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woodenfawn · 10 months

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The Rem Infodump.

The one where i rant about rem and subaru's dynamic and why it's special but i dont think a lot of people really understand it!

This was written a while ago and i may have some things wrong, and it's also good to note I don't think subaru and rem are unnhealthy for each other in the sense that they shouldn't be together (whether romantic or platonic), i just mean the situations they were in forced them to act in certain ways!

I think a lot of people who are bigger re zero fans (who also understand what the story is about) shy away from rem as a character because she's the one "only fake fans who watch the anime for the waifus" like, but while she's not my favorite character i want to bring her a little more appreciation from this side of the fandom!!

new-to-tumblr post spam 3/4 complete, i'll slow down after this XD

I tried tagging with spoilers but just in case it didn't work: spoilers ahead!

So. The rem thing. Ive talked about it vaguely before but never went into detail cause there were people that could be spoiled. The whole point of rems attraction to subaru is not because of harem wish fulfillment. The author clearly stated he hates harems. Subaru does love both rem and emilia, but he has solidly chosen emilia and that's the end of that. It doesn't matter what romantic feelings he could have towards rem because it's already doomed. They both know it. The relationship they form episode 12 and beyond is not meant to be healthy for either of them!! Rem has been saved from her mindset of needing to atone for what she thought of her sister, but her self esteem is still AWFUL which is why she attaches herself to a "hero" instead of learning to recognize her own self worth. Subaru saved her from some things but he's not a hero and he's not exactly the person rem says he is. Partially, but not all of it. It's kind of a mutual decision of theirs to lie to each other and themselves because they need it to cope with themselves. Subaru needs to be a hero for rem or he could never step out of his depressive state. Rem needs a hero in subaru or she cannot feel loved and understood. It's not good for either of them but they don't have an alternative. NOTICE: When subaru rants about how awful he is and rem responds with her famous speech, she doesn't actually contradict much of what he says. They love each other and need each other but it's bad for the both of them. Rem lost her memories because the witches (later correction: it's the bishops) targeted her for her sin, and subaru killing himself over rem is not the action of a person in a healthy mindset. Rem's development was cut short and kind of fridging, its frustrating, but it's not basic waifu stuff and it is meant to be tragic!!!! This is also all a mirror to how subaru and emilia are!

Because while subaru constantly talks about needing to save emilia, he also calls her the main heroine. I used to think about rem as a yesman, but she does many a thing behind subaru's back for his sake the exact way he did to emilia. He learns more about the consequences of his actions that way. oh, it hurts. and oh boy the speech is so misunderstood. That is rem's promise to love him "unconditionally", without acknowledging his flaws, and it helped. It's absolutely what he needed to hear. But it wasn't good. but also, for other reasons, it mirrors another little speech.... subaru's season 2 confession to emilia. Where she can't believe he'd love her, and where he starts to list off things he's done for her and the ways she's made it hard for him. And then tells her, he still loves her, because that's who she is and he wouldn't want it any other way. Which could be taken as another niceguy rant (like a repeat of the season 1 fight) but it's NOT!! Because this is what Emilia needed to hear, because she is not the kind of person who can accept praise without a drawback or asterisk. If she heard all that, all she'd see is another pedestal to fill. this is the healthier version of the rem speech, where she can accept she's flawed and realize she's still loved. Both despite, but also for it. And... it's still not perfect. Because the characters are still growing and learning!!! They are young adults with so many problems and a whole life ahead of them and they still need to learn!!! The upsides and downsides of unconditional love,,,, and is it more unconditional if you love them "despite flaws" or "with flaws" or without seeing any? And is any of that healthy? How can it be good? How can it be bad? Maybe it can be both at once, maybe love isnt perfect!!! a lot of this is hidden in subtext, and the framing of rem's speech may even trick you cause it's triumphant but no there's so much complexity to why they say every single thing they say!!!

Subaru is a character who struggles with love for himself and with love for others, he doesn't know how to make others happy and gets caught in a loop of thinking the only way he can possibly be loved is if he's constantly putting his life on the line for others, without asking anything of them in return. which ends up with him breaking and needing support, and not knowing how to ask, which is why he yells at emilia in season 1 (doesn't help that his deepest trauma is something he is magically obligated not to share for fear of death). His relationship with emilia in season 1 is both very sweet and very unhealthy. he's just a guy with a crush on a girl who's far too good for him and he's trying to work for it but the basis for it is not good- he's attached himself to the first kind person in this new world that he knows and due to "return by death" he's far more invested in her than she is in him- she will never know everything they went through together. and then.... he finds rem. someone who didn't trust him. someone who killed him multiple times throughout the mansion arc, but someone who could understand his loneliness because she was also lonely, and wow- he managed to save her, too! and she doesn't know everything about what he's gone through, but she knows how to read his emotions like no one else can. so they... fall into a codependency. like said before, they can't live without each other, but not everything they do is good for each other. subaru, while gladly taking the role that emilia has in this new relationship, learns more about how she feels. with rem, he learns more about what it means to love, and they both know that it won't last. they didn't expect it to end so soon, though. but oh well, subaru does not have the option to stop. the nature of his powers means dying is pointless, and he has to press on anyways. and he does!!! He meets more people he thinks he can trust. some betray him, but some stick with him. Otto (my sweet boy!!!) is notable!

and now he knows more about love, about trust, about how to treat people, and how he should expect to be treated. so many things. keeping in mind it's been a while since i've watched re zero so i probably don't even have everything there is to say. but like.... then in the end, he can approach emilia with his true emotions. and he can tell her about it in a way she'll understand. and he knows he can do it without being a burden this time. he's become a better person. he's not sure if he'll be rejected, but that's not the point anymore! The point is he loves her and wants the best for her and wants her to know and hopes, no matter the outcome, that she'll be happy to know she's not alone! and the honesty, that's what his speech has over rem's. he's not putting her on a pedestal, he's not using her for the sake of his own self esteem anymore, he just wants to love!

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Extra note on the end (talk about suicidal thinking, be warned!!!)

something I've talked about but don't have saved writing for, a bit more about rem!

I do also think Rem is suicidal. i think she and Subaru recognized each other in that mindset without ever really talking about it. To me, this relationship is two suicidal people trying to prop each other up so the other will keep living, and knowing that if they really give up the other will too. That's why the season 2 development was so punishing for Subaru. I think that Rem's terrible self esteem and feeling of needing to atone for """"ruining her sister's life"""" contributed to it, though i don't know if that's all of it. She also makes multiple comments that are extremely concerning, like how Subaru is her "reason to die", how when she was ready to die fighting the white whale she said she felt like this was the moment she was made for, and biggest of all!! When she was telling her hypothetical story of how she and Subaru would run away together, she planned it all up to the death "I'd like to die first and I'd like my family to be with me", and to me it felt like she was *trying to think of a death that would make her life worth living*. Her motivation to live is following people she can die for, and that's, that's concerning. i hope her character arc properly follows through on what's happening in her head (i don't know how arc 7 goes yet)

...and i also think that Beatrice is the first time Subaru's had to confront his mindset head-on, because Beatrice would refuse to dance around the subject. The lesson he takes from Rem carries over to both Emilia and Beatrice in healthier ways, and I think that's incredibly important!!!!

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thank you for reading!

#re:zero #re zero #natsuki subaru #subaru natsuki #rem rezero #rem #re zero spoilers #re:zero spoilers

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venussaidso · 2 years

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I am obsessed with Mudoek/Naksu’s portrayal; like I don’t see many female main characters/heroines who are this realistically selfish. Like just completed episode 5, and the way she just went on to kiss the Crown Prince’s ass (while talking shit on Jang Wook’s name) to win him over just so her safety & livelihood is assured is HILARIOUS to me. I LOVE IT. I LOVE HER.

Pretty sure that she will continue to use Jang Wook, but she is definitely not much of a loyal type of person. Especially when her time is wasted. I love the fact that she is all about looking out for herself lmaoo. Although, that is a character flaw that I suspect won’t remain towards the end of the drama. I wonder how her character development will be, without making it too rushed and sappy. She is very calculating, cold, murderous and has a big vendetta; so I am just curious how things will play out in the rest of these 15 episodes.

Also, the love triangle involving Seo Yul is corny. Jang Wook and Mudoek have a deeper established connection right from the first two episodes; I can’t imagine a stronger force coming between them even romatically so PLEASE.

#alchemy of souls #kdrama #naksu #mudoek #jang wook

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hanako-san · 4 months

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I finished watching Skip Beat and the anime has what I miss in jshk in terms of characters. I will focus here on daikon, because thanks to Kyoko I have organized my thoughts which I can express without anger. It can also be chaotic.

[I'm sorry for all the mistakes]

The main character Kyoko, a 16-year-old heroine, gave her all to make others happy, to be noticed and loved. As a result, she was used and betrayed. Her naivety disappeared and she decided to take revenge on the guy who told her to her face that she was only there to help him get into show business and that she was boring. Her admiration ended and she decided to take the path of revenge. She felt what a daikon should feel towards minamoto when he behind her back wanted to stop her so she couldn't help Hanako.Anger and pain. Well, daikon doesn't have any romantic feelings for minamoto . She admires him like an idol. This admiration should have ended when minamoto had no problem taking advantage of her, trying to turn her friends against her so she wouldn't disturb when he will kill the person she supposedly loves. But all I see in daikon is just admiration and she still be under his spell , zero anger and zero any neutrality towards him. How pathetic. she can only be angry and aggressive towards Hanako because to her, he is not what she considers a tall and "handsome" guy. Hanako cannot compete with minamoto because he is a 13-year-old junior school ghost. He won't grow up and don't have a body developed as a minamoto. Hanako is unable to meet her expectations, but as she said, "she didn't do anything wrong", so she will continue to trample on his feelings and ignore them, because her "sweet and charming" nature makes up for everything. I understand that the plot is different in jshk, but AidaIro don't change her because they consider her as 'light' as they once wrote. For me, this light is black as darkness, boring and annoying. daikon has nothing to offer, she is shallow, has no depth, and this pathetic and drawn-out admiration for a person who wanted to kill the person she 'loves' shows that she understands nothing at all, everything about her is artificial, her 'I'm sorry' and her admission of 'guilt' when she said that her friend's sacrifice was made because of her wish, she doesn't feel any responsibility. Rescue is something that you should always do to undo your own sins, her words are empty and mean nothing because otherwise. In the end, she made it clear that Hanako was more guilty than her, and she didn't need to feel guilty because he could shouldn't fulfilled this wish. Her pilot version was better than her. She knew what her flaw was and she worked on it, here is a person who doesn't mind weakness while in a relationship.Everything turns out to be a fact that the daikon is very convinced that she is just a victim, and when there is no one left to gulity, Hanako is more guilty because he forces her to work. She didn't apologize to Hanako and Aoi for the confusion. Neither of them, but they both apologized to her. Her apologies are always made when someone draws her attention and they are insincere, they are artificial and untrue, they don't come from sincere regret and sadness, but from the need to apologize to the person who is sad in front of her. Someone needs to tell her that she's doing something wrong because then she understands. she is not able to draw conclusions that she is behaving inappropriately and should not behave this way, but she is sad for the next chapter and then she is the same because she thinks that she did nothing wrong. She can't change anything in herself because she doesn't see it, she doesn't have any self-reflection, because if she had, she wouldn't repeat such mistakes as, for example, wish 1 and would she really regret going home minamoto after the whole situation. Naivety should also have its limits, but she has no problems crossing them.

I don't know her past. AidaIro focuses on love. So what? Without this, AidaIro could have made her an interesting character, showing how an obsessive girl begins to change under the person she is supposed to love and I honestly don't believe in her love for Hanako. This is not how a person in love behaves. Admiring a person who wanted and still wants to kill her boyfriend. Total bs. Yes. Daikon has long since stopped being a 'hopeless romantic' and has become obsessed with love. Total obsession. She even likes to sing songs that curse love. Love, love, love to disgust. She cares about her friends and her best friend, but she can't care about Hanako, whom she supposedly loves.

Where's her anger? and resentment towards mianmoto? There isn't and there won't be. Until she is noticed, but unless she sees her own mistakes, she will not change. She must understand that she is not a victim of her own wishes and decisions, but is GUILTY and hurts those around her with her actions and deeds, instead of seeing herself as a victim and mainly blaming Hanako for what she does for her.

The fact that she saves Hanako from time to time, such as from Akane. It doesn't change anything, because the biggest person that needs to be isolated from Hanako is SHE.

Daikon has a lack of self-reflection, she does not see herself as the culprit, because she sees himself as a victim and blames Hanako mainly for her actions and decisions. I see her character as a self-insertion and she can be in a relationship with anyone, because she is only for this and nothing more. daikon is like a shell. Empty inside. All she needs is a boy of her type to fill her up.

Sure, she has flashes of intelligence and shows that she cares about Hanako, but only verbally, because with her actions she does something different, and in my opinion, actions speak louder than words. Actions don't lie, but words can lie as much as you want. Sure, her character may undergo changes, but I honestly don't care if it's not chapter 59 or another, it's chapter 109. They showed the depth of Aoi and Mei's characters in a short time, but they can't show how their main female character changes.

Her character always focuses on herself and her when things are bad. Like in the chapter where she want to be where Hanako is because Tsukasa took her. She didn't think about him, only about herself, because she feels safe with him and knows that she is in no danger when he is with her. And when she found herself where he was, she had no problem admiring the person he feared most in the world and she didn't care about his presence, feelings or anything else. daikon always focuses on itself. Same thing with Hanako. Another situation was when Tsukasa kissed her, and instead of thinking about Hanako and how he deals with it, she dreamed about her twins fighting for her and she generously rejected Tsukasa, but she has a problem with minamoto. Such situations only made me realize that her feelings of love are non-existent. I didn't expect anything from her from the festival chapter. So… let her stay as she is.

daikon is also very aggressive when someone doesn't want to do what she does, examples include Hanako not wanting to leave school and she got angry and shouted or the newest one she told him to call Hanako, she was pissed that she didn't want to do it. But she didn't do anything wrong, there was nothing in her behavior that could make her hated or disliked, she was supposed to be that 'light', probably in hell.

Even though Koyko wants revenge, she gradually began to change the people she met and the experiences she gained influenced her development and change. Even if she was only doing work, she was honest and cared about the feelings of the person she cared about and liked. The daikon's age doesn't matter either, because experiences and pain should shape her and she should change, but nothing changes in her except for minor and temporary changes that don't really mean anything because the fish princess has nothing to complain about, with this approach. she will stay as she is. Her so-called love is artificial and worthless.. She wanted love so much that she was literally willing to sign a pact with the devil to get him. And when she finally has a boyfriend, she shouldn't have him. She doesn't know how to love and doesn't know what love is.

Her character may be something other than just focusing on love, which she has shown many times. But it is so small and insignificant that if it doesn't go away, well, too bad. For me, she'll stay the way she is and that's fine with me. I don't even care if I do anything for the twins. Not any more. Wasted potential of a character who should be a bridge connecting the twins from what I can see and help them, but is only an unfurled rose and stings when necessary.

And I honestly don't care if I understand her or not. I just read and give my conclusions. And thanks to Kyoko, I couldfinally said more calmly here about it. Daikon is full of flaws and an annoying personality that I hate and will continue to hate. Her character has potential that AidaIro wastes, but that's not my problem anymore. I stopped caring about it. I don't care about her personality or her 'in love' nature or her beauty, it all makes me despise her and hate her more. Her age is also not a pass because she should be changing, but she doesn't, which makes her even worse in my eyes. Her age is no excuse for any of her actions, nor is her appearance or irritating personality traits. Her sweetness and personality don't appeal to everyone. She is a burden and always counts on Hanako and relies on him too much, she cries all the time and have to save her ass. The few actions she has had do not cover up who she really is and she is getting worse and worse. Will she become a bridge between the twins? I don't know. But I don't care anymore.

It can only confirm that if I notice changes, I may become gentler at some point. I'm not that hateful of a person when not tell her when she's right or something I can admit,when she is right in my opinion but right now there's no point in me being kinder to her, I don't even want to. doesn't feel guilty or anything for being an anti fan of hana///daikon and her. Not everyone loves daikon and this ship. I am one of these people. I stopped deceiving myself that she would start to change and respect him. For me, the most important thing is Hanako and his feelings. That's all. She deserves a dose of karma. She and her minamoto prince.

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #yashiro nene #nene yashiro #my jshk post

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uzumaki-sayuri · 2 years

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Do you think the Sakura hate is deserved?

No- and it's really weird how people hate on her "useless" character instead of directing their anger at Kishimoto/writers.

Honestly to me she was really annoying in the first few seasons and at times a pretty unlikable kid with anger problems...though still with a good heart.

As she matured and saw life through her orphan teammates' perspectives her character grew many kind traits. She cut the hair she grew out for Sasuke, tried to prove herself against her rival, trained under Tsunade, and grew to love both Naruto and Sasuke despite their flaws.

I think she had some great character development and it's a shame part way into the series Kishi just made her sit and watch all the male characters fight. For a main heroine she hardly had any cool scenes and I think that's one reason why people found her boring :(

#sakura uzumaki #sakura haruno #anti naruto ending #anti-naruto ending #sakura protection squad #pro-sakura #naruto art

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cottagewh0re-blogs · 2 years

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BOOK REVIEW:

THIS SONG WAS ON REPEAT THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE REASING SESH.

Okay so after a week and staying up more late than necessary, i have finished the folk of the air trilogy by Holly Black.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS…

- STARTING WITH THE FIRST BOOK THE CRUEL PRINCE I GIVE IT A 5/5. The story and characters was enough to hook me in. I enjoyed the action, drama and although the romance was not massive i liked the subtle hints towards it.

- WITH THE SECOND BOOK I GIVE IT A 4/5. I enjoyed reading the process of not only acquiring power but retaining it. I believe this is the hardest part and it was shown throughout the story with betrayal and chaos. However, i did find Judes character less relatable or able to connect. This may be down to lack of character development but her thirst for power has clearly clouded her judgement leading to a lot of mistakes. I also wish she was grateful? It feels as if she’s constantly scraping for more which is of course a character flaw. This book definitely got me to appreciate Cardan more.

- THE THIRD BOOK QUEEN OF NOTHING I GIVE A 4.1/5. I think with the high demand and popularity the book was a little rushed? Scenes felt like they were going really fast (or maybe i was reading it so fast) . HOWEVER THIS WAS STILL VERY ENJOYABLE TO READ I ACTUALLY ENDED UP STAYING UP ALL NIGHT TO FINISH. I liked the action (although very packed) the ending it was very nice and cosy. It was an okay end to an amazing trilogy. I DO WISH A PART OF MADOC TRYING TO LIVE IN THE HUMAN WORLD WAS INCLUDED, i feel that would have been very entertaining. The book could have also made a few key moments MORE emotional? For example when cardan and jude saw each other after her exile OR WHEN SHE FINALLY CONFESSED HER LOVE??. I AM VERY HAPPY ABOUT THEM TWO ENDING TOGETHER AS IT FUELS THE ENEMIES TO LOVERS TROPE I LOVE SO MUCH.

Overall, being an YA book i was not expecting an intricate, quote analysing and spark notes session. It was an easy and interesting read that has an amazing story line, perfectly creating a magical feel. Looking at some reviews, i feel like some people took this book too deeply and forget that sometimes its nice to read a silly little fairy book that has no other meaning but to be enjoyed for its surface level.

The main rant:

This may be because i am a die hard enemies to lovers fan or the fact i wasn’t looking for a too complex story, but enough to grab my attention and do a bit of reality escaping. A book that perfectly captures drama, action and romance the typical YA mix. I really enjoyed the overall premises, i think Jude made an interesting character. Her difficulty in finding a place among the fey, to rising to power was a really fun journey to read. The idea of channeling hate into ambition for power was very cleverly done. “If I cannot be better than them, I will become so much worse” this follows the idea that if a child is outcasted from a village, they will be back to burn it. Although there is a lot of character development that is needed, for the first book AND YA that is an easy read, i love Judes character. I think a way we all want to be like jude, the mysterious and ‘badass’ heroin. Her character opens what happens when someone becomes so consumed in hate, the benefits and also the drawbacks. Although she has gained power, she has completely isolated herself as-well. In a way she licks her own wounds however, this story aims to show that a team (the shadow court) or a duo is much more better (her eventual rule with Cardan). Her continuous grasp for power is also overpowering her ability of common sense. In all honesty, out of the whole book i really love the court of shadows. Bomb, roach and ghost is by far an amazing trio. I loved the way they interacted together and with Jude. If a book was released on them three BEST BELIEVE ILL BE AT THE FRONT LINES. I FEEL THEY HAVE ALOT OF POTENTIAL TO BE AN INTERESTING SPIN OFF BUT I MAY BE ON MY OWN HERE. Now to the juicy part the romance with cardan and jude. AT FIRST THIS DID NOT FEEL VERY ROMANTIC I EVEN ASKED MYSELF WHY DO YOU EVEN LIKE HIM??? But in the last book when she talks about NOT HIS LOOKS BUT HIS CHARACTERISTICS THAT MADE HER FALL I WAS LIKE AHH i think Cardan is who she would like to be and Jude is who cardan would like to be. THUS, COMPLETING EACH OTHER PERFECTLY. THE ENEMIES TO LOVERS WAS AMAZING IT WAS DEFINITELY SLOW BUT IT WAS THERE AND HEAVILY HINTED. By far this quote “Have i told you how hideous you look tonight?” AND WE KNOW HE CANT LIE SO WHEN HE SAYS “I cant” this was making me scream (internally). Although id say, there romance could have been developed ALOT BETTER it was still enjoyable. I think the eventual acceptance of how you feel taking off your armour was a nice message. HONOURABLE MENTION TO LOCKE(lowkey reminded me of loki) IS “Because youre like a story that hasnt happened yet. Because i want to see what you will do. I want to be part of the unfolding tale” something about this flows so well and is so beautifully said? Im not sure but this really sticks out to me.

Unpopular opinion:

Although Madoc is portrayed as the villain. He only wanted to give his family power?? and although his method was HORRIBLE he in his mind had a good cause? Idk i just couldnt be angry at him regardless what he did BECAUSE IF WE LOOK AT THE STORY FROM HIS POV JUDE IS THE VILLAIN AND SHE POISONED HIM.

#jude x cardan #cardanandjude #the cruel prince #the wicked king #queen of nothing #jude duarte #madoc #locke #book ramblings #booklover #book review #rant #holly black #enemies to lovers #Spotify

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mcutiepie127 · 5 months

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What More Could You WISH For??

Hello Disney Movie fans!!

Well, over the Thanksgiving weekend, I had the opportunity to go and see Disney’s latest “Princess” Movie, Wish! As a black woman I was excited to support this Afro-Latina heroine. As a child of the 90s…(ahem the Disney Renaissance) I am always pumped for a Disney movie. Nothing gets me into the holiday spirit like seeing a good movie during this time. That being said Wish was not everything I wished it would be. 🤨 So here is my review/rant/analysis of Wish.

Review/Rant SPOILER ALERT

So first of all let’s start with the synopsis. I will keep it short as to not reveal too much. Wish is about a magical king who rules the kingdom of Rosas. The king wis given everyone’s wish in his his kingdom when the citizen turn 18. Arbitrarily the king will decide to grant some wishes. Asha is eager to become King Magnifico’s apprentice. In the process of her big interview she asks the king to grant her 100 year old grandpa’s wish. When the king refuses because he deems the wish to vague/dangerous. Asha realizes that he is less genie and more of a dictator. It then becomes Asha’s goal to to free the wishes. With the help of a celestial being, Star and a slew of other friends she sets out to give back wishes and overthrow Magnifico

Ok so that being said, I want it to be stated that overall I liked Wish. It was cute and light. I saw it in 4D and had fun with it. I think that Asha was a lovely princess. Chris Pine’s voice acting was superb. I liked that this film has a true villain There was 1 song that I really liked. Star was adorable Ultimately, I hope kids and families can enjoy Wish for what it is. But what can I say, I WISH it was more.

Like I said, I thought Asha was very pretty, but unfortunately she seems to be little more than that. Asha is sweet, loyal, hardworking, hopeful and brace. She loves her family and her friends. But what else?? What is her flaw? Essentially, she has none. But being flawless is not a strength in a story because it means the character isn’t dynamic. The character doesn’t grow emotionally as a person. Which is boring. The best Disney Princesses have flaws which they work pass. For example, in Frozen, Elsa and Anna are both flawed. Elsa is so scared of herself she can’t live or enjoy life. Anna is so desperate for love she falls for someone who doesn’t care about her. N the end we watch both characters overcome their flaws. Likewise, there is Moana, Moana is as brave as they come but her flaw is she has no knowledge of how to sail, but by the end she’s not I my a brave woman, but a knowledgeable wayfinder. Lastly, look at Tiana from Princess and the Frog, she’s a hard worker but makes no time for fun or love. By the end she learns that love and fun do have a place in her life. The list could go on and on. The characters learn important lessons, the grow. Thus the audience learns. For a target audience that is children this is important. Although an argument could be made the motto of the story is don’t stop wishing, nothing about Asha really drives that point home. The plot drives the point not the character. Which makes the story weaker.

How much more impactful would the moments had been if Asha had a flaw like being lazy and learning she had to work hard to make wishes come true? What if Asha was too dependent on wishes and learned be careful what you wish for? The story would have been deeper and would have resonated more.

The other main character in wish is King Magnifico. He was easily the most fun character and the most developed, but even his development seems incomplete. The monarch starts out as kindly. He does grant wishes, but no all wishes only the ones that aren’t dangerous (a threat to his power). Even harmless wishes like wanting to inspire others Magnifico can view as a threat. Asha and Magnifico conflict not so much because he won’t grant all the wishes, but because he won’t let the ppl attempt to make their own dreams come true. Magnificos argument is trying and failing leads to heartbreak and pain, he is keeping the people from pain. Also some wishes are too dangerous This almost give validity to Magnifico. Magnifico begins to elaborate on how he faced pain, but we never get the full backstory. Only a tapestry that alludes to the destruction of the family. I actually liked the fact that Magnifico was a pure villain. I was getting tired of traumatized family member as a villain. I was a villain that really posed a threat. But nonetheless to make Magnifico a sympathetic villain we need the backstory.

Imagine the backstories!! Magnifico is very handsome maybe his mother wished to be the fairest of them all but became so beautiful that other men wanted to marry her, stormed the castle and killed his father. This starts him on his belief that not all wishes are good. Perhaps Magnifico’s wife wanted a baby but could never have 1 and became depressed… in an effort to alleviate her depression he takes her wish and this starts him on his belief that unfulfilled wishes only lead to pain. Endless possibilities for a compelling backstory, but we get nothing!

Moreover, with Magnifico there seems to be a God complex. As a Christian, the allusion to Magnifico being a God like figure did not escape me. He is the all powerful ruler of a world he created. The people of said world give him their wishes (prayers) and he alone decides who gets their wishes granted (prayers answered). The commentary that Wish makes is that this is unjust. Thereby is it commenting God is unjust?? In the context of Magnifico. He is unjust, cruel and power hungry, but for people of faith that is not the view we have on God. God is good and he does n know what is best for us. Everything that people want is not always good. In some cases God shields is from this. The Bible states that God gives to all (rains on the just and unjust) God gives some good things to everyone… but he doesn’t give everyone everything they want at every moment and that is a good thing.

Ok, so even if Wish wasn’t making a religious commentary (I doubt it wasn’t) but even if the commentary is just about authority it still is a skewed perspective. Parents are an authority and though parents don’t always know what’s best let’s say that 8 out of 10 times parents are doing what’s best for their kids. A perspective that anytime someone denies a wish or request that they are being cruel is a narrow perspective, because sometimes they are right.

Lastly, wishes characters aren’t super memorable. They. Are many and most jokes don’t land. The world of Rosas is boring and unoriginal, I wish Rosas was at least an island where everything was made out of flowers or had some unique look or an aspect of world building, but hoping for depth and complexity in wish just appears to be WISHful thinking lol,

Well in conclusion, I enjoyed wish for what it was, but wish could be more than what it is which makes it lackluster and humdrum, not the worst but certainly not anywhere close to being the best. But that’s just me.

I’d love to know what you thought of WISH

#disney’s wish #wish review #wish rambles

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musicallisto · 3 years

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i would like to reiterate that nina zenik and matthias helvar are the only reason i am still sane and capable of human emotion

#i don't think i have yelled enough about them. have i yelled enough about them?#THEIR INDIVIDUAL PERSONALITIES #THEIR CHARACTER GROWTH #MATTHIAS (DEROGATORY) MADE ME GO THROUGH A ROLLERCOASTER OF EMOTIONS IN THE BOOK AND I HAVEN'T RECOVERED.#AND NINA IS TOO POWERFUL AND SO STRONG AND AMAZING. I CAN'T DEAL.#she reminds me so much of me. i don't think i have actually elaborated on why i love nina so much.#she's so unapologetic. loud obnoxious and confident. she's brash funny and flirty. she makes jokes and she's exhausting.#she's everything that i am. or that i at least wish to be.#and oftentimes this type of character is The Best Friend. you know? the one who drags the Plain Main Character to parties and stuff #and doesn't have a life outside of being The Sidekick. doesn't get a character arc or much depth...#and all my life reading ya lit i was convinced that brash girls are the Best Friend and nothing more.#they are the lively counterpart to a timid main character and only ever serve the purpose to be their crutch. and give them cool outfits.#so all my life i thought i was the sidekick in my own life; i was second best in my own skin #but then nina came and the way she was handled - not like a side character here to assist the heroine and disappear #but as a HEROINE herself. as a MAIN character. with flaws and development and a romance subplot #and i just saw so much of myself in her personality and went hey! i can be badass too! i'm not a crutch! to anyone!#also i am kind of confined to this role of the Happy Friend. you know? super hyper and enthusiastic and hilarious.#and i'm not really allowed to be sad. or vulnerable. it's others who count on me for me to cheer them up not the other way around #(and also why i'm absolute shit at expressing affection in a serious heartfelt manner but whatever)#and that sounds more like jesper and i resonate with jesper as well but #nina being a girl + all the random little things about her #(her sweet tooth and appetite; the fact she's v good with languages)#(how she's curvy as well which made me feel better about my body - and im literally skinny so yay beauty standards)#(how she likes blond men AGAINST HER WILL (it's too funny))#i just love her. that's all #shadow and bone #six of crows #nina zenik #clara tais toi #helnik

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serpenteve · 3 years

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why we ship darklina

an essay literally no one asked for

Nobody needs a "reason" to ship Darklina. But considering this is a villain x hero pairing, it got me thinking about why we shipped it in the first place when the narrative and author so badly wanted us to root for the more sensible alternative pairing and why it became the most popular ship of the entire trilogy.

Personally, I find it really interesting (and low-key hilarious) that a lot of the reasons shippers gravitated towards Darklina can be directly traced back to how badly Bardugo bungled Alina's character arc, Mal's entire characterization and narrative role, Nikolai's wasted potential as an alternative love interest, and the noble intentions she gives the the Darkling.

Alina's Character Arc

Alina's character arc doesn't match who she is as a character. I've written more about that in this post, but a lot of readers were introduced to a passive and insecure protagonist who we were expecting to undergo a typical YA coming-of-age character arc where Alina acquires self-acceptance, confidence, and embraces the full breadth of her powers over the course of the trilogy. Instead, Bardugo gave Alina the kind of character arc that's usually deserved for power-hungry anti-heroines or tragic heroes with a fatal flaw to punish.

The plot offers a strange binary: either Alina suppresses and hides her powers and therefore stays away from descending into villainy OR Alina attempts to find Morozova's amplifiers in order to defeat the Darkling but then becomes corrupted by power in the process. Alina's journey to self-acceptance and exploring her own powers are unfortunately entangled with her relationship with the Darkling. The only way she is allowed to move forward through the plot is to succumb to the corrupting influence of the amplifiers.

For better or for worse, the first character to really embrace her powers instead of thinking she's a fraud or that she's weak or that she's an unholy abomination is the Darkling. He's the first person to recognize her power for what it is and accurately judge its potential and implications for the rest of the world. He advocates for her in front of the royal court, in front other Grisha who think she's weak, and even against Baghra who is initially a very ill-tempered mentor with little to no faith in Alina's abilities. He even rather ironically advocates for her even when the heroic person who's supposed to be supporting her (Mal) does not.

At the start of her journey, Alina is insecure and in constant need of assurance and validation. The Darkling's role as her mentor and guide into this unfamiliar world of Grisha makes him the perfect advocate not only for her powers but also to help Alina see her place in the world. However, once he is revealed to be the villain, Alina also fails to realize that it's time for her to advocate for herself and throws the baby out with the bathwater.

Mal's Characterization & Narrative Role

When Alina loses the Darkling as an advocate in S&B, Mal steps up to take this role. Alina is still rather passive for the majority of the first book and it's Mal who originally wants her to have Morozova's stag as an amplifier if it will mean being able to stand against the Darkling. Bardugo intended for him to be a heroic love interest as a foil to the villainous love interest and I believe she mostly succeeds for the first book.

However, because this is a story about punishing Alina's "evil ambition" (despite there being very little evidence of that) Mal is supposed to serve as a voice of reason in the narrative. Once Alina considers the necessity of acquiring more amplifiers to defeat the Darkling, it is Mal's role to warn her of the potential consequences, to remind her of her inner humanity, and to ward against the corrupting influence of Morozova's amplifiers. Mal's declarations that he wants back the old girl he knew without any power is meant to drive an ideological wedge between them, yes, but he's also meant to be Correct™ because, again, Bardugo is writing a story about a corrupted power-hungry heroine who goes too far and needs to be punished rather than the arc we were all expecting and the one that Alina's character needs: a coming-of-age story of self-acceptance and personal growth.

Some point after the backlash of Siege & Storm, Bardugo seems to have become aware of her mistake and attempts to scrub Mal's character to be more sympathetic. There is a bizarre exchange half-way through the third book when Mal finally declares:

"I wasn't afraid of you, Alina. I was afraid of losing you. The girl you were becoming didn't need me anymore, but she's who you were always meant to be."

This is an interesting line because it's a complete reversal of Mal's narrative role so far. He's supposed to be her voice of reason that opposes her at every turn but readers interpreted him as being resentful of Alina's powers and angry that she was no longer dependent on him. Bardugo is forced to retcon Mal's entire role in the narrative from being a voice of reason that opposes Alina's quest for power to a supportive friend who will fight by her side. But this was never her initial intention and I believe this change was brought on 100% by audience reaction because she failed to understand the arc her heroine needed and the kind of story her audience was anticipating for such a character.

Needless to say, having your heroine's main love interest actively resent her quest for power until half-way through the third damn book did not endear many readers to Mal. Because Bardugo failed to understand the kind of character development her heroine needed and failed to understand audience expectations, we hated Mal. He became the embodiment of every toxic chauvinist we'd ever met who can't stand the idea of his partner's success and feels entitled to be the center of her universe. He was not the voice of reason. He was an annoying gnat hellbent on dragging the heroine down and away from her destiny. We did not want to root for him. Even the villain was more sympathetic than him because he could bring her closer to achieving the self-acceptance the narrative was obsessed with denying her.

Nikolai's Wasted Potential as a Solid Love Interest

Nikolai plays several roles in Alina's journey but most importantly in our discussions for why we ended up shipping Darklina, his entire potential as a serious love interest is wasted.

When we meet Nikolai, we have hitched our wagons to the Darklina train because despite being the villain, the Darkling is the only one who will allow the heroine to accept her powers and come into her own. Her heroic love interest, Mal, is actively sabotaging her efforts and holding her back from her true potential. But then, in swoops Nikolai and we pause, wondering if there may be a better heroic alternative after all?

In a lot of ways, Nikolai and the Darkling alike: they are eager for Alina's power and see her as a solution to all their problems. They may want to use Alina to prop up their own agendas, but unlike Mal, Alina's summoning powers are a massive plus, not a burden. Nikolai is the heroic alternative to our villainous Aleksander. So we wait, wondering if Nikolai will be the one to fix this mess of a romantic subplot. His royal connections offer an easy path to upwards mobility for our heroine and we sense that an alliance between them (even if it's initially political in nature) may bring our heroine closer to obtaining more power, influence, and self-acceptance not only for herself, but also for the oppressed minority she is a part of.

But, again, Bardugo is still obsessed with that "punish the heroine for wanting power" agenda so while Nikolai exists as another mentor figure who offers Alina advice on how to rule, how to appeal to other people, how to charm, how to win people over, and Alina learns and applies much of what she learns from him, he is not treated as a real love interest.

Despite Nikolai being written as a fairy tale prince (handsome, charming, smart as a whip, brave in battle, etc) Alina never actually considers him romantically. They are friends and allies at best and the only time she considers kissing him is only when she's pissed about Mal.

Nikolai's proposal at the end of Ruin & Rising feels like one last saving grace, one last opportunity for our heroine to take control of her life and make a dramatic change to break from the past. But this too is rejected because Alina's arc will never let her access any power. She does not reject Nikolai because she wants to marry for love. She rejects him because she has been "punished" for wanting power and has internalized that she must not seek any more power for fear of angering the plot gods (and Bardugo). She must return to being nobody in order to remain a good and moral person.

(And, of course, we resent Mal even more because who in their right mind would choose him over Nikolai? Once again, he becomes a roadblock on our heroine's journey to power. We grow irritated that the heroine is failing to grasp an opportunity to elevate herself. We throw the book against the wall. Why are we even following this heroine?)

The Darkling's Motivations

Still, all of the above might still not have been enough to pull the reader to the villain's side. But the Darkling is the living embodiment of Villain Has A Point™. He is not pure unadulterated evil. He is not Lord Sauron or Voldemort or the Terminator.

He's more Magneto, Roy Batty, or Ozymandias---a man who is part of an oppressed minority who longs for justice and power but is absolutely unhinged in his methods.

Alina runs away because she does not want to be a non-consenting weapon in hands. But we always end up wondering what would have happened had Baghra not warned her. What would have happened if Alina gladly joined the Darkling's side? There's hundreds of fanfics written precisely about this situation because despite the villainy of his methods, we wonder if Ravka might not have been safer after all?

If the Darkling had used the Fold as a weapon against Fjerda and Shu Han, would any of the problems Ravka faces in the later books even exist? Would any Grisha fall victim to the khergud programs or be killed as witches? The Darkling wipes out Novokribirsk and kills hundreds of lives, but how many would he have saved with the Fold as Ravka's greatest shield and sword? 🤷🏽‍♀️

And therein lies the problem with the trilogy inconsistent moral landscape. The Darkling is an anti-villain that exists in a narrative that is very black and white, unlike the rest of the books in the Grishaverse where our protagonists are anti-heroes who kill, steal, and torture their way through the plot with nary a judgmental glance from the narrative. We long to see our heroine give in to her dark side and get her hands dirty because watching a naive, passive, scared little girl grow into a ruthless powerful Grisha would have made for a hell of a compelling story.

But that's not the story Bardugo wanted to tell.

The Greg Trilogy

Despite taking place in a fantasy Tsartist setting, the Grisha trilogy is oddly anti-Grisha. The narrative doesn't spend much time trying to examine the context or implications of an oppressed minority group fighting for power other than to say "magic powers = evil". Nikolai skates by on a throne of inherited wealth, privilege, and imperialism but it's okay because he's charming and witty and the only monstrous part of him is the Darkling's curse. Literally everything is worse for Ravka and their Grisha after the destruction of the Fold but Ravka must move forward into a new age without relying on Grisha power but putting their efforts into new muggle technologies. Alina must be stripped of her powers and returned to her "old self" in order to be purged of evil.

Basically, it's all one gigantic ✨ dumpster fire ✨ of mismatched character arcs, incompatible moral aesops, inconsistent characterizations, wasted potential, unexamined plot points but it's a a dumpster fire we lovingly and spitefully embrace in fanfic.

We don't ship Alina with the Darkling because we're stupid abuse apologists who somehow missed the giant flashing moral aesop of the books---and honestly, who could have possibly missed them when it's shoved in the reader's face every other chapter? We ship Alina with the Darkling because the entire ship is the embodiment of wasted potential (and wasted ✨aesthetics✨ tbqh 👀). We ship Alina with the Darkling because we're sick and tired of stories where female power is demonized. We ship Alina with the Darkling because the plot gave us literally no other alternative to see our heroine succeed except to give in to her alleged villainy.

But most of all, people ship Darklina because Leigh Bardugo utterly failed in writing the story she intended to write because had she succeeded, Darklina would not be the most popular ship of the trilogy.

#darklina #sab meta #grisha meta #grisha discourse #wow im embarrassed by how fucking long this is #but you know i had to write it #anti leigh bardugo #its not really anti so much as it is just pointing out why her story flopped for a lot of readers #alarkling #viv metas

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juniaships · 3 years

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My Issues With Sam Manson

Or, please stop simplifying legitimate criticisms we have with this girl.

Lately I've also been seeing these same points talking about how the phandom dislikes Sam for the crime of being a teenage girl. There are legitimate problems with her character and the harmful message she spread. Frankly put I'm so sick & tired of seeing our complaints be reduced to "you only hate her because she's a woman!!"

We don't dislike Sam because she's a teenage girl (anyone who do has serious issues to work out) but because the narrative excuses her flaws and bad attitude.

What I mean by that is, she has flaws, which is perfectly fine, but rarely faces detriments for them and even gets rewarded. She got no chances of growing, in fact with each season she got worse. The writers wanted to put her on a pedestal at the cost of other female characters. ESPECIALLY nonwhite girls.

The writers do not develop her beyond confirming her endgame with Danny. She never learned to open her mind or being respectful of other girls' interests. Despite some episodes that COULD have had her views challenged & she grows from them. She never learned to temper her hypocrisy. Sam never made up with her parents - we don't even see their side of the story - her character remained the same. She ended up rewarded with a guy she called selfish and boring because he gave up his powers - to protect her & his own family. The overfocus of such romantic subplot came at the cost of literally every other girl in the series. They were put down to reinforce "Sam is Right." Heck Danny himself was dumbed down a bit to make Sam a well of wisdom.

In Girls Night Out she talked down to Jazz as if implying the latter didn't know how to handle ghosts. In her very first episode she changed the school lunch menu to food only SHE would eat without any consultation or mindfulness of allergies for that matter. In Phantom Planet she barely contributed beyond screeching at Danny for being just another boring human which only gives weight to the sentiment that she only loved him for his powers (ergo uniqueness). She was never made to held the same level as the male characters. In Fact half the time she had to get involved is a problem she started first. Sam fell in love with a guy because he looked similar to Danny's Ghost Form (again only adding more weight to the "she only loved him for his powers" argument).

Especially at the cost of characters like Valerie and Paulina. Valerie's arc never got completed because at that point the writers wanted to get the cogs going for Amethyst Ocean as quickly as possible. The last we see of her is standing in the background clapping and cheering. No resolution for her and Danny. She didn't even contribute in her Huntress Form. Valerie was a crucial part in the first two season of the show. She was relatable and sympathetic, she had challenges to overcome. Her flaws weren't excused and she had to LEARN and grow from a stuck up brat to a vengeful hunter to an understanding anti heroine. We were so close to seeing her arc get closure. Heck Valerie even gave up Danny because she wanted to protect him for her own secret life as a ghost hunter. Her chemistry with Danielle was also would've done wonders with her arc. But in S3 it was forgotten, she was forgotten, all to push the Sam as endgame. Weird considering she spied on Danny & Valerie out of envy when they went on their date. Then she had the nerve to call out Danny for spying on her & Gregor when the only reason did so to protect her form being targeted by an evil ghost or the Guys in White. Sam didn't even feel compassion for Val when her dad lost his job and she ended uo living in horrible conditions abandoned by fake friends. And Sam's supposed to be the nice one??

Paulina at least got comeuppance for her crappy behavior but again she was demonized as worse than Sam because of her femininity. You could say she and Sam were foils (which they are) but Paulina was written to be worse than she actually was while Sam did truly selfish things and never truly addressed.

The Beauty Pageant episode....boy that was a DOOZY of a plot. She willingly joined a pageant to complain about high beauty standards and shallow girls, when literally NONE of the other models pressured her into joining or bullied her. She even WON yet had the audacity to throw the trophy on the ground in an extremely unsportsmanlike act. The narrative supports her action despite her clearly being in the wrong.

Her having flaws in of itself is not the problem but, the way the show HANDLES her flaws as if they're strengths to be emulated. Yes you could say that Sam herself was wasted potential. Then again she was Butch's intended pet character and the main love interest so of course she had to be Perfect! She should've had a meaningful arc but no. She's still that same obnoxious excuse for a Strong Female Character that the show forces us to sympathise with.

This isn't me saying you should start hating Sam. This is me saying please take the time to read our legitimate complaints before strawmanning us. Sam reinforces the tired Not Like Other Girls Trope, the two biggest victims being WOC, and the show treats this as a good thing. It is not a good thing, seeing interesting female characters esp. Woc be put down to put a very poorly written character on a pedestal.

#Anti Sam Manson #Danny Phantom #Bad Writing #Anti Butch Hartman #internalized misogyny #sexism in media

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sylver-drawer · 3 years

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... I ranted in discord again, and it turned out to be an essay. So here’s another Syl Tea, let’s fight.

Spoon Deviating from the Novel’s Plotline

Readers have been complaining for a while. It started in the amnesia arc, and still continues on to current times. Complaining, insulting, begging and begging, all for Spoon to stop changing the story.

But it’s been getting worse recently, the complaining comments shouting louder than those of praise and positive reinforcement, and I’m sick of it.

Part One: The Source Novel

Suddenly Became a Princess One Day (SBAPOD) was a novel written by Plutus. That is what Who Made Me a Princess (WMMAP)’s source material. In the story, Lee Ji Hye after taking too many sleeping pills one day, transmigrates into the world of a novel called, ‘The Lovely Princess’ (TLP). In TLP, it features two heroines. One is the main heroine, Jennette, who was loved and adored by all. With her sunny and angelic disposition, she melted the icy cold heart of her father, the emperor, Claude De Alger Obelia.

The girl, the baby she had reincarnated into however, was the second heroine, Athanasia De Alger Obelia. In TLP, Athanasia was born from Claude and a concubine named Diana. She grew up unloved by her father in the ruby palace, the palace of concubines where Claude had commit a genocide. She met had briefly met her father when she was nine, and had become obsessed with him and trying to earn his love and affections. Those affections, however, went to her half sister Jennette, who was introduced at the debutante.

TLP ended with Athanasia getting executed for a crime she did not commit. Jennette had been poisoned by her aunt and fell into a coma, and Claude had immediately blamed Athanasia for it. Without an investigation, he had killed her. It was then revealed that Jennette’s aunt, Rosalia, was the perpetrator, in which Claude had reacted with no remorse. Rosalia went unpunished, and Claude had forgotten Athanasia’s existence as if she had just been a fly he had swatted. The only one who mourned and grieved over Athanasia, was Jennette.

Lee Jihye refused to die again. Her actions, however, as the reborn Athanasia, had led to somehow gaining the affections of her father. SBAPOD had ended with Jennette being exiled for being the product of black magic and an unintentional threat to the royal family, leaving Athanasia to live in a Happily Ever After ending with her father and magician lover, Lucas.

I’m going to have to say a very unpopular opinion within the fandom. Plutus is a terrible writer. And I don’t mean by skills in writing. Plutus cannot... write a good story. Taking example from their other works, Beware Of The Brothers (BOTB) which takes place in the same universe as SBAPOD. Hari, who had went back in time, spent half of the story trying to fix her relationship with her adoptive brothers. As she was severely neglected and downright abused by her step brothers in her previous life,s he strived to be accepted as their family.

It seems nice right? A story of a girl trying to improve her relationship with her family. She eventually succeeds, and her brothers defend her and call her their precious sister.

But here’s the catch. She marries one. Yes, marries her brother, and another one of her brothers also fall for her. If that wasn’t bad enough, she’s the carbon copy of their dead sister. She was adopted for the sole reason of looking exactly like their sister, who had died. That was why their parents took her in. The eldest son, the eldest brother, fell in love with a girl who he had abused and neglected in the past out of jealousy and childish hate, a girl who looks exactly like his dead sister. What’s even worse? Hari chose her elder brother, someone who abused and neglected her in the past for no reason, over a sweet guy who she was actually engaged to. When half of the story was about being seen as their family, acknowledged as their sister.

But I digress, this post isn’t about BOTB.

Plutus is a bad writer. They have countless issues in SBAPOD as well. For example, characters. Plutus cannot for the life of them, build and develop their main characters, nor can they write a stable plot.

Let’s give an example. Lee Jihye as Athanasia does not... develop. For context, Lee Jihye was an orphan in korea. She grew up alone and had to fend for herself for her whole life. This premise is common, but can be interesting if well done. SBAPOD falls under the reincarnation category of, ‘their past life has no impact’. By this, I mean, none of the characteristics from her life as Lee Jihye carry over to her life as Athanasia. It was fine in the beginning, when she strived to survive no matter the cost. For someone who was struggling by herself in Korea, of course she was greedy and hyper focused on survival and having back up plans. She was flawed, but human.

This changes. For someone who had to grow up alone and fend for herself, the moment she gets too comfortable? That doesn’t matter anymore. All of her instincts, gone. When Claude gets amnesia and threatens, humiliates, and almost kills her—

She comes back. She comes back to the man who has tried, and she knows is the most capeable from reading TLP, to kill her. You don’t need to be an orphan to know that if someone is trying to kill you, you run and never look back. Even before then, her instincts have completely faded. Claude had taken a liking to her so she can live comfortably now, but who knows what would happen? In the modern world, especially for people of low income, money and wealth can easily fade away. She never once checked on her secret stash of gold and precious items, was never conscious or had any struggle of the ‘what if Claude turns around and tries to kill me earlier’.

It was as if her life experience of orphan Lee Jihye only mattered for when she came back to claude because she’s never had a family.

See, Plutus has this constant theme in their work of, ‘there is no such thing as found family’. I’ve explained a bit of it before in my post about the theme of WMMAP, about Family Bonds. This is prevalent in all of Plutus’ work. Beyond Jennette’s naivety, TLP Athanasia had the exact same mindset because she wasn’t alone. Lily. Lily was her caretaker, her nanny, who loved her the most out of anyone in this world. Yet Athanasia craved for the love of someone who hated her, and paid no mind to love of the woman who raised her like her daughter. Because there is no such thing as found family in Plutus’ work.

Plutus is not a very good writer, as they can’t write a well developed story. It isn’t just a fault in Athanasia’s character, it’s also a fault in all of the characters in Plutus’ work. Claude, Ijekiel, Lucas—their purpose in SBAPOD was solely to benefit the main character, Athanasia. Claude never developed. He remained as he was in TLP, an emperor who threatens his people for the simplest things. Just because he’s kind to Athanasia, doesn’t mean he’s changed. This was proven in the novel’s amnesia arc, as the moment he lost memory of Athanasia, he immediately threatened to kill her. And when she returned? He threatened to kill everyone at the festival if she ran away again. There was no development in his character. His character is just to give Athanasia a reason to stay. Same with Ijekiel, who was never truly explored other than the fact he was the ‘princely’ second love interest for Athanasia. We didn’t know his drive, his reasons, his interests his character. All his traits are, ‘princely’ and ‘loves Athanasia’. Lucas is in the same category. Lucas, the almighty powerful magician, solves all of Athanasia’s problems. Athanasia is afraid fo Claude dying? Gives him immortality, which coincidentally returned his memories. Aeternitas is the villain and has been causing Athanasia and Claude pain this whole time? Just kill him, and he’s no longer a problem. Jennette has a mental breakdown because her whole world has been torn apart and her magic burst is a threat? Takes her magic away, and would have killed her had Athanasia not told him to spare her life. Lucas had solved all of Athanasia’s problems, and inadvertently prevented Athanasia from improving.

The side stories in SBAPOD had solidified the ‘everyone was made to make the main characters look better’, as the whole timeline had become scewed because Plutus had added information that didn’t make sense. Backstories and changing characters to the point where they didn’t even seem like the characters Plutus had wrote earlier in the story. Claude and Diana’s whole backstory revealed in the side stories at the end was made just to justify Claude’s horrible actions and make him look better. Diana, who was a dancer sold to Claude and became his concubine, suddenly had a tragic and downright depressing backstory. And apparently Claude saved her from it when he still was engaged to Penelope? Even though they met after he killed Anastacious and Penelope had escaped? And it tried to justify his genocide of the ruby palace, by saying some concubines poisoned Diana which was why she died—even though it was revealed earlier on that Athanasia’s mana killed Diana. And it still didn’t justify Claude killing everyone in the ruby palace, the concubines he himself kept and let live there as well as the countless servants, just because a few supposedly poisoned Diana.

Plutus was a bad writer, who wrote a poorly developed novel, and fans bash Spoon for not following it.

Part Two: Spoon’s Character Development

While finally on the topic of Spoon, let’s start what this post was supposed to be about before I got off topic.

Spoon is often ‘criticized’ (ie, my posts on criticism and suggestions) for changing the story to the point it’s apparently ‘boring’ and ‘not making Lucas strong’ (and yes, specifically Lucas, my dears).

When really, Spoon has... improved WMMAP? Especially in the most recent chapters? From a development standpoint in comparison. People have been saying it’s been really slow, which is understandable, but isn’t it because we get updates once to twice a month? When you binge read it, it’s not that slow. For readers who read it the moment it comes out, it feels slow because you take days and weeks between chapters.

But, especially now when the plot has actually sped up significantly, people call it boring? More boring than season one where all Athanasia and Claude did was have tea parties? I mean think about it.

In SBAPOD, Athanasia never had a proper interaction with the villain. Bad things kept happening, but Athanasia never really had a direct confrontation with the one causing all of her problems. If I remember correctly, she never questioned it either. When you think about, Athanasia, other than Claude, never had any struggles. No internal conflict, no doubts or worries, and no questions despite her past as Lee Jihye. And when she did, Lucas took care of it.

But in WMMAP, everything is happening at once. Claude is in a critical condition, Athanasia has to temporarily take over and confront the nobles, and in the middle of it all, the villain makes his dramatic entrance in front of everyone. And for the first time in a long time, Athanasia has to think about how to survive and protect not just herself, but others. And if she doesn’t think it through, she will lose everything.

And that? That in itself is an extreme improvement. The problem isn’t just between her and one person like when Claude had amnesia. This issue potentially involves and impacts everyone in obelia. Athanasia can’t worry about and stay in her little bubble of protection now. She’s forced to learn, because Claude is in critical condition.

Athanasia is actually preparing to learn how to rule a kingdom when she never did in the novel. Never, did she have to confront the nobles by herself. Even in her debutante, Claude had to threaten a crowd for staring at the only princess as she debuts, before even taking the first step. And Athanasia never needed to learn politics. The magic branch made her dad immortal so she never needed to learn. Which means, Athanasia never grew or improved as a character. She remained the same as when she reincarnated into the infant Athanasia.

Spoon even improved Athanasia’s connection with her peers. She seldom connected with the other noble girls, and never had anyone she was close to other than Lucas. But because of the whole Amnesia arc in WMMAP? She has Jennette now. Jennette, who in the novel she perceived as uncomfortable and a mild threat, is now one of her only friends that she regularly wrote to. Athy, who didn’t care about anyone else outside of her little bubble, has people to protect and fight for. Her character is already miles ahead of what Plutus had made her, and it’s because of Spoon.

And it’s not just Athanasia getting focus and development.

In SBAPOD, no one, minus Claude and Athanasia, was explored at all. The villains were shallow, the side characters were there only to add more to the main characters and were never expanded upon as people.

But in WMMAP? Ijekiel is having more drive and isn’t just a character meant to be Athy’s second love interest anymore, despite how he was for majority of the story. He had addressed and established his character of wordlessly obeying his father early on, and the novel never dealt with that. But now? He openly expressed bitterness to his father’s plan. And he’s currently going out of his way to tell Felix what’s been happening, essentially backstabbing his brainwashed father and risking possibly being labeled as a traitor for harboring a threat. This little change that Spoon made had already improved Ijekiel’s character. Because he isn’t just there, he has his own motives and thought process, like an actual human would.

Aeternitas who was the sole villain and’s only purpose was ‘Lucas look at me’ was changed almost completely to a villain that has depth. Anastacious, who actually has motivation and reasons why to be such a big villain has more development than Claude.

Spoon’s new character having more development than Claude already shows what a good writer she is—because Claude’s doing exactly what he’s done in the novel, what Plutus wrote for him. It’s lazy writing, but putting Claude in a coma is one of the best ways Spoon could have continued the plot. He has no character development left. He loves Athy again, so bringing his memory back right away completely contradicts the whole amnesia arc. The amnesia’s whole point was so that it could display that he doesn’t need his memories to loves his daughter (which I personally still think is badly written because TLP contradicts this). He can’t become less of a jerk because that’s literally the base of his character—his murderous demeanor towards everyone was a plot point Plutus permanently set into his character and can’t be changed without changing Claude’s character entirely. Spoon can’t work with the Claude Plutus created at all, so she made the best choice of sending him asleep to move the development of the others.

Lucas? Instead of everyone else gaining characteristics, she took away points where his character had to display his ‘almighty-ness’.

And that? That’s the best thing she could have done to a character who Plutus had set up as an ‘all powerful’ wizard. He was renowned as a great and powerful wizard in the history books, but in reality, he’s just a talented kid. He’s not godlike. He’s not the strongest in the world. And that’s good. We’ve already established how talented he is in magic, season one already proved that.

Compare Lucas to Gandalf from LotR. Gandalf was renouned as one of the strongest wizards, and displayed his power, but he wasn’t almighty nor did he ever help Frodo on on his mission. He was a guide, but never the answer. But that didn’t mean he was useless, and we never thought of him as that. He didn’t need to help the main character with their problems for us to know what good of a character he was. In the end, Frodo did his duty, solved his own problems himself despite how small and weak he was without Gandalf’s (or any of his comrades assistance). Did it make Gandalf weak because he didn’t throw the ring for Frodo? No. That’s the kind of Lucas we needed, not some Deus Ex Machina like in SBAPOD.

We don’t need Spoon to show us more of something we already knew, and Spoon knows that. And he is getting development, and people are so blind to see it. Even in the most recent chapters, it’s right there.

It’s Athanasia verbally telling him, ‘killing won’t solve anything’ to his immediate response to just kill the villain, which attributes to development for both her and Lucas. It’s small, but you have to treat him like a child. Because emotionally, he was deprived of growth. You have to tell him straight out what’s wrong, and Athanasia did that. And she’s still changing him. Athanasia trying so hard for Claude, and Athanasia confessing her knowledge of Jennette being her cousin and not doing anything to endanger her— those little actions are making Lucas see the importance of family. Someone who was deprived of a healthy family, someone who was abandoned by their only father figure, this is incredibly important. And people label this as useless?

Part Three: The Reader’s Backlash to Spoon

Spoon has single handedly given nearly everyone development, and people refuse to see it because other Manwha and SBAPOD had ruined them and heightened their expectations. That’s why they take it out on Spoon, the outlier. The exception. They take it out on the artist/co-writer/current writer of the story for not living up to the story others have created.

It really makes me wonder how the fandom would be if no one was spoiled and just read WMMAP like it was supposed to be read—by not being spoiled and just enjoying the story without having ruined expectations from something else.

But it’s not Spoon’s problem, it’s theirs. Because the moment they comment about how [Spoon] has ruined the story? That’s where no sympathy is given. Because the problem was never Spoon. It was the disappointment of their expectations, and taking it out on an amazing person who’s trying their best. And they? They don’t even care what they do to Spoon’s health. Those repeated comments of ‘Spoon made this story trash’, and, ‘Spoon made X character useless’ can seriously damage someone’s mental health. If not, severely stress someone who’s already placed under countless deadlines but still provides quality art every 10-20 days. They have no concern over Spoon, because as long as they get what they want due to the expectations set by other Manwhas and the Manwha community? Spoon could die for all they care. As long as they get what they want, what they were spoiled of? Who cares what Spoon wants.

It’s tiring and frustrating as an artist and writer who can hardly pick up my Apple Pencil and get the motivation to do what I love. To berate Spoon so badly because of their selfishness? When Spoon does so much more than what any of us could ever imagine to do? It’s entitlement, and just rude. And what’s worse? Spoon will never bend to them, but will still see those comments. She won’t change the story to their tastes, but her health will still be impacted. She’ll still know that her readers? Hate what she’s doing, what she loves to do. No ones going to win. No one will be satisfied, and their complaints won’t help anyone. It’s pointless, and incredibly sad.

Spoon doesn’t deserve this, and we aren’t entitled to anything. Our opinions are pointless, and that’s the truth. We have no say at all in what happens in the story. You paid money for it, you chose to read the story knowing that Spoon won’t give you what you want.

The company is promoting slips of color. You know you’re getting a color, and you want a specific color. Are you gonna take it out on the company for getting red in the mystery box when you wanted gold? When you know the chances of getting gold is nearly impossible? When gold was never guaranteed, and the company stated that there wouldn’t just be gold in the box? That’s what’s happening. You paid for it knowing you’ll disappoint yourself, you made the decision to spend money on something you don’t need. And you made the decision to bully Spoon for what you did to yourself.

#who made me a princess #wmmap #suddenly became a princess one day #sbapod #wmmap athanasia #wmmap jennette #wmmap lucas #wmmap ijekiel #syl tea

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marrys-dream-world · 3 years

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That recent post you reblogged really sheds some light on what's happened to modern media/fandoms. Their argument, to paraphrase, is "media only writes kind women because they don't want to alienate men. I can't imagine the idea that some people actually want kindness rewarded and cruelty punished on principle, because I personally like mean and cruel people, so I think creators/other fans should worship them as well!" No wonder the ML fandom worships Chloe if morality is based only on "I like."

Is this about this post, anon? Because if it is I just don’t see your point.

The post was about how women tend to be stuck in a box where they have to be non-threatening as possible to the male audience and they end up falling flat because they don’t really have any flaws (or they aren’t well addressed at all). OP wasn’t saying that we should be apologists or anything, just that women should be better written (and, as someone who watches shounen, I agree). Women aren’t allowed to be mean or bitchy because they wouldn’t be a fan favorite. Can you imagine a girl with a personality and background like Bakugou’s in bnha being number one on popularity polls? I’m struggling to. It doesn’t have anything to do with the narrative rewarding cruelty for female characters.

The post was about shounen (and honestly, the only heroine that’s not constantly sexualized and is kinda bitchy and bossy and rude while maintaining their popularity that I can think of is Rukia, my beloved, from Bleach), but since I’m lowkey a ML blog, I’m gonna talk about cartoon exemples:

Helga Pataki from Hey Arnold is a staple for mean, rude, bitchy girls. She’s sympathetic and we understand her, even more after the “Helga on The Couch” episodes, but the narrative rarely excuses her actions. When she popularized a newspaper with fake news? She was punished for it. When she told Arnold off for helping the gang with their problems? She was punished for it. When she stole Arnold’s hat for her weird shrine? She was punished for it. The characters, while tolerating her meanness, don’t shy away from taking revenge when they can or dismissing Helga’s (sometimes) good advice for her attitude. She’s a flawed and deep character and the fans adore her because she’s well-written and compelling.

Gaz from Invader Zim isn’t as much of a main character in her show as Helga is in hers, but god, is she a fan favorite. She is mean and stoic and a bit sadistic and none of that detracts from her character. Sure, she’s from Invader Zim from all shows, being unusually mean is a given, but I do appreciate how for all the characters to soften up the grim dark atmosphere of the show (and still fitting very well in it), they didn’t go with making the girl a sweet character, they went with Gir, the robot dog. Even in Florpus, where her character is a little nicer, she’s still very mean and I like it! Sure, she’s never punished for being mean, but who actually is in Invader Zim? No double standards here, at least. (Also, Game Slave 2 slaps, one of the best episodes from the show).

Even Chloé herself! I like that she’s mean and spoiled and annoying, I like her arc in the show and her relationship with other people. The only thing I don’t like is people acting like she’s way less mean than she is or that her actions were not as serious as they were. Nobody cares if you like a mean character, just own it up and when people say “oh, but they are-” just answer with a “I know that, I don’t think they’re right, I just like the character”. I like Lila as a character too and you don’t see me going around defending her actions.

I can even apply the part of the post where they talk about the hype around characters with zero personality to the ML fandom while setting the girls aside. You-know-who barely has any well developed personality before season 4 and is praised for being a great character and superior love interest. Kagami, meanwhile, gets bashed for breathing. I do think that part of it relates to what I was talking about in the above: Kagami isn’t “bitchy” nor “mean”, but she’s blunt and her personality isn’t as accommodating as, say, Rose or Marinette. She’s a bit stoic and has a hard time connecting with people and comes off as rude at times, but is overall a wonderful girl and people still bash her for things like “Frozer” and “Oni-chan” (even though she was akumatized) and, more recently, “Lies”. Ask me if Luka got half that flack for “Wishmaker”.

(Plus, there were a lot of Félix apologists around even though he tried to assault our protagonist but it’s fine because “Chat Noir does it all the time” (?????) and “Félix is not that bad, he’s suffering too.” I’m not joking, the lengths people will go for white male characters while villainizing girls of color, like Alya and Kagami, still astounds me.)

So yeah, anon, I think you got the post’s message a little mixed up.

#if it's not about this post sorry about this rant #hey arnold #helga pataki #invader zim #gaz #miraculous ladybug #chloé bourgeois #luka salt #(i don't hate luka but i'm a little harsh on him i know)#kagami tsurugi #marry answers

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handlewithkara · 3 years

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@facepalming-since-chernobyl

I think the whole point is that SG writers or rather producers have no idea how to write the show or don’t have a plan or are just… really BAD at what thye are doing.

I always try to sort of cater my predictions to their skills. And yeah, they are not great. But Iook to pairings like Brainia and Dansen, pairings they apprently WANT to seem healthy and wholesome. And the writing there is still flawed and frustrating. But I think it still tells us something about how they view relationships.

Brainia and Dansen give me the vibe is that the writers value people supporting each other and having shared values. Compared to Kreisberg who was more about “I’m attracted to this person even though we have conflicts (and we later find out we have more in common or even start learning something new from them)”. The current writers are more about “yes we have problems and secrets, but we still come together and support each other because ultimately we care about each other and share the same values”.

Which is why to me Andrea and Lena feel like something that would make sense to these writers, because both are more morally “grey”.

I also think the writers just treat 5A as a playground that doesn’t matter. They will just never address it. Hoping for it is just a waste of time to me at this point. If feels like the writers look at it as “we knew crisis was coming, so we finally could let Lena do all kinds of nutty shit without having to own up for it”.

So I think for the rest of it, they look at it as Lena and Andrea being more even, where yes Andrea screwed Lena over and Lena did so in turn. They maybe both were trying to use each other and they are both characters to play dirty in business so they won’t hold it against each other that much in that way, potentially, presumably.

IF the writers are serious about writing a deeper bond between Andrea and Lena, so she is believable as Lena’s main sidekick or companion when the show ends then I would expect it to work more along the lines of how Dansen and Brania work (like Brainy being attentive of Nia’s insecurities in the prom episode or the Myxy episode, or Alex being attentive about Kelly’s desire to be Guardian and Kelly being attentive about Alex’s desire to adopt, heck even how Karamel were kind of attentive of each other’s feelings in 3B). Them supporting each other and being considerate of each other in a more personal way rather than in a generic Kara and Kelly are nice and empathetic with everyone kind of way.

Andrea helping Lena develop her magic could be that, them hunting Lex together could be that, them grieving William together could be that, Lena helping Actrata make inroads with the Superfriends could be that. I was gonna joke that Lena’s character seems kind of built around being inattentive of the feelings of others (though even though I don’t like her there are some things were you can argue traces of it, she was for example being protective of Sam and James in her own way even if it there were also elements of being misguided about it), so it’s going to be interesting how they are going to tackle that aspect. What I always say, whether Lena is going to be a better friend to Andrea than she was to Kara. Or if it’s just going to be the same with Andrea making her life supporting Lena’s stories and the only difference is that well at least she isn’t a much tortured borderline angelic super heroine, but kind of a messy jerk herself at least to others.

That does not mean that even if the writers do that that they will ever be the kind of relationship you like or can respect, let alone go shipper crazy for. Because the writers and you just have completely different values of what makes an interesting or good story or ship.

I’m just saying if the writers wanted to give Lena a good and healthy friendship to hold her up when the show is over, a relationship that the write according to their own values of what makes a good relationship this is how I would expect them to go about it

So when I try to predict whether this is a storyline the writers plan to do, these are the signs I will look for. (speaking of similarities, Brainia and Dansen (+3B Karamel) also all share scenes of one partner helping the other hone their skills and powers, that’s why it is so interesting to me whether Andrea will be with Lena in 13 or not, her being the one Lena talks to in her finding her powers episode is a good first step, but only the episodes after that will show whether they will develop it along those line or if that won’t kick in till later and some story with William, maybe about Lex).

The other thing are those shared values, because I think they kind of feed into the concept of how you can be yourself around the other person and you don’t have to censor yourself or change. There have been hints this season that Lena’s value system might still be subtly different from the Superfriends. Maybe the point isn’t going to be that she is finally going to be a repentant good person, she can keep her morality, she’s just going to be with a person (Andrea) who doesn’t have as much of a problem with it.

(which of course sounds scary as fuck for anybody who is a Lena disliker, but I think from the writers POV we are supposed to buy that in the end Lena’s vaguely positive interests will win out in the end.

It’s the diference between disliking Lena and thinking she would have to earn a happy and healthy relationship first and maybe the writers taking more the stance that they like Lena the way she is and her happy end is going to be with a person who is totally on board with her being the way she is, digging both her darker, more ruthless side and also understanding her angsty side)

#supergirl spoilers #rojascorp

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ramblingguy54 · 3 years

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Honestly, I haven’t been chatting enough about Owl House Season 2, so I’m gonna make some bullet points here about what I’ve been loving from these first five episodes.

-Lilith & Hooty’s whole friendship dynamic. It’s very nice, ironic, funny, and super cute to see two polar opposites become the most unlikely of friends. Also, it adds a nice change of pace to a side character, like Hooty, who was the guy no one liked to hang around with much as a running gag in Season 1. Now Hooty has someone who enjoys his company and values much of what he has to say, too. Lilith knows what it’s like to not have people enjoy their company, as she made choices that winded up putting her in a place of solitude from actual healthy socializing. For a long time Lilith didn’t have anyone to genuinely consult, until this silly freaking Owl tube came along to give a sense of safety after abandoning her ideals that defined this Witch for a couple of decades.

-Getting me to actually care more about King’s role in this story line. King wasn’t someone who really clicked with me in Season 1′s run time. I liked his episodes centering on the sibling dynamic he had with Luz sure, but not any one of them made me go, “This character is actually very endearing and want to see more of their journey.” , where I took King more as an overall decent member of the cast at best. Echoes of the Past seriously surprised me in how well it executed his backstory showcasing the strong connection he has to Edalyn & Luz in general as a found family. The revelation of how Eda & King met, on top of her dubbing him with that name this little guy cherishes, paints a picture of how much Eda truly cares about the young demon. Edalyn wanted him to feel good about his place in their world, which only ended up being a mistake she’d have to correct afterwards in this episode. Echoes of the Past was such a lovely surprise in how well it succeeded in building upon the lore of this interesting world and giving King’s development more of a dramatic and tragic revelation of characterization. I’d arguably say what they did with King’s may be the best part for me in Season 2, thus far. It really was that much of a shock for me in what they accomplished.

-Amity & Luz, my God where do I even begin with these two cute love birds? If Grom Night was the story’s way of acknowledging Amity has got a crush on Luz, then this episode lit a spark underneath our main heroine’s interest in her romantically. When Amity charged in against her parent’s improved abomination saying like a badass, “Get away from my Luz!”, anyone could see how mesmerized Luz looked at her actions. Part of me thought they’d continue doing the unaware protagonist trope, where Luz wasn’t aware of Amity’s feelings or even gains a crush of her own, either. Really enjoying how Dana Terrace and her crew have been approaching this representation of LGBTQ through making the whole concept of Lumity romance feel super organic from both ends. It’s no longer a one sided deal with only Amity having feelings for someone, who helped make her once miserable life so much greater. Luz now views her in the same inspiring light Amity did in Grom Night’s story of seeing this person as more than a friend, but a significant individual she wants to share her life and world with back on Earth. This is how you do a romantic representation without beating viewers over the head of how much you’re pushing boundaries. Let the characters actions speak on how they feel about each other.

-Gwendolyn’s introduction the story was a very welcoming one, as it gave more of a complicated shake up to how interesting, yet tragic, Edalyn & Lilith’s lives are when it comes to their relationship with their respective parent. Lilith choosing to curse Eda already put many years of guilt upon herself, but to not get any attention afterward from her mother’s top priority becoming curing her sister’s curse instead? Talk about another way to look it as Lilith feeling more down in the dumps for putting that curse on Eda. Lilith likely felt as if she didn’t deserve to be loved after throwing her sibling under the bus to get into the Emperor’s Coven, which led to a long struggle of trying to makes amends. Bringing their mother into Season 2 was a terrific way to shed more light onto how this crazy family operates and show just how much the curse affected them all emotionally on different levels. Eda had to distance herself from others, Lilith searched to find answers on her own, and Gwendolyn poured so much of her life into wanting to help her youngest child, at the expense of forgetting about Lilith’s needs. A great representation of a flawed, yet still loving, family tree.

-Showing Gus’ magical illusion abilities in a seriously cool, albeit disturbing manner, of how even if he may be limited to using just one type of magic doesn’t mean it’s not powerful. How they went about evolving the strength of illusions being used to even physically fool people into feeling the touch of it, while showing a greater strain on its user casting said spell, adds a new level of awesome to Gus’ abilities. It shows he can become a great asset to his friends in the future of growing events and not just get sidelined unfairly, due to a growing power scale of some kind. That was another one of my favorite parts of the episode, beside that whole deal many are talking about surrounding Lumity’s very great growth in Through The Looking Glass Ruins. Give it up for the future MVP Gus over here, as I can see this stuff coming into play against the Emperor’s Coven conflict possibly in Season 2′s finale when shit gets very real.

#the owl house season 2 #i haven't been doing enough gushing about its second season #imma make up for that #toh spoilers #through the looking glass ruins #lumity #amity blight #luz noceda #toh season 2 spoilers #lilith clawthorne #edalyn clawthorne #gwendolyn clawthorne #the owl house #seriously to anyone who hasn't checked it out yet watch this series now #it's getting really damn good up in here y'all

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lunarfly · 3 years

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Defending Harmione part 3!

I'm back to defend my fav ship!

I have a part 1 where I debunked some of the most popular arguments against Harmione and in part 2 I debunked the "siblings" argument. Time for part 3! This one is going to be about a video on YouTube titled "Why Harry and Hermione Wouldn't Work - Harry Potter Video Essay" and I'll go over the points the YouTuber made and try my best to debunk them. 💘

Also, I accept that there's still a few minor flaws to the ship, but these little flaws and obstacles make every ship beautiful. 🥀

1. "It would be too cliche. The hero gets the smartest and prettiest girl as a trophy."

This is a fair argument to the whole story itself, but it doesn't defeat the ship in any way. If you put it in other words: "Harry and Hermione wouldn't work together because they're both very powerful and great and that would make it very cliche." That's silly. But even that isn't right. The situation isn't exactly how people make it seem.

Hermione isn't the all-perfect girl, the most beautiful, the most intelligent, everything perfect. She has flaws, many flaws (which weren't portrayed in the movies) and she is a very realistic character. She is intelligent and productive, she is a perfectionist in a way, but that also causes her to be very anxious and stressed out at moments, she puts too much pressure on herself, and she's also insecure! Who said Hermione was the most beautiful one? Just because Emma Watson was gorgeous doesn't mean Hermione was too. Of course, Harry thought she was pretty according to OotP, but it's clearly stated in the books that she wasn't the prettiest girl in the series. Fleur, Cho and even Ginny were much more beautiful. Hermione is NOT the perfect superstar.

You might say that even if she's not perfect, she's still the female lead. But the actual "cliche" part is about the hero ending up with the perfect superstar and not necessarily with the other lead hero.

So back to Hermione being the brightest witch of her age. But her being very bright and powerful doesn't make her a bad match for Harry. Ginny was very smart in fact, she was beautiful and funny, very sassy and confident. Why isn't she considered as a trophy for Harry?

The point is, NO, Hermione is NOT a perfect all-star and their relationship wouldn't even have to be built on the hero and the heroine being perfect, their relationship would be built on trust and loyalty.

2. "Harry and Hermione's relationship prove that a male and a female can be friends without having a romantic relationship, so we shouldn't ruin that."

Yes, it's truly a beautiful demonstration that a male and a female can be best friends, but this says nothing that's actually against the ship, just like the previous one. If you put this in other words, it would sound like this: "Harry and Hermione were amazing best friends so they can't date." I understand that their friendship was amazing, but that in no way means their relationship would be bad. Of course, you don't have to see their relationship as romantic just because they were good friends, you can see it as platonic, but I'm just saying that the argument makes no sense.

Besides, was Hermione really the only female friend Harry had? What about Luna? What about Ginny (if you consider Harry and Hermione start dating and Ginny remains a friend, she was clearly very included after OoTP)? What about Ron's friendship with Hermione? What about Ron and Luna's friendship? What about Neville and Luna's friendship? What about Harry's quidditch teammates (Alicia, Katie, Angelina)? Why does everyone always make it seem like Hermione was the only female friend he had? Surely she was his only BEST friend but then Ron and Hermione were best friends too...

3. "It ruins the dynamic of the story. Harry's relationships were never meant to be the main focus, just a demonstration of his maturity. While Ron and Hermione's relationship developing in the background is nice to see."

I really didn't want to drag Romione into this because it's my second favorite ship from the entire Harry Potter universe. Just a disclaimer that anything I say here is not meant to bash Romione and hate on it because I'm truly a big fan of them and their love is undeniable.

I also mention Ginny and Harry's relationship in this and I have to say they're ALSO one of my favorite ships in the entire hp universe so no hate to them either. 🥺

Okay, so, basically every point he made in his video was about the story and not their actual relationship. The title is wrong, this doesn't show why Harry and Hermione wouldn't work, he's just saying how it would change the storyline. But I think we are all already aware that Harry and Hermione getting together would change a lot in the story. But I'll go over it anyways.

First of all, I don't entirely agree that Harry's relationships weren't the main focus, I mean half of the half-blood prince was about him developing feelings for Ginny-

But anyways, if Harry and Hermione were going to end up together, it would still happen in a similar way. We have all read the beautiful moments they shared together throughout the books, and those would've been enough for them to develop their feelings, but just not realize it until the last 2 books. We wouldn't have to add in any scenes that would change the story massively to lead them to falling in love, honestly, we had enough already in the books. So the only thing that would change would be probably Harry not developing feelings for Ginny, but instead slowly realizing his feelings for Hermione. Simple!

And as for Romione, I agree, the slowburn was beautiful, but we could've had the same thing, same development but as a friendship! Ron's character arc is one of my favorite things about the series and nobody can convince me that it wasn't amazing. Instead of Ron changing for Hermione to become her lover, we could have Ron changing for her to become a better friend. His character arc remains the same and Ron Hermione become best friends. Of course this would change many scenes and the storyline would've changed a lot as I already mentioned, but hey! At least we wouldn't have Ron haters who bash him for mAkInG hErMiOnE cRy. 🤡 And JKR could add different scenes instead of the ones hinting at Ron and Hermione's romantic relationship. We still would have had a beautiful story with a VERY SIMILAR dynamic.

4. "Harry wasn't the kind of guy Hermione was looking for. She already made a mistake with dating Viktor Krum, and she realized she didn't need a hero. She was a hero herself. Although Harry ≠ Viktor, they have very similar qualities like: bravery, loyalty and they are both heroes."

This is probably the best argument of the entire *almost* 5 minute video.

But there's still so much wrong with this.

Bravery and loyalty are literally Ron's best traits lmao. That's exactly why she chose him. 🤣 Every Romione shipper knows she doesn't value intelligence and looks, she values bravery, courage, loyalty. That's exactly what she said in the first book and stuck by it until the end.

She didn't need a hero? She was a hero herself? - Then why are we forgetting that Ron was also a hero? Everyone always makes it seem like Harry and Hermione are the mighty heroes and Ron is their goofy sidekick. He was also a hero! I believe he is even on the chocolate frog cards (correct me if I'm wrong)! And we all know that's the biggest flex. 😌

But besides that, Ron and Harry are very similar in many ways. They're both brave, they're both loyal, they both like to have fun, they're both lazy, they're both amazing at quidditch, they're both talented (Harry is very powerful and he's good at DADA, while Ron can do many impressive things like mimic voices and come up with quick solutions even when he's under pressure and his life depends on it!). So if Hermione liked one and thought he was her "type", then there's a hight possibility she liked the other too. In canon, she only likes Ron obviously, but I'm saying that since Ron and Harry are so similar and share the same traits, Hermione could've chosen Harry too.

Anyways, that's all that the video included, it was very nice hearing different opinions and I actually wasn't writing this out of anger like I wrote the post about defending Romione against *the ridiculously stupid* arguments that Dr*mione shippers like to use.

Once again, if it isn't clear, I STAN both Romione and Hinny, but Harmione definitely could've worked. :)

Thanks for reading! ~ Lia <3

Art: Asha47110 on DeviantArt :)

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pockymllk · 3 years

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Pocky’s manhwa recs for hopeless romantics <33

Do you enjoy..... strong female leads? villainess characters? heart throbbing romance? reverse harem stories?

Look no further fellow reader! These are a few of my fav manhwas that contain those genres <3

*in no particular order*

1) It looks like I’ve fallen into the world of a reverse harem game

When I opened my eyes, I was in a different world. I had become the game’s villainous princess who was feared by all. Not to mention… Completely naked men I didn’t even know were approaching me left and right! Just how the hell am I going to get out of this freaking game?!

- This manhwa does have the typical isekai trend with a reverse harem genre but I absolutely adore the FL in the way she holds herself and the decisions she make

-The romance and relationships between her and the other MLs are super realistic in terms of the pacing and dialogue too! (she actually works her way to making them respect her instead of a sudden 360 change just because she has a different personality)

- In terms of her power/strength, she isn’t afraid to use it appropriately but she does have her own flaws too (the consequences of her actions etc).

- If you are looking for a manhwa with a no nonsense FL combined with 5 equally drool worthy unique MLs, this one is definitely for you! Plus, it’s filled with some of the best romance scenes I’ve read too hehe

Overall rating : 4.5/5.0

Bonus thoughts : the art is absolutely stunning btw, one of the best I’ve seen! You can take my word for it

2) I tamed a tyrant and ran away

God gave me a chance to relive my life. Before the rebirth, I had been used for the past 400 years as the empire’s sword. And so, I swore to destroy the empire. I found the young prince of the country and became his teacher. I taught him how to become a tyrant and asked for the country.

- Superrrrr strong FL (slightly overpowered imo) with a tragic backstory. ML is a power bottom distrustful of the FL at first but I detect some yandere vibes from him in the future

- The first few chapters of this manhwa does have a slower pace but gradually picks up speed in terms of plot if you stick with it. Personally, I think there is a good reason for the slower story thus I stuck with this manhwa (ngl there are some scenes that drag out abit too long)

- Right now, it only has 20 ish chapters so I can’t tell how the story is going to progress but depending on how it is right now, I think it will become a wonderful story to enjoy in the long run.

- The romance is definitely not the main genre for now and the story does get rather dark and gritty for a shoujo manhwa (due to the FL’s thoughts and flashbacks, the ML is also rather dark) but I like it better this way because both leads are establishing their relationship base before progressing on, it’s also quite fun to see them test each other through mind games

- It’s a fresh read from the typical romance stories that you typically see

- Recommended if you want to see a super strong FL and how their relationship blossoms through the chapters! Or if you want a break from the usual to try something darker and more plot heavy, this is 100% for you!

Overall Rating : 4.0/5.0

3) The Young lady I served became a young master

Four years have passed since the original heroine ended her life as a maid. A handsome man came to visit. That too, a man who looks like the lady I used to serve. “I’m here to keep my word, Blair. You said you’d be with me forever.”

- This is probably the cutest manhwa I’ve ever read

- I know many people may not consider the FL to be ‘strong’ but I absolutely love her stubborness and loyalty to the ML(?) Even after being pushed away countless times, she still preserves in her work and builds up a relationship with the ML

- Once you get past the first few chapters, the two of them have such an adorable relationship oh my gosh, the way she’s utterly oblivious to her actions and the ML is an absolute tsundere for her

- I find myself smiling like an idiot whenever the two of them interact (they have the super friendly vs super cold trope), the plot is fairly simple and the story is definitely more focused on the characters rather than the plot so you feel more attached to the FL + ML

- Occasional dark/angsty moments but nothing too serious

- Recommended if you like fluff and heart warming scenes! Or if you just want a light read without too much hassle, it’s an excellent binge read over the weekend

Overall Rating : 4.0/5.0

4) Beware of the Villainess!

I became the villainess of a novel! Do I hate it? No! I find it rather nice. A duke’s daughter = a jobless rich person. How I can miss out on a chance like this?! This is the best chance to just enjoy life. I should throw out the main plot and just live life how I want to!

- *bangs fist on table* STRONG FEMALE LEAD CUTE SOFTIE MALE LEAD STRONG FEMALE LEAD CUTE SOFITE MALE LEAD STRONG FEMALE LEAD CUTE SOFTIE MALE LEAD

- A perfect manhwa that balances out hilarious comedy, action, romance and dark scenes

- Most of the time, this manhwa is rather hilarious due to the FL’s disgust with the other shitty male characters but I really like how it can be absolutely serious when it needs to be and you realise that this manhwa is more than just a typical shoujo romance

- FL is unapologetic and does things her own way!!! Both the ML and the supposed ‘MC’ are super whipped for her (for good reason) Also, the story is rather unique in sense that the MC (the blonde girl) actually has her secrets of her own and she absolutely detests the other male characters too

- I always find myself refreshing the website for a new update, this manhwa is just a top recommendation of mine. Personally, I think it’s a great read for anyone as long as you like strong female leads, the plot is not the strongest but the pacing is perfect

- I also sense future character development from the other characters once they regain their senses

- Super wholesome and hilarious read! Read it if you are bored this weekend <33

Overall Rating : 4.8/5.0

#manhwa recommendation #manhwa recs #🥛. talks #🥛. squeals #manhwa #i fell into a reverse harem game #i tamed a tyrant and ran away #beware of the villainess #the young lady i served became a young master #shoujo #romance

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