A short addendum regarding Ganbare Goemon's Omitsu:

GoeSasu fangirl, you have your tastes and they are different from mine. But where do you get off in stating that the reason why Goemon and Sasuke are better off together is because Omitsu is either a cuckoldress or a prude? That's rather presumptuous, don't you think?

The idea of Goemon tomcatting around behind Omitsu's back is grossly out of character. Sure he's a bit of a pervert, but it's against his chivalrous nature to use others for personal gratification - especially someone with such childlike naïveté as Sasuke.

Canon makes it plain to see that Goemon cares deeply for Omitsu on more than just a physical level. Why in the world would he risk breaking her heart just for a quick lay with someone he's shown absolutely no interest in before? (Besides, he's got all those posters of her in his house, surely he must be using them for something, if you get my drift!)

I know you have a kink for Sasuke getting dominated by a strong man like Goemon because he's an adorable shotabot, but surely you can come up with a better method of getting Omitsu out of the way than making assumptions about her relationship with Goemon.

We've been needing this probably forever, so here it is:

Definition of bashing: "Basless hatred of characters, no matter how coherent, accusing them of misdeeds or crimes they never actually committed, trashing for reasons that have nothing to do with characterization. Legitimate criticism of a character is not bashing."

The terms "Gary Stu, Mary Sue, Author's Darling and Wesley" still count, unless you can make a legit case for them. Calling a character a Sue or a Wesley because you think "they have it too good/more than two people fall in love with them/they're too pretty/the author likes them" is a flimsy excuse and counts as bashing. Saying "this character comes off as a Stu and a Darling in my eyes because they're always right, the author gives them more focus than anything, and they look like a supermodel while complaining they're ugly" is perfectly fine.

I come today in the defense of Gundam 00’s Marie Parfacy. I’ve grown rather annoyed with how ridiculous the bashing can get, so I finally just thought I’d post here. Really, it gets ridiculous how sometimes she is treated as a throwaway character just because she came in at Season 2 and 'supposedly' does nothing. So, I thought I'd write up a post of stuff to explain why she is in fact awesome.



( Awesome )

Hi, all! Today, I'm rabidly defending my favourite character from The Incredibles: the villain's totally hot assistant/possibly girlfriend, Mirage.

Picking a favourite from this cast is admittedly difficult, as nearly every character is made of pure awesome. But for whatever reason, possibly my dual obsessions with side characters and sexy wimminz of dubious morality, Mirage was still my favourite. And naturally, seems to be the bane of the rest of the fandom's existence.

( Contains Jumbled and Nigh Incoherent Spoilers for The Incredibles, If You Haven't Seen It and Wish to Remain Un-spoilered )

Whew. Anyway, that's my essay. It's not a good essay, but darnit, it was from the heart! Or...something around there.

Sigh.

Okay, I really didn't want to have to post this. I've been trying to ignore the growing number of stupid moments in the Digimon fandom for a while now. But I think I've just about had it. Some of my favorite characters are the minor ones, probably because they're a nice break from the regulars. I don't OMG LUV LUV LUV them, I just think they're good and fine characters in their own rights. So it boils my blood when they get bashed for stupid, stupid reasons. In the words of Yahtzee, this is just Pants on Head Retarded. Since I'm here, however, I'll be defending a bundle of characters today, most of them foreign and/or blond, because nothing's better than yelling at the non-Japanese blondes.

( In which Russians are bashed for everything, stereotypes are decried in an over dramatic way, and parts of the fandom bash based on religion alone. )

Next person who calls Major Motoko Kusanagi "tits without personality" (YES, THAT IS A DIRECT QUOTE - FUCK YOU, 4CHAN!) is getting a piece of my mind.

JUST BECAUSE SHE HAS BOOBS DOES NOT MEAN SHE HAS NO PERSONALITY. I admit I haven't seen the movies yet and I'm only halfway or so through S.A.C., but... seriously, people? I see a personality there. And besides, plenty of characters have no personality, but you all fangirl them like there's no tomorrow! Aaaaargh.

YMMV, I guess.

So I've been analyzing Katara a bit lately. Dipping into fandumb's a bad idea, but in this case at least it fueled analysis?

Katara isn't an especially hated character in the Avatar fandom, she's certainly liked more than poor Mai, Suki and Aang. But she's had her share of bashers, mostly people who hate her for her shift in characterization in season 3 and her attitude towards a certain Prince Fan Favorite.

( Cut for spoilers and length. )

Anyone here's that watched School Days knows of Makoto Itou, one of the most reviled characters in anime history. However, I don't believe the guy is nearly as bad as everyone thinks he is.

( Read more... )

While browsing on Elfwood, I noticed a picture that got a Mod's Choice recently. It's Legend of Zelda (Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask-era), and is a cute picture of Link and the female cast enjoying the summer weather. Here's the link -- if your work has objections to shirtless male elves Hylians, nude Zoras or girls in bikinis, you might not want to click the link. (Also, it has The Spoiler About Zelda from OoT in the description).

Anyway, besides that it's pretty, I linked it for this comment by the artist in the description.

I also wanted to draw a piece where the girls weren't actually chasing or fighting over Link- or the other way around -It was done at the point in my fandom where I just stopped caring *at all* about the ridiculous fan bashing of one series girl because so-and-so thought so-and-so would or should be Link's gal. The fact that it doesn't matter, and that it's personal opinion, sure doesn't stop the bashing from being insane and juvenile to no ends though. >> SO PLEASE, NO TALK OF PAIRINGS << If you can't tell, I'm just tired and old, and can't take it anymore ;)

Because of all that, I made Zelda and Malon friends here- Something I thought we need to see more of in fan art. Yup, they're both holding hands, take it to mean what ever you want it too, but I mean: They're about the same age, they both lost a lot when Hyrule was ravaged by Ganon, Link helped them both get it all back, they're both people who helped Link a lot, they both seem like strong girls that are willing to do what's right -they have a lot in common in my mind- why shouldn't they be friends? Why should they fight!? Over a guy!?! That's a petty personality trait I refuse to apply to either.

Surely I can't be the only one tired of the way Avatar fandom exaggerates Katara's mood swings, and annoyed by the constant 'lol Katara has teh PMS' memetic mutation. Big deal, so a girl is emotional and has mood swings. She's a damn human being.

Maybe it's because the other girls on the show have a Default Mood. Azula is smug and calculated, Mai is apathetic, Ty Lee is bubbly, Toph is boisterous and Suki is laid back. Katara can be sweet and happy one minute, sad the next, and then pissed off enough to hit someone later on. And somehow, to the fans that equates to "constantly PMSing". Because God forbid women have fluctuating moods.

( Spoiler-heavy rant )

But I digress. Point is, Katara is only human, and there's much more to her character than mood swings. And frankly, I've come to find the whole "let's assume all women have PMS when they're being anything but cute, sweet and proper" deal in fandom quite fucking offensive.

I am, however, glad that a double standard is avoided with the fans giving Zuko just as much crap for his emo. Even if I don't particularly enjoy that either because just as Katara is more than her mood swings, Zuko is more than his emo.

First of all, and most important: If I sense an argument is getting out of hand and devolving into wank, I will tell the people involved to stop. And when the mod says to stop, it means you stop. NOW. Take it to private message or email or AIM, just keep it out of the community. If I can plainly see people aren't listening when I tell them to stop, I'll freeze the thread. No exceptions.

Second: There are different definitions of bashing. Bashing doesn't have to be rabid stupidity and ALLCAPS MCSPELLSBAD, it can also be an otherwise coherent diatribate on why suchandsuch character is a moron who doesn't deserve their love interest/needs to be kicked in the face by their mentor/is a Mary Sue/Gary Stu simply because that fan doesn't like them. And if it comes in a reply to a defense post about the character then yes, it is bashing. You don't HAVE to agree or like the character, but you know that lame little Mommy rule "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"? It applies here. Big time. People put a lot of thought into their essays, and it's rude to come barging in with "I just think s/he's a big fat Author's Pet and that's why I can't stand him/her".

(But it is still okay to mention you didn't think the writing was the best, the character deserved more development, etc. Just don't be a dick about it and if someone disagrees with you, let them. :P)

Third: If you're called out for either of the above or some other indiscretion, replying with "sorry, I thought opinions and discussions were allowed here, guess I was wrong" or "wow, I didn't realize this was SUCH a hot-button issue that'd cause people to get all up in arms about it" is just going to make it worse. It looks wanky and makes you sound like you're crying OPPRESSHUN!!! over being asked to behave yourself. Just take it like a grownup, apologize and get on with your life.

Conversely, if someone DOES pull out the above "oppression" cards, don't troll them. You're only making the problem worse, and they just might TAKE your advice and crai moar.

And as a final note, I've appointed rezo_eris as my co-mod. :) Be kind to him! (Edited because I suck at guessing gender on the internet!)

Dear Fullmetal Alchemist fandom,

Let's talk about Winry Rockbell for a moment.

Winry is a mechanic. She works with metals. Sometimes with very hot metals. Presumably in small, enclosed spaces. Which means that wherever she works, she's not going to want to be wearing layers of clothes.

Yet there are always the fangirls who are quick to cry "BITCHSLUTWHORE" at the appearance of Winry in a tube top. Whereas those same fangirls didn't say a thing about the amount of half-naked Ed in the same anime.

What gives, fandom?

Disliking a character's voice is not a reason to hate that character. In fact, it has very little to do with his or her actual, you know, characterization at all.

Just getting that out there. *pet peeve*

Or more specifically, Aang.

While he isn't as reviled as Ash Ketchum or Shinji Ikari in terms of male protagonists people hate, he still gets a lot of hate thrown at him, especially after the grand finale. His finishing move was a Grand Ass Pull, his angst, the fact that he gets the girl.

( Arguments against the kid, and my defenses. )

So to sum up: Aang is a human being who struggled with his destiny, chose to save the world his own way and happened to come together with the girl he loved in the end. NOT a selfish whiny loser who shouldn't get the girl because "it's more realistic".

I've been watching this community for a while and finally decided to join. I'm not going to start my first post with a character because most of the ones I like have been done to death, but I am going to talk about a common reason why a lot a female characters I've seen get so much hate. For some reason it has become a crime for female character to like pink.

The reason I always see from "feminist" fans is that they are "selling out" by liking pink and enforcing the stereotype of "weak" and "girly" females because apparently it's a crime to be feminine instead some kick ass tomboy. I'm not bashing tomboys( I'm a bit a tomboy myself, but I'm still quite feminine and I like pink).  Then there the even more immature fans who equate pink with "ditzy" or "preppy" (because we all know preps are evil *rolls eyes*). 

I've seen this happen a lot with characters like Mimi from Digimon yet hypocrtically they don't bash Hikari for also loving the color(every outfit she wore was pink while Mimi did occasionally wear other colors). Also Chibiusa from Sailor Moon(an all pink Sailor Senshi must have been to much for them). Then there was Relena from Gundam Wing's pink limo. Was I the only person not  bothered by that? There are even characters hated for having pink hair( like the character has any control over that).

Not only are these type of characters bashed for "being pink", they feel the need to use them to help glorify the more "bad ass tomboy" type characters. That just shows that these so-called fans aren't so confident in their character if they feel the need to do that. You can like a character without having to bash the other to show it.

Helloooooooo Dallas! It's me, Chliever, and soon, I'll be an Agent for the PPC. While I'm waiting to get my permission, I thought I'd pop by here with a few defenses for a fandom I recently got into: Yu Yu Hakusho:

( Kuwabara and Makintaro )

This is something that's been bugging me since Ranma 1/2 fandom: totally over-the-top irrational tsundere hatred.

This shows up in just about any anime series with a female character who frequently or even occasionally acts rudely or in anger towards a male character, ESPECIALLY romantic comedies and "harem" series. This often stems from idiotic pettiness in shipwarring ("Negi/Rin/Kyon/whoever should totally end up with MY favorite character instead of that abusive, ungrateful bitch!"), and also at times from a complete misconception of what the story and the characters are. My advice to these stupid haters? First: lighten up, and second: dig deeper.

( More than just bitches! Contains very mild spoilers for Evangelion, School Rumble and Suzumiya Haruhi )


"Tsundere" characters can be legitimately fascinating people in a genre (romantic comedy) that--let's admit it-- can often get kind of shallow. They're more than just a one-dimensional doormat: they can work in all sorts of situations, comic and serious and utterly psychological, and their internal conflicts make for all sorts of interesting drama, both within themselves and with the characters around them. They can be dark or funny, sophisticated or silly (let's see you try to compare the elegant Sumire from Sakura Wars with Taiga from Toradora!), stubborn children or angry women hiding their past scars. These are characters that do NOT deserve to be written off as simple "bitches" who need to be taught a lesson by the protagonist or shoved aside to make way for whoever the fanboy's favorite is.

Get a life, loser fanboys.


(Not to mention that these fanboys are usually incredibly sexist and seem fine with the idea of a male hitting a female but never vise versa. No, seriously, there are some people who think that Tomoyo from Clannad is a total bitch for beating up Sunohara... who repeatedly tries to physically attack HER, and she's just acting out of self-defense!! And they don't even LISTEN when you say "Um, hello? Sexist, anyone?" WTF, fandom. WTF.)

Dear Japanese Ganbare Goemon fandom,

Your country's values are different from mine, thus you will likely neither understand nor care about what I have to say. Nevertheless, my search for tasty trivia for the deprived Western fans like myself has exposed me to how utterly rabid you are when it comes to Yae. Your Perverse Sexual Lust adoration is so fervent that you feel compelled to put down the other major female characters in the series in turn - particularly Omitsu. Since the fandom is pretty obscure, I'll go through a brief run-down of the two characters in question:

Omitsu is a waitress at the local tea house in Hagure Town of Edo, and has gained a reputation as a beauty idol of sorts. She's unassuming and sweet, though rather childish. As Goemon's love interest, Omitsu has a tendency of getting kidnapped, making her the de facto damsel in distress.

Yae is part of an organization of ninja who are dedicated to keeping the peace, often crossing paths with Goemon while on duty. She's easily the most mature of the characters, and is looked up to as a big sister figure when she's not being the main provider of fanservice in the series.

Now, allow me to pick apart Omitsu's supposed crimes against the fan dumb:

( Read more... )

The strange thing is that most of the Omitsu bashers are males who grew up with the manga (and most likely got off to Yae), so they feel protective of their "waifu."

Anyhow, the moral of this story is that stupid fans can be found in any part of the world. Even Antarctica.