#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 🔥🔥

[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?

[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.

[d0enti]

“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)

[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.

[roseburning]

ValVox Headcanons

I love the way that ✨Valvox✨ sounds, it's such a beautiful ship name and so gracious to pronounce, it makes me sad that somehow "mothstatic" is more popular. (Valentino has the most beautiful ship names in my opinion, I want to name my daughter Valangel.)

Headcanons (mostly Vox's):

• They are not a perfect pair, and that's what makes them so good, they have issues like every real life couple.

• They're both possessive and jealous, Valentino complains about Vox's obsession over Alastor and Vox complains about how much time Val spends on Angel Dust (ofc I'm also a radiodust lover-)

• Vox died in 1950s, he never came out or had any type of gay experience when he was alive because he suffers deeply with internalized homophobia.

• Vox was a nepo baby, he inherited his father's company. Speaking of his dad, he was not abusive, but he did have some period-typical toxic masculinity and homophobic ideals, which played a big role in making Vox repress himself.

• Also, his actual name is Victor, Vox is just his nickname. (Idk why, but "Vox" doesn't sound like a real name to me, and Victor Frankenstein kinda matches his vibe.)

• Vox only made peace with his sexuality after a few years in Hell, after all, what's one more sin for a demon? But he still carries that insecurity internalized.

• Valentino knows about his struggles, and he knows exactly what buttons to push to guilty trip Vox when they have an argument (and they have many).

• That doesn't mean that Valentino won't offer him comfort later; Val knows exactly what he's doing, he is a mastermind in the cycle of abuse (tension, incident, reconciliation, and calm). He uses it on basically all of his whores, specially Angel Dust.

• Valentino will cuddle with Vox, send him gifts and say reassuring phrases after fighting with Vox, he'll be extra tender if he ""accidentally"" hit him or break his TV screen, again. But he won't say he's sorry.

• Speaking about guilty trip, in the 1950s it was more common than not for husband to beat their wives; of course that now Vox knows that it's not okay and is able to stand up for himself — but that little part of him that still self hates wonders if he doesn't deserve it, and of course that Valentino takes advantage of that.

• It doesn't mean that Valentino doesn't love Vox, he does, in his own twisted ways, he's just doing what he knows best. It would take tons of therapy (individual and couple) for them to actually become healthy, but they could if they really tried to.

[beanghostprincess]

Opinions on Sanuso ?? 😁

this is like asking jesus his opinions on the bible but okay i'll answer your silly question (-> said by someone literally desperate to answer this question. thank you.)

sanuso, to me, is the most domestic and realistic ship when it comes to sanji. of course, usopp too, but i'm focusing on the one who has more ships than fights in this show. dude is shipped with everybody (as he should be. sanji deserves all the love). what i mean by this, is that their personalities match perfectly:

they're both insecure and have self-worth issues, but cope with them in different ways, and the reason why they're like that is their different but oddly similar pasts if you think about it!!

sanji has... a fair amount of trauma. my poor boy. he was born into a family that constantly told him he was weak and undeserving of love. he was abused, physically and mentally, and he lost the only one who truly made him happy. then he finally made it to the east blue, but even if zeff's a great father (we love you, king) his views on strength and masculinity obviously had a lot to do with sanji's personality. he had to learn to cope in silence, to deal with pain like a man, and to sacrifice himself for others every damn time, not only because he's too kind for his own good, but also because he doesn't think he deserves to be a priority.

on the other hand, usopp was born into a loving family, but his father and role model disappeared and his mom died when he was still very, very young. he had to cope on his own, but at least he had kaya. and the village. right? however, he has spent his whole life pretending and lying and not acting like himself because he doesn't like himself. because he dreamt of bigger things and he was nothing compared to the fantasies he told kaya about.

sanji is the dream usopp seeks, and usopp is the domesticity sanji needs.

sanji sacrifices himself and deals with pain in silence like a man. usopp lies and hides and runs from the truth because he thinks he's not good enough.

so here we have these idiots who do not love themselves but love everyone else with the biggest hearts we've ever seen.

and, you know, people don't ship sanuso as much as they ship other pairings. and i'm not gonna go into the whole "actually, usopp's ships are underrated because usopp himself is underrated and it has to be with him not following stereotypes and normativity regarding his looks and personality in shonen manga" but it's literally just that. i'm so, so sure the ship would be more popular if people actually stopped and valued usopp more... not gonna go into this. sorry. i just love him too much to not defend him to death all the time.

so... the thing about sanuso that makes them so special to me:

they understand and complement each other in a way i think no other mugiwara would understand, and they know how to deal with each other's pain.

(i know this is just my opinion and not an analysis, but i'm annoying when it comes to sanuso so i'm just gonna keep writing until my hands fall off!)

their personalities are... different. like. not "opposites attract different" but... different.

sanji masks his insecurities by acting like the gentleman he already is. he just hides his past and, when the situation comes, he always sacrifices himself but never says the reason why. he covers the fact that he sees himself as undeserving of living and being a priority by putting others first, using his "prince-like/gentleman" facade. we see this with women, mostly, but he's always giving and never taking. he isn't selfish. in fact, he's selfless to a worrisome extent (thriller bark, for example. skypiea, too). but he masks all of this just by saying he's strong enough to take it! man enough to protect everyone! and both can coexist, but it's pretty obvious that he wants to feel useful and loved and the use of self-sacrifice shows us both at the same time.

usopp, on the other hand? he's more fond of running away from his problems and hiding and using his "god/warrior" facade to cover all of his hatred for himself. hatred that not only comes from his past, but also from being surrounded by men who are stronger to an insane extent that's even weird in the anime fantasy world they're in. of course he feels insecure! he's not selfish, per se, but he's kind of a coward and he has this survivor's instinct that sanji lacks. but also, when the time comes, his own morality and good heart make him act beyond that instinct and he's the one to save the ones weaker than him (dressrosa).

okay, so, they both feel very insecure. sanji about his masculinity and worth, and usopp about his strength and bravery. sanji deals with it by self-sacrificing himself and using his gentleman facade, and usopp does the same by lying and running away. sanji doesn't fear death if it's to protect others, and usopp is scared of dying but he would fight against it in some cases for the same reason.

this is why i think they understand each other on a deep, intimate level that other mugiwaras don't get. water 7 is the best example of this, and it will forever be (along with skypiea) the best arc to explain why sanuso works so well. i honestly miss pre time-skip sanuso. they were so, so good...

and it's not only that they understand each other deeply, but the fact that they know how to work with it! their personalities match so well...

sanji thinks before acting and makes plans and his whole life is this complex recipe he has used ever since he was a kid to achieve the expectations of others, hiding his past and his fears. sanji understands people. he can read them well and knows how to approach them with a gentle, caring behavior. he's a sweetheart. he sees somebody suffering and goes to help. or, you know, he can also be a bastard and act on impulse but that's him too, isn't he? (by the way, not gonna mention zosan's dynamic here because that's a complete analysis of them also and it would make this thing longer). his actions are thoughtful but they're led by emotions and empathy mostly.

usopp is more logical and anxious, though. he thinks things through and tries to find the better outcome for himself and whoever he's trying to save, but it isn't really helpful the fact that he's an anxious guy with the constant fear of failure and hurting himself or being seen as weak. but he approaches problems nevertheless when he needs to, and he understands people and gives them what they need at the moment, if that makes any sense.

sanji needs somebody who will understand him but also will give him what he needs at the moment, and usopp needs somebody who's thoughtful and will see beyond his insecurities. that's why they work!!! they make me ill!!!

they're, for me, one of the best ships because they can talk things out. well, of course, sanji's repressed ass would have thousands of issues with liking a boy and also with opening up to somebody. but after seeing usopp is the same as him? after noticing that usopp's just pretending to be confident and he's also worried about what sanji thinks of him? it's beautiful. they could have, as a couple, such a deep connection!!

sanji knows usopp can protect himself but still helps him out all the time because of fear of losing him, and usopp gives sanji enough space to let him open up without suffocating him. they don't rush things. their thing happens naturally. gradually. it's slow and gorgeous and sometimes a bit angsty from both sides, but... it's the magic of a relationship turning into romantic when it used to be only a friendship. i love them so much!!!!! aghhhhhhhh *bangs head against concrete floor*

not to mention, also, that their canon dynamic is hilarious. usopp taking care of sanji at gyojin island when he's being uh.... all over the place with women, but also being done with his behavior is so married couple coded. and also, their whole thing ever since they've known each other is so so funny. because usopp can be as chaotic as luffy sometimes, when he's actually a very logical guy (he loses brain cells when he's around luffy and chopper istg), and sanji has to deal with it. and sanji is calm and collected but a fucking mess when it comes to feelings and love and usopp has to be the one to ground him. also, usopp teases him constantly when he flirts with women.

and, idk, their whole relationship feels very domestic and beautiful to me, especially after skypiea and water 7. i really do miss them there!! they're still boyfriends, though.

and also... gonna go into mbti stuff right now, kay? i love, love, LOVE sanji being an enfj and usopp being an entp:

-> ENTPs and ENFJs are both Extroverted, Intuitive personalities, meaning they tend to enjoy being around others and focusing on the big picture. However, ENTPs are also logical thinkers, who enjoy pursuing new experiences, while ENFJs are empathetic and prefer following set schedules. ENTP personalities should engage in casual, personal conversation with ENFJs, while ENFJs should communicate clearly and logically around ENTPs. -> ENTPs should be sensitive to ENFJs’ feelings by addressing issues gently and helping ENFJs feel safe enough to share their thoughts openly. ENFJs should work to focus carefully on the facts of the situation and avoid overly emotional expressions around ENTPs.

NOT TO MENTION SANJI IS 1W2 AND USOPP IS 6W7 AND THEY MAKE ME GO INSANE CRAZY I'M UNWELL-

but yeah, you can say i like sanuso a fair, normal amount! :)

(i'm not normal)

i just love how domestic and genuine their ship feels. because unlike their other ships, focusing mainly on either sexual tension or painful pining and devotion, these two have such a natural and sweet dynamic... it kind of reminds me to usopp and kaya, too! perhaps that's why it works so well (in this blog we support and love both ships. usopp has two hands!).

10/10 great awesome ship. they give spiderman x gwen stacy but maybe that's just me and my fantasies of them doing the spider-kiss with sogeking.

[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!

[sitp-recs]

LIV!! <3 if you still have a spot left for a smutty Kinktuary rec list, I'd love to hear about your favorite *hate sex* fics or art! I feel like it's not as big a trope as it used to, but it fits Drarry so well 🥵🥵 (other ships, too! feel free to rec those as well!) xx

Hello Elise my darling! There’s always a spot for you 💜 especially coming in with those Drarry essentials! I was secretly hoping someone would ask for that one because I agree it feels like this trope is not so popular nowadays but it remains the quintessential Drarry brand imo. You’re probably familiar with these, but I hope you can find some new gems and enjoy! For anyone wondering, this ask/list is related to my Kinkuary game!

Won The Battle by Lokifan (1k)

“Fucking him is like being at war.”

Clean by @shealwaysreads (1k)

Sometimes they fight, sometimes they do the other thing.

Duel and Duality by cryptonym (1.7k)

Apparently Potter and Malfoy don't know the difference between fighting and f***ing.

You Either Fuck or You Get Fucked by @fw00shy (2k)

“Except I'm not getting fucked." “I'm pretty sure we're both going to get fucked."

The Language of Power by Lokifan (2k)

Harry loves talking in Parseltongue to Draco during sex: his response is just delicious. Dark Harry

Alpha by @lqtraintracks (2.6k)

Finding out I’m Malfoy’s Alpha and he’s my Omega might have gone a lot differently had we not still hated each other. But we do, so here’s how it goes:

The Willing Flesh by @corvuscrowned (2.7k)

Draco shows Harry how to do blood magic. Harry shows Draco just how powerful The Chosen One can become.

Mad Blood Stirring by provocative_envy (3k) AU

It's not like they've been angrily hooking up on the sly since meeting at a Juniors skills camp in fucking Manitoba four years ago, except that's exactly what they've been doing.

Sores by mijeli (3.4k)

It's been going on for weeks. They don't talk about it.

Cheaters Prosper by bryoneybrynn (4k)

Draco won the Slytherin-Gryffindor match by cheating. Harry has a problem with that.

Hurt for the Right Reasons by @lqtraintracks (4.5k)

Everything was so cocked up. He just wanted this one thing. He wanted to hurt for the right reasons for once.

Between Two Fires of Beltane by secretsalex (5k)

As the war drags on, Draco becomes a spy for Voldemort and works his way into Harry’s good graces—and his bed. When the Order prepares to invade Malfoy Manor, Draco is forced to examine his loyalties.

Hurt Me, Fuck Me (Just Don’t Hate Me) by @l0vegl0wsinthedark (6k)

Potter is panting moist puffs of air into his face and grinding what is now a full-on erection against Draco’s own, glaring at Draco with the same mixture of confusion-exasperation-helpless-raging want that Draco feels for the git, day after day, coursing through his bloodstream, making him feel at once like he’s flying and drowning.

Checking out the Opposition by birdsofshore (6k)

Harry and Draco seem quite wound up after their latest game of Quidditch.

The Things They Never Say by bixgirl1 (9k)

“Do we always have to fight first?” Harry asks breathlessly, shoving his hips forward in a quick rhythm.

What I Do to You by @gracerene (9k)

These days, apathy fogs Harry's mind. Malfoy's the only one who makes Harry feel anything at all. Harry doesn't really care that the feelings aren't good ones. He deserves it.

Lacking Conviction by fleetofshippyships (10k)

After a mission goes sideways and they're lucky to walk away unscathed, Harry doesn't want to deal with the ensuing argument and floos home mid-angry tirade from his partner. He doesn't count on Malfoy just flooing through right after him to pick up where they left off.

I'll never be your chosen one by @andithiel (15k)

Draco doesn't know what exactly he’s doing with Potter, he doesn't know how their unspoken agreement even started, and doesn't know where it will end. The only thing he knows is: he's not in love.

Burn the Curtains and the Wine by PalenDrome (24k) AU

There are two versions of Harry Potter: the wizard who is the Ministry of Magic's most dangerous and successful assassin, and the husband who leads a staid life of domesticity with a reformed Death Eater. And never the twain shall meet.

Unhook the Stars by jad (70k)

Seventy-thousand words of pornographic discourse between two boys-turned-men that still haven't learned how to communicate like normal people – with words.

That Old Black Magic by bixgirl1 (77k)

Centuries ago, marriage contracts were the norm — ready-made alliances between families, expected and complied with, without complaint. But norms have a way of changing, and when a long-dormant contract flares to life, Harry has to navigate an unexpected splintering of the path he'd thought would be easy after the war... with Draco Malfoy.

[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.

[bowtiepastabitch]

at the risk of sounding insane,,, would you mind sharing more about how you gathered your good omens fanfic data. I am similarly curious about rwrb’s firstprince pre/post the movie release this year, bc I think I have noticed trends that were popular but would like some evidence that isn’t anecdotal

Yes of course, no gatekeeping in this household!! So the key is to get really good at using ao3's filtering system and then the rest is easy as pie.

(if this seems oversimplified, it's because my brain doesn't really process what level of complexity to start at and it just makes sense to say everything. I've been told I sound demeaning before. I promise I'm not.)

Step one: Open your fandom page, making sure you're starting out with no other filters on it so you get the best data possible.

Step two: Make a spreadsheet. This is the easiest way to make sure all your numbers stay where you want them to, and it will auto-generate your graphs for you if you organize it well. This is what my fic ratings sheet looks like; the bottom row is an automatic sum of each column, so I can make sure it matches the total showing on ao3.

Step three: Get to scraping. I do all of mine by hand because it's my happy place, so if you're wanting a code that will do it for you then I'm sorry I can't offer that. You can filter by lots of things, depending on what you want to know. This is what a pull looks like for all fics under the good omens tag, with the data organized for ratings and the top ten most popular tags displayed as well.

For more complex data, such as to pull by date, you just filter further. For example, all fics from 2020 would look like this:

^that's the number you want to write down for the total. Here, that's 13,116 works published (updated) in the year 2020. If I want to see how many fics tagged "angst" were published in 2020, then I'll leave the date filter on and add the angst filter as well:

Which gives us 2,448 works published in 2020 under the angst tag. You can also do this the way you would filter for any tag, as well as exclude tags, when looking for fics. You can filter by relationship type, different ships, crossovers, archive warnings, as well as any tag you can think of.

At the top of the filter bar you can have it sort by different benchmarks of popularity, if you're trying to get a feel for what's actually being read, or by wordcount, both of which I find very useful. You can also filter by wordcount, under "More Options," to remove for example any work under 50 words (removes podfics and solely art posts).

Step four: Share your work! I recommend finding a video explaining the basics of your spreadsheet platform and learning to make simple calculation cells and graphs, and then I also use canva and sometimes other online graph makers to give it a little pizzazz when I feel like it needs something snappier. Be aware that ao3 is a constantly evolving site so data can only be accurate to a certain degree, but since we're not sending a ship to the moon on these numbers it's not enough to throw off the statistical significance of your findings. And please, tag me when you do! I'd love to see what you come up with:)

[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!