#heroines x villains

[darklinaforever]

This video :

With this title :

Is a shameful abysmal shit and made even worse by the fact that it's literally a woman making this video.

But the comments under this video are no better :

The day these people will be able to differentiate between FICTION and reality...

Seriousmy, assuming that real life marriages that don't work are because of the romantic trope of villains x heroines is so worrying...

The worst thing is that these people think they are intelligent ?! It's beyond me ! How could they be so stupid ?!

I hate the purity culture...

[neyafromfrance95]

the fact that in trop canon, sauron is written with bearing in mind the fact that he LOVES galadriel??????? L O V E S HER???

imagine being galadriel knowing that the evil incarnate loves you? the abyss that she gazed into with hatred for so long gazed back into her with love!!!

and she is the only one he is capable of loving? bc there is this cosmic connection between their spirits that is just out of this world, metaphysical, entirely unique??? the fact that they have their very beings bound to one another? that it's something much greater and of a higher essence than anything shallow and common? that they are the light and the dark fated to never unite but destined to be eternally connected in a way that they are unable to with anyone else?

what are we even supposed to do with this information? how are we going to collectively ever be sane again???

THE love story of TV, i'm afraid.

[anetherealpoetess]

most critics of heroine x villain ships are unknowingly performative, recycling patriarchal ideas of female goodness without ever questioning the cage. it is a masterclass in devastating subservience disguised as feminist critique. you can mute all the faux-progressive language about romanticising toxic relationships, and their arguments would still reek of gut-churning fear and conformity. i feel bad for them. truly. but punishing other women for stepping outside the rigid lines of acceptable womanhood is dystopian. fandoms are not surveillance states. no woman needs permission to enjoy the transgressive. no woman needs to beg forgiveness for enjoying her favourite stories.

[tiny-pun]

"Working" together

Hero: Look, our plans keep getting more and more reckless and also not at all glamorous enough for your usual kind of gig. We´re both clearly not in the right mindset to do this, so can we just move it to tomorrow and go home now? Villain: Oh? Have I been keeping you up all night, Hero? Hero: Yes! And not the fun kind! Villain: …Oh? Hero: Not that! - Oh my god! I meant- fuck. Villian: Well, that... can certainly be arranged.

[deus-sema]

I love Nosferatu 2024 because of the valuable moral lesson it imparts to us.

If you wish to save the world from imminent doom then let the protagonist fuck the villain in peace. The solution to all problems in the world are more problematic fictional ships.

[kieli13]

I finally finished "And then he lit the sky" by DeVear

I am so sad it ended. I know it ended back on October 2024, but I wanted to wait to finish it.

Check it out: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54385135/chapters/153281347#workskin

[caker-baker]

Due Diligence

The lights were sickeningly bright, even from behind the curtains.

The hero’s PR manager snapped her fingers in front of their face. “Hey. Hey. Pull it together.”

“I don’t do these.” They felt their heart in their ears, beating rapidly. “I don’t do meetings, the questions, I can’t, please don’t make me–”

“Hero.” Their manager’s voice left very little room for sympathy. “I know. But this is what happens when you get popular, they look to you for information.”

“Popular?” The hero repeated, the sweat on the back of their neck turning cold. “I���m not a celebrity! If I do this, I’m going to screw it up, and it’s like you said, I need to maintain a reputation.”

“Yeah, well, strong and silent isn’t working for the general public anymore.” She looked down at her tablet. “You have ten minutes to get whatever this is together. I’ll get you some water or something, just–” she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “fix this.”

The hero had thought they wanted to be alone. They thought so terribly wrong.

They could feel themself begin to struggle for breath, and reached desperately behind for the wall, arms shaking as they slid down.

Press conferences, they asked for no press conferences, and there was an agreement. They would save the day, they would leave the scene. Strong and silent type, sturdy and dependable.

But the minute they opened their mouth out there, they would stutter, they would say something they’re not supposed to, they would mess it up, they knew they would.

Reputation could make or break, and with the hero’s public speaking ability, it would break.

People would stop looking to them for help, would start thinking of them as awful and horrible when all they wanted to do help. Quickly, quietly, just help.

“What a mess.” A voice spoke from the dark.

Though their arms still lacked a sense of firmness, they managed to pull themselves back up.

“Good, very good.” The voice said. “You were compressing yourself, making it harder to get air.”

“You.” The hero managed.

“Me.” The villain grinned, approaching them slowly.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“You’re still tensing your muscles.” Their arms shot out, placing their hands on the hero’s shoulders. “Relax these.”

“Why?” The hero shoved them off. “So you can fight me while I’m vulnerable?”

“No, so you can go out there and speak without losing your head. Do you want that?”

The hero’s jaw tensed, a sign that they didn’t want to hear anything the villain had to say, but they nodded nonetheless.

“Then listen. Unclench your jaw, take a deep breath in, now hold it, very good.” The villain once again placed their hands on the hero’s shoulders. “Breathe out, keep the pattern. You need to relax the shoulders, your back will do the same subsequently. Hey, the breathing pattern, keep it. Yeah? There we are.”

With one final steady breath out, the hero’s arms firm again and their stance solid, they wrapped their hands around the villain’s wrists, and removed their hold on their shoulders.

“I need to return you to the authorities.”

“Mm, no, you need to focus on what you’ll be saying to the swarms of reporters. Believe me, they’ll be asking bait pieces. Just remember that there’s no shame in taking your time to answer the question. They’ll think of you as thoughtful, and that’ll help with the strong and silent thing you have going on right now.”

Stepping back, the hero did a once over.

“Oddly sound advice. Why?”

The villain also took a step back, glancing to the hallway where the manager had disappeared to.

“I did want to shake things up a bit. Scare you, scare the public, but it looks like she,” The villain nodded towards the hallway. “got the scaring you part down. Expertly done, if I may add.”

“But the public?” The hero crossed their arms, eyes blazing. “Still want to try something?”

“Oh, relax. Don’t get yourself worked up. Seriously.”

The hero said nothing, continuing to scrutinize the villain, waiting for them to strike.

A strike never came.

“I appreciate your due diligence.” The villain admitted quietly. “And the people in this city like to tear people like you and I apart-”

“We aren’t the same-”

“But they don’t always think so. I appreciate your due diligence. I…appreciate that it’s tough work. I don’t want to see them turn that, or you, into something perverse.”

The hero raised a brow, then snapped to attention, as did villain.

Quick clicking heels, their expectant manager coming back.

“Breathing pattern, if you need it again, lean back and keep away from the mics. Time to consider an answer is good, and if you can throw in a thoughtful pose during that time, you might end up on the cover of a glam magazine, or get yourselves some very loyal fans who’ll fawn over your looks.”

“My look-?”

“I’ll be watching from the comfort of my home. Break a leg, Hero. Due diligence.”

The villain melted back into the small slips of darkness the studio allowed, very good at that trick apparently, something the hero would have to take note of in the future.

“Okay.” Their manager’s voice cut across the hero’s thoughts. “This is good, this is better.”

Handing them a bottle of water and a rag, she made a motion across her forehead.

“Dab off the sweat. You ready?”

“Strong, silent, and sturdy doesn’t work for the public anymore?” Looking back to where the villain was, the hero nodded. “Then let’s see what does.”

Due diligence.

[robin-evry]

oooooohhhhhh i love the idea of a yuu based on athanasia de alger obelia from who made me a princess or maybe roxana agriche from way to protect the female lead's older brother or keira parvis from actually I was the real one or even Penelope eckart from death is the only ending for a villainess

Since I can't pick which one, I'm gonna do all of them. I'm actually not a big manhwa reader. As well if you notice I've been slowing down. It's because I'm busy or tired from work.

𝐓𝐖𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐇𝐖𝐀!𝐘𝐔𝐔

( English is not my first language )

Day 7 : manhwa!yuu

𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐀!𝐘𝐔𝐔 👸🌼

Athanasia de Alger Obelia is the main protagonist in Who Made Me a Princess, and the current Crown Princess of the Obelian Empire. After reading a romance fantasy novel named The Lovely Princess, the protagonist goes to sleep and finds herself reincarnated into the infant body of Athanasia

the princess of NRC, poise and elegant. Many students wonder why they are in NRC, when they should be in RSA. Headmaster umbrigde of RSA offered them a scholarship on RSA. but was rejected by them because they don't want to leave their friends.

Vil favorite. Usually make examples out of them saying to epel that he should act more like them. Epel originally don't like them thinking they are just similar to vil or are annoyed by constant comparison.

One of NRC prodigies, similar to riddle, Azul and malleus. Even tho Athanasia!yuu is known to be a kind person

𝐑𝐎𝐗𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐄!𝐘𝐔𝐔 🦋🌹

Roxana Agreece is the Protagonist of the Roxana series. She is the daughter of Lante Agreece and Sierra Agreece, and the biological younger sister of Achille Agreece.

The serpent of NRC, Roxanne would be very observant, strategic as well,very calculating. Able to manipulate situations into their favor.

They might appear charming and polite on the surface but always have a hidden agenda. They can easily influence or secretly guide people's decisions to their benefit. Some students manage to recognize their intentions like riddle, Azul and Leona.

Roxanne!Yuu have the ability to control or create poisonous butterflies that are created by their own blood, these butterflies can work as eyes and ears for them, these butterflies can devour anything as well to cast illusion.

𝐊𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐀!𝐘𝐔𝐔 🗡️🪻

Strong and resilient, kiera!yuu are an independent student. They are very sharp and observant able to pick up on subtle cues and hidden motives,They wouldn’t take anyone’s words at face value and would often find themselves questioning the intentions of others, particularly the dorm leaders and those in positions of power.

Kiera!Yuu might not be immediately outgoing, they would be fierce when standing up for themselves and their beliefs. They would quietly but determinedly pursue their goals, unwilling to back down once they’ve set their sights on something. deep down Kiera!yuu have a soft spot over the people they care.

Even tho not being skilled at the art of magic, Kiera!yuu is very athletic and Mobile they are very strong in managing to suppress many students using their skill, as well as master swordsmanship they are able to head on head with some powerful students like Lilia in martial arts.

𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐏𝐄!𝐘𝐔𝐔 🌹🌺

Penelope Eckhart was the original villainess of the otome game Daughter of the Duke - Love Project! in Normal Mode and the heroine in Hard Mode.She was the adopted daughter of Duke Eckhart, her role being to replace the Duke's original daughter, Ivonne Eckhart. She had a bad relationship with her family and was relentlessly abused by the servants which caused her to have a bad personality that earned her a bad reputation. She died in all of the original routes of the game in Normal Mode.

Penelope!yuu would approach relationships in Night Raven College with extreme caution would be thinking several steps ahead in every interaction.they’d be acutely aware of how fragile their position is and would work to secure their place in the school while avoiding conflict where possible.

Though they may come off as cold or indifferent at first, they are driven by the need to survive and avoid the metaphorical "bad ending." Yet, like Penelope, they harbor a secret desire for genuine care and understanding from others, even if they struggle to show vulnerability.

Similar to kierra yuu, Penelope!yuu would be sharp, immediately finding a solution over any situation, as well as a very skilled swordmaster. Have very quick and swift attacks before the enemy.

[hauntedheroines]

Happy Halloween, shippers! 🎃👻

As usual, check out our villain x heroine spooky movie recommendation list.

We have add one more movie to the list this year, and it can only be him, the ghost with the most: Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, BEETLEJUICE!

[ohwrite]

Heroine grasps the attacking Villainess’ arm, she makes eye contact with her nemesis and, in a flurry of movements, restrains her with only her arms. Villainess squeaks, looking up at the heroine who caught her with rose tinted cheeks.

“Holy shit…” She whispers, daring not to breathe.

Heroine laughs, smiling down at her, satisfied. “‘Bout time someone put you in your place huh?”

Villainess’ face lights up even brighter. She stammers, attempting to get a sentence out before her nemesis places a finger to her lips, shushing her.

“You’re much cuter flustered out of words, so be a dear and be quiet~”

The villain nods, and Heroine giggles. Dragging her away to her home rather than The Agency.

[darklinaforever]

Let me be clear.

Ellen's age is never stated in the Nosferatu movie. Even less so when she met Orlok.

It doesn't even say how many years passed between her meeting with Orlok and her meeting with Thomas in fact.

The term child is also often alternated with simply young in the movie.

Ellen's age is therefore intentionally ambiguous whether in the present or the past.

The temporality of the movie is also intentionally ambiguous.

Therefore, yes, you can interpret Ellen as being a literal child at the time she met Orlok if you want, but it is actually more likely that the words child and young are just used to express the fact that Ellen was young (not necessarily a child for our time or the era of the movie) with no real life experience and or simply naive at the time. Not that she was literally a child / a little girl.

It's common in movies and in various shows. When a character says themselves to have been a child, it doesn't mean that they literally / officially were ! Shit !

House of the Dragon is a very good example with Rhaenyra telling Daemon in episode 7 of season 1 that he abandoned her when she was only a child, knowing that she was canonically 19 years old when Daemon gone and that in addition we are in the feudal era, where you can marry very young (even before having your first period) and that the majority is 16 years old for girls officially.

I say it again, if the movie was supposed to show Ellen as a child without ambiguity, the temporality would have been clearer, the ages would have been clearly stated, and especially the actress would not have been the same for the opening scene.

Oh, and the film crew would also talk about this very important detail of Ellen who would have been a child when she met Orlok, except that no, generally speaking, they too simply use the term young to designate her at that time.

I'm tired of seeing people try to pretend that it's 100% true that Ellen was a little girl when she met Orlok. No, it's not true.

Officially, it's 50 / 50.

But unofficially, it's a safe bet that since the film's timeline is blurry, that the terms child and young are often alternated in the film and that the film crew from what I saw only used the term young to designate Ellen at the time she met Orlok, well that these terms in the film are there to simply reflect Ellen's naivety at the time she met Orlok, and was simply not yet married.

Knowing that in the Victorian era, a woman is generally still treated like a child while being married, I'll let you imagine when she simply wasn't...

Especially since I recall that Orlok represents Ellen's sexual awakening.

Generally translating in fiction for female characters concerned by the "sexual awakening" aspect of the female character's entry into her real life as a woman with her who therefore leaves the world of childhood. It's a classic. And the female character still doesn't need to be a literal child for this type of scenario.

Reylo in Star Wars is a very good example of that, with Rey experiencing a passage to adulthood thanks to her meeting with her soul mate and sexual awakening Kylo Ren / Ben Solo (the same thing happens on Kylo Ben side by the way).

Or again with Shuri and Namor in Wakanda Forever, Shuri experiencing a sexual awakening thanks to the character of Namor who will symbolically make her grow up, go from child to adult (while officially in age she is already an adult, but not emotionally / on a symbolic level).

So the fact that there is ambiguity about whether Ellen was a child or just young when she met Orlok could also just fit into this category of fictional trope. Namely, Orlok was the character made to allow Ellen to grow in various ways symbolically.

The fact is that Ellen could very well have been a teenager, young or more or less old (remember that at that time women were marriageable at 13 years old, the historical context is important) or already a young woman when she met Orlok. We can't know 100% but I would lean much more towards the second option, since the question of age is never really on the front of the stage in the film (ans Ellen is still considered as young in the film in the current time frame. Von franz literally referred to Ellen as a child in the scene when he first meets her and she is tied up. This is just further evidence that child or young is not a literal reference as Ellen is clearly not a child and married at the time), and not a real factor for the Orlok & Ellen relationship and especially his heart.

People try to create this classic scenario of the adult Orlok targeting a child Ellen to manipulate her as he pleases.

Except that's not the case.

Orlok wasn't interested in Ellen because she was young and easily manipulated. He was interested in her because she was like him, not of the living world, and she called to him. She is the enchantress who brought him into this world. They are connected by destiny. She brought him into this world and only she can take him out of it.

Orlok represents what society restricts in Ellen and prevents her from expressing. Her true desires that were considered evil in a woman at the time.

Seeing Orlok as Ellen's abuser from childhood to adulthood doesn't work on the overall message of the film.

Orlok is not Ellen's real abuser, but the society around her is.

It's all just told in a monstrous way because we're in a horror film who telling a gothic romance.

That was my rant.

[abrokenherocomplex]

tangles in my hair

prompt: tangles in my hair

The heroine winced, threading her fingers around yet another metal hair pin. She unraveled the knotted curls, trying to ignore the pinpricking pain each pin set against her skull. She’d felt worse pain. Recently, even. Still. She hadn’t wanted to attend the ball in the first place.  After dancing with allies and enemies alike for the duration of the (incredibly long) event, undoing her hair seemed a colossal effort. She sighed, resting one arm on the cool metal towel rack. Unraveling one pin somehow seemed to produce further tangles in her curls, but if she didn’t get the pomp and pins quite literally out of her hair, she’d surely awake with a murderous migraine in the morning. 

“Long night?”

The heroine jolted at the voice. She whirled, acutely slamming the funny bone of her elbow into the towel rack. Pain radiated up her arm. She cursed, unsure which was the worst offense – the pins and needles in her skull, her now-throbbing arm, or her archnemesis lounging in her bathroom doorway. 

The villainess whistled, moving to catch the heroine’s arm in her grasp.

“You’re slow this evening.”

The heroine glared. “And you’re late.” 

The villainess merely raised an eyebrow, now massaging the muscles of the heroine’s hurt arm. The heroine ignored the gesture – and corresponding pain relief – to level the villainess with a flat look. 

“Not late,” the heroine corrected herself. “You didn’t show up. At all.” It felt petulant. It was petulant. But the heroine didn’t care. 

“Were you waiting for me to make a grand entrance?” the villainess prompted. 

“Yes,” the heroine admitted. 

“Not my style.” 

The heroine rolled her eyes. 

The villainess ignored the gesture, instead deepening her massage. The heroine could feel herself melting at the touch. Her face heated. 

“Still, you missed me,” the villainess chuckled softly. “I’m honored you thought of me on your night off.” 

“Hardly a night off.” At that, the villainess raised an eyebrow. The heroine continued, “I danced with every male ally – and enemy – in or near my organization. I secured alliances, brokered deals. Hell, they all flirted with me. It’s if they can’t catch a vibe-”

“All the while, waltzing gracefully,” the villainess interrupted, teasing. “Belle of the ball.”  

“Sure.” 

“As per usual, then,” the villainess mused. 

The heroine sharpened her gaze. “Your absence was not, as you would say, per usual.”

It was true. Despite the lack of grand entrances, the villainess had always deigned to make an appearance. Typically sticking to a choreographed arm tugging at the heroine’s waist, leading them both into the shadows. To welcomes whispers in the heroine’s ear. Once, when the villainess was in true disguise as a foreign agency member, they’d shared a covert waltz. The heroine could still feel the heat of the villainess’s body pressed against her own. 

“So where were you?” The heroine demanded, interrupting her own thoughts. In response, the villainess merely tugged her forward, out of the bathroom and into the connecting bedroom. 

“Sit,” the villainess ordered, pressing gently on the heroine’s shoulders so that the heroine took a spot on the rug, her ballgown, a frivolous but not unwelcome thing, billowed out beneath her. The villainess helped herself to a perch on the sofa behind, taking the heroine’s hair slightly in her hands.

“Head back,” the villainess muttered, and the heroine obeyed.

With soft hands that sent a chill down the heroine’s spine, the villainess located the hair pins one-by-one, untangling them carefully, easing the ache in the heroine's skull, before handing the pin down to the heroine. One-by-one the heroine took the pins, internally grateful for the villainess’s patience, which the heroine herself certainly did not possess. It was a gesture gentler than the heroine believed either of them could make. 

“To answer your question,” the villainess said, breaking the silence. “I was on a different assignment.”

“Which was?” 

“Classified.”

The heroine rolled her eyes, even knowing that the villainess could not see.

“Something I will have to thwart, then,” the heroine said. 

The villainess pulled a particularly unforgiving pin from the heroine’s scalp.

The heroine winced. “Ouch.”

“Sorry.” The villainess did not seem sorry. “You’re tense.” 

“And you’re being elusive.”

“Hardly,” the villainess murmured. “I’m right here, aren’t I?” 

The heroine startled only slightly as the villainess’s lips brushed the shell of the heroine’s ear. The heroine turned, attempting to give her a flat look, but some part of her brain went fuzzy at the closeness.

“I thought we told each other things.” The heroine’s voice came out as a whisper. 

The villainess looked at her softly. “Perhaps. Or perhaps you’re just too honest for your own good.” 

“Am I?”

They were dizzyingly close now. Even the villainess seemed to lose her regular self-assured look, pupils wide. The villainess’s eyes dropped to the hero’s lips. 

Looking back, the heroine was unsure which of them moved first, only that the villainess was now on the rug next to the heroine, hands still tangled in the villainess’s hair. Her lips were soft against the heroine’s, questioning. Heart pounding, the heroine deepened the kiss, her hands instinctively finding the villainess’s waist. 

The villainess’s words rang in the heroine’s ears and the heroine pulled back, reeling. The villainess froze, hands stilling in her heroine’s hair, eyes wide. 

“I’m too honest?” the heroine managed. Her head was reeling. Heart pounding. But she reached for the words. “I may have missed you, but you’ve always sought me out without fail. Never I, you.” 

Surprise was a new look for the villainess, and the heroine found that she did not mislike it. “Sorry-?”

“No, don’t-” the heroine lost the words. She reached up, gently pushing a stray lock of hair out of the villainess’s eyes before lowering her gaze. “I didn’t know it was like that.” 

“You want honesty?” The villainess whispered. 

The heroine nodded. “Yes.” 

The villainess's voice was gruff, soft. “It’s like that.”

This time, it was surely the who heroine closed the gap, unable to stop her from smiling against the villainess’s soft mouth. 

[anetherealpoetess]

i love shipping. it reminds me that childhood wonder can still be found in the most insane of places (my mind).

[roseredart]

Decided to make a blog dedicated to fairy tale and fanart, probably only works of the public domain, and with 1920s beauty aesthetic 'cause that's what I like to paint

first post

[deus-sema]

Having read these thought provoking posts in a row by @neyafromfrance95 and @anetherealpoetess , I racked my brain to remember when and how exactly did this drama over villain/heroine pairings start and how did it aggravate to such an extent?

But, before I begin, I want to get this out of the way: The intent of this post is not to generalize. Haters who hate everything fun without discrimination, those who aren't hypocrites, this post is not for you. You are the real deal. Hate and vent away and unless this hatred affects creators and fans adversely, which is when we would need to have serious conversations, we are good to go.

Where were we again? Yes. The heroine and the villain. The good girl and the bad guy. The M/F ship where the male character is not 100% morally upstanding and/or age appropriate. This dynamic goes by many names. Call it whatever you wish to.

Why this dynamic is enjoyed by many has been discussed often. Why it is disliked is also known. To each their own. Anyway, let's get straight to the point. This particular dynamic can result in the female character getting hurt at some point. Be it physically, mentally, or emotionally. It isn't mandatory but the possibility is always there. The villain/adversary with whom she shares a complicated entanglement that may or may not be 'officially' romantic is a challenge she must overcome. Be it by beating him, killing him, fixing him, smooching him or screwing him.

Preferences are one thing. But this vehement pushback specifically against stories that explore such a dynamic as well as against those who enjoy them is rather strange.

Now, why is it easier for some to separate fiction from reality when it comes to toxic m/m pairs as compared to similar m/f pairs? Aren't all these characters fake anyway? Maybe the belief that women are inherently fragile and, thus need to be protected and sheltered from any and all harm, genuine or perceived, still prevails. They aren't allowed to face so much as the slightest adversity or discomfort. They must be kept safe within the boundaries of propriety. If they are to have a partner then he must be a properly vetted 'green flag' who is safe for them in every aspect. Chemistry be damned. While it often stems from genuine, albeit misplaced, concern, it leaves the arcs of these female characters with limited scope.

Strangely enough, the characters in question can belong to any background: Human, demon, alien, witch, elf, warrior, zombie. Their natures might differ. They can all have different backstories, undergo varying experiences, follow rules and belief systems distinct from one another. But, when placed in an equation with a man who has been dubbed 'unsafe', they are all clubbed under one umbrella of victimhood. As long as the link between them and the unsafe male character exists, victims they must remain. Until that connection is severed and they are taken back to safety, all other identities cease to exist. Any conversation with respect to that equation must abritrarily categorize them as victim and the men as their victimizers and there should be nothing more to it. Not even if the narrative wills it. Fans who have different readings of the relationship are to be silenced with slutshaming, accusations of romanticizing abuse, not getting the plot, yada, yada. And, in certain cases, when the female character happens to be a WoC, her entire existence gets overlooked.

As a side effect of this approach, the  commercial creatives who are in the business for the paycheck and want to avoid unnecessary hassle, do not bother to put in effort or  undertake risks while creating female characters, let alone put them in a relationship with the bad guy. They know all it will take to calm the online pearl clutchers with pitchforks is to keep the female characters secure on the sidelines to play a supportive role leaving them free to focus and work hard on male characters who move the plot. The female characters are remembered only when the men have to be depicted in a better or worse light. Afterall, someone needs to be the scapegoat to help move the male character's arc forward.

The general audience, most of whom are in for the entertainment, must definitely notice the difference in importance that female characters hold as compared to their male counterparts but do not give it much thought. Meanwhile, in the online realm, puritantis and incels pat each other on the back after belittling real people who disagree with them for female characters in 'safe' and, possibly, passive roles is what both parties ultimately seek, albeit with different intentions. If a fictional woman doesn't toe the line, then the narrative is expected to set her right by 'humbling' her. As for the real ones deemed 'improper', the Internet is always ready with their pitchforks like we see here in this case highlighted by @problematic-faves-appreciation) concerning the Brontës.

Patriarchy truly is no different from the Hydra. Cut one head off and two more appear in its place wearing faux progressive hoodies.

[theweeklydiscourse]

We’re getting to the point where people are calling Reylos revisionists for simply describing what the discourse was like at the height of the sequel trilogy. People forget how vitriolic people were to a very basic and tame enemies to lovers pairing and how that manifested in a barrage of unwarranted harassment and hate over the course of like five years.

This is not to say that the shipping base has no problems (believe me, it does) but it shouldn’t be controversial, or considered “revisionist” history, to talk about how shippers were called fascist sympathizers and abuse apologists over a ship. Like yeah actually, there was a considerable amount of undeserved hate that a bunch of shippers received for stupid reasons.