#escapist fantasies

[your-average-teenage-mess]

So back when I was in elementary school, I started writing an Isekai story with my friend. We rewrote it a few times since, but all those times, I was the one writing the scenes from the POV of the character getting isekaied. They were meant to be a fantasy nerd, basically- they always dreamed of having a beautiful, sparkling fantasy life. Not even going on adventures or fighting dragons, just moving in and opening a potion shop together with the cute sorcerer in the party. Why would it matter if they live basically the same life but magic? Because my little child brain viewed fantasy as an escape from the general sense of agony that was tied to being alive in this world. It doesn't matter what actually HAPPENS in your life, if you managed to move to a world with dragons in it, you have destroyed the symbol that you tied to your suffering, and instead focused on the symbol of adventure and excitement, and even if none of it actually happened in the story, the corresponding emotions need to arise.

And I remember that back then, I saw stories that explored the theme of "you got everything you wanted and it still doesn't magically make you happy", and I got ANGRY. Because why can't it work like that? Isn't that the whole point of wishes? And so when I wrote the scene of the character opening their eyes for the first time in the magic world, I wrote a whole page of description of how even though they've also read all those stories, it turned out to be a dirty lie, it didn't make them feel hollow at all, the very act of being in the magic world did make them happy, it made them ecstatic, and they were so, so relieved to watch as it simply washed away their pain and sense of alienation and not belonging once they got to simply abandon the thing that symbolized it, rather than actually changing their life in a way that would effect that kind of change. It was a fantasy of how I wanted the human mind to work, basically.

So I'm starting to think revenge fantasies might be a bit like that-

[thenamesapollo]

state of deltarune theories is so so bad cuz they all try to connect back to the theme of escapism without noticing that that theme isn't even in deltarune.

[elklounge]

Travis Hackett/Ted Raimi was originally supposed to have a scene/script part mentioning that Travis is a romance novel enthusiast. Here is the concept art of it done by @/wes_nike_illustrator on Instagram.

Thank you to discord user: cleucas for showing me this omg.

Close up of both novels.

[metanarrates]

i am soooo curious about your takes on otome isekai villainess stories and their morality + gender constructs 👀 if you'd be willing to elaborate....

so villainessekai is a BIG genre. like. big big absolutely massive genre. because of that it's kind of hard to make sweeping generalizations genre-wise just because there are so many different authors with different takes on the general premise... that being said, I have enough time to ramble about some gender stuff I've noticed. maybe ill elaborate on the protag centered morality another time - my tldr on that at this moment is just "for a genre allegedly focused on humanizing women who were considered 'evil,' there sure are a lot of common double standards when it comes to how its protagonists behave."

(part of the protag centered morality, to be clear, is just kind of a common effect of self-inserty escapist fiction, but it's... just sort of weird and noticeable whenever it crops up in this genre. like i said i might yap about it another time. penelope eckhart you live rent free in my head what the hell is happening in vadd)

but yeah! gender!

quick rundown for those not familiar with the genre. villainess isekai is a genre of manwha + manga + webnovels + light novels that shares a common base premise. the protagonist has been isekai'd into the body of a fictional character from a story (often an otome game or a novel) she knows. the fictional character plays the role of a villainess in the original novel, and is doomed to an unsavory fate. the protagonist must try to change the story she knows to prevent her untimely end.

or, at least, that's the more original premise. the villainess genre is huge, and over the years, there's been takes that ditch the isekai component completely. time travel villainess stories are highly popular right now. some deal with reincarnation from a different fantasy life, like, 200 years in the past or something. some ditch the "main character has some kind of knowledge about a doomed future" aspect of the premise entirely and just lock in on the protagonist being considered an "evil woman" without messing about with any kind of supernatural foreknowledge.

but regardless. the common thread is that the woman in question is considered a villainess, and that she is almost certainly aware that she will meet her doom if she doesn't play her cards right.

I'll say here straight up that this genre is almost completely a power fantasy genre. we're about to get into whether or not the main character is "rightfully" considered a villainess or not, but no matter what the answer to that is, the main character almost always 1. is a member of a fantasy european-ish nobility 2. commands some form of social or monetary power and 3. will eventually obtain a lover of incredibly high social status. being able to be "evil" is often a huge component of this power fantasy, but there's a baseline of power that can be obtained even for protagonists who seem completely powerless at the start. you will always end with a protagonist in a position of unbelievable wealth, comfort, social respect, and power.

this plays heavily into the genre's treatment of gender. because what are the acceptable ways for a woman to wield power, even in the alleged safe space of a fantasy?

I tend to categorize villainessekai protagonists into two broad categories, for that reason. the "actually evil," and the "unjustified victim." while there's of course a huge amount of nuance that can exist between these two categorizations, in practice they tend to be extremely rigid. what we are actually talking about here are fantasies of "unacceptable" and "acceptable" power wielding, and the protagonists tend to be constructed quite differently depending on which fantasy they cater to.

category one: the "actually evil." while these protagonists can be quite complicated and often are unjustly treated by the societies they are in, they are still women who wield a huge amount of power and take quite a lot of joy in beating people over the head with it. they're sexy, confident, and will achieve their goals no matter what it takes, even if it does mean being viewed as evil in the eyes of the world. these protagonists are actually usually not isekai'd - there is no body snatching involved. they are simply women who have had Enough with the world beating down on them, and have decided that they're going to fight back no matter what. time travel foreknowledge is common but not always necessary.

the power fantasy here is pretty clear cut to me. inhabiting the psyche of the evil, undesirable femme fatale is a fun power trip and lets the reader think about how nice it would be to just... not care about social opinion, and to effortlessly outwit and trap everyone who has ever been cruel to them. no more being niceys you can just start beating people to death with your epic magic or whatever.

villainess isekai is a romance genre. because of this, there is a layer of romantic fantasy involved as well. the fantasy that you'd be wanted because of your cruel or evil or ruthless traits, and not in spite of them. also maybe sometimes you want a man who will bark like a dog for you ok i won't linger on it but there does seem to be a fair amount of femdom undertones in a number of these

category two: the "unjustified victim." there's subcategories to this in my head, but the basic idea here is that our protagonist is Nice and does not deserve to be treated as a villainess. either she's been isekai'd into the body of someone who sucks and now has to deal with the fallout of actions she did not commit, or she (or her body host!) are being unfairly villainized and treated as a scapegoat by others. this category is populated hugely by doe-eyed ingenues. while there's a fair amount in this category who still possess some capacity for unkindness or spite against the ones who have wronged them, most of them are kind, loveable sweethearts who don't want to hurt a fly.

the power fantasy here, I would argue, is actually mostly a persecution fantasy. while there is of course nuance & a lot of authors have a ton of different takes on this, the fantasy here is one about being treated unjustly and proving the haters wrong, either by having someone step in and rescue you or by wielding power justly to defend yourself. the fantasy is about being acceptable all along, good all along, and just needing a chance to prove yourself.

the romantic fantasy element here is usually about having someone recognize your true worth. instead of believing all the shit about you being evil or cruel or whatever, someone is able to look past that and recognize that you are a beautiful and kind-hearted woman underneath. also, again, he will save you from the Haters. (the truly evil woman rarely needs a savior because the fantasy is about saving herself.)

because of this, we get two pretty clear constructions of femininity. we have a dark feminine and a light feminine. sexuality & evil, sweetness and kindness. weirdly i don't think the genre super often has much to say about this. it just simply Is. here's your power fantasy - what flavor do you like? sometimes there's some feminist reflection on this in-text but i rarely consider that like... valid... unless the entire story treats women besides the protagonist well. kinda hypocritical to reflect on the role of Evil Women and still have women who are treated as Evil Bitches by the narrative.

hey speaking of. those also are some secret other categories of woman.

i might have mentioned in another post that the villainess genre Loves to reinvent villainess tropes by recasting someone else as the "evil woman" to our "good or at least sufficiently projectable woman" protag? yeah so here they are.

there's the classic evil dark feminine, which I won't linger on because we've all seen it. she's a nasty possibly sexy conniving skank who wants to steal your man. we've all seen it. Next.

but what's interesting to me is that there's also a category of evil light feminine. these are called either "green tea bitches" or "white lotuses" by fans, and they are often (not always) the Original Protagonists of the story the actual protagonist has been isekai'd into. usually it's some kind of reveal that the entire original story was a foul unreliable narrator's trick, and the white lotus has been using her apparent innocence to torment and vex our poor protagonist.

but regardless of her role in the Original Story, the white lotus is always the same. she seems very sweet, very innocent, very pure, very acceptably feminine, but on the inside she's a living nightmare who weaponizes her femininity to hurt people.

if I'm being generous to the genre, this can be considered a valid reflection of the fact that there are some women who weaponize femininity in order to put down other women. many of us have met people like that. it happens. it might be considered a power fantasy to "defeat" that kind of woman.

if I'm being critical of the genre - which I almost always am - I would say that having defeated one boogeyman of Evil Woman by turning it acceptable, the villainess isekai genre must invent a new boogeyman to pit its protagonists against. we're just redefining the borders of which sort of woman is allowed to be relatable and good, rather than challenging the base notions of misogyny and patriarchy that lock women into eternal acceptability combat. oh no we have a fake acceptable woman who must be proven as a fraud! the real Good Woman is right here! etc.

sort of my endcap on Gender Thoughts here - i would note that almost none of these characters are anything other than extremely feminine. we have a few tomboyish or crossdressing protagonists here and there, but they almost always shed that in favor of ballgowns at some point or another. I've noticed this as an aspect of heterosexual romance, but it does feel very strange to me how much femininity is on display. as a nonbinary lesbian, the world of rofan always feels alien to me. whether antagonist or protagonist, whether the character is "acceptable" or "unacceptable" in her femininity, this is a world where being genuinely uninterested in femininity as a woman is nigh unthinkable. there is always an emphasis placed on the fact that she is in fact a woman, and one who will eventually be desirable to men, no matter what the circumstances are! you could draw a lot of conclusions from that. my personal conclusion is that het romance is kind of scary and highly based in affirming gender binaries. :(

[kooki914]

I have been thinking about Ralsei a lot lately and I wonder if Ralsei is some sort of deconstruction of a Satellite Love Interest? He has a lot of traits that a traditional JRPG would give a female love interest: He's a healer, the most outwardly kind and compassionate member of the team and is very much concerned with the main hero's happiness. It would tie into his themes of identity because, outside of the prophecy, his life seems pretty vacant.

I agree with this! It's been one of my main forms of interpreting Ralsei's character since chapter 1, and it mostly revolves around the juxtaposition between his innocent-ish interactions with Kris, versus the ways he talks to Susie, Lancer, and about purpose.

On the one hand, when alone with Kris, he literally puts himself on a silver platter for them, allowing any kind of behavior and being personally invested in complimenting Kris for doing things he finds heroic. The setup seems to be that, all this time spent waiting for the prophecy, he's idealized Kris specifically because of the role they play in the story and on the team.

On the other hand, when talking about the purpose of darkners to Lancer, he never so much as glances at the possibility of personhood, instead emphasising servitude as the only desirable trait they could have in presence of lightners. This significantly sours the interactions he previously had with Kris, and while it's obvious he prefers them over Susie (at least in chapter 1) it puts into question WHAT it is that he prefers. Is he kind to them because he's a kind person? Or, is he kind because he sees Kris acting out their role obediently, and therefore acts out his role perfectly in return? A sort of premeditated dance of adoration that's facilitated by the lack of true free will in them both.

I love this kid he's so messed up.

[croutoncretin]

on all levels except physical i am the little old lady i play in animal crossing

[bogkeep]

WHEWWWW..... our hairspring exam is coming up, and we get 16 hours across two days for it, which is the longest exam yet. we just had a trial run for the test, and i think maybe only one of my classmates has finished so far? the rest of us are gonna continue on monday :') i thought i was doing particularly bad but no it's All Of Us. so it's going to be okay in the end!!!

[artbyblastweave]

DIE was really good. Kieron Gillen Does Not Miss

[fukiana]

     Deep within you, you feel an uncomfortable roiling. You can’t be certain if the sensation is physical or spiritual, but it immediately induces nausea and fills your ears with the sound of blood rushing through your head. The Pallid Knight- Show. Them. What. You. Are.      You close your eyes and turn your mind inward, blocking out the sounds of the harbor and the menacing pack of guards. Soon, all you can hear is the rushing of blood in your head and a muffled chime ringing somewhere far away.      You open your eyes. The harbormaster is gesturing wildly, presumably to get your attention, and yelling in your face, but you hear no words, only the ringing of the chime as your heart rate slows.      And slows.      And slows.

PILLARS OF ETERNITY 2: DEADFIRE (2018) dev. Obsidian Entertainment

[plaguedoctormemes]

I’m not smart or well-read enough to give a ton of examples but after learning that fantasy (as a genre) originated as more of a sci-fi setting with some aesthetic familiarity to the real-life medieval period my patience for people talking about “historical accuracy” ranging from justifying the lack of women and minorities in their settings to bitching about highly-specific nitpicky details of ‘medieval’ clothing and culture (once again, applied to a FANTASY setting) has plummeted to 0%

Yes, you heard that exactly. Fantasy nowadays is its own defined genre, but at its core, ‘fantasy’ as we know it is derived from an essentially classic sci-fi perspective. With all of the uses that people use for sci-fi as well: a creative vessel where someone created a whole alternative world with the means to comment on or criticize our current world.

[slowpokegamer]

Sometimes I get struck with the evil, overwhelming guilt that my comfort character is Dandelion, because I genuinely know in the books he is such a piece of shit and sometimes when I engage in meta and discussions about the Witcher I feel like. A weird imposter syndrome if that makes sense??

Like man I love diving into this world and reading and discussing different interpretations and meta on the series, but however I am unfortunately completely fucking stupid, and sometimes I don't understand stuff as well as I want to, and I can struggle to understand and process more in depth takes on the Witcher books. And then I feel the guilt of a thousand suns because I'm like

"man... All these cool people who's posts I love to read are looking at me and they think I'm stupid and my favorite character is Dandelion and they're gonna think I'm so annoying and don't understand what I'm talking about I have to jump now"

Man has biggest fear of being obnoxious. Please forgive my crimes of having autism and hyperfixating on literally the worst dude in the world /lh

[baseballmomlesbiandad]

not the baby penguin and baby panther worrying about their savings, too real for me

[jesncin]

I love MAWS but your writeup really made me realize how much of a missed opportunity Lois was. I'm generally not opposed to minority characters having stories which don't focus on their identity or trauma because those types of stories are legitimate and deserve to exist, but MAWS deliberately invokes xenophobia as a major theme, so to do that while also having an Asian Lois and Black Jimmy not really interface with that aspect of the story feels like a major oversight.

Exactly! I've said very similar things before. This isn't a made-up planet world like She-Ra or anything. While Metropolis isn't real, it explicitly takes place in America, which is the only country mentioned by name in MAWS. And Superman shines best when he's acknowledged to be an inherently political character, facing problems that reflect our real world issues in some way. My lowest expectations for the show was that it would be like the "American Alien" Superman comic, where it was a missed opportunity that the POC characters' identities weren't integrated more, but there's potential for it. MAWS went so hard in the other direction that the characters are just white under their designs.

Stories about POC not revolving around marginalization or racism are so valid, and we're obviously more than just the hardships we face! But when the narrative introduces marginalization and even specifically xenophobia for only the white characters (and a gorilla) to go through, with characters of color oppressing white characters even?? Like genuinely what's the lesson there.

When an East Asian character tortures a white passing alien man and says "how many of your kind will come through this time?", and another East Asian character spouts Replacement Theory "he's wiping out good American jobs" rhetoric, and ANOTHER East Asian character tells Superman to "try being normal" after he's told to "go back to where he came from", what am I- an Asian superman fan- supposed to get from that?

[lapdogchase]

[metanarrates]

a lot of people fundamentally don't respect fantasy as a genre and only feel like they can engage with it if they can make it out to be Unlike Other Fantasy. they don't care that a good fantasy work is one that is deeply engaged with its genre and that it has conventions specific to the genre. they're too busy trying to outsmart it to even perceive HOW a work interacts with the genre it was born out of. you are not too good for fantasy!!!!!!! your perception of it as stupid comes from you not caring to engage with what it actually tries to do!!!!!!

[supjello]

bold move honestly to have all the characters yell every argument they knew fans would have at ted for why he should stay, and not have him say they’re wrong, or offer anything to counter it. Because at the end of the day it was his son. It was only his son. His son was the period at the end of the sentence, and always was going to be. Nothing else mattered, he was going home to his boy.

Literally if they were right I'd agree but it's them they know, not me. Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away. I know I have to go.