#i hate when mischaracterization is that prominent

[jokeson-u]

see thats an argument ill never have bc yes shes a shitty person but its a show about shitty people like cmon now i hate when people pull that shit.

for me, i do not care if people stan misty, what i dont like is when its clear that they just like the idea of her. bc no, she isnt just some frizzy haired glasses girl who got bullied and has attachment issues. like shes straight up a bad person. but to claim u stan her and then to turn around and erase or defend all that makes it seem like u do NOT ACTUALLY LIKE MISTY FOR WHO SHE IS !!! shes not an uwu bullied baby from the 90s that people try to make her out to be, and it takes away from her character when people do that imo.

and YES like ill always be the first to bring up the shroom rape attempt scene like dear god it makes me soo mad when i see people defending the girls saying 'oh they were drugged!' and uhhh ... ive said it before and ill say it again: does a man raping a woman when theyre both drunk/high mean it wasnt rape? NO. ITS STILL RAPE. the point of that scene was to demonstrate that the ability to hurt someone like that is in p much all of them- the drugs just set it free.

just bc theyre girls doesnt mean we gotta defend or explain everything they do, let them be toxic and let us celebrate that together god bless

idk why u guys feel the need to convince urselves and others that misty is a good person like. love her for who she is, dont pretend her actions were all just and moral, EMBRACE THAT SHES FUCKED UP !!! girl wanted to rape someone and tried more than once to do so by drugging him! she abuses elderly people! she knowingly attempts coercing men into sex! she manipulates and kidnaps and kills people! stop tryna pretend shes good! if u like her then stop pretending shes someone she ISNT 😭😭

[cearthduo]

Decoding c!George: Discussing the fandoms mischaracterization and disregard of Gnf [Explaining George's character.]

Note : I will not be using "c!" because i find it tedious, but this is about the dsmp characters. I will be using she/her pronouns for George throughout this blog and all of the following ones. If this bothers you, feel free to read this using whichever pronouns you prefer. Enjoy.

I couldn't count on seven hands the amount of times i've been hit with "Does George even have lore??" in response to me mentioning her at all. Due to how obnoxiously genuine I find that question usuallyis, I decided to start a little series! In it, I'll be going into depth about George's lore whilst critiquing, hating, and debunking common potrayals/headcanons for the character.

This post will focus on George's general character traits, while the next ones will go more in depth on specific arcs, details, dynamics and theories. The next planned posts will be about George's lore and Dnf.

Alright, now that the introductory portion is out of the way, I can start with the analysis. The first step to understanding a character is figuring who the character is. So our first section will be talking about the basics of c!George as well as common potrayals, misinformation and more below the cut.

The bones of c!George ))

Let me also get this out out the way first and foremost: George a fully developed character. Traits of ccGeprge should Not impact your portrayal of her AT ALL.

With that out of the way, how do you portray George correctly? Who is this character? What are her motivations?

At her core, George is actually a very similar character to Dream. George also craves power and control. They have the same aspirations (that being the servers reunion and a return to the early days of the smp), the same opinions on L'manberg and Tommy (George's takes during the pog v swag debate seem to parrot Dream's (or rather, Dream parrots George later)), the same violent outbursts in response to a loss of control or respect, and the same belief that they are above the rules of the server.

A big part of c!George's character is her obsession with strength and power. This has been a core part of her since the very beginning of the server. Prior to L'manbergs existence, George spent the majority of her time maxing out her armor and weapons. She was the first member to have fully enchanted gear, and it was op. To the point that Dream and Sapnap wanted to strip her of everything because she was using her power to terrorize the server and they couldn't fight back. Due to this, George was the first character to ever be labeled a tyrant.

Contrary to most potrayals, George is a very social and energetic character. She'll talk to and hang out with anyone on the server, despite any negative relations. People typically portray her as being constantly sluggish or lazy, but this portrayal is incredibly inaccurate. George does not sleep for long periods because she's tired, but because she lacks the ability to wake up. This is shown during the elections where George is genuinely upset and bothered by the fact she wasn't able to attend. Whenever she's actually active on the server she's always in action, running around, building things, pvping, gathering resources, etc. Her constant sleeping/dreaming does not define her character and instead something that seen as negative even by George herself.

George also tends to cling to titles that represent power. The most prominent example of this is the dethronement conflict, where George tries to keep the title of king. It's to the point where she plans a takeover of the entire smp in order to reinstate herself as leader. George also seems very keen on taking control of L'manberg, saying at one point that "It could've all been [hers]" had she made it to the election. In the godhood stream, George continuously refers to herself as "God" even denying XD's divinity. When Karl says that there's already a god of the smp, George replies with "I am God." She even has the confidence to call herself God to XD's face. She seems to see herself as powerful even when she lacks power. A good example of this is her telling Eryn that she's king of the smp, despite having lost the title an entire year prior.

It's very common for people to lean into George's "apathy" in their portrayals. Although it is a part of her character, it's commonly over-exaggerated or misplaced. Usually, George's lack of awareness is accidental. She lacks a lot of facts about the server and its members due to her sleeping for so long. Many people seem to think this is on purpose, as if she purposefully avoids events. This is incorrect. There are many examples of George trying to be a part of the main server. Some examples include: George wanting to build her house closer to the action and refusing to live with Sam because his home was too far away, clinging onto the vice president title despite easily being able to drop out after missing the elections, trying to help blow parts of L'manberg after the war, and her asking other characters for tours and updates. I could list a million more instances of George actively trying to join in on the lore despite not actually being able to contribute much, but it would take up too much of the blog.

So far, you have a character who is obsessed with power, strength, and titles. One who's very social and energetic, who tries to be a part of the server despite never being able to, who cares for her friends and property, and who wants to return to a more peaceful era.

So George isn't apathetic towards events, but what about towards other characters? For the most part, people who portray her as not caring for others is completely accurate. George doesn't care about other people being hurt/dying or about countries exploding. Especially if these things are in her interest. George only reacts negatively to her own countries and friends being hurt or threatened. This is most noticeable during the godhood stream, where George becomes panicked when Dream talks about destroying Kinoko. George also worries when Sapnap and Dream get in an argument during the dethronement, repeatedly asking them why they're fighting. She also tends to defend her friends from mobs, showing that she has care for their safety.

There are, however, instances of George having a strange care for L'manberg. She seems upset about it's destructive but it's likely because she blames herself at least partially for it's destruction. That being said, she seemed to have a dislike for new L'manberg and only cares for the Manberg era of the country (likely because she was in power.)

Is that all there is to George's character? No, of course not. George is a very complex character and these are only her base characteristics. Unfortunately, this is getting long and probably hard to understand. So, I'll leave it here for now and in the next portion I'll talk about the dream lore and what it tells us about her character.

Also

I hate writing my thoughts down. So I actually might not ever speak again. Especially because nobody fucking cares about this character. UGH.

[aixeko]

I need to write more for my soulmate AHEM Kafka, I did her so dirty in my first ever fanfic I swear.

I miss the Kafka hype so much, IT'S BEEN A YEARR KAFKA COME BACKKK. This woman has been my obsession for so long that atp she's engraved into my soul. This woman got me researching criminal psychology, animating + drawing her, and being the reason why I picked up writing again. I got a mini shrine (planning to expand it soon) for her, and a phone case, and every time new content drops I start acting like a stray animal.

You don't know how ballistic I was when I found out this woman got a hand tattoo like I manifested that shit with my fic title. Kafka's coat and makeup went off and my clothes went with it, like how can this woman be so god damn majestic. She's so feminine and masculine simultaneously like my baby can pull off both genders urghgbss.

She is the only character who I had ever analyzed every little detail of, and heck I can still miss some. From the way she talks to the way she acts, it is all so abstract but that's what makes her so enticing.

I worship the ground she walks on like who wouldn't?? No Hoyoverse character has me in such a chokehold as Kafka does. I swear on my LIFE that if they butcher Kafka's character or don't give her some sort of grand entrance after over a year of literal crumbs then I will lose it.

If they reduce her character to what they did with Jane Doe I swear I'm going to commit… They're both so mischaracterized like they both fit in with the "Femme Fatale" troupe but often time their seductive and flirtatious nature is the most prominent in the eyes of the fandoms rather than what lay inside those lackluster one dimensional persona.

And because of this I will forever hate the mommy/daddy kink like lord I got both issues and I do not want to be calling the love of my life the title MEANT for the one who gave birth to me. I can endure it to some extent but it is just fucking weird as hell, of course this is just my perspective on it and honestly as long as it don't overshadow the character itself than I couldn't care less.

Anyway, in conclusion Kafka is my lord and savior. Waiting patiently (not) for her glorious return, and manifesting for more eidolons so I can hopefully get her E6 before 2024 ends or something.

[plethoraworldatlas]

Do you remember President Biden's swift and strong response when pro-Israel extremists reportedly blasted the chemical weapon "skunk spray" on students peacefully protesting at Columbia University earlier this year? Do you remember how the White House condemned the attack, demanded accountability, and called on the school to protect students from such hate?

No? You don't remember? Of course you don't. Because none of it happened. President Biden didn't respond swiftly or strongly to the skunk spray attack. He didn't respond at all.

How about President Biden's response when a Texas man hurled racist slurs at a group of Palestinian Americans after a ceasefire protest at the University of Texas in Austin, ripped a Palestinian flagpole off their car, dragged one of them out of the backseat, and stabbed him?

Then again, the White House said nothing—even after our civil rights and advocacy organization directly alerted the White House about the incident.

The Biden administration's silence is nothing new.

On Stanford University’s campus, a driver yelling"F—k you and your people" reportedly used his car to ram an Arab Muslim student attending a ceasefire protest, sending him to the hospital. No response from the White House.

At the University of Texas, pro-Israel extremists disrupted a Palestine Solidarity Committee meeting and hurled profanities at the attendees. No response.

In Arizona, Texas, Georgia, New York and other states, law enforcement agencies have brutalized students and even professors who attended peaceful protests against the genocide in Gaza. Again, no response.

Now contrast the White House's lack of response to violent actions motivated by anti-Palestinian hate with the White House's vocal response to inflammatory words that a small number of individuals have allegedly made at or near pro-ceasefire protests on college campuses.

“I condemn the antisemitic protests, that’s why I set up a program to deal with that,” the president said, broadly mischaracterizing the sit-ins led mostly by Jewish and Palestinian students.

In a statementmarking Passover, Biden said, “Even in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews. This blatant antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous – and it has absolutely no place on college campuses or anywhere in our country.”

Just this week, the White House condemned protesters at Columbia for taking over Hamilton Hall—something students protesting the Vietnam War did, which the school now celebrates on its website—and curiously declared the use of a banner with the Arabic word "intifada" hate speech.

At the same time, the White House conveniently ignored the fact that most prominent banner displayed was "Hind's Hall," named after the 6-year-old girl murdered by Israeli forces while waiting for medics—also murdered—to save her.

Hypocrisy does not begin to describe the White House's inconsistency, which extends well beyond college campuses.

Last fall, the White House rushed to falsely claim that ceasefire protesters in Philadelphia were antisemitic for demonstrating outside a kosher restaurant—the protesters actually targeted the business because it held a fundraiser benefiting the IDF.

But the White House said nothing when protesters at November's March for Israel chanted genocidal slogans. On the contrary, a prominent Biden administration official spoke at the march, sharing the stage with notoriously anti-Muslim and antisemitic pastor John Hagee.

While the administration is quick to condemn any allegation of antisemitism at protests, whether verified or manufactured, the administration has repeatedly failed to condemn verified incidents of anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia on college campuses (not to mention the antisemitism that pro-Israel extremists have directed at Jewish students advocating for a ceasefire, such as calling them "kapos.")

...

By instead validating slanders against pro-Palestinian protesters and downplaying anti-Palestinian racism on college campuses, the Biden administration has sent a signal that the hurt feelings of pro-war students who cannot tolerate hearing any criticism of the Israeli government are more worthy of attention than the violated rights and injured bodies of anti-war students.

The administration also gave law enforcement agencies and pro-Israel mobs cover to escalate their targeting of students, leading to horrific attacks on students at the University of California Los Angeles.

This inconsistency—this utter hypocrisy—must end. If President Biden is going to comment on every controversy that erupts at a protest or on a college campus, he must do so with moral consistency. He can start by condemning the ongoing efforts to defame and brutalize anti-genocide students before we see more attacks on protesters or, God forbid, a repeat of the Kent State massacre.

Just like during Vietnam, a young generation of students is on the right side of history. It's long past time for President Biden to join them.

[lies-unfurl]

I’m bored so I’ll ask politely to please spill the tea what people said in that discord (I can already imagine but I’m noisy so) only if you want to ofc

lol. I actually did take screenshots before I left. I'm not posting them rn because I don't feel like inviting that level of wank; however, I'm mentioning it in advance because I know there's a nonzero chance this will get crossposted to the Discord, and I want to be clear that I referenced what was actually said, and I don't believe I'm taking things out of context or mischaracterizing the conversation.

Anyway, in a nutshell:

Earlier this month, there deadass were people claiming that Sam should've been nicer to John, and that it was understandable Bucky didn't like John, but not Sam, since Sam and Steve "weren't that close." More people agreed with them. I pushed back politely, and later regretted not being more blunt (the person who posted the original comment then, out of nowhere, brought up how much they hated the Dora Milaje, so, uh, yeah).

That's not super relevant, but it's background for that a) I was already side-eying the server, and b) I told myself if a similar situation arose, I should stop playing into the "Cult of Nice" bs and just say what I meant.

The subject of the tag change got brought up. The person who first posted about it said there was a lot of racism in the AO3 tumblr post notes... and then said the change was "great for filtering" and "nay sayers go sit down," so apparently they thought the people talking about racism were being racist? Honestly, idk.

Anyway. That kind of set the tone. The vast majority of responses agreed it was good. I said it was "dogshit." Things devolved.

There were some people saying they just didn't like Steve and were glad to be able to filter him out. I pointed out that there were thousands of fics that were now mistagged, plus the racist implications of defaulting all fics to the white Captain America. People disagreed, both about the racism and also about the fics being mistagged, since CA:BNW isn't out yet, so all Cap!Sam fics can only be in conversation with the existing movies?

I should mention that, while obviously I don't think they were lying about disliking Steve, from what I could tell, all or most of the people involved don't create fanworks that prominently feature Sam. Like, it seemed like they genuinely could not understand why people are upset about their Sam!Cap stories being tagged with CEvans.

And then one of the people involved (who I think is actually one of the mods) just straight-up claimed that the first three movies were a completely separate fandom, and, "Sam is literally the only crossover" between them. And then, "I think it's better to make the split now and let Sam have a chance to finally grow his own dedicated tag and fandom (and he is a different character so he has a different fanbase and that's okay, it's not racist for some people to enjoy reading Sam-centric fic and not Steve-centric fic or vice versa) than forever make him live in the shadow of Steve and Bucky, which honestly seems worse."

And that was it for me. Yeah, I could've been nicer. But being told that Sam needs to be allowed to grow his own fandom when he??? fucking has a fandom already???? To be honest, I also could have been much, much meaner than I was.

Anyway. It went on for awhile, until the mod gave this condescending-ass response that, "There will be some growing pains and adjustment at first but now there's going to be a way for people who want to read those types of fics to easily find them. Which is a good thing!"

And then I just said I didn't know what I expected from that place and left lol.

[blnk338]

Your analysis on Soap is on point. It's prominent in rwys even without the extra paragraphs, so you don't have to worry about it at all. But it is fucking annoying seeing the mischaracterization in the community, at least to me. Sure, it's funny the first few times but after continuously portraying Soap as weak and goofy, I just kinda get annoyed, yannow?

That's the reason why I kept on reading rwys bc you did the characters justice lol

You wrote Gaz as an actual person??? I remember how happy I was when Reaper and him were freezing their asses off, talking about some mundane topics. 1) bc it was Reaper finally saying more than two words and 2) bc Gaz wasn't there just for some comedic relief or some shit.

And don't get me started on Ghost. I love every single aspect of how you portrayed him, and I could go on for fucking hours, most certainly. Both for him as his own character and the relationship developed between Reaper and him. That's some good fucking soup.

-card

thank you!!! :DD

i think i most often see gaz thrown in the back of fanfics and i really really fucking hate it-- OR I SEE HIM REPLACED WITH KONIG. it gets kinda questionable how people are willing to forget the only person of color within the 141-- like it fucks me up to think about

thank u for all of the kind words :))

[golurker]

i love emmet and ingo submas so much and seeing art of them but i also really dislike seeing the excessive amount of angst and sometimes (probably unintentionally) ableist mischaracterizations of them, especially with emmet whose canon autistic traits are a lot more prominent.

with emmet lots of people depict him as an unhinged dangerous yandere, when he’s actually very sweet cute kind and friendly fun-loving guy in canon. which is super shitty for sooo many reasons including the chronic mistreatment that real neurodivergent people are subjected to. but then some go to the opposite extreme and infantilize him and see him as mentally a child who completely depends on his brother when he’s in canon a capable adult who holds a high rank in a complicated and demanding job. he does in canon really love his brother and talks about him a lot but he doesn’t need him to take care of him. and this is also a frequent problem irl.

maybe i’m taking it a lil bit too seriously for a pair of silly guys from a pokemon game, but i hate seeing mischaracterization in general, and when it’s about characters that are important to so many people (especially those who see themselves in them) and, even worse, has the taste of ableism to it, i can’t help but get mad

[telehxhtrash]

GON FREECSS IS NOT INSANE (and the next person who says he is is getting their shins broken)

Hi ! Welcome to another one of my brainrot analysis, and this one is entirely fueled by my hatred of people who mischaracterize Gon. I keep on seeing people say that Gon is crazy, unhinged, a psychopathic monster who only plays a role of the innocent kid. 

He’s not.

Gon is a 12 year old with severe trauma due to his dad’s abandonment and unhealthy standards and with a chaotic moral compass forged by his childhood spent on an isolated island.

He’s not a sociopath, not a psychopath, not a monster, not unhinged. He’s just a 12yo thrown in a ruthless world where he has to constantly prove his worth to feel like he can live up to his dad’s expectations. 

We’re so used to seeing shounen protagonists be happy, go-lucky characters who never suffer any real mental consequences from their past or adventures that some people have a hard time realizing that it’s just not realistic. 

Gon is a realistic portrayal of what happens to an abandoned child tossed in a merciless world where he constantly has to prove his worth. And of course, it’s not pretty. It’s terrifying to see Gon’s evolution, and it’s scary to see him slowly lose it. But it doesn’t make him a monster. It makes him feel human. 

Gon is introduced as this happy, cheery, stubborn kid who never backs down from a fight and likes the thrill of putting his life in danger. Which is…. normal in the shonen world, I’d say. But it’s really not normal for a 12yo, and when you take all the following events into account, it’s clear that Gon is not a normal shonen protagonist.

Gon is a very, very stubborn kid, and we get to see that very early in the manga. The one event that strikes me the most is during his face-off with Hanzo. 

Gon gets absolutely destroyed. He’s pretty much getting tortured, with Hanzo breaking his left arm and threatening to cut off the rest of his limbs if he doesn’t surrender. But Gon doesn’t back down. And it’s terrifying. 

No matter how much pain he’s in, no matter the consequences, he refuses to give up. 

Because he hates being seen as weak.

Gon refuses to show any hint of weakness, and gets extremely mad whenever people perceive him as such. It doesn’t matter what the consequences are, he will NEVER back down. He’ll never be weak, even if it kills him.

And we’ve seen this a lot throughout the manga. Right after he shows his Ren to Tsezguerra during the Greed Island interview, Gon is pissed because he felt like he was being treated like trash. Same thing during early Chimera Ant Arc, when Kite tells Gon and Killua to fight Rammott, Gon gets really, really mad when Kite implies that if they can’t defeat him, that means they’re weak. 

Gon really, really struggles with being perceived as weak. It’s the one thing he hates the most. That’s why he’s stubborn about this and never backs down even if it costs him his life : he wants to prove his worth. He feels that need to prove he’s not weak, to prove he’s not trash. 

Weakness is not an option. He has to get stronger and stronger and stronger, because at the end of the road lies his goal : Ging.

And to me, Ging explains Gon’s most prominent character traits. Because Ging not only created those traits, but he also enabled them.

In shonen anime, oftentimes, the main protagonist’s dad is out of the picture, but it never truly has any impact on the character’s mental state or behavior. This is not the case in Hunter x Hunter.

Ging leaving left Gon with deep, deep trauma, and an extremely distorted view on his self-worth that leads him to overcompensate with physical strength. 

When a child gets abandoned, they usually blame themselves. It creates that feeling of guilt, that maybe their parent left because of them, and that they weren’t and AREN’T important for them to just walk out like this.

This feeling of guilt and shame creates a twisted self esteem in that child, making them believe that they aren’t important, that they aren’t of value. That they aren’t worth anything. Because their parents left them, it surely had to do with them, right ?

Gon has that distorted self-esteem that a child experiences after being abandoned. He has absolutely 0 value over his own body, constantly breaking it, pushing it past its limit to reach his goals, and this lack of self-worth and need to prove his worth is oftentimes represented physically by Gon hurting/losing his arm. 

Everytime Gon loses/hurts his arm, it’s always after doing something out of need for validation. In Hunter Exam Arc, it’s right after refusing to let Hanzo win. In Heaven’s Arena Arc, it’s after he uses zetsu to win, no matter the consequences. In Yorknew Arc, Gon gets his hand destroyed by Nobunaga/his arm almost broken off by Feitan after he stood up to them. In Greed Island, Gon loses his hand for the sole purpose of training. And lastly, in Chimera Ant Arc, he loses his arm entirely after destroying Pitou in an attempt to ease his guilt.

Gon really struggles with his self-worth, and it’s also illustrated during the time they’re held hostage by Nobunaga, when Killua insists that he’ll stop his blade so that Gon can escape, even if it costs him his life. To which Gon replies with a sentence that is extremely crucial to be able to understand Gon’s character.

”I can say I’ll die, but you can’t !”

Gon values Killua’s life more than his own. He gets to talk about death, he gets to be hurt, he gets to put his life in danger, because it’s fine if he does it, but Killua is absolutely not allowed to. Gon has absolutely no value over his own life, and doesn’t care if he dies. He doesn’t care if he gets hurt. Because at the end of the day, his body is not of value, and I truly believe that Ging’s abandonment left him with a feeling that he wasn’t of value as a whole.

And to me, this broken sense of self-worth is what created Gon’s hatred of being seen as weak. Because if he shows weakness, then Ging was right to abandon him. If he’s weak, then that means he’s trash, and worth nothing. If he doesn’t live up to his dad’s expectation, then what’s the point ? He’d mean nothing. He’d be no one. Just a small island boy whose dad left because his job was more interesting. That’s why he has to prove his worth no matter what.

Finding Ging is like this Holy Grail to Gon. It’s the ultimate goal. Like Kite said the first time he met him, it’s the ultimate hunt. It’s something that proves you’re worthy. So of course, Gon has to do everything in his power to find him. Because he wants to prove his worth. He wants to find his dad and prove that he’s not weak.

And to me, that’s why Gon is so stubborn and self-destructive.

I mentioned that Hanzo fight earlier, and there’s something interesting that happens during that fight that can be used to illustrate this. 

Hanzo asks why Gon is so stubborn, why he refuses to back down when he could just lose this match and face someone else. It’s true, Gon could have easily given up and fought someone else, he could’ve won then. But he refused to even consider the possibility. He had to win THIS fight. But why ? Is it out of pride ? Is it out of pure stubbornness ? 

Well, as Gon says himself :

It has nothing to do with pride or being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn. It’s easy. If he shows weakness once, he’s not worthy. He’s not worthy of finding Ging, and he’s worth less than trash. Because if he’s weak, he doesn’t deserve to find him.

And this is so, so important. Because this is the reason Gon never backs down from anything, even at the cost of his limbs. Because like he said, if he loses, he thinks that he won’t be able to meet Ging. So he has to do ANYTHING, anything at all, no matter the cost, to be able to find him.

That’s why he’s not backing down from the Hanzo fight at the cost of his arm. That’s why he’s using zetsu during his fight against Gido, even if it’s dangerous, because that’s what he has to do to get stronger. That’s why he purposefully blasts off his own hand during his fight with Genthru. Because he has to get stronger, no matter the cost. 

And Ging enables him. By making him feel like Gon has to “earn” the right to see him, Ging is fueling Gon’s self-destructive behavior. 

Ging enables him when he tells him that he has to hunt him to find him, that he doesn’t want to see him and that he’ll run away when he senses him coming. That cat and mouse game is putting extreme pressure on Gon’s shoulders. His dad expects great things of him. He expects strength, and he expects him to find him. It’s a challenge. And an unhealthy one.

Greed Island is another example of that unhealthy challenge and the pressure of Ging’s expectations. Greed Island was created for Gon. It was created to train him, and as Bisky says herself :

If Gon wants to see Ging, he has to be strong. He has to always be stronger and stronger so he can earn the right to see him.

Quoting one of my references here, but this is also a form of abandonment that fuels Gon’s self destructive behavior.

All of these expectations put extreme pressure on Gon’s shoulders. Because he has to keep on pushing further and further, always improving, always getting stronger, and he’s not allowed to show weakness because it’d mean losing his goal.

But showing weakness wouldn’t only mean he’d lose his goal. Being weak would also mean he’d lose Killua.

I mentioned that when a child gets abandoned, they fear it’s their fault and develop a broken sense of self-worth. But that’s not all. After having been hurt, it’s normal to try and minimize the risk of being hurt again. You’d do anything to not be walked out on again. And that’s what Gon is doing. His fear of vulnerability and weakness is a fear of rejection and abandonment.

That’s also why Gon hates being seen as weak. Because if he’s weak, not only is he not living up to his dad’s expectations, but he’s also running the risk of Killua walking out on him. Because he’s scared that if he shows weakness, Killua will leave him, just like Ging did. Because he’s not strong enough to keep him, or anyone by his side.

And to make up for that overwhelming feeling of insecurity and his guilt over being weak, Gon overcompensates with physical strength and stubbornness. We’ve seen it multiple times throughout the manga. Gon purposefully gets hurt when facing a dangerous situation, just so he can prove his worth. Just so he can get stronger. 

Gon overcompensates and takes everything onto his shoulders for this sole purpose of proving he’s worthy of staying.

Take the dodgeball match during Greed Island arc. There’s an interesting thing happening during the match that says a lot about Gon.

When Killua almost gets killed by Razor, it makes Gon’s blood boil. He’s furious and enraged that Razor dared try to hurt Killua. Because Killua has NOTHING to do with this. He’s only here because of Gon, and here he is, risking his life for him. Razor is putting Killua’s life in danger because of Gon. And that makes Gon go feral. 

But the most interesting line happens here :

“I have to crush him completely”

Gon completely shuts off Killua at this point. He says HE has to be the one to crush him completely. He’s taking this responsibility onto himself, he has to be the one to defeat Razor, it’s his role. His and no one else’s.

And to me, that’s another sign of overcompensation fueled by abandonment issues. Gon feels guilt at what just happened. Killua shouldn’t have to risk his life to hang out with Gon. He has nothing to do with this, he’s only here because he wants to, and it drives Gon mad that Razor is trying to hurt him when it has nothing to do with him.

So because he feels guilt, because him not being able to protect Killua fully is a sort of weakness, he overcompensates with strength and by wanting to handle everything alone.

He affirms that he will take the responsibility of winning against Razor. It’s his fault Killua almost got hurt, so he has to bear the consequences alone. He has to make things right, no matter the cost. He has to show strength. He has to prove his worth.

Because what if Killua left him because he wasn’t strong enough?

I think this situation illustrates pretty well Gon’s trauma-fueled thought process :

• “It’s my fault this is happening because I’m too weak” (sparked by his twisted self-worth due to his abandonment issues)

• “So I have to bear the consequences alone” (to prove his worth as to not be abandoned again)

• “I won’t back down under any circumstance because my life has no value” (because of his lack of self-worth once again)

And this pattern is found in any situation in the manga. When Gon lets Kon scratch his arm until he bleeds to keep Kite from killing him, he’s doing it because it’s his fault Kon’s mom had to die. When Gon refuses to back down from Hanzo’s fight as he keeps breaking multiple parts of his body, he’s doing it because he believes that if he’s weak and backs down he won’t be worth seeing Ging. When Razor almost kills Killua, Gon flips out and emphasizes that he has to crush Razor because it’s his fault Killua is here and he won’t back down on kicking Razor’s ass.  And that’s why when Kite dies and Gon sees his mangled body, he tells Killua “I’m taking on that one (Pitou) alone” : because Kite got hurt because of his weakness, Gon has to make amends in any way possible.

That’s why Gon hurts himself, that’s why he’s constantly putting everything on his shoulders : he has no value over his own life. He’s focused on proving he’s worth something at any cost.

And those escalating feelings of insecurity and this behavioral pattern are exactly why Gon broke down during Chimera Ant Arc. Because everything that was piling up went crumbling down when he saw Kite’s arm being cut off. Because he was weak for an instant.

It was his fault. It was his fault, because he was weak, because he couldn’t defend Kite, because even though Kite had just lost a limb, he was still stronger than both Gon and Killua combined. If he had just trained harder, if he had put his life on the line more, if he pushed himself past his limit, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. It was his fault. 

At that precise moment when Kite’s arm got severed, every single insecurity that Gon had from the beginning of this manga is flooding in. Gon feels weak, he feels guilt, he feels like all of this is his fault. He feels like he wasn’t enough.

And because it’s his fault, he has to take everything on his shoulders. He has to be the one to bear the weight of his mistake alone. He has to be the one to carry the burden. Just like that dodgeball match.

Because he just lost everything. He showed weakness once, and everything crumbled. He had just gotten his dad’s student hurt, and that weakness meant that he also just lost his goal of finding Ging. Because now that he showed a hint of weakness, Ging would never want to see him. Gon had just lost everything. His mentor, his goal, and his weakness might drive Killua away too. 

That’s why he put everything on his shoulder and vowed to make things right. Because he wanted to prove to himself, to Ging, to Kite, and more importantly to Killua that he could do this alone. That he wasn’t a failure. That he wasn’t weak. That he was worthy of staying. 

That’s why when he sees Kite’s mangled body, he tells Killua that he’s taking onto Pitou alone. Because it’s his responsibility. He has to make things right. It was his fault for being weak. It’s his fault Kite got hurt.

And at that moment, Gon probably already knew that he wouldn’t stop at any cost. Because it was a quest to assuage his guilt. It was a quest to make things right and prove that he wasn’t weak, that he could fix things, that he was still worthy of Kite and Ging and Killua. That he wasn’t a failure. So he pushed past his limit. Took everything onto his shoulders. Pushed Killua away, because it has nothing to do with him. It’s his own mistake, not Killua’s. 

Him going after Pitou is his attempt at redemption, a plea for help. A plea for someone to realize his worth. A plea to not be abandoned again.

And that’s why Gon is not a monster. He’s just a terrified child. 

During Chimera Ant Arc, he’s bottling up his feelings of inadequacy and guilt just so he could attempt to fix the mess he created, attempting to carry everything on his shoulders alone, because he can’t afford to drag anyone else into his mess, especially not Killua.

Gon is not a monster for pushing Killua away. It is not a sign of him being unhinged or manipulative. It’s an act of protection. An act of love, his way of saying “This is my mess and I have to fix this, I can’t let you get hurt for my sake.”. It’s the desperate attempt of a broken 12 year old to try and make things right.

Gon is not a monster because he threatened Komugi. It was a desperate attempt at regaining a sense of control on the situation. 

Because Gon’s morality has always been weird, it broke him to see Pitou heal Komugi. He couldn’t comprehend why something he categorized as evil was doing something as pure as healing. Just like that time during York New Arc ! Gon couldn’t understand why Chrollo was mourning the death of one of his members when he showed no remorse relentlessly killing innocent people. This inability to understand that bad people can do good things already broke Gon during YN arc, and it happened again during Chimera Ant Arc. 

He had nowhere to put his anger. All this time, he created this mental picture of Pitou in his head, this one where they’re an evil, evil villain who could never do anything good, he classified them as bad and that was that. But faced with them performing a pure act of healing, it broke Gon. He had no outlet for his anger.

So he did what a 12 year old with a broken sense of worth and a need for validation would do : he overcompensated with even more anger.

In a desperate attempt at regaining a bit of control on the situation, his last resort was to threaten an innocent life. To take her hostage. 

Because if he couldn’t make things right, he’d just lost everything. No matter the cost. No matter what happens. He had to do this. He had to ease his guilt.

Gon is not a monster because he sacrificed his life. He’s not a monster because he turned into an adult version of himself. He’s not a monster because he bashed Pitou’s skull in until it was mush. It was the actions of a broken boy who had nothing left. Who had just lost everything. Because Kite wasn’t hurt, he was DEAD. He was dead by his fault, it was his fault. He had nothing else to live for, because he was weak and lost everything. 

So he decided to kill himself to take down Pitou. Because he didn’t deserve to live. And this “fight” with Pitou wasn’t even to avenge Kite’s death. It was an attempt to ease his guilt. To feel a little better, because he might’ve lost everything, but at least he took down Pitou with him. 

I’m not condemning Gon’s actions or excusing them. At all. He made mistakes, and committed actions that are hard to excuse. But it was out of despair. It came out of years of pent up trauma and insecurities. His actions were a cry for help.

Gon didn’t “snap” out of nowhere. He always felt weak and insecure, he always had a broken sense of self-worth that led him to be self-destructive and overcompensate by taking everything onto his shoulders.

Chimera Ant Arc just pushed him past his limit. But this darkness, this plea for help, this trauma was always there in Gon’s heart. But it doesn’t mean he’s crazy. He’s just a child with abandonment issues and deep trauma.

To summarize, Ging’s physical and emotional abandonment left Gon with deep wounds that reflected in his behavior. Gon feels weak and insecure, he has no self-worth and a deep need to prove his value which leads him to constantly exhibit self-destructive behavior for the sole purpose of living up to his dad’s expectations and proving his worth. 

Gon feels the need to prove his worth and handle everything alone in an attempt to appear strong, and this unhealthy standards he puts onto himself and that Ging’s behavior enables are what ultimately led to his breakdown.

Because when Kite’s arm flew off, so did Gon’s entire reason to exist. 

He blamed himself for it, cursed his weakness and desperately attempted to make things right no matter the cost. Even if it meant death. Because death is better than being weak. Death is better than the guilt of having let his mentor down. Death is better than being rejected by his dad for his mistake. Death is better than being abandoned by his best friend.

And this deep, suffocating agony is what led Gon to act the way he did during Chimera Ant Arc.

It wasn’t the acts of a crazy, psychopathic monster. It was the act of a kid, desperately pleading for help.

But this breakdown was a good thing. No, really, it was. It was necessary.

Chimera Ant Arc was written to break down Gon to his core, to break his character in the worst possible way to annihilate the toxic traits he had.

His stubbornness, fear of weakness and self-destructive behavior were always going to break him in the end. But now that he knows what happens when you let all of this take over, it won���t happen again.

Gon is back to square one. Clean start, new beginning. Back to Whale Island with no nen, no goal, and with his best friend gone. 

And while some people might see this as depressing, or a sign that Gon didn’t change at all during the manga, it’s actually the exact opposite. It represents a second chance.

It’s the purest form of second chance he can get. He’s back to zero, and he has a blank canvas to be able to fix every wrong he made in the past.

With no nen, he now has the opportunity to learn it the proper way, taking his time to enjoy the process, learning it for pure purposes and not rushing to get stronger for the sole purpose of proving his worth.

With no goal, he’s free to find something that he wants to do for himself, not live in Ging’s shadow. He gets to be who he wants to be, with no unhealthy expectations.

With Killua gone, he gets to reflect on their relationship. He gets to realize the wrongs he’s made, the what-ifs and lost opportunities, he gets to realize how much Killua means to him. 

This second chance is not a curse, it’s a blessing. Because it’s exactly what Gon needed to be able to heal. 

And I’m willing to bet that this will be Gon’s final character arc : healing. We’ll get to see Gon act in ways that highlight how much he’s changed, showcasing his growth. When he was stubborn, hot-headed and impulsive, he’ll have learned to be more calm and composed. When he was always looking to prove his worth and look for strength, he’ll have learned that his true value lies in who he is and in the little detours of his travels. 

He’ll be more calm, won’t put himself in danger for the sake of being stronger, he won’t drag Killua in impossible situations where he has to clean up the mess. He won’t hurt his arm, which was the physical representation of his trauma. He’ll have grown.

Because that’s what HxH is ultimately about. Togashi is all about deconstructing and reconstructing his characters to show growth and healing from trauma. To show that tragedy happens, but at the end of the day, you can overcome your worst traits. At the end of the day, you can become a better person, no matter what.

EDIT : I actually wrote a post on how I believe Gon’s next character arc was foreshadowed here.

Thank you for reading this ! I hope it was all clear and that I expressed my thoughts correctly, without mischaracterizing Gon.

Full disclaimer that I am NOT a psychologist and I’m not attempting to diagnose Gon, I’m just linking the signs of emotional trauma due to abandonment issues to his character in an attempt to explain his actions.

Please feel free to give me your thoughts or criticism ! 

References : 

• “Understanding the pain of abandonment” 

• “How to overcome abandonment issues from childhood”

Those two articles are the foundation of my meta. They’re extremely interesting articles that show all the signs of abandonment on a child’s behavior, and it showcases the consequences of both emotional and physical abandonment on their self-worth. 

• “Fear of vulnerability and learning to trust again”

[zsocca55]

this might be a weird question, but do you have any opinions on Hungary's characterization or anything that annoys you about her character/anything you find fitting about her character?

Thank you for the question!

I thought about it and wondered if you meant Hidekaz’s characterization or the fandom characterization, so in the end I collected a few thoughts on both. (I’m a history teacher graduate by the way so I feel like I have more insight than an average person but my opinion is still just an opinion and not something that should be taken too seriously.)

Hidekaz’s characterization of Hungary: I find this approach quite appropriate. The whole story about ‘Hungary thinking she was a boy and then found out she is in fact not’ works surprisingly well with the way our historians describe how Hungary used to be a serious power in Central Europe until the second half of Middle Ages came and she somehow got stuck behind. Simply put, the male countries around her grew stronger as puberty hit, haha.

But from a historian point of view, Hungary is considered a very masculine nation in characteristics, even today. And this is shown in the series too.

Also her emotional, easy to anger and aggressive nature fits Hungarians quite well. One thing is slightly off though: Hungarians are not this happy-go-lucky on a daily basis. In the series she is shown as somewhat an optimist with a bright smile on her face all the time. Meanwhile in reality, even we admit is, we are pessimistic, hard to approach, borderline gloomy, and we complain a lot. You could say an average Hungarian is whiny. Bad habit, and we often call ourselves out for it. We have a harsh tongue and we critique ourselves a lot. (And other nations too if they hurt us in some way. Oh and we hold grudges forever. We don’t forget. We will bring it up. Again and again.)

Hungary’s realtionship with other nations is also an interesting thing in the series. Historically, we have very little to do with Prussia. Germany is an other case, as Hungarians tend to worship germans for some reason (if something is german-made it surely is the best etc.) and we show unique respect towards them when they visit our country.

Poland is a beloved nation, our best friend, as we have often fought for each other and refused to attack the other during world wars. But this isn’t shown in the series at all. I miss this, as Hungarian-Polish interactions happen on a daily basis, especially in the online world. This missed opportunity is the biggest disappointment I find regarding Hungary’s interactions.

Lets not forget Austria too, as he deserves a spot in our history books....yeah, he takes a lot of pages. Here is another little mischaracterization in our relationship: Hungarians and Austrians had a love-hate thing with each other. Austria was controlling, Hungary was rebellious. But in the end, when Austria was in trouble, we would dive headfirst into battle and save him, or just intentionally miss opportunities to backstab him. Hungary wanted her freedom but she also never wanted to quit his Empire. It’s....complicated? We are fascinated with him, though. One could say an average Hungarian envies an average Austrian and wishes they could live there. We also call them “in-laws” for being family. They call us their “favorite neighbours” and sometimes refer to us as family too.

That thing about generally not liking Romanians is true as well. Ugly things happen even nowadays. It’s all because of Transylvania. It’s a touchy topic.

So yeah, all in all, her character and her relationships are more or less on spot.

Fandom characterization of Hungary: The palette is broad, so I try to point out the most prominent trends I’ve noticed.

Aside from the fact that her gender role is all over the place, people like to think in extremes so she is either written as the girliest girl or an overconfident tomboy. In my opinion she is neither. She has embraced her femininity but she also knows her strength and isn’t afraid to show it. No need to overthink that.

As for historical accuracy, I noticed that an average fan usually doesn’t do enough background check when writing her character. It’s not like I say someone’s required to read a whole history book just to get her character right, but at least her correct name (which is one of the sore points for me) and the main national traumas should be kept in mind before writing Hungary. These are the things that had shaped her way of thinking and these are what make her tick. Even today, Hungarians are quick to get offended when their national traumas get ignored or disrespected. These traumas are: Ottomans (Turkey), Habsburgs (Austria), Soviets (Russia) and the worst of all Trianon. So when writing interactions with her and these characters listed, one should thread carefully and do some research.

Otherwise, I find the slightly mischievous, soul of the party characterization of her appealing and on point. Hungarians aren’t all that bad, we know how to get some fun afterall! :D

But again, everything is up to interpretation and there is some place for author’s creativity too! I hope I answered your question! :)

[funshinebf]

see i like shipping cause i genuinely think some characters have good chemistry, but i hate the version of shipping thats so prominent nowadays where like. characters are shoved into roles they dont fit in. like, one thing that always gets me is evil aus. when a character's main trait is that theyre good, they want to do good, and then you take that away, whats left? it isnt the same character anymore. or when people see a larger man and a smaller man and immediately make the smaller man feminine and helpless (and often headcanonned as transmasc) but make the larger man like basically the smaller one's caretaker. it happens all the time and it isnt genuine to the characters like 80% of the time. i can hardly read fanfiction anymore cause ill read something and just go, "that wasnt (characters)" cause so many people purposefully mischaracterize them just so they can shove them into certain clichés or tropes that have been done millions of times

[autisticcassandracain]

🔥 kori

dickkory sucks but not for any of the reasons dickkory haters say it sucks. most dickkory hate is literally just ppl hating on kori disguised as a 'personal opinion' on ships and usually those opinions make it extremely obvious that they never bothered to like, actually read The New Teen Titans lmao. 'dickkory was mostly sexual' is especially a terrible take because not only is it blatantly untrue, it's also based in the slut-shaming Kori has received over the years for being sexually open, and the mischaracterization she's received bc people saw an opportunity to reduce a female character to a sex object with a thin veil of plausible deniability in the form of 'characterization' and took it.

Most arguments against dickkory I've seen focus on the idea that Kori didn't offer Dick much, which is HILARIOUS because you have a MUCH better argument for the reverse, which is exactly what I will now proceed to argue.

got long, is under the cut, you know the drill. TL;DR Kori and Dick's relationship was badly built up, Kori provides more emotional support for Dick than Dick provides for Kori, Kori was more important to Dick's development than Dick was to Kori, and I don't think it's ever even been stated why Kori likes Dick.

Also donnakory was built up way better than dickkory and I'd argue Donna has had more of an influence on Kori than Dick ever did. That last one isn't explained in-depth it's just important to me that you know this.

Dick and Kori barely interacted prior to getting together, and yet we were supposed to believe this narrative that Dick was definitely in love with Kori and just couldn't admit it. I literally did a double take the first time Kori mused to herself about being confused Dick 'wouldn't admit to being in love with her' like I'm sorry WHEN did that get established??? I'm too aro for 'love at first sight' bullshit you have to actually make them interact or I won't buy it. This lack of build-up was my first problem with dickkory, but I was willing to ignore it if the actual relationship appealed to me.

It didn't. Dick and Kori's relationship is marked by a pattern of what, to me, is incompatibility. Dick is the type of person who, when stresses, lashes out at others and pushes them away. He's seen doing this multiple times to Kori in The New Teen Titans, most notably shortly after they got together when he was stressed due to having too much on his plate, and in the Return to Tamaran/Karras/Marriage arc. Kori consistently reacts to this behavior by blaming herself for it. The first time, she comes to Donna to ask her if she's done anything wrong, after which Donna reassures her that Dick's just Like That, and Kori resolves to be as supportive as she can.

The second time bothers me much more; on Tamaran, Dick is so mean to her she ends up having a full-on breakdown, which she first seeks support for from Joey, but later, she just stays depressed until she can return to Earth. While Dick's behaviour was influenced by his brainwashing, we never get confirmation of how much of it was influenced, and on top of that, the comic repeatedly and consistently frames Kori as having 'hurt Dick' during this arc afterwards, making her say this repeatedly, while never refuting it or addressing the ways Dick has harmed Kori during this arc.

While Dick did man up and apologize in both circumstances (I think the second apology was lacking, but the first was quite good), it still established a pattern that I find uncomfortable. Dick is rude to Kori, Kori takes it personally and wonders what she's done wrong, Kori tries to talk it out with Dick, Dick snaps at her and pushes her away, but eventually realizes he's been mean and apologizes. What bothers me the most in this pattern is the part where Kori consistently blames herself for Dick's behaviour, and assumes she's done something wrong to make him behave this way. Every time this came up in the comics, it made me deeply uncomfortable, because I've seen enough real-life relationships with a very similar dynamic to this that were deeply unhealthy to make this set off all my alarm bells.

I want to stress that I don't think dickkory is actually unhealthy in canon, but it reminds me of enough unhealthy relationships I've known for me to be personally uncomfortable with it.

That's not the only part that reminds me of those relationships: I feel like Dick is getting way more out of this relationship than Kori. Kori is consistently shown to support Dick when he goes through tough situations, even when Dick responds by trying to push her away or being rude to her. Similarly, Dick has stated that Kori was the one who helped him open up about his emotions, and has had a tremendous positive effect on his character development as a result; he even goes so far as to name her one of the elements of his Nightwing identity. Kori pushes Dick to explore new areas of himself, and supports him when he has problems.

Dick, by contrast.... doesn't really do this with Kori. When Kori needed support, Dick was consistently either absent or actually rude to her. Again, this is most prominent during the Karras arc; during a time when Kori desperately needed someone to support her, Dick was only concerned with his own hurt feelings. And again, yes, he was brainwashed during this, but again, we never actually got confirmation on how much of this behaviour was due to brainwashing, and much of the writing afterwards framed Kori was the one in the wrong here, so my point stands. This was the singular most important moment Kori needed support, and Dick blew it, and the narrative basically let him off the hook for it.

The only time I can think of when Dick supported Kori in non-battle related situations was right after the Wildebeest arc in New Titans, but that was also the start of Kori's character massacre for the break up arc, so I don't exactly have fond memories of that. I'm sure there's been more minor moments where he's supported her that I'm forgetting, but I shouldn't have to have this much trouble coming up with times Dick has emotionally supported Kori.

Furthermore, Dick hasn't had a similar effect on Kori's character development to Kori's effect on Dick. While Kori did develop while she was with Dick, this wasn't really due to Dick. Her short-lived change of heart about the morality of murder was due to her personal experiences, and while Dick probably aided in this decision, so did Donna and even the rest of the Titans. It was not something that was uniquely Dick, the way Dick opening up about his emotions was uniquely Kori. Her distancing herself from Tamaran and embracing Earth was also not uniquely Dick, and was in fact a realization that mostly took place in his absence. Other parts of her character development follow this pattern.

I'm not saying Dick has had no effect on Kori's character progression, but he wasn't instrumental in it the way Kori was instrumental in his. Kori's character would've likely progressed in an extremely similar fashion even without him, and I can't say the same for Dick. If anyone influenced Kori's development in a similar way Dick influenced Kori's, it was Donna, who was the one to introduce her to Earth culture, supported her through various tough times and insecurities, helped her find a job (albeit it on accident) and frequently worked with her later, etc. etc. And even then, I don't think Donna's effect on Kori was quite as dramatic as Kori's effect on Dick.

The final nail in the coffin for any interest I may have had in dickkory is the fact that I, honest to god, have no idea why Kori likes Dick. I don't. Dick has several internal monologues about how much he loves Kori for her passion, her drive, her openness, and the way she pushes him to explore new parts of himself and open up, but Kori... doesn't really do the same for Dick. I can make guesses as to why I think Kori likes Dick, even fairly educated ones (I think Kori likes Dick at least in part because his intellectual approach to life is new and interesting to her, for example), but they've never stated it explicitly the way they've stated what Kori likes about Dick. And for a series that'll state practically everything explicitly if it can, up to and including what's happening on the panel right now, this is very weird to me.

Any of these problems, isolated, I could've gotten past; even a two of these problems I could've probably ignored. Three would've been pushing it, but all of them? No chance. Any good will I had towards the relationship was buried with the Karras arc, and then shot in the head for good measure when they continuously talked about it as if Kori was the one at fault there.

All of these problems combined make it very clear to me that Kori was not the primary concern in this relationship. Kori was invented as a love interest for Dick, and it shows. This entire relationship is about what it does for Dick, how it helps Dick. The only thing Kori gets out of it, at least to me, is the happiness she gets from being in love, and frankly, she could get that with literally any other character.

The fact that people keep reducing her character to this relationship also infuriates me and makes me even less inclined to like it, especially when they can't even bother to remember Kori was the one who broke up with Dick and instead treat Kori as the one who was left heartbroken and has never gotten over it, while Dick gets to move on with his life and other love interests.

I think this relationship had potential; I think their contrasting personalities could've made for an interesting relationship, and I've enjoyed some isolated moments and fandom portrayals of them before. But after reading The New Teen Titans, I just do not understand why so many Kori fans like this relationship so much. I went into the series neutral on the relationship but hopeful about being won over, to straight-up hating it.

Also that one time they used a relationship between a man who was about to shoot his wife for cheating on him as a direct and obvious parallel to dickkory was SO GODDAMN AWFUL. why the hell did they think that was a good idea. why.

[southslates]

a rant about the saturation of zvkka fandom

as a tyzula shipper i get really surprised by how the most popular lgbt/wlw atla ship before the renaissance fell off when it started; to the point where tyzula fandom still exists but it’s much smaller and constantly made fun of for being abusive 

and i think this is in part because of purity culture, where there can’t be nuance in anything and therefore tyzula is abusive and we can’t ship it! but i also think that as @army-of-mai-lovers outlined in this amazing post ty lee and azula aren’t love interests for any of the boys in the show, especially sokka and zuko, so content for them doesn’t need to exist because they simply don’t need to be sidelined. most tyzula content that exists is tyzula centric; not maiko or sukka or kataang or zutara centric, but tyzula centric. it explores ty lee and azula as characters because their chemistry is seen

you can see that most of the popular wlw atla ships in the renaissance are at least partly characterized by their relationship w zvkka, and clearly i have a lot of problems with that fandom, least of them all being the times i’ve been called a homophobe for disliking it. and one really large issue i have with zvkka fandom in general is its saturation of atla content to the point that it’s sidelined into a different au, that so many shippers see zvkka in atla when it just . . . isn’t there. it wasn’t the most popular ship before the renaissance because for fourteen years there just wasn’t . . . anything there. and i don’t know why it’s gotten popular, likely the help of some big name blogs (including the one that came up with homophobic katara) and the fact that fandom has started to really tend towards mlm ships more and more, and honestly good for zvkkas, the ship is cute, but uh

essentially just that even though zvkka has been the largest atla ship with the renaissance, it is not the most popular atla ship and it likely never will be because of that lack of longevity. there’s a lot of issues with misogyny and migratory mlm ships in fandom and i really, really see it here. zvkka fandom =/ atla fandom, atla has always and should always be more than about ships. of course i stick to mainly zutara/tyzula corners of fandom, which are super far removed from zvkka fandom in general for obvious reasons, but it’s almost sad to be entrenched in twitter and general tumblr fandom where people who’ve joined with the renaissance characterize zvkka as such a large feature of atla when atla as a fandom has always been surprisingly great with its characterization of women (atla specifically, ignoring lok etc). i’d never thought that the subtle misogyny would increase in the year 2020? and obviously as a zutara shipper i know that our fandom has had its issues with mai before, i am the last person to deny that, but i think that we are growing past it and trying to be better

one thing that i really hate seeing here is the idea that zvkka shippers “solved the ship war” by making zvkka larger than the kataang/zutara ship war. and i ship both zutara and kataang and one reason i absolutely hate this take is because i am in love with the fact that for fifteen years, whatever side you were on, atla discourse was about katara, what the brown woman in the show deserved. you can’t solve a ship war by shoe-horning her into kataang because that’s easy for your ship, because you’re just throwing away her agency and the entire point of the ship war. i actually pity a lot of people who mainly ship kataang because kataang; a ship between an asian monk and brown woman, which is canonically good representation, which is canon, is being pushed aside and made a sideship for a completely fanon mlm ship

maybe there’s a fetishization aspect in there? like i hate to make broad claims but the amount of zvkka nsfw for one, and then all the incredibly racist tropes i’ve seen there; the infantilization and feminization of zuko and the way sokka is supposed to be a big strong man or something just reeks of racism, especially when written by white people. it just strikes me as mischaracterization and the input of certain characters into boxes, because people don’t want to ship sokka and zuko, they want to ship mlm insert one and two. and i hate this because their dynamic is super interesting, canonically! i’d love to see how sokka with a plan and on-his-feet zuko work together :)

i mean fetishization is kind of prominent in internalized misogyny presenting itself as wanting two men to have sex to exclude women from the narrative, and in the post i mentioned above the op’s point was that atla fandom’s misogyny presents as unique because they don’t hate women, they just treat them like they’re really one-dimensional, and at the end of the day everything must come back to the dynamic between two guys who were intended to be cishet (i headcanon zuko as bi but i’m not stupid, this show is from 2005, it is what it is)

anyway i don’t know where i’m going with this! but i absolutely love atla wlw and i wish that the female characters could be analyzed further in depth than they are, and i’m still at a total loss to why fandom-- made by women, for women, and often queer women-- is willing to maintain so much misogyny in the guise of upholding queer rep in fanon ships with gay men. 

[bloodyknuckles]

the importance of understanding c!tommy’s grief

// dsmp , rp

tl;dr: tommy’s grief is one of the driving forces of his character, if not being the most important one. it’s what makes him strive to be better, while also acting out. it’s also what leads to the reason he’s so mischaracterized.

this is my second ever dream smp analysis post and of course it is about grief, but specifically the grief of c!tommy.

in this, please note that i am talking about the character. if i am talking about the creator, i will add cc! to the beginning of their name. and a fellow reminder that this is all just roleplay :)

tommy is one of my favorite characters to analyze and he is one of my favorite characters in the smp in general. he’s an interesting fellow who’s growth is centered around becoming better, rather than worse, and fixing the mistakes of his past. and one of his most important character motivations, now that the discs are gone and aside from killing dream, are to not become like the people he hates the most. tommy is actively working against being the people who hurt him and it’s the day before doomsday when he recognizes he was falling into the same ruptured pit the ones before him had slipped into. but unlike them, tommy crawled out of that pit with all his life force, almost like he didn’t stop until his fingers were bleeding and raw.

and i think his grief plays an important role in all of this. when i think of an example, i specifically think of this quote:

“i don’t deal well with grieving people. uh, well, i’m sure it’s gonna get better

over time, and you—y’know—you’ll live and you learn and you’ll forget

about him. uh… i’m sure that he probably wasn’t as good of a friend as you

remembered. uh… usually when you-when people, y’know, pass away-they-

you remember them better. so i’m sure he probably wasn’t that good,

probably a bit average a best. i’m sure, y’know, i’m sorry about the trauma

just make sure to clean yourself up. don’t let this ruin your life. count from

ten, backwards.”

   - ‘Tommyinnit - Dream SMP Nuke Reveal’ 43:34-44:16

the part of this quote that most sticks out to me is “don’t let this ruin your life”. i think this part sticks out most to me is because, in my opinion, people do tend to let grief ruin their life. i am victim of letting grief ruin my life for years before i ever got it back on track, which was only just recently. and, so, maybe i’m projecting, but i think tommy himself let his grief over wilbur ruin his life.

particularly, i’m going to reference the burning of george’s house and his exile that followed. grief often makes people act out, and tommy is no exception. and, in retrospect, tommy damaged george’s house to a point that george didn’t even care about and was easily fixable, but his subsequent consequence was a harsher price than what was bargained for. although the exile was, logically and realistically, what would have happened, it was pushed by someone who was not actively affected by tommy’s actions.

and i want to mention how grief can also come from the loss of a place and it not solely just the loss of a person. tommy experienced two types of grief back-to-back. he experienced the loss of wilbur and the second loss of l’manburg. these things happened on the same day and minutes apart from each other. that’s a lot to deal with and a lot to process. personally, i think tommy internalizes  nearly all of his grief. many signs point to this. he opens up about almost nothing (exile being the one i can think of off the top of my head), which leads to people not understanding why he is doing what he’s doing and where his actions are coming from.

the disregard and misinterpretation of tommy’s grief is what can make him an easily twistable and hatable character. this applies to someone like philza, who i’ve previously talked about. tommy and philza have one of the same prominent driving forces (the grief of wilbur), yet they go about it extremely differently and one grief is seen as more correct than the other when that’s just not true. it’s interesting how some of tommy’s actions, which stem directly from grief, are seen as selfish, despite not being selfish in nature, if you get what i’m saying.

i want to go back to the quote i mentioned earlier. another line that sticks out is this one: “count from ten, backwards.” this quote sticks out because these are words wilbur said when tommy lost his second canon life to dream. this mean tommy internalized this and made it a coping mechanism, despite it stemming from a traumatic part of his life. because those words were said by wilbur. those words were said by a man who he, at the time, trusted with his life more than anything. and so using this quote in his monologue about how he doesn’t deal well with grief sticks the point that he doesn’t deal well with grief home. it shows that most of his coping mechanisms are rooted in early wilbur, when wilbur was still seen as ‘good’ and ‘trustworthy’.

tommy’s grief drives him as a character. i would say he has three main driving forces, two of which are action based. one of them has been solved, though. the three things i am talking about are the discs, killing dream, and grief. you could argue that keeping his friends safe is also a driving point, and i’d agree! i just don’t think it’s as much as a driving force as the ones previously listed.

tl;dr: tommy’s grief is one of the driving forces of his character, if not being the most important one. it’s what makes him strive to be better, while also acting out. it’s also what leads to the reason he’s so mischaracterized.

as always, feel free to add anything or disagree with me in the notes. this is just my personal take! thank you for reading :]

[dear-wormwoods]

may I ask for a style fanfic rec list? 🥺🥺🥺

I have a couple of requests for this and I’ve been thinking about how to respond, because to be honest, I very rarely read fic these days. And by ‘these days’ I mean like, since 2014. I always have things I intend to read, but then time goes by and I don’t get around to it. So nothing I’m going to rec is new and you’ve probably already read them fkjds.

Anyway, sorry to be predictable by just being like “read Hollycomb’s fics” but...

The Scenic Route - 116k words, should be rated E for the final two chapters (I literally have no idea why it’s rated T on AO3, it was definitely M when I first read it on ff.net years ago)

Summary: The boys embark on a six day road trip to California before separating for college. Cartman is a pain in the ass, Kenny has no future, Butters is in crisis, and Kyle doesn't know how he'll say goodbye to Stan.

Why you should read it: The yearning. This fic is written entirely in Kyle’s POV, and Holly does such a brilliant job of getting into his head and really capturing that feeling of already mourning a friendship/relationship before it’s even over and kind of intentionally setting the bridge on fire to make what is (seemingly) inevitable hurry along, as if that will make it hurt less (it doesn’t). The first six chapters, the actual road trip portion of the fic (where the T rating actually does apply), are where it is at its strongest, and Kyle’s gradual descent into panicky, angry desperation is painfully real. I can’t stress enough how in character everyone is, each retaining recognizable mannerisms and dynamics from canon while still clearly being grown people entering adulthood. There’s a reason this fic is THE Style fic. 

Leave the Pieces - 251k words, rated E (though that rating only represents a small portion of such a long fic)

Summary: Stan and Kyle meet as strangers in their mid-twenties, shocked to encounter someone else who can't remember the first ten years of his life. They form an instant connection, but only one person in South Park remembers them, and Kenny can't explain why they disappeared or why the rest of the town forgot them.

Why you should read it: It’s a lengthy epic with supernatural elements, a complicated plot that fits right into the show’s universe, and the kind of love that quite literally transcends time, space, and memory. I can’t explain it much further without giving away the plot, but this behemoth is gut wrenching and powerful. It is equal parts a story about Stan and Kyle finding each other as adults and falling in love despite not remembering who they are, or each other, and a deep exploration into Kenny’s character and his curse. Kenny is really the MVP of the story, despite it initially seeming like “just” a Style fic, and his relationship with Wendy is written beautifully and convincingly. One caveat, though: some parts of this fic... I’m not a fan of. I greatly dislike Cartman/Butters just as a concept, and there were times, particularly in the first half of the fic, where I almost quit reading because of their scenes. I also feel like this fic fell victim to fandom’s earlier tendency to mischaracterize Craig as borderline sociopathic (but in contrast, he’s absolutely perfect in Holly’s oneshot Other People’s Tupperware). However, I’m such a sucker for supernatural memory loss not being able to sever soul connections, and Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Wendy’s respective journeys more than make up for my reluctance to stomach Cartman/Butters or other comparatively minor issues. And honestly, everything does fall into place as the plot unfolds, so all I can say is... if you hit certain scenes and think ‘wtf IS this??’, just stick it out, the payoff is worth it, especially if you’re looking for high quality Kenny content.

Amalgamation - 78k words, rated T (but should be rated M imo, because there are sex scenes, though they aren’t very explicit, just intimate)

Summary: In 1862, Kyle's family is forced to move from New York to a tiny mining settlement at the foot of Pike's Peak in Colorado. Kyle is sixteen years old and miserable until he meets Stan, a fellow transplant who has been in town for three years. Their feelings for each other are shadowed by the town's haunted history, and for Kyle the local legends begin to feel more like real nightmares.

Why you should read it: I know ‘1860′s gold mining settlement AU’ doesn’t sound very fascinating, but it is. This is another one that’s written in Kyle’s POV and again Holly does a wonderful job of expressing his emotional turmoil, the guilt and shame he feels, his self-righteousness, and the depth of his love for Stan. Everyone is as they would be if the clock was turned back 150 years, made different by the time period and the demands of their circumstances but still obviously recognizable. The old-timey atmosphere and world-building are so seamless and never feels unrelatable. There are also supernatural/ghost/mystery themes in this one and the fear is palpable.

From the Queen of England to the Hounds of Hell - 170k words, rated E, includes major character death (aside from Kenny)

Summary: Ten years after the execution of Terrance and Phillip, the war with Canada has not ended. Stan and most of Kyle's friends are planning to join the army after high school graduation, bound to be drafted anyway. Kyle doesn't believe in the war, but he's not willing to let Stan go without him.

Why you should read it: This is.... a perfect fic, and I don’t say that lightly. It is quite possibly the ONLY perfect fic I have ever read, in any fandom. I can’t actually describe all the ways in which it’s perfect without giving the plot details away, but, God, if you commit to reading just one of the long-ass fics I’m reccing on this list, make it this one. Please. It honestly makes me mad that this one never got the same attention as like, The Scenic Route, or ‘Night School’ did, because it so deserves to be up there. Only Holly could take the concept of the fucking movie and turn it into a completely devastating, bittersweet, epic romance. There is no caveat here, no ‘I loved it except for this and this’, just thorough, soul-crushing perfection. Just... Kyle. God, Kyle. I can’t elaborate, my heart isn’t up to the task. This fic will haunt me for the rest of my life.

The Ascent of Stan - 32k words, rated E, though it is like 95% domestic fluff

Summary: Stan sells his small pest control company and Kyle thinks they should use some of the money to go to Hawaii, where he proceeds to grill Stan about the mid-life crisis that Stan claims he's not having while their kids frolic nearby.

Why you should read it: This one is everything a domestic fic should be. It basically just chronicles the events of a week-long vacation to Hawaii that nearly-40 Stan and Kyle take with their two kids. This one is written fully in Stan’s POV and it works so well... he’s exactly the kind of dad that I imagine he would be, doing his best to provide for and protect his family’s little bubble and resolving to be better than his father while quietly fighting the lingering shadow of his alcoholism and cynicism. There’s no real conflict in this one, just 30,000 words of a very typical family vacation: not exactly blissful, irritating at times, but ultimately the foundation for perfect memories. 

Never Change - 115k words, rated E

Summary: Thirteen years after his high school girlfriend's pregnancy upended his life, Stan is still in South Park, working with his partner Bebe as a local cop. They're in the process of investigating a series of possibly connected murders when FBI agent Kyle Broflovski returns to town and informs his old friend Stan that this is his investigation now.

Why you should read it: This is equal parts a murder mystery and a romance. It features exactly the kind of Stan/Kyle situation I hate to think about - a decade-long estrangement of their own making that comes to an abrupt end due to extenuating circumstances. It hurts because of how likely it is to happen that way, and it works especially well in this fic because of Stan’s reluctance to embrace his own bisexuality until he’s nearly 30 and Kyle’s tendency to put up walls to protect himself. Also, Bebe features prominently in this fic, which is always a huge bonus.  

Bonus Oneshot Rec:

The Reformation of Fart Boy - 7k words, unrated but probably T, just barely

Summary: Five times South Park has brought Kyle to the brink of sanity and Stan has brought him back.

Why you should read it: I love thinking about the ways in which canon-typical nonsense continues to impact the characters in the long term on a serious psychological level. Kyle has suffered a lot in canon and it’s obvious even in the show that it is gradually changing him and wearing him down, so I really love this fic for focusing on his responses to some of the more traumatic moments, as seen through Stan’s eyes. 

I feel sort of guilty only reccing one author for right now, because there are other fics out there that I liked and am planning on revisiting, but this post is long enough as it is. Chances are you’ve already read some or all of these, but they’re my favorites. I reread all of them while making this list, and they still hit me hard after all these years. 

[teenitinygod]

Hello, Hello, this is the person who did the last submit. Thank you for the offer but I don’t have a discord account, Idon'thaveanyfriendswhouseittowarrantmakingone.

Although, if you liked my previous submit, I thought you might be interested in hearing me out when it comes to mischaracterization since I didn’t go into detail in my previous submit since that’s a whole rant of its own. I’ll be taking inspiration from neutinya’s haikyuu mischaracterization post but give it a BSD twist. My intention isn’t to call specific people out, I’m simply going off what I’ve seen within the fandom. Which in turn leads to diluting or mischaracterizing a character until they’re nearly unrecognizable or portraying them in a bad light that they don’t deserve. There may be a few tw instances, so you’re free to edit this post as you see fit and add any necessary warnings.

So to begin with. Let’s get the big one out of the way real quick.

- Dazai -

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve seen Dazai being portrayed as nothing more than a twofaced lying bastard, I wouldn’t have to work anymore. Most of these support it by saying that he doesn’t actually trust the ADA since he didn’t tell them about his past and doesn’t inform them of every little thing. Basically, they portray him as being 100% an act who doesn’t care about anyone. And then berate him by saying that they refuse to take his mental health seriously until he’s shown to have a breakdown.

I believe anyone who has suffered from depression or any other kind of mental health issue has felt the need to act happy all the time when in public and then quiet down when they’re alone. That doesn’t make them a fake. They are under no obligation to tell every single thing going across their mind to their friend and that same logic applies to Dazai.

Moreover, we also have to take into consideration Dazai’s past. He simply can’t afford to make himself vulnerable. There’s literally a list of people out for his head. Additionally, of he were to tell everything to the ADA, he would be potentially dragging his new friends into his own mess and put them in unwarranted danger. Sure, the ADA already deals with a lot of dangerous stuff but I doubt he would purposely put them in harms way because of what he would consider his own selfishness.

Now in the terms of romance. A lot of people just mark him as the one who could never be faithful. I believe a romantic relationship with Dazai would be completely trust based. Ergo, a “love at first sight” scenario would definitely lead to it becoming nothing more than a one-time fling. To go off your last Dazai scenario, I actually do believe that if Dazai felt like he was getting too attached to someone, he might try to push them away out of utter self-loathing that he could never give them what they want. Essentially, fearing a scenario like that in No Longer Human where Yozo got together with Yoshiko and she ended up getting raped because of his involvement with her.

Atsushi isn’t just a crybaby. He’s brave simply because of the fact that he’s willing to do his best despite his fear. Moreover, his initial fear of being seen as a burden to the ADA is completely valid when you take into consideration his past treatment. A lot treat him as dull and boring character and go on about preferring his Beast counterpart. It’s fine to have a preference but I don’t think this is a reason to hate on him since the point of Beast was to elaborate on how alike Atsushi and Akutagawa are by putting them in the other’s shoes. And we see in even Beast, Atsushi is just the ultimate good boy cinnamonroll.

In romance, I keep seeing him being forced to portray the badboy roll and being just terrible to whoever is his partner within the story. Do people really think that he would so much as even consider berating his partner after all he’s been through?

- Kunikida -

He isn’t just some emotionless asshole. He cares. He’s just doesn’t show it in the most conventional way some are used to. Perhaps this is because the anime caused confusion by changing the time setting of the Azure Disciple event— But within the novel you can tell that he cares for and eventually starts to think highly of Dazai as the story progresses. He doesn’t express it since Dazai would tease him to the ends of the earth. But there were moments like in the embassy in which he mentally admired how talented he was. Or how elaborated that his way of knowing when something was wrong with Dazai was when he starts acting “normal”. As the novel put it, basically, weird is normal for Dazai while normal is weird. So when Dazai starts acting “normal” that’s his way of knowing that something is up.

In terms of romance… I swear I want to fight someone. The majority of Kunikida content I find usually involves him be pedophilic by having this thing for schoolgirls or just has whoever is his partner constant cry at him that he doesn’t love them since he doesn’t show his affection the conventional way. Then, the story goes on about how the partner keeps trying to change them. For starters. There is nothing wrong with having the thought of an ideal partner. Most of have twisted the idea of him having an ideal partner as him having this list of physical traits he wants them to have or some crap like that. Do people really think he’s that shallow? Having an ideal partner just means that you know what you want in a partner. Like how they treat you, if they’re neat and polite, etc. Moreover, we’ve seen time and time again that despite what he says, Kunikida is still willing to bend a little. Obviously he will hold his ground if you berate his ideals. But it’s possible to change his mind if you respect his ideals and offer alternatives and are willing to work with him.

- Chuuya -

Look. I don’t care what you ship. But Chuuya is way more than just that one guy who is constantly yelling about Dazai. He has every right to be portrayed as his own character without the need to involve Dazai around the line.

He may be angry when Dazai is involved but he’s the nicest grump you’ll ever see towards everyone else. In the spin-off novel, there’s a scene where he talks to Tsujimura, for example. He still kept this badass aura but spoke to her with the dignity and presence of a respectable mafia executive. Moreover, I noticed this why checking. Kyouko really did make sure he drank his respect-women dose every day since I noticed he never actually curses at female characters. With the Tsujimura scene, for example, he kept his usual rude speech but didn’t start to actually curse until Ango was brought up. With the battle against Yosano, he never pulled the “oh, you’re just a woman” crap when they appeared.

In the terms of romance. I swear I feel the need to break someone’s nico-nico-kneecaps for the outrageous amount of fics I find with Chuuya straight up raping his partner. Like, the man didn’t even want to fight against his sheep friends when they literally and figuratively stabbed in him in the back. It’s hard for me to imagine him as someone who wouldn’t treat his partner with the utmost respect in the world.

- Higuchi -

People seriously need to stop hating on her just ‘cause she’s “getting in the way of ships.” The gal clearly cares about Akutagawa and I don’t think it’s fair to hate on her just because of that. On that note, the whole idea of hating on female characters under the pretext of them getting in the way of ships seriously needs to stop. The fact that a female character cares for a guy, be it romantically or not, isn’t an excuse to antagonize them and treat them as an eyesore. She’s funny, she’s goofy, She’s just an ordinary lady who might be momentarily blinded by affection and get carried away. Which surely must happen to anyone who has experienced some kind of crush.

In the terms of romance. I haven’t read much fics with Higuchi as the main love interest. However, I have seen the AkutawagaxSomeoneElse types who just blatantly portray Higuchi as this terrible and wicked woman who is trying to ruin Akutagawa’s partner’s life. Sure, Higuchi may be heartbroken that she couldn’t be the chosen one but I doubt she would stoop as low as to ruin Akutagawa’s potential happiness. The most she would do is perhaps investigate if they’re a spy who intends to harm or use him.

- Yosano -

She’s a strong independent woman, enough said. I feel like a lot of people interpret her dislike for weak men as her either disliking physically weak men or disliking men altogether. Naturally, a strong woman would want and deserve someone who is equally as badass as them. So what I interpret her saying when she says she dislikes weak men is that she dislikes mentally weak men who bend over backwards easily and men who are so petty that they feel the need to look down on women just because of the fact that they’re a woman. The anime did her dirty by sexualizing her during her first introduction. We all know that one scene where she strips off her shirt before treating Tanizaki. Heck, I remember when I first saw that scene without knowing much about BSD I legit thought her healing ability involved her having sex with the guys. It was only until I read the manga some time later that I realized that wasn’t the case.

In the terms of romance. Again, she has every right to have someone as strong as herself. A badass would want someone who is just as badass standing as their partner. Moreover, I haven’t seen it to the degree as Higuchi’s case but I have seen the occasional hate on her under the pretext that she’s getting in the way of ships. To which I say again: We seriously need to stop antagonizing female characters who so much as exist in the same panel as a male character that’s involved in a popular fandom ship.

——–

Well then. Those were the most prominent ones that came to mind, so I surely left out some characters who have been mischaracterized just as badly.

Thank you for your time.

Ok quickly, our discord (dazai simps) is open to having you. We love new friends and meeting people, so an open invite is available.  i couldn’t agree with you more- i hate how Dazai is portrayed sometimes, his emotions are complex and he’s not as simple as an angsty suicidal flirt. Especially went the reader comes into the picture and it turns into a “love at first sight” thing. They may be fictional characters but i care that the characters i write for are as close to accurate as i can

I’ll go deeper into this later but i agree

Also I love when you send me these, i love reading them and you’re so sweet <3

[lastsonlost]

After the first episode of "The Mandalorian," the Disney Plus series in the Star Wars universe that became the top streaming hit of 2019, aired on the platform, some Twitter users expressed frustration at how few women spoke, and how few female characters there were in general.

Some of those who tweeted, including well-known feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian, were met with dogpiling and waves of harassment across social media platforms. 

The harassment largely stemmed from anti-feminist Star Wars fan accounts who rounded up and highlighted tweets under the pretense that those complaining were "outraged" social justice warriors trying to tear down a successful Star Wars franchise.

The harassment is just the latest instance of feminist fandom voices being shut down online.

Anita Sarkeesian is no stranger to online harassment,

YEA SHES VERY GOOD AT MAKING THEM.

 being one of the central figures in Gamergate, the online harassment campaign that resulted in her receiving numerous death and rape threats, along with bomb and shooting threats at her events. But even she was surprised at the amount of vitriol her tweet about "The Mandalorian" received.

After watching the first episode of the Star Wars series for Disney Plus, Sarkeesian tweeted asking if she was just tired, or if there wasn't "a single female speaking character in the first episode."

She was exhausted, Sarkeesian told Insider — missing the one scene where a woman spoke and making a typo in her tweet. In the replies, Sarkeesian corrected herself. Then she went to bed. In the morning, the tweet had more than 3,000 replies. It currently has close to 7,000.

"Maybe you should switch to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills... I'm sure you'll find much to relate to there...." one top reply read.

"No wonder you're so tired. They say you should stretch before making such reaches, especially at your age," said another, with more than 1,400 likes of its own.

It's an example of dogpiling, a type of online harassment where, on Twitter, someone's replies outnumber likes and retweets, and are mostly filled with repetitive, hurtful comments.

"It's ironic. Women, especially feminists, get accused of being emotional and angry and all of these things when all we said was 'Hey, I noticed this thing. And it's kind of a problem, and I think it's really bad for our society,'" Sarkeesian told Insider. "If they didn't reply to it, my tweet would have just been gone. They made it a much bigger deal."

Sarkeesian is the most prominent figure facing dogpiling and harassment in response to her criticism of the series, but she's not the only one.

People with and without large Twitter followings, some who are verified and many who are not, have found themselves overwhelmed with anti-feminist replies and messages across platforms after tweeting about how few women are in "The Mandalorian."

Specifically, in the first episode, there's one female character wearing a mask who speaks, and two female characters total, along with a few women spotted as extras in the background of shots. More female characters are expected to play larger roles in future episodes.

"Even if you want to give the show the benefit of the doubt and say there's some big, wild justification that's going to come around in episode 7, it feels wrong that the vast majority of this world is populated by men or male-identified characters," Sarkeesian said.

Star Wars fans have a history of harassing women online when faced with criticism

Online harassment in the Star Wars fandom, particularly of women, is nothing new. Actresses like Daisy Ridley and Kelly Marie Tran of the latest Disney-owned Star Wars trilogy have recently talked about the negative aspects of the Star Wars community.

Ridley, who stars in the newest Star Wars trilogy as Rey, "cut off" her Facebook and Instagram accounts "like a Skywalker limb" due to harassment, and Tran faced racist and misogynistic harassment after appearing as the first woman of color in a leading role in the Star Wars franchise.

"It wasn't their words, it's that I started to believe them," Tran wrote for The New York Times after deleting her Instagram posts in 2018. "Their words seemed to confirm what growing up as a woman and a person of color already taught me: that I belonged in margins and spaces, valid only as a minor character in their lives and stories."

In the case of "The Mandalorian," almost anyone who tweets about the show from a feminist perspective is at risk of being targeted, because Star Wars fan accounts are rounding up tweets that criticize things like the amount of time it took for a woman to speak in the first episode.

One account rounded up 33 of these tweets with the caption "SJW's are outraged over the 'lack of female characters' in the first 2 episodes of The Mandalorian. A show with 3 female characters. Feminists only care about counting the number of minutes women are on screen in Star Wars."

Insider spoke with two people whose tweets were featured in the round-up, who said their tweets were mischaracterized, inspiring a wave of online hate.

Both of the people who spoke with Insider said they liked "The Mandalorian" and will continue watching it, but wanted to point out that it could be better in terms of female representation.

One woman who spoke to Insider anonymously, because she is trying to distance her name from the situation, says the harassment began several days after she posted her initial tweet about a lack of women in the first episode.

After receiving anti-feminist replies on Twitter, she also started getting harassed across platforms, in part because other anti-feminist Star Wars accounts picked up screenshots of her tweet after it was first included in the round-up and distributed to an even wider audience, including on Instagram.

One person even left a violent message for her in the email submission form on her professional website. It reads "People like you don't deserve a f---ing opinion, but at least I'm glad you can voice it. Doesn't prevent me from calling you f---ing r-----ed for spouting your misandry. HOW DOES IT F---ING FEEL C---? I hope you expire and never have children."

"I had to put everything on private, for my own mental health," she told Insider. "I just had to shut down my profile. I will never, ever, ever tweet about Star Wars again. And I love baby Yoda so much. But I can't. They won. Life's too short for me to fight this fight."

Even after setting her accounts to private, she was inundated by hundreds of follow requests on Twitter, along with DMs sent to her private Instagram.

Those who tweeted about female representation in 'The Mandalorian' stand by their words, despite the harassment

The person who tweeted the round-up of critics didn't want to share any identifying information with Insider, but did stand behind the tweet, and said they didn't participate in or encourage harassment, but the reach of the account became clear once Insider asked for comment in the replies. Within a few hours, a video had been uploaded about this article (which had not been written yet) to YouTube from a channel with more than 130,000 subscribers.

The video in question has been viewed more than 33,000 times and highlights the mentality in at least one corner of the Star Wars fandom that is male-dominated and is aggressive toward diverse media representation.

"What SJWs do is as soon as this kind of thing happens, they identify [the Twitter account that posted the round-up] as hostile to their narrative [...] I would call them left-wing garbage," the voiceover of YouTuber ComicArtistPro Secrets says in the video. "They are going to come in and write an article smearing [the Twitter account], 'Don't you dare shine a light on these cockroaches in such an effective way ever again,'" The YouTuber mocked, referring to the feminist critics as the "cockroaches" in the situation.

"This is a strategy that these sorts of anti-progressive, very regressive cyber mobs have used for years," Sarkeesian said. "They try to use social justice language against us when we try to bring these issues up but it's so transparent and so obvious what they're trying to do, by undermining our point. It's very bad faith."

Writer and programmer David Ely, a male who's tweet was included in the roundup, told Insider that his replies were pretty tame in comparison to Sarkeesian and the other woman Insider spoke to, although he did receive one unspecified death threat from an account that he blocked.

"Part of the response seems to come from a belief that Star Wars needn't be political. That it be pure entertainment," Ely told Insider. "Star Wars is a made-up universe. If gender inequality exists there, it's either on purpose, or because the creator's biases meant they didn't notice it. Either way, that's political."

Sarkeesian also stood by her original point that "The Mandalorian" should have more female characters, and said a lot of the negative response was because there's so much pushback from people who have historically been over-represented on the screen, and are hostile to the changing expectations for diverse characters that represent the diverse Star Wars fanbase.

"We are so accustomed to male-dominated narratives that it's easy to not even notice glaring omissions," she said. "Unlike if the entire cast had been women, I suspect everyone would have immediately noticed that regardless of what one's opinion would be on that casting choice."

MAYBE ITS NOT FOR YOU ANITA....