>>32056050Yeah, her being weak was intentional, but that by no means makes it acceptable. Intentionally bad is still bad.
I liked the theme with Aether family. Gladion being strong, doing everything on his own, but helping Null and Lillie because he cares about those close to him, Lillie being the opposite, being weak physically and emotionally, relying on Nebby and you for support, yet still doing her best to protect others because she hates being weak. By the end, their developments has Gladion relying on you to stop Lusamine, and being in charge of Aether Foundation, relying on others, and Lillie leaving both Nebby and you to become stronger as a trainer, as she's already become emotionally stronger. I liked the characterization, so I don't mind pulling her weight. If you don't care about the character, you won't care about any of this, making a weak character be just someone you have to take care of, even if you don't want to.
I think the main difference here is that I have a very clear criteria for deciding what is JUST waifubait and what's a just loveable character, and I think of Lillie as latter. None of the interactions with her were forced to be just waifubait moment. Even the first scene, for example, wasn't just you saving her for the sake of getting her to love you. It was what led to you meeting Nebby, knowing about her personality, and meeting Tapu Koko, all important to the overall plot. She had her own past, which was what led to her current personality and circumstances, her own problems, her own goals and her own connections with others. Her own life. They could've EASILY fucked her up for me. For example, had Nebby not existed, or she liked you for some shallow reason like you saving Nebby at the bridge, I would've hated her. Had she ever laid out clearly she love the protagonist, I would've hated her. Had they not made her Lillie leave at the end, or leave crying, a lot of her development would've been lost on me.
