#and had not yet grasped just how different reddit and tumblr views were

[teamsasukes]

there's a lot i hate about the naruto fandom but i think the worst of all is this strange insistence that hinata is an incredible character who puts sakura's writing to shame. 

let's be clear, none of the women in naruto were really written perfectly, and these issues are often spotlighted through sakura as she's the female lead. but while there's a good deal to critique about her writing, she's still a fairly solid character in her own right and there's lots to admire about her. she's relentlessly loyal to her team and pushed herself damn-near close to the top (despite her civilian, or at least low-ranking shinobi background) through sheer force of will. and for all the talk about how there are lots of sexist tropes shaping her character (which is true to an extent), she defies many as well. she never falls for the heroic mc, she's temperamental and doesn't take shit from anyone, she's allowed to be flawed (but she's got a good heart), and so on.

hinata, on the other hand, barely even exists outside of naruto. i've never seen a character who exemplifies "woman written by a man" more, from her demure nature, support of the mc from the sidelines, and modest clothing but still very conventionally appealing design. she had potential in OG (everyone did🤕) with the issues plaguing the hyuuga clan, but that was promptly forgotten in favour of her only moments in part 2 being dramatic love confessions. her cousin dies and all we get from her is "naruto's hand is big and strong."

i like her for what she could have been but she (and maybe karin, but for different reasons) seriously get the worst treatment of naruto's female cast. it never fails to get on my nerves when some dudebro talks all about how she would have been the perfect female lead. it's mind-boggling that such misogyny is on open display in the naruto fandom. hinata's ENTIRE character is a male fantasy and it's not even remotely subtle.

#revisiting this post and wanted to say i don't think this is rly a problem on tumblr. i was new to the nrt fandom #and had not yet grasped just how different reddit and tumblr views were #also i feel i was a bit reductive abt hinata here. some parts of the war arc do signal her growth independent of naruto. sorry!! #hyuuga hinata #<- for my own tags bc i don't think anyone peruses tags w last name first. let me know if u want me to remove it though #anti hinata #not really! it's the fandom response that bothers me otherwise i don't take any joy in tearing down what could have been a great character #if not for shitty writing #like it's not something i fault hinata for #in the good version of naruto that exists in my head she kicks ass #haruno sakura #anti naruhina #not quite but tagging just in case #naruto meta

[destiny-smasher]

Had a chat with someone I’ll keep anonymous (though I did ask permission to post this) regarding concerns with BtS, thought they had some good thoughts and worries I wanted to share. A lot of folks have found that spaces like Reddit, Facebook, or even here on Tumblr have become unsafe places to openly discuss criticisms and worries over what’s a very complicated situation. (I’ve edited out a few bits to make this more rational for public viewing)

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Me: [regarding 20 minutes of footage that got posted recently from Episode 3] I'll avoid the preview and just wait to experience it myself next week, but it's good to know it's out there so I can try to avoid seeing stuff. XXX: I'm right there with you, my biggest fear actually is that what was said (I think it was in that leaked interview) about hints that will be dropped for Rachel's future character development will be entirely twisted. As in, they'll make up excuses for why Rachel would decide to hide her relationships from Chloe and straight up lie to her. I'm scared Rachel will be victimized to justify her later action. I don't see her as a monster or a demon, but she deliberately made wrong decisions and it's part of her characters arc that her wrong decisions lead to her death. I don't want that part of Rachel to be taken away with excuses. And I'm worried about some things I heard might be in the episode like even more intense moments between them. Not only because they're underage but because it doesn't do their relationship justice and why Chloe called Rachel an angel. We only have these 3 days to received an explanation for why their bond was so special and so far it's nothing more than a teenage crush and physical attraction and one broken girl latching to another who is in search of a companion. Amberprice deserved a lot more depth than what was shown so far. I can't explain why, but with Max and Chloe everything was different. We knew they were bonded since childhood, Max went through torture to save Chloe and Chloe became thes best she could have ever been, just for Max. With Rachel Chloe is literally encouraged to ditch her entire life without a stable future.

Me: That’s a huge element of what frustrates me w/this prequel: we’re getting underage, unhealthy queer romance portrayed so openly, which could be great if the characters were original, we didn’t already know what happened, OR there was more time passing and more focus on that relationship and it’s gray areas. XXX: Now I'm not part of the LGBT community, but basically most of my friends I made through LiS are and we all agree, this prequel is mostly SE trying to be appealing to the young generation of queer teenagers who came into the LiS fandom after the first game. SE knew about the acceptance for LGBT representation in LiS so they literally upped the gay to get even more into that niche. That's why BtS is pure fanservice for me for the most part and I'm convinced Dontnod isn't impressed with how this thing is being handled. Don't get me wrong, I love the representation queer people get with this franchise but especially young people jump on it and like you said get an entirely wrong picture of what teenage love is and how complex it can be. I think Deck Nine did do a great job trying to show areas of Rachel's character that are questionable to say the least (think of her drugging Victoria), but the young folk only have eyes for how gay and important the gay in this game is. Love is love, that's what I strongly believe in. And love can fucking hurt you, especially when you're Chloe broken Price. A bit more of that would have been nice, Chloe is so fragile yet she completely goes with everything Rachel commands. It's hard to say where exactly the problem is, SEs marketing is beyond good and evil, Deck Nine was walking a fine line trying to please the community but also make their own thing, they took the more aggressive approach compared to Dontnod. And the community itself is doing its job at ruining things, just think of how stupid this entire Amberprice Legion story is and how people now demonize Max and praise Rachel as a goddess. XXX [continued]: And one more thing that I personally really have a problem with. We were never told anything about Rachel's sexuality, but D9 basically made her canonically bisexual (and to most of the younger audience even lesbian which leads to a denial of her later actions by many). I don't know much about same sex love but from the original game I never got the impression Rachel reciprocated Chloe's feelings and Chloe was madly in love but it was one-sided all the time. Now with the end of BtS I don't think we'll be presented a definite answer to that question and I'm not a fan of it. Because it still leaves that space for speculation that Rachel only ever used Frank for drugs and Jefferson to leave Arcadia. The devs wouldn't have confirmed her letter was about Mark if she didn't have feelings for him.Sorry for writing so much, it just feels like a relief.

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Thanks to this person for sharing your thoughts. And if there’s anyone reading this who is an AmberPrice fan or is loving BtS, please don’t feel like we’re trying to rain on your parade, we’re just expressing our thoughts and worries about this.

If you’re looking for further concerns and frustrations, I’d direct you to TomorrowHeart’s curiouscat posts here...and here, more insightful concerns expressed.

As always, I am very supportive of Deck Nine and have enjoyed a lot of what they’ve made, but I am still frustrated and confused as to why this project exists in the first place. I’ll be sure to deliver some analysis on the good and bad of Episode 3 after it launches, as I already have written on Episode 1 and Episode 2.

There’s a lot of good here but I think this is a much more delicate situation than “just a video game” and I feel like the people in positions of power maybe don’t quite grasp that -- or, they might, and are taking advantage.

Either way, I hope the next two episodes turn out well and SE will finally leave this story alone before milking it completely dry.

If you want the queer following, create a new story with new characters and OWN IT even more openly, give us a POSITIVE ending.

Or, I dunno, maybe just don’t try targeting queer teens as a demographic to sell a product to and just TELL STORIES you care about, personally? (I’m speaking in general here, not even just to SE)

#Life is Strange #Before the Storm #LiS BtS