#She is literally a shonen protagonist

[bamf-jaskier]

Who the fuck is Keira Metz - a Primer

Keira Metz was one of the youngest sorceresses, a member of the Lodge, and a fierce fighter who sided with the Northern mages at Thanedd. She is mentioned in Blood of Elves and appears in Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, and Lady of the Lake.

If you are interested in Witcher book content and have questions or just want to chat about them, I made an 18+ discord server here for anyone to join :)

With that, Hi! I’m Aaliyah and this is Part 9 of my WTF series --- a crash course in subjects from The Witcher Books.

Book Spoilers (duh)

Okay, so let me start out by saying Keira has a special place in my heart because she is one of the most ready to fight and crass sorceresses. She is ready to tussle at any given moment and I love that about her. If this was an anime she is the shonen protagonist.

While she’s mentioned in Blood of Elves, we first meet her at the Banquet at Thanedd. Which, if you don’t know a lot about you can read a summary here. 

I’m trying not to just put long quotes in these posts but I have to just show y’all this scene where Marti and Keira are talking to Geralt because it shows so much about her character:

Before the Witcher had regained the power of speech, a short, slim sorceress with long, straight, straw-coloured hair came over to him. He recognised her at once–she was the one in the horned agama skin slippers and the green tulle top, which didn’t even cover a minor detail like the small mole above her left breast.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘but I have to interrupt your little flirting session, Philippa. Radcliffe and Detmold would like to talk to you for a moment. It’s urgent.’

‘Well, if it’s like that, I’m coming. Bye, Geralt. We’ll continue our flirting later!’

‘Ah,’ said the blonde, sizing him up. ‘Geralt. The Witcher, the man Yennefer lost her head over? I’ve been watching you and wondering who you might be. It was tormenting me terribly.’

‘I know that kind of torment,’ he replied, smiling politely. ‘I’m experiencing it right now.’

‘Do excuse the gaffe. I’m Keira Metz. Oh, caviar!’

‘Be careful. It’s an illusion.’

‘Bloody hell, you’re right!’ said the sorceress, dropping the spoon as though it was the tail of a black scorpion. ‘Who was so barefaced… You? Can you create fourth-level illusions?’

‘I,’ he lied, continuing to smile, ‘am incognito. Do you think Yennefer would bother with an ordinary witcher?’

Keira Metz looked him straight in the eyes and scowled. She was wearing a medallion in the form of an ankh cross; silver and set with zircon.

‘A drop of wine?’ he suggested, trying to break the awkward silence. He was afraid his joke hadn’t been well received.

‘No thank you… O fellow master,’ said Keira icily. ‘I don’t drink. I can’t. I plan to get pregnant tonight.’

‘By whom?’ asked the fake-redheaded friend of Sabrina Glevissig, who was dressed in a transparent, white, georgette blouse, decorated with cleverly positioned details, walking over to them. ‘By whom?’ she repeated, innocently fluttering her long eyelashes.

Keira turned and gave her an up-and-down glare, from her white iguana slippers to her pearl-encrusted tiara.

‘What business is it of yours?’

‘It isn’t. Professional curiosity. Won’t you introduce me to your companion, the famous Geralt of Rivia?’

‘With great reluctance. But I know I won’t be able to fob you off. Geralt, this is Marti Södergren, seductress. Her speciality is aphrodisiacs.’

‘Careful,’ chorused Keira and the Witcher. ‘It’s an illusion.’

‘So it is!’ said Marti Södergren, leaning over and wrinkling her nose, after which she picked up a goblet and looked at the traces of crimson lipstick on it. ‘Ah, Philippa Eilhart. I should have known. Who else would have dared to do something so brazen? That revolting snake. Did you know she spies for Vizimir of Redania?’

‘And is a nymphomaniac?’ risked the Witcher. Marti and Keira snorted in unison.

‘Is that what you were counting on, fawning over her and flirting with her?’ asked the seductress. ‘If so, you ought to know someone’s played a mean trick on you. Philippa lost her taste for men some time ago.’

‘But perhaps you’re really a woman?’ asked Keira Metz, pouting her glistening lips. ‘Perhaps you’re only pretending to be a man, my fellow master of magic? To remain incognito? Do you know, Marti, he confessed a moment ago that he likes to pretend.’

Basically, Keira is a menace and I love her for that. She makes up this entire excuse about why she can’t drink as a reason for her to be sober during the Coup and won’t stop taunting poor Geralt who didn’t ask to be here and just wants to support his goth wife.

During the Coup, Keira is once more an absolutely violent menace.

The light which made the details visible emanated from an orb suspended above Keira Metz’s head–a sorceress with whom Geralt had been chatting at the banquet the previous evening. He barely recognised her; she had exchanged her flowing tulle for severe male clothing, and she had a dagger at her side

‘Handcuff him,’ she ordered curtly. A set of handcuffs made of a bluish metal clinked in her hand.

‘Don’t you dare put those on me!’ yelled Terranova. ‘Don’t you dare, Metz! I am a member of the Chapter!’

‘You were. Now you’re a common traitor. And you will be treated as such.’

‘And you’re a lousy whore, who—’

Keira took a step back, swayed her hips and punched him in the face with all her strength. The sorcerer’s head jerked backwards so hard that for a moment Geralt thought it would be torn from his trunk. Terranova lolled in the arms of the men holding him, blood streaming from his nose and mouth. The sorceress didn’t strike him a second time, though her fist was raised. The Witcher saw the flash of brass knuckles on her fingers. He wasn’t surprised. Keira was very lightly built, and a blow like that couldn’t have been dealt with a bare fist.

She punches Terranova in the face with brass knuckles on. And it gets even more wild. Because later in the coup Geralt runs into Keira again.

‘He managed to get to the foot of the palace wall undetected and had been looking for a way in when Keira had fallen on him, and the two of them tumbled into some blackthorn bushes.

‘I’ve lost a tooth,’ said the sorceress, gloomily, lisping slightly. She was dishevelled, dirty and covere in plaster and soot. There was a large bruise on her cheek. ‘And I think I’ve broken my leg,’ she added, spitting blood. ‘Is that you, Witcher? Did I land on you? How come?’

‘I was wondering the same thing myself.’

‘Terranova threw me out of a window.’

‘Can you stand?’

‘No, I can’t.’

‘I want to get inside. Unnoticed. Which way is it?’

‘Are all witchers,’ said Keira, spitting blood again, groaning, and trying to prop herself up on an elbow, ‘insane? There’s a battle going on in Garstang! It’s kicking off so badly the plaster’s falling off the ceiling! Are you looking for trouble?’

‘No. I’m looking for Yennefer.’

‘Oh!’ said Keira, giving up her struggles and lying on her back. ‘I wish someone would love me like that. Carry me.’

‘Another time, perhaps. I’m in a bit of a hurry.’ ‘Carry me, I said! I’ll show you the way into Garstang. I have to get that son of a bitch Terranova. Well, what are you waiting for? You won’t find the way yourself, and even if you did, those fucking elves would finish you off… I can’t walk, but I’m still capable of casting a few spells. If anyone gets in our way they’ll regret it.’

I cannot stress how wild this series of events is. Geralt is looking for his goth wife. And then Keira FALLS on him from a window, breaks her leg so much so that the bone is sticking out and proceeds to convince Geralt that he has to carry her back to the battle while she shoots off spells. This is a woman who lives for the fight, who will not quit.

And this love of the fight is seen through the rest of the books as well. In Lady of the Lake, when talking about hunting down Vilgefortz, Keira gets quite a bit more crass than most sorceresses often do:

‘Thus, we’ll have a perfect opportunity,’ Keira Metz called in an excited voice, ‘to rescue Ciri and strike at Vilgefortz at the same time. We’ll scorch the ground beneath the rascal’s arse!’

And the visual of this scene also from Lady of the Lake:

Keira Metz appeared standing behind Sabrina’s back, looking like the purest hell with camouflage painted on her face.

Let’s just say if the Lodge has a fistfight, no magic, my money is on Keira.

Then, of course, she ends up joining the Lodge in Baptism of Fire and this is where I want to mention the narrative ties between Keira and Triss. Because they are both the youngest of the sorceresses and they are constantly paired together whether that’s on mission or sitting next to each other or being grouped together. 

Even in Blood of Elves, when Triss is talking about the war while visiting Kaer Morhen, she brings up Keira as her contemporary.

‘That’s why I’m on Foltest of Temeria’s council and sit with Fercart and Keira Metz. We deliberate on how to stop war from breaking out and, should it come to it, how to defend ourselves. Because war is constantly hovering over us like a vulture. For you it’s an adventure.’

Her and Triss both judge Assire, a Nilfgaardian sorceress, together:

‘Bloody hell,’ Keira muttered, wiping her forehead. ‘Haven’t they heard of glamarye or beautifying spells down in Nilfgaard?’

‘Apparently not,’ said Triss out of the corner of her mouth. ‘They don’t seem to have heard of fashion either.’

Rita flat out states they are the youngest:

“Rule me out, rule out Keira and Triss even, the youngest among us.”

As I said, they often sit next to each other:

Opposite Fringilla Vigo sat Triss Merigold in a bright blue, high-necked dress. Next to Triss sat Keira Metz, who remained in the shadows. Her large earrings held faceted citrines that flashed again and again with a thousand twinkles, attracting the eye.

And are assigned missions together:

“No, I have not forgotten. If there is going to be a legend, one must have the proper version and one in our favour. I’ll entrust this task to you, Sabrina. Take Keira and Triss and take care of it. See that no trace is left.”

I am mentioning this because when I made my Coën post back before S2 came out I talked about how Lambert and Coën have this sort of narrative foil vibe where they are both witchers of similar ages but vastly different temperaments and people did not seem to see it. And then S2 came in hot with the Lambert and Coën so I’m just saying don’t be surprised if a similar thing happens here. ((I felt SO vindicated by S2 because no one listened to me when I talked about hose those two have untapped potential and I was RIGHT)

Keira ends up voting against Ciri when the Lodge is voting on whether or not they should let Ciri go after Geralt in the last book --- because she doesn’t think Ciri has any real interest in The Lodge -- and she’s fairly correct, but Keira doesn’t really have any personal connection to Ciri. From Lady of the Lake:

‘I’m against it,’ said Keira Metz. ‘For purely practical reasons. I also like the girl and Geralt delivered me out of the hands of danger on Thanedd. It is a sentiment that I long ago got rid of, but I do not deny that it was pleasant to me. I could repay him this way. But will not. Because you are wrong, Sabrina. This girl is a witcheress and is trying to be smarter than us. In short, she is just trying to get away.’

She’s never as passionate about Ciri as many of the others such as Triss, Philippa, and Rita. Keira really is with The Lodge because she wants to kick some ass and come out on top. 

I think Keira is a very fascinating character because she’s much more crude and excited to get her hands dirty than Northern sorceresses are expected to be. She doesn’t have the extremely high femininity performance of the others but at the same time she stills judges Fringilla and Assire and is still very shallow.

Overall, she’s a really spunky and upbeat character with brass knuckles she is not afraid to use. 

Another post for one of my fav artsist @thence-we-came-forth may all your dreams of Lodge character art come true!!!

[imminent-danger-came]

Here comes the complaining about Mei's treatment in the fandom:

Mei gets basically zero fandom attention unless it's about shipping her with Red Son tbh, and even then it's barely ever discussion about her character. I've seen nearly everything she does in S4 be somehow attributed to Red Son, her temper, her impatience, even being concerned about Heaven(?). It's like she's a satellite character, like she doesn't matter until it relates to a man.

The thing about her temper especially gets to me because it's a trait she had since the pilot, and it feels just the teeniest bit like sexism to erase it in favor of making her into a Wholesome Softgirl.

(Also isn't her temper the main reason her dynamic with Red Son works? Like they play off of each other well because of how similar they are?)

Shipping is fun, I get it. I really like a lot of the popular ships, and Red Son is probably my favorite character but sometimes it feels like people don't actually care about Mei's canon character, they just care about giving him someone to blush or angst about.

Not to mention, for a fandom that loves angst I've seen nothing about her canonically tense relationship with her family or her fear of hurting others with the samadhi fire. That and her focus ep's almost never get talked about, except for the one with Ao Lie but even then, the discussion isn't about Mei, it's about Ao Lie.

Sorry if this isn't coherent I just have very strong feelings about this.

Anyways Mei deserves better

We are holding hands anon.

This was SUPER coherent, and I totally agree with all of your points—hope you don't mind if I write a kinda-sorta-meta about it! This is a long rant, and it's full of a ton of things that have been in my head for months.

Mei is rarely discussed as a character, and it's such a shame! Mei, MK, and LBD are my favorites, and I think I need to express my Mei love here more.

I think Mei being sidelined and ignored is far too common in the lmk fandom. I saw one person complain that Red Son should have gotten the Samadhi fire, and that it was "nothing against Mei", and it just kinda left me dumbfounded.

Like, there's nothing that giving Red Son the Samahdi fire would have added to the story that would trump what giving the Samahdi fire to Mei, our main female lead, added to the story:

"MK: “Mei! You have to stop. I know you’re upset, and that’s okay! I know what it’s like to have a power you don’t know how to control—to feel like the fate of the world is in your hands and you have no idea what to do! But you always have my back, and help me through it. We, will figure this out! Together!” (3x10 The Samadhi Fire)

This sentiment of "having no idea what to do", and that being okay, is something that MK is repeating back to Mei all the way from the Revenge of the Spider Queen special. They're truly friends—best friends who are always there for each other—and I don't think MK could have even gotten through to Red Son in this situation. He got through to Mei, because if "you're bonds of friendship are as strong as you say, you will always find your way back to one another", you can always reach one another.

To me, it just feels like they want to "give" this important place in the story to a popular male side character, rather than give it to the female lead they don't care about. And it just feels misogynistic. The particular post I'm thinking of mentioned how amazing it would have been for Red Son as a character to gain back and learn to control the Samadhi fire, completely ignoring what the Samadhi fire did for Mei as a character. This is not something that could be "handed" over to any one else, not without taking away everything thematically and narratively relevant about this part of the story.

As I've mentioned in my dear Hero and Warrior meta, MK and Mei fulfill the "roles" of the Hero and the Warrior to each other. MK's choice to not abandon Mei when she needs him is a CRUCIAL choice, and something that wouldn't have even close to the same amount of impact if it were replaced by anyone else.

There's also the matter of how Mei's trust impacts the story, for better or for worse. When she makes the decision to trust someone in the name of what she thinks is right (like how she trusted Sun Wukong's plan to defeat LBD, or Azure's plan to save their friends), it leads to her being tricked. To pain—which parallels her to both MK and Lady Bone Demon in such a significant way.

However, instead of MK's-

“No matter what I do, it’s going to lead to pain. It’s like the Lady Bone Demon said—it doesn’t matter if I want to help people or not! Everything I do just- it just makes things worse!”

-Mei instead takes on the position of "We have to try." Even if the odds are stacked against them, even if it doesn't work, even if it just makes things worse—she has to try. And that works with how Mei more often than not is the one supporting MK, always having his back. If I see one more person describe MK as the "optimist" of the group when Mei is so clearly the hopepunk girly we deserve, I may lose it.

All the way back in 1x10, MK is doubtful about their victory against Demon Bull King and Mei reassures him: "But we won...right?". Mei, AGAIN, in Revenge of the Spider Queen is the one to comfort MK that "They got this" and that they would "'Figure it out. Together". Mei assures MK in 2x10 that he's mastered so many powers and that Monkey King might not even need to come back, and when MK stares in his lemonade cup sadly, cocks an eyebrow insinuating that she knows something is wrong. In 3x04 when MK is wondering what use he is without his powers and how he's going to fight the Lady Bone Demon, Mei pokes his cheek and tells him that's why they're getting the Samadhi fire.

She has her own doubts, but she stubbornly works through them—anything to protect and support her friends.

Mei is her own character. And it's a good one at that.

(The rest of my thoughts are going under the cut, this is getting a bit long lol)

Now, this brings me to Mei and Red Son's dynamic.

"Also isn't her temper the main reason her dynamic with Red Son works? Like they play off of each other well because of how similar they are"

100% IT IS. Mei and Red Son's dynamic is lovely, and I think Red Son becoming Mei's teacher really expanded on that. Red Son giving Mei "some fire training" was a perfectly fine role for him to have in the Embrace Your Destiny Special, furthering their dynamic from Revenge of the Spider Queen.

Mei: "But...what if I fail everyone? What if I...lose control" Red Son: "My parents have succumbed to the Lady Bone Demon’s power—like countless others. You, and the Noodle Boy, will stop at nothing to free them. That’s how I know you won’t lose control. You can’t. Because you’re the only hope I- The only hope this world has left."

(3x11 This Imperfect World)

Red Son was so anti-hero originally, and yet here...he needs a hero. He needs Mei. Together they have to wrangle the wild emotions and energies around them to save everything. Mei is a feisty and angry character, rushing into things headfirst, and she couldn't do that or be that with the Samadhi fire, lest she destroy all she holds dear.

And, Red Son understands that. That's why he's there in the first place—to make sure Mei doesn't burn herself from the inside out. Red Son doesn't want to fail his parents and Mei doesn't want to fail the world. That's why I find them interesting.

So yeah, I really feel your "it's like she's a satellite character, like she doesn't matter until it relates to a man" sentiment. It's painfully true.

Honestly, I've been spinning around Mei's conversation with Ao Lie in 4x05 in my head for MONTHS, and not because of Ao Lie lol:

Mei: “What’s the point of having power if you won’t use it? Don’t you have people you want to protect?” Ao Lie: “Of course I do! But I can’t protect them with careless actions!” Mei: “Inaction is careless! If you’re not giving everything you have to protect the people you care about, you are nothing!"

Mei: I would watch my sword shatter into pieces a thousands times, so long as I used it to protect the ones I care about. If you're just going to sit here and screw around, then maybe, you don't deserve power." Ao Lie: "And perhaps with greater caution you would still have you're sword. I know a thing or two about disappointing people, about feeling powerless to protect them, but I do not sense you are a disappointment! Even now, locked away in imminent danger you're thoughts are to protect others!"

Mei: "But how am I supposed to protect everyone if I don't have my sword?" Ao Lie: "A sword is powerless without the hand that wields it."

(4x05 Court of the Yellow Robed Demon)

(omg hi hand motif) (Whenever characters (most often MK, followed up by Mei) look at their hands, it's typically as a sign of resolve or the character showing that they feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. I know I keep mentioning hand motif but god I love it so much and it's important to this convo about Mei.)

Here we see Mei all laid out: she doesn't want to be a disappointment and she's motivated by protecting her friends, which all tracks. Her first scene in the whole show is saving MK, and every damn day I think about her smile towards MK before she sacrifices herself to the Lady Bone Demon.

The dialogue "What’s the point of having power if you won’t use it?" is such a lovely paring with her "We have to try" mentality. If you have the power to do something, you should do it. You should try. In this sense Mei is bound by an incredible sense of duty to her friends and to the world.

And GOD, did we need a female character entirely motivated by helping the people she cares about, armed with a kick-ass sword and her temper. She's basically a female shonen protagonist, and I think most people don't realize that about her.

Mei's line “Inaction is careless! If you’re not giving everything you have to protect the people you care about, you are nothing!" in particular is interesting. Like I've said, she's a character whose whole motivation is protecting the people she cares about, and yet she hurt MK and everyone else at the end of s3.

There are certain things in s4 that lead me to believe she feels like "nothing" because of how she handled the Samadhi fire. Like, look at Mei's face when Subodhi mentions it for the first time in s4:

Subodhi: "As someone who once wielded the Samadhi fire, I thought that you would know that the flame that lights a candle is ALSO capable of lighting a forest fire."

(4x09 Roast of the Monkie Kids)

It reminds me of this scene from 3x09:

Macaque: "How do you still not see that he has no idea what he’s doing?"

(3x09 The King, the Prince, and the Shadow)

And, along with this parallel to MK—our poster boy of low self-esteem/belief—I just have to say I'm a little worried about our girl! I'm so excited to see where her character arc goes in the future, especially with how her own self-doubt is going to mesh with her duty to her friends.

I was thinking about it earlier—and as a fun little bonus theory at the end of this meta—I wonder if a Mei VS MK fight is in the cards for us. The line "They will destroy you, harbinger of chaos" doesn't fill me with much confidence, however I also doubt any of the main cast is going to fight MK with the intent of destroying him. So, that got me thinking that maybe they're going to fight MK to save MK, in a sense. I'm a "Mei is going to get a dragon form" truther (thank you Lego set), and Mei unlocking her dragon form while trying to save MK would be ONE hell of a way to debut it.

Anyways, I'm going to cut this off here, but tldr: Mei deserves better.

[goldiipond]

ray is genderfluid because imagine the euphoria of confining yourself to a box your whole life because you’re so afraid to discover things about yourself only to have it all taken away and then escaping and being allowed to explore those things and realizing you can just be anything you want at anytime, you’re finally free. emma is agender because ray’s hogging all the genders and he won’t share

[futurefind]

!! (for sa or rea, from shez!)

Send ‘!!’ and I’ll write a para description of your muse from mine’s perspective (including: their looks, their personality, who they are to my muse, etc!) // @brxtalsimulation

How cool! How mysterious! How... cute! Hair as bright as flower that looks as silken to match! Refreshingly blunt (even if this isn't Sorcery School, thank the goddess), and yet still so ready and able to offer or ask for help! Quite like a storybook hero, really, if such things were to exist.

She can only hope she might choose to make friends with her, too.

...Is what Rea wondered, once. There's no denying the sting of jealousy of how easily and how fearlessly Shez made friends with their classmates, no—but she's long past the time where she could befriend anyone, least of all them.

It wasn't long after school, after all, that she willingly and readily crossed a bridge alone and cut it down behind her without so much as a whisper as to how she'd even left in the first place. So if Shez could— can, did— show up one day and make unforgetable friendships with their classmates, well.

At least one of them did.

(And, at least, Rea likes to think she might be able to beat her in a fight.)

...Was this supposed to be a joke? She's already adverse enough to showing her face, between her paranoia around her powers and paranoia over Rhea (no matter the occassional 'insistence' that she should feel free to 'make friends'), and now—

Well, she's not sure what the fuck lighting she'd have to be in to be purple, but it keeps giving her whiplash all the same. At least it's (mostly) superficial, she'd lose her fucking mind if Shez's actual features resembled her (or, by extension, her mother's) on top of that.

At least the other woman's similarly extreme combat prowess didn't involve any inexplicable magic swords or the like. (Right...?)

Again, at least it's superficial.

After all, Shez is friendly. Shez is honest, is open. Sasume is none of those things; she's crude and especially rude, with social skills as rare as smiles these days. She's gotten better with remembering to talk these last few years, sure, but while she may have found her voice again any semblance of likeability has been as absent as the day she left her hometown all those years ago.

And it—

It makes her gut churn. Makes her feel damn near ill with the disquiet and the disgust it makes her feel— no, with the disquiet and the disgust it reminds her of. It's never left her, not really, even if she's acclimated to the point of being able to forget about it, most of the time.

It may not be an actual mirror, seeing Shez so easily find a place among her former classmates, but it feels like a funhouse mirror mockery all the same.

Remember who you were? How you were? The way things used to be? —Too bad, all that's left is blood and dust.

Sasume sighs, and shakes herself off, and gets herself back to work. There's no point in whining in about things that can't be changed, especially as irrefuteable as this is:

She is unloveable and she is unlikeable, and to say someone else is better than her in these regards goes without saying.

[violetparakeetchuggerofkerosene]

mfs will call any short woman a "loli" lmao

[antirepurp]

ough jojo stone ocean aughh my heart twists and turns as the shonen protagonist is a woman who kicks ass and is angry and determined and not above petty revenge, who fights by tearing apart her own body and gets her shit kicked in before she makes it out on top, whose end goal goes from saving her own father with whom she has a complicated relationship with to saving the entire goddamn universe and no one but a kid she befriended knows anything about it anymore. im not normal about jolyne's chase for freedom and agency after her life is set to quietly rot in a prison cell and im not normal about her friends who are driven by revenge and a search of identity and petty feelings and pure kindness and im not normal about how human they feel even when they get put into wacky and stupid and exaggerated situations. literally shaking and crying stone ocean is so dear to me

[hyuga-eyes]

I see some people saying Naruto didn't return Hinata's feelings in the begning because he didn't understand romantic love at that time, and that's actually untrue. First, because Naruto is extremely empathetic, he knows what someone is feeling, and he also makes it very clear that feelings are important, especially feelings of affection, friendship and protection, and that's includes love.

The thing is (and that's only my point of view, if you think different of me then just be polite and tell me on the comments section what you think) Naruto is not used to be loved. He was hated by the entire village, his best friend is always fighting with him, his crush (Sakura) thinks he is an idiot, his teacher (Kakashi) ignores him comparad to Sasuke, and the closest father figure he had was Jiraiya who literally threw him off a cliff. Of course Naruto had Iruka's admiration for him, but it's interesting to see Naruto's behavior about this when he says that ONLY Iruka recognized him as someone worthy of admiration and love. Furthermore, Naruto is always having to prove that he is also worthy of love and respect. Of course he changes people's opinions, as he did with Tsunade for example (after all, he is the protagonist of a shonen manga), but he only manages to make people notice and respect him after fighting a lot.

Naruto doesn't expect someone to simply look at him and admire him or genuinely like him, or even love him. He can only achieve this by fighting, so when Hinata shows that she truly loves him without even demanding reciprocity, this is really a big surprise for him. It's not that Naruto didn't understand romantic love, in fact it just took him a while to realize that he was already loved because he is not used to it. You can see by his expression when Hinata shows her feelings, Naruto is always surprised.

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 1

Propaganda Under Cut

Allura

Lots of people (myself included tbh) ship klance (Keith and Lance). In s8 the creators made Allura/Lance canon (but then they killed her off and left the ending ambiguous it was weird). Anyway the fandom treats her like she's the most terrible bitchy woman ever but all she wants to do is end the war and avenge her destroyed home planet. Yeah she wasn't always the nicest or always the best, but you could argue some other characters in the show aren't either and they aren't treated near as bad as allura. people really just hate her bc Lance liked her. I don't think allura/lance are good together, but I still liked her as a character and thought she was interesting and had a lot of growth during the show. she DEF is not evil like some people portray her as in fic or talk about her in captions on posts. I've seen people say that they HATE her and that she's the worst and I'm like ??? let her live (well sort of ig she is dead now). lots of fic writers use her as the villain which is so interesting to me bc the show literally has villains like use them. anyway allura so perfectly fits the bracket description she deserves better.

I hate to acknowledge my time in this fandom but I hate the way the fandom treated her more. Allura was treated like shit no matter what side of the Great Ship War you were on because she was always a threat to the biggest ships (klance and sheith). At best she got put into Background Lesbian or Consolation Prize Shallura (Space Mom-zoned) (She was not a motherly figure btw. She was just Black). At worst she was violently demonized for being ~racist~ (kinda not cool with the alien race that blew up her planet for a few episodes), complete with misogynistic language hurled at her (she got called a bitch sooo much). Allura was a good and cool character and the show did her dirty but the fandom was somehow worse.

i apologise for speaking the dark magicks, but amidst the voltron fandoms many, many transgressions, there were a particular subset of people who just hated this girl. the infamous klance wars of the 2010s kept this perfectly fine childrens cartoon character in the sights of shippers everywhere, and she (and her voice actress im sure) were subjected to years of petty squabble blown up to global perportions. ive seen hate, ive seen rants, ive seen fanfics that made her homophobic. girls been through the ringer, and even though voltron was never the show its fandom wanted it to be, i believe allura deserved better

Kayano Kaede

shes genuinely a really tragic character who had potential for a really compelling, effective arc concerning grief, identity, healing, and finding trust again all while going through the inherent ordeal of being 15 years old….if she werent a female character in a shonen anime 😭😭 instead she gets sidelined during the show up until her big plot twist reveal after which shes immediately sidelined again. whatever i still love her and know her to be a character of all time who has suffered more than jesus. in my experience shes perhaps the female character who like. ive seen most *obsessively* hated due to her “getting in the way” of the ship b/w the male protagonist + deuteragonist (bc of her proximity to the both of them) u woild think shes the devil incarnate and not just. 15 and traumatised 

She had a crush on Nagisa and they kissed and a lot of fans ship him with Karma so theyre mad that Kaede is there. She is super silly and nice but the fandom hates her for standing in the way of karmagisa.

she's a sweet person that was an actor and loves her sister. she is the main love interest of the main character but doesn't interact with him more than most of the other characters for a majority of the story. Often I have seen them removed from the story only to become some homophobic jerk that's desperate for the main characters love instead of letting her keep the good friendship that her and the main character had before the romance.

[beeftony]

Chise Hatori is endlessly entertaining as a protagonist because she’s so effortlessly chill about things that would cause your average shonen character to flip out and embark on a multi episode revenge quest. She lets an immortal alchemist who likes committing crimes against humanity just to feel something chill at the bottom of a well near her house because he just needed a good nap. She runs into the man who literally sold her into slavery and treats him like an old buddy, like hey dude your sister is my roommate isn’t that wild. She is married to an eldritch being and teaches him about humanity when she barely understands being human herself.

And then you realize that the reason she’s like this is because she didn’t consider herself a person until very recently, on account of a lifetime’s worth of trauma and neglect, and you become Concerned.

[ungeese]

It’s pretty weird that the comic Sora Warrior of the Sea had such specific details about Germa right?

Like even choosing to name the protagonist SORA! How many people knew the queen of Germa was working against her husband’s experiments? I doubt it was a lot! So why name the warrior who fights Germa after her?

And Stealth Black is in the comics! Accurate enough that Law recognized Sanji when he transforms for the first time! Who would have even known there were 4 princes? One was supposed to have died young! Way before he received his combat suit!

So someone on the inside who hated Germa enough to make them the villains, wanted to honor the fight Sora made against the alterations to her children, but also still considered Sanji one of them enough to include him in the line up?

Literally only Reiju could have written Sora warrior of the sea, is what I’m saying.

Secret Mangaka Reiju-sensei taking all the emotions she has to pretend she doesn’t feel every day and turning them into a hit high octane Shonen Manga.

[dailycupofcreativitea]

AHHHHH you're playing kingdom hearts? Please report back with your thoughts when you feel up to it it's my special interest 👀

Okay here are some thoughts I've spammed to my friends in the last few days! (BTW I read the manga already for the first game so I basically spoiled it but I was still equally as shocked when these things happened in the game lol)

By the way, spoilers below for anyone who hasn't played!

General thoughts:

SORA IS SOOOOOOOOOO CUTE 🥺 The voice actor voiced him PERFECTLY, he's exactly the perfect combination of hopeful, friendship, little kid, strong heart, over confident at times, stubborn, sweet. 😭💖

Told a friend I love Sora in a different way than I love Gohan, here were my thoughts: Gohan is more quiet, sweet, gentle, burdened with a lot of power that he seems hesitant to use and slowly builds his confidence throughout the show, I relate to Gohan a lot, sweet cinnamon roll that must be protecc, but forced to protecc others, etc etc Sora is sweet and gentle but loud, has a HUGE heart and he uses it to protect his friends with 100% confidence (he's more like Goku in that way), his heart is just unwavering and he doesn't seem to doubt himself often (at least in KH1), funny and goofy and his stubbornness can get him into trouble sometimes but his bonds with his friends give him strength, I don't relate to him but I would love to draw inspiration from him

"Shonen protagonist done by Disney" vibes (as put aptly by @genisflyingkites)

Riku is so insanely jealous of Sora it's hilarious, he's overall kind of a jerk and even Kairi said she wanted to leave the island without him, but also Riku is 15 and hormonal and Maleficent got to him so I don't really blame him for it

Donald and Goofy are way less annoying than I assumed they would be, I like that they seem refreshingly mature?? Donald is stubborn and beefs with Sora a lot and Goofy seems like he has a good head on his shoulders and is a deep thinker

Also I keep seeing memes of Donald constantly getting knocked out in game and being useless but for me Donald ALWAYS comes in clutch with the elixirs and ethers

That scene where Maleficent tells Riku that Sora replaced him and Kairi with Donald and Goofy was sad in both the manga and the game but what REALLY made my jaw drop was that SORA LOWKEY FELT THE SAME:

(Yes he was fighting with Donald at the time too but LOOK AT HIS FACE!!! 😭🙏)

If Riku talked to Sora for more than 10 seconds at a time literally all of this would be resolved XD LIKE!! Sora is literally trying to find them! Riku please!

This scene had my sister and I's JAWS ON THE FLOOR:

It was low blow after low blow! I read this in the manga too but somehow it hit harder in the game!

Hollow Bastion is a great OST and I've been listening to it on repeat. The map is also pretty nice but I wish I could explore more without heartless appearing every 5 seconds

Actually I also liked the OST "A Day in Agrabah"

I beat Riku's ass in 10 seconds and it was glorious (Ansem is a whole other story...still working on it)

DID I MENTION SORA HAS SUCH A KIND AND SWEET AND STRONG HEART!?

Every single cutscene had the words "light" "darkness" "friendship" "heart" "memories" repeated over and over again to form a cutscene (I saw this in a Youtube video and thought it was incredibly accurate XD)

My sister and I were CRACKING UP during this cutscene because it made NO SENSE

It just kept getting more and more non-sensical XD

I think Aladdin was my favourite world so far but tbh they were all pretty cool (Sora's Halloween Town fit was so cute! Also I loved flying around by Big Ben, and then getting the glide feature)

The Maleficent Dragon boss was really hard, cool, and fun; Tinker Bell really came in clutch

Also I gotta say this game is really hard to play because the control are so annoying, the jump function is annoying (I keep falling off and misjudging his jump), it keep glitching cause it's connected to the cloud or something, the directions are too vague so I have to follow a walkthrough while playing, and I have to keep stopping between plays because I get motion sickness from the wildly spinning camera really easily -- despite all that I am indeed having a blast

I think that's all my thoughts for now :3

[sugar-grigri]

Fuji is playing a dangerous game by holding back on the Asa plot because if she just gets one-shot after two months it'd be so ass. Like don't turn her into a shon*n girl whk needs to be constatly rescued.

I don't think Fujimoto sets Asa aside, it's rather that he also gives Denji's version and point of view, with the same existential identity crises as the protagonist in part 2. Asa and Denji are the two pivots now, so he alternates, the more Asa seems absent, the more the next arc will be dedicated to her.

In the same way, I don't think Fujimoto takes the easy way out either, with Asa constantly being saved, firstly because female characters in CSM tend to be in a position of strength so it's not at all a writing bias that he has, but on top of that, although Denji acts more as a springboard than a saviour

At the aquarium it was by comforting her that Asa came up with the idea of making the place her weapon, just as the fact that CSM had helped her several times motivated her not to rely on him but to cooperate

She saved Denji by making a motorbike weapon appear, just as she is the one whose main motivation is to literally save Chainsaw Man

It's more like Denji becomes the shonen girl lol

[epickiya722]

I just talked with my friend who is a Gojo fan but anti Geto and anti stsg. When I asked her about Satosugu, do you know what she said : "Just because someone loves Gojo it does not mean that they must ship satosugu or they also loves Geto. Unfortunately, I would call gojo/geto as close to canon as a queer ship can get in shounen. But it does not have to always be canon right?" (She loves Gojo/Sukuna and Gojo/Yuji ships, even wrote fanfics about them). I don't know how to answer her, between want to laugh and cry at the same time 🤣😭😆

Well, yeah, no one is forced to ship SatoSugu but how can anyone not?

Their backstory? The banter? How they're designed? How they act around each other? Like, come on! Season 2's first opening and ending are literally SatoSugu songs!

"Unfortunately..." why she had to say it like it's the worst representation ever? 😭

Honestly, pulling the "it doesn't always have to be canon, right" card is like "It's not canon so you shouldn't ship". Both ways, it's just saying "This is a rule that you must follow because it makes me comfortable". It's a tactic, a way of setting a rule because that person feels that it's "their way". Shipping should be something fun. Not something people should dictate, come on.

No offense to your friend, I mean that. But it's just odd to me to be anti-Geto when Sukuna is just as bad... wait, no. Sukuna is a lot worse. Is she a fan of Sukuna?

Now I will say at least your friend being anti-Geto is (probably, I don't know) why she doesn't ship SatoSugu. Which is fair. Some people will like a ship but hate one of the characters and I don't see the point of that. If you don't like the character, then don't feel the need to have a ship for them??? If I hate a character or don't particularly care for them, I wouldn't pay attention to the ships for them. That's just me.

I have seen some shippers of another fandom like this ship of two characters where one is really grumpy and hot blooded and gets a lot of hate and the other is like the typical Shonen protagonist, but he's a side character and those people will only ship that ship because "he can change him" as it's only right that one character has the ability to change and train the other like he's a dog. Honestly, disrespectful to both characters.

Back to SatoSugu!

Okay, back to a previous point. The "it doesn't have to always be canon bit" also applies to shipping Gojo/Sukuna and Gojo/Yuji. Both ships have way less content, especially, in a romantic sense than SatoSugu. Neither is canon and some people would have problems with them.

The first one, I can see why people ship it because you know the whole "enemies to lovers" and the whole fight thing and "I enjoyed fighting you". But those would be problems for people who don't ship them. Some folks don't like enemies being shipped because they usually try to kill each other and that ship is no different. Their whole fight may have been enjoyable for them, but they both still had those intentions to kill each other.

There's also the whole case of Sukuna possessing Yuji and Megumi's bodies, both being minors, so yeah, uncomfortable. (It's why nowadays people who like the ship prefer to ship them when it's OG!Sukuna.)

Speaking of, that's the problem people would have with the latter ship. Not everyone is fond of teacher/student relationships especially when a minor is involved.

That reminds me of how once I said something along the lines of "if SatoSugu had a kid, Yuji is the result". Something like that, something like that. [I'll post the link to that here.]

I don't know whether to cry or laugh either, Anon, I'll be real. Like... there's just so much to unpack here...

[princeasimdiya12]

You know, I'm worried about the hypocrisy of people in relation to Arajin who hate him because he doesn't want to fight with anyone while there are other characters who are also annoying. zabu; he is a bully and only cares about his friends at first he was horrible to arajin and he only changed his behavior because of matakara. Marito; It's horrible the way he treats Matakara, mocking him, I'm happy he got a beating. arajin's mother also bothers me the way she talks to arajin's friends like ideal age for what? Unpopular opinion, if there was no Senya or Matakara in the anime, Arajin would suffer heavy bullying and would also be beaten a lot.

I think the reason fans hate on Arajin while liking/tolerating everyone else is for various reasons that don't come off as hypocritical.

For starters, Arajin is the MC in a shonen fight series. You'd expect for the MC to have some interest in the main theme of the series or at least make an effort to try and be involved in it. Like Izuku Midoriya training to be a hero, Denji working as a Devil Hunter while being part Devil, Laios Touden being an adventurer who enjoys eating monsters etc. But for Arajin to be a wimp who hates fighting and tries to chicken out every time? While it is subversive in terms of writing, it does leave a bad taste for fans who have their expectations when it comes to anime protagonists. It's not as enjoyable following a protagonist who isn't invested in the show's themes like the audience. It also doesn't help that his views about women are pretty gross, even for a teenage boy.

Secondly, given that Bucchigiri is a shonen fight anime, it's expected that most of the characters would have some background as a fighter, delinquent or street thug. You don't come into a fighting anime only for the main characters to do something else like being professional swimmers who value teamwork or mellow skaters who get along with everyone.

We expect Zabu to be a bully because that's how most delinquents in fiction are. They're supposed to be jerks who harass kids they see as weaker then them but it's only later on do we start to appreciate them when we see their positive traits that develop their character beyond their given stereotype. Much like with Zabu when we see how much he cares for Matakara and felt genuine remorse for his part in the Gang War Arc.

Marito being a vicious and bloodthirsty jerk works since he's supposed to be a gang leader who lives for a good fight. It fits the show's theme and how he revels in battle, something that contrasts the non-violent Arajin. And his mistreatment of Matakara is usually done as retaliation whenever puppy boy does something that would warrant Marito to fight back (standing between him and Kenichirou in Episode 4, the wrestling episode, him picking a fight against Marito and later beating up Jabishiri in Episode 10). If he picked on Matakara on a whim, then that would be uncalled for. But Marito usually uses a valid reason for why he fights.

As for Arajin's mom, I'm sorry if she bothers you for how she talks to the other banchos but I personally haven't seen her crossing any lines or moral boundaries. She greets them with warm enthusiasm but hadn't done anything that would come off as creepy or questionable. Though if there are specific/consistent examples that I missed, I'd appreciate it if you could tell me anon.

And that's possibly true about how Arajin would be in literal hell if he didn't have his old friend and Senya to help him.

[justatalkingface]

I saw a few anons mention Hori's other works in the past and I noticed something when I read them myself. Every main character of his works are nice, kind characters that have tragic backstories that make people want to root for them:

Oumagadoki Doubutsuen introduces a female protagonist who was laughed at by literally everyone at school for being so clumsy, she couldn't do anything right without hurting herself. Her working part time at the zoo (owned by the rabbit guy) not only helps her, but it reveals she has a deep knowledge and understanding of animals. Sensei No Bulge introduces a boy, who cares for the many homeless children younger than him, get roped into acting as the prince's body double because the two look alike. This end up revealing that the boy has what it takes to lead through his kindness and taking the lessons taught to him.

However, these two (plus Izuku) NEVER have their backstories explored after the introduction of it. We never get a deeper look as to WHY the girl is so clumsy, or how her passion for animals came to be. Nor do we get to see any more of her school life after that. We never learn more about the boy that explores his kind and willingness to help others. And, once again, he doesn't go back to check up on those homeless children.

But we DO get focus of the rabbit guy, who is literally abusive to the zoo animals and a jerk to the girl. Don't worry, it's revealed that the rabbit guy was a child turned into an anthropomorphic rabbit by a rabbit guardian as punishment for abusing a rabbit in the woods. Which apparently made him stay stuck in his (horrible) child mentality. We DO get focus on the jerk mentor/bodyguard who is teaching the boy. But when it came to learning some backstory? It's the a$$ hole of a prince who we get the backstory of! After he's KILLED! And it turns out that HE'S THE FAKE AND THE BOY IS THE REAL PRINCE!

Every. Time. Hori puts his focus on characters who are jerks (though, the other two aren't as bad as BnHA's jerks.), while the main character is relugated to taking care of everyone problems and being their mandatory support rock. The main character is always neglected, and never explored. The pattern just grew worse due to BnHA not being cancelled like the previous two mangas, and was allowed to continue for this long without any kind of self-awareness or an editor intervening.

...You know, I get the feeling, sometimes, that to Hori, the story is just a vessel to put his favorite characters in.

Like. 'Loser kid gets gud' is quintessential shonen, in the most basic of ways; and so that basic plot is there so MHA can be written and sold. Izuku, as he is now, exists to support MHA's existence more than anything.... but it feels sometimes like MHA itself is a stage that exists so he can play with his favorite toys characters on them.

There's Bakugou, obviously; always angry, always unrealistically loved, allowed to rampage with abandon throughout the DnD board that is MHA.

There's also Mirko, though; I don't remember where, but I seem to remember she's basiclly in the form of Hori's ideal woman or some bullshit? And, of course, the way he tortures her is infamous, and with that context... it's like he's playing out a fantasy.

Bakugou is the impulsive, angry, consequence-free prodigy he always wanted to be, maybe, and Mirko is, god help us, his fetish? Mineta is his perverted desires, and all the attractive women in skimpy outfits are just...fan service, for him as much as everyone else.

When you look it at that way, it feels like he made the setting, established the basics, then just... lost interest in the broader context of it, and just decided to double down on whatever specific elements he liked, and that's why certain things are so deeply invested in, like Mirko's torture porn and Bakugou's deep feelings and why we should totally like him, and how we should all forgive Endeavour already, since all the cool kids are doing it.

At the same time, though, the demands of the setting itself, and the important characters supporting them are still there: All Might, All For One, One For All, and Izuku. They're still in the story, and still massively important to the broader plot of the manga, and they have to be told. Hori can't just switch it to the Bakugou channel when this is, explicitly, Izuku's story... but he can stop focusing on it as much. So, as time passed, Izuku was less and less in focus, but he still did the checklist of whatever major parts he was supposed to play in the first place to move the plot along.

The only time it feels like he gets any focus anymore is when Hori can draw him out all edgy and dramatic, those moments when he's least like Izuku and most EPIC AND COOL, with serious Spiderman vibes with Black Whip, because Hori apparently loves Spiderman, and to some extent Izuku is his Spiderman wish fulfillment, but... as soon as he's talking about his feelings, or not wearing his costume, or basiclly doing anything that isn't fighting? Izuku is just kind of... skipped over, like someone's fast forwarding past their least favorite parts of a show.

That same logic can apply to OFA, who we know shit all about, even though this is one of the most important characters in the lore and the story is almost over, about All Might, who was been turned into this bumbling fool who can't even tie his own shoes, and AFO, who is probably the only person passing Izuku on the, 'I exist only support the plot' scale. AFO has just turned into Hori's' excuse for everything that has gone wrong these days; he's a multi-purpose answer that allows him to push forward the story without having to have any logic behind it at all beyond, 'AFO did it, I don't have to explain shit'.

(Someone get that 'it's magic' meme and slap AFO's mask on it.)

And that kinda energy, even if that isn't exactly what is happening, is part of the reason MHA is so... boring these days. Everything that happens seems so contrived and predictable, and it just isn't... fun anymore, or interesting. There's no depth to it, no life, just hollow tropes being executed by characters who no longer resemble who they used to be.

It used to be that I waited eagerly for each chapter to come out, that I was on the edge of my seat as Izuku struggled to establish himself and beat the odds, but now I can barely be assed to see if it updates. I can call most of the major story notes without even thinking about it at this point, and so far I've been pretty spot on in a broad sense, though a lot of them still need to play out, and when they do happen, I just want to groan more than anything.

[yuribracket]

Maligned Yuri Bracket: Preliminary Round!

How is Olivier Mira Armstrong/Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist) maligned?

"fuck roy. what if riza and olivier kissed."

How is Misa Amane/Rem (Death Note) maligned?

"i think just the fact of being women in death note is enough to qualify. like misa dedicates her life to light in the worst written way possible and then doesn't even get mentioned in the fucking ending or epilogue of the manga...meanwhile rem comes to love (yes that is the term used) misa enough to DIE for her but not only is the build up to this incredibly bare bones, she literally goes out of her way to explain "don't worry it's NOT in a gay way" and that is. So funny. thankfully SOMEONE understood the tragic yuri potential when writing the death note musical where rem is explicitly in romantic love with her, so everybody say thank you to them"

How is Nami/Vivi Nefertari (One Piece) maligned?

"Nami is just about as close to canonically in love with Vivi as you can get without outright saying it and yet mainstream shonen fans have no reading comprehension so they ship Nami (who the author has said hates men but has a soft spot for children and pretty women) with Luffy, the protagonist who is basically as close as you can get to being canonically aroace without outright saying it."