#disliked characters

[mysticdragon3md3]

What? Uh...No. Fictional characters are usually the only people you're allowed to actually hate. Real life people have feelings. Allow people to hate fictional characters.

I used to disallow myself from expressing my fandom dislikes and character-hatred. It was a very repressed existence. Hating characters shouldn't be your whole fandom activity. But i learned important things about myself, by acknowledging my real feelings. And that includes examining my anti-ideals, as represented by characters i hate.

[stuckasmain]

The Diva and the Greaser - One works on paper the other gets a bad start

I mentioned in my last post that the real comparison is to be made between Willie and Mutt instead of Short round. Both these characters have a really good concept/archetype to them, they work really well on paper but ultimately are the two most hated in the franchise from what I’ve seen. I want to explore why and defend Mutt a little, he’s not near as bad as people say and really neither is Willie…if you squint.

So your Divas in the jungle-

I’m not here to refute any hate for Willie as I have a similar distaste for her, the absolutely ear piercing preformance takes away from what could be a very interesting character ( albeit far from the best in the franchise). No offense to the actress but my god was she annoying…which is what she’s supposed to be in the role but she was just a tad too much to the point she was to the audience.

Now the concept behind her is great! Take a stuck up, spoiled and gold digging show girl and drag her on an adventure through the jungle. Watch how she stands out. How she freaks out. How she screams and pouts and growls! That’s hilarious! Any fish out of water story where a pampered character gets dirt on them and a bit of grit is a fun time. A unwilling Indy girl who absolutely despises him yet can’t get away do to circumstance? Hello?!

I’ll also admit that in certain points in the film this great concept shines through. I love the scene with her and Indy being so stubborn neither go to the other and they just lie there complaining! That’s funny! Same with her chipping a nail and “I hate water, I hate getting wet and I hate you!!” “Good!” The anti-tension is so great, mutual loathing is fun. There’s these little moments , where her performance is subtler and the concept shines through…. It’s a shame that her screaming through the rest of the movie makes you forget that.

So your greaser has a heart-

I think Mutt is another great example of a character that’s fantastic on paper, and regardless I’d what you think of Shia he did a great job at portraying that. The bad is low… just don’t scream the whole time and be annoying. It is a real shame that this is the movie he appears in first, as that’s just not fair to him- the worst received of the films but he’s a great part of it (really the family dynamic is the star of the movie).

The concept behind him is also great. We see this kid who has a mountain of his own issues, who hides behind being a cool and slick gang member. He’s a tough guy, he don’t feel nothin’, don’t mess with him. As it goes on we see he’s quite the intelligent kid who likes to learn and knows more than he wants you to think. He’s a big ol’ softie and a mamas boy at heart. Kids brought out into the middle of the jungle only to find the man he loved and lost as a father is a step father and his real one was never in his life before now— that his mother never told him and things are complicated. Is he a bit of a well worn trope of “tough guys a softie”? Sure but I like the Not-so-twist- reveal of him being Indy’s son and the fallout that comes from that.

He’s a acknowledgement of the past- these things happened, there’s consequences (in this case its more unexpected pregnancy but you get what I’m saying). And the future. A gutsy kid to tell you that things aren’t over yet, giving the old man a boost back into adventure and reminding him of who he is.

Overall-

I think they’re both interesting examples of a character that’s a good idea but hit with bad luck. Either a annoyingly overdone performance or a weaker starting movie (mixed with actor irl drama I’m yet to understand). It’s a shame because Willie could’ve been great and Mutt was great but actor drama ruined his chances at a return.

[lynxxjay]

I dunno why but coincidentally my most disliked fictional characters are all associated with the color puprle and are highly loved by the fandom

like-

Amity from Owl House (I don't dislike her that much)

Lollipop from BFB

Maqaque from Monkie Kid

and more probably

[canisalbus]

I love the duo, both the historical setting and modern AU. Does Vasco ever go to confession while Machete is running it, just to 'confess' to something they did before as a way to tease?

[loriache]

"I've been waiting for ages for somebody to unmask them."

This moment tends to elicit negative reactions in a first read through, and I've got some opinions about why where Kabru is coming from here actually makes a lot of logical sense. So I thought I'd elaborate on that.

I think people hear this and go, "He thinks they must be hiding something because they gave money to someone? What a cynic." Or "he dislikes them because they did charity?? What's wrong with this guy!". And obviously, a lot, a lot is wrong with him. But I think this makes more sense than it seems at first glance! What people evaluating this judgement miss is why Kabru is paying attention to Laios and co to begin with.

Kabru knows of the Touden siblings because (he's a little bit of a stalker-) he is keeping an eye on all the relevant parties in events developing on the island, in order to be able to guide them to his preferred outcome. This includes adventurers because they are the ones actually exploring the dungeon! He's well aware that something as minor as internal tensions between party members could be key to the historical events that are developing. (He would love the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.)

His desired outcome is that whatever the rewards are of breaking the dungeon's curse, whether that's kingship or the ancient elven secrets of dungeons, are claimed by:

A) a short lived person

B) Someone who will be a good, effective leader and/or use those secrets and the power they carry wisely, with foresight, and to establish a political bloc for short lived people.

The person he can best trust to do this is, of course, himself. But due to his PTSD regarding dungeons and monsters, he's not able to develop the necessary skills to conquer the dungeon. Once he realises this, he starts looking for someone else who he can support to that end.

But most of the adventurers don't have any intentions of conquering the dungeon, don't have the skills, or are unsuitable in other ways. In fact, it seems like some potentially suitable people are the Toudens. There are a lot of good rumours about them going around - they actually seem to have a very positive reputation! That's what Kabru means when he says "unmask".

So when Kabru is observing something like them giving money to an old comrade from their gold-peeling days, he doesn't consider it a problem because "they're giving money to this person who doesn't actually need it" or because they must have some dark secret if they act superficially nice. I think he actually understands this situation and what it implies about Laios (in particular) perfectly well.

Laios and Falin gave money to an old comrade who got injured and couldn't work. That person then healed up but kept taking their money. Then he used the money to start smuggling illicit goods to the island.

The key is that for Kabru, the problem here is the same as with the corpse retrievers - people using the dungeon's resources to fuel dangerous, selfish, or violent pursuits cause problems for the island, attract more criminals and people with motives other than breaking the curse, and increase the chances of the whole situation ending in tragedy.

Kabru is willing to work with the Shadow Lord of the island if it gets him to his goal - he isn't scrupulous - but the criminal element of the island increasing is something he sees as a major issue.

Also, when you're evaluating someone as a candidate for power, riches, secrets, potentially kingship - then being curious about how the money you give to people is going to be used is kind of a relevant trait!

Interpersonally, Kabru's actually very easygoing - I mean, Mickbell isn't exactly an upstanding guy, is he! But Kabru likes him and they get along well. These traits wouldn't be a problem at all in a friend, or a comrade, or someone Kabru was confident he could use. But he can't get a handle on Laios, and Laios is someone who has the potential to be a major player!

On Laios' end, this is the same as with the marriage seeker who joined their party. She kept asking for things and he gave them to her, because he tries to be nice to others. He even gives her money! It's the exact same thing.

That's fine, but it became a problem because he basically wasn't interested in her motives, didn't notice she was trying to manipulate him, and it also didn't occur to him that the other party members would notice or be affected. We can assume the situation with the gold peeler is the same. When Kabru says that "It's not that they're bad people, they just aren't interested in humans," he isn't wrong.

The extent to which this is true of Laios is linked to his autism imo, (because it isn't just disinterest - he genuinely isn't able to notice nonverbal cues that people are lying to him or have ulterior motives) but to a greater or lesser extent I think it's a very common trait. Most people aren't actually that interested in other people who aren't close to them. Kabru is the weird one here. It isn't an issue except as a leader - which is why we see an immediate comparison to the Island's Lord, because that's how Kabru is evaluating them.

And disinterest in/lack of ability with people to the extent Laios exhibits it, it does, actually, make him a worse leader... it's just that as we see in the story, people can help him out. The rest of the party tell him the marriage seeker is taking advantage of him so he tells her he can't give her special treatment anymore. They're pissed and it's a crisis point - he couldn't have recovered their trust without Marcille and Falin - but that's exactly the point. With Marcille and Falin, he was able to recover their trust.

And he has other good traits that make up for it, such as his intelligence, strategic knowledge, open-mindedness and sense of fairplay.

Kabru doesn't disqualify Laios as a candidate based on what he sees about him from afar, though - he still tries very hard to get close to him, obviously hoping that if he manages he can steer Laios to defeat the dungeon and make up for his lack of people-skills in the aftermath. (Which... he does eventually achieve that goal!) He completely fails until the events of the story, so... definitely I think "They just aren't interested in humans" could also partially be a stung reaction to Laios' complete disinterest in him.

Anyway, that's my read on what exactly Kabru's "issue" with Laios is. Obviously, once he does find out what Laios' true nature is like - about his love for monsters - he develops an entirely new set of fears about Laios' priorities. But since Laios kept that a secret until the start of the story, he has no idea of that yet.

Given all that, I think it's interesting that he says that he doesn't think that the Toudens are suitable to defeat the dungeon, and that he's hoping they'll turn out to be the thieves. As some of his few potential candidates, people who he thinks may play a big role in the island's future, you'd think he'd hope they would be good people!

I suppose it's better, in his eyes, because it means that he's involved in something "interesting". They haven't just had their stuff stolen by regular criminals (boring, puts them further away from his goal) - they've been caught up in the beginning stages of "a historic event". The desperate and dwindling group forgetting morals in their quest to retrieve their lost comrade probably appeals to his sense of melodrama. Because he also just... loves drama.

Despite it being "uglier than anything he was expecting", he still pursues Laios as the person he wants to conquer the dungeon pretty much as soon as it becomes clear that he won't be able to do it himself and they are out of time. That's because... well, to be fair, there aren't any other options. And he fits standard A: he's short-lived!

and Kabru still hopes he can fit standard B, too, and be persuaded to use the power he wins for good. No matter how many nightmares he has about Laios, or whether he thinks about killing him. He doubts him, but ultimately he puts his faith in him and seems happy after the manga's ending that he made the right decision.

[cherrybeez]

the happy smiler

[emil1863]

+10 Hit Points

[askfordoodles]

"Young man, you cut that tsundere bullshit, I know what you're doing, I wasn't born yesterday." - Secret Brat Tamer Volkarin

[doesephs]

the curious incident of jean moreau finding out capitalism wasn’t a state in america

[amystarrstuff]

so, this is something i've noticed in fandom spaces and want to see how people ~generally~ feel regarding genderbends & genderswaps, especially if they are transgender themselves!

if there's a reason for why you like/dislike genderbends please share in the tags, this is something that genuinely interests me

[mysticdragon3md3]

When i see my nOTP, i shake my fists at the algorithm for showing it to me, then i Mute/Block.

[featherlesswings]

Idk if people who hate/dislike Ashton didn’t grow up around actual punks, have never consumed media centered around punks, or are just obtuse. Nobody owes you magnanimity. Fictional characters can be grouchy and rude and imperfect and refuse to mask their hatred of corrupt systems. Real people do all the time. He has a charisma of 6. Could be neurodivergence. Could be the base level of chronic pain keeping them from giving a shit about other people’s feelings. Grog had an intelligence of 6, so like, do the math maybe?

[youcanbeaclock]

Avid Damian Wayne haters must be SEETHING rn.

Like imagine mischaracterizing this character as angry, ‘feral’, evil, the worst, and then finding out one of their hobbies (outside of literally saving and helping people as a vigilante) is VOLUNTEERING AT A HOSPITAL.

[deathberi]

HARUKA SAKURA | WIND BREAKER

[biblically-accurate-dca]

painting test with a limited color palette

here's the moon equivalent!

[roughentumble]

DC supervillain of the week who traps the justice league(in their league disguises) in a reality tv show like love island. it airs on tv and everything like they use supervillain powers to forcefully broadcast "love island: justice league edition" while the supers have to try and figure out how to escape. during a personal squabble wondy steps up and says "everyone calm down, we're all a team, we each have our strengths and weaknesses, we need to work together to solve this" and then it cuts to her talking head segment and she says "im not a fan of green lantern."