#engineering some thoughts

Beyblade Original had the Best Writing

V-Force’s few good things was Hilary

lest we make my post any longer LMAO bc we all have extreme galaxy brains rn about our Best Girls in the Original Beyblade franchise:

oh yes, i remember my K/R days as a supposedly straight cis teenage girl (surprise! i wa slick neither of those) and reading so many fics of the two of them and seeing all the girls as the evil antagonists (who are often written as straight up homophobic and i’m still reeling over those) trying to claw them apart. its disheartening to see many young female writers depicting the girls as such, it creates such a harmful culture how girls and women are supposed to compete over affections.

Mariah has always a special place in my heart (together with Max and Kai lmao) for not only her supremely cute design, but also bc in a sense i admire her devotion to not only Rey but the sport – i always disliked it when people criticised Mariah for having affections for Ray; sure, it’s a little stereotypical, but she’s also a teenage girl and she’s allowed to dream of romance and desire a relationship to the boy who had been nothing but kind to her all her childhood. Mariah being obviously smitten by a genuinely kind person doesn’t make her any less strong – she has shown time and time again she can hold her own with her beyblade and is a ferocious fighter who won’t go down quietly. i love characters like her, who are allowed to both be in love but also badass in their own right, i think as a writer you could expand on that!

At first i had a hate/love relationship with Emily (bc as an Edgy 13yo ofc Kai was my fave oof) but these days i’m just like. hell yeah, drag him Emily. sure, Emily isn’t always very friendly, nor does she have to be – she’s a sports-star who works hard for her skills. so, what if she brags, is arrogant and snippy – it’s what makes her interesting, it makes her growth even sweeter; Emily is allowed to have multiple facets to her personality that don’t default to nice and friendly – she’s competitive and skilful, arrogant and smart, she’s someone people will have a hard time with, she’s someone who can make friends if she chooses to. 

Hilary is delightful to me; she’s this feisty know-it-all who can seriously throw down physically, but can’t blade for shit, yet enjoys being girly and lending a helpful hand. i think some don’t realise that she’s a dedicated friend, who sets the boys straight when they get a little too rowdy, yet is not above to go absolutely ham alongside them. whenever i read a fic and it labels her as a straight up bitch in the most derogatory way, i literally just stop reading, bc im so tired of having to see her reduced to just a prop instead of being a part of the crew – she’s been nothing but helpful and went out of her way to create a training regime for the boys in V-Force.

I WISHED WE SAW MORE OF MATHILDA, SHE’S SO CUTE!! generally i wished we saw more of the girls interacting, bc whenever they did, it was absolutely wholesome – so whenever someone writes them as seeing each other as enemies, im just like “show me where”. they are one of the few young women competing in a male-dominated sport, of course they will see each other as opponents but outside of the sports setting? nah, they have each others phone numbers, you cannot change my mind.