(I'm going to attempt to make this as brief as possible but me + this topic = essay-length comment. Sorry!)

[CW: abuse, drugs, ref. to slurs, ref. to mental health problems]

First off, there's def. a difference between YA and Adult fiction with this - while a lot of YA readers aren't teens, that's the *intended* audience. Bella, for example, is a first-person POV tabula rasa - she's positioned as the blank-slate 'everygirl' for the reader to project themselves onto, and whether Stephanie Meyer intended her to be or not, that's the device she used to frame her. That normalises and idealises a lot of the seriously dodgy/toxic/abusive aspects of her relationship with Edward, for example (dude breaks into her room and watches her sleep, after all.) Plus, there's some significant chastity and pro-life messages in Twilight - which I felt like weren't overdone, since people are entitled to those opinions, but were def. there and I know people have issues with.

Likewise, there's a problem with, for example, a main character using a slur without any regret or consequence, or contrast with a 'good' character, if it's a villain's POV, because it normalises the use of that kind of bigotry, and in a lot of cases does suggest the author is complicit with that kind of prejudice.

As far as using fictional characters as role models... look, I never *intend* to use fictional characters as role models, but I empathise with pretty much every character in some capacity, and I do draw strength from characters - as I know a lot of others do. If it wasn't for Oliver Queen, aka The Green Arrow, then in my darkest moments while struggling with my mental health, I may not've been able to let people help me. I let people help because *Oliver* was able to put down his defences and let people help him - and he's Oliver Queen, if he can vulnerable, then I can.

There's also a point at which fictional characters become 'bigger' than their creators - they become a symbol, like Captain America, or Spider-Man, or even Winnie the Pooh or Paddington Bear. If Winnie the Pooh started dealing drugs (an extreme example, I know,) then people would be *horrified,* y'know?

As far as talking to adults on the Internet about nuance in 2021... good luck with that, you poor sweet summer child ;) <3