from hector’s perspective : one) he wanted her because he developed feelings/some sort of comfort for/from lenore, or two) he didn’t and thought that having s*x with her would probably help him with his situation. 

well, it’s still bad. it’s still r*pe. and don’t tell me lenore got to like him while playing with his feelings. do you remember how she treated him after she bound him with the ring? she was harsh, cold, laughing at him for thinking it was more than her manipulation.

as i said, i have no respect for this, definitely not. but we’re watching castlevania. a show about evil vampires and horrific creatures. even some of the human characters are big pieces of shit. so i can understand what the show did. lenore is as evil as her sisters and she clearly did a great job here. i was surprised, hector was surprised, carmilla was suprised. great job girl. (and this is where i truly started to despise lenore, because i really liked hector as a character.) (and i’m not even gonna talk about lenore saying she plans to have more s*x with her pet. i think you get my point now.)

but then season four. wtf was season four??

in two months. two. months. we go from hector being horrified by what happened, lenore being so cruel to... the both of them being fine with each other? i was suprised but we quickly saw that hector had a plan. it was probably too obvious but i really hoped it was a revenge plan. in the end, it was for revenge, but only towards carmilla?? and then he asks isaac to spare lenore because he wants a peaceful life with her?

i have no words to tell you how disturbed i was about that. i just don’t understand this. maybe lenore realised what she did was bad but still, i don’t think that’s enough to forgive someone. maybe hector had some sort of trauma bonding, that’s the only explanation for me. i hated how they tried to get her some sort of redemption in the end when she k*lls herself. it wasn’t an act of “””love””” to free hector of her. it was sooo selfish. and i know she had just lost everything, i know she had feelings and everything. but when you got to be so cruel for centuries, you can’t just whine when it’s your turn to be the oppressed. she wasn’t even a prisoner like hector was, she was protected by him and still, she preferred to die instead of staying with him. this is, for me, the proof that she never loved him as it is sometimes hinted and/or largely talked about here and there. she was just using him, as she always did. for company, for sex and to have someone to rant with. that’s all. and once again, i don’t say this as a bad thing, it is actually quite interesting, for a character. still, it was super messed-up.

lenore was done wrong. hector was done wrong. and i can’t stop thinking about how all of this was so wrong. 

just gonna quote someone on reddit : “Not to be that kind of person but I don't think it would have been taken well at all if it was the other way around, I mean, if Lenore was male and Hector was female.“ Just, think about this.

as a conclusion, i’ll say it again, no, lenore isn’t a bad character. she’s actually a really good one. but she deserved better (and hector too). still, i’ll continue to despise her for what she did to hector. and i will never understand anyone who ship them together. i can’t.

thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[aks3raao1]

Y'all, I finished watching Aggretsuko season 4 and I must say-

THIS WAS SO GOOD WHAT THE HECK-

I WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS MUCH HAIDA CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT OMGGGGGG SBWBDHWJDJWJJE AAAHHHHHH IloveHaidaeventhoughhe'sadumbass,shootme

Haida corruption/redemption arc was smth I never knew I needed...

Also, I have this desperate urge to make Haida x Himuro fanart and to redraw the scenes of them together but make it gayer- BUT I SUCK AT DRAWING MALE CHARACTERS-

Eh, I'll try anyway some time next week maybe- THEN I'LL POST IT HERE!!! But ima make them more human than animal bc that seems easier than drawing dog and wolf faces- (and I just rlly like drawing hair)

Also, yes, I am aware that Haida x Himuro is a toxic ship. But so is soukoku. You can't come at me otherwise y'all r just hypocrites (no hate on soukoku tho, I love that ship snebdhejjde)

I'm kinda disappointed that there's no Haida x Himuro (Shipname(?): Haimuro) works but there's a bunch of Anai x readers on wattpad- SOMEONE GIVE MY SHIP SOME LOVE!!

Me realizing how many toxic ships I have: ...ok, I might have a problem but at least I hate the idea of abusive seme x way-too-forgiving uke

Also, another thing, I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE DON'T APPRECIATE AGGRETSUKO AS MUCH AS OTHER ANIMES- LIKE, THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IS AMAZING AND EVEN THO IT MAINLY TAKES PLACE IN AN OFFICE, IN AN ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT, AND IS MOSTLY ON THE TOPIC OF "When will Retsuko get a bf" AND "When will Haida ask Retsuko out", IT'S STILL FUCKING GOOD AND LOW KEY HAS SOME OF THE BEST ANIME MOMENTS SBBEHDJEJJEHEUEJDIWIE

It's a bit slow but I see that as the show taking its time to run the course which is smth most shows lack. It does a good job of spacing everything out and I think each character has their own season if I'm not mistaken (it's been a while since I binged this anime, give me a break) and the relationship dynamics are very realistic, albeit certain moments that are mostly there for comedy reasons. And I love how this anime doesn't make characters monologue in every episode, we get to see more on how they feel and draw the conclusions ourselves. It's also very relatable imo

Also, the characters are all very unique and I absolutely adore how some vibes are first "oml I hate them" and then, once we go through their arc, it becomes "wow, I actually like them". And then the relationships with the character gradually change as well! It sometimes feels like I'm watching Izuku and Katsuki's character development in motion but they start becoming friends a bit quicker

The only real complaints I have is how most of the story was centred around romance and that would be most of the conversation up till season 4. Season 4 and 3 had a decent amount of that but the other seasons felt loaded with it- But I must say, I'm kinda glad that it wasn't the average high school talk thing that usually happens amongst female characters (do some creators REALLY think that's all teenaged girls talk about?). I find it nice how it would sometimes be backed up with reasons (albeit pretty stupid ones).

I would complain abt how I wish some characters were more like Haida in terms of writing (like yk, hinting at their insecurities) but it's not much of a big deal considering the time they took to organise a bunch of these characters- I just think the side characters needed more emotional attention if that makes sense...

And yeah, that's my opinion on this anime-

[unhealthyfanobsession]

I teased this in a previous post and people asked me to expand so...here’s my controversial take that Rhysand and Nesta are actually parallel characters in many ways and that they both hate each other so much because they ultimately hate themselves.

Alright ladies and gentleman, anti’s and stans, buckle your fucking seatbelts or hope off the roller coaster here because I’m about to learn you a thing or two about the most divisive characters in the ACOTAR world. 

Starting out very broadly- both characters are introduced as sort of confusing villains (Rhys is “evil” but he’s also helping Feyre. Nesta is an “awful sister”, but she also is protective of Elain and tells Feyre essentially to go and be happy), both have faced significant trauma and grapple with self-loathing and feelings of not being good enough, and both ultimately find redemption and healing with their mates who love them. They also both currently exist in a strange parallel coming out of ACOSF where Rhys is supposedly “chosen by the Cauldron” and Nesta is “blessed by the Mother”- the two sacred entities of Prythian.

Intrigued? More specifics and text analysis under the cut

Mommy (and Daddy) Issues:

Both characters were basically raised by their mother’s alone and then lost them at a young age and that had a deep impact on them. Rhysand had a far more positive experience of being raised by his mother HOWEVER I would argue that it was still “grooming” of a type since she took him away to train in Illyria specifically so that he wouldn’t be influenced by his father.

Rhys’ mother did this out of love and Nesta’s mother groomed her out of a social climbing agenda, but it had the same effect- they both lost the parent who was their primary caregiver at a young age and they were both not close with their father’s because of their mother’s actions  (again this was a good thing for Rhys, not as much for Nesta).

Parents Death: Rhys and Nesta both blame themselves for one of their parent’s death and are deeply affected by feeling like they failed someone important to them.

Rhys thinks that he is responsible for his mother and sister’s death because he gave Tamlin info

Rhys even says after this “It should have been me.”

Nesta feels that she was unable to save her father and she hates herself for it.

Rocky sibling relationship and Separation:

Rhysand and Cassian are obviously a lot further along in their sibling journey, but it’s stated that he and Cassian HATED each other and fought constantly essentially until Azriel arrived and then they decided to be “allies”.

Nesta and Feyre are also at each others throats but seem to put their differences aside in order to not upset Elain. (Even when Feyre first goes back to the human lands Nesta says NOPE NO FAE! But as soon as Elain asks her to do as Feyre says she agrees) and then Nesta states in ACOSF that she and Feyre were brought together by Elain to be allies in the war.

Rhysand and Cassian obviously grew into true brothers despite their adversarial, insulting, bitter beginning... and Nesta and Feyre after ACOSF have done the same. Obviously there’s still a lot of work to be done in that relationship, but the parallel stands (and is just strengthened by the fact that in both cases it’s the character with more power in the relationship- Nesta for being the oldest and Rhys for being the one whose family took Cassian in is then mated to the opposite sibling!)

Both have a parent who essentially separated them from their ‘siblings’ for their own benefit. Nesta’s mom isolated her as a child so that she could groom her and tell her how to maneuver her sisters when the time was right while Rhys’ father- afraid of his, Cassian, and Azriel’s combined power- separated them for 7 years through the first war to ensure they wouldn’t ally against him. Nesta was also separated from Feyre by Tamlin and tried to go to the wall to get her back but couldn’t get through- which is very reminiscent to me of the scene at the beginning of ACOWAR from the first war where Rhys is searching desperately but without hope for Cassian.

Shared Trauma and Learning to be “Evil” to protect their family:

both characters are sexual assault survivors who spend a chunk of their book (I’m counting ACOMAF as essentially Rhys’ book since that’s when we learn more about him as a character) grappling with that, coming to terms with it, and moving forward with a general attitude of “Never Again.” I would also argue that even their abusers are parallels as Rhysand was only ‘with’ Amarantha because he was trying to protect his family and Nesta was only ‘with’ Tomas because she thought his family might be able to take in and feed Elain (she says in ACOSF that she would give him whatever he wanted- her body meant nothing to her and Elain meant everything, which is essentially Rhys’ UTM mindset). In addition, both characters are able to escape their abusers out of love for Feyre. Rhys does so when Amarantha is about to kill Feyre, and Nesta does so because she realizes that Tomas would never go to the wall with her to save Feyre.

 Beyond this, both characters express that it is the lack of control over their own lives that truly haunts them. Rhys when he felt like he had no choice but to be Amarantha’s puppet and Nesta with a lot of her life, but especially when she is forced into the cauldron. Both of these are things that make them feel like failures for not protecting others. Rhys is haunted that he couldn’t protect Feyre under the mountain and Nesta is haunted that she couldn’t protect Elain from the cauldron.

This leads both characters to have a terrifying power-surge nightmare brought on by their trauma (Rhys from Amarantha; Nesta from the Cauldron) that terrifies those around them and can only be stopped by their mate.

In addition to this, they both have a “persona” that they put on and sometimes feel like they can’t shake off, a face that they made to protect themselves and their family. Rhys with his “Court of Nightmares” persona that he uses UTM, in the Hewn City, and with the other High Lords until the war. Part of his growth is letting people see beyond that ‘most powerful high lord of darkness’ mask.

For Nesta this is expressed by her “wolves” that she uses to put up a wall between her and the people who mocked her and her family, and especially Elain. And her learning to open up with Cassian and her found family was really important for her growth

HOWEVER, they both also keep that persona. Rhys has his mask polished for when anyone might threaten the people he loves and so does Nesta. Neither of them truly gave up that side of themselves, the darkness, they simply learned to stop it from consuming them. 

They also both LIKE doing this to their enemies. Rhys likes to toy with his enemies and torture those who would harm his family or betray him and so does Nesta- she revels in cutting down anyone who insults Elain and says in ACOSF that she’s felt the urge to do the same for Cassian. They both wield words like weapons and use their intelligence to ensure they are always one quip ahead of their enemies. Something that both Feyre and Cassian admire in their mates and try to emulate to a degree.

(Bonus points for the fact that in both cases their families did not ASK to be protected/sacrificed for.)

Found family and sacrifice:

Rhys calls Cassian and Azriel his “brothers” after becoming close while training and they conquer the blood rite together. Nesta calls Emerie and Gwyn her “sisters” after becoming close while training and they conquer the blood rite together. Rhys sacrifices himself to Amarantha in order to protect Cassian and Azriel (and Velaris). Nesta sacrifices herself to hold the path of Enalius to protect Emerie and Gwyn. There’s also a line in ACOMAF and a parallel line in ACOSF essentially about Nesta being willing to do anything- including “whore” herself- to protect Elain, and in order to protect his brother’s that’s exactly what Rhys did- “whore” himself to Amarantha.

Both are ‘saved by’ and feel not good enough for their mate:

I hesitate to use the word “saved by” because ultimately both characters have more agency than that, HOWEVER, both characters rely on their mate to a degree to pull them out of a very dark time and place. Feyre helps Rhys remember who he is and forgive himself for under the mountain and he even specifically calls her his “salvation.”

I don’t think I need to even say the Nesta part here, all of ACOSF is essentially Cassian helping Nesta climb out of a dark period so that they can heal together.

(Both also start connecting with their mates on a “just sex” situation.)

Both characters think that because of the things they’ve done and the darkness inside of them that they don’t deserve the people they have been mated to.

Obviously there are many differences, but the characters are similar in a lot of ways and what I think this really highlights is just how true that line is in ACOSF about Nesta being a wolf that was never allowed to learn how to be a wolf. Meanwhile Rhys is 500 years older and has always had power and agency of some kind even at his lowest point. Nesta didn’t have that power and wasn’t allowed to really unleash herself so she armed herself with a steel exterior to make up for that lack of power and control. Which is very similar to what Rhysand did when he felt he didn’t have power under the mountain- put on a cold face, not let anyone in, and act cruel in order to get through it.

Overall it’s an interesting character study because in a lot of ways these are very similar characters, but there is such a MASSIVE divide among the fandom of liking and hating one or both of them. Ultimately, I do think that a lot of the hate Nesta gets is because she’s a woman and female characters simply aren’t allowed to have the same flaws as male ones- which is kind of Nesta’s whole life story. BUT I think that Rhysand actually gets unintentionally screwed over by the narrative in one big way. Becuase my final paralell is that I think a lot of people came around on Nesta when they saw in her perspective that she knows she has problems and how much she was struggling… and I also think that Rhysand is so hated by those who dislike him because of Feyre’s ‘he can do no wrong’ perspective. I think if we saw more of Rhysand internally struggling and knowing that he made the wrong call sometimes and second guessing himself he’d be a lot more likeable character. We know he’s capable of this because when Cassian calls him out on the training roof for always thinking the worst of Nesta he just says “you’re right. I’m sorry” and he even *kinda* admits some wrong when he’s so shocked by how deep Nesta’s trauma is. Feyre and the rest of the IC constantly exalting Rhys as perfect when he so clearly isn’t and in fact has a lot of the same “flaws” as Nesta is probably the most frustrating thing about the character, which ultimately I think is kind of unfair because we know from his few perspectives that he doesn’t see himself that way.

[nightwingsbf]

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

Sure!!!! This is gonna be long.

Wei Wuxian from Mo Dao Zu Shi I don't really know how to explain it without writing an entire essay, but there was a before and an after meeting WWX and watching MDZS/The Untamed. There whole "no matter how much they slander me, I have a clear conscience" thing became key for me. WWX is a character that is heavily "flawed" in his naivity and arrogance. But these are essentially the things that made him save so many people. I love that no matter how much he suffered, how much he messed up, he learned from it, still, in his next life, he kept the core of his values. I think he is a stunning character.

Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games To me, Katniss is one of the best written characters I have ever read. And it took me YEARS to realize that. She represents the struggle of the common person who is just trying to get by day by day and is a victim of the circumstances. She represents the heart of humanity and that, in the end, revolution doesn't work if it isn't fueled by the love you have for your people.

Edward Elric from FMAB FMAB is my favorite anime of all time, and it's mostly because of Edward. He is a very human, complex and relatable character who is also moved by the love he has for his family. The way guilt is portrayed in his character is heartbreaking, but so relatable and moving.

Lisbeth Salander from the Millennium books I love her sense of justice, unmovable moral compass and just the fact that she is moved by her love for women -and overall oppressed people-. "Lisbeth is the woman who hates men who hate women." Damn right.

Zuko from ATLA It goes without saying that Zuko has one of the best character developments in all media. I love that he messes up a thousand times and fails to understand! and fails to learn! And it takes so much for him to realize that what he was taught to believe is not how reality is. I love how he protrays thay learning isn't linear and that just because you didn't know better, it doesn't mean that there won't be consequences for your actions.

Xie Lian from Heaven Official's Blessing I recently finished TGCF and here's another character I could write an essay on. The books do this thing where they show you XL on top of the world just as he falls to the very bottom. And like, way past rock bottom. They show an arrogant kid who dreamed of saving the world and common people when he has never lacked anything himself, and then they show how this kid becomes a literal god. THEN they show how this kid loses everything in a matter of years. The way Xie Lian faces the loss of his privilege and his ego is pretty much destroyed... the way we see him fall into despair, be pathetic, be vengeful and SOMEHOW still manages to stand up and keep going is just indredible to me. In the end he finds a reason to keep on going not because he "has to" but because he found meaning in the kindness of humanity. The drive in him is no longer manufactured and shallow, like it was when he was a prince. He has seen and experienced the cruelness of humans and still chooses to live and believe in them.

Adora from She-Ra Adora is another character who I love because of how "flawed" she is and how much she has messed up handling the power that was given to her. She is shown many times not knowing what to do and needing the help of others to overcome difficulties, and we see her break the barriers that keep her from opening up and being vulnerable. Beautiful character.

Katara from ATLA Katara is one of the characters that I relate to the most. She is one of the many victims of the fire nation and lives with guilt and resentment deep in her heart. I love the way she confronts herself and her hatred, while also not necessarily forgiving the atrocities of the fire nation. She is also deeply empathetic and caring. My absolute favorite ATLA episode is The Painted Lady.

Yuki Sohma from Fruits Basket Fuck, Yuki made me cry every time he appeared. I could feel how overwhelmed he constantly was; how disconnected he felt to his surroundings and to the people he wanted to be close to but felt like he couldn't. I just love the way he learns to drop the walls he had built around himself and starts to let people in after suffering years of abuse and neglect.

Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto Finding out Sasuke was my favorite Naruto character was fun. I kept rolling my eyes whenever he appeared and complained, but sobbed whenever something happened to him. My brother once stood by my door while I was mentioning how I was tired of his bullshit and he was like "do you realize he is your favorite, right?" and it clicked. Overall, I feel so much for the Uchihas, though mainly Sasuke. For some reason I just felt his pain so acutely. If I had been him and had found out the reason why my brother -who I had just killed- murdered my entire clan, I would have wanted to set the world on fire. I also like his character development. Even though it's not as clear or well written as Zuko's, he still learns "a porrazos", as we say in Spanish.

Anyway, I tried to sum up my thoughts on them as best as I could but I could say much much more. Thanks for asking! What do you think? What are yours?

[maoam]

I like to read manhwas sometimes (not as much because so many are just wish fulfillment for self insertion) and something that always pisses me off is when you have an FL (female lead) who is so in love with a guy that started in childhood and persists into adulthood but the guy doesn’t return her feelings, and the comments are filled with absolute hatred and vitriol for him. Because how dare he not return the feelings of this obsessive chick who’s only personality trait is to be make him happy. Or even if the FL isn’t interested in the guy, but the guy also doesn’t worship the very floor FL walks on, he gets hate. Because to so many readers, the FL is supposed to be the center of love and affection if everyone, and anyone who doesn’t instantly fall head over heels for her, is the enemy. It really made me think about Sakura’s fans who hate Sasuke because he had the audacity to own autonomy and not like her back. It is such en embarrassing, cringey, and immature mindset. If you need to self insert that hard, you need to go out and touch some grass. Don’t women hate when men act entitled just because they are nice to us. Why is this mindset excused when exhibited by female characters? It’s so goddamn weird

This is the general mindset of the Naruto fandom in many places. Many of them insert into characters like Naruto, Sakura and Hinata while hating characters they see as being more popular or skilled or whatever, or think their faves "deserve" this and that. Some of them even hate Sasuke for getting screentime and thus robbing Naruto (the main character) of his main character priviledge. Sakura fans tend to hate all the other female characters, especially if they ship SS.

I literally once saw a guy explain why he hates Sasuke and he said he's that guy you hate in middle school/high school (I do not remember which it was) and it just shows again how Sasuke hate is often about some personal grudge in people's life they project onto him. Men hate him because all the chicks want to bang him, and women hate him because he doesn't want to bang any of the chicks.

And before anyone comments on this with something like "I hate Sasuke because he's an asshole!!!" sure sure. Just say you didn't bother to try to understand him, to understand why he became like that, and that he repeatedly got re-traumatized through his whole life, because he doesn't exhibit any traits you can relate to. If people just said they don't like him, fine, but repeatedly drawing him getting choked and beheaded and having to make up lies like he didn't win any fights or he committed war crimes (lol?) just to bring him down because he triggers some insecurity in you is honestly go outside and touch grass moment. It's time to move on from middle school/high school phase. But I feel this is especially hard for Naruto fans, and not just about Sasuke, but about the series in general. They are so stuck in their interpretations that they aren't even ready to listen and open their eyes and ears when people try to explain. Naruto was their childhood and their vision of it can't be touched.

What you mentioned is actually pretty common, some people hate Light more for not liking Misa than for killing countless people lol. Meanwhile, characters like Vegeta get a pass for everything because they do their job on liking the female character back. Some fangirls are ready to forgive a male character an awful lot as long as they can slap a romance narrative on his character.

That girl who drew the art of Sasuke being beheaded by Sakura is a Reylo fan and considering all the things Kylo Ren has done it's clear Sasuke not wanting to fuck Sakura is what pissed the artist off enough to draw that picture. I mean Kylo did kiss Rey at the end willingly so he did his duty. Who cares if he's a fascist who killed innocents and also killed his father. She likes zutara. Zuko burned a village and send an assassin after the Gaang and helped Azula almost kill Aang, but it's okay because he never rejected Katara (well Katara never made a move on him like Sakura). Sakura aggressively trying to climb on Sasuke's dick while being repeatedly rejected and unwanted makes women feel embarrassment, so they redirect the embarrassment as an anger towards Sasuke. Thus they can pretend Sakura is not responsible for not taking no for an answer and repeatedly embarrassing herself. This way people can pretend rejection is actually injustice towards them and not something they just need to get over it because they're not entitled to anyone.