#but I HATE that she’s portrayed as being in the right for her treatment of Debbie

[tequilaasquared]

God the fact that we were meant to fully take Fiona’s side during her whole ‘independent Fiona’ phase in s7 pisses me off. Asking the family that she CHOSE to become legal guardian of to put her at the bottom of their emergency contact lists, (underneath a couple with small children and a business who was unrelated to them, and their bipolar brother who had a super high pressure and high responsibility job) was completely unfair and irresponsible frankly. And doing it after she’d been called to Ian’s work as his emergency contact because he was clearly dealing with hypomania and his colleagues were concerned just felt like an extra twist of the knife. But I understood her reasoning to an extent.

But threatening to make her underage sister and her baby niece homeless because she was still pissed a traumatised 14 year old decided having a baby was the only way to become a part of a stable family environment? That was just plain cruel. Fiona didn’t have to be happy or agree with Debbie, and was well within her right to let Debbie know her disappointment and frustration, but she was still her legal guardian and she knew better! She was an adult and Debbie was a child being threatened with homelessness by the woman that raised her. Demanding Debbie get a job and getting her the application and Debbie following through and going to the interview, only for Fiona to actively sabotage it bringing Franny mid way through her interview was cruel and so unFiona like. Fiona was a grown ass 27 year old and should’ve sat Debbie down to communicate with her. I get that Debbie could be petulant and argumentative but she was a literal child! Fiona should’ve put her foot down and demand Debbie discuss with her how best to organise balancing work with childcare instead of offering zero support. She also lived with 3 brothers old enough to babysit Franny from time to time whilst Debbie worked. One of the overarching themes of Shameless was how the Gallaghers literally raised each other because their parents were awful human beings and you’re telling me Franny’s uncles couldn’t look after her for a few hours a week? It frustrates the shit out of me that the narrative successively villainised a young, impressionable girl because she made stupid decisions, influenced by grooming and the toxicity of her home life and her friends. And her following through with the decision to have a baby was further cemented by her sister’s cruel ultimatum and her only actual support at the time coming from her narcissistic, opportunistic father who used her vulnerability for his own gain.

Fiona was let down and emotionally neglected by Monica and she participated in that cycle of abuse with her pettiness towards Debbie. And I say that as someone whose favourite character for most of Shameless’ run was Fiona.

[flower-boi16]

I'm writing a post about Oops and why the episode is a complete disaster on every single level and while I was doing that I realized something;

Anyone who gets upset at Stolas's actions in the show is demonized by the narrative

Stella being upset that Stolas cheated on her? Nah, she was just mad that he slept with an imp. Also, she was an abusive bitch to begin with.

Octavia being upset over Stolas spending more time arguing with Stella and for paying more attention to an imp than her? She should cut him slack, after all, he's trying his best! (even though he isn't but ok).

Blitz hating Stolas for SAing him and how their relationship is only about Stolas wanting to sleep with him? He just hates Stolas for being a prince, oh and Stolas DID do some nice things for Blitz... off-screen...that doesn't automatically make his treatment of Blitz ok but pfft let's just ignore that right?

Every time someone in the show gets upset at Stolas's actions, they are portrayed as in the wrong for feeling that way or in Stella's case just turned into a one-dimensional Saturday morning cartoon villain. Cuz god forbid we hold this stupid owl accountable for ANYTHING right? We need to make him an UwU soft boy who did nothing wrong and everyone who gets upset at him is bad!

.....No. I'm sorry but, no. That's NOT how you make a sympathetic character, you don't demonize every other character to make the other one look more sympathetic and don't coddle that character and absolve them of all of their flaws. Stolas is not sympathetic, no matter how much Viv tries to demonize other characters around Stolas while coddling him, I won't EVER sympathize with this stupid owl. There's nothing about him you can sympathize with, he's just a horny, selfish asshole, and anyone who calls him out for it in some way is demonized by the narrative.

Fucking incredible, what a great and well-written character.

[arson-09]

one of the many issues i find with sjms writing (and subsequently her fans) is that a character has to be perfect to be loved (this is acotar specific) hear me out ((apologies in advance for the somewhat rambling and nonsensical bits. its late lmao)

Just about everything Feyre and Rhysand do is justified. Rhysands entire list of evil actions from acotar is retconned. Him murdering those winter court children was suddenly by an unnamed daemati whos never brought up again, his sexual assault of feyre was “for her protection”, and in general the way he treated her UtM is okayed (sa is never justifiable, even in fictional media) and him keeping very important information about Feyres body from her is fine because he was doing it to spare her feelings (also never ok to keep information of ones body from the individual)

Feyre is allowed to destroy the spring court. No matter how you feel about Tamlins character the actions she took were extreme, petty, and useless. She collectively punished the citizens of the spring court because of her relationship with Tamlin and she believed him to be allying with Hybern. Which was hinted to her to be false and she could have read his mind at any point. Feyre also is a unreliable narrator but her word is taken as truth. When she has magical outbursts its nothing, she can treat her supposed friends like shit but shes still the better friend.

Together they constantly spout how perfect the other is. Especially Feyre about Rhysand, maybe its the mating bond but the bond is how sjm communicates her feelings about the characters (which i feel is evident in the Nessian bond) Feyre says rhysand is Good and Justified in everything he does, so you the reader must believe it too, right?

The rest of the Inner Circle also falls into this. Mor is allowed to unfairly treat Nesta like shit, Cassian is unquestioned when it comes to his mistreatment of his mate, azriel is a background tapestry, and amren is a whole different issue tbh.

Nesta is the outlier. She is not perfect and we know it because of how mistreated she is by the people that surround her. Cassian is a horrible partner, letting rhysand do and say what he wants to her, restricting her food and being very neglectful of Nestas mental health. Nesta is a flawed character but shes not an antagonist. Her flaws does not call for this sort of treatment. It is disgusting how sjm portrays Nestas character and her “healing arc”. Sjm says she loves nesta, but her treatment says otherwise.

Tamlin receives the brunt of this treatment. He is a flawed character but is not evil. Hes not even a real antagonist, just because he is not friends or on good terms with Feyre and Rhysand does not make him such. His allying with Hybern is used as reasoning for his mistreatment when its clear as day hes a double agent. Tamlin, while he struggles with emotional regulation, anger issues and communication is a very good high lord and his personal relationship with a character does not change that. His actions towards feyre are often called abusive but sjms writing fails to bring this observation to fruition. She fails to actually make him abusive and antagonistic because she accidentally writes her own outs by justifying similar behaviors from other characters.

If you have spent anytime on the majority side of the fandom you have seen the Feyre and Rhysand vs Nesta and Tamlin mentality. Nesta and Tamlin are hated while Feysand are treasured and its because sjm makes a perfect character for you to love so why would you root for the flawed characters hated by the narrative? Nesta and Tamlin are far more nuanced and interesting due to their imperfections, dislike by the narrative, and hatred from the majority fandom. (To note, Nesta and Tamlins characters are different ((although they have some striking similarities)) but their treatment is very equal. Which is why i, and many other people in the fandom compare and combine them so much)

Feyre and Rhysand through the narrative and fans are perfect and can do no wrong. Tamlin and Nesta are frankly evil and undeserving of love. Its intriguing to see this behavior and its almost unique to the acotar and booktok fandom. Which is why i find myself so focused on Tamlin and subsequently the fandom. its so odd and something i havent seen before that it gets stuck in my little adhd brain.

[marukrawler]

Bakugan it's one of the few franchises we're they didn't hesitate to show hate towards it's first main female lead (Runo)

The show never gives her the recognition she deserves minimizing her achivements and the same anime jokes about her body using Julie as a better example

And it's worse on season 2 were the joke still prevails and I think the anime treats her like if she isn't pretty like the other girls I think the anime never gives an indirect comment about her beauty like the other girls received.

Add to this, season 2 treated the og girls like jokes who can't defend themselves or even flandarized their true personalities (Runo and Alice) so they won't interfiere with the "real team"

And the cheery at the top, fandom treats her like a homewrecker in regards of dan/Shun or like the worst person on earth for being a teenage girl who tried to defend herself with what she knew and called out the bs of dan

The character deserved more respecto from the source...

Localization truly affected the perception the audience has on her...

Quite normal for any female lead...

Oh, Runo, Runo. My precious little summer child.

Runo is certainly one of the most underappreciated, misunderstood, and demonized characters in the show. Even I, a passionate Runo defender, had a preconceived notion that Runo was loud and abrasive before I had even watched the show properly (all thanks to my vague childhood memories.)

In universe, her brawling skills are looked down upon, her appearance is ridiculed, and she’s often made to feel as if she does more harm than good. In fandom spaces, she’s mischaracterized as being an unreasonable, stubborn, and argumentative loudmouth who’s always mean to Dan. Despite being one of the nicest and most considerate characters in the show, everyone, including the writers, seems to have it out for Runo in some way.

When it comes to Runo’s appearance, it’s hard not to feel as if the writers find some sort of twisted pleasure in constantly pointing out how Runo’s appeal as a girl falls short in comparison to her peers. The Misaki Café was all but deserted until Alice showed up and the customers (grown men, mind you) don’t hide how disappointed they are whenever Runo is left as the only waitress. This, of course, makes Runo feel inadequate since she’s the daughter of the owner and yet, she hasn’t contributed to the popularity of their restaurant.

Julie’s comments about Runo’s body can also be viewed as the writers further cementing that Runo is unappealing because of her physique and lack of traditional femininity. This is something that is proven repeatedly with every new waitress that’s more popular than Runo. Alice, Julie and Mira are all more physically developed and are shown to be desired by many boys, unlike Runo who constantly gets the short end of the stick and is made fun of.  

Hell, Runo can barely get a decent compliment from Dan on their first date! He’s made inappropriate comments about her weight on at least two occasions, and was checking out cute girls right in front of Runo, two episodes after she risked her life to see him. The show will never give her a fucking break.      

Also, the “Runo is a tomboy” thing just doesn’t make any sense. She wears skirt and dresses, her room is full of pink furniture, she owns a dollhouse, and she seems very interested in jewelry. And yet, the show (and the English dub more so) attempts to portray Runo as if she’s ‘not like the other girls’ when that’s the furthest from the truth.  

Now, on to the treatment of Runo, Alice, and Julie. It’s no secret that season 2 was horrendous when it came to those three, for the specific reason of convincing the audience that keeping the girls away from the plot was for the best. They were either not strong enough, not confident enough and/or they constantly screwed up somehow. Let’s see:

Alice was:

Tricked by Lync and inadvertently helped him get back to New Vestroia, thus enabling him to spy for and help out Spectra with his plans.

Scared of brawling even though her whole character arc in the previous season was about accepting that part of herself.

Made to feel weak for losing to Shadow and for allowing him to destroy her grandfather’s lab.

Julie was:

Written as overly flirty towards a boy that wasn’t her boyfriend, all to fuel a pointless one-episode love triangle. (Though, the repercussions of this episode’s writing on her character were immense.)

Made to feel guilty about how Billy inadvertently exposed the Brawlers’ location to the Vexos by visiting her.

Runo was:

Written as a lovesick fool who almost got herself trapped between dimensions trying to see Dan again. This had a ripple effect on the Resistance’s otherwise promising momentum, allowing the Vexos to go to Earth, the Resistance to get split up and captured and as mentioned previously, almost got Runo killed.

Willing to endanger herself again by leaving Marucho’s house so she could oblige Dan’s request of eating homemade curry, causing Mira to go after her and subsequently lose her Subterra energy to Mylene.

Runo lost all sense of reason whenever Dan was involved, Alice’s character development had seemingly regressed, and Julie immediately dropped the boyfriend that she had real feelings for. It’s frustrating to see this when they all had such great personal growth and meaningful storylines in the first season. Remember when Runo learned that she shouldn’t let the fear of losing her loved ones take control of her life? When Julie learned that she shouldn’t compare herself to others and that she doesn’t have to be great in order to matter? When Alice realized that she liked to battle and that it wasn’t something to feel ashamed of?

I understand that the narrative focus couldn't always be on Runo, Julie, and Alice. There are new characters introduced every season who deserve a chance to shine as individuals. But that doesn’t mean that our existing characters should get worse. Runo was more worried about not being near Dan 24/7 than she was about Tigress being captured! Masquerade was somehow still present inside Alice’s mind and telling her to fight despite previously disappearing to let Alice stand on her own two feet as a Darkus Battler! Julie is still used as a tool for instigating useless love triangle plots that accomplish nothing except for making it seem as if she jumps from guy to guy! This isn’t just limited to those three (Chan Lee, Elfin, Mira) and it’s just. infuriating as hell to see.

As for the fandom, Runo's character seems to garner mixed responses. Some hate her and some don't. She seems to be well liked on Tumblr but not as much on Reddit (go figure.) When it comes to Shundan fics, I skimmed through the majority listed on AO3 to see how they portrayed Runo. Here's what I found:

(I recommend clicking on the images for an easier reading experience)

Out of the 28 English-written Shundan fics listed on AO3, there were 5 fics that depicted Runo in a negative way, 10 fics where Runo was mentioned but her characterization didn't stand out in any particular way and the rest didn't mention Runo at all. There are Shundan fic writers who unfortunately portray Runo in a bad light to prop up Shun as "the better option" but it looks like they're in the minority.

I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if much of the hatred towards Runo stemmed from Dan fans being upset over how she constantly calls their golden boy out lol. Either that or because of the English dub, as you mentioned. I have previously talked about this and shown some examples here where Runo has completely different reactions to certain situations depending on the dub. It’s no wonder why we’re given the impression that Runo is unreasonable or mean or argumentative when this is how the English dub presents her to its western audience.

[foggysroom]

I created this blog with the intention of posting comics and live Foggy.

However, with the release of the series approaching, I will leave Elden's Foggy aside until I'm sure he won't have as dark a future as I fear he will.

I was thinking yesterday (while deleting my content on Twitter) how something that used to bring joy, unity and a spirit of belonging has today become a silly, unfair, and pointless war. People offending and harassing each other to show who is more important in Matt's life. Matt, a character from a comic book!

I've been blocked by people I admired and thought liked me for expressing my displeasure and honestly, I'm not going to change my mind.

Over the years, since 2018, between sadness and joy to bring this series back, I realized that Elden was the only one who didn't have enough support. Between some kind words of appreciation from Charlie, he was always alone.

Foggy/Elden gets hate posts all the time, his fans get anonymous asks all the time with words that are, well, not kind at all.

There is no one to defend him. No one cares.

And I'm not referring to his little fandom when I say that no one cares.

And there I was, losing my temper while expressing my displeasure, and then I was the only one hated. I understand what Deborah meant, I understand that she has a heart in Born Again, and I understand that she is satisfied with her scenes. I understand.

I understand completely. I just wish Foggy got the same treatment as her. They were Matt's family, after all.

And Daredevil fans seem so comfortable with Elden being left out of the events, the images, the comments... it's so weird and painful to see. It's like Foggy hasn't been Matt's best friend for years.

It's like Foggy didn't save Matt by bringing him his costume in The Defenders, it's like he didn't save Matt on the roof right after Matt got shot by the Punisher, It's like Foggy didn't call Claire when he discovered Matt bleeding on the floor of his apartment and stayed with him.

Foggy was upset, but he had a reason to be. Matt disappointed him a few times too, after all, no friendship is perfect. But he ended up accepting his friend's secret life. It was heartbreaking when Karen told him not to forgive Matt and Foggy refused to take her advice. And if we had a fourth season we would see scenes like Mark Waid's portrayed beautifully.

And here I am, talking about comic book characters as if they were flesh and blood.

Matt loves Foggy like a brother and Charlie and Elden seem like true friends in their scenes. They had a really beautiful chemistry together.

I fear Born Again will kill that.

I totally respect anyone who hates Foggy and Elden, I truly understand that. I've been respecting people hatting on them for years. I understand Karen and Punisher fans who don't care. There is a minority who don't want Foggy to die, however. I respect Deborah for reposting that unfortunate Marvel post and I hope she didn't make fun of Foggy's death. I can understand and respect everyone. But that doesn't stop me from being disappointed and leaving when I see that it doesn't make sense for me to stay.

I just wish Daredevil and fans would reflect a little, that there will always be a good Daredevil story without Foggy. But the best stories are the ones with Foggy in them.

[unohanadaydreams]

What’s your opinion on Mayuri and his relationships? Do you think he’s a little tsundere in a way? Or do you think Nemu is his only friend? I think he has soft spots but I think he feels emotions like embarrassment and hurt. I mean I’m sure he feels irritation towards Kenpachi, but if he really hated him wouldn’t he just walk away? I feel like he’s a little lonely, even if he likes being alone. Maybe it’s just normal for him

Oh, he definitely feels emotions. In my opinion, he does suppress quite a few of his emotions. Like those he feels are beneath him or that he expected would never take root (like love for Nemu or adoration for Urahara).

He treats the people in his life that we, the audience, understand him to hold as special as though they are, at best, annoyances and, at worst, mindless fuck ups.

And with Mayuri, it really seems as though he loves the idea of these people more than the actual people themselves. Nemu is so steeped in his life's dream that you can see why he so easily put her close to his heart. But he doesn't respect her as a person and even the idea of his treatment being 'tough love' falls flat when you consider that as soon as he makes peace with the fact that he "fucked up" by loving Nemu, he treats the following Nemuri with a more distant, passive hand.

With Urahara too, it seems like he loves the idea of a mentor more than the actual mentor himself. He admires what the man left him more than the actual man himself & he reduces those feelings down to rivalry and annoyance.

Like, do I think Mayuri in his own way DOES have feelings of affection for Nemuri and Urahara and others? Sure, but he doesn't allow himself portray that in ways that most do. A lot of his 'soft' moments are kind of passive aggressive, rude, or scolding, even.

In fact, he most often portrays genuine fondness for those he wants to study or kill (sometimes it's tongue-in-cheek like 'wooow sooo impressive' but yknow), which is just amazing. He shows more outward affection and unmasked interest for Orihime than his daughter.

Obviously he doesn't do a stellar job, TO US, at hiding that he has love for others in his life, but he is dictated by what he wants to be rather than who he is. And at some point he just becomes what he aims to be, yknow? He refuses to be just some guy.

He wants to be Mayuri Kurotsuchi the best scientist, the best leader of R&D, the best captain of the 12th to ever exist in the Gotei 13. And he perceives that someone like that can't fall into the emotions that he suppresses.

Maybe this comes partly from him wanting to surpass those who came before him so badly that he over corrects to avoid inheriting what he perceives as their downfalls?

For instance, Senjumaru dropped everything & her unofficial R&D in general to be in the Royal Guard while Mayuri clings to Nemu and what she stands for in a vice fucking grip.

And Urahara was banished from the Soul Society for putting his fellow shinigami before his position and general place in the world; he chose to save the Vizards at the cost of everything he knew. While Mayuri would fucking never. He only saves his fellow Shinigami when he feels in control of the situation & to emphasize his position as That 12th Division Bitch.

At his core, I think he is lonely and that is partly why he doesn't just deuces out of some of the conversations he has in canon. But its by his own design. He did it to himself. Because that's the path he chose. In TYBW he very clearly chooses the path that will isolate himself even further from others on a vunerable, personal level.

And also, he just likes to bitch and complain. This is the man that called Yamamoto a fail captain to his fucking face; he loves to bitch at people. Absolute equal opportunity for handing out over-explanations on why he's right complete with condescending rhetorical questions.

He definitely feels waaaay more comfortable snarking at someone than he does admitting that he wanted to have a conversation with a body that wasn't lifeless on a table.

[nrilliree]

Rhaenicent shippers are basically Alicent/TG stans who just want Alicent to be a lesbian, and portray her as a betrayed best friend. Poor Alicent, Rhaenyra lied to alicent and left her to be doomed in an arranged marriage, that Rhaenyra can’t control!

They hate Rhaenyra, they simply use Rhaenicent to disguise thier Misogyny, and they use Rhaenyra as a plot device to Alicent.

One thing that irks me greatly is their constant masculinisation of Rhaenyra.

Rhaenyra is more “Masculine” because she rides a dragon!

Rhaenyra is more “masculine” because she wears less feminine clothing! (I hate this, the show hated Rhaenyra and favoured a non canon alicent more, so they gave Rhaenyra’s fashion sense to Alicent, when it was Rhaenyra who was the only character to have a description of her amazing gowns.)

Rhaenyra is more “masculine” because she wore an armour!

Rhaenyra is more “masculine” because she acts less like a lady! (Again, show problem, They simply depicted younger Rhaenyra as a tomboy. I don’t have anything against tomboys, I loved Rhaenyra as she is, they could have done that to Baela.

Because, apparently, if you have to be a “strong” woman, you have to be a tomboy, you can’t be all snarky, sassy and have a silver tongue like Rhaenyra without being a tomboy in the show, even though she was mostly feminine in wardrobe in the books🙄)

Rhaenyra is to be a ruler, she is “Masculine”! (Oh god…)

Rhaenyra refuses to bow down to men, unlike alicent, she is “Masculine”! (This is the most worse of them all, considering that alicent stans were previously w/ Sansa, no offence to Sansa, and the way stansas treated Daenerys, gave her the “masculine” treatment, they give Rhaenyra the masculinisation too.)

Rhaenyra now wields a sword, she’s “masculine”, again!

They can only love Rhaenyra if she makes Alicent look good, with her masculine energy combined with Alicent’s feminine energy.

Rhaenyra, in Most Rhaenicent fanfics and fanart, Rhaenyra is always depicted as a knight that only has to protect Alicent, hugging and cuddling thier baby alicent, Rhaenyra is always taller and bigger for some reason, while thier Alicent is poor little abused 14 yr old girl.

Rhaenyra always sacrifices everything for Alicent. Alicent deserves all the love and care and protection Rhaenyra gives here, the same thing TG stans think Rhaenyra doesn’t deserve so.

Sometimes, Rhaenyra is the wh0r3 to Alicnet’s madonna.

That’s what Rhaenyra will be. Green stans believe that a woman being passive and submissive is the true definition of feminine.

Rhaenyra is a FEMININE WOMAN THAT REFUSES TO BOW DOWN TO PATRIARCHY.

and if any asoiaf woman steps out of this mold, tries to fight the system and for basic rights, doesn’t suffer, refuse to be tormented, then they are “masculine”, and they will turn out to be dark, mad queens.

It's quite funny for me, because just a few posts ago I saw a post on tumblr claiming that Rhaenicents hate Alicent and favor Rhaenyra :P I don't understand and I don't like this ship, so I don't follow anything related to it - only what happens on its own appears in the hotd tag. I feel like this ship hates both Alicent and Rhaenyra at the same time, lol. But yes, I don't like this strange trend of showing Rhaenyra as masculine. Rhaenyra in the book was the most feminine woman anyone could point to, and she never had anything to do with being a tomboy. Why change the character so much?

[bluebirbo]

time for me to scurry out of my nest and talk about Hazbin Hotel! just kidding, I’m here to discuss a possible way to actually incorporate chickens into Mimzy’s character after Viz dropped that bomb of a fact on us

obligatory warning that I haven’t seen Hazbin after episode one and I’m not well versed on the 1920s so take what I say with a grain of salt!

first let’s start with how we have to reconstruct Mimzy as a character to actually mess with her design

Mimzy is supposed to be a sinner from the 1920s, particularly a flapper. I honestly don’t hate this idea but the execution of the flapper area isn’t as clean as I think it could be

flappers are often associated with being the politically rebellious, sexually liberated, free girls of their century. while that’s a pretty generalized and stereotypical way of portraying them it’s still a start. Mimzy does have some of these traits, from what we can tell she’s a heavy party person and drinker. However, I’d like to see her dip into what she did in her past more. Case in point, maybe have her and Husk get along as Mimzy acts as someone who points out the inhumanity of Alastor’s acts to Husk. OR keep that tension between them, have Husk point out how Mimzy is supposedly a fighter of freedom (referencing flapper’s fights for women’s rights during the 1920s) but she side eyes Alastor’s treatment of Husk. Mimzy can get all serious and say “hey I fought my battle”, it makes it her a bit of a jerk but if everyone in the main cast wasn’t so weirdly nice for hell it wouldn’t!

alright I hear you, let’s ACTUALLY a talk about the chicken thing!

I think instead of Mimzy being based off chickens she should just be a woman who likes chickens. it’s stupid but hear me out

Mimzy could have had a pet chicken in her human life, think 1920s boudoir dolls. like an obsessive pet owner Mimzy surrounds her whole aesthetic to this chicken. her flapper outfit has it’s feathers and she makes sure it has a little bow on. personally I’d vote for it to be a silkie chicken, they’re often pets and they feel like something you would see a girl carry around in her purse like a crusty little white dog

I’d like to see Mimzy as this once great flapper. she was a spunky, women’s rights activist, party girl with a statement pet chicken who now enjoys more laidback club activities in hell. she knows Alastor may not be the best guy but he showed her support at some point and who’s she to shame a friend? I get that’s what her character is supposed to be but she sounds way to active and insincere in her lines to seem remotely genuine about much of anything.

sorry, this kinda just turned into a Mimzy rant instead of a Mimzy chicken rant! I hope my point still came across, give my girl a chicken! as always I’ll say that your entitled to your own opinion, if you like Mimzy or would do a rewrite of her differently that’s great!

[pythagoras180]

Why I Hate Adrien

So a few people have asked me why I hate Adrien so much. I've given it some thought, and I've realized that my hatred comes from 3 sources:

1. Adrien is a passive, useless character and a waste of screentime.

Adrien is a very passive character. He doesn't really have goals that he works towards outside of romance. He doesn't feel like a real person with a real life. He's just an object for the actual main characters to fight over. And to be clear, not every character needs to be active or well developed, but thei screentime should correspond to this. Adrien takes up a massive amount of screentime in the show. And since he ended up being worthless, I feel like he personally wasted my time by appearing so much. His screentime could have instead been used to develop the other characters.

2. Adrien is a creator's pet.

While Adrien doesn't really do anything in the show, I think I still may have felt bad for the character if I felt like this was because the writers didn't like him or something. Thing is, Adrien is the complete opposite, as the writers are clearly biases *for* him at every turn. He's almost always portrayed as right, even in situations where he clearly isn't. "Chameleon" clearly portrayed his "advice" about Lila as good, even though anyone with basic respect for their peers wouldn't be okay with letting them be lied to. There's episodes like "Kuro Neko", where Adrien is very clearly in the wrong amd being unreasonable, yet he's still clearly framed like we're supposed to feel bad for him. Part of the reason he has so much screentime is because the writers love to insert him in every situation they can. Even his status as a passive character can be considered as the writers favoring him. They think he shouldn't have to do anything because he's such a precious boy, so everyone should just do everything for him. I'm not inclined to like a character that I feel is getting special treatment just because of who they are.

3. Adrien does horrible things.

Those last 2 points definitely provide potential for me to dislike a character, but I don't think it's possible for me to actually do so if that character hasn't done anything wrong. Well, despite what the writers want you to believe, Adrien has absolutely done a lot of horrendous things. There's the fact that he continued being friends with Chloé despite her remorseless bullying of Adrien's "friends". He keeps trying to date Ladybug despite her repeatedly rejecting him, to the point where it's straight up harassment. This culminates in "Kuro Neko", where he quits his job of protecting the city because he keeps getting rejected (again, this is portrayed as sympathetic). Like I mentioned before, he tells Marinette to let Lila continue lying to everyone else. And why does he do this? I honestly don't know, and neither does anybody else. There's no rationalization for this moment. But the point is, Adrien put Lila above everyone else for some reason. He also emotionally cheated on Kagami, hurt her feelings, and barely cared afterward. He didn't have to do anything to make up with her, that just worked out on its own. He tried to Cataclysm multiple people despite knowing that it can be fatal, and the only time he displays real remorse over it is when Monarch is on the receiving end. Oh, but he only feels bad for like a minute, then he's fine (I believe that that was just to make Ladybug's exposition about not being able to fix it fee more natural, he wouldn't have shown any remorse if that wasn't necessary). Oh, and then there's that one moment in "Passion" where he pretends not to know what the consequences of making a wish is and tried to convince Ladybug to let him make one. If she said yes, he would have sacrificed somebody else to heal Nathalie. The show has made it clear that this is morally wrong. To me, this is the moment where Adrien became irredeemable. Also, in the Paris Special we find out that Adrien became a mass murdering supervillain in an alternate universe because he's sad that his mom died. He didn't have any grander plan, not scheme to bring her back like Gabriel did. Nope, he just killed people because he was sad, that's how they presented it. I know that this is technically a different person, but the alternate characters from tbe special are meant to be pretty close to the originals, just with different circumstances. So I think this shows who Adrien really is deep down. So yeah, I think Adrien is one of the most despicable "good guy" characters ever.

So that's the reason I hate Adrien, in 3 parts. I wouldn't hate him nearly as much if it wasn't for all 3 components. Kind of a perfect storm really, and I don't think I'll ever hate another character this much, for this reason.

[isleofdarkness]

Don't you think it's a little hypocritical that you and the other pro-Audrey contingent state that we have to look at the writing behind Audrey and that as a character she has no agency, but then turn around and go after everything Mal does with a fine tooth comb without giving her the same leniency of being a character with no agency of her own?

Well, I would, if that were what I was doing. Yeah, I defend Audrey a lot and point out the messed up shit Mal did a lot, because I do not see people doing anywhere near enough of either one. I see Mal, like Edward Cullen, on a pedastal while Audrey, like Jacob Black, is dragged through the dirt and so I comment on why Mal should not be on that high pedastal and Audrey should not be dragged through the dirt. You'll find that I actually have a lot of sympathy for Mal and I also hate how she was treated by the writers, her mistreatment is just a mere product of shitty writing while Audrey's is the product of real-life bigotry and has actively caused harm to people in this fandom. Of course I talk more about Audrey being treated unfairly than I do about Mal's terrible writing, because Audrey being treated unfairly is what lead to someone writing a fucking rape fanfiction about a prominent Black woman in this fandom. Because Audrey's treatment drives people out of fandom, which is supposed to be about bringing people of all walks of life together, makes people feel unsafe in what should be a fun activity, and perpetuates real-life harm being done right now to real human beings who do not deserve to be treated the way they are for something as inconsequential as the colour of their skin. Audrey's treatment is a real problem that's hurting real people. Mal's treatment is just annoying to me as a writer of complex characters who bothers to try and sensitively portray shit like abusive parents.

Those two situations are in no way comparable, by the way. In no way. In absolutely zero way. At all. Real world harm to real life people is never comparable to writers being dinguses in a way that objectively hurts absolutely zero oppressed peoples

[maxarat]

Rick Riordan is a cishet white goyische man. We knew this. But you can see this in his writing, no matter when. Yeah, he's grown, but he didn't grow astronomically.

In this post I'll be talking about how history, women, queer people, and POC are handled in Rick Riordan's YA novels. I'm Jew-ish, very queer, and was socialized as a girl, but I'm white so POC tell me if I overstep or get anything wrong and feel free to add!

Also this is long af, way longer than I intended, so under the cut it goes!

The Pact and Wars

I think I've talked about this before (cannot find the post) but the way history is handled is so racist and antisemitic. Wars are not because of their real reasons, but instead conflict. WWII is made to be because Hades, Zeus, Poisiedon, and their kids had another spat, instead of the fascism and racism that really caused it. The Civil War, instead of being about racism, was made to be about a fight between the romans and greeks. The wars we see in series have no connection to real world events, why couldn't the old ones be the same? It also deminshes the accomplishments of real people. For example, Harriet Tubman is said to be a daughter of Hermes. To me, this says a black disabled woman can't do great things without great blood in a world where that exists

Annabeth

Annabeth is a girl boss, and this would be great, if her writer wasn't a cishet man. Being strong is equated to being mean, physically and verbally. When she thinks Rachel likes Percy, a guy she isn't even dating, she gets pissy at them for even hanging out! She constantly demeans Percy and hits people who anger her, including Percy, and this is treated as cute and quirky. And then her trauma is dismissed and diminished by a boy who went through similar treatment. Sorry Percy also was hurt by who his author is, but it makes things worse with Annabeth's portrayal. Also she once says people don't take her seriously because she's blonde. During HoO. With Piper and Hazel right there

The Hunters

The Hunters of Artemis, in mythology, are a group of women and sometimes men who joined Artemis to escape the deeply misogynistic culture at the time, and there are sapphic undertones to much of their myths! In the books, they're portrayed as man hating, romance hating, and functionally aroace. Hippolytus is completely ignored. Zoë is constantly talking down to Percy without giving him a chance and makes probably the dumbest decision by choosing Bianca for the quest in Titan's Course. Jo and Emmie were kicked out for finding love. I'm aroace. I love aroace rep. I'm overly weary of (cis white) men. But the way the Hunters are written is so similar to how angry anti-SJW youtube saw feminists

Nico

Nico is forcibly outed in one book and in the next gets a boyfriend with literally no personality or relationship with him up to that point. The drawbacks of shadow travel so clearly align with disability. He's also obviously depressed and deeply traumatized. Yet Will gives him no medical autonomy, something we disabled folk have to deal with all the time that's really very ableist. I love Nico, but the way he's portrayed just isn't great

Sadie and Carter

Sadie and Carter are biracial and look wildly different. This is good representation from what I've heard, but not how it's different or some incidental stuff. Carter, the boy, has dark skin and dark, coily hair, while Sadie, the girl, has pale skin, striaght blond hair, and pale eyes. This plays into colorism where darker people are seen as more masculine, as does Carver being the host to the god of war. Sadie is also a young girl who's put into a relationship with a god who kinda bullied her at the start. Carver is also in a relationship with a person who was hostile, but she gets better so I'll let is slide

Leo

Leo is latino, and stereotypical at that. Je is constantly flirting with everyone and looked down upon. As a Leo who is not an astronomical Leo, he deserves better especially when you consider c//leo

Piper

"I'm not like other girls" girl who's hailed as absolutely gorgeous. She was born on a rez that didn't exist at the time which just goes to show the lack of research. Her eyes are kaleidoscope, which is a trait none of her siblings, or her mom, have. She's cut off from her culture enough to not know the significance of feathers but has plenty of memories of her grandfather who lived on the rez. Also, she's a cleptomaniac. I love Piper, I like how she's representation for a person who was cut off from her culture and longs to know it despite living with her bio family because I and a few friends are the same, but Piper is still a stereotype. I also feel like the veganism plays into the whole spiritual nature stereotype, but I'm not sure so don't quote me

Frank

The only confirmed greco-roman demigod without dyslexia is also East Asian. I think the stereotyping is obvious it doesn't help that the only two Asian characters before him, Ethan and Drew, were antagonists. He was infantalized while fat and then had a magic glow up for... no reason, really, but that matters less here. Also he's dating a seventh grader as a tenth grader basically and I'm trying to not spoil stuff but the end of the Tyrant's Tomb is bullshit from a lore perspective imo

Hazel

She's a black girl whose parents both had very dark eyes and hair, yet her eyes are gold and her hair is paler than her skin, and both of those last two are described as looking like foods. Again, she is the age of a 7th grader. See Frank. And this may be the fandom's fault, but it seems she's always either infantalized or adultified from what I've seen

Will

All we know about Will Solace in BoO is that he's attracted to men and a medic son of Apollo. I bet you didn't remember he was at the Battle of Manhattan or that he's counselor because all his siblings died. And that's a lot of kids. Also he calls Nico nicknames he doesn't like. See Nico for further criticism of Will

Alex

Alex is called the adjective form of a slur multiple times. I could talk about how the grammar of that sucks, but *gesturs vaguely.* She gets transphobia from nearly everyone and disowned. I thought fantasy was supposed to be escapist, personally

Other stuff

Samirah is a hijabi, but we see under her scarf at least once and that feels really disrespectful, especially considering how observant she is of other stuff. Only women or close family (brothers, direct descendants, or direct ancestors) can see a hijabi's hair. Even if Magnus, Hearth, and Blitz are like family that usually isn't enough. She should have gotten a regular valkyrie's cloak imo. Some stuff feels off about Hearth but I'm not D/deaf so I'll hold my tongue on that as I'm not sure. Lavinia could use more yiddishisms in her speech and I'm curious to know what sect she was if her rabbi wasn't cool with her being a lesbian, but they do exist so *shrug.* There's probably something I missed with Reyna and Hylla, I feel like there is, but I can't remeber so it just gets an honorary mention

@afrolatinozuko

[shadowqueenjude]

My girl Elain is being attacked on all sides. Some gwynriel shippers downgrade her ass (rival to their ship), elriel shippers change her character to gwyn the second and the reddit people hate her ass because she's some spoiled flower girl who does nothing. Even some lucien solo stans (not the elucien stans bless them! ) thinks this girl not even deserving of lucien. Some other character stans think this girl is downgrading beauty to outshine another? Why though? Not a lot of people aren't keen to embrace all the good and bad facets of Elain, which is disheartening.

I fear that casual readers would dismiss my girl. sjm better do my girl elain justice and blow those haters to kingdom come. On the other hand, I'm not confident with sjm's writing and a bit critical about it.

This is a fear of mine as well. However, SJM is capable of writing a character like Elain well; she did write Yrene, after all, who is similar in many ways. If SJM doesn’t do her justice it’ll be really upsetting especially bc of the reduction of her character by this fandom simply because she is a gentle feminine woman. This character archetype unfortunately is always the subject of hate because of the prevalence of internalized misogyny. As much as I love my girls who exhibit traditionally masculine traits such as Nesta, my girls who exhibit traditionally feminine traits are just as worthy if not more so.

Elain’s treatment is similar to that of Sansa Stark. I have not personally watched Game of Thrones, but the similarities are immaculate from what I’ve heard from other people. I really hope feminine women start taking main character/important roles more often in fiction because only portraying masculine women as important is another form of misogyny. It suggests that a woman is only valuable if they play the role of a man.

If Elain is done right, this fandom is in for a SHOCK! I personally hope she gets healing powers and earthly powers. I want to see how charismatic she is, how she is able to command a room with simply her charm. I want to see her heal the Spring Court with her mystical witchy powers. I want to see her become High Lady. I want to see her wit and her wiles, how fashionable she is. Her curiosity and thirst for knowledge of Prythian. I want it alllll.

[mauveberries]

I saw your anti-Jegulus post, and wanted to offer my two cents. I actually don’t personally mind Jegulus as a ship itself (I wouldn’t call myself a fan or anything, but I’m not too bothered by it), but I actually do think a lot of the fanon portrayals of Jegulus have constant hints of misogyny. For example, I’ve seen a lot of Jegulus fics/headcanons about Lily having a baby and essentially abandoning her family in order to leave room for Jegulus raising Harry. It’s a very tired cliche of fans of MLM ships trying to get women out of the way any way they can, as long as they can get use out of them first (in this scenario, Lily giving birth to Harry).

Another common thing I see is the criticism/opinion that Jily is boring (which is absolutely fair, everyone is entitled to their opinion) but then project a lot of Jily’s tropes onto Jegulus (some that I’ve seen are matching patronuses, James being extremely infatuated and pining over Regulus, or making Regulus’ personality identical to canon Lily’s and then turning Lily into a bland, one dimensional character). I think where people are coming from is that because of this, it genuinely feels like these people would in fact like Jily, and the only issue they have with it is that Lily is a woman. I also find myself genuinely wondering if Regulus would be as popular as he is now if he were a female character.

I don’t think people who like Jegulus are individually being misogynistic, I think it’s more of the general concept of Jegulus becoming popular and the treatment of all characters involved has strong undertones of misogyny.

This isn’t meant to be hateful or combative btw, so I hope it didn’t come off that way. I just saw your post and wanted to offer my perspective on it.

oh no worries anon, your message is clear. and you are right, the jegulus fandom is misogynistic in the way that you say that they are, and i dislike that.

but the point of my post is that you can't exactly be mysogynistic towards lily evans, because the author herself is already misogynistic towards her. my point was that jily is no better than jegulus.

think of it this way, lily evans, the mother of the protagonist of the series, whose love saved the protag’s life should have a more prominent role in the series. but instead, her whole life is portrayed to revolve around male characters. her role in ths story is reduced to being a mother. [i'm not saying motherhood is a bad thing, i just wish it was explored with more complexity and nuance.]

jily is also the most basic, misogynistic heterosexual pairing ever imo. james is immature, lily is mature, and james changed for her because he wanted her to like him.

that's it, that's literally it. the fact that james 'changed' himself is the more important part of their dynamic. lily herself is not shown having any feelings for james, and how she went through the process of forgiving him. james is this manchild, with atrocious behaviour and he's expected to change for lily. it's like lily isn't even her own person anymore!

i don't like the jily dynamics as well because james was lowkey blackmailing lily into dating him and the way that their romance is pprtrayed, it feels like she just eventually accepted it, after he 'changed.'

at this point, even though it was lily's love that saved harry's life, she is such a non-entity in the series. harry is portrayed to be more interested in learning about james, and lily is depicted as having NO concrete friends in canon! the mary detail in canon hardly counts because that scene was more focused on snape! another man. seriously! every aspect of her life revolves around some GUY.

not to mention, after she graduates, guess what. she stays at home to take care of the baby while james becomes a strong auror! are you seeing this?! she's a trad wife. she's literally a stay-at-home mum because she decided she wanted to get knocked up in the middle of the war. the only counter-point to this is if voldemort wasn't after harry, she might have gone to work, but it is iffy, too, because who decides it's a good idea to have a baby in the middle of a war? she could have fought alongside james but nooo she has to watch while james puts his invisibility cloak on to goof around with sirius while her baby's life is in danger.

"it genuinely feels like these people would in fact like Jily, and the only issue they have with it is that Lily is a woman." <- you're right anon, but this doesn't matter to me as i feel that both the ships are equally bad.

tl;dr: jily is also a lowkey misogynistic in my opinion. jegulus is just as bad, and you are right, some of its fans are misogynistic as well.

[wearethewinx]

I'm ngl between all the winx, I always thought Aisha would be like... more lean than muscled. It's been a while since I've actively watched winx, but her body being more built for flexibility just felt right to me- maybe because she's essentially the fairy of water??? Go with the flow, curve it all around kinda vibe you know.

.......now if anyone in the Winx is buff, it would be Flora and Bloom- Flora because I have seen gardeners and farmers in my lifetime, and their biceps were enough to make me go hoowee mama and Bloom because she hates exercise but she wants to punch her enemies in the face hard enough to permanently damage their nose (Icy).

Musa... idk, she can go either way tbh- buff, stick, lean? She's just vibing. I can't ever imagine Tecna being buff, because... well. On the other hand, her being buff doesn't feel too off to me either. Also Stella has been stuck on the idea of being attractive for years, she'll either be unhealthily thin or happily fat to me- it's the uh. ED projection.

Also ik you were pointing out the obv racism w the fandoms treatment of Aisha, making her the more buff and aggressive girl out of the winx (when uhm. I'm ngl she is Not, pls let's not forget s1-3 Bloom who had no understanding of chill, and Stella who is usually in control of herself but would beat a mf after enough transgressions), but I just wanted to give a brief thought into my own personal thoughts on which of the winx would be buff.

Agreed! I definitely see Aisha as fit but lean, very beach bunny-esque

Tbh I don't really see any of the winx being 'buff,' although I do think Bloom being pretty strong makes sense. She just has strong vibes. A couple people have mentioned buff Flora to me, but I think where I differ is that I see Flora as like... a botanist, y'know? Not a farmer/landscaper. That said, I think life on Linphea would probably still be pretty physically active, so she's not unfit either

Musa I can absolutely only imagine as a stick with boobs. I like to imagine her gaining a bit of weight as she gets healthier and gets used to having better access to food, but I genuinely find it hard to picture because she just. Has stick vibes for some reason

I have unpopular opinions on Tecna. Being from an icy planet, it makes NO sense for her to be skinny, and I hc her being into martial arts (Tecna loves punching and smashing, talk to the wall), so I draw her body very similar to mine- someone who retains both muscle and fat readily, so she's very dense and thickly built despite eating and working out fairly little

I think I've talked about this before, but for me an absolutely non-negotiable, fundamental aspect of Stella's character is that her self-esteem is genuine. That she really does love how she looks, that it's the only thing she's not insecure about. It's a HUGE part of what makes her so unique and interesting, so having her worry about her weight? Having her vanity be portrayed as self-destructive instead of self-loving? It's uh. Not my cup of tea

Happily fat Stella is the enlightened man's headcanon (despite the fact that I personally draw her as thin lol)

Thanks for the ask!!

[purgemarchlockdown]

Mercy and Amane Momose

(Also Known As: I'm so normal about Amane Momose, lets talk about the conflation of love and pain.)

(CW: Child Abuse, Cults, Discussion around Death and Child Death)

So, recently the 0708 interrogations have answered T2 Question 09:

Q: What does love mean to you

Kazui has a really interesting response that I'll talk about some other time but what I want to focus on is how Amane answers it.

This Translation of her answer is provided by @/milgram_en over on twitter:

A: To spread mercy with no limits

(@/prisoner-000 has there own translation of it over here, it doesn't change my opinion on this, I just thought it would be important to mention.)

Now that's not exactly the clearest answer but we can put it together with T2 Question 02 to get a clearer picture of what she means:

Q: Do you believe you were loved? A: Very much deeply.

Now, as we know, Amane was abused and judged sinful by her parents and punished because of that, this constant punishment and abuse causing her to hate them so much she wanted to kill them.

Amane: Furthermore, isn’t it condescending of you to assume that just because I happen to be a child, I am incapable of hating someone enough to kill them?

Mercy is defined as compassionate treatment of someone you have the power to hurt, clearly what they did to her isn't mercy in the dictionary sense so why does Amane consider it mercy when the actions done towards her were so painful and traumatizing that it really could have killed her? Most people aren't exactly equipped to survive torture, much less a twelve year old who isn't allowed any sort of aid.

Well, here's the thing. Amane Momose was Told and Treated as sinful for her entire life. She was Taught to believe in her own horrible self. She grew up believing herself to be impure and unholy.

She portrays herself as weak and childish in Magic, she punishes herself in Purge March for making small mistakes. No matter how much she says otherwise, Amane Momose doesn't consider herself to be "good."

Magic very heavily features the concept of being a good girl but it's important to note that Amane never Calls herself that. She says that she could be or she's going be. Not she is a good girl.

I swear! I'm going to be a good girl now! That's it!

I promise! I can only become a better girl!

Purge March's good girl theming isn't as intense as Magic's but it is present, especially in this line.

If you become a bad girl, monsters will come out This is the magic that stops that from happening

This line is during The Cat Scene, a scene where she was "weak" and stole away the cat's trial.

Amane: Both pain and illness are trials. According to our teachings, those who run from them are the worst evil there is. That’s one of the four great principles. No matter who you are, that cannot be forgiven. Es: What are you…? Amane: Oh – speaking of which, there is one among the prisoners right now. An evil existence that’s trying to steal people’s trials away from them.

Evil you say?

Amane doesn't believe herself to be good, or even capable of being good and hates that about herself. If she could be good none of this would have happened. Everyone would be happy.

Only if, only if, only if I could be a good girl I hope, I hope everyone can be happy and smile Forever, forever together would be a dream

This is what makes her parent's actions mercy. If Amane is unable to change who she is and Amane is inherently sinful and impure then her parents trying to "cleanse" her using punishment is...mercy. They could do So Much Worse, but they don't, because they think she could be "better."

It's painful yes but their only doing it to help her. And isn't pain a trial anyway? Really her want to get away from it is just a sign of her weakness.

Dear wise one, Is this ok? Is it ok to be weak sometimes?

And this training, is Supposed to make her less weak. They believe there's still a chance for her, a glimmer of hope that she could be better. That with enough time she won't be Amane Momose anymore. She'll be someone better.

And what's more merciful than that really?

Amane: I’m happy that I was born to my parents! It was a bit difficult, and it could feel restrictive sometimes, but I’m really happy that I could grow up on such beautiful teachings! I want to live this way!

[fishyyyyy99]

I finished watching my rewatch of Never Have I Ever right in time for season 4 (the last season) of Sex Education, which I just finished watching a few hours ago.

Anyway, I'm just going to brain vomit a bunch of my thoughts, so if you disagree, please do so politely (because fandoms genuinely terrify me sometimes):

Maeve and Otis deserved the Ben and Devi treatment. No, I don't mean that they should have ended up together. Breaking up was the right thing for Otis and Maeve. And I really loved the way it was written, and Maeve's letter to Otis. But Ben and Devi's very special connection was emphasised throughout all four seasons, but I feel like they stopped doing that for Maeve and Otis somewhere along the way (though there were still some very nice scenes). But also, I have to say that in season 1, Maeve and Otis were the BEST (and I have never stopped shipping them simply because of how much I loved them back then). They were my favourite fictional ship ever, back then. I would have been obsessed with them, like I ended up being with Ben and Devi, if they'd stayed that way.

Paxton and Devi deserved the Ruby and Otis treatment. I'm just saying that because more pining is always fun for me. Of course, I wouldn't want Devi to treat Paxton like Otis treated Ruby in the last season, though. Also, I think Ruby was interesting enough that she deserved more space for her individual arc, like Paxton got.

The friendships on Sex Education are chef's kiss. None of the friendships on Never Have I Ever have ever made me feel as much. For me, Ben and Devi's dynamic outshone Devi, Eleanor, and Fabiola's dynamic. But the dynamic between Maeve and Otis eventually ended up being outshone by Maeve and Amy's friendship, in my opinion (and there were several other beautiful friendships portrayed on the show).

I think both shows do portray parent-child relationships quite well, but Nalini and Devi's relationship is my favourite.

I know a lot of people think Sex Education has too many characters, but I will say that I actually ended up interested in all of the characters. I don't think I am as interested in the side characters of Never Have I Ever.

Aimee reminds me a little of Trent, but I like her much better.

Ruby reminds me a little of both Ben and Devi (and Paxton, I suppose).

I wonder what types of conversations Ben and Maeve could have about how their parent-related abandonment issues have made them not feel good enough and have affected their relationships with other people in general, in a hypothetical crossover. It would also be interesting to see the contrast between Maeve's grief over thr death of a parent she both loved and hated, and Devi's grief over the death of a parent she practically worshipped.

Eric exploring his relationship with God as a gay man made me wonder how it would have been if they had done something similar with Aneesa.

Both shows are groundbreaking in different ways.