#<- ships intended even if not explicitly implied

[bluuscreen]

it’s up to you to guess what they’re playing

[turbolezgooo]

Why ya'll hate on Cait and call her a dictator?

Well-written characters often have a story deeper than what you explicitly see them do or hear them say. Just because everything is set in a fantasy world, doesn't mean that characters are not affected by tragic events and the human condition.

First of all, Cait wasn't the one who made a police state. Ambessa and the council did that. Ambessa orchestrated the whole thing. Cait went along with it because she was turned around by grief. That shit messes with your judgment, but she was still trying to do what she and Vi agreed on. To focus on the real problem and prevent hurting innocent people.

Cait tried to control an unraveling situation AND literal warlord WHILE being inexperienced in how to deal with it, having a big ol' lesbian break up, AND dying inside.

You could see that when Cait argued to Ambessa that there are innocent people and there MUST be justifiable cause to arrest anyone. In Cait and Ambessa's interactions it's implied that Cait was getting in the way of Ambessa's agenda off-screen. She tried to keep something worse from happening because she does acknowledge the historical and current oppression of Zaunites.

This mirrors the way she offered Vi the badge to give her a voice in what happens to her sister if the enforcers caught her. The enforcers coming after Jinx was going to happen regardless of Cait. She took control by volunteering and taking precautions. See- While they did use gas, Vi would never agree to something that would permanently hurt the people of Zaun. The tactic gave them fewer chances of having to physically fight Zaunites who were just trying to defend themselves. Believe it or not, it was a controlled operation until grief got the better of Cait and things looked worse than it actually was.

The way that Cait deeply believes in equality in spite of a personal vendetta is why Ambessa sent Maddie to try and control her by 'filling' her hole (no pun intended). When Maddie attempted to have Cait stop the police state situation and withdraw, she did focus on Jinx at first but the second part of not wanting to make things worse was something she had a lot more to say about before Maddie interrupted. And Cait was right. What would have happened if she hadn't taken the role and played along? A puppet councillor or Ambessa herself would have been the figure head and do so much worse. Those people don't have the same perspective and understanding as Cait.

When Cait and Vi argue about listening to a war pig oink poison in her ear, she yells "I know!" as she throws a piece of war ship used in strategizing. You can tell her role was a strategic choice to have some control over the events that unfolded. That's why Vi didn't villinize her. Vi understood that Cait never really accepted anything Ambessa said. That's why she helped Vi at the commune. Cait was a double agent taking shit from all sides to stop worse things from happening.

She had grief and really crap options, but she always chose the lesser of the evils to try and stay true to who she really was. She even resigns in her argument with Vi, that she didn't put Jinx, her own mother's killer, in jail or punish her in any way. It's another example of her faltering in decision-making when overwhelming or unexpected things happen and it also tells us what she is. She's human. She doesn't make excuses for taking on an objectively bad role and making mistakes. When she said "We can't erase our mistakes.", she's also talking about herself. She takes responsibility and tries to do good. In the end, all she wanted was closure for her grief by having Jinx accept responsibility NOT by killing or abusing her or innocent Zaunites for that matter.

Imo there's a lot in Arcane that shows Cait as a flawed but inherently good person, and Vi absolutely knows it. They see each other warts and all. If you think CaitVi's lex scene was poorly written read this: https://www.tumblr.com/turbolezgooo/768190482340773888/bro-this-outrage-about-caitvi-relationship-in-s2?source=share

[truelovepolinator]

The Chaos of the "Friends to Lovers" Quote & the Alleged Antonia Xmas Photos

I honestly have so many thoughts about Nicola and Luke that I usually don't even know where to start. As a result, I often end up saying nothing. Other folks are already talking about things so eloquently, and even when I don't entirely agree, I agree enough that I like it, move on, and wonder whether it's worth chiming in with my takes.

But today I do feel like tackling yesterday's craziness - the newly discovered article (and those hot photos) and the weirdness that erupted with the alleged family photo(s?) with Antonia.

This was a lot of chaos and excitement for one day and I found myself drowning a bit in the swell of it all.

Part of me was as thrilled as everyone to read those words that Luke said about friends to lovers, and also what Nic said about Luke making everything better. This story seemed to just confirm and crystallize everything I ever thought, that all of us true believers have thought. He said it. He said it right out loud.

But then there was the part of me that couldn't help but question it. Was it taken slightly out of a context that might have softened the meaning had it been included? Had the translation from English (Luke's original words) to Spanish back to English slightly tweaked the thought or expression of the thought in a way that implied slightly more than he originally intended?

Also, why would he/they just admit everything fully out in the open for this one random interview with a Chilean reporter, then retreat and go back to pretending to be just friends everywhere else (even if they never said "just" friends).

Then again, a point both for and against the accuracy of the implication of this quote is the fact that he came very close to saying this several other times. About how appropriate it felt that Polin was friends to lovers that they were friends... and he'd just sort of trail off or not quite continue the thought. So that seemed to make it both more probable that he might have inadvertently finished the thought one time, and also less probable that he would have said it so explicitly this one time when he never did any other time. Could the original translation have taken liberties in finishing the thought?

Bottom line, who knows? And I found myself wondering WHY I was wondering when, at the end of the day, I still totally believe they're together. So why question this quote so hard?

Perhaps there's just something inherently dangerous about allowing myself to believe they (even inadvertently) confirmed it. I already believe. I really do. So why does the thought of him having actually said it out loud feel so chaotic? Why was everyone whipped into a frenzy by this line when we could already see it? And why is this story just now making its way into our collective consciousness?

There's so much about this ship that doesn't make a lot of sense. I've had a few fictional ships I've loved, but I have never felt this much attachment to a celebrity couple before. Not even close. I'm sure I never will again. They are so special, and their connection is so unusual and obvious that it's hypnotic and magical. It feels like a privilege to witness such a magical and precious thing.

But perhaps it is precisely because their connection feels so magical and precious that it feels more elusive. For Luke to explicitly confirm what we all saw feels like very nearly stepping onto the solid ground of a previously misty, distant shore. But then, they took it back with every subsequent (and prior) interview, leaving us wobbly and unmoored.

And then the rumor of the Christmas photos with Antonia hit. I never saw these photos and only heard everything after the fact, so it's hard for me to draw conclusions. It sounds like the photos were inappropriately taken from a memorial page and not new, so not only were they disrespectful, but potentially also not remotely relevant to Luke's current relationship and life.

And even if she was with his family last year, there seem to be at least half a dozen explanations for that (just a friend or casual date with nowhere to go? Friend of his sister's? there at Christmas time, but for a different occasion and not actually "Christmas with the Newtons").

I also found myself confused by people insisting she was in the Maldives for work while others insisted she and her father were in a trailer somewhere? So which is it? Trailer Christmas with dad? Or dance gig in the Maldives? And perhaps most importantly, why does anyone know any of this because why is anyone following her, let alone her father, this closely?

I confess all of this chaos did drive me to check her stories and I saw the (apparently) Maldives videos. But I don't know what any of this proves.

I wrote extensively about my belief that Nic and Luke are together (see my blog: Nicola and Luke Are Absolutely Together and Have Been All Along and Here's How I Know), and that the relationship with Antonia has been a fake PR strategy to distract us all along. But I'd be lying if I said these little flare-ups don't make me wobble slightly in that boat as I continue trying to set foot on dry land. I don't feel like I know enough about how L & A met, how/if she's friends with his sister, what the deal is with that friend group, etc. And all those questions leave a tiny space for uncertainty.

Still, what's with the timing of that photo? The same day this story spreads like wildfire where Luke says OUT LOUD the very thing we've been wanting to hear and they've been trying to distract from? Seems to me a good PR agent who was paid to keep eyes off the real relationship might identify that as a moment to drop some confusing content and muddy the waters again. Don't want folks getting too close to the truth, after all.

The truth is, none of us can know the truth definitively because we don't know them. But again and again, when I look at the actual facts and the extensive evidence and crumbs, the only crumbs that fit together into a whole that makes sense are the Nic and Luke crumbs.

For the record, I have not a doubt in my mind that Nicola is *not* dating Jake. That one is crystal clear because after allowing some uncertainty to linger (part of the distraction strategy), they have all collectively shown us the truth.

Remember, Nicola has NEVER shared her love life publicly. All these photos with Jake are actually proof of a negative, that he is NOT her bf. Thinking that her photos with him are proof of their romantic relationship represents a fundamental lack of understanding of who Nicola is, let alone Jake and their shared friend group.

I do believe that she and Luke will go public eventually for two reasons. The least of these is for the fans. The fans want it so bad that one day they will relent and show us. But the more important reason is that when you find the one, and you love them with all your heart, you don't want to hide it forever. Live privately, yes, but not hide. When they feel settled and confident enough, and perhaps when the glare of the spotlight has died down enough, they will finally share. That's what I believe.

Could I be wrong? Of course. Could this hypothetical relationship with Antonia be real? I suppose. But if it is, it's the weirdest damn thing I ever saw. I will never get over the strangeness of the InStyle LA photos, and in particular, that one at the cafe with the white truck. There's something just inherently fake and fishy about the way their hypothetical relationship manifests. And since their pap photos, implied togetherness photos, and weird "likes" patterns all follow a classic PR fake relationship playbook, I have a hard time believing it.

Also, I feel much better about him with Nic than with Antonia, for a variety of reasons I won't go into because I don't want to spread hate.

If I am wrong, I will be heartbroken. I admit it. I believe in NicLuke. Lukola is my endgame. And I don't just think “someday.” I absolutely believe it's happening now. I made my case extensively in my prior blog. People seem to want to read the signs a million different ways, but all the signs I've seen point directly to Nicola and Luke being together now. So that's where I'm sticking.

Let the ship wobble. I'm not going anywhere.

[cemetegee]

Could Ianthe see Cytherea's Corpse?

The question if Ianthe could really see the corpse under Harrows bed, is an important approach to her character. Gaslighting Harrow would be one of the most cruel things she's done (besides of the murder of Naberius Tern) In my opinion, there are several hints that the corpse was NOT visible to anyone, and I'd like to present them to you.

But before we start, what is even the "proof" that she could see it?

I love Gideon very much, but she is an unreliable narrator. How does she want to know that? The fact that she narrates the whole book implies, that she can see The Body as well... And The Body is surely not visible to anyone else. Sure, dor The Body, it's kinda clear that it's not visible to anyone else (SINCE NOBODY EXCEPT HARROW NOTICES IT), and for Cytherea's body we have less evidence. Still, Gideon lives in Harrow's mind and can obviously see things other's don't see. Her information is not trustworthy.

Ianthe is also not trustworthy, but that doesn't mean that she didn't say the truth that time. So let's look at the facts:

Something's odd with the body. And by "odd" I mean "really odd". It starts with the fact that it just casually walks through the Mithraeum, when we see it for the first time:

Ahem, Wake, not gonna criticize you, but... Don't you think it's a little dangerous for your identity as a dead corpse, if you walk through a space ship WHERE LITERALLY ANYONE COULD SEE on your way? Except if you... Weren't visible to anybody... And only Harrow could see your for some reason...

The next thing! It's explicitly stated to the Lyctors looked for it one the whole ship! Since the corpse is an old friend of them, you'd expect they'd have a certain interest to find it...

They shall have looked everywhere, but NOT under Harrow's bed? (To be honest, since they don't really trust Harrow, you'd expect it would be one of the very first places to look for it.)

+ Jod couldn't detect it anywhere? (Well, it's Jod, it could be a lie, but why should he lie about that?) That's actually the BIGGEST hint, that something's necromantically odd with the body. It apparently can camouflage itself from being necromantically detected BY GOD HIMSELF. (Why shouldn't it also could make itself "invisible"?)

One another thing! (Or actually: several another things, that fit in the same category.) Physically things don't seem to affect her sometimes.

Like for example the wards. Why don't they affect her? Gideon seems to think they should. (Again: she's an unreliable narrator, but still, it's a hint)

Or the bone cuffs? You would expect as a physical being she should need to break them to escape. But they appear to be untouched. As if she'd just slipped out...like a ghost.

And let's look on the "Gaslighting" scene once again. Before, Wake-in-Cytherea is described as walking very clumsily:

How can she silently disappear, suddenly, in the three minutes Harrow needs to calm down in the bathroom? (Like THIS!) Something's off with the disappearing, that's for sure.

And there's also the last thing, which is actually what brought me on the Cytherea-wasn't visible train. Let's assume for a moment that Ianthe does lie about the corpse to Harrow, okay? That she CAN see it, and that she intends to invalidate Harrow's experience to make Harrow believe her perceiving wasn't trustworty. What's exactly was gaslighting is btw! (Although it's really questionable why she should do that, since Harrow obviously already doesn't believe that, one, and second... You would think that such a mysterious walking corpse is a HEAVY security risk - not only for Harrow, but also for Ianthe! - so that she better should accept it's existence if she'd see it. But okay.) If she wants to do that, why does she try to validate Harrow's perceiving in a scene before? Hm?

What she says means very much. "I believe you that the corpse HAS been moving. (I believe YOU!) But it doesn't have to be such a sinister thing as you think. Maybe there's a completely harmless explanatation for it (Like necrophilia.)" It's a try to calm her down and reassure her. How does that fit together with the destabilising of gaslighting? It doesn't fit at all...

To conclude: I believe the corpse WAS there. I mean, it must have gone somewhere after the strike on ""Ortus"", and why shouldn't the location be under Harrow's bed? But I'm not so sure, to not say that I doubt that the corpse was visible to anybody. There are just...to many strange things. I couldn't really explain what she did (someone else suspected different layers of the River as an explanatation, what I find very interesting - if you have an other theory: go ahead! I'm very interested to see it) but I really think she did something. Some things only make sense if she was either very careless or invisible and some things absolutely don't make sense without anything being strange about her.

But how to interprete Ianthe's expression during what she says (which could btw another point for the theory that the corpse wasn't visible)? I've often heard people say that Ianthe would lie about the corpse, because she thinks it would be funny to gaslight Harrow. But I ask you: does she look as if she had fun here?

My personal theory is... That she is concerned. And probably specifically concerned about her participation on the lobotomy. I mean, imagine you had played around in someone's brain with some sharp tools... Wouldn't you be concerned you've BROKEN something, if that someone would suddenly start to come up corpses which ""don't exist""? It's even a concernment she tells Harrow before. An outcome, she WOULD NOT LIKE:

I am very sure she thinks - what's not true, but I think she thinks it! - that she has damaged something permanently in Harrow's brain. (During the lobotomy.) But she can't say that, because of her vow and the Sewn Tongue. (And maybe a little bit of shame, if life is fair.)

PS: if you have any other theory, feel free to share it!

The majority said I should make this post, and I bow to the majority! I remember there was a post which included some of these points, but it seems to be gone. I feared mine could become too similar (although these *are* my points), but now that I've done it I see, that it's not so similar at all. (If someone gives me the link, I can paste it in [place where I'd paste it in]).

[psychic-refugee]

Wenclair as a ship in itself I understand. It can be fun, and interpretation is up to the fan content creator. Wyler, Wenvier, Enjax, Wenclay and AroAce Wednesday I think are all equally valid interpretations. Just as any other combination.

Shipping non canon relationships is a choice made by personal preference.

I less understand the expectations of Wenclair being actually possible to become canon. I feel like it’s only possible in the sense that “anything is possible” because no one can ever truly predict the future.

However,

Tim Burton does not have a history of producing LGBTQ+ focused projects. There are barely any background characters that are prominently and explicitly queer in his long CV.

The Ottingers are outliers and background characters with a second of screentime. I have doubts we’ll ever see them again, and honestly, they are the farthest I think Burton is willing to go.

Millar also doesn’t have a history of writing main cast LGBTQ+. He and Gough only reference the relationship between Enid and Wednesday as “friendship” and “sisterhood” when confronted with the idea of Wenclair. (NME, 24 Dec 2023).

Netflix has a documented poor history of treatment of shows with prominent lesbian leads (First Kill, I Am Not OK With This, and Warrior Nun).

Given all of that, I’m also not in the writers’ room, so time will ultimately tell if my skepticism is warranted.

Nonetheless, there is overwhelming evidence that Wenclairs have detrimentally affected Jenna and Emma. I don’t see them wanting Wenclair to happen and they certainly aren’t entertaining the mere possibility of it any longer.

Jenna has not mentioned Wenclair in a positive light since that one interview in Teen Vogue, 9 Dec 2022. It’s been over a year since; a lot of stuff has happened. Plenty of reasons for Jenna to have changed her mind.  

Emma made a non-committal comment about “how anything is possible” when it comes to S2 and Wenclair. (Variety, 30 Jan 2023)  But, again, that was over a year ago and a lot of toxic behaviour has happened since then.

Just as with Jenna, Emma has a lot of motivation now to not support Wenclair becoming canon.

Emma also pushed off the possibility of Wenclair beyond S2, she gave the excuse of Wednesday needing a “season of singleness.” Id. Wednesday WAS single in S1, she never claimed anyone as an SO. It sounds more like Emma was a hostage trying to appease her kidnappers by telling them what they wanted to hear. She pushed off the idea of Wenclair to a season that’s not guaranteed to materialize. That’s called passing the buck. If S3 never happens, then she’s not responsible for adhering to an implied promise of Wenclair being possible at all.

Now, Emma has made it a point to stress that shipping is fine as long as it doesn’t cross over into real people. (NME, 27 June 2024).

Wenclairs failed to do that in a spectacular fashion.

Emma admits that Wenclair was a joke they told amongst themselves when it first became apparent it was a popular ship. Id. Wenclair is “funny” to them because they never intended for it to be a ship, but fans choose to interpret it that way.

People ran with Jenna’s comments, but I believe she was supporting it in jest in the way Emma reported in June. Jenna even framed Wenclair only happening in “a perfect world.” (9 Dec 2022) She said it would only happen in an impossible circumstance. I don’t get how people took that to mean she was trying behind the scenes to make it happen, or that it was a secret interpretation fans were meant to figure out on their own.

I think if she knew how much her “fans” would sexually harass her and Emma with the idea of Wenclair, she would not have said it at all. I think with how careful Jenna is with what she posts now, she knows better to say things off the cuff or in jest.

Wenclairs have taught her harsh lessons on how to interact with social media and interviews.

I think it says a lot that Jenna has only been photographed with her stylist in the past several years. She has had plenty of opportunities to do pictures with the cast since filming started, specifically Emma and yet…

Wenclairs have been so rabid and hostile to anyone challenging their fantasy that she only feels safe being seen with Enrique Melendez, her employee, or her family. That’s not normal.

I think there’s a reason why Wenclairs hyperfocus on Jenna making the ship happen and not Emma.

Jenna clearly doesn’t mind doing roles that involve sapphic elements (Miller’s Girl and The Fallout). The same cannot be said about Emma. Wenclairs are so quick to jump on Jenna’s CV of “kissing women” and pointing to that as proof of her queerness. By THEIR same logic, what does it mean if Emma has not done any role where she kisses women?

Jenna’s a great actress and I think could have chemistry and a rapport with a tree if the script called for it. I think she didn’t mind the idea of Wenclair at the time (regardless of how farfetched the possibility was or that it was never originally or seriously considered), but I don’t think she ever intended for people to interpret her characterization of Wednesday that way.

I think both Jenna and Emma regret implying or joking about the possibility of Wenclair as the fans started to sexually harass them on IG with comments on how they are for sure lesbians (neither have stated so) under their posts that have nothing to do with the other as well as everywhere else. Neither can celebrate their own separate accomplishments without Wenclairs mentioning the ship or obnoxiously asking “Where’s Jenna/Emma?”

Wenclairs also post explicit art of Jenna and Emma’s likeness in public forums such as Twitter/IG (and tag them or send it to them directly), and harass male coworkers Jenna has romantic scenes with (Finest Kind). Emma’s male co-star in AGGGTM has also experienced harassment.  

Jenna has outright said she quit Twitter because she was sent explicit AI art of herself right after Wednesday took off.

I 100% believe it was sent by a Wenclair account and it was sexual Wenclair art, given the timing and their appalling behaviour to date.

“I ended up deleting [Twitter] about two, three years ago because of the influx after [Wednesday] had come out, these absurd images and photos, and I already was in a confused state that I just deleted it…It was disgusting, and it made me feel bad. It made me feel uncomfortable” (Entertainment Weekly, 25 Aug 2024) (emphasis added).

I think Jenna coming out and specifically saying there would be no romance for Wednesday (Digital Spy, 8 June 2023) after the December 2022 article is another direct consequence of Wenclair harassment. She changed her tune very explicitly and Netflix has not contradicted her, nor have the showrunners, writers, or Burton ever shown committed support for Wenclair. At most it’s “we’re open to it,” and that was before the harassment got as bad as it is.

Jenna’s playfulness is completely absent in all these interviews since Wenclairs started to harass her. Whatever they were “open to,” the Wenclairs shut it violently.

I wasn’t aware until recently that the Wenclairs were so creepy, invasive, and lacking even the barest of social graces that they were also harassing Jenna’s family.

Here is Aliyah, Jenna’s sister, scoffing and clearly exasperated by the shipping. I highly doubt this frustration comes from being asked just once, she’s probably fielded this question way too many times. She no longer follows Emma on IG.

There are also reports of other IG Lives by Aliyah outright stating that the shipping was out of control and detrimental to their family. Of course Wenclairs are completely crickets about this.

It’s bad enough Wenclairs shove their personal fantasies in Jenna and Emma’s face, but they do it to their siblings? Likely when the siblings were minors or barely adults as Aliyah is only 20.

Emma in the Variety, 30 Jan 2023 article also says her sister would show her stuff, meaning her family was also getting exposed to it.

The latest Vanity Fair article states that Jenna won’t ever make any romantic relationship public. (6 August 2024). She states that her relationships are “hers” and that her fans can’t separate the real her and the celebrity they have built up in her head. Id.

She makes an effort to use gender neutral terms when it comes to a romantic partner. I respect that she doesn’t want to come out as either heterosexual, homosexual, or anywhere in between or outside of the binary. That is her choice, I think there’s a vast difference between keeping things private and being in the closet. Either way it’s also NONE OF ANYONE’S BUSINESS.

But I think it’s undeniable that even though she would get a lot of support if she were queer, Wenclairs have made it so unbearable that she won’t reveal a partner or come out at all.

Wenclairs have made it unsafe and hostile for her to acknowledge her own sexuality publicly, much less a partner.

I think it’s too late for Wenclairs to back off, it looks like they already ruined the friendship or at best drove it underground if the total lack of social media content of them together is indicative of anything.

If they are still friends, then they don’t trust Wenclairs with knowing about it and don’t want to share it with them. It looks like Jenna doesn’t want to share any friendship publicly anymore.

Unless it’s to promo movies or a brand deal, she rarely posts pictures on social media anymore. It’s very rare she posts personal pictures of herself doing non-work outings. She’s keeping her personal life extremely close to her chest.

How exactly do Wenclairs expect a friendship to survive constant, sexual harassment? How can they hang out together when everything they do together is sexualized? Why would anyone think the actresses would encourage a storyline that would invite more?

How do they expect Jenna to support Wenclair to become canon if it means her future male coworkers will be harassed? If it means any romantic partner who isn’t Emma in the future will be harassed? If it means that if she were indeed involved with Emma, that there would probably be a bigger explosion of porn that is shoved in their face?

How do they expect Jenna or Emma to support Wenclair if their families are being harassed about it?

Wenclair has been a curse upon them, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

[platonically-loving-alastor]

Aroace Alastor

Hoo boy here we go- This one might make some people mad at me, so I'll preface by saying I do not want to start a fight and as long as you respect my business, I'll respect yours. But let's get this over with-

First off, I genuinely don't understand how some people can see the Ace-In-The-Hole quote and still believe that Alastor is only intended to be asexual and not also aromantic. Yes, the term Rosie used for purpose of the pun was 'ace', but can we look at the context of that moment before jumping to conclusions?

Rosie, motioning to Charlie: "Oh, who's this you brought with you? Come now, Alastor, she's much too young for you! Oh, I'm just kidding. I know you're an ace in the hole!"

Her original statement implies nothing sexual, only that he's involved in a relationship with Charlie, and she follows it up with why she knows that couldn't be because he's an 'ace in the hole'. I don't think you have to read too far between the lines to see that.

I would also like to say that when Vivienne has spoken about his orientation before, I recall her saying that she didn't want to confirm him being aromantic so that she wouldn't 'ruin anyone's fun', which I just feel like is an odd thing to say if she wasn't already explicitly picturing him as aroace. If she thought he had romantic attraction, why wouldn't she just say that? What fun would that ruin? I also feel like keeping things like this ambiguous just to appease the shippers is a little weird, but I digress-

And to those of you who I know are saying "But aromantic people can be in relationships too!!" *deep inhale* yeah I know. I'm not gonna pretend you're not right about that, but there are also aroace people who have exactly 0 interest in romance or sex at all. This is the part of the post that really is based on how I interpret certain moments, but to me he is absolutely one of those people. I don't really know where people get any vibes of him being interested in that stuff. I have never once looked at him and thought "Yeah I could see him in a romantic relationship with *insert character here*". Even aside from attraction in general, since that's what we'd be talking about at this point anyway, he just seems like the kind of guy who'd rather work and live independently instead of relying on anyone, whether practically or emotionally (which is also probably part of the reason he never joined the Vees, but that's another topic entirely). Hell, I'm pretty sure he's in heavy denial about even developing any kind of care or friendship with the people at the hotel (ie. the episode 8 scene with him and Niffty).

The only ships I see him involved in with people he doesn't hate (so ignoring RadioApple, RadioHusk, and StaticRadio. But to be real, maybe the fact all his main ships are enemies to lovers coded says something about the whole situation, but that's just me-) are Charlastor - which I will not even try to discuss here, people aren't gonna like this post as it is - and RadioRose. Rosie and him would at least be fair, if it weren't for one thing (which is also personal opinion on my end), and I don't know exactly how to word it. I'm tempted to say she has wingwoman vibes? But she knows he's aro, so that's not the right word, but there's vibes of like, she probably did act as a wingwoman before she realized that about him or something.. There's also something about her joking around like "Oh this is the girl? You have a girlfriend and I'm only now meeting her?" is almost giving motherly behavior. Idk man they're just besties to me, I could see them in a QPR though (not that they'd probably label it that way, considering the word queerplatonic is likely just complete gibberish to Alastor lmao).

So to summarize: It feels incredibly likely, if not practically canon, that Alastor was written with aromanticism in mind, even if Vivienne refuses to explicitly state it. Subtext and not-that-subtle implications can say just as much about a character as word of God, especially when that God has explicitly told us why she won't confirm or deny this information. Do I think any of this will stop people from shipping him romantically with literally any other character? No ofc it won't, and that's okay, that's just what fandoms do. I do think there's something to say for the fact the one aroace (or even at the very least asexual) character gets constantly shipped with everyone else in the cast, but this post is long enough I think. The only point of posting this is that I wanted to get information out there in one post to say "Hey, let's look a little bit past the surface for a second before saying there's no proof of him being aromantic"

Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you at least took something away from this

[a-bit-too-much-of-a-zelda-fan]

Guys. Why is there even a debate here. Some of the games were explicitly written to be connected, some of them weren't. Not everything has to fit into one cohesive timeline. As a matter of fact, they can't. Now, there is some more nuance to it. Read below for my explanation (infodump) plus a more nuanced chart.

Red and blue lines are canon within the games' text. Ambiguities are filled in with green. I'll get more into that later. Let's first explain the two completely separate mini timelines.

The Four Swords miniseries stands mostly alone. The Master Sword and the Triforce are present in every other game or (mostly--looking at you, Master Sword in LoZ and AoL) have a good reason not to be, but they are not present at all in these three games. Instead, we have the Four Sword and Light Force. The only wrinkle is that Ganondorf shows up in FSA... so I don't know about that one. I don't think anyone does.

As for BotW and TotK. Oh brother. What do we do with these. Skyward Sword is intended to take place seemingly millennia, or at least several centuries before Ocarina. We see the founding of Hyrule with the first monarch and her chosen knight, the cycle of recurring evil and heroism being established, and the forging of the Master Sword

Wait. What about Rauru and Sonia? I thought they were the first rulers of Hyrule. And if the Zonai were around long before Hyrule, where is any of their presence in Skyward Sword? Huh. Alright. We don't know how much time passed between the first Calamity and the second, but from the past era of TotK to its present, we can account for at least 10,105 years of history. We don't even need to get into how Zora and Rito coexist or anything smaller like that. There's just no fucking way these two games fit with any of the others. Fine, that's fine. Moving on.

There's also a little hiccup around the Oracles. Nintendo seems to go back and force on whether the Oracles feature the same Link as in ALttP and LA, but if they do, it probably makes more sense that Oracles happen before LA (the linked Oracle game ends with Link boarding sailing off on a small ship and LA starts with him on one). So like... I guess they fit there?

Either way, let's take a second to look back at where this idea of a timeline split happened. Remember that WW and TP both clearly take place after OoT. That isn't theorizing, that's in the actual text of each game. The thing is, they're mutually exclusive. TP has Ganondorf being executed, as he would have been after the Hero of Time goes back to his original era and warns Zelda that her plan to get to the Triforce first isn't going to work (which is implied to be what happens at the "The End" screen of OoT). WW has Ganondorf coming back by breaking the seal put on him, and the Hero of Time didn't appear to stop him again (as would happen if Link was sent back in time). Fans started theorizing way back in 2006 that OoT created separate timelines, with WW and TP being mutually exclusive sequels to it as the evidence.

Some fans have asserted that Nintendo just "took" the fan theory. But come on, put everything together here. The texts of OoT, WW, and TP HEAVILY imply the timeline split. The only reason we called it a theory is because the writers didn't literally say "And then the timeline split in two". The texts are pretty clear though. It's the only thing that makes sense. That isn't to say that there needs to be a cohesive timeline, and that the split is the only way to fit it together. No, OoT is connected to both WW and TP no matter what. That was the intent. It's just that the explanation for OoT to have mutually exclusive sequels actually fits neatly into the texts of the games.

And now we come to the tricky part. Put yourself back into the 90s real quick. ALttP seems to have been written as a prequel to Zelda 1, showing Hyrule before its period of decline. Alright, let's just accept that because it may as well be true. The lore at that point was so thin that it made enough sense. I kinda slapped Zelda 1 and 2 at the end there to show it, because we do have a cohesive timeline from ALttP to TFH. That's fine, all well and good.

Likewise, OoT seems to be written as a prequel to ALttP. We see conflict over the Triforce, the origin of Ganon, the seven sages, and an earlier iteration of the Master Sword. Back in 1998, we had no reason to not believe it. These are tenuous connections that are not explicit in the games' text, so I've paired them with green lines to show it.

But wait. ALttP is ALSO mutually exclusive to TP and WW. Oh brother. What do we do about this? Even after figuring out the timeline split in 2006, fans didn't know what the fuck to do with the first four games of this franchise. They could go after TP, but that's even messier than putting them right after OoT. Yuck. This doesn't feel good at all. Oh yeah, and then there's the Four Swords games that don't fit anywhere.

Now you can imagine the position the writers of Hyrule Historia found themselves in when they were tasked with creating an official timeline. Some of the games have certain explicit connections, as detailed in my first chart. But they had to cram everything into one timeline. Well. They knew they had a timeline split in OoT, because that's what the texts of OoT, WW, and TP collectively say. The lore of ALttP also mentions seven sages (or wise men, but let's call them sages), but not a legendary hero. So... if you really stretch your brain out here... it kinda makes sense that there's a timeline where the Hero of Time died fighting Ganon. Maybe. Kinda. Not really, but kinda. And then there's the Four Swords miniseries. Fuck it, throw them in randomly.

The two-way split doesn't disagree with OoT's text at all, which said that Link won. The three-way split does disagree with it by asserting that Link lost. But if we're really trying to fit everything into one timeline, that is the cleanest place to put them. Some people really hate this, but it does seem that those are the same people that demanded that there be an official timeline in the first place. ie the same people who were gonna be pissed off with anything Nintendo gave them that wasn't exactly their own theory being confirmed.

Alright, real talk. The producers of the Zelda series have said time and time again that they think of what would make a fun game then write a story that fits around it. The Wind Waker devs wanted you to sail around the ocean. Then the writers decided "oh, we could put this after Ocarina! After all, weren't they left without a hero? What if Ganon came back with no one to stop him? How would that problem resolve itself? What if the gods just flooded the world?" Then the Twilight Princess devs wanted a spiritual successor to Ocarina, with an epic adventure on horseback across the traditional Zelda kingdom setting. So the writers went "hey, in Ocarina, Link warned Zelda about Ganon, right? What if he was executed then, and then the world was never flooded?"

We have to realize that trying to put games with this design philosophy into a neat little timeline is a futile effort. It's never gonna work because it wasn't designed to. More so than any other storytelling medium, video games take so many approaches to continuity. The Halo games were all meant to be sequential and fit neatly into a strict timeline. Pokemon is all canon within itself but the ties between games are less important than the stories of each game. Mario essentially has no canon except for recurring characters and settings. Zelda is gameplay first, canon second. That's why the two most recent mainline games don't even try to fit in the canon of the previous eighteen. That's just how it works and we're gonna have to accept that.

[kismetconstellations]

I found this Reddit thread, the other day, and got a good chuckle out of this particular response:

And, while Shiro having this sort of raw, incontestable, and unmatched power makes him a True Underappreciated Icon, it also stands as the loudest, most glaring testament to the Voltron: Legendary Defender showrunners not knowing what they were doing.

Basic Writing 101 would suggest that, if you intend to kill an important character off, you don't not only open your series on them, but continue to spotlight them as completely intrinsic to, and inextricable from your still ongoing narrative.

Obi-Wan Kenobi's death impacts Luke Skywalker, but doesn't cause the entire story of the original Star Wars trilogy to fall apart.

When Gandalf appears to die in The Fellowship of the Ring, his absence is felt, and impossible to ignore, but the journey of the other main characters continues, nevertheless, and his revival in The Two Towers only aids the narrative's progression, rather than derailing it.

This is due both to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Gandalf not being the central characters of these stories, and George Lucas and J.R.R. Tolkien knowing exactly what stories they intended to tell. And, not just competently tell them, but tell them in ways that have touched and continue to inspire generations of storytellers and story-enjoyers, alike.

The crew behind Voltron: Legendary Defender, however, seemed to have no idea what story they were trying to tell, to begin with, let alone how to tell it.

On its surface, this is a mecha cartoon series about four teenagers and one adult from Earth who find themselves jetted into space to, under the guidance of an alien princess and her quirky advisor, pilot giant robot lions that combine into an even bigger humanoid robot, and fight to free the universe from the tyranny of an evil alien empire. It's packaged as an ensemble show, in the vein of Teen Titans, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Justice League, most X-Men cartoon series, and so on. Thus, it can be presumed that no one character on the team is more important than any of the others.

While an attempt is, indeed, made to give each of the seven members of Team Voltron their own internal and external conflicts and days in the sun (with the exception of poor Coran, who exists primarily for comic relief, and viewers are scarcely given insight into anything beyond his quirky anecdotes, eccentric mannerisms, and fear of losing Allura), Shiro is overwhelmingly given the most emotional pathos and narrative significance.

The series opens on his abduction and imprisonment.

His escape from Zarkon's ship and recapture by the Galaxy Garrison is the impetus that launches the plot, and brings the five pilots of Voltron together.

He's specifically singled out as the de facto leader of Voltron, and given the most significant role of Paladin of its largest lion, and decisive head.

He has personal ties to all three of the major villains of the first two seasons as a direct victim of their cruelty, and as the series continues, this remains a trait exclusive to Shiro, and Shiro alone.

Sendak is Shiro's personal tormentor, something implied as early as the pilot,

and that continues to be emphasized in Sendak's subsequent appearances.

Haggar was responsible for the experiments conducted on Shiro that lead to the amputation of his right arm and its replacement with a weapon, and feels a sense of entitlement to Shiro's body.

It was Zarkon's ship that Shiro was held prisoner on after losing his crew, Zarkon was the previous Black Paladin, and Zarkon's persisting connection to the Black Lion is a conflict that Shiro ultimately elects to resolve on his own, even if it means a hand-to-hand fight to the death.

There are several episodes (Across The Universe, Space Mall) where the younger Paladins, Allura, and Coran are engaged in comedic shenanigans while Shiro is fighting for his life in explicitly high stakes situations.

Shiro's leadership, compassion, selflessness, and heroism are illustrated over and over again for Shiro's sake, and to it drive home for the audience just how incontrovertibly vital he is in the fight to overthrow Zarkon, and restore peace and liberty to the universe.

"Why are you helping me?"

"As a fighter, and a leader, you give hope."

Instead of writing Shiro as one component of a larger story, making his removal from it possible in the right hands, he was written as the heart of that story. Which rendered excising him from it an exercise in futility, as he is integral to every poignant narrative beat. I.E., his bond with Pidge/Katie being one of the major reasons she chooses to stay with the team instead of venturing out on her own to look for her father and brother.

Shiro is, in essence, Voltron: Legendary Defender's equivalent of Leonardo from the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series--The emotionally beleaguered, self-sacrificing and scarred (as of the end of the third season and entirety of the fourth, in Leonardo's case) leader, who is by far, the most skilled and experienced fighter, and spiritually advanced member of the team.

Leonardo, too, had personal connections to several of his series's most powerful and imposing recurring villains, with two of them (Karai and the Daimyo's son) hellbent on destroying him, specifically.

There are instances (The Shredder Strikes Back Part 1, and the episodes covering the Battle Nexus Tournament) where Leonardo faces higher stakes in juxtaposition to his brothers' lighter-hearted, more comedic exploits, and he underwent the most intensive character arc; battling feelings of anger, guilt, self-loathing, and PTSD before finally achieving inner piece and returning to his family as a more mature, composed, and even greater leader than he was, before.

What the staff behind Voltron: Legendary Defender effectively did is kill their show's Leonardo and replace him with Raphael (Keith). Then, aggressively backtrack on that decision by bringing in a clone of Leonardo who much, much (roughly four seasons) later turns out to have been an infiltrator created by a character with direct relation (Karai/Haggar) to the Turtles and Splinter's greatest enemy (Shredder/Zarkon) brainwashed to attempt to kill the real Leonardo's loved ones. Only for the clone to be taken out of commission during an emotionally-charged confrontation with Raphael, after which his consciousness is overwritten as the Real Leonardo's lifeforce is magically transferred into his body... Just so the newly resurrected and sorely missed Real Leonardo can mostly stand silently around, be disrespected, and do nothing of significance for the rest of the show.

Anyone with any knowledge of the Ninja Turtles franchise, this particular iteration of it, decent storytelling, or even a lick of common sense would tell you that this move is ill-advised, at best, and a terrible idea destined to crash and burn, at worst. But, these showrunners were, evidently, oblivious to their own poor decision-making and ineptitude, and chose to rip out the stitch that held their messily woven tapestry together, causing it to irreparably unravel right in front of their and their audience's eyes.

And, blaming Shiro for that blind incompetence is exactly like blaming that deliberately torn stitch.

[marble-running]

okay hopefully this will not break your inbox this time so long as i don't send 30 images again

Yuri #1 - Anhane

very yuriful. their first (indirect) meeting is when kohane sees an performing, and wishes she could be as confident and passionate as her. this is actually what unlocks their sekai (vbs has some fate shit going on long story) and they get isekai'd into it although they don't remember that or meeting each other. kohane gets lost and ends up in an's dad's cafe some time later, and thinks an is really cool, but she runs out as soon as an starts talking to her. she comes back a week later because an's performance left such an impression on her, and they talk for a bit, then sing together, and an decides kohane is the one for her, so they become partners. i won't spoil the entire main story for you lol so i'll leave it there.

anyway over the course of the game (not in much depth) kohane starts to pick up skill very quickly. she's very naturally talented, moreso than an. once kohane starts getting mentored, an begins to worry that kohane will get too good for her, and leave her behind as a partner. kohane is unaware of all this and herself has some concerns that she's not as confident or impressive as An, though this isn't as much of a problem as an's abandonment issues. anyway they do work things out in the event the vampire yuri card is from.

for some other stuff. kohane is implied lesbian, she's very attracted to an in the second wedding event, and shows attraction to other girls too (mainly haruka). an is also implied lesbian, and her card story for the anhane/minoharu date night event suggests that she's like. legitimately dating kohane. a later card story suggests this too. haruka says that this is the first time an has ever acted like this with anyone, and the way an's parents act around kohane is almost as if she's an's girlfriend.

Yuri #2 - Minoharu

^ moment that is very important to me they're actually my favourite ship in the game. haruka is the one who inspired minori to be an idol, and she has been a huge fan of her for years. however when she meets haruka in person only to learn she quit being an idol, she decides she has to bring back the haruka she's always looked up to. haruka helps out minori with some training and advice here and there, but still doesn't go back to being an idol. it's only once minori finds out what caused haruka to quit, resolves it, and then puts on a show for her does she convince her to become an idol again. basically minori is able to remind her of why she loves performing so much, she just needed to see this person who she impacted so is so endlessless positive and full of love and passion. minori also reminds haruka of the person she looked up to and got her to be an idol but that's important later and i could go on about it for a long time but i think your askbox has a word limit.

minori is also like. very explicitly in love with haruka. not just like a celebrity crush like she's legit crushing on haruka really badly. there's just SO MUCH of it please check the tvtropes homoerotic subtext page for proseka i spent ages on the minoharu folder when i was 16. oh yeah also implied lesbian, though i tend to just assume its canon for her (and an/kohane/saki). it's implied that haruka reciprocates minori's crush to some degree but she's a bit dense sometimes.

Yuri #3 - Shizuai

first off i am still not over this card. okay so airi and shizuku first met when shizuku was new to the industry. shizuku was upset that she was a burden to the other girls in her unit due to being an amateur who didn't even intend to become an idol (some friends signed her up without her knowledge but she attended the auditions and passed). she was starting to cry, so airi gave her a towel to clean up with. this towel is shizuku's bonus item for gameplay purposes.

however, airi also harboured some jealousy at shizuku over time, since shizuku kept getting promoted and was incredibly popular and got lots of opportunities, whilst she essentially became a tv star instead of an idol. when shizuku quits because she wasn't enjoying being an idol anymore, airi lashes out at her. however this is resolved pretty quickly, and they both decide to become idols again for eah other, since they are each others' idol.

they're like. very clearly in love with each other. airi is attracted to shizuku and bought all the magazines she did photoshoots in and compares shizuku to a swan etc etc but shizuku says some REALLY gay shit sometimes like she has this whole monologue about airi's hands in airi's 3rd event and the card above is her returning a "magic spell" gesture airi did for her years ago. also i showed you the romeo and cinderella 3dmv so you get the idea.

Yuri #4 - Emunene

they are very important to me. emu is super friendly and affectionate with just about everyone. nene is her total opposite - shy and has a sharp tongue. there's multiple times early game however where rui (#1 emunene supporter) points out how nene has started acting differently around emu, she's smiling and laughing more, and is the only person she won't leave on read. in emu's first event nene wants to cheer emu up when she's sad, specifically saying that she wants to see emu's smile again. they become a lot closer over the course of the game, and nene's standoffish attitude around emu and slight annoyance at her going on outings with her completely disappear. they regularly go to each others' houses to watch movies or play video games or go shopping together now. they have an event where they enter a gaming contest together which is where this card is from. nene is also the first one to comfort emu when wxs is at risk of breaking up.

in emu's third event the vocaloids list off emu's favourite things as all being activities she does with emu, with luka going as far as to say that emu loves nene. nene gets flustered and tells them they're just regular activities for them. anyway they got "very good friends"d in the official english translation so you know they're gay. also it's loosely implied that they both like girls. they are very cute and very gay and emu clings onto nene in one area conversation to the point nene is blushing and then they share parfaits together and also got one together ON WHITE DAY.

yuri #5 - polyneed

DO NOT SEPARATE. theyre so devoted to each other it's actually sickening. okay so. they've been friends since elementary school, and then decide to form a band because ichika wanted to play some miku songs. when they're walking home one day there's a meteor shower, and decide to keep playing in the band and spending time together forever. ichika has like a baby gay realisation that she wants to be with them forever here and it's what causes their sekai to form. this yearning shit gets serious. anyway as they get older saki is moved to a faraway hospital, shiho cuts them off because she doesn't want her reputation affecting them, and honami cuts them off because she doesn't want to be bullied. when saki gets out of hospital she decides to get the band back together, and this is the plot of the main story.

anyway post main story the gay yearning shit gets serious. so shiho wants to go pro but the rest are pretty casual about the band. shiho is offered to play for a different group, but leoneed are willing to uproot their lives to stay with shiho. shiho also realises that leoneed is the only band for her. the gacha for that event is called 4=1. the event song is called one and starts as 3/4 time but switches to 4/4 time. the card above is from this set. it's all very domestic and happy leoneed life together forever. oh and then in the ichika event that just ran on en last month they reaffirm their promise under the stars. its shakespearean the star motifs here. okay so their recent world link event was insane. i need to waffle. they have this magic flying subway train in their sekai now. and it won't open. but then it opens for shiho but she won't board it until the others are there. because she only wants to go for her dreams if they're by her side. and then at the end of the event they all ride the train together. what the hell.

okay so saki's like. very implied lesbian. there's several indicators that she's into girls. tbh everyone in this game likes the same gender it's a japanese idol mobage they're all gay. fanservice or something. anyway is there a polycule implied in the funny miku taptap game.... i dunno? considering the industry, no, considering honami's self intro where she "sounds like she's confessing to them" and causes them all to blush, maybe. maybe the leoneed writers room is bad at writing friendship and thinks this is "girls hanging out" when it's actually "sapphic yearning off the scale". honami is also ship teased with another girl but i'm not going to put that in this already. ahem. very long ask.

Yuri #6 - Mizuena

okay now here's complex yuri. kanamafu is more yuri than them but alas i am not as invested in them and this ask is also a free pass for me to talk about my favourite prsk ships (minus the two yaois) and brainwash you with my agenda. okay so i've already explained the deal with mizuki and ena on that massive google doc i sent you. so despite their teasing, mizuki really does appreciate ena, and she thinks she's talented and values her art. while kanade is actually the one who saw true worth in ena and her art, mizuki still is supportive of ena.

ena->mizuki is about trust. ena sees that something is troubling mizuki. there's something on mizuki's mind and they won't spit it out. ena wants to know, she's not the most patient person alive, but she decides not to pressure mizuki and tells her she'll wait as long as she has to. but although ena puts her full trust in mizuki, they lie to her and tell her that they'll tell her eventually when they don't plan on it at all, still scared of what will happen when ena knows, and scared of losing ena (and n25), who they didn't even realise viewed them as a true friend until she said it in that moment. mizuki's second event still tears me up to this day it's definitely worth the read and i'm very excited for the anticipated mizuki comes out event in october.

oh yeah also it's implied they both like girls. you already know the deal with mizuki i used they/them here for the most part just out of clarity.

anyway those are my top 6 project sekai yuris. not in order i have all of them ranked equally except minoharu because some ships are more equal than others. if you have any other questions about project sekai shipping please ask me in my askbox or dms i need you to get invested in this game enough so i can ramble and you can comprehend it lmao

[solis-solaire]

TL;DR: Let people hc whatever they want without attacking them,, as long as folks tag correctly and provide ample warning around sensitive topics, it shouldn’t matter what someone thinks about a funny fictional character. Love one another and sing kumbaya, thank you

I find the conversations around fictional characters who are headcanoned by any part of the fandom as gay, or any part of the LGBT community to be really weird. I’m using Miles Edgeworth from Ace Attorney as an example, but this post reflects my views across all fandoms.

Whenever I see a piece of ace attorney fandom media where Phoenix and Miles are in the same room and interact with each other, but isn’t explicitly shipping them, a lot of people in the comments will imply nrmt (narumitsu/wrightworth) with their comments anyways. And I FEEL THAT,,, because oftentimes it is just on the brain like that,, however if it wasn’t intended it might make the creator of the fanon work uncomfortable,, or make folks who don’t like nrmt upset.

When this happens a lot of shipping folks like to say “well it’s BASICALLY CANON that he’s gay,” which I don’t think is great. Even though I myself hc he’s gay, and a lot of the fandom thinks similarly, and even if that is the intention of the creators of the series, other people are allowed to think differently about it. That’s what’s nice about characters that aren’t confirmed to be any type of way: people can draw their own conclusions or label them as something they can relate to more, and explore what the universe would be like if those hcs - no matter how “out of place” they may be - were the case.

Alternatively, people who respond to the “they’re basically canonically gay” comment tend to say a variety of things that I believe are equally hurtful, if not more so. I get that it can be frustrating for folks who may happen to see Miles as anything besides gay to constantly hear this in this fandom, however I don’t think replying to that with “you’re homophobic for stereotyping gay people this way and immediately thinking they’re gay because they have these traits” is right either.

It’s true that many people see certain traits in fictional men and then like to assume they’re fruity. Miles Edgeworth for example is very well-mannered and kinda posh, he wears a cravat/jabot thing and speaks like he has a thesaurus shoved down his throat. He also drinks a lot of tea and is a closeted fan of a popular kids’ show. These surface traits are often the points folks who argue against the headcanon that he’s gay like to bring up, as these traits are often considered stereotypes of a gay man. As such, many folks argue against the “he’s canonically gay” point with the counterpoint that if you think he’s gay, you’re stereotyping gay men, or fetishizing them, or even that you’re homophobic for hcing that a character is gay if they DARE have any of these traits. And that’s pretty weird to me.

Sure, if this were the only things that could lead a person to hcing that Miles Edgeworth is gay, then maybe they have a point. Even if they did, I personally do not see the harm in hcing a person to be any type of way, as a lot of the folks who enjoy these headcanons are part of the LGBT community. Headcanons can be a way for an audience to relate to a character even more, no matter how out of place they may be to someone who is not within that audience. I think personally that as long as we can all exist in our separate internet spaces where Miles is gay in one and he’s straight in the other, he’s aroace in one and poly in the other, ANYTHING you might like to hc Miles as, that everyone can enjoy themselves and not be upset/offended by what other people think of a fictional man.

However, many people who come to the conclusion that Miles Edgeworth is gay usually like to reference the way he speaks about women and men, and also how he speaks about Phoenix Wright if you like the nrmt route. I like to reference AAI’s Turnabout Airlines for the first point, as there’s quite a few sentences that could be referencing Miles’ sexuality in them. There’s a scene where a man you decide to talk to on the airplane flirts with the female flight attendant accompanying Miles by saying something along the lines of sharing a glass of “grape juice” together. Miles thinks the man is talking to HIM and replies “I’m sorry, but I must decline.” Lots of people like to reference this moment as a hint that he’s gay, as in previous interactions where women have tried flirting with Miles, he doesn’t notice at all (except for Wendy Oldbag because NO ONE can miss that), but when this man flirts, he immediately notices, and sounds almost disappointed to have to decline the offer. Additionally, Miles and Phoenix are VERY WEIRD about each other throughout the entire series, and I’m not gonna talk about that because there is so much and many other people have spoken about it already. MY POINT IS that there are more reasons people like to hc he’s gay than “oh he speaks nicely and drinks tea”.

Not to mention that I heavily dislike that folks believe that we HAVE to assume a character is cishet unless the media they’re in explicitly states otherwise. Like why CAN’T people say this man is fruitier than a fruit salad, huh? The show didn’t explicitly say so? Well, they didn’t explicitly say he was straight either sweetie. Most media doesn’t do that if it’s not a focus in the plot, they’re more concerned about writing a neat, convoluted murder plot. For all we know Miles has had a secret boyfriend all along. Ultimately it doesn’t really matter what canon says, people on the internet can and will do whatever they want with this funny, traumatized little man, and I think it’s awesome that we can all share our ideas in this fandom. But I’m tired of people attacking each other or forcing their headcanons upon one another.

PEOPLE CAN CHARACTERIZE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS HOWEVER THEY WANT. IT SHOULD NOT MATTER WHAT THEY’RE DOING WITH THEM AS LONG AS THEY TAG CORRECTLY AND PROVIDE WARNINGS WHEREVER NECESSARY. GRRRRRRRRRRR

[i-heart-hxh]

Do you think togashi Will sink killugon in the future by denying the romantic reading of their relationship?

Hi anon! I strongly don't think that'll ever happen. I truly believe including the romantic subtext between them is intentional on Togashi's part, and I want to be clear I'm not saying that just as a shipper, but as someone who has spent years deeply analyzing the series as a whole, as well as Togashi's influences and interests. The deeper I look into it, the more I'm certain he includes all the things he includes with full intention.

Again, I post this because everyone deserves to see it:

Togashi wanted to create works with queer characters before HxH even existed, and he was deeply invested in this concept! It's possible pieces of HxH even came out of this original idea he had--he did say he might publish it someday in "a different form," so it's not an impossibility.

I think likely one of two things will happen with Gon and Killua's relationship in the future of the manga:

Togashi will bring them back and reunite them, and we'll (at least eventually) get some sort of ending for them that may not be 100% undeniably canonically romantic, but likely continues with the same kind of romantic subtext and ambiguity that's been present all along. (Think something like: They decide to travel together again and promise to stay together without it actually saying if they mean it in a romantic way or not, but there might be hints or wording that imply it is intended in that way, with Togashi trusting those of us who see it that way will understand.) Or maybe we hit the jackpot and he does make it explicitly canon. I don't think that's super likely, but if anyone could get away with it, it would be Togashi, for a whole list of reasons I won't get into on this post.

Sadly he won't reach that point in the manga due to his health and how much of the series remains, but he won't say either way what he intends their relationship to mean, and we're free to continue to interpret it how we want.

There are other possibilities of course, but I think those are the most likely outcomes. I do think he fully intends to reunite Gon and Killua and I've written about this in-depth (whether the series actually reaches that point or not). I don't think he intends to "sink the ship" ever because he's the one giving us an uncountable number of reasons to believe in the ship in the first place... And I do think he's doing it out of his own personal interest, not just for marketing reasons or whatever like we see in some other shounen series. It's deeply embedded in the series and the number of things pointing in this direction is just so, so many.

I don't think there's any reason to be pessimistic about Gon and Killua's future, aside from the factor of Togashi's health. However, I try to take the attitude that, in the case that it doesn't ever get finished (and assuming Togashi doesn't have some sort of back up plan, and I suspect he might), we get to choose ourselves how it ends. I deeply hope we get a canon reunion between them someday, the thought of this happening is something that keeps me going in life, but if we do have to continue to imagine it ourselves, it certainly could be worse.

[wellship]

I love youuu hope youre having a great day <33 also thoughts on sanlu as a ship?

I really like SanLu! They were not on my radar much until some friends started shipping them and that made me understand their appeal... I don't really ship them until after the timeskip (pretty much same as SanUso) but I think they're very sweet. There's something appealing about their dynamic - Sanji with his self-worth issues, and Luffy who loves everyone and all his crew members, but still loving Sanji most specially of all... Whole Cake Island makes SanLu EXTREMELY shippable haha. Sanji has only ever wanted to cook for the people he loves and he found a captain who doesn't want to eat anyone else's cooking for the rest of his life!!

Also for a chef who would rather die than waste food, there's something cute about him ending up with a guy who has an almost bottomless stomach and who will eat any disaster... Sanji can probably experiment so much more in the kitchen knowing that even if it turns out weird, Luffy will still eat it all and nothing will get wasted LOL. Zero waste chef X garbage disposal boyfriend OTP ♥

I think due to his trauma, Sanji can be a very emotionally needy person in a relationship, which might cause issues in with other people, especially if they have their own emotional hangups (like Zoro or Usopp). And obviously it's best for Sanji to address his emotional needs properly and unpack his trauma... but in the short term, it's also just very comforting and refreshing to see him with someone who has literally endless love and time and attention to give. Where Zoro might get annoyed or Usopp might get anxious because Sanji is in a "why would you even love me" spiral, Luffy would just be like UHH I LOVE YOU CUZ YOU'RE SO AMAZING!! LEMME LIST OFF MY TOP FIFTY REASONS. REASON NUMBER ONE: YOU SMELL TASTY ALL THE TIME. REASON NUMBER TWO: YOU HAVE A PRETTY SMILE. REASON NUMBER THREE: IT'S FUNNY WHEN YOU GET EMBARRASSED WHEN I SAY YOU HAVE A PRETTY SMILE. REASON NUMBER FOUR: FRENCH PASTRIES. REASON NU-

Anyway, it's a very cute ship! I kinda have to be in the mood for it, but I've made a bit of SanLu (implied) art before. My "Food As A Love Language" comic isn't explicitly intended to be read as romantic but you can certainly interpret it that way if you want and it explores an aspect of Sanji & Luffy's dynamic that I really like. Thank you for the message! I hope you're having a great day too!!

[dr-futbol-blog]

Aurora, Pt. 4

Sheppard and McKay have joined Teyla and Ronon on one of the other decks by an empty pod that McKay is hooking up to his laptop, and it seems as though Sheppard and McKay are now engaged in a game of chess of a kind, in a game of strategy where they try to out-think the other. The main-text reading of the scene is that Sheppard is still thinking about what had happened in Trinity (S02E06), and like McKay suggested at the end of the episode, that Sheppard has lost faith in his abilities and is making McKay earn back his trust. That is what Sheppard explicitly tells McKay: he does not trust him.

Sheppard: Are you sure this is such a good idea? McKay: What's the matter, Colonel? Don't trust me? Sheppard: No. McKay: Fine!

Only, we saw earlier that Sheppard had perfect trust in McKay's abilities. The whole reason they are here in the first place is because Sheppard had faith in McKay's abilities. McKay had discovered the warship, told them where it was, how to get there, had given them life-support and they were now traipsing through the hull of the damaged ship on the faith that McKay had made it safe for them to do this. And during this scene, Sheppard was offering to have his brain connected to a virtual environment on the word that McKay believed it would be alright. Sheppard has faith in McKay's abilities. He also has no reason not to trust his intentions here, as McKay seems very much to be putting the risk only on himself, he is willing to do the potentially dangerous experiment on himself to spare anyone else from having to do it. He is not endangering anyone else except in the sense that Weir had suggested at the end of Trinity, that because McKay is so important to them it is by placing his own life in jeopardy he is also risking the lives of others.

Sheppard says "No" in response to McKay's question, and he says it with the tone of "Obviously not!" But which part of the question is he answering here? Sheppard had been forced to acknowledge the fact that he could not trust McKay following the events of Trinity. But it was not because McKay was untrustworthy, it was because he himself was untrusting. In Condemned (S02E05), the leader of the prisoners of the island who seemed to have a very keen insight into human nature had told Sheppard "You're very distrustful," where he had self-described himself as a "worrier" in the same episode, both descriptors in response to Sheppard wanting to keep the people he cares about safe. It is not just Sheppard who thinks that he has issues when it comes to trusting other people, even complete strangers can tell that about him.

And so, Sheppard's response to McKay's question is "No, I don't trust you," and where McKay clearly hears this as a judgement of his own trustworthiness, Sheppard intends it as an honest and open confession of his own inability to trust one of the most transparent, guileless, working hard to earn his approval, telegraphs his thoughts, feelings and intentions from space kind of people in the world. It is his issue, not McKay's, and he is trying to communicate to McKay by admitting this that he is trying to work on it. The incredulity in the way that he says the word implies the meaning "No, you got it all wrong!" He is making an effort to trust McKay but he is simply not there yet, especially not when it comes to making sure that McKay is safe, that his life is safeguarded.

McKay is proposing to do this thing at a risk to his own life but that is precisely the thing that Sheppard would very much like to avoid. That is the only unacceptable risk for him. That is a no for him. Where he would trust his own life in McKay's hands any day of the week, he does no trust McKay to be able to protect himself. It is for this same exact reason that Sheppard refuses to put that P-90 into McKay's hands if he can avoid it. It is not that he thinks that McKay does not know how to use it since he has trained him to use it himself, it is that he feels like it is his job to keep McKay from ever needing to use one.

Also note that Sheppard's response here follows McKay calling him "Colonel," and while they are on an open channel with Caldwell while this exchange is taking place, there is still a hint of an attitude to the way McKay speaks the title. Once more, it is superfluous. He did not have to say it. He could just as well have looked at Sheppard and simply said "What's the matter, you don't trust me?" There was no need for him to insert that Colonel there. But he did. Because he is still thinking about Chaya, about how Sheppard had told him to call him John when they are off the clock some time after the events of The Defiant One (S01E13) and before Sanctuary (S01E14), only to then give him the cold shoulder and use the time that they had with a living, breathing Ancient for making out with her rather than to try and get answers to the thousands of questions McKay would have had for her, as McKay had understood what had happened.

He says "Colonel" here with the same barely concealed derision he had said "Major" to him then. In these moments, it is not a title for McKay. It is an expression of scorn. And Sheppard feels every inch of that scorn. And we hear from his tone that his "No" is also in response to McKay's use of the title. "No, we are not doing this again," "No, you don't call me that, not like this". And McKay's "Fine!" is also a tacit acknowledgement of this. This is not an exchange between two colleagues. This is an exchange between two people that know each other intimately who both have hurt feelings to go around. No. Fine!

Caldwell: You're proposing actually freezing yourself in one of those things? McKay: I should be able to tap into the neural network without actually initializing stasis. Look, it won't take long. I'll be in and out.

The face Sheppard pulls here as he sits down to do his favourite thing, which is to watch McKay work, is interesting. It is in response to McKay saying the words "in and out". The old in and out. In-n-out. A well-known euphemism for penetrative sex. Sheppard's face is telling him both "Do you have to say it like that?" and "You, not taking long? You?" Sheppard, who had grown accustomed to quick and efficient trysts before meeting this man that could spend hours taking him apart, believes that McKay would be quick about it when the pigs start joining the Air Force. The look that Sheppard gives McKay when he one thousand percent interprets what McKay says as sexual innuendo regardless of whether McKay meant it like that (and he probably did not because he is not the one that has trouble keeping sex out of his brain during missions; this is not the first time that we see Sheppard interpret something McKay says as a reference to sex nor is it the last) is so telling. This whole episode is just... If they are not fucking, then what the heck are they doing here?

It may even be that this is not the first time that Sheppard has heard McKay say these exact words recently, given the way we found Sheppard biting into that power bar back when they were leaving. He had clearly missed lunch, and the way he glanced back at McKay suggests that he had missed lunch doing something with McKay. McKay can say "It won't take long" all he wants but Sheppard has very good reason not to believe him when he says that. He knows better than anyone that McKay's "It won't take long" will have them running late for things. And it isn't even that he minds. It is just that he knows McKay. McKay, however, seems to think that Sheppard is still on about not trusting him on this, and hence starts making a pitch.

McKay: Look, the quickest way to figure out what is going on in there is to tap into the system and communicate directly with the Captain. Need I remind you of the obvious value in this? Teyla: But is it safe?

McKay makes an impassioned plea, really seeming to think that Sheppard is doubting him. He is not talking to Caldwell, he is answering what ever he had just read on Sheppard's face. And the tone that he uses here is also one that we rarely hear him use, so candid and earnest that it can only be meant for Sheppard to hear. Because he thinks Sheppard is having doubts, he is trying to reach him using the kind of tone he might use when they are in private, just the two of them. McKay really wants to do this, he thinks this is important. He is trying to make Sheppard understand that this is important enough for him to even get over his hurt feelings about what might have happened between Sheppard and living, breathing Ancients in the past. He is not over it, not by a long shot, but he is willing to pull up his big boy pants if they can get some answers from the Ancients. But even so there is still a bit of attitude in his "Need I remind you," because he is going to keep reminding Sheppard of that as long as he lives.

McKay: Would I be volunteering to go if it wasn't? Dex: No. Sheppard: Which is exactly what makes it safe enough for me to go. McKay: What?

We see Sheppard make his chess move here, which seems to take McKay completely by surprise. Sheppard is trying to logic him into letting him go and this seems to short-circuit McKay's whole brain for a moment because this is not what he had intended at all. He thought that he was having to convince Sheppard that this was a thing worth doing and that he could trust him to be able to complete the task and here he is, telling him that he trusts McKay enough to want to go under himself. Clearly McKay had been having a whole other conversation than Sheppard just now. He is so caught unawares that he completely forgets to even take offense at what Ronon says, having already started rolling his eyes at him. McKay had made such a good case for himself, how had they suddenly ended up here? This was spiraling out of control.

Sheppard: Better to have you on the outside in case something goes wrong. McKay: It won't! Sheppard: But if it does... McKay: It won't! How many times do I have to say this?!

Let us just be clear about the fact that neither one of them are thinking about this rationally. This is not a rational calculus, this is not game theory, this is not about getting to the best outcome. This is about two people that love each other who are competing over who gets to do more for the other person. I love you. I love you more. Well, I love you the most. Hang up. You hang up. No, you hang up. And because it seems like they might be at this for a while if left to their own devices, Teyla decides to referee the contest. She thinks she is being clever about it, too.

Teyla: Rodney. Between the two of you, if something were to go wrong, which would be the greater loss? McKay: Well, I've never thought of it that way but... she's right. You should go.

Now, we see Sheppard do a double take when McKay says this. Clearly he had expected that McKay would argue some more and that he would have to strong arm him into agreeing that he should be the one to go. The fact that McKay changes his mind so quickly is suspicious to him. He has to review their entire conversation to see if he missed something. Because they are playing chess here. It is not that Sheppard thinks that McKay thinks that his life is worth more than his. He knows McKay volunteered to go because he does not want to risk anyone else. And Sheppard does not want to risk McKay. Their aims here are both opposite and complementary. For a moment he wonders if he missed something, if McKay is using some kind of reverse psychology here. Of course he is going to go, he was always going to be the one to go and not let McKay do it, he had started stripping for the occasion already, but why had McKay acquiesced so easily?

Teyla asks McKay which one of them would be the greater loss, himself or Sheppard. And the answer is obvious to McKay: Sheppard every day of the week. He has been willing to sacrifice his own life so that Sheppard might live ever since Hide and Seek (S01E03). Sheppard is not just the most important person in his life, the best person he has ever met in his life, is not just the love of his life. McKay thinks that other people need Sheppard, and so Sheppard's life is worth infinitely more than his. Both Teyla and Ronon display their familiarity with McKay here, but not a deeper understanding of his character. They do not know him the way Sheppard does and that is because it is only with Sheppard that he has ever truly shared himself with, who he has allowed to see the man that he is underneath layers and layers of defense mechanisms. McKay is both a brave and caring man, and hence volunteering to go had been obvious to him.

And it was not Teyla's attempt at stroking his ego that made him change his mind, it was actually what Sheppard had just said. As long as McKay was on the outside, he would be able to make sure that Sheppard was safe. If he was inside, he would not be able to do that from there. It was what Sheppard said that made him recognize the value of this proposition but what Teyla had given him was an out. Grabbing on to Teyla's proposal and making it seem as though he agrees, his life is worth more than Sheppard's, he is able to take Sheppard's counsel without making it seem like a big deal, without having to make it into a huge emotional moment that Sheppard hates and that make him uncomfortable. He is trying to spare Sheppard from having to actually come out and say it, from having to actually bare his soul to get McKay to see it from his perspective.

He was trying to keep Sheppard safe by volunteering to go, and he is trying to keep Sheppard safe by agreeing to be the one to stay back and make sure that it is safe for Sheppard, and we do see McKay by his pod looking over him, making sure that he is safe nearly the whole time. Both Sheppard and McKay were thinking about the move after that and the move after that here. They are trying to out-think the other. Like McKay explicitly tells Ronon and Teyla later, they have gotten into the habit of saving each other's lives. They both have the same agenda here, to keep the other man safe. And it is testament to just how good McKay is at this that much of the audience are completely fooled by his about face here. And we can see from Sheppard's expression that he himself is not sure if he had just lost the bout. McKay had pulled a whole Uno Reverse on him all of a sudden. Yes, he could go under on McKay's behalf but that will leave him unable to protect McKay here in the real world, and we will see the importance of this later on.

McKay: Now remember, the system creates a direct feedback loop between the processor and your brainwaves, so when you wanna disconnect, you'll need to, well, really concentrate.

We get a look of the effigy of Sheppard on McKay's computer as his fingers dance over the keyboard, and Sheppard is lying down in front of him. This is not the first time that he has been lying on his back in front of McKay but never quite in this context. He cannot help stealing glances at McKay from where he is. He trusts McKay to take care of him. There is no one he would trust more, being in the vulnerable position that he is. We can even see this in the way that Sheppard has his hands by his sides where the wraith they find later has his hands crossed over his chest.

Sheppard: You mean think it. McKay: I think it'll probably take a little more than that, otherwise you'd be popping in and out of the thing every time it crossed your mind. Sheppard: So... there's no place like home? McKay: If that works for you.

So, Sheppard makes a very obvious reference to The Wizard of Oz here, and the connections of the story to gay culture do not need reiteration. What is, however, both interesting and important is that the first time the show referenced the story was in Sanctuary (S01E14), where it had been McKay who mentioned to Sheppard that he felt like he was expected to ignore "the man behind the curtain," being the Wizard himself. Clearly this is something that McKay is familiar with and he would therefore have caught Sheppard's reference here immediately.

Now, there seemed to be some correspondences between the members of the team and the characters from Oz in the episode where Chaya was dressed as Dorothy but was actually more like Glinda the Good, if not even the Wicked Witch in disguise. But now that Ronon has replaced Ford on the team, it may be that their roles have shifted, and we could cast Ronon as the Tin Man and Teyla as the Scarecrow in the context of this particular scene, for example.

What is significant, however, is that Sheppard identifies himself with Dorothy here. He is suggesting to McKay that he will be able to get out of the virtual environment by clicking together the heels of his combat boots three times. He full on calls himself Dorothy here, and let us recall that "Friends of Dorothy" is a well-known euphemism for gay men, which McKay is. Both a gay man and a friend to our Dorothy here, that is. And since Sheppard casts himself as Dorothy, this puts McKay into the role of Glinda, the Good witch of the North.

As to the reason why Sheppard says this, this is first of all a bridge between the episodes. The film and/or book are mentioned several times over the seasons but this is the second explicit mention since Sanctuary, and the intention is to tie the two together. To let the audience know that the episode with Chaya is still very much looming in the background of Sheppard and McKay's interactions here, in case all the mentions of "living Ancients" was not enough to make the reference explicit. This is an intentional reference connecting the two episodes.

But further, in character, Sheppard says this with the intention of reassuring McKay. He could hear the hurt in McKay's voice earlier, and probably made the connection between McKay's sudden shift in attitude and the episode with Chaya (and more recently Teyla, which is what had triggered McKay to even think about it) which are largely meaningless to Sheppard but which seem to really bother McKay. And so, here, as he is going under, instead of saying any kind of a good-bye just in case anything does go wrong, he is essentially telling McKay that he does not just want him, he is full on Broadway musicals gay for him. He is making an intentional gay reference that means absolutely nothing to the two aliens but which he knows that McKay would get.

But again McKay does not necessarily interpret what Sheppard says in the same spirit as he intends it. McKay seems very much done here, and he may have interpreted Sheppard as calling him gay which, yes, obviously, thank you, but he is fucking men gay, not flamboyant showtunes and glitter kind of gay, and what is Sheppard even implying here? This has bearing on the way we see McKay behaving later on in the simulation.

McKay: Now, I should be able to monitor your EEG patterns, so in the highly unlikely event that something anomalous should present itself, I should be able to disconnect you manually. Sheppard: Good. McKay: ...without permanent brain damage. Sheppard: Rodney?

McKay is reassuring Sheppard, explaining the technical side to him in the way that he knows Sheppard wants him to explain things and he is cracking a joke to make the moment lighter for Sheppard, all of which tells us just how well McKay knows him. Sheppard knows that McKay is fucking with him. He is fairly certain that McKay is fucking with him. He is fucking with him, right?

Note that Sheppard does call him Rodney here, where "McKay!" might have worked better for the purpose of "be serious" that he was going for. But given that he is lying down on his back, it seems like Rodney is the name on his lips at a moment like this. It is a somatic memory, something rising from his body. But yes, McKay was fucking with him, which we can tell by the fact that he again has to return to the topic of the "living Ancient," like the memory of Chaya is a scab that he just cannot stop picking at.

McKay: Well, the opportunity to speak to a living Ancient is worth the risk, hmm? Now, when I close the lid, the pod system should activate. Ready? Sheppard: I was! McKay: Good!

Sheppard frowns as McKay mentions the living Ancient again because it sounds to him like McKay is genuine about his desire to communicate with the Ancients where his hurt feelings over Sheppard's past encounters with living Ancients is clear from across the Universe. But Sheppard is not sure he shares the sentiment because he is not that keen on hearing what the Ancients have to say about anything. As far as he is concerned, the Ancients are the dead beat dad of two galaxies that left out for smokes and never came back, and while he is fairly sure McKay was joking about the brain damage, he is not sure that talking to Ancients is worth the risk. And McKay is just throwing a lot on him. Why does he feel like he had just lost a game to McKay? Like McKay had just knocked over his queen, lying prone in the pod as he was as he prepared to go into the simulation

Continued in Pt. 5

[yourlocaldisneyvillain]

i would like to be in and foster an online environment in which discussions abt controversial topics can be handled civilly without ppl ganging up and sending an influx of anon hate. i think internet in general is a space where ppl love to be outraged and i want to challenge that. that's partially why i wrote this fic. i am tired of purity culture and of fandom/online hivemind. in a fandom where a lot of ppl clearly enjoy age gap ships, i say, what makes one better and more "morally correct" than another? what makes a sugar mommy au better than a college student x teacher fic? so many fics featuring dark themes are popular in this fandom (don't wanna name any names bc i don't wanna get anyone involved), but THIS is the one ppl are upset about?

i wanna ask a question -- is it possible to write a fic where ppl are NOT morally pure but still somehow manage to live and find happiness? why is it forbidden to explore those themes in fiction? when you look at ppl in real life and how weirdly their lives shape up, and how ppl are flawed and make mistakes and live unconventionally or sometimes immorally or unhealthily, doesn't that interest you? in a sense that you would like to read about it? explore what goes on in the minds of these ppl/characters?

ppl forget exploring a theme in fiction doesn't equate to condoning it in real life. each individual has to use their own best judgement when consuming a piece of fiction. i assume everyone reading my fic is an adult (as i write fics intended for adult audiences) and can form their own opinion.

i would like it if people could use their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills when reading my fiction, without me having to put up exact and specific 1826372929392 word disclaimers, so ppl's fragile feelings wouldn't get hurt. would it really be okay if i wrote in all caps before the story WEDNESDAY IS 22? you could have read the first paragraph and figured that out. i tagged it as teacher-student bc it's playing with the concept, even if they are not a student/teacher in the timeline of the story. i use implied underage sex as a tag bc in the 2nd chapter, and repeatedly throughout the story i reference larissa and morticia's relationship, that has occurred when they were underage. i mention that they engaged in sex. it is only mentioned, and not explicitly described. do you need me to write all of that out under the title in order not to send anon hate and clutch your pearls in disgust? or can you just read the story and decide if it's for you or not?

i implore you to read all of my works as a story, without attaching a moral judgement to characters' actions. if and when you do attach a moral judgement and form an opinion, pls remember those are fictional characters, and i am an author exploring certain themes bc i can and it interests me to do so. i want to write unconventional stories, controversial stories, romantic stories, funny stories, horror stories, i want to explore everything. everybody who reads is invited to look at them as a piece of fiction they can enjoy or not enjoy, and nothing more. i hope to take you on a journey that leaves you with something to remember, good or bad, but impactful.

from now on, i will probably write longer works and venture into darker themes (next thing i'm planning is murder mystery/thriller). there will still be fluffy pieces, but i just want to push myself out of my comfort zone. i would like to associate with fandom ppl who are open-minded and can read a piece of fiction without going ballistic. if you look at things black and white, you likely won't like my fiction -- and that's okay.

however, if for any reason you want to send me hate, you will absolutely be blocked. i am a person, and i do not deserve insults and rudeness in my inbox. it's easy to feel empowered and feel like you're fighting for A Cause (TM) and attach the Bad Guy etiquette to a single person. that can feel like you're solving something. esp when ppl accuse me of promoting actual p3dophilia -- that's a cause everyone can get behind. banish the evil p3do apologist!

i am a victim of child sexual abuse, that went on all throughout my formative years, and into my adult age, simply because i thought that's how it must be. that experience has scarred me beyond belief. i don't want to share the details. it's not smth i'm sharing for pity points, nor do i need anyone's sympathy. however, it is an experience that has shaped who i am, and perhaps for that reason, combined with other things, is why i'm drawn to certain themes in fiction. i don't owe anybody an explanation as to why i choose certain topics, but since there have been idiots in my inbox who have accused me of harming victims of minor sexual abuse, i feel compelled to say something. fuck you for using a group of suffering ppl to support your own flimsy arguments born out of puritanism and inability to cope with heavy themes in fiction.

you are absolutely welcome to CIVILLY discuss your opinions about the fic with me -- off anon, exclusively. but i know nobody will, bc this isn't about the actual contents of my fic, this is about the delicious morally righteous thrill of a witch hunt.

enjoy the fic. i will post next wednesday.

[fullscoreshenanigans]

Love the way the anime adapted this bit of the exchange between the trio in chapter 27 and chapter 28 where Ray reveals he hasn’t experienced infantile amnesia.

You can feel the profound weight of a lifetime of suffering and loss on his face as he grapples with trying to keep his emotions out of what he’ll say next, because he never brings up how what happened in all the years prior made him feel, not even when Emma provides him with an opportunity where she prompts him with speculation about what it must have been like seeing dozens of their siblings off and being powerless to do anything about it in episode 5

(Chapter 181.1)

when she remembers how shaken up Ray was when they were younger (even going so far as to say "but…Ray is never happy" in the "NER in Bird Cages" short story in the first light novel, though in perplexity as opposed to being passive-aggressive about it) and now finally has a devastating answer as to why.

But Ray never explicitly colors his recollections with emotions when discussing them with Emma and Norman, how what was happening around him and what he and Isabella did made him feel, and only displays the full anguish of what that did to him when he's speaking with Emma on the night of January 14th. While the two knew Ray intended to kill himself to serve as a distraction for them to escape, Emma never knew how deeply he internalized his self-loathing and the belief that he deserved to die for his actions and inaction until that eventful night, otherwise she would have asked one of the other kids to go talk to him, if not just have said “fuck it” and did it herself, Isabella's watchful eye be damned. She would not have let him suffer to that degree so long on his own; it goes against every fiber of her being.

Ray keeps all of that inside though, because he doesn't want their pity. He doesn't believe he deserves any when he actively chose to become Isabella's informant and which children would be shipped out early due to his experimentation with the trackers, least of all from the two people who are firmly categorized as genuinely good and worth saving in his mind. He loves them enough to squash down his humanity and die for them.

Yet there’s also that desperate (and what he considers selfish) desire to not be alone in this anymore.

I imagine among the vast array of emotions he was experiencing on the day of Conny's shipment was a guilty sort of excitement at being able to talk with them about the truth of the house, though he would never admit to it during this time because he deems his wants as irrelevant and unworthy.

But even after so much is out in the open between them now—how he tried to poison them against Don and Gilda and the other children by implying one of them was a traitor, how he experimented on at least one other child to ascertain how the trackers functioned, how he’s been Isabella’s dog for half his life—they still care about him and believe in him, and are earnestly reaching out to connect with him.

In a raw and selfish moment—because he's been steeling away his heart for years so that his resolve doesn't crumble—Ray gives in to those wants and reaches out to meet them. (There’s the argument that he’s desperate and willing to concede almost anything to strengthen his credibility with them so he can get his plans back on track and secure his end goal, but I like to think it’s mixed with this too.)

There's more focus on Norman than Emma during this part, likely as a callback to the tense confrontation they had during episode 5 where Norman was very cool and trying to quell how hurt he was by Ray’s betrayal and deceit. Now he’s taken what Emma said to heart, and it led him to the realization that Ray was willing to suffer in silence and die for them, willing to poison his relationship with them so they would distance themselves from him and so his death would cause them less grief.

(Chapter 29)

This is also after Norman’s fully committed himself to dying for Emma and Ray (and the other Grace Field children) and lied about what he plans to do the following day, so there’s this need for as much honesty between them as they can give because he hates leaving off on such terms. Unlike the time where he instigated a confrontation between them and went in combative in the event Emma was wrong, here he’s approaching Ray with a genuine desire to understand him. He wants to give him a chance to vent, know more about the him that he kept under such rigid constraints for so long, and to try and internalize what Ray’s saying to draw strength from the next day as he walks to the gate. This also why he verbalizes Ray’s struggle of six years of collecting parts for the deactivator and the focus switches to it as a physical manifestation of Ray’s hardships and love he holds in his hands (with the anime altering the manga's order of events so Ray gives him the tracker before discussing his memories of Grace Field Headquarters to facilitate this).

The lighting leaves such an acute awareness in Norman’s eyes and such a haunted look in Ray’s while the former is more illuminated and the latter is in shadows. I love that Norman holds Ray’s gaze during this entire exchange and doesn’t look away even during the brief bit of silence, letting Ray know that no matter what he says, he won’t shy away from sharing the weight of his reality. He wants to understand him after he spent a lifetime of not being able to be honest about the things that hurt him the most. There’s layers of tragedy to that, one being that they’re both still holding back at this point, but there is some progress on the front.

Likewise, how Ray’s eyes are obscured when he reveals he’s always known, and the way Norman doesn’t suppress his reaction as the light shimmers in his and the skin around them and his brow crinkles in muted grief. He vowed to himself not to look away at Ray’s suffering, but just like he quickly realizes the implication of Isabella being at the gate and how that’s reflected on his face in episode 1

the gravity that’s implicitly woven into those three words is heartbreaking, and it strengthens his resolve that he's making the correct choice. Ray has carried this burden for so, so very long; now it's his turn to bear it (though the perceived cost is unfathomably cruel to expect of anyone, least of all an eleven-year-old).

And on Ray’s end, we have the perspective flip of this reflection:

Because he remembers the years of Norman’s love and kindness when all Norman understood about the situation was that one of his two best friends was sad.

While he won't give up all his secrets to him and Emma, in this moment where they're on the precipice of potentially losing Norman if anything should go awry, he exposes another painful layer of his past.

It's a double-edged sword though, because while it does bring them all closer together emotionally, Ray assumes that by additionally appealing to Norman's logical side with the information he can provide him about headquarters, it'll convince him that hiding out in the forest for a few months is a viable option. In actuality, Norman's already made his final decision.

[markantonys]

Idk if you saw the Josha Collider interview but he kinda hints we might get some Randlayne in s3? Which I am curious about that cause I didn't think they'd have time. Also that the Randfear relationship will continue where it left off and get even more complicated (which is very much their Shadow Rising dynamic)

i'm gobbling up these randlayne crumbs!!

but he keeps it very vague here and i don't think there's anything too surprising in what he says - the fact that the show took the time to signal randlayne in 2x08 definitely implies to me that they plan to follow up on it in SOME way in season 3, and given that daniel was already talking about having filmed some lanaeve scenes way back in june which according to the block filming schedule would probably mean those scenes are somewhere in the first block (eps 1&2), i think we can pretty safely assume that the tanchico & waste travel groups won't split up right away, and that we'll see rand and elayne interacting early in the season.

now, that doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be making out all over falme or declaring their love for each other already! "a gradual thing which needs to be organic" definitely makes me feel pretty good about my prior randlayne guess, which is that they'll be getting to know each other and building a connection early in s3 and laying that groundwork for romance, but nothing explicitly romantic will happen between them before they split up for their respective journeys. because they wouldn't have included that Moment between them in 2x08 if they didn't intend to build upon it pretty promptly at the start of season 3, so we've got to be seeing SOMETHING more on the randlayne front, but i don't think it will be anything huge. and what josha says here supports both parts of that prediction, i think! his comments on rand's headspace at the start of s3 also make me think it's unlikely rand will be jumping straight into brand-new romance during the first episode block, and since we know tanchico & the waste are both in, i don't think rand would see elayne again until the second half of s3 at the earliest and perhaps not until s4 (in person, anyway; further randlayne development through TAR chats is not outside the realm of possibility!)

and of course, avirand isn't something josha would be hinting at even a tiny bit in interviews since it's way too much of a spoiler, given that the two of them haven't even met yet, so randlayne being the s3 romance he's discussing doesn't mean avirand won't sneak in there and end up happening first! but all this being said, i am always ready for the show to surprise me and prove me totally wrong haha

and he made intriguing comments about randfear too, like you say!

in a couple of today's other interviews he said he wants randfear endgame djkjfg i'd have a shipping war with him about that, but i love how much he's loving digging into this relationship! lanfear positioning herself as ~the only one who understands him~ despite him being surrounded by his friends definitely sets up some toxic shit and i can't wait to see where that goes in s3. i love Mess!!

(..................i'm saying nothing about book!min positioning herself as ~the only one who understands him~. nothing at all!)

wait a moment. literally right here josha says rand is with his friends at the start of season 3, so that pretty much confirms we'll be starting off with the gang all still together!!!!!! (of course, he could mean just that he's with mat & egwene en route to the waste, but given daniel's confirmation of lanaeve scenes, i think at this point we can feel very very confident in seeing the whole gang still together at the start of the season)