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#i get it i hate the protagonist of some media too
yume-fanfare · 2 years
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decided to check the # for the newest hanako chapter on twitter none of you get itttt
#but it's really funny to see so!#cannibalism has been a running theme in the manga guys cmon#person w rhythm game guy pfp like 'i don't know why they thought this would be a good idea' brother this is a horror manga?#its also not the first time something like this happened c'mon#'aidairo wouldn't' have you read the hell of mirrors arc#'they shouldve clarified that this love could not happen or just make it really clear that it wasnt romantic' 😭😭😭#i don't 'ship' them either lol but if you wanted nice unproblematic stuff you should've dropped this manga on like chapter 3#like everyone else did#people calling it irredeemable media is already funny on its own but the way the fanbase is also Like This is so wild to me#every time i see some kid on the tag being like omg amane is so handsome 😍 im like i don't know you but you probably can do better#'remember when this was a manga about a girl trying to get her crush to like her back' IM IN TEARSSSS#that was....... literally only in chapter 1...........#in which she realizes she doesn't really like said crush...............#like i'd say it gets Serious as early as chapter 9???#(funnily enough id say that's where kou's conflict truly starts. a protagonist)#there is a homophobic hate crime in chapter 19??? it shouldn't take you too long to realize this is not a comedy help me#but like yeah help there Is a reason why all the cutesy romance moments that people redraw for aus n stuff happen during chapters 1 to 8#because the rest is Plot Relevant#ok ending my rant here ♥#if u read til here ily#i used to think hanako fans should take a reading comprehension test beforehand but at this point ive accepted its a lost cause#jbksh#mar's midnight rambles
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facioleeknow · 28 days
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Time for love ° Hwang Hyunjin
Hyunjin. the immortal Adonis, falls for a human.
WC: 2094 Genre: Greek mythology AU, angst, smut
TW: make up artist reader, model hyunjin, smut, masturbation, thigh riding, handjob, mention of cum, borderline asshole hyunjin, greek gods and goddesses, mention of blood, angry hyunjin and angry deities
AN: thank you from th ebottom of my heart to th elovely @leeknowsallyoursecrets , for giving me her opinion about this.
My Kofi if you want to support me <3.
Hyunjin was old. Hyunjin was really really old. Eternal youth they called it. When one thinks about youth, they imagine freshness and fun; a colorful, colorful phase when you get to try new things and explore the world. Hyunjin’s life was anything but; he had seen every corner of this earth and tried every experience that was humanly possible. His life was flat and gray, there was nothing more to do and he was bored.
He remembered his first life. His name was Adonis and he was considered the most beautiful man in the whole world; he was so beautiful that goddesses soon appeared on his doorstep and asked to share his bed. That’s how his story became myth, or what people thought it was.
He had lived many lives from then, he had taken many names and done many things, he lived a tranquil life and minded his business; had sometimes taken a couple of lovers but nothing that had stuck to him. 
His life and pattern of change had come crumbling apart when one day the gods decided to come out in the open and introduce themselves to humans. With time everything was uncovered and the protagonists of every myth became their own kind of celebrities. He had never been more famous in his life, but he also had never been more lonely. He was beautiful and that was a fact, and with the fame came the modeling offers. He modeled for the most famous maisons of fashion of the world and people loved him. No they didn’t love him, they loved his body, they loved his face, they loved his fake smile and fake confidence.
His days were always the same, he would wake up at an insane hour, get on set, get ready, shoot, get unready, check social media and then go to bed, just to do it all the following day. Day after day the cycle had never been broken, for years on end. Until it had.
When he walked inside the photo studio, he could sense something had shifted in the air. He hated changes. A heavy hand smoothed back his unruly hair, his eyes closed almost on instinct after he sat down in his makeup chair. He had requested a special chair, made of one of the softest furs he had ever touched, where he could sleep and relax.
Something warm and small suddenly touched his shoulder, hesitantly. He hissed and his eyes shot open, his staff knew better than to interfere with his pattern. 
His breath hitched in his throat when he opened his eyes. This wasn’t his usual make-up artist.
“Sorry to disturb you Mr. Hwang, I am Y/N L/N, your new makeup artist,” your voice was sweet, way too sweet to be human, but he knew all deities by heart. Perhaps some kind of creature.
“What happened to Ha-na?” his eyes bore holes into your skull, his gaze held a fiery passion you had never seen in your life. Is this how an immortal looks?, you thought.
“She’s on maternity leave, sir,” you had never felt that nervous in your life.
The conversation died off after that but his eyes were fixed on you. There was something about you that Hyunjin couldn't quite pinpoint, his inside felt like they were lit on fire. His head told him that if he looked away from you, something bad would've happened. He had to have you, one way or another, he didn't even care if you were human or not.
Since that day Hyunjin had always waited anxiously for your arrival every morning. You would always greet him with a tight lipped smile while you closed into fists your obvious shaky hands. He liked to think your hands were shaking and your heart was beating out of your chest because of him. 
At night Hyunjin would lie awake and think about you, your hair, your lips, your hands, your eyes, but most of the time he would think about what laid under your clothes, how your curves would look and how they would feel in his big and soft hands.
He had to have you, he didn't care if you were human or not.
The second time Hyunjin spoke to you, it was weeks after your first encounter.
“What are you?” his eyes bored into yours like the first time you met.
 “What do you mean sir?” 
His presence felt almost overbearing, it looked like he was towering over you, it felt like he was everywhere, you couldn't run from him. But in reality he was still sitting in front of you.
“Don't play coy. What kind of creature are you?” 
“Creature? I'm human, sir,” your eyes wide as saucers at his assumption. You? A supernatural creature? 
“Are you lying to me?” His tone was stern and demanding.
“No, sir, I would never.” 
He didn't reply.
He was scary. Immortals were scary and dangerous for humans more than anyone else. You should've been fearful of him but a familiar throb between your legs kept growing and growing and you couldn't help but feel ashamed.
Hyunjin could feel your arousal, he could read it on your face. After centuries he could read human emotions quite well.
“Everybody out!” His tone left no space for arguments. The staff and photographers scurried out of the room with their hearts in their throats.
“Come sit.” The immortal patted his spread legs, his big hand encased your wrist.
“Excuse me?”
“You don't want to?” he sounded cocky now, a new emotion he let you see.
“I didn't say that,” you stuttered.
“Then be a good girl and straddle my thigh.” 
His hands never left your body, not even when you complied and positioned yourself how he asked. He was in control, he was the one guiding your movement.
A small gasp escaped your lips when you felt him ground you on his strong thigh.
“Please sir, touch me,” the shame fueled your pleasure like never before.
“No can do, get yourself off like this or don't at all.”
That was the best orgasm of your life.
After he touched you, Hyunjin couldn't get enough of you. He thought your voice was sweet at first, but your moans were even sweeter, your skin tasted like nectar and your pussy like ambrosia. He was addicted.
Sleep came easier to him now but not even in your dreams he could escape you. Your voice, your sweet whines, your skin, your scent, they all clouded his brain even in his slumber. He'd wake up hard as a rock every night and leaking. He would fuck his fist roughly, just how he liked it, he would use all of his toys and cum again and again until his seed had permanently stained his satin black sheets. But it wasn't enough. It was never enough. He had to feel you clench around him, he had to feel you rake your nails down his back, he had to push your legs to your chest and see fat tears roll down your cheeks.
So he would get up and drive to your house where he would fuck you until you both passed out. It became some sort of routine, one that he followed religiously. But the more he saw the bigger a foreign and strange feeling grew inside him. It started at the pit of his stomach and then spread through his chest like a warm blanket enveloping him in a tight hug. It was comforting and that unsettled him.
He was confused and ignorant, he hated that. But he knew that it didn't come from him, somebody was attacking him. That's how Hyunjin found himself in front of the goddess of love, Aphrodite, herself.
“What have you done to me?” he yelled. He knew yelling at a deity was not a smart move but the anger was consuming him, mixing with that strange feeling and making his blood hot.
“You cursed me, didn't you? You cursed me because I don't want to share a bed with you anymore, you selfish woman.” The moment those words came out of HYunjin’s mouth he regretted them. The room started shaking along with the anger of the goddess, everybody knew not to anger Aphrodite. he was foolish, he thought he could get away with it because he used to be her favorite lover. The goddess grew in stature, the light bulbs in the room exploded, leaving the only light her angry eyes. 
“You foolish human, how dare you speak to me like this,” this was not Aphrodite the goddess of love, this was the goddess of fiery passion and victory, “ I did not curse you. You do not hold significance in my eyes anymore, you are a mere human. Humans all fall in love, it’s their destiny.”
The walls of the pristine white room they were in started to crack under the gravity of the goddess full immortal form. Hyunjin knew that the fact he was not dead meant that Aphrodite let him live as a sign of charity and because of the time they shared their bed. But she did not give second chances, she never had so he quickly kneeled and when he felt the presence of the immortal get gradually less overbearing he got up and walked backwards until back hit the door as a sign of respect and then left. 
The drive home was pure madness, flashes of rage traveled through his body like lightning before leaving like nothing had happened. Hera was punishing him for angering her daughter, nothing was less expected from the goddess of family. When he stumbled into his house, with shaky hands he grabbed his ceremonial cup and offered his bloods to the gods to appease them and as a thanks for sparing his life.
The following day Hyunjin avoided looking at you in the eyes, he had never looked away from you, not even once. You were so used to having his fiery gaze on you that now your whole body felt cold as ice. 
‘Maybe he’s tired,’ you thought while you worked. Tired or not, you felt him miles away from you even if you were touching his skin with your very own hands. Something had shifted between you. 
The next day felt like a deja vù, Hyunjin still had his eyes closed and he still refused to talk to you. You felt wronged and cold. The following days followed the same pattern, it felt like a terrible nightmare. His nightly visits had also stopped and so did his texts. 
Anger and frustration were eating away at you. Work had started to get tougher and Hyunjin’s attitude was making your mental health drop. The last straw was the pouring rain, you were stranded at work, with no umbrella, when all you wanted to do was go home, eat ice cream and sleep.
Fat teardrops started dropping down your cheeks, why was this all happening to you? Why couldn’t you live in peace? Why was Hwang Hyunjin doing this to you?
“Are you crying?” That voice. Hwang Hyunjin.
“That’s none of your business, Hyunjin,” you furiously wiped at your cheeks.
“It is,” his hand cupped your cheek and you had no strength to fight it, “ it is because you are the only woman i’ve ever loved in my long life.” Your breath hitched in your throat.
“Say that again.”
“You, “ he paused, “ are the only wo-”
You didn’t give him the chance to finish his sentence, your lips attached to his and you richest deflated with relief. Kissing him felt familiar and natural. The recognizable desire that always lit within you when you were with him started spreading through you like wildfire. Your hands quickly traveled to his pants and unbuttoned his pants without thinking, you had done that countless times. His dick was already hard and leaking, waiting for you. Your soft hand wrapped around his velvety skin and tugged and moved just how you knew he liked, how you knew drove him mad. Your lips found his neck and nipped and sucked at his pulse point, his weak spot.
“Oh, baby, I’m not going to last, I think I’m cumming.”
A quick swipe of your thumb against his slip made him spill all over your hand, his head thrown back in ecstasy and his eyes tightly shut.
“You’re gonna be the death of me, lover, but first let me return the favor.” 
A hand on his chest stopped him.
“Take me on a date first.”
“Whatever you want, lover.”
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thebibliosphere · 3 months
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Hi! How are you doing? Sorry to bother you, but i dont know many scottish people and idk who to talk to about this book I found on audible. It's called Imogène, by french author Charles Exbrayat. Do you know him /the book? I've started reading it but I had to pause because, while being sold as a "humorous spy story" I find the protagonist, a "very proudly scottish" woman, to be... an offensive caricature? Like she acts like a fool, honestly. This book contains some interesting points about sexism (it was published in 1959), and ridiculous british habits (such as employees forced to give money for princess anna's birthday or being socially scorned). I'm sure the shared dislike / distrust the protagonist and her british colleagues feel are (were?) realistic. But she is so extra, and the story keeps telling how lonely she is, even after working 20 years in london. She has No friends, most acquitances dont talk to her for various motivations, her bosses hates her ... idk I feel this book is actually mocking scottish people? Or scottish women??? I was SO there for a "strong woman protagonist who gives cutting remarks to her boss or peers", but this looks wrong. Idk. I didnt know whom ask for inputs. Maybe i'm reading too much into it. Feel free to ignore this mega rant. Have a good day!
I think cultural and historical context and time of publication-- which was almost 70 years ago --are important factors to take into consideration when we look at fiction through our current expectations.
I can’t speak to the book as I’ve never read it, but speaking as a Scots woman who worked for an English publishing house for a while, being made to feel alienated by my boss and others due to being Scottish was unfortunately still something going on in 2011.
I’d get lots of “Oh but you sound so eloquent” remarks regarding my thinned-out accent (something I did on purpose to avoid being told to “speak properly” which was also something I heard a lot in school if I ever used my native Scots language instead of “Queen’s English.”) and one time my boss referred to me as “their civilized Scot” to an American author, whose Scottish romance book I was supposed to be fixing the dialogue on.
The phrasing was along the lines of, “Don’t worry, you’ll be able to understand her. Joy is our civilized Scot.”
The author laughed and made another derogatory comment about how they just loved Scottish accents even if it was unintelligible a lot of the time. I kept my mouth shut because I didn't want to lose my first career job.
I kept my mouth shut a lot in that job.
In that regard I could very well empathize with the character being lonely and not engaging with anyone, even after 20 years.
The proud Scottish woman can be a bit of a caricature, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is intended as mocking.
Again, cultural/historical context matters.
I wasn’t alive in 1959, but I know there was a lot of Scottish media about the time that leaned into the stubbornness and pride of Scots women both for humor and to make societal commentary on the fact that women were strong and more independent than they’d ever been following two world two and a lot of men weren’t happy about it and wanted them to go back into their boxes. As a result the mouthy, proud Scots woman became a mockable caricature that turned women into shrill, over proud scolds.
Get back in your box or we’ll make fun of you, basically.
So is this book being mocking, or is it employing popular tropes of the time, knowing that audience will understand what it means and that the female protagonist is being subversive despite what others expect from her?
I can’t say. Again, haven’t read it. It could be utter dogshit and making total fun of my culture. But I do think when looking at older media we need to put our thinking caps on and think, “How would the audience of the time, 1959, have viewed and engaged with this?”
Expecting a “strong female protagonist” as we know it from media today isn’t going to work with media that’s almost 70 years old.
Hell, the “strong woman protagonist” wasn’t even something any piece of media could agree on when I was growing up in the 90s.
Times change. Literary tropes and preferences change. It helps to keep that in mind.
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I keep seeing so many people here getting angry that this season is "vilifying Ed", and it's depressingly fascinating to see how others can watch the same show and somehow see something completely different. Is it simply the lack of media literacy? Is it the inability to appreciate and enjoy complex, nuanced, morally grey characters without willfully blocking out anything even slightly unpalatable about them to the point where the character they think they love isn't really that character anymore?
Because, uh... Season 1 already "vilified" Ed plenty. Except "vilify" is the wrong word, of course. It wasn't in any way malicious or mean-spirited, quite the contrary, it was often played as comedic (until the end of episode 10 when it was anything but) - Ed was always meant to be a sympathetic character, he's a protagonist after all, and the show's portrayal of him is very compassionate. It merely refused to sugarcoat or shy away from his darker side. He's literally history's most famous pirate, you don't become one by being nice and treating everyone gently. He ambushed and strangled his own father to death when he was like 9 years old (100% deserved and justifiable ofc, but it still bears saying it out loud like this just to comprehend how unhinged this actually was). He loves torturing and maiming people for fun, and sometimes even animals (that scene with forcing a turtle to fight a crab). He didn't give a fuck about his crew members dying to satisfy his whim to meet Stede. He entirely failed in his role as a captain in ep 4. He effectively played a double agent with Izzy and Stede for a while before changing his mind. He attempted to murder Lucius. And while you could try to argue his punishment of Izzy was at least to some degree deserved, not only cutting Izzy's toe off but forcing him to eat went beyond punishment, it was sadistic torture.
So, yeah, please just read all that and take it in. And then remember once again that Ed is also a traumatised, lonely, depressed, sensitive, creative, curious, deeply passionate person yearning for true love and for something different in life... just like Stede. He loves music and can play the piano. He wrote a very vulnerable song and sand his heart out. He likes his tea with seven sugars. He enjoys fashion and dressing up. He has such a limitless sense of wonder for the world. He went on a trek with Stede just to make him happy, even though he hated nature and was in a shit mood that day. He wants to host a talent show. He wants to become free. He's clever and funny and fascinating. I love Ed.
Yes, it's possible to reconcile those two sides of him and accept both sides as the "real" Ed. You have to reconcile the two sides if you want to enjoy him as a character, because if you don't, you're going to either detest him to the core (which would make enjoying the show practically impossible since he's sort of a main character...), or you'll only be able to enjoy a diminished, crippled, cardboard cutout version of his character, which would be such a pity and a massive disservice to the creators of this show who worked hard to create interesting, multidimensional characters.
Not to mention you'd be missing one of the core messages of the show - the idea that people still deserve love and can be loved even if they're imperfect, or not necessarily good people. Because love is a human condition. It's not a sole dominion of "good" people. "Bad" people can fall in love too - even if, just like them, that love isn't exactly "nice" or "pure", and neither are the relationships that stem from it. They can be messy and exasperating. But "bad" people can also grow and change because of it. That's what OFMD is ultimately about - growth and change, learning to accept yourself but also become better. That can't happen if the character is already 100% perfect the way they are.Ed is far from that. So is Izzy. They can both become better, and they both still deserve compassion and understanding, because that's the environment people need to become better.
So, if you're mad that at the start of S2 the crew are sympathetic to Izzy's suffering and want to help him instead of kicking him when he's down, and what Ed did to him is being acknowledged as cruel and wrong... congratulations, you have completely missed what OFMD is all about.
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grimeybones · 5 months
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Media you should consume if you liked Saltburn !
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1. Call me by your name - novel
If you haven’t read the book you have too it’s more fucked than the movie the writing is delicious and makes you uncomfortable in some parts but the story is so rich and heartbreaking and weird.
2. The Favourite - film
A period film with a queen who is mentally ill with two servants fighting for her affection, it’s gay, erotic, heartbreaking, fucked up and bleak.
3. Diary of an oxygen thief - novel
A first person recounting of a sex freak who hates women and seemingly wins at life until one event. Honestly the less you know the better it’s a story with a horrible protagonist who you don’t root for and you desperately want him to loose. There are 2 other books that go along with this one.
4. Opulence and Envy - video essays by Contrapoints
I mean if u haven’t seen these yet what are you doing. I think the topics Natalie discusses are extremely relevant to the film. Just get some popcorn and watch these for a couple hours.
5. Perfume: the story of a murder - classic novel
Amazing writing, the main character again is grotesque and depraved. He has an amazing sense of smell and uses that to create perfumes in 18th century paris. There is already a movie about this film but it’s so bad it’s gets so much wrong. I feel like someone should make another movie with this but better, the best man for the job would odviously be Barry Keoghan.
6. Portrait of Dorian grey - play / novel
It’s a classic, the plot is simple but devolves into something quite sinister and sad. Just read it already.
Put more suggestions in the comments or reblog !
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alpaca-clouds · 5 months
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The Orphan Without Friends (or: one of my absolute writing pet peeves)
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I talked about this before. Without a doubt the strongest influence on my writing has been Digimon Tamers and apart from that the general writing from Chiaki J. Konaka. And there was something I learned from Digimon Tamers that I ever since internalized a lot into my own writing.
See, if you write a story it is very easy to just slide into the trope of making your main character like an orphan without family or friends. It simplifies so many things, especially if you want to send your character onto this epic adventure. This goes doubly so, if you have a character, who is still a minor and would usually be somewhat accountable towards their parents in regards to where they are supposed to be. Also, any friendships the characters form within the story seem so much more meaningful, if your character just does not have other friends.
Meanwhile I am sitting there like: "Thanks, I hate it."
Don't get me wrong. I did the same thing too, when I was a young writer. Heck, even as I was learning from a lot of what Konaka was doing and was able to realize how this kind of writing tended to hurt stories, I still did that. Like all my original stories I wrote before the age of like... 22... followed this kind of writing. Main characters who either were orphans or had abusive parents and no friends.
But here is the thing: It kinda makes stories worse. Especially in terms of character writing.
There is two main aspects to this:
Characters without friends, who like them, are inherently less likeable. (Yes, there literally are studies on this topic.)
Characters without friends and a social environment also tend to come across as less... deep.
Let me explain. See, we humans are still very social animals and as such we tend to subconsciously orient us through other people. As such we are more likely to actually like a character, who is liked by people. Even though those people are not real, our subconscious will still orient itself at it.
You know this kind of YA protagonist, right? The "I am bullied and alone, because people do not get me, because I am not like the other girls!" Which tends to be relatable to a certain subset of readers - but basically everyone past a certain age is probably gonna roll their eyes. And this gets partly back to that. It really gets to the core there. Lonely characters feel like "oh, so special" quickly.
And yes, obviously this can be prevented if you actually work with this. Either turn it into a character weakness of some sort - or at least reflect within the story.
The other aspect is, that through giving character a social group, you actually will develop the character a bit more through those people that surround them. Because we humans have this thing called social cognition. Basically our mental processes will change depending on how we interact with social groups.
And as such... You actually will develop a character through giving them a social group. And it will show. Because who the character is friends with and how the character interacts with their family actually shows a lot about who the character is. It helps. It really helps. It allows you, too, to define the character without going into weird mologues or the likes.
I really am kinda frustrated with how often media really just does not allow characters to have friends outside the group of main characters. It's okay that they have other friends. That is fine.
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catrasredemption · 2 months
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Listen I know there's already a lot of analyses on why Catra hate is biased but I just realized there's an absolutely perfect example of this, right down to the tries to kill the protag but the fandom ships it detail.
Goro Fucking Akechi.
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And before I start - please know that I hold no actual ill-will toward this sociopathic murderer. And if you've never played Persona 5, no, I am NOT exaggerating. But we'll get into that.
Akechi is set up pretty early on to be a foil to the game's protagonist, Joker. And the uh... gay undertones are NOT subtle.
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They never actually become A Thing in game, but it's a VERY popular ship in the fandom. Now what crimes did this little uWu commit?
Literal Murder. Not like, his actions lead to the death of someone, but he actually pointed a gun and pulled the trigger
His actions do also lead to the death of more people by causing a crash in the Tokyo subway system
Attempted murder against Joker - you know, the guy everyone ships him with
Impersonating a genius teenage boy detective (no that's not quite on the level of murder but it's a crime to me and an insult against Naoto from Persona 4)
Now, don't get me wrong, his backstory is pretty messed up. His birth father, a man named Shido, knocked up his mother, who worked in the Red Light District, and eventually killed herself, leaving Akechi an orphan to be passed around by relatives who didn't really care about him.
Akechi took two things from his upbringing - one, he had to be perfect in order to be acceptable to people. Two, a burning hatred of his birth father and a desire to see him suffer.
He eventually ends up working with his father, Shido, who's manipulating the masses using the Metaverse (don't worry if you don't know what that is, it's complicated) to make everyone love him. Akechi works with him while secretly building up his own plan on the side - to disgrace Shido when he's elected and then kill him.
All the while he's also working with Joker and the rest of the main cast and trying to manipulate them (they do manage to see through him, but that's another thing).
Again, I love Akechi. I do. I think he's a wonderfully complicated character and a little trash boy who just needs love. But he did so many bad things. And he did a lot of them solely to get revenge against Shido, and toward the end out of resentment/envy of Joker. And in the very, very end he makes the right choice and sacrifices himself to save Joker.
Now let's go over Catra's life real quick:
Raised in a horrible environment, often neglected, knew she wasn't wanted or really loved
Stepped into a villain role where she did terrible things, some of which led to the death of another person (Angella)
Fought against Adora
Ultimately sacrificed herself to save Adora
Went on to help save the world
It's almost uncanny how Akechi's story lines up with Catra's. And while I'm sure Akechi has haters, the people who love him and still ship him with Joker are far, far louder. And I get that! I too wish Akechi could have had a happy ending, but I don't think it was ever really in the cards for him. But he's a guy, so he's a little uWu.
Catra, meanwhile, is an angry woman and gets none of the leeway that angry men usually get (see also: Zuko). Even sacrificing herself to save Adora couldn't earn her any redemption in some people's eyes.
And I don't like comparing characters, especially ones from different franchises, don't get me wrong. But it's interesting to me how often men are forgiven for far worse crimes than women in media, and Akechi is a grade-A example of doing the absolutely worst things he could while still being loved by the fandom.
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iamafanofcartoons · 1 year
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We need to address how media, and media critics, portray female characters poorly. What can be done about it? What are examples of media works that portray complex female characters well? What are writing tips for people trying to write complex female characters? Why do media critics hate on women?
Its just something I noticed.
Male writers drop the ball with female characters all the time. They'll give the men all the good lines but women get weak roles and no sense of humor. When we complain they then make a female character who has too many boyfriends and too much ego and too much power but no resourcefulness, or she's super powerful but still needs a man to save her, and of course they make her complain about everything and fight with everyone who helps her. I could go on and on.
A lot of people are incapable of viewing female characters as anything other than an innocent saint or a portrait of pure evil. Arguably the best characters are morally ambiguous ones who live in the gray area between good and evil, but women are much less often afforded that distinction than their male counterparts.
I'm been having a huge problem connecting to media. The only women around are very young or very old and their main defining feature is usually motherhood. If a woman my age exists who isn't a mom she's usually either obsessed with men or desperate to have a baby (or will be once the right dude comes along).
Fanfiction has great female characters , but you keep running into people who will only write a complex woman who's tied to a male main character.
Michael Burnham from Star Trek: Discovery . POC Female Protagonist. You probably have heard or seen a lot of hatred against.
Korra from The Legend Of Korra. Sequel Series to ATLA. POC Female Protagonist. Despite losing fights and suffering extreme trauma and making mistakes, critics passionately bash the show, calling her a Mary-Sue, and accusing the show of being Protagonist-Centered Morality.
A lot of the time if there is a military high ranking female character or just female leader that is masculine or butch she will be the villain to be defeated by the traditionally feminine or at least more feminine heroine/love interest of the hero. I hate this because it basically implies that a woman can only be good if she’s conventionally attractive or a love interest. It’s saying being butch is bad/evil.
Even movies trying to be feminist, like “Contact” which I had to watch for homework? With Jodie Foster from the 1990s told the brilliant, focused woman scientist to not be so “confrontational” (as two male characters stole credit for her work right after they stole her funding) and to be happy with “small moves.” They continued to pat her on the head and tell her to be quiet through the whole movie. The one time she even spoke to another woman was to ask where she could find a really pretty dress. This was supposed to show growth in her character arc.
If I recall correctly, one of the playable characters in the next release of the grand theft auto series is gonna be a women. People online were flipping out over this saying they are being too "woke", among other things. Its funny to me because there has been 5 gta games with only male protagonists, and now there's 1 female in it and suddenly its a problem. Its like these people think there are only 2 genders in games, male and woke.
Heck, people love basic trope laden protagonists..... until they are women.
People love unreasonably over powered characters that are loved or feared in equal measure by the entire cast..... until its a woman.
Then all of a sudden, she's a Mary-Sue and the show/game/book is "Protagonist-Centered Morality"
Some characters who are torn apart for their initial naïveté like Sansa Stark or Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon) are immediately written off as stupid girl characters. Never mind that one becomes a political powerhouse and the other routinely saves the world. People just write their characters off as too “girly” or “annoying” before they even have the chance to redeem themselves in their stories.
Feels like at it's core, people don't like women trying to build self confidence and play out power fantasies. The only difference with the original Mary Sue was that she was imagining being liked by everyone, which was every woman's dream back then and to a certain extent, now. The power was being well liked, and that made her annoyingly boring because there was no struggle for her. Men think struggle is needed, even in fantasies and dreams, but it isn't.
The term Mary-Sue gained a new popularity by shaming female characters (such as Rey, Galadriel, Captain Marvel,…). I am not saying the term is not used towards male characters as well, but it is more rare, and it is rarely as violent as when it is used to characterize a female character.
More importantly it is used against female characters unevenly compared to male characters, its accepted as a genre trope for a male character to be extremely capable or to acrue experience and ability rapidly throughout the narrative. But when it's a woman suddenly "realism" must apply, a real person doesn't simply gain strength and talent through endless perfectly leveled hardship. In simpler terms, Batman can launch a thug across the room with a single punch and it's awesome, Black Widow, however, is breaking the laws of physics when she does her famous around the neck takedown.
Neither are realistic, arguably any grown man launching another grown man bodily through the air with a casual punch is less realistic than a woman pulling off a skilled takedown, but the unequal application of standards says all that needs to be said about the critic.
Writing a "mary sue" to be male often results in a praised character that people don't really worry about. Like Goku or Kirito. People are fine with it. Enjoy it. And there's massive amounts of rather popular fanfiction taking random male characters in series and sue-ifying them, making them the protagonist over the actual main characters, and slapping in poorly developed romance arcs. It's "mary sue" 101, but hardly anyone talks about them in that light.
Meanwhile a woman shows a level of competence similar to another character in the same series (e.g. Rey to Luke or Anakin) and the accusations are everywhere.
Calling these characters one-dimensional is one of the dog-whistles of the modern [whatever]-gate colony creature.
They know that they'll get savaged if they come out and say they're mad because this character is a woman, so they couch everything in these subjective terms. She's one-dimensional. She's flat. She's badly written. She's a mary sue. I just couldn't relate to her.
You can argue with them, you can point out that, say, in Star Wars, that Rey's ability to handle weapons intentionally established in the early scenes of TFA, that we see the setup for the skills she's going to display later in the movie/series, and that her first win is against a badly wounded Sith apprentice. By contrast, Luke successfully fights his way through a huge space station against professional soldiers, then hops into a starfighter he's never flown before, outflies a bunch of experienced pilots, and pulls off a physically impossible shot to save the day.
But sure. Rey is the one who strains credulity.
You can point all that out, but none of it matters. They're not arguing in good faith. They're just mad that there's a girl, and know better than to say that out loud.
He pulls off the shot because he has a throwaway line about murdering animals the size of a camel for fun in his civilian craft that just so happens to have controls similar to the military superiority fighter because they were manufactured by the same company. Because that doesn't strain credibility. Also guess which parts were filled in later by novel writers who were like, "holy **** that makes no sense at all"
Sailor Moon and Sansa Stark are two female characters that start out as whiney cry-baby girlie girls who evolve into political powerhouses and heroes in their own right. But most people write their characters off immediately, because they’re disgusted by their girlish-ness.
While our media gives male characters a chance to grow, female characters are generally written off unless they either show masculine traits, or are used for fan service. It’s why women in movies and TV are usually a kickass tomboy or a girlfriend character.
So anyway, I guess my point is that there are amazing kickass women characters who are well-written and evolve and grow, but their growth tends to be written off as frivolous and not as cool as their dude counterparts.
Imagine an anime where the woman is the main character and she's strong, smart, and not sexualized ?
How about Guardian of the Spirit (seirei no moribito in Japanese)? The MC is a mercenary woman who fights with a spear. She's a complex character, maybe somewhat emotionally stunted because of growing up on the road. She meets a wonderful, compassionate male healer and I love how they break stereotypical gender roles. There's also a complete badass old lady with magical powers and a temper. One of my favourite characters in any genre.
But I'd like to add SuleMio to the list.
Some people did not like that Gundam had its first female protagonist last year, or that she's engaged to another girl, or that they have a romantic moment where Miorine makes Suletta "promise to be with me forever".
It's my first Gundam show and I was nowhere near the fandom, but even I heard the howls of rage from the otakus over that show while it was airing.
“ I highly recommend reading Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Strong female main character with a supportive cast of male characters. His Skyward series is also good for this.  Sanderson is great but there are some female fantasy writers that do this even better IMO. NK Jemisin has tons of great female characters. Tamsyn Muir’s Locked Tomb series has a majority female cast and I’d say 4 or 5 of them are in the top ten most interesting and complex female characters I’ve read. “
You heard of The Bechdel test: Two women have to talk about something other than a man. There is no time window. It came up in a 1985 comic Dykes To Watch Out For and although it is not a great indicator of more feminist content, it's a wonder much media fails to pass that test.
Have you seen
Arcane? That is a wild crazy masterpiece with awesomely complex awesome characters. It's animated, yeah, so what? But I mean, to say "it's animated" is a heavy  understatement. Have you seen Jinx? Have you seen her portrayal of psychosis and godknows what else was happening in her head? No one in history came even close to that.
Queen's Gambit? Anya Taylor-Joy brought Beth Harmon flawlessly through immense complexity of the character
Mare of Easttown - Kate Winslet there is, I kid you not, the best acting I have ever seen. Her character is going through complex situations and emotions and learning to deal with her human side. Bryan Cranston raised the bar ridiculously high with Walter White, but Kate Winslet pushed it further up, set explosives on it, and walked away like a badass without looking at the explosion. No one is topping that anytime soon.
I'm sure there are more examples. But what I love about these, and a big part of what makes them perfect is that they are their own characters and aren't defined by men around them. Their greatn
I wish female characters were given better in terms of development and characterization. Honestly, I feel like a lot of people hate female characters simply because most male dominated media does such a poor job of writing women, and those characters aren't given the same excuses as poorly written male characters.
Anyway, yeah, sorry for my rant. Having grown up on Anime, Harry Potter, Star Wars, you name it?
I later in life realized what was missing, what is needed, and really needed to hear other people's input on this stuff.
I never understood the need for every main character to be only a cishet white guy. I had already come up with several characters of my own, all of them LGBTQIA+, and half of them women, and several also POC. But my writing and art skills are poor so I can't visualize them properly...
We need more female authors, and we need to promote the ones that are out there more!
(there are plenty of really, really good female authors, in all genres, but often they get less attention, because, well, misogyny)
Edit: If you want an example of how the double-standard towards women and LGBT is applied? Go watch RWBY or Legend of Korra. Both involve a deconstruction of tropes. Both involve women standing up against an authority that demands respect based on being authority, not based on respect. Both shut down the white male savior trope so hard, that men and women who love the patriarchy despise both shows.
But of course, anything that Team RWBY or Korra does is immediately held to a double standard and ripped into for anything that they do NOT because they’re flawed or because of writing decisions. Its because they’re LGBT women that they’re held under a microscope. Or have you noticed that every fixit fanfic for both series involves defending the Patriarchy while supporting toxic masculinity and trying to revive the White Male Savior trope that both shows have tried so hard to bury six feet under?
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see-arcane · 1 year
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It seems that most media both minimize Jonathan's horrific trauma (the fact that he was tortured, abused, used, starved, disabled, and plagued by sleepless nights is all watered down) and his badassery (down to the fact that they refuse to let him scar, chase, and kill Dracula) and his love and canonical attraction to Mina. It feels like they are not interested in male victims who are capable of surviving and winning and ending up having a healthy love life (something the Victorians believed was not possible after being "tainted", so congrats on agreeing with them!).
Here's the thing. Jonathan Harker the Character is always, always, always shafted by academic reads and adaptations. The critics and writers and directors behind them are almost universally of the mindset that says his combination of damsel (preyed on by a man and three women he actively runs from rather than give into them, thinking only of Mina), hero (guy who turns the tables when his beloved is endangered, hunting and slaying the monster), and Guy Who Loves His Wife and Wants to Be Equals with Her/Follow Her Lead, is poison to them.
It's a threat. He can't be a protagonist! He can't be attractive or appealing or what women/readers actually want in a male lead! What would that make them?*
*Part of the "'I hate my wife!' humor/all men want to cheat/men are never weak or preyed upon/gross that looks too LGBT" niche.
On the other hand, Jonathan Harker's individual character traits would look so great on someone else! --Every Adaptation Director.
They give his extremely long and uncomfortably intimate time being preyed on to Mina, Lucy, or some stand-in chick.
They give his acts of badassery and Dracula Archenemy arc to Van Helsing or some stand-in vampire hunter.
They give his love and loyalty to the point of blasphemy to fucking Dracula so there's an excuse to make him sexy and redeemable for going after Mina, the Designated Love Interest because She's the One Girl Who Doesn't Get Killed Off.
Jonathan Harker is only appreciated when he's broken into pieces and scavenged for parts.
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vinvantae · 2 years
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can you do a story with lewis where him and the protagonist are separated as a couple but co-parenting their daughter together? i keep thinking how an amazing dad lewis would be and how protective he would be with his little girl! <3
ps. i would love to see something like they’re still both in love with each other, people around them see how amazing the protagonist is supporting him through the races, as a mom and how perfect he’s as a dad but both of them don’t admit their love.
Yes of course I can, thank you for the suggestion!
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You didn’t come to race weekends very often now that you and Lewis had separated but since Silverstone had coincided with your week off work, he insisted you bring Maisie to the race. He wanted her as involved in his world as he could, but it was his world that destroyed your relationship so he knew you were cautious.
But as you stepped into the paddock, the small girl in your arms clad in a Mercedes shirt with his number emblazoned on it, all of those worries he had melted away.
“There’s my girl!” He grinned, scooping her up and spinning her around - a giggle erupting from her lips. Despite all their time apart, Maisie would always be a Daddy’s girl, she was obsessed with him and everything he did.
“Hi Lew.” You smiled softly.
He sat Maisie on his hip and lent in to press a kiss a gentle kiss to your cheek. “Hi y/n. I’m glad you’re here. I know you don’t like F1 but-“
“She’s your daughter too, and this is important to you so…” you shrugged. “And you wanted to be here, didn’t you, little miss?”
“Yeah! Wanted to see you face for real, daddy!” She grinned, her smile practically a mirror image to her father’s. “Gonna be coooool!”
The driver held her close as he led you both towards the Mercedes garage, cradling to back of her head so her face was nestled in his neck - eager to keep some of her privacy from the media that was lurking around. He knew that it wouldn’t be entirely possible but he would try his best to protect his little girl as much as best he could.
He made sure to swing via Toto and George so they could say hi before giving her a small tour of the garage. She hung on to every word he said, her little eyes sparkling.
“And this, is Daddy’s car!” He said. “Wanna sit?”
Maisie gasped softly. “Are you serious?!”
You leant against the wall with a fond smile as he lowered her carefully into the cockpit, her eyes twinkling with intrigue as he showed her all of the buttons on his wheel and what they did. As much as you claimed to hate the sport, it was never the actual driving itself that you hated - the races were thrilling and you’d enjoyed it since you were a little girl, it was Lewis’ dedication to it that drove you away. You knew getting into a relationship with a driver was risky and before Maisie it was okay, but when she started to go weeks, months at a time without seeing her father it became too much to handle and you blamed Lewis and his career for that.
You’d never stopped loving him.
When he glanced up from her to look at you, your heart still fluttered at his smile. It was easier to pretend you didn’t need him anymore than admit that you missed him more than anything. That you’d take back the fighting and what felt like years apart if it meant that he would be back in your arms again.
He still text and called you all the time, mostly to check on her, you thought, but he was worried about you being even more alone than before. You’d separated but the word divorce still hadn’t passed either of your lips and both of you hoped it never would.
“Want to go get some food? I think it’s about to rain, we could take the cart.” Lewis smiled, snapping you out of your trace - Maisie back in his arms.
“Yeah, could go for a bite to eat.” You hummed, brushing one of your daughters braids behind her ears.
She’d insisted on having her hair the same as her Daddy’s when he came round with it in his famous braids and with her curls as unruly as his, it made it far easier to manage. You’d pulled it back into two little bunches to keep it out of her face but left two loose at the front because it was cute.
“She looks so cute.” The driver said, pulling his hood up.
“Your little clone, she is.” Maisie grinned at this. “Not an ounce of mummy in you is there, you little cabbage?”
“She’s got your big heart.” Lewis whispered, eyes meeting yours.
Your cheeks flushed softly as the three of you climbed into the cart, Lewis placed Maisie on his lap - looking back over his shoulder at you.
“You good?” He hummed, gently squeezing your shoulder.
“…I am actually. You know I always loved the sport, Lew.” Your voice dropped to a whisper, refusing to break eye contact - studying the golden flecks in his eyes. “…I just…”
“LEWIS!”
The driver turned away from you to save at someone walking behind the cart. You were almost glad to be interrupted, not really knowing where that sentence was really going. It probably wouldn’t be fair to him to spring your feelings on him during a race weekend, right? You chose instead to watch Lewis point out all of the sights to Maisie as you drove back towards hospitality - he was so cute with her.
“You’re such a good Dad, Lewis.” You said.
“And you’re a good mum.” He smiled back, cautiously pressing a kiss to your cheek. “…can we go to lunch after the race, just you and me?”
You smiled cautiously and nodded. “I’d like that. I’ve… I’ve missed you.”
You could’ve sworn Lewis blushed as he turned away a little, scooping Maisie up in his arms. “I’ve missed you as well.”
The weekend seemed to fly by, and on Monday morning when you woke up wrapped up in his arms - you knew that your journey towards healing together had just begun.
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Everytime im on Tik Tok there's always an slide show like: "you want good female characters in media but you coudn't handle her!" And is the most annoying character ever like, Sakura or some shit like that.
Dude, i don't hate them because they have vaginas, i hate them cause they're assholes (and im not even gonna mention those characters that get the "hot girl" pass) and don't even come at me saying like "oh she have trauma" cause then im gonna bring out the "everyone got dead people" speech from Guardians of the Galaxy, i don't give a shit.
Sorry if i don't respect the trauma of this fictional character, maybe i would care if they were a bit more sympathetic but they just chose to be a jerk to everyone for no reason other than "i went trought bad stuff as a kid" like, oh yeah? Me too, half of the country did but im not a killer because of that! This is why i always liked the heroes more than the villains (most of them at least) cause despite being trought literal hell, they keep being good and doing good stuff to people
(Before you ask, yes that was directly pointed at Catra and on the "femme fatale" troupe as a whole, cause i really dislike that troupe for the sole reason that those hoes never get jumped by the protagonist at some point)
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facioleeknow · 1 month
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Time for love ° Hwang Hyunjin
Snippet of my upcoming fanfiction, it is available fully on my Kofi otherwise it will be posted on tumblr in five days on the 1st of april.
TW for the snippet: Greek mythology au, adonis!hyunjin, model!hyunjin, make up artist! reader
tw for the whole fic: smut (more detailed warnings will be posted with the whole fic), angry hyunjin, borderline asshole hyunjin, emotionally constipated hyunjin
My Kofi <3
Hyunjin was old. Hyunjin was really really old. Eternal youth they called it. When one thinks about youth, they imagine freshness and fun; a colorful, colorful phase when you get to try new things and explore the world. Hyunjin’s life was anything but; he had seen every corner of this earth and tried every experience that was humanly possible. His life was flat and gray, there was nothing more to do and he was bored.
He remembered his first life. His name was Adonis and he was considered the most beautiful man in the whole world; he was so beautiful that goddesses soon appeared on his doorstep and asked to share his bed. That’s how his story became myth, or what people thought it was.
He had lived many lives from then, he had taken many names and done many things, he lived a tranquil life and minded his business; had sometimes taken a couple of lovers but nothing that had stuck to him. 
His life and pattern of change had come crumbling apart when one day the gods decided to come out in the open and introduce themselves to humans. With time everything was uncovered and the protagonists of every myth became their own kind of celebrities. He had never been more famous in his life, but he also had never been more lonely. He was beautiful and that was a fact, and with the fame came the modeling offers. He modeled for the most famous maisons of fashion of the world and people loved him. No they didn’t love him, they loved his body, they loved his face, they loved his fake smile and fake confidence.
His days were always the same, he would wake up at an insane hour, get on set, get ready, shoot, get unready, check social media and then go to bed, just to do it all the following day. Day after day the cycle had never been broken, for years on end. Until it had.
When he walked inside the photo studio, he could sense something had shifted in the air. He hated changes. A heavy hand smoothed back his unruly hair, his eyes closed almost on instinct after he sat down in his makeup chair. He had requested a special chair, made of one of the softest furs he had ever touched, where he could sleep and relax.
Something warm and small suddenly touched his shoulder, hesitantly. He hissed and his eyes shot open, his staff knew better than to interfere with his pattern. 
His breath hitched in his throat when he opened his eyes. This wasn’t his usual make-up artist.
“Sorry to disturb you Mr. Hwang, I am Y/N L/N, your new makeup artist,” your voice was sweet, way too sweet to be human, but he knew all deities by heart. Perhaps some kind of creature.
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radish-club · 9 months
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It may be a few weeks before I start, but I'm probably gonna finally read Worm here soon. May even do a liveread if I feel like it.
I already know several of the major plot points BUT I I'm probably wrong in many places (as I was with Pact).
So before I start, I wanted to write a synopsis of what I think I know about Worm. This way I can refer back to this post and see how much I got wrong, what major things I was missing, etc.
What Worm is About (by someone who hasn't read Worm)
Big picture: there's alien entities called incubators shards who implant themselves in people and give them powers. Powers are triggered by traumatic events and are usually themed to said events. There is also an organization called Cauldron who tries to give powers in a controlled manner. Powered beings are called parahumans.
The main character is Taylor. She has the power to control bugs. She was triggerd by being bullied in high school. She was shoved into a locker full of used tampons and left there. I don't recall if that was the specific trigger event or just one instance of bullying.
She wants to be a hero and thinks of herself as a good, well intentioned person but is so so stupid. She goes out to fight crime, and meets up with teenage villains (called the Undersiders??). Against advice of established hero(es) she goes "undercover" with teen villains.
In doing so she gets deeper and deeper in. Does like bank robberies or some shit that go badly. People die. And so on.
At some point she officially joins heroes and there is a time skip but I don't know if these two things happen together.
Halfwayish through the book there is a big fight with a creature called Levithan in which several characters dies (and apparently the author rolled dice to see who would die, so it was possible even Taylor could have died in that fight).
At some point in the story Taylor kills several people. These include an established hero (Alexandria?) by suffocating her with bugs and also a baby but for the baby she uses a gun.
There is a parahuman with gold skin who was one of the OG parahumans back in the 80s. I don't remember his name but I do remember he is very Dead Wife Man Pain, so let's call him DWMP. DWMP has a fateful conversation with a villain named Jack Slash. Slash convinces him to destroy the world. Maybe alos other realities too?? (or maybe the same conversation is happening on multiple realities with multiple Slashes and DWMPs??)
There's apocalyptic event and Taylor gets someone (Amy/Panacea, I think) to enhance/alter her power so she can jump between realities. She then begins to gather parahumans from differently realities into a team to come together and take out DWMP with the power of teamwork and a giant laser.
They are not able to save the world they are currently on but a portion of Earth's population are evacuated from their current reality to an Earth with no humans where Ward takes place. One of these two earths is called Earth Bet.
Taylor's fate is left ambiguous. She maybe dies, she maybe fucks off to another reality. Maybe she become meguca idk.
Other Notes:
Taylor goes by 3 names: Skitter, Weaver, and Khepri
There a suite of powers called the Alexandrian Package bc they are the ones the parahuman Alexandria has. I think they are flight, semi-invulnerability, and strength (or maybe one of those is energy blasts)
there is a character named Bitch whose power is turning dogs into monster dogs. Media calls her Hellhound to be less controversial and she hates that.
There are sisters named Victoria (Glory Girl) and Amy (Panacea) the former of who is the protagonist of Ward. Amy turns Victoria into a Cronenberg at some point. Their relationship and respective characterizations across both books is a point of great controversy among fans. To put it lightly.
There is a character named Lab Rat who died(?) but he, in the form of one of his clones, comes back in Ward as a guy named Chris.
Browbeat's fate was ambiguous, so him secretly being this or that character in Ward became a meme. Because the author hates fun memes, he went back and changed Worm so BB unambiguously died.
Numbers Man is hung
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punkeropercyjackson · 3 months
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Hmmm imo the mass mischaracterization and misterpretation and also flanderalization of Percy Jackson as a character comes from their status as the protagonist of a piece of children's media.This is absolutely not meant as mean or to be condesending,especially because the fandom is full of minors and i'm a firm believer that they should be spoken to with respect when it comes to how they make content since kids' shows and such are made for them,but i need you guys to understand that while yes,Percy is kind,he's not nice.He's a role model but that dosen't make him an ideal hero-He's described as 'a troubled kid' from the first page and is now an even more troubled adult in current canon and the reason for that isn't just the demigod jazz,it's his actual personality.He hates authority figures and vocalizes it to their faces,he's very rude with the exception of towards his mom and younger girls(as he should),he frequently gets into fights and absolutely decimates his opponents and he's got a temper.None of this makes him a villain-Looking at you,people who compare him to Luke-and he's an anti-hero at best.This is the point.Percy is like he is because of trauma so his flaws are not only to make him well-written but for representation.It's incredibly important to have abused characters who have trauma responses and certain coping mechanisms even-No,ESPECIALLY in pg media so abuse victims can see they're not monsters because other people ruined them and be given inspiration to keep themselves kind and shown they deserve kindness too
And on a somewhat different note but on the same topic,Percy is also not immature or stupid.He's a genius who's saved tons of people and even the world multiple times with his plans and quick thinking and you can't say 'Well,Annabeth calls him dumb all the time and she's the daughter of Athena so he canonically is!' because Annabeth's literal fatal flaw is hubris,she calls him dumb all the time because she thinks EVERYONE is dumb compared to her and we just see it most with Percy because they're the mcs so they interact way more with eachother than they do everyone else and if i'm being completely honest,i also think she might be worried her in-universe status as 'the smartest' being compramised by him(Which is kinda funny to because the most in-character reaction for him to discovering that would be to either play dumb to reassure her or joke about it in a way that's too funny for her to be upset by it anymore).And yes,Percy is extremely goofy and he has the vibe he's into kiddy interests over mature ones(/pos ofc)but he's also learned a lot of emotional intellegence over the series since he's grown up like we did and speaking as someone who falls under this irl,his treatment of Nico and Hazel is very older sibling-like and even has some parentalness mixed since he knows their dad is shit and their moms aren't alive anymore so they need someone to take that role for them
What i'm trying to say is:Percy Jackson's not a soft uwu sunshine boy protagonist who hasn't been effected by the consequences of what he's been through yet.He's a jaded asshole who refuses to give up being kind or even his sense of humor because that would be letting the people who traumatized him win and by the end of Hoo,he's also grown into a Team Dad and chilled out a bit.Less Miles Morales,more Hobie Brown
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akumatizedpuns · 2 years
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Anti-Arguments and Rebuttals for them
Things to remember:
Antis usually want an easy target. Freelance artists/writers, small businesses, etc.
But it's easier to get angry with a smaller entity than one you know you'll never be able to do anything with/about.
A lot of antis just deeply enjoy the thrill of witch hunting. If you pay attention, you'll notice a lot of them engage in cancel culture and make memes about the topics they call themselves taking a stand for or against.
Antis will almost always use a strawman argument. Most things on this list will consist of these sorts of arguments.
1. Fiction affects reality.
The funniest and most ridiculous thing about this argument to me is that it always comes out of nowhere. No one ever says anything that implies this isn't the case, yet antis seem to think everyone except themselves are woefully unaware of this fact.
If fiction didn't affect reality, then people wouldn't use fiction to work through trauma. Obviously, fiction does affect reality.
But I somehow doubt you'll ever come across an anti who wants to ban all violence and/or disturbing content in media. No one wants Fortnite, GTA, Mortal Kombat or Call of Duty to be taken off the shelves forever. No one wants Tokyo Ghoul, Attack on Titan, Death Note or Dragon Ball to never be available to watch again. Yet all contain negative content. Negative content that is consumed by kids daily.
If an anti was really concerned about fiction and the fact that it can affect reality, they would be tackling these bigger problems. Some of these games and a lot of violent or disturbing media in general have been linked to real life attacks. There are so many more.
But I'm not gonna end my argument there and just say, 'Since antis are okay with this wrong thing, then they should be okay with that wrong thing.'
No. At the end of the day, it comes down to the person. Educate children on safe ways to consume media. If someone shipping two cousins together somehow influences a person in the real world to do something terrible, then there's something wrong with that person.
If an SA victim is dressed a certain way and get's SA'd would you blame the SA victim for how they were dressed or the perpetrator? You also have to realise that by placing the blame on fiction, you're enabling similar behavior.
Because too many times throughout history we've seen a murderer get the 'benefit of the doubt' because they were inspired by some form of media. That's no excuse.
2. If you read/write something you must condone it.
Okay, lets say I'm writing a story wherein the protagonist is assassinating a Hitler-like character or entity. The character describes their murder as though they are completely happy about it. Everyone in the story continue on with incredible lives, something that would not have been possible if not for the murder.
Let me first ask, what do you think about this? Do you hate or at the very least disagree with the way the murder was glorified/romanticized because you think that murder is reprehensible no matter what? Or do you think some form or semblance justice was served?
Neither is wrong or right. Not in fiction. Objectivity would come more into play if this were a real situation, though.
But just because I, the author, decided to write it from the character's prespective doesn't mean I condone murder. That didn't mean that I didn't get to acquire any insight on the possible prespective of the character. But even if I did, I could flat-footedly disagree regardless.
I don't feel as though I can explain this. It's something you have to understand. But I'll post this link and hope you can put at least some of the pieces together, https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoralityTropes
3. It's okay to harass someone because shipping something that problematic is just wrong.
The point is, no one in fiction is sentinent, except for in our minds. Morality is much more flexible.
It throws me that animals are sentinent, yet we'll know this and eat them regardless. We're hard-pressed to value animals above people, let alone put them on remotely similar levels.
But somehow their is a group of people out there who are condone harassing or threatening people because a completely non-sentinent being is being hurt from their prespective. Really??
Humans go by a general consensus. That we won't put animals above humans. Yet, we're willing to put invisible, fictional entities above humans? This sounds eerily similar to radical cult/religous groups. The only difference is that antis (hopefully) know for sure that a fictional characters aren't real. Most religious people at least have an excuse, even if it's a terrible one.
4. Aging up Characters is wrong
The most unbelieveable argument, but I'll bite. It's not. It's not pedophilia. By Google definitions, pedophilia is a sexual attraction toward children. A pedophile is someone who is sexually attracted to children.
This is not pedophilia. Characters have been aged up in media ever since media has existed. You are not sexualizing a child by aging them up, even if said drawing is suggestive.
When you incorrectly use this term, you make it harder for real victims to be believed, you trivialize the struggles that actual victims have/are going through. If it's weird and suspicious to you, then fine.
5. All proshippers are pedophiles/condone pedophilia.
Firstly, please stop saying this as a lot of proshippers are minors. You are further spewing misinfo on what a pedophile is toward someone who is still developing and may meet an actual pedophile but aren't able to properly identify them because some stranger in line kept insisting an artist who aged up a character is one. Minors are very easily influeneced by the internet. Being harassed does more damage than shipping something they will likely grow out of.
And those who are not minors usually are survivors of CSA/SA and cope with their trauma through drawing or writing certain content. They get to rewrite or redraw what happened to them and give themselves a better ending.
You don't have the right to tell them how to cope. Fiction is supposed to be a safe space, thus, why it is a medium recommended by therapists and has been for centuries. This shit has literally been researched.
Secondly, adult proshippers usually have something along the lines of 'Minors DNI' on their pages. I notice that even antis who post explicit/NSFW content don't, though. Which is ironic.
And the 'not all victims cope this way so they don't have to cope this way' argument is valid.
6. Well, I wouldn't attack them if they weren't public with it.
That's no excuse. You have entirely too much time on your hands, first off. Be hateful towards a person who actually deserves that hate.
Secondly, as long as they have proper warnings on their page, it's their shit. You can't tell them what to do with it.
Lastly, I've never met a proshipper that forced an anti to interact with them or their content. I've never met a proshipper who can somehow resist being blocked by the complete stranger who happened to stumble across their page.
Generally speaking, I don't believe in the 'don't like, don't interact' thing. Not with video games. Or TV. Or social media. You have the right. But when it's another human being, I highly doubt that's something that can't be accomplished.
This also sounds weirdly familiar to the, "Well, if gay people weren't throwing it in my face, I wouldn't have anything to say about them!" Antis are oddly authoritarian.
In Conclusion:
There's no excuse to harass anyone over fiction. And if someone has a very difficult time seperating fiction from reality, I highly recommend therapy in all brutal honesty.
Nothing will ever make telling a suicidal person to kill or hurt themselves okay.
Nothing will ever make falsely telling a survivor that they are their abuser or like their abuser okay.
If I tell Charlie Brown to kill himself right now it won't matter.
If I tell a real person to kill themselves, my words can and just might have real, lasting, effects.
If I tell Percy Jackson to kill himself he'll be okay and we know this without question.
If I tell a real person to kill themselves because they told me they ship Percy with Hera or whoever the fuck, theirs no way of knowing. And if you're fine with that - if you even so much as defend that - then maybe you should engage in something less hateful.
How about worshipping a flying spaghetti monster (since you may as well be)?
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epickiya722 · 3 months
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Every uber popular shonen series goes through this thing where they become basically inescapable for a long time, then, when the dust settles a little, people start hating and nitpicking it, until anyone who voices their enjoyment is made fun of, then an even longer while later, it becomes acceptable to like it again.
I noticed JJK is going through it bc there's this suddenly aggressive way of thinking of Yuji, and it always starts by hating the protag in some way.
And you know what? I agree.
It's a pet peeve of mine to see people constantly nitpick and nitpick and not say a single thing that they actually enjoy about the media they're engaging in.
It becomes even more irritating to me when people will throw out anything as a complaint when it doesn't make sense.
I won't say it's criticism because a lot of what people criticize comes off more as just being mean-spirited. They'll say "oh, this protagonist has a good heart and I don't like it". Like... if they're being portrayed as a hero who wants to do good then hello, they're going to have a good heart???
Maybe because a lot of protagonists are my favorite characters, but I really hate it when someone will hate on a protagonist because of whatever their reasons are and continuously doi it over and over and over again. It's like "damn, give the protagonist a chance to grow". If you can't, just drop the series.
And honestly, if you drop a series after one or two seasons, I don't think you should jump on someone's post to bash a character like "they didn't get character development". How would you know if you quit the anime? Shush. Just shush.
Like, with Yuji, someone in a video called him useless. Mind you, he said this on a video during the SHIBUYA INCIDENT. By then, we know what Yuji is capable of.
Useless? Yuji Itadori? The one who actually swallowed a cursed finger to save a kid he barely knew and his friends? Yuji Itadori who jumped Mahito with Nanami and not even a second later, saved Nanami from Mahito's domain? The same Yuji who tag teamed with Todo on Hanami and managed to learn Black Flash in moments and setting a record in that short time?
You're calling the Yuji Itadori who picked up Nobara to get her away from Eso and Kechizu and also worked 50/50 on taking them down?
Same Yuji who helped take down a veil? Same Yuji who fought Choso to slow him down so others could go and save Gojo? The same Yuji who boxed up Mahito?
I mean Yuji is even useful to Sukuna because without him, Sukuna would have still been just some lingering spirit until someone else came along and that could have taken YEARS.
So that's the Yuji being called "useless"?
Recently, someone told me that someone else was blaming Yuji for what happened to Nobara.
Look, Nobara is my girl, I adore her, she is everything to me. But Yuji was not the one to tell her to follow Mahito. (I get why she did though.) And I know she was in shock probably from seeing two Mahito's, but I would have moved before he could have touched my face.
I just... I just can't. I honestly can't find myself to interact with anyone who hates on Yuji. He doesn't have to be your favorite character, leaves more room for me and other Yuji fans.
But if you're really out here making stupid takes about him and hating on him, I cannot with you.
It's my biggest pet peeve with BNHA fans. I like other characters, I do, but I really despise those who hate on Midoriya. You can be a Miruko fan and say post something stupid about Midoriya and I will block you. And y'all know I love Miruko.
"He's a crybaby, he's too good, he's not badass."
Oh, but y'all were so quick to switch up when he was going through fucking depression even though there was three movies and five seasons of him doing nothing but great things, big and small.
I don't know if it's the lack of not opening eyes and really watching and reading the anime and manga. I don't know if it's because some people are just miserable and need to bother others because they don't like others having fun. I don't know what it is, but it's annoying.
Right now, I'm watching Bucchigiri?!
And Arajin, he's annoying to me, he is, I won't lie. But I'm giving him a chance for character development because hey, you never know. Same for Mahoro. I don't like her too much, but I'm giving her a chance and honestly, Arajin is just not taking the hints that she is not feeling him at all. The anime only has like 4 episodes right now, so it's nearly not done yet and I'm liking it, so I'm sticking around.
I rambled, sorry about that, but I just... I just can't sometimes...
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