#And of course it doesn't match all popular ships

[magpiefngrl]

im sure someone has posted about this before but it has just come to my attention that a trait of many a popular ship is the combo one common name x one super unusual name (in western fandoms)

So ships like :

Harry x Draco

Will x Hannibal

Dean x Castiel

Derek x Stiles

John x Sherlock

Arthur x Merlin

Kirk x Spock

Harry x Louis

Steve x Bucky

James x Regulus

I haven't read in all these fandoms but the unusual-name-haver seems to be the more flamboyant or dramatic or eccentric character of the two, no?

Its basically the name version of this

[ao3topshipsbracket]

honestly I'm kinda disappointed all the popular/well known ships are gone/eliminated

the semis look kinda boring now tbh

(ps: I don't mean to hate on the ships winning. I'm sure they're winning for a reason. it's just they're all kinda unknown/not mainstream)

We're definitely surprised to see some of the highly seeded ships go down early, but personally, I think that makes the remaining matches more exciting, not less! Who doesn't love an upset, after all? But of course, with Bubbline in one half and Destiel in the other, there are definitely some significant heavy hitters still in the running!

That being said, we know we have some underdog semifinalists that people are less familiar with, so here's a brief primer on each of them!

Hualian comes from the Chinese novel Tian Guan Ci Fu, or Heaven Official's Blessing. If you've heard of Wangxian of Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Untamed fame, TGCF comes from the same author. It is a xianxia love story about ghost kings and fallen gods. Here's the plot synopsis from IMDB:

Eight hundred years ago, Xie Lian was the Crown Prince of the Xian Le kingdom. He was loved by his citizens and was considered the darling of the world. He ascended to the Heavens at a young age; however, due to unfortunate circumstances, was quickly banished back to the mortal realm. Years later, he ascends again, only to be banished again a few minutes after his ascension. Now, eight hundred years later, Xie Lian ascends to the Heavens for the third time as the laughing stock among all three realms. On his first task as a god thrice ascended, he meets a mysterious demon who rules the ghosts and terrifies the Heavens, yet, unbeknownst to Xie Lian, this demon king has been paying attention to him for a very, very long time.

At #58 in the Tumblr 2023 top ship list, they're solidly middle of the pack in terms of seeding, but they did take down Buddie at #10, and Davekat of Homestuck infamy: a very impressive showing!

Sulemio hails from the latest installment in the Mobile Suit Gundam anime franchise, The Witch from Mercury; as with all Gundam series, it is a sci-fi military drama featuring giant robots and space warfare. This one happens to also feature heavy inspiration from Revolutionary Girl Utena. Official synopses seem a bit lacking, and I unfortunately don't know enough about the series to summarize it myself, but I'll link this very helpful guide that someone left in our notes!

They're the lowest seeded of our semifinalists, ranking #59 on Tumblr's 2023 top ship list, so the fact that they've taken out the top seed is truly a feat; having a rallying force with @demilypyro has certainly helped their cause (and our very busy activity feed 😅) a great deal!

Regardless of who wins the next rounds, there are very fun underdog journeys present on both sides of the bracket. Plus, it's always good to remember that polls like these are not meant to be indicators of popularity, but of passion.

[rainbowsky]

Hello Rainbowsky,

I know, hiking CPN can be washed by saying WYB went to Inner Mongolia to see the shooting location for his upcoming movie and may be went on hiking when he had free time.

But, WYB who never posts more than 1 personal picture in an entire year, decided to post his hiking pictures even when the picture location matches with the shooting location of XZ and there were heavy rumours of him visiting XZ.

Also, he went to Japan and other places for seeing shooting location but he did not post pictures from there. People are also saying that if it was for movie he will not spoil the location before movie releases.

Rainbowsky, what do you think?

Hi Anon,

It's true that there are people trying to wash this whole Inner Mongolia thing. It just goes with the territory. In fact, the bigger and stronger the CPN, the harder people work to wash it.

However.

Fake, fan fiction, CPN.

It's not really washable. In part because there's not enough information available to independently verify or debunk anything, sure, but also for all the reasons everyone's been discussing lately.

The location

DD's filming locations are not known at this point. Somehow (and I can't possibly express how thoroughly impressed I am by this) the film set has been so totally locked down that nothing has leaked from it, to the degree that no one even knows for sure that the project is currently filming, or where. So people claiming he was there for filming... that's speculation.

The film synopsis solos are relying on to wash this CPN talks about the character we'd presume to be DD's (it's the only young man mentioned) being from "the heart of" the Great Khinogan Mountains.

The Wulanhada volcano park that DD was photographed by is not anywhere near that area.

We don't know exactly where GG is filming so we can't get too carried away about it, but it's pretty disingenuous for people to claim DD was there for filming when it's not anywhere near where his character is supposed to be from, and the terrain around the volcano park is totally different from the terrain where DD's character is from (would probably not make a good stand-in location for that region).

Wulanhada volcano park, left - Great Khinogan Mountains, right

Of course it's not impossible that he was there for filming, but given what little we know (the same information solos are trying to use to wash this), it seems unlikely.

It's also possible he went there directly from Beijing, but that's a 5 hour drive at minimum, so wouldn't likely have been a day trip. And DD isn't going to post a photo of himself at GG's filming location, he's going to post one that says what he wants to say while still maintaining plausible deniability. This volcano park is perfectly situated to provide all of that.

Aside from that - as turtles have already pointed out - why would DD share photos from the area where he's filming, when this film has been so very locked down until now? It doesn't make any sense at all. Keeping locations secret is what's been protecting this film from leaks and stalkers.

The content

It's pretty interesting that we've seen enormously popular photos from GG (his birthday post has over 33.7 million likes, while the Xiao Zhan Studio birthday photos post is at 4 million likes), featuring him hiking in the wilds and hanging out in campground areas, and then we get something similar from DD who, as you said, rarely shares personal photos anymore.

They both seem to be very outdoorsy lately!

For two people who - according to solos - are 'trying desperately to get out from under the tyranny of this delusional CP', they sure are making some big mistakes about how to appear to be very different people living very different lives...

His and his B&W Leicas

His and his credit card iPhone cases

His and his Gucci lion head necklaces

Yeah, they're really putting in every effort to shake this 'reputation destroying', 'horribly toxic' ship! 🙄

More on that here.

The timing

This is the biggest thing, and in my opinion what we should be focusing on the most. Because as far as I'm concerned, this post is a statement - a very loud and clear one.

DD is being (yet again) attacked with these horrible, laughably false (like, seriously - the photos are clearly of a woman who is much shorter and smaller than DD) rumors about him attending a concert with a particular actress, and suddenly the supertopic for that 'CP' is shut down and we get photos from DD that point to a totally different CP. One that he's supposedly trying to 'shake off'.

Then we see him partying it up openly, publicly, at a concert for his dear friend Da Zhangwei. Not even wearing a mask, so everyone is free to fully identify and photograph him.

It seems to me that DD is sending a pretty clear message:

I'm not dating an actress, I'm with GG

I don't need to disguise myself as a woman to go see a concert

And this is exactly what happened last time these kinds of inflammatory rumors were circulating about him with that same actress. People were claiming that the actress was wearing the same bone necklace as him (with a blurry photo where the necklace couldn't even be seen), so GG released footage wearing a Gucci lion head necklace that DD had previously worn for a race.

GG and DD don't fuck around.

So while I'll tag this with my regular "the mysteries of yizhan" tag that I use for all candy/CPN, there really is no mystery here at all. DD is fed up with this bullshit and won't stand for it.

In fact I was just saying to a friend the other day that the biggest mystery I have about GGDD these days is, how do solos manage to remain solos? They have access to the same information we do. 😅

[ranpoedgw]

the sugar-coating of ranpoe

as we're all familiar with, ranpoe is a pretty popular ship in the bsd fandom and is often said to be a very healthy/fluffy ship. however, fanon ranpoe is honestly an incredibly sugar-coated version of how they really are in canon. ranpoe is not the fluffy innocent ship people think they are, and are in fact almost as bad as many other ships in bsd. let me explain.

first, i want to talk about the babyfication of ranpoe *in canon*. yes i know authors can't mischaracterise their own characters, but that doesn't mean they can't choose to portray them through a warped view. in ranpoe's case, it's also the authors themselves who choose to portray ranpoe as a comic relief duo. like, the way poe commits (attempted) murder is so unserious? and ranpo (as usual) just... doesn't seem to care that poe tried to kill him? and encourages him to try again?

compared to skk for example, who when they try to kill each other it's actually portrayed with some kind of intense hatred and/or murderous intent.

of course i'll never know what the authors were thinking, but they probably chose to portray ranpoe as such with the intention of ranpoe being a fluffy crack ship. which is fine, because they're the authors obviously and they can do what they want, and this also gives ranpoe their own unique dynamic. however, the issue with this is that it causes people to be completely blinded towards what's actually happening between ranpoe, and only see them through the rose-tinted glasses which the authors have handed to us. hence, i'm going to objectively recount everything that happened with ranpoe.

around six years ago, ranpo beat poe in a battle of wits.

poe went into this reclusive state where he refused to interact with other people, and is implied to have been suicidal/depressed.

eventually, poe decides to plot his revenge by writing a novel in order to kill ranpo and obtain the praise and glory that ranpo has.

six years pass.

poe meets ranpo again, and tries to kill him. he fails.

they end up establishing a mutual relationship where poe writes novels, and ranpo gives him feedback. poe no longer seems to want revenge.

fast forward to chapter 80, by this time ranpo has asked poe for help regarding a lot of things, all agency-related.

one, ranpo said he wanted a showdown to trick poe into writing a novel for him, which he then used against chuuya.

he asked poe to write a novel in about ~30 mins to corner mushitaro.

in the volume 20 omake, ranpo also asked poe to write a novel to house 3 people by the next day.

ranpo asked poe to help him rescue the agency members in chapter 80. poe helped to snipe the lock on kunikida's cell, and prepare a vehicle to save yosano.

in the recent chapters, it was also mentioned that ranpo had poe write a novel to trap fukuchi.

based on this brief (??) summary, you can probably see a bunch of things which are not very right. first of all, poe experienced severe withdrawal after losing his match with ranpo, and for six years his only goal was to defeat him. secondly, poe is doing a LOT of things for ranpo, which aren't really reciprocated. there might also be other things, but i will just focus on these two.

1. poe is heavily reliant on ranpo.

as you can see, poe is a pretty fragile person. he lost one match to ranpo and basically gave up on life. he became overly reliant on ranpo's existence to affirm his own, and even now he dreads the possibility of ranpo dying and leaving him without a rival. and while poe who has almost no friends is entirely dependent on ranpo, ranpo always has the agency to support him, so he isn't all that emotionally dependent on poe. he still needs poe for his novels and such, but it's not often that he shows/says that poe is really important to him as a person. however, ranpo does clearly appreciate poe's intellect and abilities and praised him before. ranpo never praises people, so this is a pretty big occurrence.

in this sense, poe really needs ranpo but ranpo doesn't realllly need poe (or at least he doesn't show it).

2. poe does a lot for ranpo but not the other way round. i think this kind of speaks for itself tbh. poe helps ranpo with a whole lot of things, and ranpo doesn't give him much in return. obviously there is something wrong with this, but because poe is so eager to impress/help ranpo, he seems to have no issues with this.

as you may (unfortunately) know, because of the above reasons some people say that ranpoe's relationship is "toxic" or "abusive", but i believe this is inaccurate. based on a few dictionaries, the word "toxic" carries the meaning of unpleasant, extremely harsh, malicious or harmful. however, ranpo asking poe for help with a lot of things isn't done with the intention to harm or assert control over poe. he just really needs poe's help and poe is willing as well as capable. also, he probably isn't aware that he's overworking poe because he's not sensitive to other people's emotional needs or wants. and poe doesn't do all this because ranpo is threatening him, he's just very (overly) eager to do it.

despite everything, ranpoe isn't completely horrible. they're not the best, but they certainly aren't the worst. none of them seem to visibly hold grudges or have issues with the other, and are generally happy with their current arrangement. they share each other's interests and provide the other with the intellectual stimulus that they need.

also, the authors' "sugar-coating" of their relationship isn't completely off. due to the nature of their personalities, it still makes sense that they can get along. after all, ranpo was once held at gunpoint when he was 14 and didn't give a flip so i doubt he'd really care about poe attempting to murder him. and on poe's side, i think he's always been fragile and a little pathetic so this is pretty normal for him.

and even though their relationship is kinda unbalanced, they do hold each other in equally high regard (including ranpo, although he doesn't show it. he doesn't really show anything) this is also why i think ranpoe isn't an idol-fan relationship. parasocial relationships are one-sided relationships, where one person extends emotional energy, interest and time, and the other party, the persona, is completely unaware of the other’s existence. poe definitely extends a lot of energy in helping ranpo, i don't deny. but the baseline for a parasocial relationship is that one person is almost unaware of the other. before guild arc this was true, but right now ranpo is very much aware of poe's existence, and admires poe just as much as poe does him. hence, i don't think ranpoe is a parasocial relationship.

overall, ranpoe is still heavily sugar-coated by the fandom and authors who don't really acknowledge the issues within their relationship. however the rose-tinted glasses don't completely warp everything, and their dynamic, both canon and fanon, isn't totally off from how it should be, based on my knowledge of their personalities. they're just a silly little couple doing their silly gay things. everything is fine (half lying)

thanks for reading 🔥🔥

[noahs-white-calvins]

I didn't watch the video you linked (and I don't plan to since videos about ships make me cringe a little bit) but I want to give my perspective on queerbaiting and whether or not byler is queerbait. I think when shows do queerbaiting, they do it to attract a new audience and save the ratings. stranger things doesn't really need that, it's the most popular show in the world right now, s4 alone broke a lot of records. and we also must not forget that mileven is a very beloved het ship. yeah, we love to shit on s3-4 mileven but there is still a lot of GA viewers who adore mileven. and s1-2 mileven was so beloved that even I heard a lot of good things about this ship back in 2016 and 2017 and I didn't know anything else about the show. (fun fact: even after s4 came out, mileven still had more fics on ao3 than byler, and it took a few weeks for byler to overthrow mileven). why would they destroy such a popular and beloved ship just for queerbaiting? if they wanted to queerbait, they could have gone for steddie instead, give them more interactions, make them flirt, etc. and the thing is, the strongest byler proofs is literally the way the ship is written. it's not blue and yellow colors, or the way byler was paired together in a lot of ads and posters. byler is literally written to become endgame. s4 alone makes it very clear. another outcome just doesn't make sense.

I agree when all is said and done. It’s no effort on my part to discredit her either, as those opinions and feelings come about from the same evidence and experiences that we have, but come to a different conclusion. I’m curious on what she thinks now, if she’s even thought about it at all. Of course we don’t need to base our hopes on anyone else’s validation of our ship, even if it always feels good to be validated.

Its funny too, I celebrate your assertion that its not the more niche and deep theories of the case that suggest Byler Endgame as you point out at the end of your ask. It’s there in the writing and I agree. I do my best to be objective on this and try not to just “see what i wanna see”. For example: the hose innuendo? not there for me, a reach, a scene far too short to satisfy my idea of suggestive undertones.

Its in watching literally how Mike and Will are together, the way Mike tries so hard to work it out with El, and yes i do accept that there are moments where Mileven works for a bit. I just woke up so picking those precise scenes isnt active in my brain right now, but the rewatch is fresh so i know one or two happened in S3.

And to your point on the queerbaiting and destroying Mileven: i think (and mostly hope lol) that youre right because again, we see in the writing that Mileven is done. Since S4 aired we now have some insight into the makeup of s5 and, while we dont have certainties, we know how much time Mike and Will spend together, their pairing with RoVickie (why else would that happen! ).

And seeing that while Mike does care for El and loves her as he does his friends, maybe to a grander scale, this second watch had me battling what ST shows me, tells me, and the hetero expectation complex i, even as a gay man, still work against. Its true that when a straight couple is on screen and we arent in scrutinize mode, we’re often like “yup this is it theyre together and will be till the show ends because thats how it is!”

But i’m more hopeful lately, and like you said, we have to see how the show is actually written. Mileven is up in the air now and Byler has been on the mend. The painting needs to be addressed, why was Mike so stand offish at the aiport, and you cannot now tell me that they dont have a flirtatious streak.

anyway, thats a ramble and a half haha. wanted to match your length energy and i have a lot of thoughts

[germworms]

Honestly, the traffic shipping wars, I've only seen scarian shippers being toxic about choosing ethubs. Not half as many who votes for ethubs bashing on scarian voters.

Guys, this is all fun and games, it isn't a death match, theres so many good scarian moments and ethubs moments. Scarian is more popular, and ethubs isn't half as popular. Doesn't mean that picking ethubs is being a "pick-me". Ethubs has more than a father/son duo, they're best friends, just like scar and grian are. Bdubs and Etho has known each other for over a decade, so of course others are gonna see that bond.

Scarian has insane moments and they're both so good at story telling and bouncing off each other, that's why they're very popular amongst the fans.

Let's take a deep breath everyone?

[bumblebi713]

Doc x Trick is an interesting ship to see! What made you ship them together? (if I'm reading into the pictures right lol)

Hello,

Sorry for the late reply! I'm still recovering from a surgery (I'm okay, just tired).

Prior to Trickster/Doctor, I've never really had a romantic ship where I looked at two characters and went, "they're so perfect for one another...they're soulmates," but I do think those two are basically evil soulmates.

They have a very similar way of thinking and enjoy subjecting their victims to similar levels of torture and torment. I think that they would see in one another a person who truly gets them, someone who is actually on the same level as they see themselves.

I know that to some, their similarities would be reason to suggest that they would instead butt heads, however, I cannot take that argument seriously when Trickster's most popular killer/killer pairing is with GHOSTFACE of all people. If there's anyone who would hate the Trickster remotely as much as Yun Jin does, it'd be Mr. Johnson.

Mr. Johnson grew up with an absolute dick of a father, who was so cruel and controlling that Danny killed him in a fit of sudden rage....rages that would continue on into his adulthood, as we learned from his tome lore. I think his temper would put him at odds with Trickster, who, like Doctor, is a lot more composed. I mean, when Trickster's attempted murder of the Brazilian musician went wrong because of Yun Jin's meddling, he resolved the problem swiftly in a way that absolved him of any potential blame. When Danny's plan to punish those responsible for the article that mocked Ghostace went wrong? He became so violent that he utterly mutilated his victim, and was so careless as to let one of the other men see his face. I just do not think that he and Trickster are compatible personality wise. Mr. Johnson's also broke, and I can't imagine he'd have much respect for the rich when his Jed Olsen alias is meant to mock the expectations of the typical "good American."

Doctor simply seems like the best match for Trickster to me. He's cruel and calculating, just like Mr. Hak is. So, I think they would respect each other's intellect and they way they employ it when torturing and killing. Trickster incorporating his victims' screams into his music would absolutely impress Doctor, I would argue. Like, it's something he personally has never done before...or even thought of. BUT he does use music to torture his victims, so I think he'd appreciate Trickster's angle and would absolutely be down to help him "compose" new tracks. Not only that, but I think Doc would be impressed by Trickster's incredibly successful career and how he manages to maintain it alongside all the brutal murders he commits. It's so similar to what Doc himself does...it's just that Trickster doesn't have any endorsement from the government to torture people, making what he does even riskier. And in turn, I think Trickster would be thoroughly impressed by Doc's accomplishments...the way he gained such a position of authority, and how he used his understanding of human psyche and extensive knowledge of torture methods to achieve complete domination over his workplace, including his colleagues. And of course, he'd be fascinated by all the unique methods of torture Mr. Carter's used on his victims. All those sounds of pain that he's never heard, because he's never tortured someone like that. All this interest in one another's experiences... I think they would just be naturally drawn to each other. Add that they are both rather privileged, controlling, handsome men? They're like...your stereotypical rich, evil cartoon couple...just significantly more terrible and violent. A match made in hell.

[bangtannism]

(Clarification that when I say 'X member biased' I'm referring to fans who are shippers. This does not include fans who don't ship at all.)

I think the reason the vast majority of yoonminers are Yoongi biased is because most Yoongi biased pick yoonmin as a ship while Jimin biased pick jikook. So after most of the Jimin biased left to ship Jikook there's not a lot left to ship yoonmin and the ship ends up being mostly Yoongi biased. Similar situation with taekookers. Most Tae biased fans choose taekook while only half (give or take) of the Jungkook biased fans pick taekook, the other half picking jikook. Jikook also has more Jimin biased then Jungkook biased, but the difference is bigger with taekooker because I think Tae has way more fans who are shippers then Jimin does. So Tae' 90% of shipper fans that decide to ship taekook are more than Jimin's 90% of fans that decide to ship jikook (actually it would be less than 90% for Jimin because probably more than 10% will ship yoonmin).

And we have to wonder why most Yoongi biased pick yoonmin. Unlike a ship like jikook where people choose it because it makes sense, yoonmin doesn't really work like that. I'm not trying to be mean but I swear there are like zero reasons to ship yoonmin if we're talking about how likely they are to be real. Honestly, vmin and jihope have way more 'proof' than yoonmin ever had. I was actually shocked to find out yoonmin was a bigger ship then vmin when I first entered the fandom. I sincerely could not see why so many people would ship them when, while watching all the BTS content, yoonmin didn't even seen closer than the usual for all members. Like, Yoongi would not even have made into the top three closest members to Jimin if I had to make a list back then. That would've been Jungkook, Hobi and Tae (though Yoongi might be third now since I feel like Tae dropped in that list).

But I have a bit of a theory now. I think it's because Yoongi fans who want to ship him with someone think that Jimin is the best match. Some of the most popular shipping dynamics are opposites attract and bad boy/good girl (they actual are similar tropes). If we look at the stereotypical interpretation fans have of Yoongi, he's seen a savage, somewhat cold, badass rapper. Of course that isn't necessarily accurate but it's what a lot of fans think. Then if we're using that version of Yoongi and we're looking for an opposite to him, a 'good girl' to his 'bad boy', than which member fits best? Why, of course it's sweet, gentle, affectionate, feminine, vocalist Jimin (again, inaccurate stereotypes are inaccurate, yada, yada). The other members just don't fit as well. Joon and Hobi are too similar as they're also rappers. They're also viewed as masculine, and oh no, who's gonna be the bottom if we have two masculine guys???!!! Jin and Yoongi is just a weird ship, so not that. Jungkook is seen as another 'bad boy', so again, too similar (and again, two masculine guys so no obvious substitute for a woman, cause a lot of m/m shippers are weirdly heteronormative). Taehyung could work a bit better (he's put in the feminine role by taekookers), but not as well as Jimin, and Yoongi biased can't have their alliance with taekookers if they try to steal their favorite boy. So Jimin it is. Also Jimin is one of the most popular members, and popularity can actually be very integral in what ships people pick.

I'm not saying this is the only reason yoonminers ship yoonmin, but I do think it's a significant reason. You can tell me if you agree or not, and if you have any of your own theories.

hi there! there's some things i agree with and some i disagree with.

i think there is basis for shipping ymn (as in liking the idea of them together, not believing they really are). yoongi has shown some favoritism toward jimin over the years, which imo most of the members do but that's a dif convo lol. i also think that yoongi as the more "cold"/"tsundere" member and jimin as arguably the most affectionate and warm member fit well together as a dynamic. it's fun, and grumpy/sunshine is a tried and true trope. i would agree that if i had to pick the three members jimin considers himself closest to, it would be jk, hs, and th (disagree that tae has fallen off the list), but obviously ordering bts in terms of favorites is a bit reductive and jm loves yg too.

((note: people are going to interpret relationships differently and people are welcome to disagree with that assessment.))

i also think that a big reason ymn is popular is because it's the typical side ship for tkk. it's good to remember that not everyone who ships bts members are thinking they're dating. especially back in the day, when ships were being "solidified" as popular or not, the vast majority of shippers were just there for the fun of it. it's also why nmjn is relatively popular in fics despite not being as close as plenty of other duos: they were convenient "leftover" members to pair up. fandom has a habit to imprint on ships (even joke ships), so those early years are very significant. this is why people refuse to let "jk has a crush on nj" go – genuinely i get at least one video a day on my fyp of how jk wont share nj, wants to marry him, etc. they're joke videos but i'm just making a point that fandom has a long memory and people get attached to things. and this fandom is attached to ymn. this imprinting phenomena is also why it took so damn long for people to start letting go of the idea that jk and jm arent very close or that jk is uncomfortable with jm's affection, though as we have seen a lot of dumb shit still gets said about jikook.

stereotyping does definitely play into shipping as well, unfortunately. and yes, there is a lot of heteronormativity (and varying degrees of homophobia as a byproduct) that goes on in m/m ship spaces because plenty of shippers are cishet women and also we live in a heteronormative society.

from what i've personally seen, jm bias tend to ship jikook, th bias tend to ship tkk, yg bias tend to ship ymn, hs bias tend to ship ynsk, and jk bias tend to be y/n but when they arent they lean to being jikookers (i actually did a poll abt this shortly after i opened this blog lol). generally, i think people just pair up their bias with whoever they think their bias is closest to / likes the most.

[d0zuki]

“True Beauty” -"Keep your pretty eyes on me"

⋆˚࿔ a cute bow from Kuro𝜗𝜚˚⋆ :: a bow to finish your outfit

― ʚ summary ɞ ― March 7th as your girlfriend

― ʚ words ɞ ― 348

― ʚ warning ɞ ― designer found no danger in her creation

― ʚ author note ɞ ― March is such a cutie, I had to write something for her

March is over energetic and she's excited for a lot of stuff if you are also over energetic that's amazing, if not with March that doesn't really matter she will still love you

She most definitely has a folder in her phone with pictures of you she thinks you are beautiful and probably has couple pictures laying around her room

Matching key chain? Yes! 100% yes, she probably got you a matching key chain and has hers around her everywhere and probably keeps bragging to Dan Heng how lucky she is

March likes reading fanfics, you can't tell me otherwise you both could be sitting and obsessing about your favourite ship being cute in one and if you write them, March demands previous(she's joking of course but if you show her she's going to be happy)

March has multiple nicknames for your new day, new nickname, and the most popular nicknames are: love, honey, snowflake,dear and sweetheart

She also definitely has matching icons with you on all Social media if you change you pfp she probably will spam you phone if you have a new favourite character she will find a matching icon with that character and another one

March lives for matching stuff: matching key chain, matching pfp, matching phone case, matching outfits and a lot more but she doesn't need to match everything just a couple of those stuff

She definitely has a Instagram and her bio is probably "you icy March~☆ currently taken by [Y/N] 14.04"

She asked you out on 14th of April she will have that date on every bio that she can literally

If you wear make up she definitely wants to put it on you

Loves doing your hair and loves adding bows to them even if you tell her to take them off she won't listen unless you make it clear you don't want them then she will listen

March doesn't always enjoy chores but doing them with you, it makes them more fun especially if she can play her playlist(she has an over 12 hours playlist)

[dave-shit-kat]

WARNING: My opinions. This blog is entirely dedicated to hate that shit/p. You love Dave-Shit-Kat? Happy for you! Block and move on. You don't like that ship/t and disagree with my opinion or want to add something else? You're more than welcome!! [Nothing here is tagged dvkt and name is censored for a reason]

Why is BETA OT4 better than Dave-Shit-Kat

Long post

The real question is HOW can't you love Beta OT4!?

The main group — John, Dave, Rose and Jade — is one of the few friend groups in all medias that simply don't have conflicts between them, yet they feel extremely realistic and are much more entertaining than many other main friend groups in other medias.

All of them are rounded characters, all of them have many interactions, both platonically and romantically. Unfortunatelly, JadeRose is one duo that misses all of that, but passing them, every other duo (JohnDave, JohnRose, JohnJade, RoseDave, DaveJade) have clear romantic potential. Of course Karkat ships JohnRose and DaveJade, of course those ships are very popular in the fandom (except for JohnJade and JadeRose, rip), they have sO FUCKING MUCH CHEMISTRY!!

Let's unpack each duos (quickly hopefully).

* JOHNROSE / GRIMDORKS: One of Karkat's ships <3 They're the typical stereotype of the Funny Dork x Smart Goth, where John acts dumb and silly and still Rose plays along with him. I am always a bit sad everytime people forget how silly Rose is too, mostly around her friends (/lovers). I could even consider her a bit tomboy-ish, due her love for videogames and two of her best friends being guys (also, bisexual tomboys are a very common trope); this could be one reason why she doesn't interact much with Jade.

But, aside that, Rose and John have shown romantic interest between them. Maybe because of Karkat's ship chart, but surely the chemistry was there even before (let's not forget the scene where John was texting to Kanaya, pretending to be Rose, and telling how much "she (John as Rose) loves John".

* DAVEJOHN / PEPSICOLA: They're gay. Bros who forgot to say "no homo" after making out and ended up with a house and seven children and still call each other "bro".

There are way too many examples to make here; from Dave always wearing the sunglasses John gave him; to them always texting/saying "I love you" very confidently. Yes, it can be just bros being bros and being confident in doing so, but we can also agree that they'd definitely have "sex for besties" and "platonically marry each other."

* JOHNJADE / SNOOZY GOOFS: They have less interactions, and it's easier to see them platonically than romantically (that's why DaveRose is more popular, for example), but that doesn't mean they wouldn't be a good couple. They'd be the most chill and happy couple of all times; at most doing pranks everywhere and cuddle more than kissing.

They have heavy potential!

* DAVEROSE / SUNBURST: They were canon. IDK what else tell you. You want more reasons!? They're compatible, bickering like idiots with Rose rolling her eyes 24/7 everytime Dave starts with his long, long ironic monologues with dumb comparisons and jokes. But she matches his vibe, she can make those jokes too. Not counting that, in my opinion, Rose prefers to psychoanalyze Dave rather than John and Jade. Yes, at first Jade is a mysterious girl and Rose would love to understand what she knows better, but Dave's mind is another thing entirely, as it's about knowing someone's past better rather than knowing what they know.

* JADEROSE / GUNS N ROSES: Yup, they don't talk much, still they should be together! Another trope between The Rich Girl x The Country Girl; the Cat x Dog. It's all there!!! Also, as I said I consider Rose being more tomboy-ish a reason why she doesn't talk too much with Jade, who on the surfice level appears more feminine, but as we know Jade has a thing for guns, she loves videogames too, she's more a cool action girl. Rose would love that; but I guess the reason why she choose Kanaya and not Jade is because Kanaya is more on her same sophisticated level. And I guess that is also the reason why Rose talked to Jade much more on the first acts, when Jade knew more than the others and was more a mystery, than in the future acts.

But don't despair; they have a lot of potential as a good duo (no, you can't even think about HS2, delete that shit from your mind).

* DAVEJADE / SPACETIME: They were canon pt2; Karkat ships them pt2.

I will not count the disgusting shit of having them date and breakup out of camera that Act6 gave us. Instead, let's focus on why they work as a couple.

Dave, as showned, seems to have A Thing for every Egbert-Harley-Crocker (except Jake), and for every Strider-Lalonde (except Dirk), so it's already a point. Also, Dave and Jade are as confident in their affection as Dave and John are (LET'S NOT FORGET THE <3).

Jade is kind and funny and a good buddy like John, but with extra steps. While John inspires Dave to be better (at least before ShitAct6), Dave admires Jade, who considers more on his same level, if not even cooler.

On the Jade's part, I'd like to bring the GIF of the woman that says "he makes me laugh" or something. They're so cute together.

SUMMARY, WHY ARE THEY BETTER THAN DAVE-SHIT-KAT?: They have actual interactions between them, and many and good ones too. They're all from the same species, so they can't be racist towards each other. They act as friends, caring about each other so confidently that it borders soft and cute romantic attraction. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the trolls already considered them as moirails between one another, as they are supportive towards each other very openly.

DOWN POINTS: (NOTE: "down points" =/= Dave-Shit-Kat is better than them in this. "down points" = the defects of this ship) We don't see them interact ALL together, all four of them. And it's actually a defect that Homestuck has in general; who focuses mostly on two characters talking rather than many, even in crowded situations or groups (but I can understand that; it's hard with more characters).

Also, pairings like JohnJade and RoseJade have less material than the others, working more theoretically than actually.

Also also, humans here are disgusted by blood-related incest. So, John tells Karkat that he won't reproduce with Jade, and Dave(sprite) reacted seemingly like "oh shit" when told that Rose is his blood-related sister. But Dave is a special case either way, since he still called Roxy sexy.

[irkimatsu]

physical or emotional characteristics you would like in a human husk

Sorry for sitting on this for a bit! I'll admit, part of me was being autistic and overthinking this. Is this about what I'm personally attracted to in Husk, or what I think would be best for his story in canon? Is this about what he was like before he died, or what he'd be like if he could be human again after everything that's happened to him in hell?

I'm going with "how I see him as a human on Earth before death, and who I thought he was regardless of my own personal attractions and biases". (Well, a little bit of my own biases. No such thing as unbiased fiction. But accuracy is my priority on this one.)

First and foremost - human Husk is black. I will die on that hill until canon tells me otherwise. There could be other pieces of heritage in there somewhere - I don't think I'm qualified to speculate on that too hard - but as far as skin tone goes, he's black. I also like when art gives him dreads, it just looks right, though I'm not as much of a stickler on that matter. Gotta have some scruffy facial hair, though, I demand that much.

As for why... is it all the good fanart that made other options look wrong in comparison? Is it because he's voiced by Keith David and I just can't imagine a white guy sounding like Keith David? Those are definitely pieces of it. I know it's not canon and I'm not out here attacking people who lean otherwise on Husk's race, but as for me, he's black, end of discussion. On the shorter end of the average as far as male heights go, but he's not noticeably short in isolation. Definitely taller than my short and stout self. Weight probably fluctuates depending on his situation - his finances as a gambler would be all over the place, and so would his diet, varying between lavish meals in overpriced steakhouses, and dinners at home consisting primarily of cheese puffs and bottom-shelf beer. I do like him with a gut, though. Maybe he's just naturally predisposed to having a gut, even when he's starving. (Told you there'd be some bias.)

I'd definitely want to put decent thought about what it was like for him as a black man growing up in early 20th century Las Vegas, but without being 110% certain that anything I'm saying makes any fucking sense, I'm biting my tongue on that one. Definitely a topic I'm interested in, though.

I should also probably mention that yes, I know it's a common headcanon for Husk to be a trans man. It's interesting! I have no actual reason for not writing it myself. Not sure what to do with it, I guess? If it was canon I'd of course pay more attention to that aspect, but for now, whoops. You guys have fun, obviously! Just like with the popular ship, if anyone ever took "Irk doesn't write this thing" as "Irk thinks that thing is bad" I'd cry, don't do that

I like the name Oscar for him while alive. Saw it in a post on here once and it just felt right. Thank you, random Tumblr user I forgot who you are whoops again! Until canon tells me otherwise, he's Oscar in my heart.

I think his dress style while alive would match a similar trajectory to his Overlord-to-servant transition - a snappy dresser when he can afford it, would never be caught dead looking the least bit disheveled. Button-up shirts, freshly ironed suits, the finest colognes! But after he's a washed up divorced drunk, who gives a shit. His clothes are a lot more tattered now... but honestly, living in a place like Vegas where half the population are various flavors of downtrodden, washed-up addict, he doesn't stand out. At least he has that going for him.

Personality-wise, I think as a child and a young man, he was a big dreamer, even a bit of an attention whore. He's wanted to be a performer for as long as he can remember, ever since he started seeing magic shows and jazz bands as a kid. He may still be introverted in the sense that putting on a show is exhausting and he needs his space, but when he's in the right frame of mind, the stage is where he belongs. He worked so, so fucking hard to be a performer! He really could have been something if Vegas didn't chew him up and barf him out...

That dreamer attitude also made him a serious romantic when he was younger. If you accept a date from that man, he will spoil you. Flowers, fancy dinner (if he can afford it), a personal serenade... he doesn't fall into actual honest-to-god love very often, but when he does, he falls hard and puts everything he has into showing the person he loves that he cares. He does lean toward monetary gifts = affection, though... please, Husk, sometimes your partner really would be happiest with a hug and a song. But he doesn't see it that way, he has to keep gambling to be able to afford the lavish lifestyle his lover deserves. Fucking Vegas.

As an older man on Earth, after a turbulent divorce and decades of addiction and depression, he's a lot like the version of himself in the hotel. Doesn't give a shit about much besides where he's going to get his next drink. He does miss his dreams and wonder what could have been if he didn't screw it all up... but there's no point thinking about wasted opportunity. It just hurts. Drink it away instead. He spends his last few years alone, gambling and drinking and just waiting to finally fucking die.

Death was supposed to be a second chance for him, you know? He could pick himself, become someone again! Too bad for him that "someone" was once again a gambler, and that addiction is always going to catch up with him...

This is a rambling mess. I apologize! I just hope I answered the question correctly! Sorry if I messed it up!

[lilithsterrarium]

Your post about faggot and tranny basically being your name at this point got me thinking, about slyrs and associated contexts, and heres where it led:

I think the introduction of mictos woukd fix alot of gamer toxicity. The real people would be able to be polite and supportive to each other, while all the vitriol would be aimed where its supposed to be, at things like you.

This would quickly lead to a problem though: micros are constantly targeted, even by their own team, and honestly they tend to be too dumb to play well anyway. Real people would quit out as soon as they see a retarded incon on their team because at that point its basically an unwinnable game. And the higher skill ranks didnt have any micros to bully in them, so the toxicity quickly is back in full force.

To fix this, most games with anything resembling a competetive pvp scene introduce micro mode! Any incon is required to play in micro mode or get banned as soon as someone notices how pathetic it is. A micro doesn't take up a team slot any more, and its characters will be scaled down to 1/100th of the normal size. Its damage and health are scaled down accordingly as well. Naturally, a special mechanic is added where walking over a micro instantly kills it. This way, queuing into an incon cant really affect the game one way or another. Bullying an incon wont give any rewards in the match, but can give account xp and unlock skins, so most players will swat a bug if they see one.

Speaking of queuing, you lose the right to choose a queue in micro mode. You can only click play, and the game decides if you get put in a competetive lobby, a casual quickplay lobby, or the new most popular casual gamemode: the micro massacre. After it became a hit success, every game with any kind of pvp, even purely casual ones, added two variants of micro massacre. One where its a group racing to kill as many of a horde of micros as possible, most kills wins, and a hide-and-seek 1v1 gamemode where a real person hunts down a bug. Even scoring one point wins the match for the real person, and the match only ends when the real player gets bored. If the incon quits out, most games just issue a ban. But some games have bigger budgets and know the value of a promotional stunt.

Every so often, in the biggest pvp titles, an incon gets queued into a special hide and seek match. If the incon quits out or gets caught 100 times before the player quits, an employee shows up within the day, snatches the unlucky bug, and ships it to the player.

Of course a micro's owner can disable this option, but most owners dont care enough about their incons to bother. Theres a good chance they got it from a similar match themself after all.

GNGNSNXUVJDJDJJC FFFUCK NEED NEED SOSOSO SO BADLY

I have a massive weakness for silly things like this- features in games and sites that specifically target micros are SUCH a fun concept that I fucking love...

Its not hard to see the issue. Even the absolute best micros are godawful compared to REAL players- and frankly, its an insult to even let them take up full player slots! Nothing seemed to fix this- but the implication of micro mode changes everything...

Booting up the same game, ready to play- spawning in as a tiny, miniscule thing, barely able to get around the map at such a tiny size- maybe the game just glitched? Speaking into the microphone when a player gets near, but all they hear is a tinny little squeak- walking over me and I'm instantly met with a game over screen....

The game makes tons of money doing this, of course! Streamers start flocking to it, holding special streams where they specifically try to kill as many micros as possible, their chats LOVE it- and the little notification of stepping on a micro is always a pleasant surprise! More and more games, regardless of genre, start adapting, adding their own micro modes....... the possibilities are endless~

Every micro lives in terror that some day even thinking about leaving a match will have them handed off by force to some mean, grubby neet~

[le-panda-chocovore]

Hello, can I ask from this ask game :

https://www.tumblr.com/threecheersforinking/677824836625694720/anime-ask-game?source=share

For fandom : Haikyuu, BNHA, ATLA, and Jujutsu Kaisen.

Thanks 🌻

Sorry I took time but lists and ranking are difficult to me lol, and I had 4 different asks about making a TOP 5 so I kinda lost myself into it 😅

Oh my god there's so many fandoms, you're really trying to kill me damn-

Okay okay Imma try not to write to much (<- will probably fail)

HAIKYUU

Favorite Character: (I absolutely HATE that question, why do I have to choose ?!?) I'd say Bokuto Koutarou but I also have 5 others in mind lol

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: The Tokyo Stage during S2 is my fave because my favorite characters get many screentime together, we see so many different people interact, and it's so fun to enjoy matches without the stress of the competition. I get to support anyone and not feel guilty about it !! Also there's Tsukki's character development, and there's my favorite scene in the anime (the Oya Oya Oya), and they all learn and work on new techniques and it's so cool !! (<- already rambling too much)

Character I Think is Underrated: Maybe Gosshiki ? He's such a baby I love him. I believe Tendou is very much loved so not underrated. Tanaka too. I know people love him but I think he deserves so much more. That man participated in EVERY MATCH, he NEVER got replaced and he doesn't have an ultra special attack and he's not the ace but he's sooooo reliable and cool. He's a caring sempai and a good player and an amazing friend and the only straight ally in a gay world lmaooo We don't appreciate him enough.

Character I Think is Overrated: When I'm not rewatching Haikyuu I think that Hinata and Atsumu are kinda overrated because yeah they're cool but they're not the bests and their characters (I know they're different) aren't the ones I love the most and also I think they're selfish. Then when I rewatches the episode for fun I4m so invested in everything and I just cannot not love them. So, no one is overrated actually.

Favorite Ship/Pairing: HAHA I won't answer that- Alright I will but keep it short. Let's say any popular ship that involves Tsukki, Kuroo, Bokuto, Akaashi and Kenma. Yes even the polyships. Yes. Any popular ship.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: Everything. (<- only short answer I4m able to give)

BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA

Oh it's been a while since I've been in that fandom. I lost my hyperfixation 3 years ago and I don't even read the scans anymore. Let's do it anyway, maybe it'd wake some sparkle in me and I'd be able to finish my fanfictions !

Favorite Character: I used to say Present Mic or Bakugo and I'm not sure now. I think Aizawa-sensei is someone safe to say, he'd never not be in my Top 3.

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: It's been so long, I don't really know

Character I Think is Underrated: Hatsune Mei. I love her and I rarely see people talking about her (or maybe I'm not on the good side of the fandom). And Mina (I know she's loved but not enough)

Character I Think is Overrated: All Might, I don't really like him. Mineta of course, he deserves Hell.

Favorite Ship/Pairing: EraserMic. I didn't write 3 fanfics about those dumbass gay teachers to not put them here.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: The theme is good : how should we build a society where almost everyone has a superpower ? How do you regulate that ? How do you classify people as heroes, vigilantes and villains ? How do childhood trauma and socioeconomic differences, and traditional cultures play on the development of the superpower and the life of a person ?

AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER

This one is easier because I've already did a fan card about it!

Favorite Character: Zuko. Also Toph.

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: The Boiling Rock episodes.

Character I Think is Underrated: I don't think there's one ? I just think Avatar Kyoshi is a bit misinterpreted because the fans love exaggerating, but nothing actually bad.

Character I Think is Overrated: Jet maybe. I just feel nothing about him outside the context of him

Favorite Ship/Pairing: Zukka Nation

Something I Love About the Show/Movie : It's just perfect ? Perfect representation of everything ? It shows so many delicate subjects (people -kids- involved in war, sexism, racism, denial, terrorism, propaganda, redemption, trauma) and it's just GOOD. Zuko returns to his abusive family and makes more mistakes. Sokka looks down on women despite living years of his life surrounded by them. Katara steals something because her ego is hurt. Aang hides something to his friends because he has abandonment issues. Toph is.... Toph. And it's so well written and perfect and good.

JUJUTSU KAISEN

I've done this one too but it's still hard to me lmaooo

Favorite Character: Geto Suguru and Gojo Satoru and Choso and Itadori Yuuji and-

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: Hidden Inventory Arc. The story should have stopped here. We don't need anything more come on it's fine. Everyone's happy and it's fine (episodes 4 and 5 don't exist)

Character I Think is Underrated: Ino Takuma. Protect him.

Character I Think is Overrated: That fucking Naoya Bitch. I learned his in the TOP 20 popularity poll ??? HOW THE FUCK ??????? I literally cannot see his face, it gives me nausea. I hate him so sincerely, I don't even want to think about him.

Favorite Ship/Pairing: You know, I know, we know. The strongest. The one and only. The curse me a little at the end. They're known by many names. Satosugu, Gego, Sugusato, Goge, SaltSugar, whatever you want.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: It's literally a story about love. It is not a romance anime, but it is about love. The theme comes back so often. Suguru loved his friends and it doomed him. Satoru loved Suguru and became a teacher. Yuuta loved Rika and cursed her. Geto's family loved him. It's all about love and no one could convince me otherwise.

[ficretus]

Assuming a slim chance Knightfall ever happens in canon, what would other major pairing in the story be?

Lot of people go for Whiterose since it "removes" both Weiss and Ruby as potential love interests for Jaune. As well as being one of the most popular pairings in general, so it would balance out extremely controversial pairing with fan pleaser.

However, I'd say Knightfall kind of needs Rosegarden to happen. Basically, all the ways you can speculate Knightfall also work for Rosegarden when applied to it.

Mostly straightforward adaptation of literary influence? So far Cinder fits the most as Dauphin to Jaune's Joan (not romantic relationship in the story, but he was her "one and only"), Jaune fits the most as Prince Charming to Cinder's Cinderella. Similarly, Oscar is Princess Ozma to Ruby's Dorothy as well as being Little Prince to her Rose.

Complementary colors? Jaune's eyes are blue, Cinder's are orange. While Oscar and Ruby cannot complement each other that way since silver is not a color, they do have complementary color schemes, green and red respectively. And their eyes complement each other in different way considering Ruby's eyes glow silver and eyes of Ozma's vessels glow gold. Doing Bumbleby, Knightfall and Rosegarden would then close out the RYB color wheel.

Connection to in universe fairy tale? Jaune and Cinder seem connected to Indecisive King while Oscar and Ruby to Warrior in the Woods. This one is especially interesting considering what would be the point of creating in universe fairy tale that matches the characters in the show and then do nothing with it.

You can even include Ozma and Salem imagery. Bumbleby had it, especially with Adam as third wheel. Jaune and Cinder have it, and if that turns out to be canon then it only makes sense for last major pairing to also have Ozma and Salem imagery. And what better candidate than pairing that has Ozma's vessel.

Of course, Rosegarden is significantly more palpable as a ship and doesn't need shitload of outside sources to stand on its two legs. So I can easily see them doing Rosegarden and not doing Knightfall, but I consider it almost impossible to do Knightfall and not do Rosegarden.

[wifiwuxians]

Songxiao for ship game

GAME

YES my darling beloved songxiao yes...

Do I ship it: ABSOLUTELY! As I've said in another ask I absolutely adore yin yang couples LOL

What made me ship it: Honestly before they were even on screen, hearing that Xiao Xingchen gave Song Lan his very own eyes had me like "woaaahh... That's really romantic..." and then the story just kept proving me right over and over! They're a matching set who love each other so much it transcends life and death! Doesn't get better than that

Favorite things: Honestly, the aforementioned transcendental love. The fact Song Lan is still roaming this earth instead of just waiting to pass on after all he's been through just to be able to apologize and reassure Xiao Xingchen, the fact Xiao Xingchen would rather be dead than live with the knowledge he killed Song Lan. It's that devotion that veers into unhealthy but with the upside that they're people who love each other very much and would never intentionally hurt each other, and in fact would probably live a very fulfilling life together! And also of course the complementary aspects, Xiao Xingchen being a warm presence and Song Lan being a cold one, despite them both being kind; Xiao Xingchen laughing at everything and Song Lan laughing at Nothing etc

Unpopular opinion: I have a few! I don't think they're boring for starters, and I think people sometimes overlook them because tragedy isn't as popular or striking if it doesn't have some very overt toxicity. It's only boring if you're unimaginative tbh. There's plenty of drama and darkness in Songxiao and people have just pigeonholed it into a "pure, moral ship for antis" which is absurd. Get real. I also don't think it's fair to say they would've fallen apart eventually, first of all because someone deliberately and insistently ripped them apart, and second because they never did fall apart as proven by the end of the arc!

[gliyerabaa]

Not sure if anyone's asked you this one before, but what are your favorite parts or scenes from the musical? Or just any scene you'd like to gush about :)

oh you bet I'm gonna break this down cause there's SO MUCH I could talk about

act 1 favorite scene: I literally can't choose between popular and defying gravity so I will talk about both!!

popular. I used to think the whole scene was dramatic and too goofy for its own good. As silly as it is, when you have the right people in the roles, it can be a deeply moving scene as well. Of course there's moments of seriousness built into the scene ("my father hates me") but even the silly bits can carry weight when done right. the "miss elphaba, you're beautiful" ALWAYS hits, especially because of the music-- it's the "I'm Not that Girl" motif and if that doesn't describe peak yearning I don't know what does. I could go on more about different takes on the Popular scene but I think I'll just direct you to @dailypopular it's not active anymore but honestly it's your spot for all things Popular

defying gravity: literally I don't even have to do much explaining on this one. it's such a phenomenal showstopper of a song. I would literally give an arm and a leg to be able to see it live. besides the amazing song, the staging is incredible as well. particularly the part where the ensemble is all shielding themselves in fear whilst Glinda is reaching out to Elphaba. I also have a firm belief about the line "kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity" being directed towards Glinda but that's a post for a different day

Act 1 underrated scene: One Short Day

One Short Day does NOT get enough love cause it's always overshadowed by the hype of Defying Gravity but it really is one of my favorite scenes. this is really the only time in the musical, besides the Ozdust, that we get to see Elphaba and Glinda genuinely happy at the same time and that just makes me feel things. I wish they could be happy more. Also I love Glinda's dress in this scene the yellow just pops I love it

Act 2 opinions under the cut cause this is getting long haha

Act 2 favorite scene: For Good/Finale

I cannot possibly talk enough about how many Feelings the end of the show gives me. Even casting the shipping lens of everything aside, the sheer force of For Good as an expression of forgiveness and undying friendship and unwavering trust is enough to make me emotional. And then as if I wasn't already emotional enough, Elphaba's faked death and having to keep it a secret from Glinda AND THEN a reprise of For Good, calling out to each other, knowing they'll never see each other again???? oof. That's emotional enough, but then put it through the gelphie lens and I'm an utter crying mess.

Act 2 underrated scene: Thank Goodness/Engagement Ball

Right after the intermission. You're still reeling from Defying Gravity, so Thank Goodness doesn't quite match up in terms of thrilling staging and high energy. but even though the song lacks flash (until the operatic high note at the end, at least), it does an excellent job in terms of storytelling. We get so much more insight into Glinda's character, her wants, her true motivations. Same goes for later in the act when Elphaba shows up again. She's so relieved to see Elphaba alive (katie rose clarke plays this scene wonderfully) but even despite her own emotions she can't bring herself to leave. But then she winds up losing Elphaba again AND Fiyero as well. It sets up the tragedy of her character in such a heartbreakingly marvelous way. Long story short, Glinda's character arc makes me feel things. lots of things.