#simply due to being about and being written for girls. where boys stories get to be gender neutral because they’re the default

[livvyofthelake]

that was a lie my parents won’t ruin THIS episode by coming home. unfortunately i will probably watch a third episode

[analy-sing-stuff]

Hi overthinkers :D

After a really messy gap of three years, I finally red "Boy meets Maria" and I'll never be able to express how much this short story made my heart ache and melt. I can't believe I took so long because it's pure genius how it's written, and it's so SO sad we won't get anymore of it.

Anyways, let me yap a bit about it because I got SO MUCH to say, especially towards Arima's gender. I'll try to be as respectful as I can and use they/them referring to them regardless of the conclusion I take.

⚘️ spoilers ahead ⚘️

Both of the main characters are SO WELL WRITTEN in a way I've rarely seen in media these days!

"Boy meets maria" is a comic novel that makes us question so many things we have barely thought about in modern society, being them specially gender roles and norms, or how abuse comes in all sizes, shapes and colors.

Let's start with Taiga!

In a way, Taiga is the "least complex" character in this mangá. His concept is simple; he lost his mom when he was very young, his dad was irresponsible taking care of a child and drowning on his drinking addiction, and after growing up with all that, Taiga decides he wants to be a hero.

The meaning of a hero to Taiga is, simply explained, to be this great GREAT person. He wants to be a famous actor, succeed in life, and have this beautiful girlfriend to "save".

To be short, Taiga decides he doesn't want to be like his dad. His bright personality is basically his way of getting better, of being happy, and most important of all, of helping people.

I guess we can say Taiga is a very deeply conflicted character. looking for his way to the top on theater, I'd say this is him leaving his past behind and looking ou to show the world he is worth something, looking for something that may bring back to him the feeling of control contrasting how much he couldn't help but just watch his mother slowly die, and how weak he felt not knowing she was already being hurt by his father all along.

Let's say that the reason he's looking for a perfect girl for him to act like this perfect hero also has to do with the passing of his mom and the absence of his father, because to him, this is one unconscious second chance of treating a girl right and having a happy ending.

Then things don't go exactly as planned, and he meets Arima 😍

You see, Arima is a BIG part of Taiga's reality check because boy is completely HEAD OVER HEALS. Mind you, i saw some people saying they kind of cringed because of the way he acted and that he was unrealistic or a "manic pixie boy," and I totally disagree, I disagree even harder because I do know boys like him in real life and I can assure sometimes this big extroverted person is nothing more than a nod to the neglected child they were on the past.

So, yeah, when he chases Arima through the hall, this is basically him saying "don't say no to me, because I need this 😃 um excuse me, 😀 I need to be happy 🙂 dont say no" , and it's so persistent Arima ACTUALLY has to show him their genitals...so...uh...kinda crazy, huh?

But surprisingly, this is not a big deal to them if not for the inconvenience, and I'll say more, They lost all their notion of decency way before their childhood Trauma

Let's talk about Maria...No! Sorry, I mean...

Let's talk about Arima

Arima is a complex character that I appreciate so much due to never seeing a representation like them in media before.

I'd like to say that I'll not get into the sexual abuse too much because this may get too long, and it's sort of a sensitive topic for me, but I might mention it later if I feel like it.

Arima, since very little, was forced to be perceived as a girl by his mom, a type of abuse called forced feminization, where, well, you force a vulnerable individual to use exaggerated accessories that would match better a woman according to the known gender norm.

It was clear, However, that Arima never had a normal childhood being perceived as a girl, since none of what they had was granted because they wished, it was what their mom wished to fullfill HER wishes, and so on Arima felt like a boy but had to keep the image of being a girl solid and intact, after all, it was all they knew.

This is really big on their relationship with Taiga, since they basically reverse roles when they mature

This pannel, for example, is screaming gender roles, with Arima being stuck to pink and girl toys while Taiga is surrounded by all types of boy toys. This pannel has, also, big foreshadowing for their image of a hero when they were little. While Taiga thinks he can be this awesome image of a savior he wished to become, Arima holds on to a hero, shyly showing that not only they need to be who they truly are, since this is also the only toy on the picture that they hold on and that they're trully interested, but they also look for a saviour, someone who could take them out of the feeling of not belonging, someone who could understand what they need. The only thing also separating both of them is a flower, which is much symbolical to their different perspective growing up and the curious impact of Taiga's dad in their lives.

The cover for this mangá is the paralel we get from the back, and honestly, it's so beautiful how it doesn't necessarily mean it is about Arima detaching from their feminity, Rather just how much Taiga helped them realize they don't need to look feminine to be accepted and fullfill anyone's wishes.

To me, at the end of chapter 6, it's most likely that yes, Arima might be a boy suffering from detachment of something that they knew since they were very little, the role of a girl; AND HEAR ME OUT! THE THEATHER CONTEXT WAS GENIOUS!!!

Arima, their whole life, were assigned as this little girl, that deep down, was unhappy with their identity.

Then they go through this horrible fucking abuse and they feel vulnerable and weak,and they say, well, I'm a boy. That's it, that's who I always was.

And then, they go to their first play and they play as a boy, and they act (literally) as a boy, but the second their abuser is there to see them, (motherfucker) they lose it.

They lose it because, in the first place, all that happened to them was because of the rumor they weren't really a girl, and concluding that, they run away from their real them to avoid facing their trauma and their identity.

So Arima only acts as a girl on plays (literally) despite acting so well as a male character, hiding their talent and their feelings from everyone.

Until Taiga appears and never give up on them, which is beautiful.

And then, in the end, we understand that maybe they are not a boy, maybe they are not a girl, maybe they are both, maybe they are neither, but;

1. Their gender is not defined by what they look like

2. It's nobody's business

I can't put into words how well written this whole scene is. The way they mimick how the abuse was, the way they're scared of getting attached to someone again, the way they're mentally destroyed by the doubt and the feeling of weakness and how none of this matters because Taiga love's them.

No matter the gender, Taiga fell in love with Yuu.

And then they feel comfortable again, which seals pretty much this comic.

No matter which role (gender or theather lol) Yuu chooses, they'll always be Yuu Arima, and they'll always be special.

THAT'S IT OH MY GOD, I MIGHT HAVE FORGOTTEN SOMETHING, THIS TOOK ME SO LONG, ANYWAYS LOVE THEM SO SAD IT'S NOT A BIG SERIES BECAUSE IT WAS SO GOOD WTFF 🥹

[strawberryshortcake1495]

The Rise and Fall of a Northwest Princess 👑

Now I came up with all of this in a dream I had during a school nap about 5 hours ago, so I’ll just start by explaining what this AU is. This AU is a mashup of the Only Child AU by @Inumari12 (albeit slightly altered), Reverse Portal AU, and Mr. Bill Pines AU by @honeqq (love their art).

Mr. and Mrs. Pines were expecting twins, but the male baby, Mason, was born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, cutting off his air and thus killing him. The female, Mabel, grew up as an only child who was rejected by her parents and society for being autistic, which to her doesn’t make her any different than all the other kids. She heard countless stories about her stillborn twin brother and really desperately wanted him to survive. To live, to exist alongside her. Maybe he could’ve been autistic too. Maybe she could’ve had a real friend.

One day, her parents sent her off to stay with her great uncles Stanford and Bill for the summer. She was happy to get away from her nasty hometown and was quick to pack her bags and get on the bus. As it drove away, she swore she saw her mother looking relieved to have her gone. When she got there, she was surprised to find out Grunkle Ford was the owner of a successful company who created this thing called “Oddology” (whatever that means). Ford was very warm and friendly to his great niece, but then Mabel asked where Grunkle Bill was. Ford simply told her he was in the basement but it was best not to go down there because of all the “anomalous” mechanics. But his niece was Mabel Pines. If you tell her not to do something, you know damn well she’s gonna do it.

Shenanigans pursue, and Mabel finds out her lovely Grunkle Bill was actually just some one-eyed yellow triangle. Ford calmly explained to her that Bill was an inter-dimensional chaos demon who fell in love with Ford. Bill is a little silly but he’s seriously not a bad guy. Fiddleford and Stan would beg to differ, though. Ford and Fiddleford had a falling out because of his relationship with Bill and for some strange reason, Fiddleford managed to contact Stan (Ford still doesn’t know how he got his number) and send him down to Gravity Falls to talk some sense into his brother while his mind deteriorated away due to the memory gun. Stuff happens, and Stan gets pushed through the portal. Bill secretly feels super guilty about this and helped his husband with trying to bring him back. Ford doesn’t tell Mabel this until after Stan comes out of the portal, though.

Mabel spends some time with Bill and they click easily. Knowing that he’s practically a god who can do anything he wants, she tells him one simple thing. She wants her brother back. Bill doesn’t resurrect Mason cause deep down he knows the boy was always meant to die at birth so instead he creates this phantom clone with no face and his whole body is pitch black (except for his fluffy brown hair). Mabel names him “Dipper” and decides he is enough. Then she gets to work on knitting clothes for him. She only knits sweaters cause Dipper was born wearing his red shirt, grey shorts, and white socks (obviously he didn’t spawn naked). Dipper doesn’t speak but communicates through noises, actions, body language, or just messages written in blood. Despite his unnerving appearance, Dipper is actually really sweet and polite, always doing what Mabel asks of him.

In a giant International Institute building with nothing but a man, his demon husband, a little girl and her monster brother, along with officers and workers studying anomalies, what can go wrong? Mabel knows deep in her heart that this will be the best summer ever!

[ace-and-the-rpg-horrors]

I think another hint that the fandom is a bit misogynist is how most of the fandom barely talks about the Hinomori’s. Two sisters.

Sure, one may argue that it’s due to them being within the least popular groups (which is also a question for another time whether or not l/n and mmj’s lack of popularity is also due to some unlined misogyny).

But the Hinimori’s are honestly very interesting and have understandably struggles and why they were distanced by the time the main story started.

It’s honestly a shame that the fandom rarely talks about these two…

you're quite right!! i adore both Hinomori sisters, they're within my top ten characters. being on the more calm side, they do tend to get overshadowed by how loud and bubbly the Tenmas are, and how argumentative the Shinonomes are.

there's definitely a lot of interesting stuff to be explored regarding them, such as how they have both hidden aspects of themselves that don't "fit" with a certain image that others have of them... or how some of the reason that Shizuku is very clingy to her sister is because she had so much work to do and didn't get to see Shiho as much as she wanted to in the past.

and yes, i do think that L/n and MMJ!'s unpopularity is partially due to some underlying misogyny. i hate to say it, but it can't be denied that a certain amount of both VBS and W x S's popularity is simply due to the fact that they have boys in them. Ruikasa and Akitoya are overwhelmingly popular, much to my and many other's irritation. not because the ships themselves, or the characters within them, are bad, but because in a game where there are sixteen girls and four boys, all four of those boys being so much more liked is an issue.

you could argue that N25 is incredibly popular despite also being an all-girl group, but there are other big factors that contribute to that, such as them covering many of the most famous Vocaloid songs, the topic of mental health, which is incredibly relatable to many, as well as a canonical transgender character who has had people waiting for her gender identity to be explicitly revealed and discussed for years.

unfortunately, L/n and MMJ! tend to get ignored due to all this happening with other units, despite them being just as well-written and interesting in terms of their plots and relationships. and i agree with what you said, that the Hinomori sister's lack of popularity could be attributed to them being in those less-liked units.

[yourturntofnaf]

Stitchline Adaptation

oh boy, a post I didn't think I'd be making.

going into fnaf week, I was pretty strongly opposed to both frightsgames and talesgames. hell, even VIP made me confident in tales not being canon. two things, however, made me step down on all of it.

1. the scott interview. obviously he didnt confirm anything about book canonicity, but him explaining how security breach didn't tell his story correctly and he's been working to correct that paints a good argument for tales being written for clarification purposes, maybe even beyond being hints to the games lore.

2. into the pit games. goddamit. let me just say, i love this game. aesthetically its awesome, the easter eggs are great, I love the story, everything is perfect. but following this, I have a hard time believing that the stitchline stories are completely seperate from the games.

the use of minigames to display frights stories was beyond what I was expecting this game to have. when I firsr saw them, my brain jumped to a few different solutions.

- these are just easter eggs as its an anniversary game looking to showcase the whole franchise

- these are in universe games of in universe books, aligning with frightsfiction

- this is meant to support stitchline games

now each of these have their issues for me.

these minigames are pretty damn complex to simply be an easter egg. it's not something simple like a poster appearing, they are full fledged mini games. too much for me to write off as just a reference.

I would be less open to this being frightsfiction if the way of accessing them weren't so strange. if it was just getting them in the arcade, that would feel pretty direct in stating they're simply games, but thats not the case. also, there's nothing else in the franchise suggesting these books exist as just that.

finally, these games are simply different than the actual books. theyre recognizable as being their respective stories, but have different details.

so if all of these don't work, what does it mean? I'm honestly not certain in it, but this is what I've come up with.

it relies on this: the minigames are different, but have the same major beats.

in to be beautiful the story, eleanor grants a girls wish of becoming "beautiful" piece by piece using a pendant. by the end, it's revealed eleanor was slowly killing the girl to take her appearance. to be beautiful mini game has eleanor, the girl, and the pendant; along with the concept of making her beautiful piece by piece. theres a difference in the ordering, however, as eleanor only gives the girl the pendant at the end. in the game, it even looks like the necklace is what kills her.

in count the ways story, a goth kid obsessed with death is trapped inside of funtine freddy, where she is listed off the ways she can die. the story ends with freddy killing her. in the minigame, bonbon is pictured (but never mentioned in the story). still, the major characters and story are there.

finally, in fetch the story a dog animatronic falsely reads instructions of the high school boy main character, ending in fetch harming other people. in the minigame, fetch is in a fazbear location and eventually mauls a boy. this minigame is clearly the most different from it's story predecessor. hell, the main character doesn't even look like greg from the book. but there's important context that I think explains this:

scott wants the next game to be based off of fetch. ITP ends with "CU", the text fetch sends at the end of his story.

so we have 3 stories turned into minigames. all 3 are stitchline related. all 3 have the same major characters, major message, but different details and methods. the one thats most different is due to get a full length game. the game this is in is also a story based full length game that has the same characters, same plot points, but majorly different methods.

going off the scott interview, he wrote a shorter story of each book, and then the writers over doubled it in length. this leaves a whole lot of room for difference in what scott was thinking and what was written. and following security breach, he seems to be far more clear in what the games are supposed to say.

I think, after months of denying it, that the events of stitchline take place in the games. but I dont think the story version is the exact recount. over time, I think we are going to get game versions of these stories that explain how it happens for the in-game universe. the important characters and concepts are all here, but details are updated to fit more cleanly into the games timeline. some changes are small (such as clarifying bonbons presence in CTW), and others are major. the ones that will see the most major changes are likely the book-title stories, hence why the fetch minigame is such a drastic change and why it'll likely get a full game.

I think secret of the mimic will create a similar situation for the tales stories, although I'm leaning towards all of those stories being canon rather than something like mimicline.

I also feel a similar intent was behind VIP. the constant mention of the pizzaplex entering a stage of renovation cant help but make me think it's meant to explain why the main pizzaplex in tales is structurally different than that of security breach.

to summarize my rant, my running take from here (until SOTM comes out and inevitably changes the lore again) is the concept that the stitchline stories are overall canon, but are in the process of being adapted into the games to accurately fit in. I believe fnaf is in a stage of clarification over what was previously believed or outright implied to fit the modern story.

[hidden-poet]

Hello!

I just want to say that every 'version' of your Coryo is amazing, but somehow Commander Snow is the best for me.

Maybe the reader doesn't have such a strong character and may seem the least developed compared to him and others, but....

It seems to me that this version of Coryo has a more motivated desire/desire/obsession with the reader. Somehow I see his need to be with her, her warmth, and to have control over her as a 'natural thing' that could happen to him. Because that's what Coryo might have been missing. Yes, he had Tigirs (who is a wonderful angel), but I think that even in front of her, he tried to play strong; he did not let himself feel her tenderness and care so much, because it was reminding him that he was weak, that his family is poor, and he can't take care of them himself.

So when he sees a reader—so similar to his cousin—who spreads this kindness and warmth, he wants it for himself, and with her he can afford to do more than with Tigirs. He does everything to get what he wants from her, because while Tigris herself gave him this warmth, the reader is afraid of him, and as you wrote, men like the chase. At the beginning, he was also making sure that she wouldn't be starving or something—a thing he couldn't do to his family—another act of having some kind control over her.

So, I just want to say that the reader may not be the strongest character here, but if such an amazing written Coryo I think that people simply don't care/see it as a minus or anything bad or less interesting. Quite opposite it's keeping us curious about what will happen next, what he may do to make sure he will keep her around for himself.

I will just stop my mumbling here... I'm so sorry I made it that long.

Thank you for your work, and I wish you the most inspiration to keep writing and feeding us with Coryo content. Have a happy day/night!! 💙

Hello! thank you so much for this.

You are 100% correct. As i said Coriolanus was looking a lot for comfort and safety which fueled his desire for control.

When I said that I preferred Mabel to the reader, i meant in a story telling way and not as a insult.

I just meant that the dynamic was different. In commander Snow she will always have to be submissive, not only due to her nature but also because he controls her entire community.

Where's in Snow lands on top we see Mabel who isn't shy and still holds power in the relationship. She can challenge Coriolanus which i think is a fun dynamic for a man who loves control. He has to earn it rather then it just being expected.

I've tried to flesh out the reader as much as I could we can see she is a shy, friendly girl who is naturally very motherly. She is well liked within her community, and has been well protected by her mother and brother. She's not a total victim. She can think for herself and has a high endurance level.

She has often shown to be capable of manipulating Coriolanus and finding ways through his punishments.

I think it would be cannon that he would gravitate to a girl like this.

In Snow lands on top, the attraction is purely physical. Mabel is a beautiful women and Snow likes pretty things.

Where's in Commander Snow it's the softness that attracts Snow.

The linkage between her and Tigress is spot on and something i've worked very hard to get across. He is head of the Snow household and yet the women in his life are looking after him. It would make sense that he holds a lot of guilt that he failed to provide them a life that the name of Snow should carry.

And when he finally gets back to watch himself provided for his family, he is torn away and thrown back to the district. Only to come across a girl that could heal the past for him.

Not only could he make amens with Tigress in a symbolic way. But also offer the hurt boy in him comfort. re-writting history a bit.

He wanted to hurt the small school boy so she could comfort because no one came to help small boy Coriolanus.

He wanted her to be a mother because his mother was ripped from him.

He wanted her to wash his clothes and cook his food because for so long he rarely had food to cook or clothes to wash, but when he did his cousin did it for him. His cousin who is now miles from him.

I think Tigress words, "people can be good. People are good" is something that he hold on to but see's very little. So he grabs it before it can be destroyed.

I also disagree that Coriolanus is loving the chase. He is very much wanting to skip that part and fall into the ten years married part.

He is ready to be looked after. He got the grades. He won the hunger games. Betrayed and killed people to get to the top. Now he is ready to be rewarded for it.

He is just a mummy's boy without a mummy, and he is taking it out on the poor reader.

So yes you are 110% right about the dynamic of the relationship and i LOVE that you got it so right. I am so sorry if I came across to be disrespectful to the Commander Snow story. I also love it.

💕💕💕💕💕💕

[todomitoukei]

I don't usually dislike endings to things. I am very easy to please. Usually when I see a movie it's my favorite movie immediately until I watch another movie.

But like. It really hurts to see that every character I related to has been screwed over or killed in some way. I understand that it's my fault for being a villain fan, for relating to Dabi's and Tomura's and Himiko's backstories despite them having killed people and thinking that the series would extend them a modicum of kindness that it had been saying it could, that I am now hurt like this. I understand not all series are like DBZ in which they spare most of their villains like Vegeta or 18 or Majin Buu. Not every protagonist is Goku, not every antagonist is Frieza. I get it.

It'd be fine if there were just us villain fans complaining into the void. Even if I were the only one upset, it'd be fine. I've had unpopular opinions before, I just wrote AU fanfiction for it then. I'm familiar with death to canon, I am in the FNAF and Danny Phantom fandoms, my favorite characters are William Afton and freaking Pariah Dark. What hurts most is the posts claiming that there's something wrong with my reading comprehension for not liking how things ended. That I should've known it was coming and agreed with them being killed off like that and that I'm stupid for expecting otherwise, that it was the only realistic option. Realistic, when there are characters who survived far worse, such as Nagant who exploded twice and Toshinori who had his intestines ripped out. Realistic when there's a boy who can literally explode his own sweat and a girl who is a frog.

Why do we immediately jump to question someone's reading comprehension and intelligence when they have a different opinion? And why is it my fault if I misunderstood a work, and not the author's for making things unclear? Isn't the point of reading to make your own understanding and discuss it with others, isn't that what's supposed to be fun about this? I'm hesitant to really talk about my opinions on MHA because of this, that's why I am sending this on anon and with a pseudonym. I don't like being called stupid, even if someone doesn't say it to my face. It makes me want to leave the fandom and go watch something else.

I hope I'm not just reading antagonism into people's posts, my family says I tend to read antagonism into people's actions where there isn't any. But it really feels like they are upset with us when I see it over and over again and see people saying "LOV stans DNI" and stuff.

Sorry for the huge wall of text, I guess I'm more upset about the fandom than the ending itself. I tried to format this in a way that is understandable, but it is very hard to type on mobile.

I hope you have a good day and thank you for your time. I appreciate the chance to vent anonymously. It's been eating at me since Shigaraki's end.

Feel free to delete this if you change your mind about hosting the vents, and if you start feeling badly do please take care of yourself. Don't forget to drink a water and eat a food.

- Doppio

First of all, no worries, your feelings are absolutely valid so don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

It's interesting people say us being upset about the villains' endings is due to a lack of reading comprehension when, like you said, it's inconsistent when taking into account the fact that the hero characters simply all get better off, surviving the craziest things while the villains die if someone just looks at them funny.

If I could be bothered and had the time or energy I could dissect the entire trainwreck that is this story and talk about how bad the writing is. This is not me being subjective, it's simply objectively not a well-written story. It's fine if people enjoy it and even like the ending, but objectively speaking, it is full of inconsistency, retconning and even if we take the technicalities out of it, the messages the story sends in the end are just awful.

The fact the story starts and ends by verbally telling us it's about reaching out to and helping people, only for anyone that is part of an oppressed group (queer people, physically and mentally disabled people, abuse victims etc) and is somehow different cannot and will not be saved, while the perpetrators, those in privileged positions of power, will continue to live life without any actual consequences is rather questionable.

If the story had always had that black and white tone, if it had always suggested to us that people that suffer and stand up for themselves will be left behind and rot in jail or die, fine. But the story suggested on multiple occasions that they could be saved and that they also had a point.

So don't let anyone tell you that you're wrong or don't have reading comprehension when the opposite is true. We have every right to feel frustrated when the ending doesn't line up with the messages it used to send and replaced them with the worst messages a hero story (or any story for that matter) could send.

Also, anyone that feels seen and represented by the lov, please know that you're valid and that you do deserve the best and that it's never too late for anyone to be saved and get better.

I wish the story and fandom understood that fiction is never completely separate from reality and that when we talk about certain topics or people we also indirectly talk about real people that relate to these topics or people (which is why removing Touya's scars in fanart or edits for example or making fun of his or Tenko's skin is highly problematic).

I hope you have a good day too despite everything!

[lyramundana]

lyra I finally had a thought I think you might appreciate 😈 this is not a request or anything, and if it doesn't vibe, leave it in your inbox BUT

I was building ikea furniture the other day and got thinking about how weird idol's lives are and how many basic life skills they probably lack. like we know most kpop idols at least finish school, but we've also all heard about hollywood actors being dumb as bricks.

so what basic shit do we think our skz boys, and especially our minsung boys, are just absolutely incapable of doing? we know minho can cook, but you can't tell me they didn't all have trouble figuring out laundry in their mojo dojo casa house of a dorm.

also can you imagine reader or your OC literally shaking their head at them hahahah

or would they get turned on by the weirdest shit because reader or your OC is competent and confident in small moments? like she makes really good coffee because she used to be a barista, or whatevs

just thoughts being thunk, do what you will 💓

-May, @skzms

omfg, this is actually one of my favourite scenarios💀 you read my mind or smh??

I totally know what you mean. While I think Stray Kids have learnt more than most after living by themselves in that dirty hole, I feel that after a while they grow used to the chaos and they barely got time to improve, considering their careers. Now they're more famous and probably richer, I feel they have other people doing these stuff for them. Also, most idols have shown in variety shows that they can barely fry eggs without guidance, so yeah

This got long, so beware

It's funny you mention my OC because this scenario fits her perfectly and her story. Vivi comes from a big family and due to her upbringing, she has grown up learning a lot of skills to be completely self-sufficient at a young age. And because pursuing a dance career isn't exactly cheap unless you're a kpop trainee, of course she has worked in some jobs to earn extra money. Shop assistant, waitress, babysitter, and even a bartender at some point, although this one was more like a hobby rather than a job, since she loves anything related to alcohol. It's very important for her to be independent and not rely on people.

Part of being a competitive dancer implies moving around a lot for tournaments, so she's used to live without external support and having no option but do things herself. Assemble furniture, cook food, house chores, handling the bills, you name it. After all, the more she can do by herself, the less money she has to spend.

I believe that most of the boys can do basic stuff, as long as they have the instructions in front of their eyes and can ask for help. Otherwise, they're lost. They know how to cook because they need to feed themselves and do some cleaning for hygiene, but that's it. They're clueless about anything else.

So it'll be like this. Imagine that, for some reason, Vivi and MinSung have to live together for a while, maybe for a show or a dare, or because they have out of necessity, I don't know. The apartment is big and cozy, but there's a tiny problem: There's no furniture, functional electricity or food. This isn't new for Vivi, so she simply accepts it and gets to work, while MinSung stand there like "wait, aren't they supposed to provide these stuff for us?"

So you have this girl acting as a babysitter and provider for two grown ass man, older than her, that can't even start the washing machine.

"So, how do we do this?"

"By pressing the big button with Start written on top..😑"

Going to buy the furniture is a mess, because while Vivi is carefully picking up the options based on what they need and knows where to look, the boys treat it as a fun trip. They're basically her children she has to look after, trying the beds and almost getting lost for going after something that caught their eyes.

"Hey Vivi, what is that? Can we take it? It looks so cool!"

"...that's a drill, Jisung"

They get confused when she leads them to the warehouse underneath and buys some boxes.

"Wait, weren't we going to buy the furniture?"

"Yes, duh, I have it all right here. We'll arrange them later at home"

"Wait, what? do you mean arrange them?!"

Vivi soon realizes she's going to have an extra load of work she didn't anticipate. Lots of face palming and taking deep breaths because seriously, how are they still alive??

She's casually arranging her wardrove like it's second nature to her, quickly and precise, knowing exactly where everything goes. She throws a glance at the boys and finds, well, complete disaster. They're nowhere half done, the instructions a mess of papers around them and none are holding the right tools for it. She's exasperated and shoos them away, taking care of everything as they watch.

And you're absolutely right, they find all of this sexy as fuck.

They stare at her in awe and admiration as she leads them through the different shops, keeping mental lists of everything they need and knowing stuff unknown to their ears. Their eyes sparkle as she speaks with terms they never heard before and takes all the stuff she claims they need. They follow her like lost puppies, eagerly waiting for her next orders. They specially stick to her hips in crowded zones, since she gives zero fucks about pushing people out of her way and telling them to move (their introvert asses could never)

They might have needed some cold showers after witnessing her arranging everything in the house. The furniture, the electricity cables, the pipes, acting like it's all stuff she does everyday. She needs to watch some tutorials for some of those chores, but she quickly gets the hang of it. Her figure all sweaty and red and her light clothing already clinging to her body from all the effort. Her strong arms on display with her tank top, her hair in a messy bun with some wet strands near her cheeks, some dirt on her face and holding a tool that looks like a murder weapon, and...ops, they're hard, time for another shower..

Jisung feels he might nut his pants when she lifts a fucking couch to check something underneath, holding it still with one hand while relying some of the weight on her shoulder. Minho once sat on it to annoy her, thinking she wouldn't be able to lift it with him there...turns out she did it anyway. And now there's two people wanting to nut in their pants.

She gives some easy chores to keep them busy. Minho is in charge of cooking and Jisung bring the ingredients. So after exhausting hours of working around, Vivi comes back to a full cooked meal as a "reward".

She's a professional hunter of discounts, bargains and anything that implies saving as much money as possible. She doesn't have the budget of an entire company supporting her, so she's used to tracking down the best offers and making sellers sweat to give her the price she wants. It's a battle of rhetoric and sheer determination, and the boys are once more in awe.

She discusses with the landlord about the apartment's issues and is ready to argue with anyone about her rights. She handles the bills and most of the financial matters.

Bonus: She once used a whole drill to fix the bed and closets instead of a screwdriver ("this is better, guys, my mother taught me"), headphones on to mute out the noise and the veins in her arms pecking out with the force of holding it, mindlessly doing the task.

Yeah, lots of the money is going down the cold water

@skzms here. I'll love to hear your input

[limeade-l3sbian]

I think the socialization part shows itself a lot more since most romance manga(and in cases of manhua and manwha, the chinese and korean equivalents) are written by east asian women, whom obviously live in a place even more patriarchal than the west. not to say the things these women learn to accept from “love” makes them less or even unusual, i simply want to reiterate that it’s more pronounced there due to how even more constricted their societies are in regards to the treatment of their women.

anyway. now that the disclaimer is out of the way!

i’ve grown up reading a lot of manga of many different genres but i’ve especially used to have had some intense shoujo phases. shoujo is basically manga created for the demographic of girls and young women. not to say others can’t read it, but it’s simply where they tend to be marketed.

shoujo romance especially shows this issue a lot that i wanna talk about. the male leads will 9 times out of 10 be rich, extremely emotionally stunted(this can show in the form of intense rudeness, complete lack of emotional depth, no expressions, stoic to the extreme, downright abusive) and handsome. Those are the three traits they almost all have. Now obviously I get the want for a handsome or beautiful lead, whether it’s female or male, it is after all just fantasy fulfillment to an extent. The same with wealth. But i think the emotionally stunted side speaks of the women and girls’ who read the mangas socialization a lot. We have these male leads who often make the female leads go through hell, whether it’s due to his own actions or inactions. Sexual assaults have gotten less common in more modern manga, but it was only like ten years ago where sexual assaults in manga by the male lead towards the female MC would be a common place for him to show his desire for her and despite it often being portrayed as bad on the MC’s end, she always did end up forgiving him. The same with however else he treated her.

Made her to all the heavy lifting emotionally of the relationship? He’s forgiven, because suddenly he’s gotten a “tragic” backstory of a lonely, lonely boy being neglected in his massive mansion from childhood. He’s absolutely vile towards women? His mom was probably a horrid woman who either cheated on his poor dad and left or maybe she was simply so overbearing he now feel suffocated and dates new women every week like it’s some kind of game to dangle others feelings at his fingertips. Way into the romantic relationship having started with the MC he’s suddenly revealed to have a arranged fiancée or a very mean spirited but extremely beautiful childhood friend who the main character now how to basically fight off him with a stick while the male lead does not much else in most of these stories besides being useless. if we are lucky we get him talking the fiancée/childhood friend that he actually liked this new girl(MC), but extremely rarely will he actually go out of his way to truly set boundaries. he will passively essentially invite scorn towards his current gf. and these are just SOME of the examples of repeat patterns in behavior in the romantic male leads.

time and time again in shoujo romance male leads will make life much harder for the female main character. she will often be put down to her face for scoring such a rich hottie(even though we are at times 50+ chapters in and feelings on his end still seem finicky), she will have to bear the emotional heavy lifting and basically mother him/be a teacher to him on how to express himself, despite the fact that he usually changes very little. she will forgive any and all transgression he commits, even if it breaks her heart, because he is the main male lead and therefore he can do nothing truly wrong to not end up with her. and in the end of the mangas it’s usually somehow made clear in some way that SHES the lucky one. despite her carrying the relationship on her back. She should be grateful. And women and girls in east asia, and obviously also very much outside of it, eats it up. Yes! Give us a borderline abusive or at least emotionally neglectful man! We can forgive! We can forget! Let us be his doormat!

Not manga but it’s also so obviously in most romance kdramas i’ve seen. It’s such a common trope, these handsome, rich, utter asshole male leads and then these utter angel for a female lead who absolutely tolerates getting walked all over.

And while i’ve not read any of those books, it’s not like it’s not visible in the west. When authors like Coleen Hoover has basically built a career off of emotionally stunted but hot guys treated their gf/wife like utter garbage but it’s okay!!!! so romantic!!!!

women all over the world have such bottom of the barrel standards when it comes to emotional maturity in men. in some mediums it’s certainly more apparent than others, but it’s visible all over.

I do wanna be 100% clear that not all romance manga is obviously as I described. I’m simply talked about popular tropes, and i mean EXTREMELY popular, as in its more common to see at least one of them than it isn’t. That’s all.

!!!

[scruffyplayssonic]

Are the ArchieSonic comics actually an 80's/90's syndicated cartoon? Episode 45: Boys vs. girls 

Welcome back to my look at the ArchieSonic comic series, and how it shared a lot of the same story tropes as a typical ‘80s or ‘90s syndicated cartoon! Today’s episode is the Battle of the Sexes, so ring that bell and let’s fight! Ding ding!

Episode 45: Boys vs. girls 

There’s only been a handful of these “episodes” that I’ve covered so far that didn’t actually happen in the ArchieSonic comics - the hiccups episode, the stuck in slow motion episode, the time travel to medieval times episode, and the characters being de-aged episode are about the only ones, I think. But this episode is another one where there’s not really any good examples of this, so let’s instead look at a few that only loosely fall under the umbrella of boys vs. girls.

The most obvious example I can think of is the story, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!” from Sonic #14.

In this story Robotnik and Snively decided that the best way to get to Sonic was by taking Sally and Bunnie hostage, and so they lured them into a trap with a fake mall.

But Sally and Bunnie easily turned the tables on their abductors and showed them how cool GIRL POWER is, or something like that.

They also had a laugh at Sonic’s expense because haha boys are dumb. 

I guess this story is technically boys vs girls, but I feel like the trope is supposed to be more about the people of opposite genders on the same team turning against each other, rather than it being heroes of one gender vs villains of the opposite gender. A good example of this is the “Into the Wilderness,” episode of Sonic Boom, where Sonic and Knuckles compete against Amy and Sticks in a jungle survival race.

All I know is that this story of Robotnik in full sexism mode makes me uncomfortable. I think even the title is insulting. Eggman from the games feels a lot more genuine in his self-proclaimed feminism, in that he despises all genders equally. xD  

I’m sure it won’t come as any surprise that this story was written by self-proclaimed feminist Ken Penders, and compared to some of his later material you could almost consider this empowering. This is the same man who dedicated a 48-page “Girls Rule!” special to the female protagonists that featured a naked Sally submersing herself in cosmic goo that told her that her misogynist father was always right because he had the power of God and Anime on his side, even when he was ordering her to marry Antoine or telling her off for having emotions.

Girls Rule! also featured Bunnie asking her boyfriend for validation on her appearance when she had to decide whether or not to get a necessary hardware upgrade that she would likely die without, Lupe being roboticised and considered dead by her pack because “Even a female can make the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of those dear to her,” (that’s a direct quote from Penders, BTW), and Julie-Su finding out her mind had been violated previously when her evil half-siblings had erased her memories not once but twice. Unrelated to the Girls Rule special, Penders also tried to kill off Sally simply because she “cramped Sonic’s style.” Such feminism. Much wow.

Bringing it back to the topic of boys vs girls, we can also see a lot of Penders’ so-called feminist writing on display in the way he wrote other characters’ interactions with Julie-Su. Vector was the main culprit here.

His mistrust of her for being a former Dark Legionnaire was initially justified, but it just kept dragging on and on and felt pretty sexist at times. But of course we shouldn’t forget Knuckles’ incel behaviour when he first met Julie-Su either. 

I really want to take a shower now.

While that’s all I have for material that actually appeared in the comic, former ArchieSonic writer, colourer, and cool person extraordinaire Aleah Baker also reminded me of some boys vs girls-ish stories that Ken Penders had pitched but never written due to his departure from Archie. These are in Ken Penders’ own words on his fan forum, accessible via the Wayback Machine (http://web.archive.org/web/20160324034614/http://www.kenpenders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=122)

“SONIC: GIRLS NIGHT OUT (SONIC #163) - Some teasing from Ash results in Mina and Amy Rose making their way into Robotnik’s stronghold to prove they’re just as capable on their own as any Freedom Fighter (re: Sonic). When Sally hears what they’re up to, she and Sonic head out after them, only to discover Rouge and Nic the Weasel are on the scene, each looking to abscond with the rare gem that will power Robotnik’s latest weapon. (16 pages if 1 issue or 2 11-page stories if spread over two issues)”

So once again not a full boys vs girls story, more of a girls trying to prove they’re just as capable as boys deal. It’s strange that Ken Penders kept on writing Mina going on Freedom Fighter missions (such as in the infamous Sonic #152) long after she had come to terms with not being comfortable in that position and happier as a pop singer instead. But then again Ken Penders famously didn’t read other writers’ stories or even consider them canon. Or maybe he thought he was getting back at Karl Bollers somehow by writing Mina that way? Who knows? Okay, what else have we got?

“SONIC: NEW WORLD ORDER (SONIC #167) - Sonic finally is informed of the duties of his new rank: Gentleman-At-Arms. His first task: accompany Princess Sally to Station Square as she sets up Knothole’s first embassy in a foreign land. Naturally, there’s some trouble before the group departs, including Sally’s displeasure when Sonic’s new rank means he can overrule her when it comes to security, as Antoine’s duties as head of the Royal Guard conflict with his proposal to Bunnie. (16 pages)”

Oh great, another story where Sally’s authority is being trampled all over. It was bad enough when it was coming from King Max the boomer, but this feels even more awkward coming from Sonic (and presumably her brother the newly crowned King Elias, as he’s the one who slapped that stupid title on Sonic in the first place). I’m glad Ian kind of just abandoned that whole Gentleman-At-Arms thing.

Sigh, another post that turned into a rant about Penders. Well, it’s bound to happen every now and then. Are there any other boys vs. girls stories I missed? Let me know in the comments! Next time… A Very Special Episode. I’m sure you guys all know where this one is going. 

[tharizdun-03]

The moral of Fruits Basket is "gender and sexual ambiguity and non-conformity can be solved by heterosexual love." Add some romanticization of pedophilic themes, with some poor handling of resolving abusive relationships -- and it's safe to say I did not like the final season.

There's a lot of small things you can talk about, but I think the series has two big issues. How it tackles queerness and how it tackles abusive relationships.

1) Queerness:

Every character with an ambiguous or non-conforming relationship to gender and sexuality is "solved" by the end and they settle with heterosexuality.

Akito and Ritsu are the worst offenders when it comes to the topic of gender. Both characters are non-conforming, their non-conformity is treated as either due to personality flaws and/or trauma from the Zodiac curse, and once these things are solved at the end of the story; they both become cisgender heterosexuals who are perfectly in line with their respective gender roles with no ambiguity or wiggle room whatsoever.

Momiji himself eventually grows up into a fully masculine expression, the narrative treating his gender non-conformity as a "phase he grows out of".

Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see someone like Akito overcome her internalized misogyny, but her becoming her true self, a genuine woman, is explicitly tied to her having a feminine appearance.

This isn't a big issue by itself, but combined with how Ritsu and Momiji change how they look to be more gender-conforming, it just adds up to heteronormativity. It's not a one-off thing where we can just say "well, maybe she just wanted longer hair."

This is a pattern that reveals prejudiced thinking.

Obviously, Fruits Basket is a very heterosexual-normative show. And I probably should have realized it'd be really reactionary about this sort of stuff cause it is baked into the premise which is, if I may remind you, that boys and girls can't hug and they can't date -- because of a supernatural curse.

But, if any characters were to be gay… you're good to go?

Literally lol. If you like the same sex in the Sohma family, then any problem with your romantic relationship is just erased. It immediately solves one of the biggest problems they have. And when your literal premise is set up this way, you have reactionary ideas baked into the very fundamentals of your story.

Moving on from the topic of gender to the topic of sexuality. Any homosexuality or bisexuality is portrayed, in the narrative, as a joke. Haru mentioning that he loves Yuki is supposed to be funny, Ayame's whole homo teasing thing is simply for jokes, other boys being attracted to Yuki and how they wish he was a girl, etc.

All of this stems from homophobia.

Homophobia isn't just that you viscerally hate gay people and want to take their rights away. But when your jokes are literally just homosexuality existing when the narrative itself doesn't seem to view homosexual desire as a valid form of desire, as to not be on the same level as heterosexual love, as to just be the butt of jokes -- that stems from homophobic thinking. The narrative teases the audience a lot about queer elements but doesn't consider same-sex relationships as a genuinely valid possibility.

Even just something as simple as Yuki’s non-traditional masculinity is treated as a joke. He’s made the butt of a bunch of jokes throughout the story for being a more feminine-looking guy.

Not once did the narrative include a same-sex relationship, yet it does make several pedophilic relationships canon.

I know what you're about to ask next.

"But Theodor, this was in the 90s. Are you seriously expecting canon LGBT characters? How is this any different from any other show that's queer-baiting a bit? Most anime don't have same-sex relationships. So why get mad about Fruits Basket specifically for it?"

Well, first of all. These things are still issues no matter when it was written, they should still be discussed and acknowledged.

Second of all, we actually had a prime opportunity to include canon LGBT stuff since this is a remake (the author already took away smoking because it's not seen as cool nowadays), so I don't think it being written in the 90s is an excuse cause the remake is done now and has changed other stuff it considered outdated. It simply doesn't think it's homophobic views fall into that category.

Third of all, my biggest reason as to why this bothers me so much isn't the lack of same-sex relationships (I mean, how rare is that in anime?), it's that literally EVERYONE ends up in a heterosexual one.

Literally every single character.

Even side characters we barely know. Barely any character is left properly single. And we make insane leaps where characters who should not even like each other, suddenly have to become another pair even if that's between an adult man and a high school girl.

Even if we ignore the lack of same-sex relationships, cause most anime don't have that, I think it speaks to what a conservative show this is -- that it views the resolutions women should have as getting with men. And every single woman has to end up with a man. Or better yet, has to end up with someone. That's just not traditional thinking, it's straight-up patriarchal and I've never seen a series go this far in pairing everyone up.

2) Resolving abusive relationships:

Shigure is… an unrepentant pedophile? It seems? He's known Akito since she was literally born, is at least six years older than her, first fell in love with her before she was even born through a dream he had foretelling her conception, and throughout her childhood has acted in behavior that is not… proper towards such a young girl.

I think Shigure is a groomer and a predator. I think, even if we were to debate the specifics of what he specifically did as she grew up and whether that qualifies as grooming or not, the series doesn't care to clarify that or even ask the question and instead romanticizes the relationship regardless. Even if we say he did not groom Akito (he straight up does but let's pretend he doesn't), he is still abusive towards her throughout the entire story and the narrative refuses to acknowledge her ending up with Shigure as a bad thing.

I also don't think the show actually handled Akito herself well either. Because she got off scot-free. She has done so much fucked up shit to individual people, but it’s all swept up into a single package of “she was a bad person but is changing for the better now” which misunderstands all of her wrongdoings by treating them as equal when they are not.

Her trying to kill two different people and torturing kids for months in a shed is not equal to her hitting Momiji once. We never see Akito actually answer to any of her victims (maybe Kureno it can be argued she talked to, but I largely blame him for sticking around there and for being an enabler that the story disguises as "kindness" lol) on an individual level. We don't get any scenes of her even reflecting on this.

The one time she admits to Arisa and Saki that she is the one who hurt Tohru; Saki says that Tohru does not blame her and then Arisa GIVES HER A HUG. I am NOT kidding.

I'm sorry, but Akito does not take any proper responsibility or accountability and it is a big failure in resolving the relationship to the single most abusive character in the entire story (who I frankly think is beyond forgiveness. You can't have Kureno sleeping with Akito, and still portray Akito as a lonely little girl who didn't deliberately terrorize children as an adolescent and adult -- it's both sexualizing and infantilizing her character). Akito can not just be met with immediate kindness and understanding.

Because the story does not properly resolve the abuse as specifically individual (instead of just treating it as collective), we don't get any proper heart-to-heart or specific reflections on her actions.

Even with someone like Kureno, whose flaw isn't that he's too nice or that he doesn't abandon Akito, it's that he stays with Akito and just obeys her completely.

That's not "not abandoning", that's enabling abuse. But this isn't something the story decides to really criticize him for. And I could list how almost every single core flaw of these characters was never really properly acknowledged or resolved for what they were. But then we'd be here all day long

I feel that I have to bring it up every time I'm negative about a show (because almost every single time, people paint me as if I'm moralizing people for liking shows I dislike).

You can obviously like Fruits Basket. It is a plenty charming slice-of-life with a good simmering slow burn of a plot about becoming better as a person and overcoming abuse. Most of the characters are charming and well-written.

I have particular issues with the execution of these parts and I speak authoritatively because I have strong feelings. But again, you can like whatever you like and draw whatever positive feelings you want from anything.

Again, shouldn't need to be said, but I feel like I always have to. Despite my annoyances, Fruits Basket probably still holds up very well as a primarily high-school-set shoujo manga that still appeals to a wide audience with a positive message. Unfortunately, it messes up things that I consider to be fundamental blocks that make it not click for me. Oh well, better luck next time.

[harrison-abbott]

Robbie Loves Amanda

Robbie fancied this girl called Amanda in his class. He was only eight. Boys and girls usually start to fancy each other around that age, right? In a kind of half-observed way: they just like the other’s face. And, well, it was nearing Valentine’s Day. … The kids in the class knew Valentine’s Day from their parents and to them it was innocent and linked in with gifts. They weren’t thinking about sex. So on the 13th February Robbie thought he would send Amanda a Valentine’s card. Other boys had already done that with the girls. And he could hear the girls behind him on the tables whispering about the boys they admired. The 14th was a Friday, when the children had a half day. A sunny Friday morning. Robbie had made the card for Amanda last night. With Crayola pens, and glitter. And it got to snack time. The teacher gave the kids a snack time at 10:30, where they would munch Walkers crisps – and the audacious ones would try some fruit. Robbie got up. With his card. Amanda sat at the table in front of him. That was part of the reason why he had gotten to admire her so: because she was frequently in his line of vision and he had the chance to gaze at her. The kids looked at him. And at the card that he was holding. Like watching a film they all glued to him as he walked up, smiled, and gave Amanda the card. … Amanda looked down at it and she blushed. … Next to Amanda was her friend Lauren. Lauren took the card with glee. [Lauren was a loud girl who often spoke out in class, not realising how stupid she often appeared to be. She was one of those extroverts who will get by in life solely due to being loud, or the loudest, without needing to be intelligent.] “Oh, what’s this!” she proclaimed. “A Valentine’s, from Robbie to Amanda. Wow.” The children began to cackle. Lauren then read out the message inside the card that Robbie had written to Amanda. Robbie was still standing there in front of everybody – whilst they all listened with glee. Amanda’s blush remained. That’s what happens when you blush, right? You really want the redness to evaporate in your face: for the blood to go away: but it stays there, occupies your visage, when the least thing you want is for everybody to be staring at you. But, Amanda felt more sorry for Robbie. Amanda didn’t fancy Robbie. She just didn’t. He wasn’t a cute boy. Simply didn’t like him in such a way: she’d never really thought about that kind of thing before. She was the only person in the class feeling sorry for Robbie. He stood there. Robbie wasn’t able to blush. He was only stunned and trying to scowl. His scowl wasn’t so terrifying and the children only laughed harder that he got so cross. And, thus, Robbie would go on to think about this memory for most of his life. It took a long time for the pain to subside. He would tell the story to other people, in later life, when he was in his 20s and 30s, when the groups were talking about first crushes, first loves in school, etc. They would chuckle it off. Even though it still wasn’t so funny to him. Then when he was in his 40s the memory began to dim and he didn’t think of it so poignantly. But from then on he would think about it now and then. There would still be a little stab at the incident. Some folks, Robbie thought, don’t survive childhood, and all of the cruel moments intwined. He was still here. That Valentine’s Card, to Amanda? That was the first and last one he ever made. He certainly never tried another card again.

[mackjlee9]

Bokuto Koutaro x Male!Reader [Fluff]

Warning; reader has social anxiety, the plot of this one is based on komi-san.

Masterlist.

Haikyuu!!

Bokuto and (M/n) had known each other practically since birth. Their mothers had been best friends since childhood and the illusion of their children being friends warmed their hearts.

Since little, (M/n) has always had trouble speaking to people, seemingly coming off as rude and cold towards the girls and boys in his class, even the teachers thought the little boy had no manners. But the moment (M/n) got to be with such a happy boy as Bokuto was it was clear that (M/n) had trouble talking to others.

That never changed, it only seemed like it got worse. By the time they were in middle school, (M/n) was known as the 'Ice Prince' always silent, stoic, and seemingly voiceless. The boy never spoke, he couldn't speak, his body froze and his mind went numb every time he had to speak out loud, but with Bokuto was different, it has always been.

Bokuto never made fun of him or forced him to talk to others or make friends, he knew (M/n) wanted to but simply couldn't. It was clear when, during the last week of their last year as middle schoolers, (M/n) and Bokuto were talking like usual. Well, Bokuto was the one doing most of the talking while (M/n) listened attentively, a soft look in his eyes as he observed every move Bokuto did with his hands as he explained his story.

But after a while, Bokuto remembered a small talk he had with his classmates a few hours before, they were talking about what their dreams were, and of course, Bokuto wanted to be a professional Volleyball player and represent Japan in the Olympics. He felt curious about what (M/n)'s dream may be, so he showed a bright smile the male's way and asked.

"What's your dream, (M/n)?"

With wide open eyes, (M/n) thought for a second about what his dream actually was, and he opened his mouth to say it but couldn't, Bokuto noticed that and reached inside his bag, grabbing a notebook and a pen, handing them to the (h/c) haired, who scribbled with (messy/neat) handwriting on the blank paper. Bokuto waited patiently, at least physically, his mind was impatiently wondering what (M/n)'s dream may be and holding his breath when the pen was placed on the desk, Bokuto's yellow eyes read the written words.

'I want to have 100 friends, you're the first one, Koutaro, I just need 99 more :)'

Bokuto wasn't sure what made his heart race so fast, whether it was the cuteness of (M/n)'s dream, being referred to as his friends, or being called by his first name, he didn't know, but that day was the day where Bokuto started looking at (M/n) with different eyes, eyes that were now filled with love and adoration.

///////

Ever since then, Bokuto has realized that his heart always beat a little faster whenever he saw (M/n) or was alone with him, a blush would show on his face during the rare occasions he got to hear his voice.

Now in their third and last year at Fukudorani, most of Bokuto's time was taken by the volleyball team, spending hours every day training and practicing, which made him get easily distracted and he would usually leave something behind.

(M/n) and Bokuto were still in the same class, somehow they always were, so (M/n) was quick to notice anything the cheerful male left behind due to his rush. As he walked through the school halls on his way to the gym, people turned to look at him, the 'Ice Prince' looked as handsome as ever, making girls and boys sigh whenever he walked past them or simply glanced at them.

There wasn't much (M/n) could do about the state except ignore them and keep going his way, which is what he always did.

Usually, whenever he got to the gym, the door would be open all the way or just a little bit, the net preventing the volleyball from bouncing out, and he stood there, peeking inside with a cold glare until someone noticed him. The players that made eye contact with him would flinch, starting to feel like they were being judged by God itself, of course, Akaashi would realize the mood change and look around so he could find the cause, only to see him by the door, looking inside and straight at Bokuto.

His hair cast a shadow on his face and the sun coming in behind him made it seem even eviler, so Akaashi would call out for his senpai so he could take care of the situation.

"Bokuto-san," the male would look at him with questioning eyes, "Someone's looking for you."

And with curiosity, Bokuto would look at the door where Akaashi glanced at, only to start running at the male standing outside, jumping to hug him.

"(M/n)! What are you doing here?" Getting off from him, Bokuto waited patiently, it surprised his teammates how calm he could become with (M/n) around.

The (h/c) haired male lifted his arm, showing what he was holding out of sight. Bokuto's jacket.

This kept happening pretty much every day the volleyball team had practice, it could be Bokuto's backpack, bento, his sports bag, or anything he left behind in the classroom. And some players began looking at them suspiciously, observing how they interacted.

But there was one time when (M/n) came to the gym with Bokuto, well, (M/n) didn't come by his will, Bokuto was dragging him with him, his loud, vociferous voice audible from outside, and as they walked in, the rest of the team stopped what they were doing to stare at them.

Already there, every single pair of eyes was placed on them, especially (M/n) who was shaking due to the attention, his mouth open to say something, but he was stuttering to a point where Bokuto decided to talk instead.

He held (M/n)'s hand and everyone saw how he visibly calmed down, but he was now slightly hiding behind their captain.

"Guys, this is (L/n) (M/n), my best friend!" He said proudly, everyone observed how said male bowed as a greeting before being dragged by Bokuto further into the gym.

Glances were sent in their captain's direction, watching them talk, but soon their coach called to start practice, and (M/n) was left by himself in a corner.

This kept happening, and eventually, some players approached (M/n), who struggled to talk back to them, but instead, he wrote down what he wanted to say. With that, they understood that (M/n) wasn't cold or stoic by choice, he was just bad at talking to people, and when they understood his circumstances, he was soon surrounded by people that saw him like a friend.

Watching (M/n) interact with people he was close to made Bokuto's heart beat faster, seeing him finally get comfortable around people he didn't know. A smile grew on his face, a look of love and adoration in his eyes, the same look he had the first time he saw (M/n) with other eyes.

"They may not be 99 but... we're getting close," he mumbled to himself, unable to tear his eyes away from (M/n)'s smile.

[vintagegeekculture]

The Chinese Cultural Inspirations for Dragon Ball Z and Super

Journey to the West was only the beginning. 

A lot of people are vaguely aware that Dragon Ball was inspired by Chinese culture and Hong Kong Kung Fu movies and novels, but are unaware of how deep and long lasting it goes. The Japanese spent the 1980s fascinated by China, which opened up from being a closed society for decades in 1978; the most famous human being in Japan in the 80s was either Michael Jackson or Jackie Chan. 

In fact, a lot of people commonly believe that the Chinese action movie and Kung Fu novel cultural and media influence on Dragon Ball ended very early on. This is untrue. Sure, we started to see qipaos and cheongsams less frequently when they headed to West City, but it absolutely did not finish, because there’s tons of influence to see even as impossibly late as Dragon Ball Super. Interestingly, I don’t think any of these point of inspirations have been pointed out before, mainly because a lot of Chinese adventure novels are simply not available in English. 

 The Piccolo/Gohan plot was inspired by the Chinese action novel “Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre.”

Okay, tell me if you’ve heard this story before: a truly demonic, weird looking monster villain is defeated by a martial arts hero, but by circumstance, is forced into training his greatest enemy’s young son. The villain trains the young boy, the son of his enemy, in martial arts and over time, becomes like a second father or uncle to him and his family, putting the boy in his “evil” sect, and thanks to his love of his rival’s son, this baddie turns over a new leaf and goes from evil to just…grumpy, and becomes a loyal, though gruff, ally of the boy.

Of course, the events of Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre are a bit different from Dragon Ball in details. The Lion King becomes Wuji’s teacher because they are both stranded together on an island after a shipwreck, for instance, and he is blinded and made vulnerable. Also, the Lion King wasn’t so much evil so much as he was misunderstood by the orthodox martial world. However, in broad outlines, this trajectory for a face turn (becomes friends with his greatest enemy’s son, and becomes like a second father to him as he trains him, causing the villain to become a gruff good guy and ally) is essentially from one of the most famous Chinese novels ever written in the 1960s. 

Oh, and while we’re at it, Gohan is likewise inspired by another character from a Louis Cha novel: the Prince of Dali Duan Yu in the Kung Fu novel Demigods and Semi-Devils. The Prince in that novel is a naïve, pacifistic scholar who prefers books to fighting, and who was raised to be timid and avoid combat, absolutely out of step with his family, all of whom are martial artists and warriors. In fact, the beginning of the story is the prince gets incredibly lost in the wilderness, where the hopelessly naïve prince is utterly out of his depth, with all the robbers and scary beasts, and needs to be saved by real martial artists that protect him like fairy godparents. He spends the first part of the story running away from everything, scared as hell. However, by circumstance, he has naturally high power he cannot fully initially control, and eventually realizes that even scholars and others who hate fighting have to sometimes become fighters to protect those they love.

The Duan Yu part of Demigods and Semi-Devils was made into a film, the Battle Wizard, which was reviewed by PewDiePie. The Dragonball similarities went over his head because, honestly, PewDiePie does not strike me as a perceptive person. 

 Hit was based on the screen persona of Chow Yun Fat.

Chow Yun Fat was a Hong Kong cinema superstar who was to director John Woo what Robert de Niro was to Martin Scorsese. There are three giveaways that Hit was based on Chow Yun Fat. One, he’s an assassin, same as Chow Yun Fat’s character in the Killer, and is even given a sequence that’s a John Woo homage with an assassination in an office building with guns pulled on an empty elevator in an act of misdirection. Second, he’s wearing the single piece of clothing Chow Yun Fat is associated with, a black trenchcoat (fun fact: in Hong Kong today, trenchcoats are called Brother Mark Coats, after Chow Yun Fat’s character in John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow). Third, his power is essentially bullet time, a visual technique refined by John Woo in Hong Kong in the 80s and 90s in his gunplay triad movies starring Chow Yun Fat (what, you think the Wachowskis invented it?).

 The Goku/Vegeta relationship is from “Legend of the Condor Heroes.”

Here’s a story you might have heard before. It’s about two rivals, but by circumstance, one is raised in the wilderness beyond civilization, where he becomes an honest and goodhearted, though overly naive bumpkin, martial arts prodigy. The other is raised a wealthy prince by a conquering enemy, who grows up to also become an armor wearing martial arts expert, but also a cunning, arrogant, emotionally distant sociopath.

The similarities go into their love lives, too. The unsophisticated bumpkin hero is betrothed to a daughter of a powerful bearded barbarian king against his will, while the one hint of vulnerability and loss of emotional detachment in the otherwise sociopathic prince, the crack in his smirky arrogance, is that he loves a girl he otherwise pretends to hate, and even fathers a child with her who becomes a main character later.

This is Guo Jing and Yang Kang from Legend of the Condor Heroes. The most fascinating similarity, and proof that female psychology is the same all over the world, is that the fangirls love the emotionally distant, arrogant, and sexy/evil prince (remember when Rhonda Rousey said her first crush was Vegeta?). Girls everywhere love bad boys and sexy villains, and oh boy, do they love Prince Yang Kang. I think you can probably guess who all the fan art is about for Legend of the Condor Heroes, and what ship is the most popular.

I have to emphasize that Legend of the Condor Heroes, which came out in the 1950s-60s, is possibly the most widely read novel by the most widely read novelist on earth - the sales on that dwarf Twilight and Harry Potter. It’s probably not an exaggeration to say nearly every Chinese person, even if they never read it, knows who these characters are. In fact, Yang Kang and Guo Jing from Condor Heroes are basically repeated over and over in Asian, Chinese, and Japanese culture. Does the unsophisticated but gifted martial arts prodigy bumpkin hero, and the glib, arrogant wealthy prince rival remind you of….another duo of rivals?

Gohan/Videl comes from Little Dragon Maiden

One of the most important and influential Martial Arts novels of all time is “Return of the Condor Heroes.” A sequel to Condor Heroes, this time, the main character is the teenage son of one of the main characters from the first novel. It gets even more familiar from there.

“Return of the Condor Heroes” was about a martial arts couple who are also master and student, the same age but vastly different in experience and skill so one somehow seems “older,” and they fall in love because the circumstances of training together requires they spend lots of time together and become intimate. The training story and the love story are exactly the same in “Return of the Condor Heroes.” The dead giveaway one story inspired the other is that in both, the most significant training sequence is one where the master teaches the student how to fly (though Return used a chamber of sparrows for lightness Kung Fu).

There are some differences of course – obviously in Return of the Condor Heroes, the genders of teacher and student are flipped from Gohan and Videl (it’s the Little Dragon Maiden who is a powerful teacher, and the boy who is the student). It was the girl (Videl) who was a rebellious delinquent in Dragon Ball Z, when it was the opposite in the novel, true. But it was obvious this story was in the back of the creator’s mind as a way to combine Kung Fu with the love story, by making teacher and student lovers.

Addendum: hey, remember that awesome movie Kung Fu Hustle, the one Hong Kong movies normies have seen? Well, remember the landlord and landlady? The landlady was named Xiao Lung Nu, or Little Dragon Maiden, and her husband was named Yang Guo – the same as the main characters in Return of the Condor Heroes. It was a joke that went over the heads of Westerners, by giving these names of attractive and naïve young people in love with each other to a surly, bitter, arguing and chain smoking middle aged couple who don’t give a damn.

 Going Super Saiyan comes from “Reincarnated” aka “Bastard Swordsman.”

Stop me if this sounds familiar: a terrifying warlord tyrant prone to killing underlings who displease him has achieved a level of skill and cultivation so tremendous nobody can stop him. But there is one, and only one, thing he fears and that can defeat him: a long-lost legendary skill that nobody has achieved in recent memory, that includes a supernatural combat power transformation that turns the hair light to indicate it worked.

This is “Silkworm Skill” from Reincarnated aka Bastard Swordsman, a novel and TV series from Hong Kong in the early 1980s. Of course, there are differences. To get the power boost and new hair color, the hero has to jump in a cocoon he weaves himself. In fact, the scene is so well known that they actually have it on the poster.

(To those saying “Super Saiyan turns your hair blonde, not white” my response is that it turns hair white, or uncolored, in the comic book.)

The idea of your hair turning white to indicate a new supernatural combat transformation or martial state wasn’t created by Bastard Swordsman, though – though it is the best example and probably the one most familiar to a 1980s audience due to the hugely popular books and TV series. For an older example, a famous Chinese movie based on a folktale is “Bride With the White Hair,” about a bride who’s hair turns white when she is betrayed, in her anger, she becomes less a woman and more a supernatural creature of vengeance (interesting that anger should be the means to unlock it).

[captnjacksparrow]

hi, so i’ve wondered what you think about kishimoto and his take on women. do you think he doesn’t know how to write strong, independent women? and how do you think did the fact it’s a shounen influence him on writing women? are there any women in naruto who had potential but were ignored due to the very fact they’re women? and what female characters do you personally wish you saw more about? love your blog!!

Okay.... I think people who follow my blog almost consider me to be the 'Defender of Kishimoto'.... And that's why I am receiving Asks based on his Misogyny or Treatment of Women.

KISHIMOTO & HIS “SO-CALLED” MISOGYNY - MY TAKE

Can I simply say "Yes, Despite me being an Independent Tomboyish Girl who always picked fight with Misogynistic Boys on a Regular basis, I liked Kishimoto's work and I am completely satisfied with Naruto, the Series without any resentment" ???....

That’s because I never approach any media by wearing GENDER LENS OR SEXUALITY LENS..... I don’t desperately look for any female characters to get inspiration or motivation from.... If I like a Character... I will love them and get inspired from them.. I don’t care what’s between the ‘said’ Character’s legs. It’s Simple. I got motivated by few male characters in this series and they DEFINITELY CHANGED ME IN GOOD WAYS.

This doesn’t mean I am slandering everyone who looks for female representation in any media. It’s just that this Series never hinted at anytime that this was going to be about Girls kicking Ass or something. So, it’s pointless to expect something from nothing and criticizing the Author for it. 

But I just couldn’t understand one thing from SNS Fandom, especially. We all scream to other shippers that “Remove your Hetero Normative Lens to understand SNS”..... Yes, I whole-heartedly agree... Which means, we all acknowledge the fact that we are supporting a ship where 2 Boys Love each other and we want people to remove their Hetero Lens. Fine. Agreed. 

But why expect 50-50 representation for Women in a Gay Media??? I seriously don’t understand this logic. AT ALL.... Which Gay media had a strong women portrayal???? Why are we still wearing our Gender Lens and criticize something pointless???? Male Characters are also Humans, you know...

You may now ask “Why can’t a Gay media have strong and independent women Characters?”

Ummm... It’s very similar to asking a Gay Boy, “Why can’t you like a Girl?”

And this is not a Joke.... If you have some time, you can visit [this link]... It’s a list of Highly Rated Yaoi Novels from China with respective links to the Novels which is translated in English. Among the top 20 novels in that list, I’ve so far read 4.... All 4 of them were written by Women... And one of the Writer actually became insanely rich because her Novels were adapted into Anime, Live Action, Manga, Merchandise, International Broadcast and what not....

In all those 4 novels I’ve read so far, I’ve never found a single women Character to have made an impact to the story in a big way and to be honest I don’t even remember most of their names except for 1 or 2... And the joke is that they were all written by Women. So, Can we call all those Women writers to be misogynistic???

There is pattern for Women Characters in those BL novels.... A Girl who lust for the body of a Main Character... Her purpose is to show the readers how Handsome he is...

Handsome Main Character who rejects girls like some annoying pest because he only has eyes on the other Main Character...

A Girl who is there to create some stupid Love Triangle between 2 Main Characters... [[Usually Chinese women readers hates these girls... And begs the author to kill this Character because they don’t want anyone to come between their OTP]]...

Don’t you think all these patterns conform to Naruto Manga as well????

I wonder if only Naruto loved Hinata & Sasuke loved Sakura passionately.... Will this claim that “Kishimoto being Sexist” arise???? 

I don’t think so. 

My Point is, we, SNS fans know the nature of the relationship between the main characters and yet why are we expecting A Strong, Independent Women Characters from this piece of Media???? Have we ever found any importance for Sakura in those SNS fanfictions???? Fic Writers change her into somewhat pleasant girl with no Assholery and THAT’S ALL.... She won’t be playing any important role in any of those fictions... Because it’s all about how N and S love each other and their struggles.... No body gives 2 fucks about how Sakura kicks Ass in SNS Fictions. Kishimoto also employed the same logic. 

If Fanfic writers treats Sakura into a Marriage broker for SNS, then that’s fine... But if Kishimoto does the same in his Manga but in a despicable way, then it is called Misogyny, eh???? I find this claim to be Extremely hypocritical. 

Anyways, Let me tell you what attributes I want from a Woman Character to consider her as strong....

A Woman Who

Can make her own life choices without having to be subservient under any Man

Fight for the same respect as a Man....

Has her own dreams to pursue...

Has the Ability to be intelligent and diplomatic rather than acting foolish before Boys in order to attract them... (Eeeshh.... I just hate them)

Has the Ability to hold a Leadership position

Can be Kind and Empathetic or can be a vile bitch who could screw up other people by making clever plans..... I don’t care which side she falls into....  All I need is a personality with a strong Conviction...

Possess strong Emotional Strength

Has the Ability to endure severe harsh life circumstances because women are damn fucking strong enough to endure a lot......

Has weakness and how she overcomes it...

And there are many more which I possibly can’t list here... But all these attributes are applicable to Married, Unmarried, Housewives and Working women too....

If I find three or four of these attributes in any Women Characters.... Then I consider her as Strong.

Now just look at these basic Attributes, I repeat Basic.... A Complex woman Character has even more attributes to portray but I think this is enough considering Shonen... and see how many points Tsunade, Kushina, Konan checks as compared to Sakura & Hinata... [[Konoha is where the story revolves around and Tsunade is a fucking Hokage for God’s Sake!!!!]]

i’ve wondered what you think about kishimoto and his take on women. do you think he doesn’t know how to write strong, independent women?

Many girls in this fandom don’t even know What is mean by an Independent and Strong Women and start to write some stupid post that Kishimoto is a Misogynist....

Because Majority of Girls in this fandom believes.... Punching Stuffs and Bossing around subservient men is a measure of Strength... They don’t care about her emotional development and all they care about is her physical strength which is not needed at all, you know. What they want is a Mary Fucking Sue.... 

If Kishimoto can able to write Tsunade.... Can’t he give the same tropes for his ‘supposed’ Main Female Character????

He can.

But he simply chose not to.

And Here’s the thing.... If Someone is not a Feminist Icon..... It doesn’t mean they are sexist or misogynist... There is something called INBETWEEN...

I consider Kishimoto to be INBETWEEN..... or maybe by the end of this post.... You might be have a differing opinion.....

But before that let me answer your Questions....

What female characters do you personally wish you saw more about?

Konan and Tsunade. 

Konan had a wonderful fight with Obito... But her name was never mentioned again.... Naruto could’ve referenced her & Nagato in Chapter 700 and give a closure for Amegakure... But it was abandoned entirely.... 

Tsunade... I wish I could see her even more.... Can’t specifically say where... But I loved her. 

Are there any women in Naruto who had potential but were ignored due to the very fact they’re women?

For sure, I won’t be saying Sakura’s and Hinata’s name here..... He would never make them into anything other than some despicable dolls... That’s a given.

But Why nobody was talking about Choji, Neji, Kiba, Lee who had no development since forever???? 

Neji was in Kazekage retrieval Arc.... And.... That’s all... He died as a Love Broker...

Choji... He got his Butterfly wings when fighting with Edo Tensei Asuma... And that’s all.... I don’t remember him doing anything since Sasuke retrieval Arc...in Part 1...Same with Kiba and Lee....

So, Male characters also had potential but were ignored mercilessly... So... If Kishimoto was a Misogynist... Then those fake feminists are called Misandrist.... Because they don’t care about any male characters and they are okay with them being ignored.

how do you think did the fact it’s a shounen influence him on writing women?

I haven’t watched any other Shounen other than Naruto (Currently watching JJK)... So, I couldn’t comment on this. 

But I am sure about one thing.... 

Kishimoto wants his Heroine to be Strong. Even stronger than his Hero. I had this feeling when I was re-watching Naruto.... And I became 100% sure after reading his other One-Shot Manga named Mario.... [Link]

Let’s see....

This is a quote from Naruto’s Official Data Book named Meigenshu Kizuna ‘Bonds’ where Kishi explains about Sasuke.

“Since Naruto is to be considered the “hero”, from the beginning he’s receiving growing popularity as the protagonist, while Sasuke; who is usually being chased by numerous characters (in a romantic sense), even if he’s a guy, roughly speaking, Sasuke has the heroine status in this story.”

[[Am not bring this NaruSasu/SasuNaru thing in this post... Am just pointing what Kishi said about Sasuke]]

With all this being said....

KISHI LIKES HIS HEROINE WITH A SPECIFIC LOOK

I can’t find any difference other than the hair style.... Can you able to????

KISHI LIKES HIS HEROINE TO FIGHT HIS HERO BACK

Even today people are crying that, “Kishimoto is a Misogynist because he made Sakura into a Doormat for Sasuke.... He probably wants his woman to be like Sakura...”

But this comparison proves otherwise.... 

Saori is just someone who will shoot your Brains if you touch her... And here, Saori is not a Doormat to Mario.... She is just like Sasuke. I wonder, How come Kishimoto can be a Misogynist in one Manga whereas he becomes a Normal person in his other Manga???? Is this some split-personality disorder????

Well... Both pairs starts their ‘thing’ with Hate!!!!

KISHI LIKES HIS HEROINE TO BE STRONGER THAN HIS HERO

LOL.... No explanation need, eh???

KISHI LIKES HIS HEROINE TO SNEAK ATTACK WHILE HIS HERO ACTS AS THE DECOY

Naruto usually attacks his enemy with his Shadow Clones and Sasuke analyze the battle from behind using his Sharingan. If the enemy attacks Naruto, Sasuke always saves him. This is the dynamics that was established in Land of the Waves, Forest of the Death and even against the battle with Jigen. 

Similarly Mario acts as the decoy and if someone attacks him, Saori analyze it very carefully and blast them off from behind... Like she does in this panel.... Both Naruto and Mario looks back to see their Heroine...LOL 

(I promise you all, I never intended to make this into an SNS post.. I only wanted to talk about Saori. Like I was sort of joking when I started this section, but I’m convincing myself now... Saori is Sasuke and viceversa.)

KISHI LIKES HIS HEROINE’S LOVE TO BE UNCONDITIONAL & PURE....

Now... Just because I bring the word ‘Love’.... Don’t even imagine it’s something Romantic. It’s just not.  

Mario, the Hero is a Money minded A-Class Asshole and a sell out... (which he himself agrees...)

Here, They both come to meet this fat guy for some job... But that Old-Fatty wants to spend some ‘lonely’ times with Saori.... His assistant even offers Mario some money, for him to leave this girl alone with them.... 

As expected he leaves her alone... Poor Saori got horrified... But Saori is not very innocent... She escaped her way out somehow but it was implied that she killed that old-fart when in reality his Assistant killed him and put the blame on Saori.... She is not some damsel in distress, you know. 

And because Saori ‘seemingly’ killed those Old fart, She carries a bounty on her head worth of $500,000.... To which Mario, the Asshole, agrees half-heartedly and concocts a plan with his friend to finish her off.... 

As it happens.... Mario distracts her and his friend shot her from behind... Asshole!!!

Now, his friend turns the tables and pointing the Gun towards Mario’s head in order to steal all the money for himself....

But then,

SAORI’S BODY MOVED ON IT’S OWN.... To protect this worthless betraying jerk.... Even Mario himself was surprised... 

This is a clear parallel to this Land of the Waves scene

Naruto, unlike Mario, is not a jerk here... But he never did anything profound for Sasuke for him to give up his life easily.... At this point, they are not even acquainted with each other.... Sasuke just loved Naruto and did what he did without expecting anything back.... 

Similarly Saori also worked with Mario on many missions and ended up liking him because he never tried to flirt with her or make any ‘unusual’ advances on her unlike other men... (this is her childhood trauma which you will know if you read that manga)...  She liked him to the point of saving him even though he betrayed her 2 times for money. 

In both the cases, I really want to scream at Saori and Sasuke, “Why are you going so far for this betraying/useless jerk??”.

KISHI LIKES HIS HEROINE TO RESEMBLE HERO’S MOTHER 

Uhhh.... ??? 

I’ve made a post about how Sasuke resembles Kushina in many ways.... [Link]. And Mario openly confesses that Saori resembles his mother!!!! 

Anyways.... You can read the manga and understand Saori’s character even better. 

Kishimoto saying Sasuke holds the heroine status in Naruto Manga and giving Sasuke’s character attributes to Saori is not coincidental. It’s very clear that he want his heroine to be like Sasuke which explains that Accidental Kiss and that Femme Fatale scene in Orochimaru Lair. LOL. Mario is just a 52 page Manga and his characterization of Saori is very impressive. He drew her in a very dignified manner... Meaning, he didn’t sexualize her.

She is the definition of Independent, Strong, Vulnerable “Don’t mess with me, you MF!!”, “Touch me, I’ll Shoot you right **there**” kind of badass and Motherly woman.... She has every potential to be developed into a complex character and is very capable of having her own arcs, if this Manga was developed further.

There is no way an author can be an Asshole in one Manga and becomes a Saint in Another one... Not to mention that Mario manga was conceptualized in 1998, that is way before he started drawing Naruto in 1999... So, all these proves that Kishimoto can write wonderful woman Characters like Saori, Tsunade, Konan, Kushina. He simply didn’t want to give any scope for Sakura or Hinata.

He gave all the tropes he envisioned for Saori (in 1998) to Sasuke  in Naruto Manga.... by officially calling him as Heroine. 

To finish off,

I seriously don’t understand the logic behind the expectation of Independent, Strong Women characters in a media where the story is all about how 2 boys finds love in each other... But still, the author went on to give us Tsunade, Temari, Konan, Kushina, Granny Chiyo... 

People getting petty about female side characters getting ignored whereas Kishi ignored many male characters equally. But no one bothers about that. This blatantly shows their hypocrisy in consuming this media.

Female Characters getting knocked down by male characters using a Jutsu doesn’t qualify under Misogyny or Sexism. Writing despicable female characters also doesn’t come under Misogyny. I am saying this for the Umpteenth time, Sakura and Hinata were intentionally designed to be mocked and ridiculed. Don’t consider their portrayal as a sample for Kishimoto’s take on Women characters. Honestly, those kind of characters does exist in real world.

I have to appreciate the way Kishimoto characterize his Heroines in both the Manga (Sasuke & Saori). They both are really layered and complex... And definitely not some Mary fucking Sue at all.... If this is not the proof for his wonderful take on Women, then what is??? 

I think it’s about time we have to start removing our Gender Spectacles and see the characters as Human First rather than what’s between their legs. In that way, we can able to enjoy this series very much. This is applicable to any media. Or atleast for Gay media.

Kishimoto might not be the Flag Bearer for feminism. But he is definitely not a Misogynist or Sexist... That’s what I felt after watching Naruto and reading Mario.

[skelswritingcorner]

Savanaclaw + Autistic!MC

The actual content of this is directly copied and pasted from the Wattpad post; the author’s note and content warnings are paraphrased but still keep the general message.

A/N: This involves some stuff like having an autistic sibling, and some other things that weren’t mentioned in the first part.

Content Warnings: Menstruation, injury that happens in the canonical story.

Leona Kingscholar (this dude’s so hard to write ;-;)

The first time he met her was when she stepped on his tail. He was surprised at how much she apologised and insisting on checking his tail for any bruises or broken bones. Who does this herbivore think she is? He often thinks to himself, denying his appreciation of her concern because of his pride.

Unlike the women of the Afterglow Savanna, Leona noticed that MC was rather timid in comparison. Is this normal for herbivores? He felt like something was wrong, but it was simply an afterthought that nagged at him sometimes at night.

Sometimes, after taking a nap, he occasionally sees her nearby minding her own business. When asked, she replied that she found his silence calming. He found this strange but okay. Eventually, sometimes he’d notice a strange change in scent on her end but was too prideful to bring it up.

Before the Magift tournament, he noticed how she was somewhat irritated in general. When he asked her about it, she told him about her brother who often wouldn’t shut up about sports if given the chance. “I’m not even a sporty person,” she grumbled, “please don’t take it personally. I just can’t stand my brother since he’s super loud and an ass.” Well, Leona can’t relate to her struggle exactly but they both mutually hate their older brothers, that’s adequate enough for him.

During his overblot, MC again shows no fear (y’all sense the pattern here). This time it’s his tail and ears that she wants to pet. Ruggie and Jack panic, but it’s simply deja vu for Heartslabyul.

After getting knocked out by Grim during the exhibition match, Jack noticed the changed smell, but accompanied by the smell of blood and told the nurses along with Leona and Ruggie. After being brought to the infirmary, the nurses deduced that she started her period. He grumbled that she should’ve told them and proceeded to prepare for the official game to begin.

When Cheka came to visit them, his loudness scared MC half to death so Leona had to tell Cheka to stop shouting. Did Leona ever find out MC’s autistic? He found out through Ace. Did he change much, if at all? Definitely not, why does that matter anyways to him?

Ruggie Bucchi (also hard to write as well) He paid for his mischief and tomfoolery with an irritated lassie (this is the most powerful sentence I’ve ever written tbh). He stole Riddle and Cater’s magic pens and proceeded to be chased first by an enraged girl acting on sheer impulse and revenge followed by two other first years and a demon cat.

Okay, now this dude’s pretty laid back so he’s going to be tolerant, but after she chases him to an inch of his life he’s going to be terrified. He’s going to be confused when MC doesn’t get his jokes or her fury at the pranks he pulls at first, but when explained by Deuce that she usually doesn’t understand jokes (he gon get smacked) unless she herself makes them and tells him don’t pull these pranks again (everyone’s traumatized, -1000/10 won’t want to experience again). When Ruggie told her that she’s terrifying, she simply replied with, “You say that but my mom’s scarier.”

Poor dude’s gonna think her mom’s this super tall buff woman that can knock someone out with little to no effort but he’s thinking completely wrong. When he asks her how she is terrifying she replies with, “Well...mom fought the school board where I’m from because my brother was bullied heavily in middle school. He’s so traumatized that he won’t go near the campus. I hated that school anyways, too loud for my liking.”

He likely doesn’t realise the hormonal changes until Leona mentions it. “I thought she was quite docile,” he says, “maybe she’s just having an off day.” Ruggie usually doesn’t take anything seriously, but this was getting into weird territory and can’t take it lightly.

When Leona overblotted, Ruggie and Jack were terrified at the fact that she seemingly didn’t register that, y’know, this is a dangerous situation and you really shouldn’t be petting his ears. “She did something similar when Riddle overblotted,” Deuce tells them, “it’s just deja vu for us.” And then she kicked him in the balls and scurried off...nobody expected that.

After the fight, Ruggie and Jack noticed that she was slightly fatigued (they didn’t smell the blood yet). When Crowley told her to sit on the sidelines she just shrugged, telling him that she’s been getting some cramps anyways and is likely in no shape to play anyways.

Grim chucks disc at MC, Jack notices the smell of blood, brings her to infirmary and finds out she started her period right after the overblot fight, yadda yadda (it’s 5 AM and I only got three hours of sleep please bear with me).

Eventually, he finds out after asking Deuce that she’s autistic. Nothing really changes, he just makes sure to watch his mouth and try not to pull pranks on her (he’s permanently traumatized y’all).

Jack Howl (he’s a very good boy...a tsundere one but still) He first met MC when she and the Heartslabyul boys (excluding Trey because…y’know) were scoping out who was most likely to be the next victim of the strange injuries. She insisted on doing it herself (bad idea when your period starts soon and there’s a bunch of humanoid students who can smell the pheromones).

She ended up getting hit on by some of the upperclassmen, she didn’t say she was uncomfortable due to self advocacy issues. Luckily Jack is a very good boy with a sense of justice so he drove them off and made sure she was okay.

After thanking him and explaining what was happening, he told MC that he didn’t need any protection. He muttered that he likely wouldn’t be targeted under his breath under the assumption it was too quiet for her to hear. He was oh so wrong.

She asked if she heard him correctly, that he would likely not be targeted. He realised at this point that he shouldn’t have underestimated her. He gave in and whispered into her ear that he had an idea of who was behind it, but couldn’t tell her yet. He wasn’t expecting to get ear scritches and a reminder to be safe just in case. Did he like it? He didn’t like to admit it, but he did. Did he expect it? Definitely not.

When he turned into his beast form before Leona overblotted, he didn’t realise that MC’s pupils widened. She wanted to pet him and squish his toe beans, okay? He was too angry at Leona to notice though.

When Leona did overblot, he panicked when she casually approached him and started petting his ears. He was trying his best not to lunge forward to grab her and take her somewhere far away, but she kicked Leona in the groin before scurrying off far enough to not be attacked. After the fight, he noticed that she smelled like she was bleeding but didn’t bring it up.

Skipping to the exhibition match after Grim knocked her unconscious with the disc, Jack rushed to her side to check for any injuries. Luckily she didn’t get too severe of brain damage, but the smell of blood and pheromones was overly strong, especially near her pelvis. He told this to the nurses before they brought her to the infirmary, and also told this to Leona and Ruggie.

After being told by Ace and Deuce that MC’s autistic, he’s gonna try his best to research it (dude’s intelligent, I admire that). He’s also going to research menstruation so he’ll be better prepared the next time it happens.