episode 3 of Shadow & Bone and I'm furious.

Mal was keeping her from realizing her own power. the only way she was able to be free and powerful was to forget him.

how the hell is this supposed to be a love interest in a feminine power fantasy?

this show is so spectacular but the story is infuriating. this is not a feminine power fantasy. it's an example of why feminine characters should end up with the villains.

if you don't explore the darkness then you're just ignoring what makes the journey worth telling

in stories about heroines, one big thing feminine-coded characters have to overcome is that they were told from a young age to suppress their power. think Elsa or Jean Grey. isolation, not able to explore the power, told you could destroy everyone + https://twitter.com/saintdarklings/status/1390283606732550150

these themes are in our heroine's stories because young women are often told their power is dangerous. act a certain way and you "do things" to men - you cause wars. think Helen of Troy. so suppress it until a man comes along to take it for himself. without a man, you're reckless

so stories that say, straight up, this woman put away her power for a man, and she has to forget about him in order to fully explore it - it's telling me that 1) this is not a love interest, and 2) this is symbolic of what society does to femininity.

on the other hand, a love interest that balances the power because they themselves are equally powerful also represent the woman's animus that is exploring the power she was told to put away. the push and pull between heroine and villain helps the heroine to become stronger

a lot of the QTs saying that "Mal didn't know" are completely missing the point that he is a fictional character and has a meaning in a fictional story in which a heroine is a main character. all this shit has metaphorical meaning. y'all are dense as rocks.

please, if you have an issue with me analyzing these themes, just block me. there are too many of these QTs and I don't have time for it.