It's an old adage - one that certainly reaches back farther than you or I have been alive.  "Embrace the Suck."

So why is this such a big deal to me?  Well...I actually have an anime spin on this one - "omg, gais Michael's gonna post some anime stuff!"  Calm down there, Mr. Roboto.

I have an automatic turn-off when it comes to main characters in an anime.  Mainly those who do not "embrace the suck." (Michael, what the frig does that even mean?) I'm glad you asked member that's talking to me in my head!

"If it ain't rainin', we ain't trainin'." - A saying that gets drilled into your skull in basic training.  It also gets hurled at any DAC who has labor in their job description.  Those who complain about things are told one thing: "Embrace the suck."  The internet version is: "Deal with it."  (Hay, look! I made my cover photo relevant.)  But it's these two sayings that I've adopted as my own since I turned 18.  They've become more part of me today more than ever.  So much so that they direct how I handle interactions with people.  They also steer how I expect an interaction with someone should go.

So naturally, when I'm face to face with a little twerp main character in an anime, it irritates me.  The indecisive one.  The non-committal one.  The one that would rather eat an overcooked steak than go back and ask for it medium rare because who the ever-loving-frig would ruin a good steak.

Now, the problem with this is that there's a real major disconnect in the attitude of many characters out there today.  They may seem to have an "embrace the suck" mentality, but in reality, they're just as whiny and pissy as the next guy. (I'm officially calling out Kirito, Sora from Kingdom Hearts, and Shugo Kunisaki (the later of which really needs to get run over with an Abrams tank and then tube fed into the mouth of a baby shark).)  These characters irritate me more.  Why?  They're the epitome of fake.  What I can't stand even more than whiners are fakers.  

These characters single handedly can ruin an entire franchise, whether they're a main character or not for me.  Not only that, but they also set a precedent for the other series that might fall into the genre.  I can not count how many people are actually whipped into liking these character archetypes either.  (No guys, I'm not talking about people who are just shy - hell, I'm shy sometimes too - I'm talking about people who just for the love of everything can't decide whether or not to take the damn red pill or the blue pill.)  They create some of the most fantastic and annoying fans as well, and it honestly just amazes me.

But I digress and go back to the point of my argument.

"Embrace the suck" - "Just deal with it."  Cadence's to life.  Why?  Because, a lot of the time life does suck.  It sucks sometimes for all of us.  Just deal with it.  You have to.  Why?  Because only those who just deal with it can ever hope to change it for themselves or anyone around them.  The suck is a good thing.  So deal with it.