I Never Hear People Saying "manic Pixie Girlfriend" As A Compliment To A Piece Of Fiction... What Is

I never hear people saying "manic pixie girlfriend" as a compliment to a piece of fiction... What is it you like about that trope? 👀👀👀

girls being girls unapologetically!!!

thanks for asking bc this was a LOT of fun to think about and answer and it ran kinda long but uh THERE’S A LOT TO COVER.

like, yea, ok, there’s a legitimate literary complaint to be made when women are used repeatedly as a vehicle for a man’s exposure to a more exciting life, but actually, the complaint isn’t ‘this woman doesn’t have autonomy’, but more like...Well. the quote at the top of the tv tropes is just about perfect.

(not to mention, no trope in and of itself is bad - its the execution and overuse of tropes that can be bad. so even the actual ‘give women more autonomy instead of making her a plot element for a dude’ complaint is only partially valid. and sometimes its just straight up to personal taste! one person likes oranges, one person likes apples. so they eat different pies. that’s just fine. doesn’t make one objectively worse.)

I Never Hear People Saying "manic Pixie Girlfriend" As A Compliment To A Piece Of Fiction... What Is

it’s that whole ‘leave white girls alone about pumpkin spice’ thing, like, sometimes people can just like things and have personality traits.

let girls be manic! let them like polka dots! let them wear tutus over jeans, paint their nails different colors, and wear glitter every day! let them mix combat boots with floofy skirts! let them wear double pony tails!

let girls be naive, let girls be childish, let girls be dreamers! and u know what!! let them pull other people into their dreams, laughing and singing and dancing and being so unapologetically full of the gift from God that is life that they show others what a wonder it is to be alive!!!

there is nothing wrong with being so wonderfully manic that you make those around you a little less lethargic.

or - sometimes it can be wrong, and that’s a great set up for what motivates stories: conflict! what happens when your extrovert girlfriend wants to go to a different event every night and you, the tired introvert boyfriend, just wants to sit in and watch a movie with her? how do you compromise and fulfill each other’s needs? is it even possible? is it worth it? what happens when the adventure that manic pixie girl drags the boy into isn’t what the boy wants, or is more than the boy can take, or is only fun when the girl is there and apart from her isn’t worth it? what happens when she annoys her best friend because she blows glitter all over the room? what happens when she drops off the face of the earth for a month and misses school?

explore the trope!! don’t write it off, don’t never eat a pumpkin spice latte because people make fun of white girls for liking pumpkin spice lattes. pumpkin spice lattes are great.

for an example of a FANTASTIC manic pixie dream girl with excellent conflicts, look at pinkie pie from mlp:fim. like, literally. she’s off the walls energetic and drags everyone into her shenanigans and its WONDERFUL!!! she breaks into twilight’s home to throw her a welcome to town party on the day they meet! first episode and she’s already trying to cram twi into a brighter lifestyle! absolutely iconic. there are times when she’s obnoxious and upsets those around her with her mindless, manic energy, and there are times when her unending optimism and bright personality save the day. she’s given serious moments, sad moments, and determined moments, and all of these are just strengthened by her manic pixie girl personality. (i do think she’s not recognized as a manic pixie girl because she doesn’t have a romantic interest, but aside from not dragging her boyfriend or a local sadboi into stuff...she’s a manic pixie dreamgirl.)

Also, tons of respect to the guy who originally coined the term:

Rabin would later disown the term, because instead of creating awareness of the "lack of independent goals in female characters", the concept was misunderstood as a condemnation of ALL quirky and fun female characters.

IN CONCLUSION.

manic pixie dream girls get written off because sometimes they’re just used as vehicles for the male protag, and sometimes just because they’re a bundle of girlilsh traits that aren’t appealing to certain people, and sometimes because their blindingly bright outlook is seen as bad and/or unrealistic.

and that’s a crying shame.

I like pumpkin spice lattes, I like glitter, I like characters that are so ridiculously over the top energetic and bright that that rubs off on their friends, and I’m going to write so many fun, quirky girls who are unapologetic about their ‘girly’ traits and encourage those around them to Live. :D

WHOA WHOA WHOA

If I’m reading this correctly

it looks like Perseus was one of the first heroes to have an interracial marriage

Because apparently Andromeda was a princess of Ethiopia…?

I mean someone correct me if I’m wrong but this is pretty cool

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incredibleoctopi

4 years ago

I think it’ll be important to remember that Athena, the god with the best PR, would be/was the goddess of propaganda…

She’s the goddess of “smart war”, and propaganda is definitely part of this. I mean, just look at Arachne: the mortal make a piece of art that deviate from the “authorized” narrative, and bang, changed in a spider so the gods get the last word on what is true.

Likewise, with Medusa (reminder: before Ovid, Medusa was born a monster and wasn’t raped by Poseidon/Neptune), she silence a victim of abuse of power by dehumanizing her and putting her in the category of monsters. And pull the “But she did it to protect Medusa”, because latter she’s the one guiding Perseus to murder Medusa, and mount her head on the aegis. If that was a protector, you wouldn’t need enemies.

Ovid being himself an exile because he made a poem the emperor didn’t like, it wouldn’t be a far stretch that Athena in the Metamorphoses is meant to represent his patrons who abandoned him the instant the emperor got mad. A goddess that is supposedly a protector of the artists, but really just ensure that arts follow the narrative of the gods.

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incredibleoctopi

4 years ago

You guys all know these dresses right? Both of these are made from thrifted linen skirts, so you can make one! Make sure the skirt can fit your chest, and you're ready to go!

Materials + tools : thrifted flared skirt, misc fabric scraps or lining fabric, embroidery threads or lace, scissors, scalpel/seam ripper, sewing machine, chalk, iron.

Step 1 - Lay out your chosen flared skirt. Material is important, go for something sturdy eg linen or needle cord. Find a scalpel/boxcutter/ seam ripper.

Step 2 - Remove waistband lining, waistband, and zip to use later. Use your seam ripper or scalpel etc to cut the stitches so we dont waste any material.

Step 3 - Lay skirt with zip gap at the back. Chalk/ mark round a sewing pattern or your favourite sundress to map out the neckline and arm holes should be.

Step 4 - Cut arm holes. Take waistband and cut in half for shoulder straps. Get your fabric lining/scraps ready. Mark round the straps and the top of the skirt onto your lining fabric and cut out. These pieces will help make your dress neat and strong! Make sure theres a space for the zip.

Step 5 - Sew your straps ; place fabric and lining right sides together and seam the long edges to make a tube with a gap at each end. Turn the tube inside out et voila. Iron both straps flat.

Step 6 - Sew your neckline ; sew sides of lining together. Place lining right side down on outside of skirt. Take your straps and tuck in between lining and skirt. Sew all around the top edge, including the straps. Flip the lining round to the inside and iron.

Step 7 - Add the zip, by any means necessary. It's hard, please do your best/ check out your preferred YouTube zip sewing tutorials.

Step 8 - try it on! This will help you figure out where to attach your straps to the back of your dress. Getting a friend to help is a good idea. When you have them where you like them, pin and sew your straps. You can also make your dress more fitted by taking in the sides or adding a waist tie.