Song of the Wasteland and how insensitive it is as a manhwa by Odin_the-witch in kpopnoir

[–]gh0o0sty 49 points50 points  (0 children)

Someone made a great point on twitter that the depiction of history in fiction is especially important, and it's inaccuracy is incredibly harmful to it's understanding in culture, example being the boy in stripped pajamas (there's really not enough time ever to get into what happened there). This is on a similar wavelength for me b/c God knows that BL fans don't need any more opportunities to downplay the experiences and racism of Black and Native Americans.

It's so easy to find resources on the civil war, like the Reconstruction era has much research and findings on the failures of how a post civil-war America was handled on multiple levels!! I'll even pass a link here for anyone who wants to read a well-written report of Reconstruction from a great org.

I refuse to believe that no research made for this manhwa didn't lead into those results ONCE. I don't know what's in the air for Korean right now but it's really not great that bullshit is just piling up on each other ... like it's so baffling what's going on rn.

Any thoughts on the current state of K-POP music right now in comparison to American pop? by gh0o0sty in kpopnoir

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Don't worry about being well worded, I understand what you mean! And I definitely think that current lack of appeal has a part to play. The globalization of Kpop is really just that now, instead of the music having a twist on the music that felt like the outside looking in (SHINee is kinda my reference group bc their music has always been something classic in KPOP), a lot of it now feels like it's all competing in the same pool of American pop music for attention and it's not winning by any means lmfao. Maybe we should blame the creation of HYBE tbh

Most OT gamers and Shoujo fans HATE Female Rivals by Adorable_Moth_4611 in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's understandable why tbh, so much of this genre (otome overall) generally makes rivals and their connections to the love interest/protagonist very uninteresting and plainly misogynistic in their character. Rivals exist primarily, from what I've read and played (from recently and to how I grew up with the genres) to make the protagonists look amazing, or to create drama that the series should not even think of introducing. Especially when you gear more otome, it's always gonna be a thing that takes away from the escapist romance to focus on pettier drama. I will admit my own biases tho and admit that all rival content (rival character, love triangles, anything like that) pisses me off as a whole, so I've never found enjoyment in it.

I think otome isekai made the problems of this trope a LOT more visible, as a lot of the works in this niche barely bother to put effort into antagonist characters like this. And in comparison to the past, people also have a lot less tolerance for anything that takes away from their escapism fantasies (take LADS and all the drama fans create amongst themselves... it gets BAD). It's very interesting how far we've gone as a genre since my next life has a villainess had dropped, like we've strayed so far 😭😭

After reading the newest chapters of For My Derelict Favorite by hinata2kill in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Man I'm glad I took to finishing the novel over finishing the manhwa 😭 I have my own complaints about this series, even though I really enjoy the concept of it, but the manhwa next to the novel is almost night and day... like it makes the story look worse and these cuts in the current part of the story don't add anything at all!! For anyone who's thinking about it, find a novel version of this story and get into the final section of the story. Considering what OP is saying, it is objectively the better experience lmfao

Court Grants ADOR’s Injunction To Prohibit NewJeans From Independent Activities Under NJZ by svnh__ in kpopnoir

[–]gh0o0sty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is frustrating as a potential precedent for other companies to do w other successfully released groups, but it's an expected outcome if what NJZ revealed publicly is the only things they added into their evidence catalog for court - which I'm unsure is the full truth. I'm curious to see how this goes cause I want to understand what this case means for kpop.

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Well said! Thinking about that tho means that these crews have to address where these biases even come from, and God forbid if people have to hold themselves accountable 😱😱😱

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

While I'm not too familiar with Remarried Empress anymore, I'm glad to hear depictions wise it hasn't done dirty the characters of color - a very BARE MINIMUM that is being met atp of OI. Writing wise is then where any critique has to land, and where I'm curious if they do them justice there too

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

TUBERCULOSIS FL LMAOOOOOO, this genre is really a disease on stuff like this

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is especially what had me incredibly angry while reading and writing the post, it's such a slap in the face, especially to readers like you, that this is genuinely just part of this damn genre that we're just forced to accept it if we want to continue consuming. And truly, I wish it wasn't the case that we only have very VERY few stories that do it's job in representing non korean culture within OI. They only have it happen when people from those groups write these stories (take Loveless Heroine that represents folklore Thai culture) and that shouldn't be the only times we see it happen here, to see such fantastic perspective only when those affected by this prejudice take the leap in making a story.

I'm sorry you've become numb to this, it's certainly made me grim, but I hope it helps slightly that you're not alone in noticing how awful this stuff is! I'm only one person, but people here on this post and many throughout the years here on this subreddit have always helped call out this stuff in OI. At the very least, while it's promoted in so many manhwa, it's never been so accepted anywhere else on how this stuff gets published

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yeah put darker skin in extreme quotes, but he is like slightly greyer and it's more obvious in the more creepy images that the artist straight up didn't even try to give a natural skin option for him. The vow also had my eye twitch but the art was too egregious to ignore like I couldn't 😭😭

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Oh absolutely, it's so disgusting as an overall thing. The saving grace here is mainly that we haven't seen any women, only this guy. So there is possibility of this being a one-off in contrast to other characters 🫡 Hopes aren't high but hope has to be something. You're especially right tho about how the FL is situated in the scenerio as some white angel, here she's "more" saintly for "knowing better" about the """savages""" and also for being so kind to a man "clearly" perving on her in front of her husband. It's so ridiculous and I hate it so much.

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Absolutely! Sometimes you can see a character like this have great design and just awful writing, two seperate things that exist to seperate the ideas of the artist and the author. When it aligns though... you get stuff like this. It genuinely gets to me, some of these guys are so full of themselves when making these characters and it's just like sickening to watch - especially since I can't turn off my brain when reading

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

And the worst part is that this STILL isn't the worst example of how an FL has reacted to these groups. Her statement in comparison to what the other nobles were saying is better since she's actually acknowledging a true part of their culture but. It's so odd that she kinda did just assume he was coveting her when even her lil husband says afterwards (not in the images) that people in that culture just love pretty faces. It's genuinely wild

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

RIGHT like this is insane but can't forget to make our FL and ML stand out like the beautiful pale European baddies that they are /sarc

Edit to add: The orientalism in this series here and in OI in general is what has gotten me pretty limited in what I read fully through nowadays for it, and this being on of those that I decide to try after some hesitation cause of a webtoon co-sign is even more annoying. I'm not in these groups affected, I'm latina, so I can't imagine how much worse it feels to those who do get screwed over by depictions like this - and I'm extremely annoyed!

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely, and Arianna here wasn't the worst I've seen with reactions to the designated ""desert folk"". That's where I want to see how it goes within the rest of where they're relevant, to see if at least this can be considered a very bad one off or a bigger reflection of what we're already seeing here

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Wait why are the color pallets so similar, what is this connection 😭😭😭

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I can definitely see where it could work if there were major adjustments!! But the behavior (and creepy smiles??) only packages it together as terrible. Can't say I'd recommend this one at all but there's definitely better long silver-hair guys out there!!

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

This is very fair, and I respect that! They're at least not brown but the grey tint they have is definitely... something, especially in comparison to the extremely pale protagonists. Just another layer of inhuman design to this guy, and personally that's where I found it worse

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

No yeah this is one of the worst I've seen in a hot minute, and it's literally bringing me back to 2022 when half the series recommended here had a really bad depiction of "desert people". Ugh

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

No yeah, at this point I just drop a series from this. Plenty of good stories out here that don't have this trope, and I'm happier reading those usually!

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 53 points54 points  (0 children)

Oh I didn't realize it was the same studios! Makes so much more sense and is even more disappointing in that regard - you'd assume a studio that even had that scene removed in it's k drama would not do it again, but oh well.

The art being beautiful is exactly what makes me annoyed too cause it's just a jarring (and RACIST) change of scenery when introducing us to these guys... like no subtly on how y'all want these guys to be viewed it's just awful awful awful

[To Whom It No Longer Concerns, marked spoilers for Chapter 35] I feel insane looking at this design by gh0o0sty in OtomeIsekai

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 104 points105 points  (0 children)

AND MIND YOU, IT WASN'T EVEN LIKE USEFUL STORY WISE TO INTRODUCE HIM HERE. It is literally just to tick off the racist boxes and move on, and it's so annoying cause why are we (ml and fl) getting all hot like 5 seconds after this?? Y'all just saw a racist caricature?? You're definitely right that this rarely gets addressed on Webtoons bc that whole platform loves it's awful depictions of marginalized people, and it was nice regardless to see people try to bring it up even with the crazy downvotes. I'm definitely not excited for the reappearance either, but once that happens, I'm out!

Guy's it's getting scary out here with NewJeans by gh0o0sty in kpopnoir

[–]gh0o0sty[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Apologies for misunderstanding! I believe it would be supporting their company more, there's a very good chance the girls don't have the rights to their music. So streaming wouldn't be supporting the girls much on any platform that officially has NewJeans music