#(not my problem if ships gets in your way of analyzing the characters and making theories of what comes next lmao)

[nenoname]

yes i'm still salty that some people were super annoying when folks compared stan and bill-- despite the website being even more blunt about their similarities!!!!

[musicalmoritz]

Can you analyze Aoikane? Like does aoi really like Akane? Is Akane a good person to her? Doesn’t he just treat her like everyone else? Even after the severance arc?

I’m glad you asked this! I’ve written a lot about Aoi and Akane as separate characters but I haven’t really gotten to go in depth explaining their relationship. This won’t cover everything but I’ll try to address all your questions. Just a heads up, I incorporated a mix of canon evidence and personal interpretation here. I tried to address each time I was purely stating my perspective but be aware that this is very opinionated

So to answer your first question, “Does Aoi really like Akane?” the answer is no…Aoi LOVES Akane. Aoi is love with Akane to an embarrassing degree, dare I say more embarrassing than the time Mitsuba said “yes sir” to Kou

On a more serious note, Aoi loving Akane is a core part of their development. If Aoi didn’t love Akane, Akane never would have fallen in love with Aoi

This right here is the key moment, the moment when Akane realizes what he means to Aoi. He offhandedly tells her he hates her, and it makes her cry. At that age, nothing made Aoi cry, not even bullies. But she felt so strongly about Akane that the mere thought of him hating her was enough to bring her to tears

Akane’s character arc centers largely around coming to understand, empathize with, and help the people around him, so when he sees someone who needs him he goes all in offering his help. When he saw that Aoi loved him, that she would cry if he hated her, all he wanted to do was make her happy and make her feel loved. This is what he dedicated his life to, judging by everything we know about his relationship with Aoi after this event

Another way we know Aoi loves Akane is because she tells us this herself! She asks Hanako to talk about love and then explains her past with Akane. Before this, when Aoi got left behind leaving Hakubo’s boundary, she confessed to the audience that she loves Akane (“I never got to tell him I like him”). That line has clear romantic connotations, especially for a series that places so much emphasis on confession scenes. But on the train, we learn why Aoi loves Akane

To Aoi, Akane is everything she is not. He is naturally liked by people, hard-working, and kind. Aoi seems to view Akane as the epitome of a good person, and herself as the opposite. Think of it as a sun/moon dynamic, we see this with many ships in the series. Hanako seems to think similarly about Nene, considering himself a murderer and then viewing Nene as this ball of sweetness. When asked what he likes about her, he simply says “Everything.” Even Aoi was shocked lol (but this ain’t about them)

It confuses me that a lot of fans ask why Aoi likes Akane when she’s outright stated it herself. It could be that some of them haven’t finished the manga (not saying that’s you btw that wasn’t one of your questions), and hey there’s no shame in that. I just wish they would either admit they haven’t read it or look up the chapters they need to read because their arguments are lacking some pretty key information😭 Guys, step one of analyzing is to READ. But I digress

I think another explanation would be that fans don’t understand Aoi’s character, they still subconsciously view her as Nene’s popular best friend. They may not think they do, because they think the extent of her facade is pretending to be perfect. They don’t understand how she looks down on people, how she only thought about herself when Nene and Akane started acting different, and how she gets emotionally dependent on the people closest to her. There’s a reason for that too, many fans don’t like that side of Aoi. They see her express an unhealthy attachment style and decide the problem is AoiAoi rather than Aoi as a character, so they completely erase her flawed management of relationships when they write her

Aoi displays an avoidant attachment style, she pushes away the people she wants to be close with. She also arguably shows signs of BPD, and though I won’t get into that today, one of the defining symptoms is intense and unstable relationships. The sad truth is that people really hate people with avoidant attachment styles, and they really hate people with BPD (and any Cluster B personality disorder in general), so when they see Aoi expressing these traits they erase them rather than admitting they don’t like that side of her. Which is sad because you rarely see people doing that with male characters. Teru and Hanako are loved for the aspects of their personalities that are unlikable to the fanbase, whereas Aoi’s toxicity is ignored because it doesn’t fit the image fans have of her. Aoi is misunderstood by the fandom the same way she’s misunderstood by the characters in the manga

One last note on this, if you dislike Aoi just say that (again this is aimed at the general fandom, not you specifically). Don’t erase her obvious signs of mental illness, that representation is important to a lot of fans. When I wrote my TikTok essay on Aoi having BPD, I had people with BPD in the comments telling me how much they related to her. On other posts about Aoi, I’ve had people tell me how much it means to them to see a character realistically portray an avoidant attachment style. Mental illness is rarely portrayed correctly in media, and it is highly offensive to those who have it irl to erase those traits in a character just because they don’t fit your cookie-cutter image of them. And yes, I know Aoi doesn’t canonically have BPD but slandering her for traits that strongly relate to BPD is also weird (this is the opinionated part I warned you guys about lol, but yk a psych student is gonna have to lecture you on ableism)

Aoi’s feelings for Akane have also been teased since the beginning of the manga, through jealousy. She claims not to like him back, but she completely shuts down whenever he shows interest in someone else (or when someone else shows interest in him). Again, this is not a healthy response by any means but I personally think it’s an interesting character flaw, you are welcome to think otherwise🤷🏼‍♀️

She actively encourages his confessions with her point system, if she didn’t enjoy his confessions she would have turned him down from the get go. This connects back to the avoidant attachment style thing, Aoi wants Akane’s attention but she maintains distance for fear of letting him in. She keeps walls up to protect herself, because while Akane is the sun she basks in, she doesn’t really believe he likes her

This is because Akane puts her on a pedestal just like the rest of the school does. Some fans overlook this because they’re focused on post-development AoiAoi but at one point Akane made Aoi feel very isolated. It must have hurt extra since he’s her childhood friend. She thought Akane was only in love with the perfect version of her, which I don’t believe to be true. Akane loved Aoi, flaws and all, and that’s why he saw her as perfect. Most of the information we learn about Aoi is given to us through Akane, so it wouldn’t add up for him to not know her real personality. During their fight scene, he lists all her worst qualities and proceeds to kiss her hand and tell her he loves her

My conclusion is that Akane’s love for Aoi was so intense, he saw her through a rose colored glass. He knew the real her, but he loved her so much that her flaws didn’t bother him. He only focused on the good parts, and thus ended up putting her on a pedestal. He didn’t realize his behavior was hurting her up until the truth came out in chapter 69, and to answer that one part of your question, yes his behavior did change after that

He encourages Aoi to talk about herself, offering to do all of her favorite hobbies with her. He gives her free reign and support here, letting her talk and then offering solutions to her worries. He reassures her that she can fix things with Nene, which is like!! A major step in the right direction!! Akane is usually very possessive of Aoi, even when it comes to her friendships, but here he is encouraging healthy communication between her and Nene. He doesn’t deny her bad actions, but he gives her room to resolve them

After that, we see him start to treat her normally. He acts like himself around her, the same version of him we see around Teru and Nene. None of that lovestruck, over exaggerated worship we’re used to seeing him show towards Aoi. Even during the Severance, he took time to work with Nene and Teru rather than obsessively focusing on Aoi. He gave Teru motivation when he felt like quitting, even felt comfortable using their mutual love for a Aoi to fuel their rivalry. He formed an alliance with Nene even though he initially felt bitter towards her for Aoi’s disappearance. He learned to look past his own feelings enough to be there for his friends, likely because Aoi taught him to remove those rose-colored glasses. He saw that only focusing on what he wants (only focusing on Aoi) was hurting the people around him, including Aoi herself. Post chapter 69, Akane becomes much more down to earth. He still loves Aoi deeply and puts her first, but he treats her like a normal human being. This allows him to treat other people normally too

A lot of people use this chapter as evidence that Akane hasn’t changed but guys, he’s allowed to be jealous over the girl he loves. He panics here, but he doesn’t try to get violent with Teru the way we used to see him do when guys would express interest in Aoi. He doesn’t look possessive or angry here at all, just sad. He’s genuinely devastated that he’s in a world where he can’t be with the girl he loves. This is bad news for both him and Aoi, judging by the sad look she gives him as she leaves and the events of last chapter, it’s clear that this Aoi is still in love with Akane. Our Akane knows how dependent Aoi is on him, he knows that he’s the reason she’s started taking steps towards healing. Without him, all of her development gets erased, and there’s the simpler sad fact that she can’t be with the man she loves. Akane wants happiness for both of them, there’s nothing wrong with that

Even when he confesses to her, it looks so much more genuine than the old scenes of his confessions. It gets a full page, they’re both blushing and their eyes are full of light. His words are so genuine too, he doesn’t wax on about how perfect and delicate she is, all he does is promise to love her forever. For someone with such severe abandonment issues like Aoi has, those words are all she’s ever wanted to hear. Her father left when she was young, then the two people closest to her started to pull away from her (not in this universe but still). She’s terrified that people will hate her, that everyone will leave her if she reveals her true self. And here Akane is, promising to love her and only her for as long as they both shall live (and beyond that)

So, yes, I truly do believe Akane’s behavior towards Aoi has changed. And keep in mind, the manga isn’t over yet, they will have more development. We just learned Aoi’s backstory with her father leaving and her mommy issues, there’s still so much we don’t know about the characters. They still have a long way to go, so if they haven’t grown as much as you’d like then give them some time!! But they have made a lot of progress already, and I wish more fans recognized that

As for the question of whether or not he’s a good person to her, that’s very subjective!! Some fans don’t like any level of toxicity in their ships, so chapter 69 was enough for them to write off AoiAoi entirely. That’s perfectly fine, no one should feel forced to like a ship that makes them uncomfortable. Some love toxic ships, some only love toxic ships if they have development, and others love ships with extreme toxicity (I finished Interview with the Vampire season 1 today so that is where I’m at right now lol)

Let me ask you a few questions though. Is Kou a good person to Mitsuba, for mimicking the actions of his abuser and force-feeding him?? Is Hanako a good person to Nene for attempting to trap her in a fake world and kill her best friend? Is Hakubo a good person to Sumire for eating her alive? Is Natsuhiko a good person to Sakura for letting them destroy the world? Are any of these characters good people to each other???

All of those situations have nuance, and so does AoiAoi. Yes, Akane choked Aoi, but only because she was about to kill herself. She was in a shinigami’s boundary, talking about wanting to “go somewhere far away” and never return. If he hadn’t done something, she never would have returned from the far shore. That doesn’t excuse his actions, but it provides some perspective. Akane wouldn’t choke Aoi under normal circumstances, just like Kou wouldn’t force-feed Mitsuba under normal circumstances. However, both of them would go to those extremes if it meant protecting the ones they love. I personally believe it’s toxic, but some fans insist it’s completely justified because they were doing it for the greater good. Again, it all comes down to perspective

Their dynamic also largely relies on the yandere!Akane gag, which is very hit or miss for some people. Although it’s for comedic purposes, those scenes did happen in canon and they happen a lot. They can be very distracting and cause fans to feel confused once they’re introduced to the deeper side of AoiAoi, which is understandable. Part of peoples’ interpretation on AoiAoi’s level of toxicity comes down to how serious they take the yandere jokes, and how much they like yandere characters. If you hate yandere characters but don’t take the gag too seriously, you’ll be able to overlook it. However, if you hate yandere characters AND you take the gag seriously…AoiAoi might be a difficult ship to accept

Otherwise, Akane does look out for Aoi a lot. He beats up guys who harass her, he asks her how her talk with Nene went, he checks on her injured hand, he will stop at nothing to save her when she’s in danger and, well…the list goes on. There’s no denying Akane cares about Aoi, though some fans may argue he cares about her to a toxic extent. I find that attitude a little hypocritical when they like every other toxic canon ship, but every ship has different appeals so I get it. I’m very biased tho so every argument I see against AoiAoi is just words, words, words

Keep in mind that the TBHK characters and their relationships are all meant to be flawed. This is an imperfect cast of characters who all want to be loved, who have their own goals and try desperately to save each other even though they’re doomed to fail. I wouldn’t call every character morally gray, but they’re realistically flawed. Akane and Aoi want to be together, but they have a lot of individual issues to work through first. They’re undoubtedly better together though, seeing as the progress they make is because of each other (I gave Akane credit for Aoi’s development earlier but it goes both ways!!). If they were separated, we wouldn’t see them grow as much as they have. That doesn’t have to be romantic ofc but I do believe that Aoi and Akane make each other better, they just have to go through the process of making each other worse first in order to get there

I am a person who LOVES flawed characters and relationships. If the ship doesn’t have a splash of codependency, I don’t want it. I incorporate sadomasochism into almost every fic I write. My view of AoiAoi is going to be different from that of someone that isn’t interested in flawed characters/ships (yes, you’re allowed to prefer characters that are “morally pure”). If you’re looking for something that’s pure fluff then AoiAoi most likely isn’t for you, very few TBHK ships are unless you’re heavily fanonizing them. That’s simply the nature of this manga, there’s a reason we’ve seen every canon couple hit each other at some point. It’s not as bad as some fans suggest, but it’s still messy. I want to reiterate that this isn’t aimed at you specifically but I feel it’s something the fandom as a whole needs to hear. Of course, there are toxic ship enjoyers who may not find AoiAoi interesting, but every complaint I’ve heard about them so far has been about their toxicity so that’s what I’m addressing. I personally find it to be tame compared to the other ships but not everyone is going to interpret it the same way

Thank you very much for this ask, I got a little carried away with the yapping lol. I’m a bit worried I’m gonna get hate for this one since it’s kinda controversial and I got very opinionated at times…please know that I didn’t mean to offend anyone or invalidate any other opinions. If you feel that I did that then feel free to block me. I hope everyone reading this has a nice day <3

[the-lonelyshepherd]

what’s your opinion on the travlottienat s2 sex scene

hi! um category five autism event and i got way too serious about this. however its not my problem.

oookay SO first off obligatory i am a minor BUT we are analyzing this from a narrative/plot perspective and not in a sexual way. theres naked people in art its fine. I think this scene is fascinating from like. not a shipping perspective but a character based one. it shows a lot about travis and it also shows a lot about lottienat (mostly talking abt the character combo and less the ship) and also jackie. yeah, jackie.

Madonna della Pietà, Michaelangelo

To start - even w how it looks, this is a Lottienat scene. Not even from a shipping perspective but because this scene SHOWCASES their "rivalry", the contrast in their characters and how they are perceived to the rest of the team (w Travis as a stand in for the team). It shows how they're both very present figures in the whole yellow jackets situation (shown through travis but can apply to all of them imo). Nat is there with travis. shes physical, shes providing. But lottie is also there spiritually, and against the norm, leading whats going on.

Nat as the physical

lottie as the spiritual.

so despite the fact that natalie is physically there, travis cant (probably physically cant as hallucinations are NOT voluntary) take his mind off lottie. because she can give him something, in his mind, that nat cant. Shes almost an escape - nat is the harsh reality hes living while lottie is the voice that brings him hope that his brother is alive. lottie is someone who can lead in a way that he wants to make sense. and its an idealized version of her in his mind, probably stemming from his issues w authority figures like his dad and the built up version of masculinity in his mind.

And this scene also emphasizes Nat’s role in the Javi situation. Because of this:

The wound on her leg where she faked Javi’s death so that Travis would stop his self-destructive search for his brother, who by all means should have been dead. Why? Because who is Nat but a realist? She’s gotten everything from life thrown at her and came out of it with that attitude, and who can blame her?

But this scene is right after she brings Travis forged proof that his brother is dead. Her guilt is present through this scene, and showing the wound is to emphasize that. layers!!! but travis has a lot of guilt throughout this scene as well - not only because of the supposed death of his younger brother that he as the older sibling feels at fault for but also… the jackie situation.

The Jacke of it all:

yeah this is a jackie scene. not only is it right before when they FUCKING EAT HER but like in spirit as well. Okay so the thing is that jackie is the character who puts the most emphasis on virginity, we all know this, but in the end it's travis that gets the "first time" that she puts so much emphasis on. Yes, jackie and travis lose their virginities to each other, but in this scene travis checks off doing it with his actual girlfriend. That, and he does almost the same thing jackie did with jeff. She looks to shauna's photo, travis thinks of lottie. They have to be outside of their bodies to perform because both of them have hangups (for one reason or another).

It's not that Travis doesn't want to have sex like jackie with jeff, he clearly tries, but he can't do it while thinking very clearly. First by being drugged, then by imagining himself doing something unrelated. And they would've been happier if they hadn't done it - jackie is immediately shunned for it. If you think about it, she literally dies for it. Travis feels like he cheated and did something wrong despite being drugged out of his mind and having no real control over the situation (something jackie didnt know). and then IMMEDIETLY after this scene, there’s the Jackie feast. Not only is she everywhere symbliocally, shes also physically in them now. THE JACKIE OF IT ALLLLL

The Pietà

The Pietà is a reference to the 6th sorrow of mary. for all you guys who arent christian/catholic →

The Seven Sorrows of Mary are seven significant moments in her life:

Simeon's prophecy of joy and sorrow.

The flight to Egypt to escape King Herod.

Finding Jesus in the temple after being lost.

Mary meeting Jesus on his way to crucifixion.

Witnessing Jesus' crucifixion and death.

Holding Jesus' body after his crucifixion.

Jesus' burial, which Mary mourns.

To clear things up here - lottie as mary in this context is not a “maternal” as in motherly way - imo its supposed to be peace and hope, guidance/authority. travis, despite being famous for his daddy issues, is hinted at having mommy issues as well (see: him not getting hugged goodbye by his mom in the pilot while his dad and javi both do)

also, he clearly struggles a lot w masculinity - having a woman in authority doesnt come naturally to him, but in this moment it is his only comfort.

so in the wilderness, there’s a complete power shift from the outside world. in this isolated environment there’s a female majority - specifically, the team, who already (roughly….. it gets messy but ykwim) trust and know each other. they already have a, albeit shifting, power dynamic established. in the normal, precrash, world, it would be isolated to them. but post crash, they are now the majority and the three guys left standing are now forced to assimilate into that instead.

Ben had power - he was one of their coaches and an adult - but with the death of coach martinez, he loses a lot of power 1) because he’s only an assistant 2) hes outnumbered 3) he doesnt want to be in charge of these insane girls anymore. he just wants gay daydreams. let him live.

Then there’s Javi - he’s younger, and none of the girls really know him, but they’re generally nice to him. he cant contribute much though - and eventually he has to contribute all he has - his literal flesh.

Finally travis - arguably the most involved as he is the same age as the team. this puts him on their field as “involved”. He originally has this very built up view of masculinity that you can tell stems from a place of self consciousness/ self loathing as well as a buildup of society’s expectations on him as a teenage boy in the 90’s. He’s supposed to be tough, hes supposed to be in charge, hes supposed to be better. And when hes thrown into this female dominated space it completely falls apart. He’s not the best shooter, he doesn’t have authority or leadership. The only other older male figures are dead or have tried their best to remove themselves from the situation. He has to completely reevaluate everything he knows - Travis has come to learn that there is power in being near and simply being an approximation of femininity.

Travis has come to learn that there is power in being near and simply being an approximation of femininity. Travis has gone from the top (he was never really there, but the built up idea of masculinity put him there in his mind, though even then he had doubts and it came from a negative place) and to bottom of the totem pole - and now he’s rising back up to somewhere in the middle by connecting with femininity, by recognizing women in authority, and also trying to have that hope and spiritual belief that is brought about by these female figures. The middle is where travis can reconcile with the weirder things (ive been in discussions about how travis actually parodies a lot of classic feminine tropes) that clash with what travis should be.

overall this scene is fucking insane. its lottienat its travnat its mommy issues its daddy issues its deadass jackie its an older brothers guilt its religious its a sin its deconstructing the very nature of yourself and those around you. all through the power of weird sex hallucination. and eating someone right after.

if youre still here i love you. please send me yellowjackets discussion asks i love them so much <3 feel free to ask questions and shit, also if none of this makes sense im sorry lmao.

ALSO. special thanks to @periwinklekryptonite who like carried this discussion and came up with like half of tjis. ask him about trans travis or travis in general or maybe pike. shoooo go send him travis questions.

[galstelperion]

hey, alma. i have been following you for a while and i like many of your takes, you always seem level-headed in this fandom, but i think you missed this time around and that post wasn't it. i'm not writing you this to make you feel bad! please, believe me, my intent is not to bring you down or anything of this sort. but the user you were talking about is getting witch hunted by celeb0rn fans, and she made that post because she has been harassed by haladriel-antis and celeb0rn fans for months and months, simply for her interpretations of the show. she never attacked anyone personally, she never rebloged anyone's takes to dismiss them. she just expressed her dislike of celeb0rn fans' own witch hunts and their own insistence that they get galadriel the right way. so it was quite disappointing to see haladriel shipper such as yourself add fuel to the fire that is eating up our fandom right now. turning on each other for celeb0rn is a bit of a waste, isn't it? and we know that the majority of celeb0rn stans aren't genuinely his stans, they are just antis.

i think the fandom is getting more and more toxic, not sure what it is about. im not writing you this so that you answer to this ask, i know you probably weren't coming from a bad place, but i just think this time your post had consequences that you did not intend to happen.

Hello anon, since you seem to be at least cordial, I will respond to this ask and it will be the last time I address this situation:

"we know that the majority of celeb0rn stans aren't genuinely his stans, they are just antis."

This is the root of the problem here. I am saying this in the kindest way possible. Yes, you are allowed to dislike a character. You are even allowed to bash said character in your own spaces. A line is crossed when you make untrue statements like this. The attitude that the majority of "Celeborn stans" who also happen to enjoy Haladriel are just antis is inaccurate and has made a lot of people incredibly uncomfortable. It has made me uncomfortable as someone who is friends with many multishippers who like and explore dynamics with all of these characters involved.

As I said in my original post, I do not ascribe to this all or nothing mentality to shipping or fandom in general. The idea that there is only one right way to like and consume this ship is hurtful and makes many people feel ostracized and unwelcome in this space. I say this as someone who doesn't even care for Celeborn as a character at all and have actively shit talked him around mutuals who agree with me. But I also say this as someone who has been friends with the most incredible Haladriels for 2+ years at this point, Haladriels who have written 100k+ word fanfictions, Haladriels who have dissected and analyzed lore back to front since the early 2000s, who are also interested in exploring Galadriel's dynamic with Celeborn! *gasp* Don't put me in shackles and drag me to the town square but someone who likes a character you don't isn't a crime! It doesn't make them any less of a Haladriel. It doesn't make them "antis in disguise"

This sort of mindset has been permeating the tag for many months now. I never felt inclined to really say anything about it until these broad generalizations were being made by people who I've personally never even seen before here. Like my good friend @nocaptainonthisship has said, "I've been in this fandom since its inception two years ago" isn't a dick measuring contest. It's saying I've been here. I've seen it.

I don't know a whole lot about this account that you're referring to in the ask. I don't even know anything about these people supposedly harassing them either. I don't condone that. I have refrained from @'ing them at all either here or in my original post so as to not to contribute to pile-ons if that is indeed happening. I did block them about a week ago after continuously seeing these actively hostile and confrontational takes about who can and can't be considered a real Haladriel based on their character preferences. Feel free to block me if that is the approach to fandom you want to have. It will certainly never be mine.

[wispforever]

naruto 6 and 13 pls!

Hi, cowboy :) thanks for the ask

6. Which ship fans are the most annoying?

I block anyone I find annoying, so the fact that I'm actually able to think of several groups of people kind of blows my mind lol. First would be the fans who take shipping way too seriously. They hate on other people for deviating from their version of canon, start insane discourse, sometimes even harass creators of the show, etc. Idk if I even have to explain why that pisses me off. It's just in really bad taste. Quit bothering people. Fandom is for enjoyment, don't spend your fandom time telling people how much you hate them or why they're wrong. Chill tf out

Then are the fans who don't participate in shipping (this is the okay part) and THEN talk about how stupid shipping is and how inherently annoying it is. People are entitled to their opinions obviously. I understand (especially as an aroace person) how shipping can be reductive and how people get obsessed. But at some point you have to take responsibility for curating your own experience. Don't like shipping? That's great. Block everyone who posts ship and only follow people who don't. Problem solved. Don't whine about how annoying shipping is IN THE SHIPPING TAG. Just fucking braindead, I can't

In the naruto fandom specifically, I think the shipping that pisses me off the most are the above types of bloggers, as well as people who ship things I find personally repulsive. Like *nc*st or p*do shit. Lots of that in the naruto fandom unfortunately.

13. Worst blorboficiation?

The most impossible naruto question challenge LMAO where do I even fucking start. This fandom beats the absolute shit out of good characters at the drop of a hat. Some of it is fine, I get it, I'm guilty of it, but other times it's hugely reductive. If character assassination were a crime punishable by death, I fear we tumblrinas would be having this conversation while we waited in line for the electric chair.

There are lots of characters I see blorbofied beyond recognition: Madara, Hashirama, Kakashi, Gai, Lee, Tsunade, Obito, literally anyone in the Akatsuki- I could go on and on. I think though, the one who sticks out to me is definitely Itachi. I see SOOOO many depictions of wet, crying, pitiful Itachi when he gives absolutely no hint of any of that on screen. Am I saying he doesn't cry? Doesn't feel? Absolutely not. But there's a thousand different ways to make a character emotional. I barely ever see in character portrayals of Itachi, in my opinion, especially when delving into who he is behind closed doors, what he thinks about his clan/upbringing, how he feels about Sasuke and the massacre he committed. I could mop the floor with him he is so sopping wet in all of this fanart. It drives me up the fucking wall. I've written a lot of detailed notes analyzing his character, and I myself appreciate how he was a victim (along with many other things), but most of the time I feel people stop at just the victim part. Idk why they want him to cry so bad. Idk what makes them think HE would think he deserves to grieve or be forgiven. Idk why they oversimplify his motives or make him out like he doesn't understand what he did and why. makes me actually insane. ffs there are beautiful flawed characters here with winding, painful, morally grey journeys. appreciate the nuance jesussss if i see one more big doe-eyed teared up itachi sniveling to kisame i'm going to be on the news

[henrysglock]

Look, I’ve remained neutral throughout this. I used to be a fan of your content but you lost me at the rape fic. And I don’t think these people should be attacking you in this manner. That part isn’t justified. But at this point they are desperately trying to get their point across. There are some things you really need to self reflect on, but you won’t take any criticism because you are so incessantly sure you’re right. The truth of the matter is you’re not going to be right about everything no matter how sure you are. That’s what they are trying to tell you. And they are telling you not to speak so badly of characters they love that you throw rape accusations at, and that there are lines, characters behaviors, and ships/ship dynamics (see: rape, an abusive old man and the child he abducted) that are not justifiable even if you call it “nuance”, and that you can’t enforce your headcanons on others. They are simply enjoying a canonical ship, and you are self righteously denying/twisting canon to your desires, saying you know more than the actors who play these roles for years at a time and know the characters better than any fan ever could, and refusing to accept that people sometimes just enjoy canon without thinking about it too hard and calling them bad people for enjoying this ship while directly writing the same things you yourself criticize. So yes, that’s going to make people mad.

I used to be a fan of your content but you lost me at the rape fic.

The funny part is that when I wrote that fic (Not a rape fic, btw. Dubcon. Two different things.) I just had the Mindflayer behave exactly the way Patty behaves. Even copied a bunch of her lines, some of them word for word. Ironic, isn't it? Almost like I was trying to prove a point, or something 🤨

Also..."I used to be a fan"? Oh no. I'm crying over the loss. Can you see the tears on my cheeks. I'm definitely going to listen to you, [checks notes]...Anonymous Hate Sender #18923829. You've really reached me with this one, Anonymous Ex-Fan. <- That's sarcasm, btw. Just in case you didn't catch my drift: I don't care.

There are some things you really need to self reflect on...

That's not patronizing at all (/s). And I suppose you're the one qualified to tell me what I need to reflect on?

And they are telling you not to speak so badly of characters they love...

Too bad. They can block me and move on, like someone with even an ounce of maturity would. They don't own the characters, and I'm not on their payroll, so they can't tell me what I am and am not allowed to say. That is...unless they wanted to start paying me to stop talking 🤔

...you can’t enforce your headcanons on others. They are simply enjoying a canonical ship...

I never enforced my headcanons on anyone. I'm not the one going to them directly and telling them what they can and can't talk about or how they're allowed to talk about certain characters. I don't even really post in the Henry tag anymore, meaning they have to come to my blog to see my posts. Sounds like a personal problem to me. As in: "not my problem".

Try this on for size: They can't enforce their headcanons on me. I'm simply critiquing a ship that doesn't last past Act 1. And it's not like I'm tagging them in posts yelling at them for not agreeing with my view of canon. I keep to myself. So this really does sound like a personal problem on their end. Again, pay me or shut up. <- That goes for you too, O' Great Lecturer Anonymous. Pay me or shut up.

...you are self righteously denying/twisting canon to your desires...

I'm doing nothing of the sort. I gain nothing by doing that, and I actually stand to lose all my credibility if I were to analyze in that manner. Not exactly rocket science.

(Although...It sounds like it might be for you!)

...saying you know more than the actors who play these roles for years at a time and know the characters better than any fan ever could...

I wasn't the one who said that, so don't come after me for it, dipshit.

...refusing to accept that people sometimes just enjoy canon without thinking about it too hard and calling them bad people for enjoying this ship...

Never did that. Never said that. I stay in my lane.

You're batting zero in the "telling the truth" department tonight, bud.

...while directly writing the same things you yourself criticize.

You ever consider that maybe I wrote said fic specifically to prove a point? That people would be up in arms about the content if it was written with the perpetrator being a man or a monster instead of a girl? Which I did by copying a number of Patty's lines into the Mindflayer's dialogue?

Do you see how you're proving my point as we speak?

So yes, that’s going to make people mad.

Cope and seethe <3

If you send another ask like this one, I'm blocking you.

[ernmark]

As an extension of your post about epithets, I'm wondering if you can help me pin down what it is about the use of phrases like "those eyes" or "that mouth" that have started to just drive me bonkers when I read some fanfic. At times I come across it and it feels completely natural, and other times it feels like a somewhat lazy shorthand for expressing a character's admiration. Thank you!

I can't speak with certainty, because this isn't a problem that's come up enough in my own fandoms for me to really analyze it in context, but I'll give it my best guess.

Phrases like "those eyes" and "that mouth" work most effectively for me when they're a reference back to a previous description. Maybe those eyes are really exceptional. For instance, Sir Damien in The Penumbra Podcast goes on at length about Lord Arum's violet eyes to the point that "those violet eyes..." are already a recurring motif inside the work, so the fics that use the phrase are all calling back to that.

Sometimes, though, you'll get writers refer to features that don't make any sense in the situation. I've seen lots of complaints brought up about prose describing a character's "plush lips" and "fine ass" when the actor portraying that character very decidedly has neither of those things-- often completely ignoring the qualities that the character actually does have in favor of the generic "sexy" ones.

Often, "that [body part]" carries a very strong sexual connotation, particularly about what the POV character would very much like to be doing to "that mouth/those thighs/those arms/that neck/whatever". They tend to work best in my opinion when the point-of-view character has very specific fantasies/memories that are described, or at least implied, on the page. But sometimes you'll get that phrasing from a character where it doesn't make sense for them to be thinking of the other person in those terms. Maybe they're sexually inexperienced in a way where specific fantasies seem out of character, or their preferences within the narration veer very sharply in one direction but the designated body part implies otherwise (for example, the writer's gone on at length about them exclusively liking to bottom but describing the other person as if their intention is to top them-- not out of irony or subtext, but because that's a generic "attractive feature").

I think it also ought to be said that which features are emphasized, and the adjectives used to emphasize them, work best when they're deliberately chosen to build a specific effect-- is the other person's vibe elegant, or brutal, or delicate, or whatever? Picking qualities and features that reinforce that vibe can be super evocative and feel much more personal than sticking to the standards. In a recent fandom I'm in, one character is singled out as being exceptionally strong in the canon, and specifically noteworthy to the character that he's frequently shipped with. Consequently, a lot is done with his love interest thirsting over the breadth and power of the character's shoulders. Shoulders weren't sexy before, but they sure as hell are now.

TL;DR: if I had to guess at what makes that phrase fall flat, it would be a lack of specificity to the actual character, or an inconsistency with the way the people in the scene are characterized.

[fumifooms]

Hey what're your thoughts on how marcille and chilchuck show affection for marchil?

I mean, marcille seems to be the type to be the most blatantly affectionate of the two, but I want to know your headcanons and observations on the subject. How do they communicate their wants for affection, and what do they view as signs of affection (ex: hugs, small gifts, ect.) and such?

Sorry it took me this long to answer!! Thank you sm for sending a marchil ask my way I swear I love them sm, they spark joy and even if I have uhh -checks- 67 drafts already I love dropping everything for them when the mood comes hehehe. I love talking about love languages actually! Little did you know that the first post I made on this blog was about analyzing the love languages of an ot3 lmao. The only reason why this is so late overdue is because as always I’m going to talk so much about it. The pics I put in it are relevant but I don’t put them right beside where I make my point, so stick with me even if they’re a bit jarring at first, they’re just meant to show aspects of them~.

Marcille and Chilchuck’s love languages

+ their domestic romantic dynamic. I’ll say, I ended up talking even more than I expected, and though it is in a marchil context I think my analysis of the characters is relevant even if their partner was anyone else, so non-marchil shippers might also enjoy this post! Give it a shot maybe~

To open it up, I think this post is very relevant. Marchil is def a ship where the ways in which they say they love each other feel more subtle, for Chilchuck at least.

Their perspective, boundaries and overlap

I think Chilchuck and Marcille recognize the other’s way of showing affection well, though it’s very obvious that Marcille and Chilchuck’s ways are super different. Marcille is very open and loud and Chilchuck… Isn’t. Chilchuck is reserved while Marcille loves to get all the affection she can get. Marcille could be seen as too much while Chilchuck would be too little. One could even say they aren’t compatible, but I think that’d be a mistake.

Yes Marcille loves big grand gestures and a lot of open communication, but her thing is analyzing people as they are, like how when she imagines how it’d have been like as his wife she put in details like how he’d be annoyed at having to wait for her to get ready and didn’t idealize that part of their relationship. She’s very good at putting herself in others’ shoes, at understanding why they might feel this or that way. She typically doesn’t seem put off when Chil is snappy or discouraging at her, like when she shows him the ball of Izutsumi’s hair that she shaped into a cat lol. (The panel at the start of this section was when she was disappointed in him for cheating on his wife, so her good esteem for him was gone). She has a high esteem of Chilchuck’s intentions and has good faith in him overall, so instead of going "He’s annoyed at waiting on me… Am I annoying to him? Does he dislike me?" or "He didn’t notice I got upset when we were out drinking with his colleagues. Does he even love me anymore? Would he care if I left him?" she goes "Oh that’s just how he is, I know if there’s an actual issue he’ll tell me, and he still has my best interests at heart.". Who knows if she’d always be able to rationalize and keep that optimistic attitude up long term, but it gives me a good impression that she would! Or that at least she’d communicate about it if she felt their relationship had a problem. She loves to confront people about that sort of thing! She can be more insecure and meek when the topic is sensitive to her like her being a half-elf, but when it comes to relationships like that, I believe she’d stand up for herself if it came down to it. The way she said that his wife might have left to "test his love" and see if he’d chase after her is a bit worrying to me, but ultimately I think that was her dramatic novels fan self talking and not something that she’d do herself. If she did leave, she would sooo leave a super long dramatic letter about how she felt and the situation and he’d reply and they’d make up I think. ANYWAYS!

Of course everyone needs to be shown some affection once in a while regardless of if she knows well how he is or not, and Marcille would be very unashamed about asking that of him. She’d respect his boundaries with public displays of affection as much as he’d demand it, but she’d be her usual overt self with stealing kisses or making him say I love you regularly. 0 PDA would be rough on her if Chilchuck wanted it that far, but she’d do it, she’d be able to twist it into something endearing too, like her being like "No one else gets to see him this way but me, I have this sweet side of him all to myself" and "He’s just reserved like that, it makes the time when he does show it all the more meaningful", them cuddling a ton as soon as they get home and Marcille feels touch starved, etc etc. So what I’m getting at with all this is: Marcille’s love languages are very self-evident and hard to miss so unless Marcille suddenly acts mopey and doesn’t tell him why, and unless Chilchuck has some anxiety (what with his ex wife just up and leaving without him having been able to see the warning signs), he would feel very confident in her love for him and comfortable in the relationship, if not a little tired or frustrated with some aspects of it if she sometimes does too much.

Meanwhile, like mentioned, even if Chilchuck’s love languages are more subtle, more rooted in casual domesticity rather than big gestures or words, Marcille would see and recognize that and not hold it against him or feel burdened by it. She highly values communication —in a way they both do, even if when it’s about feelings Chilchuck becomes a bit of an ostrich hiding his head underground— so if there’s a problem she’ll for sure confront him about it too. Chilchuck is good at voicing when there are practical problems or when he’s uncomfortable, and Marcille is good at voicing when there are emotional problems, so they’re pretty complementary in that way.

Surprisingly I think if she ever did a marriage proposal it’d be very private though, it’d be a big deal to her and she would want to talk about it in the comfort of their lonesome, already thinking through the grief and how everything would work. I think Chikchuck would also prefer a private proposal, but on the other end I could totally see him thinking she’d love this grand fancy gesture of a big public proposal and organize one for her (Ooh good fic prompt right there). Once they’ve talked it through though they’re both very enthusiastic about it and openly talk about it with friends and coworkers, and Marcille gushes about her fiancé and they both have bachelor parties on their own end and whatnot. The big day would be a fun one, and the daughters would be the perfect wingwomen I believe~

Their love languages

Alright now that the groundwork is done let’s do this thing! Ok so the "official" love languages are words of affirmation, physical touch, gifts (giving and receiving), quality time and acts of service.

Marcille

Starting with Marcille, she’s pretty balanced I’d say! In the sense that she cranks them all to the max. Oh yes, and part of it is that she’s very aware that the time they have together is counted, so she wants to make the most out of every moment.

Idk if it’s fair to say that Marcille has something like separation anxiety, what with her getting mad at Falin when she left and they didn’t see each other for 4 years, and with during canon with Falin and such, because they’re all intense situations that don’t necessarily show how clingy(or not) she would be under normal circumstances (and she doesn’t live with them so she’s def ok with distance to some degree), but also I def think it’s fair to say that due to her experiences with loss she’s scared of taking her eye off of someone she loves for one moment and for them to disappear, also like how we see her talk to Izutsumi when she thinks she’s going to prison. All that to say that yes, quality time!! She adores quality time, she’s the kind to soak up in someone’s presence even if they’re doing completely different things in the same room. She loves talking with him, cooking with him, bathing with him, even just chilling on the couch together. Post-canon they’d both be rather busy I imagine, so it only makes those moments they share more important. They’re trying out the long distance thing and making it work with the power of communicating well 🙏 Again, she’s big on acts of service, would resurrect you, would bathe you, would nurse you back to health or do something for you. Since she’s observant I could see her noticing subtle things in Chilchuck’s routine that she could help with, like getting his mug of coffee for him each morning, etc. I feel like those things are so natural to her that she wouldn’t mention them to Chilchuck or talk about how she does these things, so if she’s doing too much Chilchuck has to tell her because she won’t realize otherwise.

Gifts. We see with how she showers Chil in apology gifts intended to be from him to his family that she does value gifts! Giving wise, I think she’d be the type to be out shopping, see something that reminds of you then get it for you casually. It’s probably resulted in a few joke gifts that did not land lol, like idk modern AU a grumpy cat mug, or socks with "If you can read this bring me a beer" written underneath them. She’ll also put her heart and soul into gifts sometimes, especially for birthdays which mark the passage of time for her and even if a year passes by a little fast she makes it a point to always always go all out about it, she wants to show that he matters to her and thinks of him a lot, so she’ll put all of herself into picking out an heartfelt gift. She can get a little stressed and perfectionist over it but she does genuinely enjoy picking out gifts and giving them. Receiving wise, she’s also super big on it! She’s the kind to instantly value gifts more than other, maybe better suited options she has, like if you give her an ugly hair accessory or a mug she’ll 100% use them all the time from then on… Until she passes onto something new and the item gets sidelined a bit, but then when she’ll find it again years from then on she’ll be struck by memories and emotions and how much it all meant to her. I could see Chil getting her choker necklaces like she often wears for example, or books he can’t begin to understand about magic theory. It’s not as much of a ‘love language’ as the other ones I think, but she does really appreciate them, and if Chil makes an effort to get her flower bouquets somewhat regularly it would for sure make her feel really loved and happy. Oh yes! Also I def think that if she took up sewing or (personal hc) she’d love felting bc of when she did a tiny Izutsumi with her hair, she’d love making handmade gifts! She’d weave him a bracelet. She’d write him letters and put a nice scented oil on them.

Physical touch ohhh she’s big on touch. Even platonically we see that she’s very casual with her touches and does it a ton to most people (mostly Falin, Izutsumi and Chilchuck, but with her being a healer it also happens with Laios etc) and likes to cuddle or hang onto others, in daydream hour artworks, when sleeping with Izutsumi in an extra, etc etc. Even if she had a romantic partner I think she’d keep doing that with her friends and maybe even favoring Falin when she’s there for platonic touch, but I also def think that she’d be super touchy feely with her partner both in public and in private. As long as it doesn’t interfere with what Chil’s doing and he can remain cool and collected™️ he wouldn’t mind I think, so they’d be holding hands often and like, if he were to sit down on a couch with a beer she’d just drape herself over him and they’d chill out there (until they talk and she makes him laugh too hard and he spits his beer out all over them rip), not unlike how Izutsumi would. But YES physical touch is def a big love language for her, wether they’re arguing or just sharing a soft moment together, if he put his hand to her cheek gently she would melt into his touch. And she loves doting on others herself and touching them and feeling like they’re real and warm and alive, so yes yes touch is a big thing to her. Words of affirmation aren’t a big deal to her to give out, because it’s so natural to her, but they would mean a lot to her to receive. She can get insecure and feel lonely/alone, and having someone be supportive and tell her that she is valued like in the mandrake chapter lifts a lot of weight off of her shoulders, and I imagine that’s doubly meaningful when the words are each and all true and earned when they come from Chil. Whenever he says "I love you" unprompted it’s like an arrow to the heart. Again, if he made the effort to be romantic and like idk, tell her poetic things like it’s a love letter she would absolutely melt. "My boyfriend is the best, most romantic most loving most virtuous man" @ everyone in hearing distance etc etc. She wants to keep his words all to herself and be a little greedy but just maybe while kicking her feet she’d go "and then he said blablabla~" with friends and coworkers at the palace (who may or may nit be willing listeners lol).

So because of all of this, of how she values all of them, I think she’d cherish whichever love language her partner does the least! She likes variety, and like we’ve talked a bit she adapts herself to whoever she’s with a bit. She’s personally a big cuddler, but she’d value whenever Chilchuck says that he loves her etc more in the end because she knows how much that means for him and how many feelings were put into that gesture for her.

She wants the full range of affection, everything that someone is ready to offer. She wants the full storybook romance experience babyy, if it’s a crumb of love she’ll take it and gobble it up whichever form it takes. They all mean something to her in different ways.

Chilchuck

Chilchuck is more picky. He knows what he likes and what he doesn’t like, and he doesn’t like to compromise much (though learning to do so is part of his arc in canon). His favorites are acts of service and words of affirmation, and physical touch selectively, imo.

First of all, Chilchuck is a more private person by nature, but I think it’s also worth pointing out that he has some stress over how things ended with his wife, so someone growing on him and him getting to trust them etc also just takes slower. Wether you think Chilchuck will largely be open and comfortable once the confession’s done and they’re dating, or if him opening up and growing used to being loving and loved again is more gradual even throughout their romantic relationship, his love languages will differ depending on what "stage" he is at. For example, I think he’d actually love receiving words of affirmation, they’re just not his highest priority and he needs to highly value them and trust them first, trust that they’re not lies or that you don’t have shit judgement. For the rest of this though I’ll assume they’ve been dating for a good while and have grown used to it and are very familiar with each other. Like Marcille maybe his insecurities creep up on him sometimes, but with the power of communication and support those moments tend to be short lived 💪 She keeps him from using alcohol as a bad coping mechanism & distraction too much.

Ok so starting out with quality time… I’ll get it out of the way but yes I think they’d be sexually active, though with how they work away from each other like with his wife and he spent 4 years holding out fr her his libido isn’t as intense as we’d asssume I think, and for elves "often" might be like once a month, so who knows. This is gonna come back in the physical touch section~ But yes Chilchuck spent a lot of time away from his family, so I think if he values quality time he super values the quality more than the quantity of time spent together. That said, I also headcanon that he gets stuck in his head a bunch about it so as long as he thinks about his family to motivate him on the job for example, he also half-asses the time he spends home and he’s generally too tired to go out and do big things, just wanna relax, so idk!! He might be a bit of a neglectful lover and Marcille needs to poke him so they go out on dates, but yes I think in a similar way to Marcille he really appreciates the time just spent together, even if it’s working on their own thing in the same room. As for conversations or emotionally meaningful moments, I think emotional stuff tires him out quickly, unlike with Marcille where she seeks emotional stimulation from books, so spending time being heartfelt and vulnerable together would be appreciated, but would need to be kinda rare for him to not be exhausted dead lying on the pavement and unable to keep up. Feeling gets him tired too, he never knows wether to repress or let the love grow or how to word what he’s feeling etc etc. At least at first, dates that are activities and allows him to just have fun without thinking much are best. It’ll take him time to grow more used to feeling emotionally naked with her and for it to come more easily and naturally, but they’ll get there and they’ll be sooo domestic. So in the end! Quality time is appreciated but not particularly important, Chilchuck can really keeps the love going even when spending a loooong time away from each other or keeping the moments spent together casual. Oh yes I haven’t gone into that in any of my posts so far I think, but part of why he’s so casual and seemingly dismissive with his wife imo is because the relationship was sooo based on familiarity, respect and trust to him, they’ve been together forever, he trusted that they loved each other and were in this together and that he didn’t have to be extra for her to feel comfortable in the relationship because he trusted that she knew him well enough, trusted that she would stay with him even if their relationship wasn’t perfect, etc etc. So imo as long as he’s like "I love her and that’s enough for me, I trust that if there’s something up she’ll tell me and we can figure it out, I trust in our relationship to stay strong even if we don’t see each other much" then he can seem very casual and neglectful from an outside perspective. But make no mistake he thinks about her all the time and sighs forlornly because he wants to sleep in her arms after a hard day of work and has horny dreams of her 10/10 she matters a lot to him.

Acts of service!!! Biiig big one, there’s little more that Chilchuck values receiving than respect, though he’s much more stingy about giving it out, what with his teasing and insulting snappy remarks and how he’s always laughing at Marcille in canon. But yes like mentioned just before, Chilchuck likes familiarity in a relationship, so his partner anticipating his needs and going out of their way to do services for him would be suuper appreciated and would make him feel loved, would make him feel understood which in turn makes him feel safe that he doesn’t have to try and be someone he’s not to satisfy her and that she understands him well enough that she wouldn’t leave him due to miscommunication. Doing big favors would also be appreciated, but he prefers to live a routinely daily life imo so the acts of service would show themselves in small ways, like idk letting the water run in the bath because he knows Marcille will want to take a relaxing bath when she comes home from work. It’s definitely the love language that he does/give out the most imo, they’re the way he’s most comfortable showing that he cares and that he thinks of them and that he loves them, and he can feel safe doing them in any context wether he has all the eyes in the world on him or if they’re alone. He’s also generally protective, and looking out for her would fit into this category imo. But yes post-canon, I think one way in which this shows is that he’d do her hairdos, maybe even daily if possible. He loves blonde hair and he’s agile with his fingers, but he doesn’t value complicated hairdos much, but he’d learn a lot of hairdos for her, because he loves her and knows how it was once super important to her, and also bc he wants her to slay out there and at the same time he’s doing himself a favor by prettying it up hehe. He had a thing for undone long hair but he loves Marcille and when in the final chapters her hair was all messy the unfamiliar sight of it unsettled him, so besides just wanting her to get through the day without eating her hair and getting the urge to shave it all off, he also just does it because it feels so her and he remembers that side of her fondly (yes, even if that used to make her take even longer to get ready in the mornings).

Might surprise you might not but I think gifts are everything to him. Like the cowl from his daughter that he always wears, and all the mementos from his family we see he keeps in his room, like the dragon plush and the flower. Maybe they help him feel that the love people hold for him is real and exists/has existed at least at one point, maybe it’s about the memories, maybe it’s about being able to keep hanging onto them even after a relationship is over, idk!!!! But I think having gifts from his loved ones makes him feel like his life is fuller and warmer and like he always has some love surrounding him. For that reason he would super value gifts that Marcille would get for him. She overdoes it a bit and often gets him stuff for no particular occasions, mostly stuff that’s useful and that gets consumed so it’s not a problem or a bother though, but when it sticks it sticks, like a durable pair of gloves in a style he likes that she got for him. I don’t think photographs exist (at least not for the non-dwarves) but if they did oooh he’d be keeping stacks of them, would have some framed, he wouldn’t want people to know because he thinks he’d look corny but he wouuuuuld. He’d also have the "this reminds me of Marcille" moments when out into town, looking at jewelry or food that she likes (I imagine this is often the sort of gift/act of service he’d get for her, meals that he picked out because she loves them), but he’d also have the instinct to get her a gift on special occasions, and he’s s bit clumsy with it but he wants to make the item meaningful. He knows what she thinks is romantic, the woman has made plans for him to apologize to his wife with gifts after all, but he also knows that she loves gifts that scream "him" too so the man just doesn’t know what to do to make it as best as he could and he really doesn’t want to fuck it up. I think once he’d made a little metal sculpture-puzzle for her, like a little rabbit out of metal scraps, and he’d be so self-conscious about it but my god she’d adore it sooo much. It’d be cute if he got her a locket, even, and then with the help of imported dwarven technology they could get a picture of them or even all their friends into it and it becomes her most precious item for the following centuries. Ouuugh that’d make a sweet fic where he plans out a birthday party for her…… But yes yes, practical gifts… He knows she values ornamental useless things, unlike him, and though he doesn’t fully approve he also wants to do right by her so he’d go out of his comfort zone and find pretty gifts for her. I touch upon it a bit in my fic Grind Me Down Sweetly (named bc ground coffee beans & it’s meant to be like her slowly getting through the walls he built around himself :] Finding a newfound vulnerability with someone new but finding it soothing, sweet even if a lil bitter bc it’s coffee), and for example he gives her money for a favor she did for him as a friend. She doesn’t want to accept it, because to her doing something for her friend to help them out is more meaningful than getting rewarded for it, but for him respecting each other’s time and abilities is a big thing too. They end up compromising somewhat, because she then spends that money on gifts for him/them to share, so it ends up being a gift to the both of them for a shared effort~

Alrighty physical touch. In canon we see him get touched quite a lot, and when it isn’t patronizing or crowding (like others going to pet his head) he doesn’t seem to mind at all. But it’s a question of wether he’d enjoy it here. We don’t really saw that I think? He often doesn’t mind touching others but usually his touches have a practical purpose like pushing or pulling someone out of danger, and when it isn’t he doesn’t seem to enjoy it, like when Izutsumi sleeps in his bed. As far as I remember the only time we see him happy for touch beyond the few meaningful hugs like when he wanted the party to head back to the surface, was when his succubi were seducing him, sooo overall I get the feeling he’s not big on touch. Like being open with his feelings it’s something he’d keep for the more occasional time rather than something he does often. He is casual with touches but doesn’t give it out and seek it out naturally, so Marcille being very clingy’s not a problem, and as we see with Izutsumi always sleeping with him he’s ready to sacrifice his comfort for others too sometimes. I think being Marcille’s lover though I feel like he’d warm up to touches more, like she’d love to have him rest his head on her lap and to massage his scalp so eventually Chil looks forward to that as part of their routine and it relaxes him and feels right. I think he does like kissing, the routine goodbye peck feels warm and soothing, but with touch what he’d like the most would be making out and having sex and whatnot. Listen it’s super meaningful to him like, the peak of being vulnerable and naked and pouring out his emotions for someone for him. But yes she hangs onto his arm, holds his hand, goes to hug him from behind when he’s cooking, etc etc, and he doesn’t dislike it, but it’s not one of his love languages perse in that sense. It’s more that physical touches are a part of her, so he associates those with her, and so in a way he quite likes them, but it’s nit something he gravitates towards.

Words! I forget what I’ve mentioned already and what I haven’t oof, but yes Chilchuck values respect a lot, and with his last relationship he now values straightforward communication a lot. "If you want to leave me, at least please tell me first" style. But just with the way he is in canon too, where he hypes up his professional skills a lot, getting earned praised does mean something to him. Inversely, he devalues himself interpersonally quite a bit, calling himself a coward or selfish etc etc, and ultimately it’s Marcille telling him that he was a virtuous husband and that he may still have a shot with his wife that makes him see the glass half full and reflect on himself more positively! Remember what I said about Chilchuck first needing to value someone’s opinion before putting stock in their words? This is the canon moment that makes me feel the most like she earned that trust from him, he values what she says and her perspective. He knows her words aren’t empty and he’s able to trust in them more than he trusts his own judgement about himself. So yes yes, he loves getting told that he has qualities, that he’s skilled and manly and handsome and virtuous and kind, though he doesn’t need to be told "I love you" he’d still find it nice ofc. I say this because as I’ve said I think his way of being in a longterm relationship is soaking in the familiar casual soothing energy of it, he loves knowing her and noticing the little things (much like her with how she notices that he hates having to wait on someone for example), and he trusts her love in him, so he doesn’t feel like being told I love you is necessary, but it is a nice bonus.

And this is the bit where the post I linked at the beginning becomes especially relevant. I think Chilchuck shows his affection in subtle but thoughtful ways that showcase just how much they know each other, because to him love languages are less about proving how much love one holds for another but about defining the bond that they share, about quality more than quantity. He’s not one for big gestures, he just wants to feel connected with the person he’s with. Access intimacy, in-jokes, being protective/attack dogism, knowing the little details (Marcille’s favorite) and voluntary vulnerability… These truly ARE more in line with how Chilchuck shows his affection. And thus Marcille would see them for what they are and greatly value them as well.

Last points

… Help I forgot to talk about how teasing is like their whole thing lol

Ok so more concisely, Marcille will receive and give as much affection as she’s allowed, while Chilchuck needs to have the right setting right mood for it and makes more efforts for her sake to outwardly show it.

Edited in: Short section about pet names!! Chilchuck likes to call people by name and finds that in itself to be intimate but with half-foot names having ‘first names’ where Chilchuck’s is Chil, he might instinctively shorten it to Marci. Otherwise I’ve thought it’d fun if he gave bunny themed pet names teasingly, like his silly rabbit like the meme or harebrain rip, ‘bun’ would have the benefit of being related to food… But also I could see him defaulting to calling her ‘love’, ESPECIALLY if they had a conversation about pet names and discussed it- it could be a more sustainable way for her to feel loved since he’s not regularly showing his affection outwardly much or saying "I love you", that’d be sooo sweet I think. They discussed pet names, and since he doesn’t regularly say "I love you" or show affection all that much, having him call her love as a pet name eases all of that and makes her feel so special and loved. He takes a bit of time to get used to it and not feel silly and self-conscious, but nowadays it slips off the tongue so easily.

How do they communicate their wants for affection: Marcille will blatantly ask for it and/or make the first move herself, except for when she senses that Chil is tired and needs his space. Chilchuck will blink in morse code, and Marcille will somehow understand (to his upmost relief and adoration). He’ll grab her sleeve subtly to ask for her attention and touch, wordlessly walk up to her and reach for her face to leave a tender kiss on her lips, quietly speak to her if he wants to tell her something. And, you know, the other half of the time he feels horny and on top of the world so he indulges her wants for big passionate gestures and being very blunt and forward about it.

What do they view as signs of affection: They recognize each other’s way of showing affection well enough, but it’d be more about which signs they prefer I’d say. For example, Chilchuck does love getting smothered by her kisses and affection sometimes, but if it’s in public 99% of the time the embarrassment will win over, so it ends up meaning more to him that she doesn’t, that she holds back for his sake and she loves him enough to do that and she doesn’t blame him for it and she cares and she would stay with him even if he’s maybe flawed and- It means a lot!!! It’s like an act of service in that way. They compromise and do acts of service sooo much for each other, like she hurries in her care routine so he doesn’t have to wait on her for long, but then he sees her get out ready with her hair a mess and he takes the time to tie it up nicely for her. But yes Marcille overanalyzes everything and will seek out signs of affection into literally anything, but values whichever way to show affection she knows is hardest to do for Chil beyond the ones that feel so heartwarming because they just scream "Chil" to her. Meanwhile Chilchuck values her keeping in mind his boundaries, values her words and her being there for him, an unchanging fixture in his life offering him unconditional love through thick and thin. He values how well they know and understand each other, and how they communicate when things don’t feel as easy. Like, you know, when one of them becomes a dungeon lord and threatens humanity for example.

The compromises that being in a romantic relationship inevitably brings, and having to put some efforts to understand the other person and better the relationship, are points at the heart of Chilchuck’s plot with his wife imo. With the bicorn chapter, Marcille and Chilchuck have already hashed out a lot of their differences and come to a deeper understanding, so I’d say they’re halfway there to making it work :) Oohh what if I gave you hope in the world sometimes being a good bright p’ace where things can go right and love can be fulfilling and rewarding, and what if you gave me a concrete real example of the virtuous man figure that I’ve always idealized in books even if no one real can be as flawless, and the compromise both our outlooks on lives mixed to make made something beautiful and productive…

A bit like how the sweet & salty sandwich feels like an ill-fitting mix of ingredients but still tastes surprisingly good… Like perhaps a sweet woman and a sour man would go well together after all.

I’ll share this lil marchil song analysis @thatsmimi did once of Soap by The Oh Hellos to be the note I leave this post on~

[yuseirra]

CRINGE MESSAGE COMING LOL. Seeing all the chapters of Oshi no Ko and the KamiAi makes me feel guilty now for being an Ai’s yume / waifuist lol. She's definitely his. Too bad for me ig, but I'm very happy maybe she really found someone who can love her as she is. Your comics are so good btw !

Don't worry about it, anon! And honestly I have no problems with someone feeling that way about Ai- why would you have to feel guilty? Just as much as I'm passionate about what her relationship could have been with another character, you liked her as a character and wanted to explore in that aspect! Even if she canonically has someone she loves in the story, she's a fun character to imagine and work with and she's really charming! But.. I'm really glad at the same time to hear you feel convinced about this ship too as someone who cares about it 🙏💖..your ask is so wholesome. I feel that's lovely of you to feel happy for her having found someone she can love. Ai would be happy to have a fan like you.

To add, I bet I'm WAY more cringe for having discussed about the ship and the characters in literal essays at this point..! I really appreciate your ask, it's happy(and relieving)to see there are people finding this ship the same way as you do. I really, really hope the manga will direct them in the way I anticipate too~~~~, because I can love them all I want if that's the case and it'd make a lot of sense, too! I can explain. I CAN-

Not that it matters a lot in terms of analyzing characters from a manga, but I STUDIED psychology, it IS a field of interest for me and I want to get things right on that aspect... the emotional areas of people. And from what I can infer, I think what these two characters had...could have actually been pretty good. Ai's reaction towards Hikaru and what's related to him aren't really what someone would have towards a bad partner, it's quite the opposite. Things all started to add up after having seen her say on him in the video. I'll discuss a little more about it below but before that:

Right?? What mattered the most for me the most is Ai's say about the guy and it turns out she REALLY loved him and SHE wanted to be together. I could tell from the entirety of the movie arc that Hikaru would have been very attached to her considering his life circumstances. She literally was only person he could really open up to and love, and Ai did so much for him although she later did give him the pain. I totally see how the lyrics for this show are all like "I can't live without you!" or "I'd give up my own life for yours!", it has to be this guy saying it because that's EXACTLY the way he'd feel about Ai. I started drawing a lot of him after 154 and Fatal because they acted as the major puzzle pieces for me to understand his character. You see how Akane wants to understand her role as Sayahime but has a hard time forming a concept due to the little info she has in the scripts early on in anime S2, right? I felt the same way about the guy. I think...I get like 70% of him now, but the other 30% I am yet aware of can completely turn the tables and my insights about him and that's what makes me so nervous. One thing's certain though, he severely loves Ai and every loving feeling he expresses about her are true. And if it is, then it's at an extent where he can literally sacrifice himself for her sake. Pretty intense, right? So about your ask, the part where you say Ai's found someone who really loves her is DEFINITELY true! I'm glad for her in that aspect(is he worthy enough, however?)

About the "worth" of his love, I've said earlier that Ai's say on this relationship's the important bit, didn't I? And it is, since she could be a victim of a terrible crime and if that's true, whatever feelings Hikaru would have about her wouldn't hold weight or meaning(at least for me). Who cares if a stalker claims they can risk their life for you? You'd just want them to stay firmly out of your life, it's imposing and unwanted and even quite selfish. However, Ai seems to have been pretty content, maybe even happy with him during the times they were together.

We don't really get to see a lot of their loving moments together since things keep happening making Hikaru's life plummet and become miserable and pretty reliant on Ai, but we see his happiest smiles in that brief moment they were together and Ai WAS smiling there, too. I believe that's not just a false vision of her Hikaru has formed in his head. She did actually accept, understand, and love him back. Well, how do we know that? Because the way she reacts to him/what's related to him are consistently loving and shows of concern.

-Ai adores their children and swoons about how cute they are, when they resemble him too a whole lot. It's a little similar to how she's commented how cute he is when they had dinner together(although Hikaru says those scenes are made-up, I feel they would hold some clues to how they actually were bc why would something entirely fake take up entire chapters). It's hard to love the kids of someone who's given you a hard time, but Ai shows no signs of such feelings. Rather, I think her feelings towards her boyfriend extended to their kids they had together and she was able to love them even more because they're the children of someone who she really cares about.

-She also comments(I say this a lot)that she wanted to be together forever with Hikaru. That's not something that'd come so easily from her mouth. She believed her own mother didn't want her. She was so wary, and hid her true self even towards her own kids and always smiled, leading even her own son to believe she never cries even until he's entered high school. She's afraid of forming relationships because she gets hurt. But Ai sincerely wanted to be with this guy. This says a lot because if he was bad to her, Ai would have recoiled and left. However, Ai was able to decide she wanted to settle with him and share a future together. That's what love is. She liked her times with him enough to wish for more of it.

-Ai actively tries to cover for him and shield him from the possible harms he may face: she never reveals who the father is, to the president in her firm, even in her videos to her OWN SON. I get the feeling that she is really protective of this guy. The reason she left him was because she was afraid of causing HIM more sufferings, not because of her being tired of him sticking to her etc. There's a cut where she imagines him raising their children together with a smile and she's also there right beside him forming a wide smile. That's what Ai wanted, and it's so far from what a messed-up relationship could be. Ai knows about Hikaru more than anyone else and she doesn't hold any negativity towards him, she's only worried about his sake. That convinced me, they could have really had this happen. He was good enough for her and she wanted him too as much as he did for her. I don't think she would have the wrong idea about who she chose to love, when her whole story revolves around her struggles on forming a genuine one.

How could this be, if he's someone capable of harming her? I say he actually ISN'T, and that could be backed up by how.. timid Hikaru used to be. This is the 30% I am unsure of, I am not sure how crazy he is or how insane he can get. What I can say is that his innate character isn't the type to actively try to harm someone just because he's hurt. He was hurt all the time, always, by others, and he was never able to really fight back and protect himself before he's met Ai who stood with him(and this explains why Ai is so keen about protecting him-she knows he gets very vulnerable and she's seen him suffer all his life. She never wanted to be the one to add to it. She WANTS to help and protect him so much.)

I can also say he has very low self-esteem and values himself way less compared to what he actually is. This attitude of his is there from the very first time he's introduced, he keeps blaming himself and says his life doesn't have so much value. It's a very weird attitude to have if he's in front of someone who he's murdered.... When he is asked to teach Ai for the first time, he says stuff like "Is it okay for someone like me to...?" When you're this degrading about yourself.. You come to sort of.. Accept every bad thing that's thrown at you. I think that's how his mental state is at this point because Ai died and he believes he's responsible for it. He hates himself and has no problem having to be "punished" for it. He describes himself as a crazy murderer but.. I am still not sure if that's really the case. Aqua blames himself a lot for things he never did, perhaps his dad is even more like him on that regard. I need more pieces of the puzzle, but he's... really interesting and painful to analyze because I can sense that he's really suffering. Does he deserve it?

If he's someone that's allowed a person like Ai to form such a strong, loving and protective feeling towards, I don't think he could be so bad in reality. The things he says and his actions don't line up so well. Good grief, the writer really makes me think SO much. Maybe they never put that much thought into it and thought it's understandable the way it is, but.. He's so different compared to how he used to be. There has to be a reason for a person to change their ways so drastically, and the only reason I can personally think of for this character to shift this much would be Ai's death. I don't think he'd have been so different before that happened, and if that's the case, he wouldn't have tried to hurt her because why do that to the only light of his life? Why do that after a whole 4 years after a breakup, not immediately when it happened? Why try to do it after having realized she's been raising your kids by herself and they're said to be growing up smart and healthy? Many questions arise, it doesn't add up for me. Hikaru SAYS he wanted to talk to Aqua. He did with Ruby, he states he HAS fatherly feelings and I sense no hostility in him when he approaches them, he acts pretty KIND to them. That's not so different from how Ai's pictured he'd be with their children, either. His behavior is mostly consistent except for that one thing he claims to have done(sending Ryosuke), and the death of Yura, but even that is ambiguous and we don't actually know what's happened.

I think he just tried to send a bouquet to her but was too sad to go meet her in person lol, that, or there was some outer force that convinced him it's what he should do? The black star, perhaps?

This became a real essay and I'm the embarrassing one here ;v; ahah but!! I do draw with passion! And with a lot of things in mind and I read stuff over a lot like you do anon! ♥ I really hope they turn out to be something I can fully respect and support bc, I want Ai's love to be reciprocated in the way it deserves. It'd be great if they deserve each other. They are the protagonists' parents too, after all! I feel they'd have a pretty good story. Thanks for reading my comic and for expressing your thoughts to me! I hope what you said and what I speculate about them are true!!😊💖💖

[destinationtoast]

Hello there! I'm currently combing thru various Hetalia character tags and counting the ships that appear for any individual character, and I'm considering doing a write-up like how I see you make them! I'd like to ask you how do you go about formatting/presenting the information? I made a pie chart n everything!

Hi -- that sounds like an awesome project! Very cool. :)

I'll share what I do for data visualization, but I'll also say that there are other ways to do all of this, and depending on your goals, other ways may be better. So this isn't a recommendation -- just insight into my own process.

I use Google Sheets (similar to Excel) to gather/analyze data and to make graphs. (Many other programs/methods would work and have various pros & cons, so if you have a different favorite/you've already made your graphs, no problem! I use Sheets in part because it's easy to share to make my data broadly accessible.)

To get the unified look of my fandom stats -- and because I often want to add additional notes on top of/next to my graphs -- I copy/paste the graphs into Google Slides and add notes/titles/etc there. I have a slide theme that I use to made to get my particular Toastystats look; here's a more generic template of it that you can edit/use yourself, if that's helpful. I like to use it to put a border around my slides (so that if it's on a white background you can still see the edges) and to put my blog credit and the date at the bottom (useful in case someone stumbles across it years later and doesn't realize the data is old, or wants to ask you questions). If you want to change any of the defaults in these template slides (e.g., change the colors or fill in the footer text), you'll need to use the menus to go to "Slide -> Edit theme".

After that, I export each slide as a PNG image ("File -> Download").

---

I will also make a quick unsolicited suggestion about pie charts, which you can feel free to ignore: I use bar charts most of the time. I only use pie charts only when I have a bunch of different mutually exclusive categories that add up to 100% -- basically when I can think of the data as creating a "sensible whole pie."

So, for instance, imagine a possible pie here as "Fanworks where Character X is tagged." And I want to show how many of those fanworks have different ship tags. Well, multiple ship tags probably sometimes get used together, which means that actually some of the pie slices (i.e., the ships) should be overlapping, not separate -- and overlapping slices make for weird pie. :) Also, there are probably a large number of Character X tags that don't use any of the ship tags (which at minimum should mean I would also want a large "Other fanworks" slice of pie, if I did use a pie chart). Because of all this, I would probably choose to use a bar chart for that data.

---

Feel free to ask more questions if you have them (I recognize that many parts of this could be be confusing, depending on your particular background), and good luck! :)

[sunflowerandstrawberryspice]

Before we begin as always: This is all for fun and is not meant to be taken to seriously everyone please be nice or at least civil. Okay? Awesome read on!

Alrighty I'm feeling a little irritated after a not so lovely comment on one of my fics (that has literally NOTHING to do with Jay) about how I don't often write about him if at all. Now I just kinda ignored the comment cause this was the same person who said I couldn't ship Zane with human characters cause he's a robot to say the least I took what they said with a grain of salt so yeahhhhhh (like seriously I had to mention that cause it's just such a weird thing to say since Ninjago has said multiple times that Zane is just as human as the others so???)

But anyways I want to start by saying yeah that's true I don't write about Jay very often, in fact I have never written a fic centered around him BUT I will never go out of my way to vilify him outside of the actions he takes IN CANNON because I try to stay in character when writing unless it's an AU that might shift their personalities a bit but not by much. But this brings me to an issue I've come across more than once and it sort of bothers me and its: the erasure of Jay's more negative qualities.

Now I'm not saying that Jay is an irredeemable villain here I'm just saying that he has said/done things that aren't good that a lot of people seem very keen on just ignoring or in some cases outright denying, and I get it it sucks when our favorite characters are flawed trust me my favorite character is GARMADON so I have plenty of experience in liking characters with flaws lol. BUT just because we like them doesn't mean they don't HAVE those flaws.

Like Jay (since he's who we're suppose to be focusing on rn) is kind of an ass multiple times especially early in the series. Now I hate the love triangle because it fucked up literally all people involved and I found it super annoying but I think Jay was painted in a particularly bad light. For example Jay straight up attacking Cole even though Cole had ZERO clue about the whole perfect match thing, like imagine if out of no where your best friend ATTACKED YOU saying you were trying to "steal" (I hate that phrase btw so dumb cause Nya's a person) the person they liked? Probably would feel really crummy.

Now I do understand that Jay probably has some form of anxiety but that doesn't mitigate the fact throughout the series Jay has a tendency to get freaked out and then lose his temper, in more recent seasons it's happened less frequently which I'm going to chose to interpret as him growing up but is likely just because in later season the writing tends to muddy the waters on most characters (we don't even talk about crystalized because it doesn't exist, like seriously Lloyd talks about Harumi in Dragons Rising like Crystalized never happened which I'm a big fan of) but yeah. I've never been a huge Jay fan myself but his cannon character is interesting and I'd understand why people would like him since again he's not an irredeemable monster he's a person.

But yeah, I love Ninjago and I love being a part of the fandom but I don't love how sometimes people overlook the charcters negative traits and that really bothers me since more than one of the characters go through arcs (some more subtle than others) to become better people. Like I also think people underplay Nya's anger issues, Kai's can be as well but to a lesser extent SOMETIMES, which is unfortunate because that's part of their arcs of growing into new more mature people. All of the characters have their problems it's what makes them interesting to follow, I'm a huge fan of Garmadon and he is EXTREMLY flawed but that's what makes him an interesting character especially since he's trying to be better (again lol).

In conclusion I love over analyzing this Lego show cause even if its shit sometimes the characters it created are super fun to play with much like actual Legos! I don't hate any characters (except for Nadakahn and The Mechanic fuck those two they're creepy as shit) I love getting to talk about them and am totally open for conversations about them because as you can tell from this post I am a natural born yapper and I love to hear other peoples thoughts/views so feel free to say something as long as you're willing to keep it civil!

I hope y'all have a great day/night PEACE OUT!

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Charles “Trip” Tucker

By Ames

Screw Jonathan Archer. Trip Tucker is the real hero of Star Trek: Enterprise. He’s more likeable. He grows more as a character. Unlike John, he actually overcomes some of his racism. He commits way fewer atrocities than John too! We testify all the time on the podcast that he has the character journey that Archer should have had. So this week, your A Star to Steer Her By hosts are here to analyze the best Florida Man out there.

Don’t let the accent fool you: Trip knows his engineering shit. This Southern charmer is not only personable to everyone he meets, he’s more emotionally self-aware than most characters across the franchise. We need more Trip Tuckers in the world. So read on below and listen to this week’s podcast episode (tightrope walk over to 45:57) as we highlight our catfish-loving friend. And pass the pecan pie.

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Challenge your preconceptions or they’ll challenge you One of the early moments of growth we see from Trip comes in “Strange New World.” He spouts some absolutely horrid racist jargon at T’Pol while under the influence of space pollen, but when he snaps out of it, he not only apologizes, but he recognizes that he’s still learning to overcome the systemic racism he grew up surrounded by, which is hella introspective.

I feel like I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar Speaking of Trip apologizing to T’Pol, he knows to come clean to her after he read her very personal letter in “Breaking the Ice.” It’s Trip’s suggestion to Archer to have Hoshi decrypt the message instead of to (ya know) ask T’Pol about it, which is shitty, but then he’s honest enough afterwards that T’Pol sees in him someone she can trust to ask for advice about her arranged marriage.

I am just going outside and may be some time Who other than Trip could get Malcolm Reed, ship introvert, to come out of his shell? Their friendship becomes a show highlight after their misadventure during “Shuttlepod One.” Trip is even willing to Captain Oates himself to give Reed a fighting chance, but then ends up saving their asses when he prolongs their life support and then detonates their engine to get the Enterprise’s attention.

We all scream for ice cream Earlier in “Breaking the Ice,” Trip advised T’Pol to do what’s best for her (and eat pecan pie). Now in “Oasis,” we see him continue the trend when he advocates for Liana to make her own decisions, and it won’t be the last we see him champion others’ decisions. He also introduces Liana to ice cream, which makes him a goddamn hero. Someone, get this girl a bowl of rocky road.

It’s the CAPTAIN’S chair This is one of the cute moments we couldn’t help but include. It’s also a fun little acting showcase for Connor Trinneer when Trip gets absolutely fixated on tuning up Archer’s chair in “Singularity.” And when he’s clear-headed enough again not to redesign the whole thing, he figures out all he needs to do is lower it one centimeter. Work smarter, not harder, friends.

I’m not leaving him here We get even more benevolence from Tucker in “Dawn” when he’s stranded on a moon with Zho’Kaan, an Arkonian with whom he has no way of communicating. Though they’re distrustful and combative at first, the two men learn to help each other survive as the oppressively hot sunrise approaches. It’s just Geordi in “The Enemy” again, but that’s hardly a bad thing.

They would never let me learn those things There was a bit of a debate about which list to put “Cogenitor” on. You can’t deny that Trip is NOT the person to be making the legal and psychoanalytical decisions on Charles’s behalf. Problem is, there IS no such person on the Enterprise and the one person who could have granted them asylum resolutely refused. So that’s on Archer. Trip, on the other hand, is the only person treating Charles like a person, being the most compassionate crew member yet again.

You owe me one Turns out Sim, Trip’s symbiote in “Similitude,” is just as honorable a man as the original. First off, his engineering ingenuity saves the ship from the polaric field it was stuck in. And what a phenomenal job from Trinneer, distinguishing this subtly different character from Trip, and fighting for his right to exist. It’s a gut punch watching Sim accept his fate after his short life. Ow, my gut!

I’ve been putting off writing this for a while Trip’s emotional journey in season three is probably the most profound. We get to witness various stages of the grief he goes through after his sister’s death to the Xindi probe. Most of the season is anger, which is to be expected. But by the end of “The Forgotten,” we see how far he’s come when he writes the condolence letter to the Taylors, reflecting heavily on his own loss.

If I had suffered your loss, I’d feel the same way All the season three growth really does go to Trip! While Archer is torturing people and trying to kamikaze the Xindi, and T’Pol is a junkie for no logical reason, Tucker is here developing as a person. It’s just before Degra’s death in “The Council” that Trip and the Xindi weapons designer come to a sort of understanding with each other. There’s hope in this universe after all!

I think it was called: “The Ship that Couldn’t Slow Down” It may be pure spectacle, but it’s also impressive as hell when Trip shimmies through space between the Columbia and the Enterprise on a skinny little wire in “Divergence.” As usual, Trip is the only person who can save the day when the Enterprise has taken a cue from Speed and can’t slow down. Who else can say they tightrope-walked between ships at warp?

You’re sweet-talking the wrong guy While I would have much preferred if any of the lady crewmembers of the Enterprise did literally anything when the Orion slave girls take over the ship in “Bound,” I guess I’ll take the next best thing and see Trip do it. Because the typical Vulcan immunity is apparently transferable to their boytoys, Commander Tucker gets to save the day because pheromones don’t work on him.

—

Worst moments

Three hours of decompression in each direction Having to undergo decompression to visit an alien ship is a pretty cool concept we don’t see enough of in Trek, and maybe it’s for good reason. When Trip is decompressing during “Unexpected,” he’s absolutely insufferable. He spends the whole three hours whining and whining and whining, and flips the hell out even while Ah’len is assuring him everything’s fine.

Roll a stealth check Though we get some fun guest stars out of “Acquisition,” it feels like it’s missing something all episode long. I posit that what we’re missing is literally any clever engineering tactics from Trip, the only crew member free on the ship after it’s been taken over by Ferengi. Not only does he not do anything “Starship Mine”-y, but he gets himself nabbed by those doofuses!

A Night at the Risa-bury You wanna get your kicks on Risa, you go for it, Trip, but don’t be so disgusting about it. Watching him and Reed ogling all the aliens in the club in “Two Days and Two Nights” gets real gross real fast. But having the two of them get so thoroughly tricked by shapeshifting con artists until they were left tied up in their underwear shows how out of their depths they are.

I’d hate to be responsible for giving the crew the runs Considering how often you see other crewmen sitting in the chair whenever the captain is off gallivanting, it seems peculiar how utterly clueless Tucker is when he’s left in command during “The Seventh.” It’s like he’s forgotten how to make decisions. Or communicate with Vulcans. Or let Phlox and Reed do their damn jobs. Why is he suddenly inept?

Gives a whole new meaning to doing “The Stranger” Like we talked about a lot in our Kes post, some bad moments are actually things that don’t happen when they should. In this case, there is absolutely no pay off when Trip’s arm turns invisible in “The Communicator.” Nothing comes of this! In an episode where it would behoove everyone to be able to retrieve something undetected, wouldn’t an invisible hand work nicely?

Why, you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder! Aside from just plain being a bad episode, “Precious Cargo” also contains a lot of terrible work from Commander Tucker. There is absolutely no chemistry between him and First Monarch Kaitaama, and yet they go to bone town just because the plot needs them to. You’d think someone who’s gotten pregnant before from engaging in less would show a little more restraint.

I was brought up believing you don’t play around with another man’s wife Let’s be clear: Trip does nothing wrong in how he associates with Feezal in “Stigma.” This is one of those moments that’s all on the writers. Someone continuously and gratuitously coming on to another person who displays no interest is sexual harassment. And yet the jokey, cutesy tone suggests it’s Trip’s error in not banging someone he shows no desire to bang. That’s gross.

You can’t do that on the balcony, buddy? This show is pretty much four seasons of white men not listening to a woman, and it’s enraging. T’Pol, as logically as usual, suggests that Tucker not test the Xindi rifle in the middle of the armory (of all places!) in “The Shipment,” but Trip refuses to listen and nearly blows the thing up in the most explosive area of the ship. Go outside and blow things up like a normal person!

This mission is to save Earth, not an alien hatchery I’m not done shitting on “Hatchery,” which I started doing last week. And in our season three wrap. And in our series wrap. I just find it so detestable that the show tries to glorify Tucker organizing a full mutiny because the captain is trying to save the baby Insectoids. Exactly no one on the ship seems to understand that that is the ethical thing to do, even during war time. Especially during war time.

Bugs Bunny sawed off Florida too, you know We just spent a couple points above praising Tucker for overcoming his hatred of the Xindi, but to get there, he first had to be overwhelmed with wrath. It’s understandable after the lancing of Florida, but when Trip just starts riling Degra in “The Forgotten,” it is not the right time, dude. At this point, Degra is working with Starfleet. Save the guilt trip for when you’re less busy.

Taking my ball and going home The will-they-won’t-they shenanigans between Trip and T’Pol have gotten very tired by the time we get to “The Aenar.” The both of them are acting so juvenile because they can’t work through their emotions nor act professionally around each other. So it’s frankly pathetic that Trip runs away from his feelings by asking for a transfer to the Columbia. And the Tri’Pol shippers lament. 

Have a nice Trip. See you next fall. No Worst Moments list would be complete without the awful, awful way that they kill off a beloved character. “These Are the Voyages…” does Trip even dirtier than Nemesis does Data in how pointless a death it is. It feels like a slap in the face to fans, ya know, like that whole finale does. The explosion scene is rushed. The acting is subpar. A piss-poor way to go.

—

We, however, still have a long road to go ourselves, with several more character spotlights on the way. So make sure you’re following along here, keeping up with our watchthrough of Discovery over on SoundCloud (among all the other podcast places), get some neuropressure with us over on Facebook, and save us some popcorn at movie night!

[rise-my-angel]

I appreciate your takes a lot and think you are quite respectful. I am a Dany fan and would enjoy Jon and Dany together in the books if it was healthy and they were interested in each other and blah blah basically it would have to be a very specific scenario for me to enjoy it but anyway I don’t consider myself a stan of any character or ship and I’m a bit perplexed by that type of fan. I enjoy reading posts by people who disagree with me and have different interpretations of characters. I get so disappointed when I find that I’m blocked by someone just because maybe they hate Dany or they ship a ship I don’t like even though we otherwise have similar opinions and even if we don’t, isn’t it nice to see what other people think sometimes? It’s refreshing I think. I’m a big Jon fan and I’m going to enjoy posts by other true Jon fans even if they don’t like Dany. I just have a hard time seeing why everyone is so bothered. Some fans are very rude and toxic when people disagree (I have been accused by other Dany fans of secretly being a Sansa and Jonsa stan just because I said I think Dany COULD be a villain in the books and I’d be okay with it as long as it’s well written which is silly. I’d be okay with so many different outcomes as long as they’re well written because it’s not my story and I trust George to tell a good one if he ever finishes it at all). I just wish we as fans could focus on celebrating the things we do agree on and ignore it when we disagree or have respectful and thought provoking conversations instead of just blocking or being hostile

I genuinely like dissecting what about characters or ships I dislike and why. I love analyzing fiction in ways that explore what works or doesn't work about something for a story in my personal opinion and how framing certain characters can have adverse effects on fan point of views.

People talk about "hating on things" when really, I love discussing why I think Rhaegar is a peice of shit. I love explaining what about Dany I think is a tyrant. But that is very difficult with a very specific subset of this fandom.

Mostly Dany stans and Sansa stans, but this also bleeds into the general discussion of targ stans. The fact of the matter is, they are fine with trashing the other character, but as soon as I make a post that is anti that character they stan, I am hating unjustifiably. I am hating just to hate and I am looking for things to hate.

And unfortunately, that means I am always on the defensive about my Jon opinions. This fandom has an issue with discussing Jon without attaching a ship to that narrative, especially Jonsa and Jonerys stans. I do not ship him with anyone, therefore I want to discuss him as a singular character and that includes exploring what I think are problematic and toxic characters towards him. Which in my analysis, includes Dany and Sansa. But because to a lot of these people, Jon is seen as an extension of Dany or Sansa in a ship, I am clearly one or the other.

I cannot tell you how silly it is to have "Anti Jonsa, Anti Jonerys, Anti Jonrya, Anti Jongritte" in my bio, and every single one of my anti jonerys posts gets passed around as pro jonsa evidence or my anti jonsa posts gets passed around as pro jonerys evidence.

It is a subset of this fandom I hate because it has shown how impossible it is to discuss Jon as a complete individual character outside of romantic ships and it is exhausting.

It is a very persistent problem. I don't care who personally ships these things, but the fandom has made it's mark by declaring that either your with them or your their enemy and any disagreeing opinions are seen as attacks instead of discussion of media I enjoy.

People can like Dany and Jonerys, or Sansa and Jonsa, but it is the persistent screaming that opinions like mine are being unfairly hateful or delusional that piss me off. I'd rather not have such negative opinions about certain shippers, but it is the angry mob mentality they have that make me so against it.

I want to just discuss Jon as a character on his own, they only want to discuss Jon as a side companion romantic interest to their favourite female character. And I get blocked for speaking against their sacred cow, whereas I go looking through their blogs just to see what their side says so I can make a fair argument to their points when engaging in critical discussion on my own personal posts.

Me and them are not the same.

[thelunarfairy]

What is your wish?

It's been a while since I've been postponing talking about some specific topics related to JSHK, heavy topics that are part of the plot's theme. Many of these themes are very important in the story and development of the characters (or their past)

So, out of respect for you, I preferred to avoid talking explicitly about them initially, because I don't know if you would feel comfortable talking about it.

Topics such as suicide, depression, cannibalism, sex, incest, physical abuse and others.

I have several analyzes and hypotheses on all of these topics that I would like to share with you if you feel comfortable with it.

Remembering that these are analyses, it is not related to what I specifically like, but the analysis of the situation and the signs that the story is guiding us.

Many people don't like the idea of talking, for example, about sex, which is strongly linked to JSHK, sometimes explicitly or implicitly, as well as other topics. Considering that most of the characters are teenagers/children, it is common for many to feel uncomfortable talking about this, but that is what exists in the manga. My intention will never be to sexualize any of them, but to talk about what this represents in the manga or for that character.

I was apprehensive after sharing some posts about the relationship between Hanako and Tsukasa, the way they interact with each other, anyway, after that I received two asks asking me if I shipped Hanako x Tsukasa and another about me sharing too many images of ships from both hahaha (it was actually about the way Tsukasa treated Hanako, but they interpreted it in a romantic way for some reason)

Don't get me wrong, I just like analyzing their relationships in a raw way. The theory that Tsukasa abused Hanako doesn't exist for nothing, does it? Won't you assume this theory makes sense? And it had all this repercussion precisely because many people considered it a valid hypothesis because of the way their relationship is shown to us.

It has nothing to do with my personal preference :3 If you want to know my preferences, just ask me, I like to show what I interpreted about that character, situation, relationship, in the most raw way possible.

And that doesn't mean that I like or dislike the character, or that I ship them, or that I like what the character did, or that I like what the story is telling. I just say what I interpreted about it. (And if I really like it, I'll say it)

Anyway, I wanted to know if it's okay with you if I talk about these topics, or if you feel uncomfortable with them

Don't worry, if I talk about these topics, it will be as subtle as I can, out of respect for you :3

Remembering that there is no way I can't ever talk about them, because it is impossible hahaha they are rooted in the manga, there is no way to escape these themes.

If you participated in the poll, thank you ♡

[luscinai]

GET TO KNOW THE MUN

What made you pick up the current muse(s) you have?  mostly vibes. for the most part, everyone i write are people i have some sort of personal understanding with one way or other. as for lu herself? a shower thought that came up during my brief aspiring author era and committed until present day, 10 years later.

Is there anything you don’t like to write? not really! the problem is usually i don't feel like i word it well enough, not that i don't like to write it. so i tend to get chicken shit about it hahaha.

Is there anything you really enjoy writing? anything that goes hard into the analyzing the psyche of the character(s) and/or relationships. could be a fight, could be an intimate moment, could just be straight up no plot angst.

How do you come up with headcanons? literally just a stray random thought can make me think of a headcanon. i yap so so so so so much. a thought, a song, a post, something i see, literally everything and anything.

Do you write in silence or do you play music? both. when i zone too hard i just write in silence but that's also when elevator music starts playing in my head and/or i've already phased out of existence at that point. a la writing while i dissociate the fuck out of myself, but that's usually when i have my best works lmao. otherwise, i tend to go for music without lyrics, classical or atmospheric or anything similar—to my great misfortune, my ears are sharp when i don't want them to be, so i find myself latching onto the lyrics and losing words when i'm jamming too hard.

Do you plan your replies or wing them? big fan of balling! though. that's also the only type of writing i can do lmao. i do tend to prefer plotting the big beats if there are any though. instant gratification or w/e with less effort.

Do you enjoy shipping? to everybody's misfortune ... yes. way too much, actually. i'm ashamed of how much i fixate once i latch on lmaooooo. ask the person who tagged me for this one.

What’s your alias/name? rena! well. specifically serena, actually. but somebody called me rena, and it's just been my thing ever since.

Age? old enough to do most adult activities.

Birthday? nov 3rd.

Favourite colour? fluctuates between red and pink.

Favourite song? can't give you a favorite song because i don't have any, but i can give you the next best thing, which is my currently looped most song: spectator --- friday pilots club.

Last movie you watched? can i be so fr when i say the last time i watched a proper 2hr+ movie is perhaps 5 or so years ago?

Last show you watched? arcane s2. still sobbing btw.

Last song you listened to? according to spotify it's free bird --- lynyrd skynyrd. yeah don't judge i like the guitar riff.

Favorite food? ... would not be able to tell you. i'm a glutton.

Favourite season? winter. i want it as cold as my goddamn freezer, thank you.

tagged: @reawakcn tagging: steal it from me, but also @rubycaped, @nguyetvan, and @mutatiio :D

[spicyrottingbrains]

Technically, without Tommy, Buck would not be bisexual. Let me explain, Tim, the current showrunner, wanted Buck and Natalia to continue this season, but the actress who played them wasn't available. And Lucy was supposed to be the one who flew 118 to rescue the cruise ship, but the actress who played her got her pilot picked up by Fox. So Tim got Lou, who played Tommy, to come back instead and remember Tommy is gay and went with a bisexual storyline for Buck.

Sorry if there any grammar error.

I think i get what you mean anon and that's what I'm saying as well. The way I'm understanding your response is you're talking storyline wise how tommy was brought in which helped facilitate the bi buck storyline. Tommy helped buck discover he was bisexual. He didn't make buck bisexual. My posts was directed at the influx of ppl trying to push the agenda that he made buck bi and that he is the one sole reason buck's bi and so on. My problem is the fact that they keep treating it as if buck wasn't bisexual this whole time. He has been bi, is bi and will always be bi regardless of who he does or doesn't date. And I repeat tommy helped buck in his discovery but Buck isn't bi BECAUSE of tommy. You get me???

And also of it wasn't tommy then they wouldve had someone else help buck discover he was bi since there goal was to explicitly have buck discover he's bi. Couldve been eddie, could've been a new dude they wrote into the story or it could even have been buck just realizing one day or through a series of events that had nothing to do with him kissing a dude. If they wanted to write buck as canonicaly bi so that there was no other possible intrpretation instead of the multiple throwaway comments and implied subtext we've had so far then they could've done that with or without tommy. So it's not BECAUSE of tommy it just happened to be him and the way ppl are making it seem like he's the only reason makes it sound very weird to me.

And also this isn't about Lou or any actor for that matter. I generally don't like associating actors to the story universe too much especially when analyzing. And I tend to stay away from the actors as a rule. I am talking about the characters and them alone. It's based solely on the 911 universe and nothing outside of it.